Week 18  - Christmas - 4th Week of December

Items Needed:  Bible 
Sandpaper Number:  8
Sandpaper Letters:  Mm
Name:  Dry erase board and marker or chalkboard and chalk
Books:   My "M" Book, My Eight Book, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Worksheet:  Circular Lines Worksheet, "M" coloring worksheet
Game: Bingo Cards - 3-Year December Cards  
CD-Rom:  Charlie Church Mouse Preschool
Activities:  Nativity pieces wrapped in a box, Knowing Jesus Activity Book, calendar, Ingredients to make a cake or cupcakes, colored candles, Book of the Week Activities, painter's tape, Christmas ideas (see below)
Video:  Veggie Tales: The Toy That Saved Christmas
Letter M Activity, Number 8 Poster
    
Bible Story:  Birth of Baby Jesus
Scripture:  Luke 2
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes:  pg 240-246
The Beginner's Bible:  pg 271, 277
My Story Bible:  pg 60-67
Through the Bible Felt:  pg 153-158

Verse:  Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, for unto us a son is given.
Tune:  “Mary Had Little Lamb”
For unto us a Child is born
Child is born, Child is born
For unto us a Son is given
Isaiah 9:6

Bible Song: Away in a Manger (Traditional)
Away in a manger
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
 Laid down His sweet head
The stars in the sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay

Poem:  Mary had a Little Lamb (Traditional)
Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow.

Number:  8
Make an "S" but do not wait, go back up and close the gate

Letters:  Mm
M - line, valley, line
m - down, hump 1, hump 2

Tune:  “Farmer in the Dell”
M says /m/
M says /m/
Mary and the manger
M says /m/

Name:  Write your child’s name on dry erase board or chalkboard and have he/she trace over the letters with his/her index finger.

Comprehension Questions:
Where did Mary lay baby Jesus?
What kind of noises would you hear in a barn?
If you had to sleep in a barn, where would you sleep?

Book of the Week:
 If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 

Ideas:
• Book of the Week Ideas:
Emphasize the /m/ words in this book.
Talk about your favorite kind of cookie.  Make them and give them to others.
Discuss cause and effect - The "if...then..." sequence.  Take turns filling in the blank "If you_____, then I will _____."
Mouse Crafts
Mouse Coloring Pages

• Discuss how there is a Biblical meaning to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” as well. 
Mary – Jesus’ Mother
Lamb – Jesus
White as snow – Jesus was without sin

• Play Bingo - review the letters "a-m" and number "0-8" by playing a fun game of Bingo

• Pre-writing Worksheets
This week will focus on drawing circular lines.  Print off the Circular Lines Worksheet or create your own.


• Involve your child in filling out the New Year's calendar - Find the child's birthday, holidays, other family birthdays, etc.  Talk about the seasons, months, weeks, and days.

•   "M" can be a hard letter to remember and create.  Think of the capital "M" as looking like two Mountains.  Here is a great coloring worksheet to help a child visualize this.  When drawing an "M," say "line, valley [for v], line."

• Knowing Jesus Activity Book

• Play the Wise Men Game on the Charlie Church Mouse Preschool Cd-Rom.  Read more...

• Collection of Christmas Ideas from ABCJLM

• Nativity Memory Game (reprinted by permission)
Directions: Purchase or use a nativity set with individual pieces. Place them on a table and have the children close their eyes. Remove one of the pieces and have the children see if they can figure out which piece is missing. After the missing piece is discovered, talk about its significance in the Nativity. For instance, if you take away a shepherd, explain to the children how an angel appeared to the shepherds in the fields to tell of Jesus' birth.

• View & Read 
Veggie Tales: The Toy That Saved Christmas
 If You Give a Moose a Muffin - focus on the many "m" words

• Fine Motor Skills:  
Make Jesus a chocolate birthday cake or cupcakes using the colors from the Wordless Book - Allow your child to unwrap butter sticks or separate cupcake wrappers.  Let your child help frost the cake or cupcakes. 
         Christmas Cake
              Chocolate cake and frosting represent the sin in our life 
              Red candle represents Christ's blood shed on the Cross
              White candle stands for how Jesus washed away our sins
              Green candle represents renewal and growth as you grow in your new life in Christ
              Yellow candle stands for the golden streets of heaven 

•  Gross Motor Skills:
Use pieces of painter’s tape to make large outlines on the floor of a circle, square, triangle, etc.  Have your child identify the shape and then let them walk, crawl, or hop around the edges of the shapes. (Don’t use masking tape – it will leave a residue)  
(Idea from Chalkboard)

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