#94...The Preschool Christmas Program!

It was a beautiful morning at Immanuel Lutheran Church this today. The children had their Christmas Program. The church was filled from side to side and front to back! So many families including grandparents, aunts and uncles attended. If you have any thoughts or comments on the program, please share them with us! Have a blessed Christmas!

#92..Hop for Hope - November 21 at Immanuel

Hop for Hope Video
We had a fun day hopping at Immanuel! We all worked and played together to gather donations for the VanHoutan children. Noah, Lainey, Emily and mom (Jen) also came to join in the fun! I am happy to say over $5,000 has been raised so far. Donations are still be collected till December 10thfor the Hop for Hope Fund! Thank you everyone for participating and making this event a success!

#91...Thankgiving Day Song - Yellow Class

Yellow Class enjoying their new song!

#90...RedTOT Class - Mulberry Bush Day

#89...Green TOT Class - Mulberry Bush Day

#88...Harvest Day 4's PhotoStory

#87... Harvest Day 3's PhotoStory

#86...Family Night 4's

#85...Family Night 3's

#84... Harvest Day 4's

Just a note about Halloween at Immanuel.......Our festivities at Halloween take on a very non-threatening atmosphere for the children. The most you will find at Immanuel Preschool is a few jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows. In Lutheran schools you will always find the emphasis on Jesus’ love and forgiveness, rather than witches, ghosts, and goblins. Our “costume tradition” is the Harvest Festival. We dress up as farmers and celebrate the gifts that we receive from God in the harvest. This special event will be held on two different days for the two different age levels.

American Blessing Mix served at Harvest Day—2009 at Immanuel Lutheran Preschool

Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our Nation's abundance.

Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by the founders of our country. (Yogurt

covered pretzels)

Seeds: Promise of a future harvest, one will reap only if seeds are planted and tended to with

diligence. (Popcorn)

Candy Corn: Sacrifices of the Pilgrim's first winter. Food was so scarce that the settlers

survived on just a few kernels of corn per day.

Dried Fruits: Harvest gifts of our bountiful land. (Dried cranberries)

M&Ms: Memories of those who came before us to guide us to a blessed future.

Hershey's Kiss: The love of family and friends that sweetens our lives, and especially

the love of Jesus!

#83...Family Night 3's - Part 1

We love connecting with the whole family at Immanuel.
It's a special time also when the alumni come forward.
My how they grow from their preschool days!

#82...Family Night 3's - part 2

#81...Mrs. Lithio with the Orange Class

The three's enjoy their "Color Song" book. The book takes awhile to complete, but with great pride they enjoy showing others. Emphasizing the different colors, seeing the printed words, and singing the song make it all lots of fun!

#80...Jesus Time with Mrs. Stumpf

I love this time with the preschoolers. It is a time for to connect with them in this very special way. Everyday we get our preschoolers ready for kindergarten by helping them follow directions, communicating with each other using social skills. listening, math, and letter sounds, etc., but this is a different special time and, as I said, I love it!

#79...Red Class Sings the Color Song

#78...Purple Class - Jack-o-Lantern Art Talk

#77...Pumpkin Farm Field Trip Slide Show! What a wonderful day we had!

#76...Purple, Yellow, and Red Classes Sing in Church

"Father Welcomes All His Children"


"The Lord is My Shepherd -
I'll Walk with Him Always!"

"This Little Light of Mine"

Pastor James had a special message for the children.



The preschool staff was commissioned at this service.
I think Immanuel's staff is the best!

#75..Having fun with our name - Yellow Class

Mrs. Walthius and E - m - m - a.
We learn in so many fun ways at Immanuel Lutheran Preschool!

#74....3rd Email to the Preschool Families

Yellow, Purple, and Red Classes sing this Sunday at Immanuel at 10am. Families sit together and then around half way through the service, the children are asked to come forward to the front to sing. They sound absolutely wonderful! We hope you can make it

If your child is from another class and you happen to be in church on Sunday, they are certainly welcome to come up front to sing. It probably will be hard to keep them in the pew.

We ask no flash photography be taken during the service. This is a worship service and it also is so distracting for the children.

Please get your Pumpkin Farm checks and permission slips in as soon as you can! If the weather is bad, we will have regular school hours that day. If you do not get a call…we are going!!

Check your handout with all the information concerning the Pumpkin Farm Filedtrip!

Today I had another talk with the children about the “germ catcher.” If you listen to the news, you can see the flu is getting to be a real problem for young children in some areas of our country. I believe it is important we all do this. We encouraged them with a heart stamp on their arm today next to their “germ catcher” to remind them they are doing this because they love others around them and want to protect them from germs.

I went to Target the other day and found jack-o-lantern socks in the $1.00 section. I cut each sock into 4 sections and shared them. Please encourage your child to wear any kind of “germ catcher” if they are not already doing it. I think we have about 75-80 percent participation. I am still hoping for 100 percent!

When we go to the Pumpkin Farm we all wear red bandanas with Immanuel Lutheran Preschool printed on the back. This is a safety measure also for our school. We can easily identify one of Immanuel’s children instantly. This is a good thing! We will talk about it in the classroom so all the new students know about it and we will explain why it is necessary.

Thanks for your help in volunteering at Immanuel. It certainly is a big help to us and you also get an enjoyment from it. Especially for the 3’s classes, it is quite crucial to have extra help from parents.

While I am speaking of extra help from parents…there is one more thing you can do. RED, GREEN, ORANGE CLASSES - Before you and your child enter the classroom, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take them to the bathroom and have them “try” to go one more time….even if they used the bathroom before they left home, take the time to help us out and do this. It will save so much classroom time if you take the time! Thanks so much!

Please respond you received this in some way…Thank you!

As we say at the end of a story sometimes – THE END!

#73....Father Welcomes All His Children ...

Blue and Yellow Class sing their love for Jesus!

#72...Practicing our song for singing in church this Sunday AM!

Come and hear the children sing their praises!

#71...Jesus Time - "This Little Light of Mine!"

#70...Orange Class

Here is a peek at our new Orange Class with Mrs. Lithio and Mrs. Fechner!

#69 ....Red TOT Class Fun

This was our first TOT Class on Friday for the 10:45 class.
Great group!

#68...2nd Email to Preschool Families

Greetings to our preschool families.

Things are going very well at the preschool. The children are adjusting quite well this week. Our slow start up the first few days gives us all a chance to ease in to the school year. Ideally, when the children leave the first few times they want to stay longer and are then excited and happy to come back the next time.

A number of children have started wearing their “germ catcher” on their arm.
It is a joy not to see them cough, of course, but to see them cough into the elbow area. Hand sanitizer and hand washing are being used with consistency.

September 21 is the day we want everyone to be wearing their “germ catcher,” but go ahead and start earlier if you want. In our Blue Class it has given us a chance to admire, applaud and be excited for the children who are already wearing their “germ catcher.” One little girl our class, said she was going to wear it to bed! That might be overkill on it, but you have to admire her dedication and excitement!

Personalizing it, like their school bag is a good way to help them wear it. Girls can wear a pink one with sparkles, etc. Boys can wear a Spiderman or whatever. It can have a face on it or not. Remember it is just meant to reminder of where to cough. Don’t tell anyone, but I have forgotten where to cough while wearing mine and then finish my cough in the correct area. Don’t forget you might need a couple on hand, so they can be washed as needed. I am not sure how long we will be doing this, but right now let’s forge ahead!

Just got this email from a preschool mom about our germ catcher …..check the link out!

Hi Linda
I saw this in a Parent magazine and thought of our germ catcher.
https://www.germywormy.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=21
Mrs. Fechner thinks ours is much more eco friendly! “Wash and wear!”


Pumpkin Farm permission slips and information will be sent home soon.
Basic information
We are going Wednesday, September 30
Johansen’s Petting Zoo
Arrive no earlier that 8:10 am
8:30am. Bus leaves Immanuel.

One bus is rented, since so many prefer to take their child in their own car in their car seat. Usually there is room for a number of parents to ride the bus with their child. Wait with your child in hand and see if this will be the case If you rode the bus last year with your child, please let other parents on the bus first who have not been able to do this yet. You can get on if there is room. No siblings should ride on the bus…only preschool children and their adult ride the bus. Thank you!

10:30am – Group meets for lunch
11:30am - Group meets at exit.
Return to School- around 12:00 noon or just after
Two rules you may not know…
1. Please dress children in shoes – no flip flops! Thank you!
2. Please do not leave an umbrella with your child. You can give it to them with you pick them up out front.
Just imagine preschoolers in line leaving, caring them and some opening them, etc. Thanks for this also!

67...Blue Class Fun

#66....1st email to the preschool families

Hello everyone!

This is the first email of the school year from me. It is kind of an “attendance” thing also. I would like you to hit “reply” and let me know you received this email so I know I have the right email address for everyone.

If you took toys and manipulatives to sanitize last week thank you so much! We hope you will return them to preschool at Open House this week on September 2 & 3. (Wednesday and Thursday – 9am-11:30 we will be there) If you want to return them before Open House on Monday or Tuesday, that will also be fine. Thank you again for all your help!

Just to let you know we have a few openings in preschool left. Two in the 4 year old classes and three left in the 3 year old classes. Please let your friends and neighbors know. We have heard that some people do not even try at Immanuel because they have heard it is too difficult to get in. Please let people know…we have room for others to join our “family” at Immanuel Lutheran Preschool!

If you did not make it to Orientation Night, I would like to tell you one particular thing I talked about with the parents. It is the H1N1 Flu. We want everyone to do their part in keeping germs and illness down to a minimum at preschool. Here are the ways we are going to do that.

1. Each child will be asked to use hand sanitizer when they arrive at preschool for each class session.

2. If your child has had a fever or has thrown up, they should not come to preschool until 24 hours has passed without a fever or without throwing up.

3. If your child has a deep cough, or bad runny nose, they need to stay home. If you send them, we may ask that you come back and take them home.

4. We will need a doctor’s permission slip, if your child has an allergy with some of these symptoms, so we know it is safe for them to attend. We feel all parents should be able to understand why this important. If you, as a parent, ask about another child’s runny nose, or whatever, we can then say, “The doctor says the child is permitted to attend classes.”

5. I also explained an idea that I had which will go into effect on Monday, September 21. All the children need to do it, whether they have a cough or not! Teachers will also model it. Here is my idea. I want you to find one of those single socks you have “floating” around at home. (We all have them, right?) Cut off the leg part, draw a face on it with permanent marker and call it the “Germ Catcher!” Then, each child should wear it up around their elbow as a constant reminder of where to cough or sneeze those germs into. I wasn’t sure about what kind of face…happy, sad, or the mouth open on it….Now I am thinking a happy face would work, because the “Germ Catcher” is happy to get our germs! He wants to take them away from us, so we do not get sick.

6. I hope you are not thinking I am too paranoid about this. This is just another good habit to learn while they are young. Can you imagine this daily happening at preschool…children coughing and sneezing into their hands and then we all join hands for a circle game, play with blocks, are in the kitchen play area, or cutting with our scissors, etc. I truly believe think this will help cut down on the spread of germs.

This paragraph is from the internet - You should really aim your cough into the crook of your elbow or your shoulder, and away from your hands. That way if you are contagious (and it is really hard to know if you aren't), the germs coming out of your mouth don’t make it onto your hands, which interact with the world by touching. Since you are less likely to touch things with your elbow or shoulder, the germs won’t spread. This isn't just for coughing. I have heard the catchy phrase "Sneeze into your sleeve" lately, too! So do like your mother told you and cover your mouth when you cough — just do it with your elbow.

FYI – Past history - In April, 1985 I was teaching preschool in Cicero, IL. Jewel food store was selling two kinds of milk, Bluebrook and Hillfarm. There was a huge salmonella outbreak. Unknown to a preschool parent, they had purchased this tainted milk and it was served at preschool the last day before Easter Vacation. A few preschoolers contracted salmonella poisoning during that week. To make a long story short…we carried out a plan of action.

1. We washed each child hands upon entering preschool. No hand sanitizer back then. When they walked in the door, we squirted shaving cream in their hands and said it was a special “snowball.” The child went straight to the bathroom sink and a staff person was there to wash each child’s hand with soap and water.

2. Every child used one specific toilet during the day. I cleaned the toilet with bleach after every use. This whole procedure lasted 6 weeks before school was out for the year. It was a time I would never want to repeat! This is nothing compared to that.

3. Let’s do what we can to minimize the problem and create an atmosphere of caring and loving concern for each child.

We hope to see you at Open House this Wednesday and Thursday.

Bring a copy of your child’s birth certificate for our files.

Don’t forget to hit REPLY when finished here.

Looking forward to another great preschool year!

Linda Stumpf

#65...Inchworm ...Inchworm

#64...Picnic and Train Ride to Western Springs

Such a great day after the very confusing beginning that many of you did not even know about! I am so thankful we got to go after the cool rain day the week before! Just look at all the wondrful smiles we saw that day!

#63...TOT CLass Butterfly Day 10:45

#62...10:45 Monday TOT CLASS Bubble Day

#61...TOT Class Butterfly Day

#60...bagpipe fun in the afternoon

#59...Happy Earth Day from the Red Class

#57...Purple Class Pajama Day!

#56...Yellow Class Pajama Day

#55...Red Class Pajama Day

#54...WARNING! You may get dizzy from this one! Fun with the Monday TOT Class!

#53...Monday TOT Class - Put Me in the Zoo

#52...Green Class Dad's Night Out

#51...Some good clean fun with the Orange Class

#50...Orange Class Dad's Night Out

#49...Red Class Dad's Night Out

Publish Post

#48...Yellow Class Dad's Night Out Fun

#47...TOT Class Circle Song

#46...A storyteller from Downers Grove Library comes for a visit - Mrs. Walsh-Rock (a former preschool mom from Immanuel!)

Mrs. Walsh-Rock came to Immanuel 4 different times this week and entertained our six classes with stories and songs. Miss Mouse came along for the ride and for fun! We sure did enjoy the stories and songs!

#45...Blue Class Leprechauns

#44... Purple Class Dad's Night Out Photostory

#43...Jesus Time and More Fun with the Yellow and Blue Classes

#42...End of the evening at Dad's Night Out - Purple Class

#41...It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

#40...Red Class Valentines Going Home

#39... TOT Class - Mitten Day

#38 ...TOT Christmas Party