Saturday, August 30, 2008

Preschool Centers - Labels

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How do we divide the kids into their small groups each week?

Truly ... it's a simple process and after several weeks of trial and error I couldn't think of an easier way to do it ... it was just finding that way to do it that took a little bit of time! But it works!

First of all, remember that preschoolers can't read! They do know their colors and most of them recognize or can at least match numbers. So this limits your options :-)

At first I tried allowing the computer assignment system to divide the kids. Randomly I divided each room into four colors - but, it never failed when it was time to split up there would be 10 kids in the Blue group and 0 in the Red group ... which just left everyone confused.

So...here's my solution...

A sheet of mailing labels and a Publisher document.

I take the four centers and create a document with four color boxes - one color per label. The colors repeat every four labels, which evenly distributes the children into small groups. The labels also have a number printed on them. The number corresponds to the child's bin in the classroom where they keep all of their things while they're in the classroom. When it's time to break up into centers the children look at the color box on their label and go to that same mat color. The kids are able to match their colors and know exactly where to go when they start...and trust me - they know where to begin because in the rare case that you have to start a kid at a different color than what's on their label ... there are a million questions to answer and some very stressed preschoolers :-)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Fun With Food

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I have always LOVED Onion Rings! Often, while at the grocery store I find myself reading the ingredient labels on every brand of onion rings, hoping that just this once I'll find that one of them has dropped corn from their recipe ... but it never seems to be the case! So, tonight I decided to make some of my own Onion Rings ... and they turned out pretty good! Here's the recipe and a few pictures ... not too hard to make and pretty tasty!

All Recipes (TONS of recipes for anything and everything - check it out!) - Onion Rings


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Family Service Project

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August's Family Service Project was held at NVCL! Families with children of all ages helped to complete several projects around the Northview Campus! Here's a recap of the day!

Click to play Family Service Project
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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Introducing ... LAMBIE!

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This is Lambie ... she's the star of the show in the Preschool Ministry. The kids go NUTS when she wakes up from her slumber each Thursday night to tell the preschoolers a Bible Story and boy were they excited tonight when Lambie told them all about her summer and then about David and Goliath! And... the highlight for each child every Thursday night is when they get to hug Lambie before going to their Small Group Activity Centers. I love preschoolers ... simply because they LOVE stuffed sock puppets ... LIFE IS JUST SIMPLE! :-)

Lambie also stars in weekend video curriculum from time to time. The kids love seeing her on the screens and are constantly trying to decide it she's real when she appears on video!

Thanks to Lambie's "mom" who shares her with us each week and teaches the Preschoolers :-)

Here's a picture of Lambie ... I'll post pictures of the REAL Studio 6.7 Preschool Lambie next Thursday night!


Cardboard Testimonies

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Absolutely Incredible!


The Fridge Door

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Growing up, we "posted" things on the fridge door, I guess today we "post" things on our blogs! How much life has changed in the past few years! This drawing has not only made my blog, but also the wall in my office :-) I thought I would share it with everyone ... it is certainly a great drawing and helped me to feel better after being hit with the bungee cord! Sometimes, kids can just make you feel better! This child did such a great job ... and truly captured what was going on at the time!


Wednesday, August 20, 2008

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Click to play South Dakota 2008
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Thanks to Aime I think my roommate and I just found a great new way to spend our time :-)

Here's a quick recap of this past summer's mission trip to South Dakota. This was so much fun...I can guarantee there will be many more to come ... stay tuned!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

10 Days Later...

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No more stitches, bandages, hats, sunglasses, or pain medicine! I am finally feeling almost "normal" once again and made it through a busy day with only a slight headache! All the bandages are off and my eyes are not as sensitive to lights as they were earlier in the week ... which is awesome, because wearing a hat AND sunglasses INSIDE a building just kind of looks funny :-)

Now if it would just stop itching ... I know that's a good sign, but wow - it can get annoying!

All that's left now is a follow up at the ophthalmologist in a couple weeks!

Here's how it currently looks...

Family Service Project

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This past Saturday the families of Studio 6.7 spent their morning helping out with some projects around the Northview Campus.

The younger kids (PreK and Kindergarten) spent their morning picking up rocks in a newly seeded area and pulling weeds from the playground - and let me tell you - pulling weeds from a playground is a HARD thing for a kid to do!!! But for the most part ... they pulled weeds :-) And, every now and then, tested the equipment to make sure it was in good working condition :-)


The older kids spent their morning pulling up the stakes from groundbreaking so that construction can get underway in the coming days and painting a wagon for hayrides this fall!


Here's a few pics from this past weekend ... and more by clicking here!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Knight Crossing

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Here's a Video from Elementary Camp last week!

CLICK HERE

It was an AWESOME week! Here's one of my favorite activities at camp each year...

THE GIANT SLIP 'N' SLIDE

Thursday, August 14, 2008

One Week Later

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Well I think I've finally turned the corner and am beginning to feel better! I'm still not thinking real straight (as some of my volunteers realized today when I sent out this weekend's schedule!!!) But things are feeling better ... and looking better! Thanks for your prayers!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Join Us...

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This Saturday, 9am @ Northview for a Family Service Project!

All ages are welcome!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

A Little Warning...

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From The United States Army...

Bungee Strap Safety and Information

God was watching out for me - that's all I have to say! Looks like I'm not the only one having trouble with bungee cords recently! The Army has been having a few of their own problems!

Here's something new I learned today...

a bungee cord can RECOIL at up to 60mph!!!

It's Official...

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I have a HARD head! Growing up I loved to head butt people who were holding me, so it would only make sense that when I got head butted by a bungee cord last week my forehead would hold strong! And it did! The doctor who removed my stitches at St. V's Immediate Care tonight was a little concerned about the bone above my left eye due to the amount of pain I'm still experiencing, the bruising around both eyes, and the fact that he could barely touch the area to remove the stitches tonight ... so off to St. V's - Carmel I went for a CT Scan of my facial bones. Amazingly, the results came in a few hours later and there are NO fractures in the bones in my face - which is AWESOME!!! He also gave me a prescription for some pain medicine, which has been a HUGE help this evening! My eye is also beginning to clear up, as long as I'm not using it to read or something there are very few floaters. Hopefully the worst of this is coming to an end and things will begin getting better from here! Thanks for everyone's prayers and concern!

Here's today's photo update...minus 8 stitches!!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Lasers and Bungees

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I've never really had eye problems, in fact friends are often jealous when I can read the street signs long before we even approach the road - so this whole thing has been a new experience. This morning was certainly a new experience! IU Eye Care graciously squeezed me in to their busy schedule downtown at University Hospital this morning with one of their Retinal Specialists. Dr. Gao took a look at my eye and found a retinal tear in the lower part of it (on the side where the bungee hit) - which explains the vision problems I've been having since Thursday. He decided to go ahead and fix it this morning in his office, so he used his laser beam to seal the tear in my retina. Everything happened so fast it took me awhile to realize I had just had laser eye surgery! After a few weeks I'll have it checked again, but he thinks everything should clear up and be fine!

And for the record ...

this was the culprit...


not this...

but... thanks to all of you who thought I was that daring! Little do you know I am TERRIFIED of heights :-)

Here's today's photo update...

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Update

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Well the "second day is always the worst" has stayed true even with this! The pain finally set in today ... and boy does it hurt! I'm just so thankful that both of my eyes are fine. A little to the left or a little to the right and I would have lost one of them! My hat really helps take the focus off of how terrible my face looks - I turned it around again tonight to take this updated pic! And yes ... I now have TWO black eyes, the right one just isn't nearly as bad as the left one!

Olympic Fun

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I spent the last couple days with the McG kids while they were at a conference and after laying on the couch with an icepack for most of the day while the kids watched movies we decided to have a little fun last night before the Opening Ceremonies began! Torches, medals, and even brownies with red icing and "chopsticks" for desert (meant to look like the Torch)! Everyone dressed up as their favorite Olympic Sport and posed for a quick pic with their torches.


Friday, August 8, 2008

Almost...

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Well, to say the least camp was ALMOST wrapped up when I published the last post...technically there were only about 2 hours to go and if you know the Studio 6.7 Team very well ... well, you know that often someone gets hurt during our adventures :-) And this time - it was me!

As we were packing up from camp on Thursday I was putting the finishing touches on the truck with a few bungee cords, when one of them let go ... and YES - it hit me directly between the eyes! Everything is fine, but it was an interesting way to finish up camp! I now have 8 stitches in my face and 1 very black eye :-)


This is a picture from tonight ... at least I can open it somewhat now :-)

Thursday, August 7, 2008

That's A Wrap

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Well...camp - and summer for that matter is coming to an end!  The kids are sitting just on the other side of the computer right now talking about their favorite memories, the things they learned, and what they loved most about camp.  We've had a great week, minus a few claps of thunder that kept a few of us from sleeping the other night :-)  The kids have been awesome and I think they've learned a lot this week.  I hope they had a great end to their summer since school will be starting for many of them next week.  Enjoy their stories as you travel home today - I'm sure they have TONS to tell you about!  Thanks for sharing your kids with us this past week!

To read more about camp and see pictures - go to Joe's Blog - Owned By God

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Update from Camp

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Wireless internet and camp just aren't two things that go together, but here we are on Day 3 of 4 of Elementary Camp! Everyone is having a great time and enjoying themselves. The girls got to sleep in the "Eagle's Nests" last night - cabins built high off the ground. And...the boys "suffered" inside the air conditioned troop cabin. Tonight we'll switch the boys will have the opportunity to sleep high up in the cabins.

After a rainy day yesterday we're looking forward to getting outside today, playing in the pool, water balloons and other outdoor fun! We'll be heading home tomorrow!






Saturday, August 2, 2008

Opposites

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Forgetfulness and thankfulness - not quite the opposites that I would come up with if asked to name a few, yet how true this is - forgetfulness and thankfulness are opposites. Josh's song tonight really got me thinking about this.

When I stop thanking God I become forgetful. I forget that everything I have is from God - because I am not constantly thanking Him for those things He has blessed me with.

Make a list with me of the things you are thankful for - from the big things to the little things write them down and THANK God for them - don't let yourself become forgetful!

activity centers - the how?

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We've taken a look at why using activity centers is good in preschool ministries ... now here's the other question I get a lot ... how do you use the centers?

So...here we go...

When do I use the centers?

During all Preschool Ministry Programs. This includes both the weekend services and the mid-week program. Through experience I found that this format is what the kids are use to and do best with, so I keep the structure the same - but change the content!

Curriculum...

Weekends: My First Look - reThink Group (Northpoint Church - Atlanta, GA)

Mid-Week: We write our own mid-week curriculum (I write the take home (discipleship) curriculum and then write four activities for each week along with a large group teaching time.)

Structure...

Preschoolers can't read, or sometimes even recognize numbers - BUT they do know their four primary colors! So the entire program centers around 4 colors (Blue, Green, Red, Yellow) Each center has a specific bin labeled with the color. The bins sit on corresponding mats in the classroom which help the children know where to go next. Once at the center, the children stay on the mat for the entire 10 minutes, unless an activity requires them to leave the mat.


How do kids know which group they're in?

During check-in there is a sheet of labels with a number and a color box on each label. We print a sheet for each service and as each child checks in they are given one label. This label tells the child which color mat they will start on when it is time for Small Groups - leaders then direct them to the next mat (always in the same order - Blue to Green to Red to Yellow). The number on the label matches bins along the wall where each child can place their stuff. The children are able to match the number on their tag with the number on the bin ... and leaders are always there to help if they have a little trouble!


Basic Schedule

Check-in/Free Time
8:45-9:10 (15 minutes before service and 10 minutes into service)
Clean-Up
9:10-9:15
Large Group
9:15-9:35 (Worship and a teaching time)
Center Rotation #1
9:35-9:45
Center Rotation #2
9:45-9:55
Center Rotation #3
9:55-10:05
Center Rotation #4
10:05-10:15
Snack/Pick-Up
10:15-end of service

Large Groups = 20 minutes
Small Groups = 40 minutes
Transitions = Approx: 20 minutes

Friday, August 1, 2008

Camp ... and ... Marshmallows!

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Our overnight, elementary camp is next Monday thru Thursday! These camps are always a ton of fun and a great time to be away and just enjoy a great time at camp! This year will be heading about an hour north to a camp that has allowed us to rent out their entire place.

I'm even more excited for camp after I got these in the mail yesterday...



I know, I know - they're JUST marshmallows...but these are corn free ... all sugar and no HFCS! Can't wait for S'mores next week :-)