Preschool Unit on Oil?

Yes, that's right. We do teach some unusual topics. Along with this week's Bible story about Elisha and the miracle of the widow's oil, we are learning about oil in the preschool. Did you know that all living things contain oil?

To test that, the students put bits sesame seeds and bits of walnuts between pieces of tissue and crushed them with a spoon. Low and behold, oil came out!

We also dyed some oil with food coloring, then tried to mix it with water. Oil and water don't mix; the oil just floats on top in globs. To drive the point home, students set a piece of card stock on top of the oil/water and let it sit for about twenty seconds. The card was then placed on newsprint which absorbed the excess oil and water. Students who wanted to were then able to dye their cards in different colored water/oil mixture. This project had the potential to be really messy, but the results were beautiful and really illustrated the point that oil and water don't mix.

To wrap up the unit, the children drew four different plants that give us oil and put them in a book with an oil pitcher on the front. Nice work, guys!

Spiders on Saturday

"Spiders" was today's theme at Saturday Preschool and Saturday Kids. Children learned fun facts about spiders, tried to get through a spider web without being caught, and made spider crafts (Saturday Preschool) and spider posters (Saturday Kids).

Don't get caught in the web!

 Spider web craft made by "painting" with yarn dipped in white paint.

The elementary students in Saturday Kids made these dueling posters. Which one is more convincing to you? (Click the posters to see them larger.)

        

Insect Art and Z for Zoo

This week's preschool theme was insects. We collected insects, learned about insect body parts and their diets, and discovered how to tell the difference between insects and other creepy-crawlies.

We collected leaves, twigs, acorns, and chestnuts at the park to make insect collages. Can you spot the ants, butterflies, dragonflies, stag beetles, and rhinoceros beetles? (Click on the photo to see it larger.)

Insects have antennae as you can see from the butterfly and the bee pictured here.

Just look at those beautiful butterflies.

The letter of the week in afternoon preschool was Z. The children built a zoo for their animals, being careful to keep predators and pray away from each other.

Recent Preschool Highlights

Here are some recent photos just to give you a taste of what we've been doing the past few weeks.

 A preschool mom came and introduced the autoharp and violin for a special music class. She led the students in several songs and played a duet with her daughter. Thank you Mrs. T!

 A recent "letter of the week" was W. The children made Weather Windows.

 We celebrated three birthdays.

These fish were from an art lesson on primary and secondary colors. Children mixed the colors from the big fish to make the colors for the little fish. (adapted for preschool from this lesson plan for second graders)

These photos are from an art lesson on symmetry. (idea credit)

New Hope Preschool Newsletter #3

Here is our latest newsletter. If you'd like to sign up for our mailing list, visit our website.

Dear New Hope Preschool Friends,

We hope you had a wonderful summer. In this month’s newsletter we welcome new students and teachers, introduce our fall enrollment campaign, look back at summer preschool and forward to a possible Western Adventure study abroad program, and point to two websites that you might enjoy with your children. If you prefer not to receive these monthly updates, please let us know by replying to this message with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. On the other hand, if you enjoy the letter, feel free to forward it to a friend.

Welcome!

We’ve started our new school term with a bang. September is a month of welcoming new friends and welcoming back old friends. Preschool children each received a welcome certificate and made pictures of the preschool, developing a sense of belonging and ownership.

We also welcomed two new teachers recently. Our new Mommy and Me teacher, Mrs. Mika, is the mother of a New Hope Preschool graduate. She has lived abroad and has lots of teaching experience She is raising two bilingual children in an international family.

Mr. Peter, an Australian, is teaching some of our Kids’ English classes. A fun-loving and musical teacher, Mr. Peter’s classes that are lively and popular.

Fall Campaign

Our fall campaign has begun with big enrollment discounts and even gift cards. If you are thinking about enrolling your child in one of our courses or have friends who might be interested, please call us or see the details on our website.

Summer Preschool

Looking back at the summer, we had an action-packed Summer Preschool program. Our weekly themes were “community helpers,” going to the zoo,” and “health and fitness.” Please see our blog for highlights. http://blog.newhopeclc.jp

Parent/Child Study Abroad

We are in the early stages of putting together a summer study abroad program for parents and children (adults without children are welcome too). We are not 100% sure that it will happen, but how does a Western Adventure sound? We’ll keep you informed.

Around the Web

Our helpful links this time have to do with art. One of our online sources for art ideas is http://artprojectsforkids.org . It is done by an elementary school art teacher and has too many great ideas for us to use here. Please try some projects at home and tell us what you think. Another fun site is playingbythebook.net . It’s a mommy blog about arts and crafts projects that are inspired by children’s books.