#9....Photostory of Christmas Art by the 4 year old classes

This was shown at our Christmas Program on Sunday.
Artwork by the Purple, Blue, and Yellow Classes

Play video of children's artwork?

#8....Photos of the Big Day!!!

Here is an exhausted and passed out 3 year old in the first church pew after his performance - I think the 4 year old angels lulled him to sleep :) Sent to me from his mommy!









The angels sang from their hearts!!

#7....The Amazing Christmas Program

This afternoon was our Christmas program and it was so wonderful to see all our families together. Immanuel was packed from the front to the back and left to right! The children sang beautifully...loud and clear! They sang from their heart and that's what made it so wonderful! I told them before the program..."It's not about us, it's all about Jesus and His Love for us!

I was not able to take one photo at the program, although there were many "Kodak" moments. If you were able to take any, please send them to me and I will try and get some up on the blog or a short photostory. Send them to preschool234@yahoo.com

Thank you so much for coming today! Just want you to know my staff is the best! They all give of themselves to make Immanuel what it is.

One parent came up to me and shared this is their last preschool Christmas program...they have two children...4 years in a row they have come, and I already felt they were feeling a lose. We all go through the many stages of child rearing. The secure, loving ones we want to hang on to for as long as we can. I guess that is what so many feel at Immanuel. As Pastor Hudson said this afternoon, (a Pastor Prohl original)....children absolutely need to feel unconditional love from their Heavenly Father and the same unconditional love from mom and dad. We teach that daily at preschool and we only have your child maybe for one year, but hopefully have your family for 4 or more years. (if you have two children)

The bottom line is this! Keep Jesus close to your family...if there are hard times ahead...He will get you through them! Why? Because He loves YOU unconditionally!

#6....Christmas Gift Ideas

10 more days left!Publish Post

Anybody still looking for Christmas gift ideas for your child??? The best toys are those that require imagination. When a child maneuvers, manipulates and builds, the imagination is stretched. A good toy is 90% child and 10% toy.

Some great suggestions are:
Building blocks – the will make Noah’s ark, a castle, the Sear’s Tower, a fort, a house with all sorts of rooms, etc.
Legos – this toy grows with your child
Magnets – always fun, but, be very careful about the size
Magnifying glasses – all children are little detectives, and love to examine
Matching games - a fun challenge for preschoolers - especially the 4's
Musical instruments – play some CD’s and let you child keep the rhythm
Play dough – our preschool recipe is the BEST!

Play sets - with people, vehicles, animals – just watch them create all sorts of adventures
Puppets – more fun, more creativity
Simple board games – fun, especially for the 4 year old. Not always easy to lose, but it can be good practice. We can’t always win, but it is still fun playing.
Tinker toys – WOW! These old toys are absolutely a big a hit in the classroom for the 4’s.

At preschool, we can tell the children who are allowed the use of an art box at home. It might include: Crayons, markers, colored paper, scissors, glue, scotch tape, paper punches, and paint. This alone can keep many children occupied for a long time and have a wondrous creation when finished.

alphabet - Leap Frog - Letter Factory and Word Factory are 2 great videos

Bible stories – Beginners Bible Book is a great place to start. Arch Books from Concordia Publishing House tell the Bible stories in a special way for children. I have used these at Jesus Time for many years. Bedtime is great time to read a Bible story to your children. After that, prayers are said, and then lights off! There are no better thoughts to leave with your child and no better way to say goodnight!

So many choices for gifts and not much time left…..oh, there is always a birthday coming up, or any other occasion or non-ocassion you can think of!

Play Dough Recipe - An all time favorite at Immanuel Lutheran Preschool

2 cups - flour
1 cup - salt
4 tsp. - cream of tartar
2 cups - water
2 Tab. - oil
Food Coloring

Heat water, oil, and food coloring in a pan. Mix all dry ingredients together and add to hot liquid. Stir until it leaves the sides of the pan. This part goes very quickly. Remove from pan and knead as soon as possible. When cool store in plastic bag. It does not have to be refrigerated.

#5....TOT Class Christmas Photostories

Here you can view photostories of TOT Class from Friday, Dec 7 and Monday, Dec 10!

Parents from TOT...(or anyone for that matter!)
Want to leave a comment about your child's (or even your) reaction to it??

Click on the comment button below the photostories!

Others enjoy reading the comments and it will help keep this blog alive and well! LS



Play the Friday 9am Tot Class video!



Play the Friday 10:15am Tot Class video!
Precious quotes -

After we finished passing the baby Jesus around, one tot child replied, “ I want Santa to bring me baby Jesus at Christmas.”

Play the Monday 9am Tot Class video!

#4....Thank you from Tracy Butler

Good morning to all of you who are waking up to snow cover on this Wednesday morning. I wanted to personally thank all of you from the Purple, Blue and Yellow classes who made time to help with the ABC7 and Dominick's annual holiday food drive. You may have no idea how valuable it is to those in need that you MADE the time to join me on ABC7 News at 4 on Tuesday, December 4. The Greater Chicago Food Depository feeds 90,000 EVERY WEEK! One-third of that number is children.

I was honored to have so many of you bring your children to assist in this effort, which is needed more this year than any other year since I have been fronting this effort. I really didn't realize until yesterday that because of the higher gas prices, many families have to make the decision to spend more on "filling up their tanks to get to work," thus reducing what they have to spend on food. The domino effect of this is astounding and the demand on the food pantries has increased greatly.

My big thanks to you, the parents, for embracing the REAL MEANING OF THIS SEASON...the gift of giving and sharing. I am especially grateful to Mrs. Stumpf, Mrs. Przybyl and Mrs. Walthius for "rallying the troops" and encouraging you all to help us FIGHT HUNGER.

It is clear that all of you at Immanuel are carrying thru with that MISSION STATEMENT...."the heart of education" is the "education of the heart." Thank you all for helping to educate our ABC7 viewers and Dominick's customers about the annual holiday food drive.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and continued blessings to your families.
Tracy

Tracy Butler
ABC7 Meteorologist

#3....Today on TV!

So here are some photos from the trip to Dominick's. It was fun event and the children were great while everything was set up for a quick shot of the children with their gifts of canned goods.

Tracy Butler kept them all very interested in what was happening...

Here she is greeting some of the students!



















Here we all are on camera...SMILE!





Everyone received a giant cookie as a thank you from Dominick's store.




It was a fun way to show support for the Greater Chicago Food Depository!







Play the video!

#2....Good Morning! New things to share!

Today we (the Purple, Yellow, and Blue Classes) are invited to bring a can of food to the Dominick's at 42 E. Ogden to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Tracy Butler will there during the 4pm show on ABC-TV. The children will be on TV representing Immanuel Lutheran Preschool and they will possibly shout something out as a group. I hope to post some photos later.

I tried to send the Harvest Day photostory last month, but many of you had trouble receiving it because it was such a large file. This just might be the way to send it out. You can let me know!

Play the video?





Play the video?

As you can tell Harvest Day is lots of fun.


Here is an email I received yesterday (names removed)

Hi Linda,

Just a quick note to let you know we enjoyed using our Thanksgiving table runner this year. It does bring back wonderful memories both of the family time making it, of the great preschool family and of the kids themselves at that age. Thanks for all you do for the families.

Also, thought of you when we took the family to Ella Jenkins (folk singer from Chicago) at College of DuPage. She did a wonderful "Didja feed my cow? Yes ma'am". My husband and sons were among several families chosen to come up on stage and sing with her. She also does a wonderful job emphasizing all the people of the globe and different culture/language. A possible preschool program???

Hope you are enjoying the holidays, family and good health,

(Past preschool mom)

Must get to school now! Blessings on your day! Eyes on Him! LS

#1....Day one - THE BLOG BEGINS

Hi! I am Linda Stumpf...

Tonight my son, Andrew, suggested I start doing this for the preschool. He has always encouraged me to rise to a higher tech level, which I usually rebel against at first, but in the end...go the direction he suggested. After all, we made him listen to us for so many years, I can be on the listening end for a change. So now I will give it a try!


Play the video?

Wow it worked!

What a great class for Mrs. Cathy Gruenwald and I have. We have the best time with these children. They bring joy to each other and also to us.

So this is the end of the first day of my blog. I feel excited about it. Thanks, Andrew!