Early Care and Education Series (Week of the Young Child)

We celebrate each April...

Week of the Young Child

An opportunity to...

remember

celebrate

and share

how young children learn through

enriched hands-on play experiences

------------------------

Week of the Young Child 2017

Music Monday- Sing, Dance, Celebrate, Learn

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Tasty Tuesday- Healthy eating and fitness at home and school

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Work Together Wednesday-

Work together, Build together, Learn together

(Italian Herb Play Dough)

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Artsy Thursday- Think, Problem solve, Create

(cardboard pizza)

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Family Friday- Sharing family stories

"Little Nino's Pizzeria" by Karen Barbour

and a sight words salt writing tray

Learn more about WOYC

and see how others celebrated!

naeyc.org

Buried...or Planted

Some have shovels
while others use their bare hands

to pick up dirt

big piles
big clumps

of dirt

to throw

at you
and
onto you

again
and
again

You do realize that they are trying to bury you, right?

Well, they buried Jesus
(in a tomb)

and you should know that when you've identified yourself with Christ
and embraced His Gospel

They will also try to bury you

But Jesus said things like

No one takes my life...
I have all power...
I am the Resurrection...

and you can find comfort in knowing
that even if they are successful in their attempts

it cannot spoil

His plan
His purpose
His provision

because

You do realize that He is trying to plant you, right?

And it appears to me that the only real difference between

burying something
and
planting something

is

the intention
the state
the condition

of the item during the time at which it is placed into the ground

So even when others throw dirt

with the intent to

consume you
cover you
cancel you

remember that although they may

sincerely
seemingly
successfully

be trying to bury you

He may simply be using their efforts...

to plant you

1 Corinthians 15:36

(Originally posted 4/3/15)

Early Care and Education Series (Open-Ended Painting)

She said...

"I could never do that, I am not creative like you"

(and I cringed)

because...

it is impossible to support the learning and creative development

of young children if you cannot see the value of your own

So I decided to show them

and began with two prompts...

What will you paint on?

What will you paint with?

allowing the group to explore

their creative range

proving once again that

we are ALL creative

(each in our own way)

and we should never

confuse

compare

choose

someone else's gifts and talents

over

our

own

Check out our video series for more creative painting ideas

Fly swatter painting

Bubble Wrap painting

Wax resist painting

click here

Early Care and Education Series (Vision Boards)

It's a...

new year

new month

new day

and time to visualize your plan

Information Board

Snacks

Vision Boards

Notice my 2014 Vision Board?

What is your vision for the New Year?

Check out more from our Early Care and Educator Series

Called and Chosen... a Lesson in Laundry

It is so amazing how the

simple
everyday
ordinary

physical tasks of life

can remind us of the

extraordinarily
deep
Spiritual

things of God

I am convinced more now than ever that

we see what we want to see

because

There I was...

down stairs
screaming

for my teenage son to come down so that he could put his laundry in the machine
(but, of course he couldn't hear me)

So I called his sister instead...

"Tell your brother to come wash his clothes"

(and she responded immediately)

and in that moment I remembered that God also used someone to come

get me
teach me
tell me

of the saving, cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus Christ

He wanted me...
so He called her

and since

I wanted him...
I called her

because she had the ear to hear me

and if we are disciples indeed
we must remember that if we have actually heard the call

it is because He wants us to go get someone else

He wants them...
so He has called you

And it is now your responsibility to

go tell your brother

that it is time to put down

his games
his foolishness
his distractions

to get up and

go...
come...

wash his garment

The Danger of Singing Someone Else's Song

Be weird... Be random... Be who you are

__________________________

The words just wouldn't come...

The melody either...

and it bothered me that I couldn't hear it

So I listened again

prayed

waited

until I finally remembered

I know better but

had forgotten

had been too busy singing

someone else's song

which is

good

fine

okay

every now and then

but the danger of singing

someone else's song for too long...

is that eventually

you forget the words

to your own

The Gift Left Unopened

Christmas is officially over

along with... 

the hustle

the bustle

the planning 

and expectation

We have... 

unwrapped

tossed to the side and

moved on to the next

still searching

as Jesus lay in the manger...

out on the lawn

And it may take a few days

for us to get to Him

to remember

to realize 

(that the stuff will never truly satisfy us)

But that our true gift has been left unopened

if we

left Jesus 

out on the lawn as a baby...

still a baby...

in a manger

when what we should have done

was let Him into 

our house 

our hearts

our homes

as King!

(originally posted 12/28/13 as "Nativity Scene")