CCS PreK

Nov. 7-11

2011-11-11T10:04:00.001-08:00

We had a great week in Pre-K which came to an end on Friday with our Veteran's Day parade!

In math, the class learned how to sort by color, create a real graph, and compare sets of objects.
They also learned how to act out story problems using teddy bear manipulatives and then on Friday the class learned how to identify, describe, and compare circles and rectangles.

We have continued to learn from our Happily Ever After story of "La Tortuga" which means the turtle in Spanish. "La Tortuga" is a story about a wise turtle that tricks the children so he is not made into turtle soup. With this story we have focused on the color yellow and the circle.

The Veteran's Day parade was a success! The class enjoyed marching around the school waving their American flags! We are blessed to live in a free country and our thankful for all of our Veterans! God Bless the USA!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I'm looking forward to next week, we will be studying the First Thanksgiving and have our sharing feast on Friday!

CHURCHES TOUCHING LIVES FOR CHRIST (CTLC)

2011-11-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

CTLC has a food pantry open to those in need in our community. This year, we ask that:

The Pre-School children in Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Langford’s rooms bring canned corn and boxes of macaroni and cheese. This will be our YELLOW group.

The Junior K and Kindergarten children bring cans of sweet potatoes and carrots. This
will be our ORANGE group.

The First Graders bring canned green beans. This will be our GREEN GROUP.

The Second and Third Graders bring canned fruit. This will be our PURPLE/PINK group.

The Fourth Graders bring canned meat such as tuna, salmon, or chicken. This will be our BLUE group.

The Fifth Graders bring canned cranberries and cranberry sauce and/or 1-2 pound bags of rice. This will be our RED group;

Faculty and Staff bring canned soup, stuffing mix, 1 lb. bags of pasta, or 1-2 pound bags of pinto beans. This will be the JEANS group.

Each group will have a color-coded box that matches the group’s color, so that when your child
brings his or her donation, it will be easy to put it in the correct box. All food items should be brought to school by Thursday, November 17. On Friday, November 18, each child may wear the color of his or her group to school instead of uniforms. At the Sharing Feast, each group’s food will be brought to the altar in the Parish Hall and blessed by Father David before it is delivered to CTLC later that afternoon.

CCS Parents Plus Spirit Night!

2011-09-20T14:24:00.001-07:00

Papa Murphy's Pizza Fall FUNdraiser!

$2 donated to CCS Parents Plus for EVERY PIZZA SOLD

Return order forms & payment by Monday Sept. 26
Best Part: DELIVERY at School on Wed. Sept. 28
. . . in the drive through, on the foyer or at extended care!!!!

Take them home for an easy week night meal AND stock your freezer for fall parties, birthdays and family nights!

Sweet!

2011-08-30T06:25:00.001-07:00

It's going to be 106 today...why not cool off with some Gogo's Frozen Yogurt and Cupcakes and support CCS at the same time? We will earn 10% of ALL SALES! Tell all your friends to meet you there, or better yet, just round them all up and take them with you!!!!! Spirit night is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday! See you there!

Gogo's is located at 2668 South 31st St., Temple, TX 76504 next to Schlotzky's.

2011-08-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

Two More Weeks

2011-05-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, where has the time gone. It seems I just arrived and now the school year is almost over. There are few a things that are coming up in the last two weeks of school. Most of these events are in the school newsletter. However, I would like to take this opportunity to let you know about the last week's activities that pertain only to our class.

We will be having an end of year party on Friday. Kristy Eidson has made arrangements for us to use the playing field across the street for a water day picnic. We will have some water games and then a picnic lunch, therefore, there is NOT a sign up sheet for the party.

Things to send with your child on Friday.

Sunscreen (needs to be put on child before coming to school)
Swimsuit (wear underclothes)
Towel (labeled w/ name)
Change of clothes (including underware)
Shoes that can get wet (NO Bare feet)
Plastic bag for wet clothes

For lunch every child will bring there own sack lunch. Please remember to include a drink. We will not be near a water source suitable for drinking. Blankets will be provided for children to sit on to eat their lunch.

Mrs. Keever

April 9 Pre-K News

2011-05-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

I hope that you all had a very Happy Mother's Day. I took pictures of our Muffins for Moms celebration and some how while I was trying to upload them they were lost. We had a great time and the students enjoyed singing for their moms.

We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo and some of those pictures were uploaded to the Schools Face Book page. I will be adding the pitures that I took to our class webpage.

There is only three weeks of school left. I cannot believe it. This week we will be planting several different types of plants and grass. I will cotinue to take pictures of the fun activities that we are doing and hopefully I will not lose them this time.

We will also start talking about the end of school party so Kristy Eidson may be intouch with you to get some ideas. All school parties will be at the school on Friday the 27th at 11:00 am.

Mrs. Keever

April 29 - Pre-K News

2011-05-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

I can not believe that April is already gone and that May will be here next week. This past week we finished a book series by Mo Willems. The students enjoyed reading the mishaps of the Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny. At the end of the series they voted for their favorite book and then graphed the results.

In the coming weeks we will be reading about the Ocean and hopefully growing a few plants. The end of school is approaching and the students are becoming very excited but we still have a lot of fun activities to do. The first one is at the end of the week. MUFFINS FOR MOM!!!!

The students are working hard on a short program for the moms and grandmas that come on Friday, May 6th from 7:45-8:15. Please come join us for a nice breakfast and visit in the classroom.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Keever

Class Picture Order Forms :: Due May 2

2011-04-21T11:26:00.001-07:00

April 15 - Pre-K News

2011-04-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

Another busy week. On Monday we released our beautiful butterflies. The children were so excited and all the butterflies were happy to fly off and continue the cycle of life. Please be sure to view the last few pictures.

We also had a visit from a children's book writer. Cheryl Steele, Ph.D. came to the school on Friday to share her books with all the students. The children really enjoyed listening to her read from the books that she had written. The children then shared some of the books that we have co-authored in class. The children have one up on Dr. Steele, whereas they also illustrated their books, Dr. Steele's friend drew the pictures for hers. She was very impressed with the knowledge that the students possessed about book writing and even nocturnal animals. One of the books "Do Lions Wear Pajamas" was about what zoo animals do at night when nobody is there to see them.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION about next Wednesday. Our class is in charge of the story lesson during chapel this next week (April 20th). We have been asked to prepare a lesson about the Resurrection of Christ and present it in BOTH chapels. This means that every student MUST be at school by 7:50 in order for them to get into a costume. PLEASE have your child at school by this time. The first chapel starts at 8:10 and I would like to have them all in costumes and run through our lesson at least once before the upper school students start arriving for chapel. There is no need to bring or send anything with your child on this day. They will wear their normal chapel uniform. The school will provide the costumes that the students will simply wear over their clothes. You are more them welcome to come and stay for either chapel time to watch your child. Pictures are also greatly appreciated (since I will be unable to take them). I can download any that you take and place them on our blog cite for other parents to see that might otherwise be able to attend.

Other Reminders:

1. Next week is also a four day week before our short break for Easter.

2. Math-A-Thon pledge donations are due by Wednesday, April 20th. (for those who participated)

Mrs. Keever

April 8th Pre-K News

2011-04-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

Wow!! What an exciting week we have had. I am exhausted. We have managed to successfully raise 10 beautiful butterflies over the past few weeks. As of Friday at 1:00, 9 of them had emerged from their chrysalis. The 10th will most likely come out this evening or by Saturday. We have plans to try to release them on Monday so that they can live the rest of their short life span in the great outdoors. The children have really enjoyed learning and teaching others about the life cycle of their butterflies. We are still looking for Pringles cans for our last butterfly project that we will complete next week. If you have not sent one in please do so by Monday.

Today (Friday) we celebrated Cowboy Day. They had so much fun singing by the campfire, panning for gold, petting the baby calves, roping the steer and riding the "horse". They also made bandanas that will come home next week (they had to dry), and had trail mix for snack.

In Language we have started reading some of the "If You Give a..." books. At the end of our series the students will get to vote for their favorite and then graph the results. They did this once before while studying the author David Shannon.

Which brings me to next week. On Friday we will have a children's book author come to the school and share with the students. She will be reading some of her books to the children via a power point presentation.

It is hard to believe that we only have 7 more weeks of school left. The time has gone by very fast but we have studied hard and learned a lot. I have seen great growth in every student and have enjoyed every moment. We will continue to build our math, language and handwriting skills for the remainder of the year.

Our class will be in charge of the Bible story for chapel in two weeks (April 20). The students will tell the story of Jesus' resurrection based on Matt 28:1-10. We will start practicing this next week so that we will be prepared to teach the rest of the school the reason we celebrate Easter.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Keever

Annual Fund Participation Drive

2011-04-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

Achieving excellence requires commitment from everyone. Tuition alone does not cover the full cost of educating our students and maintaining our first-rate faculty. Donations provide the essential funds needed for curriculum development, faculty, scholarships and operating costs.

Starting Wednesday, April 6, we will launch our Annual Fund Participation Drive at the classroom level. Our goal is 100%!! The classroom with the highest percentage of Annual Fund contributors will win a great afternoon out: a special lunch out followed by fun afternoon activities. The lunch has been generously donated by this year’s Annual Fund Chairs Lori and David Butler. The contest is only for the number of contributors, not the amount contributed. Previous contributions to this year's Annual Fund will count towards your class; however, only donations specified for the Annual Fund will count. The contest will conclude Friday, April 29.

Every gift no matter the size helps. Your tax-deductible contribution will make a significant difference to CCS students immediately and in years to come.

We can accept donations online via PayPal using a credit card. You can find a link to our PayPal account via Facebook and our school website.

Grandparents Day

2011-04-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Friday we celebrated Grandparents Day at school. The children had a lot of fun singing for them and showing them all the great things that they are learning about in school. We had good turn out and we really appreciate the grandparents and even some great-grandparents that were able to join us. The children really get excited and you will never know what it means to them when they can share and spend time with family. I know that not all of our grand parents good make it so we want to send out a great big hug to all of you as well. Many families live a long distance away but hopefully this little hug can be sent your way.

This past week we have been looking at the life cycle of butterflies. By Friday they had all formed chrysalis and now we are playing the waiting game. Either late this week or early next week we should start seeing the butterflies emerge. We will only keep them for a few days, due to their short life span, before we release them outside int he hopes that they will be able to continue the cycle of life. We are still hoping that everyone will bring in a Pringles can. This is for an art project that goes along side our butterflies. I am hoping to be able to work on these this week. If you eat Pringles maybe you can send in an extra one for those who do not.

This coming Friday we will be celebrating Cowboy Day. We will talk about the old west, a little bit about Texas history and have some fun activities planned. All students and teachers are welcome to wear anything they have that relates to being a cowboy/cowgirl or any western wear that they may have. This includes cowboy boots, hats, bluejeans, bandanas, etc. This does NOT include guns, ropes or any other item that can be used or constude as a weapon.

Have a great week.

Mrs. Keever

CCS Parent Survey

2011-04-01T11:49:00.001-07:00

We have created a confidential survey through a third-party provider in
order to help us learn more about how we are doing. We invite you to please
take a few minutes to fill out these ten short questions so we can make CCS
even better.

Please click here to go to the survey.

The survey will be open through April 14, 2011. Thank you so much for your
time and support.

Win a Night Out to BJ's
The survey is confidential, however if you would like to be entered into a
drawing for a $50 gift certificate to BJ's, then please include your name on
question number 10 so we can put your name in the drawing. The drawing will
be April 15.

Pre-K News, March 25, 2011

2011-03-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

We had a good week back from break. This week we began new learning centers and the children seem to really enjoy them. We also have begun our Butterfly Project where the children will be learning about the life cycle of the butterfly. They will be making a book that they will be able to take home and keep as well as other pieces of art. Check out the pictures of our caterpillars. The children will be able to watch as they eat and grow, spin themselves into chrysalises and the finally transform into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies.

Just a few reminders: Report cards went on Wednesday. If you have not already signed and returned these please do so next week. Mrs. Boyd needs every student to bring in a water bottle for a special project she is doing at the end of next week. We also need Pringles cans for part of our Butterfly Project. Next week is the Book Fair so be sure to come in and take advantage of the opportunity to give the gift of reading to your child, grandchild, niece, nephew or friend. Lastly, Friday April 1st we will be celebrating Grandparents Day. Please invite them to join us at school for a little while so they can see what your children are studying.

The following week we will celebrate Cowboy Day so stay tuned to upcoming news about this great day.

Mrs. Keever

Important Reasons to Learn Spanish!

2011-03-21T07:08:00.001-07:00

1. Spanish is the third most widely spoken language in the world! In about 25 countries, Spanish is the first language! Travel is lots more fun, if you speak the language of the people who live there!

2. Spanish and English share many words in common - most are of Latin origin. Plus, it is easier to learn other romance languages (those derived from Latin or "roman") such as Italian, Portuguese, and French!

3. Learning a second language makes one a better student! The more conections you feed your brain, the smarter you will be! AND - it is proven that students who learn a foreign language excel in college entrance exams!

4. To learn another language opens our hearts and minds to other peoples and their cultures - "to know another's language is to begin to know his heart . . ."!

5. It is FUN!

*This information is taken from Risas y Sonrisas Spanish Program for Kids by Leticia Smith

2011-03-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring Break!!!

Last week we had a visitor in our classroom. Mrs. Alwine's granddaughter, Elizabeth, joined us on Tuesday and Wednesday. Her family was vacationing from North Carolina and her dad was teaching in the upper grades. The children loved showing her around the room and helping her with the class work. Thank you for coming Elizabeth.

In math we matched numbers to sets, learned how to share a hole by separating it into equal parts, and compared numbers using a number line. We used left ear strokes to help us write C, G and e in handwriting. Language was fun because we learned new words in the "am" and "an" word families. We also finished up our David Shannon book study. We voted for our favorite and graphed the results.

Hope you all have a great Spring Break!!! See you next week!

Mrs. Keever

Pre-K News, March 4, 2011

2011-03-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to first apologize for not posting last week. As some of you may know, my husband, Jim, finally arrived from Ohio with a LARGE truck full of our household belongings on Monday night late. He spent the week looking for a house and by Friday we were unloading the truck at our new home. My weekend was full of unpacking and arranging furniture.

Now back to the reason for this blog. News about your children. Last week was parent/teacher conferences and I want to thank everyone for coming. This shows how much you care and want the best for your child. We also finished our lesson about our friends around the county, learned about Presidents and wrote our own class book ,"If I Were President". This will be coming around to your home soon along with the book that we read in class. Please be sure to return both books in the Zip-lock bag.

We have begun blending letter sounds to make word families. You might have noticed that your child has brought home a list of words that we have learned. Use this list to help them practice sounding out the words. If you have magnetic letters they can find the letter the represents each sound they hear in each word and place them on your fridge. Go slow and make the sound of each letter and let them find it. For example the word cat: say the word, cat, then go back and say the sound of each letter: /k/, let them find the letter c; then say /a/ and let them find the letter a; and then say /t/ and let them find the letter t. Finally repeat the word cat while pointing to each letter as you say the sounds. (When you see a letter between // this represents the sound the letter makes not the actual letter, therefore /k/ represent the sound that letter c makes. Say the sound NOT the letter. C says /k/, a says /a/ and t says /t/; cat sounds like /kat/.)

In Math the children have been introduced to dimes. We are using our counting by ten skills to help us learn what a dime is worth and how to buy items that are 10¢, 20¢, 30¢, 40¢ and 50¢. We will continue to review these and other lessons while we build on them to increase our knowledge.

This coming week is the final week in the grading period. The week of March 14-18 is Spring Break. We will continue with blending sounds and making new words in the coming weeks of school. I would like the children to begin writing simple sentences by the end of the school year.

Mrs. Keever

Spring BoxTops Drive

2011-02-28T12:06:00.001-08:00

It's time to start turning in BoxTops

for our spring BoxTops drive.

The contest is now underway and will conclude next Thursday, March 10. The class with the most BoxTops will earn an out of uniform day on Friday, March 11! Woo hoo!

Happy Valentine's Feb 18th

2011-02-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

The students had a great Valentine's Party. Thank you to Kristy Eidson for planning the games and for everyone who brought in food for the event. We have also received many cards from our new friends from all over the United States. One is from a friend that I attended elementary, middle and high school with. This was exciting for me and the children couldn't believe it. Please come by the room and check out the bulletin board outside our room.

Parent/Teacher conferences are on Monday. Remember school will not be in session, however, extended care will be open. Come prepared to discover the progress that your child is making as well as any questions that you might have about the rest of the year. I am looking forward to speaking with each of you. The end of the grading period is coming quickly (March 11th) and Progress Reports will go out after Spring Break.

Next week we will talk about President's Day. This will round out the month of February March will bring us Spring Break and the Book Fair. More details will be included in future blogs.

The school will also be participating in a "Box Top" competition. The class that collects the most "Box Tops" will receive a "Out of Uniform" day on the Friday before spring break. Help us earn this special treat and start sending in your "Box Tops".

See you on Monday,

Mrs. Keever

Pre-K News, February 11, 2011

2011-02-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

WOW, what a week!!!! Thank you to everyone for braving the cold and ice and sometimes snow this week. We had two short days and a lot of fun activities that filled our days. On Monday we did Snow Experiment with some snow that I collected last week. On Friday we played "Melt-an-Ice Cube" game.

Monday, February 14, is our Valentine Party. It will begin at 10:30. Please be sure to send in your child's Valentine cards. We will be making bags to collect them at school and then hand out the cards before the party. Mrs. Eidson has some fun activities planned for the children. Sandwiches and other snacks will be served around 11:00.

The following Monday, February 21, is parent teacher conferences. The students will not have school, however, extended care will be open. These students will need to bring their lunch from home.

I will be finalizing some things for conferences next week. We will continue to place new Valentine letters on the map as they come in. We have already located several new places and are learning a lot about our new friends. Please continue to visit the board and ask your child about it.

Weekly News, Jan 31-Feb 4

2011-02-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

BRRRR...Wow what a cold week we had! We are now in a new month and have a lot of celebrations coming up. We talked and read books on Wednesday about Groundhog Day. Some of this we did in the dark (only using the light coming in from the windows) due to the rolling blackouts. The children did fine and kept right on with the business at hand. On Thursday we had a late start and therefore were unable to complete all our lessons and Friday was a snow day.

This week was a very unusual week as well as a fun one for those who like to go out and play in the snow. Having lived in snow barren states this was just another snowfall, BUT being a born and bred Texan it was quite a treat to see the snow in a place that does not see a lot of it. Since we did get some snow this past week I have added a fun Science experiment to do with the children on Monday. My mother always talks about her childhood when it would snow they would collect some and make snow ice cream. Over the past few years I have learned how dirty snow actually is and that you really should not be eating it. Our experiment will consist of filtering some melted snow, that I collected, through a coffee filter and then comparing it with plain tap water that is also poured through a coffee filter. If the concern with the dirty snow is true we should be able to see a difference on the filters.

Since we are still talking about the cold we will be doing a second experiment this week. This one will be in the form of a game where the children roll a die and have to do different things with an ice cube. The object of the game is to see whose ice cube melts first, however within the game they will try to see which of six different ways makes the ice cube melt faster; holding it in your hand, dropping it down your shirt, blowing on it, dropping it on the table, putting salt on it or floating it in water.

Your child may be talking to you about our new Alphabet Chant that was introduced to them on Monday. It is called "The Phonics Dance" and was created by Ginny A. Dowd. Many of the schools in the Cleveland, OH area are implementing this program and the students really love it. It is a very interactive way of learning the names and sounds of each letter. We start off each morning by getting a few "Magic Sound Stars" (cake decorations). The students put their hands in the middle of a circle and using the "Magic Wand" I say these "magic words"; "Oh magic sound stars, make these Pre-K children smart. Help them tell their letters and sounds apart." The children will then say, "I am smart, I am smart, I am smart", and then they eat the "Magic Sound Stars". We then say the Alphabet Chant. We started with four letters and will add a few at a time each week. They should know the whole chant by the end of the month. Make sure to ask them about it often.

***UP COMING EVENTS***

*We will have a Valentine's Day party on Monday the 14th. Mrs. Eidson will be posting a sign-up sheet in the room sometime soon.

*Parent/Teacher Conferences will be Monday Feb 21st (NO School this day). The sign-up sheet for this is posted just inside the classroom door.

Mrs. Keever

International Days and 100th Day Celebrations

2011-01-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

We had a really busy week. On Wednesday and Friday we had guest speakers that shared with the students about Russia and Pakistan during our International Days Celebration.

Thursday was the children 100th Day of school and we had many activities to celebrate. The Kindergarten class lead the school in a 100 balloon count has they counted by 5's and then released them followed by a cupcake count in the library. This time they counted by 10's both forward and backward. They were kind enough to share their cupcakes with us. The students had a blast making two new class books, making their own trail mix and sorting, graphing and stringing Fruit Loops. Check out all the class pictures by clicking here.

We will be learning a new "Alphabet Chant" starting next week. It is an interactive way to help students learn the names and sounds of each letter. All the children are doing great in this area. Learning comes in many forms and this new chant will use several learning styles including; visual, auditory and tactile. It is also a very fun and different way to learn.

As part of an ongoing Social Studies theme, we are going to be doing a Valentine Exchange with elementary school classes from across the United States. We will talk about the different places and locate and mark them on the big map in the hallway. Please feel free to check it out at anytime. It will be a work in progress. As a preliminary activity to this will be talking about our families and where they were born. PLEASE talk to your child about where you, your spouse and your child were born. I would like to mark this on the big map as well. You want to write this information down and send it in. This children sometimes have a hard time remembering or get their facts mixed up a bit. Thank you for taking the time to talk to your children on a daily basis.

This brings me to our Valentines Day Party. The date is set for Monday February 14th. Our room mom, Mrs, Eidson, will be organizing this after the Gala on Friday February 4th. Don't forget to attend and bid on the many wonderful item in the both silent and floor auctions. Their will lots of good food, fun and fellowship. See you there!

Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming soon. The date set for this is Monday February 21st. I will have a sign-up sheet posted on the wall just inside the classroom door. Please sign up for a time that is convenient for you.

Mrs. Keever

Starry Knights :: CCS Gala

2011-01-25T12:27:00.001-08:00

Please make plans for to attend the CCS Gala, Starry Knights. It will be a fabulous night with friends, exquisite food and fun all in support of CCS.

An exquisite seated dinner will be served at 7:30p.m. Following the dinner, Eddie Lange will host our live auction. You will not want to miss a single item on our silent auction or the class projects! David Louth's band will provide the live music and stargazing is available, weather permitting.

Following is a preview of our spectacular live auction items.
Mountain Hideaway
One week vacation in glorious Ruidoso, New Mexico at the Hummingbird Cabins Alpine Chalet.

Blast Off Family Fun Weekend
Hotel stay for two nights at Hilton Hotel in Clear Lake, Texas. Passes to Nasa and Kemah boardwalk and gift card for Aquarium restaurant

Cultural Cowtown Getaway
Downtown Hilton Hotel, $100 gift certificate to Uncle Julio’s, four passes to Contemporary Museum of Art and $300 merchandise from Kimball Art Museum

Heart of Texas Dove Hunt
Six hunters hosted by Christina and Rob Marshall.

It’s What’s For Dinner
Storage freezer full of grass-fed beef.

Batter Up
Enjoy a Rangers game at the Ballpark in Arlington. Tickets for four with premier seating and VIP parking pass.

Gourmet Dinner Party
Gourmet meal for eight prepared in your home. Package includes wine.

Deer Hunt
Four hunters in Junction, Texas. Hosted by K.C. and Price Brashear.

Say Cheese!
Photography session by Shannon Hunt Photography, 10 x 10 photo book, 16 x 20 portrait and digital files.

Tickets for the Gala are $40. To make a reservation, please see Kathy Barnes in the office. The Gala is Friday, February 4 at 7 p.m. in the Christ Church Parish Hall.

Classroom News - Jan 21, 2011

2011-01-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

First of all I want to let everyone know that we had a great time this morning with our dads and even some grandpas. The kids were sooooooooooo excited and it lasted aaaaalllllllll day long. Needless to say I want to thank all those dads (and grandpa) for coming. I know it is hard to get off of work sometimes but it means so much to the children. I also wanted to let those who were unable to come that we were sorry and missed you. Please be mindful that Donuts for breakfast are not always a good choice but the children really enjoyed them.

Remember that our 100th day of school will be on Thursday (unless we have a snow day). We already have some candy corn for our 100 day trail mix. I will have a sign up sheet posted on Monday if you want to choose another item. We are looking forward to this day as the Kindergarteners lead us in a day of 100s. We have a lot of activities planned.

UNIFORM REMINDER - I know that CCS has already posted a policy blog but I would like to also note that the girls should wear shorts under their dresses. I know that sometimes we as parents forget that even girls like to swing on the monkey bars and crawl around on the floor.

This week we have started reading about Flat Stanley. If you have forgotten or maybe have never heard of Flat Stanley, he is a boy that was flattened when the bulletin board that he and his brother had in their room fell on him one night. Stanley then has many adventures where he is mailed to other places and tells stories of his travels. There are many books in the series (we will probably not get to all of them) but I will be focusing on some of the ones where he travels to different parts of the United States. This will go along with our Social Studies theme of community and the World around us. To help us out we will also be doing a Valentine Exchange with students from other states and marking them on a map in the hall. I would love for the families to share the different places that they have lived and I will place markers for this as well. I have a world map as well in case you have lived or were born in another country.

I have also posted pictures of our Science project. Please see what we have made. Click here to go to the website of pictures and then you can select "Science Experiment" to view the new pictures.

Mrs. Keever

Uniforms and Colder Temperatures

2011-01-21T08:21:00.001-08:00

With the cooler temperatures, we would like to remind everyone about our
uniform policy. Click here for the complete uniform policy.

While in the school building, class, chapel and lunch students are
required to be in approved uniform attire. Jackets, sweaters and coats
which are not part of the dress code will not be allowed. If your
student is cold natured and you need a sweater, please check our used
uniforms. You can always order sweaters, fleece and jackets from Lands
End.

Only white undershirts are to be worn. Long sleeve white undershirts are
permitted with a CCS polo shirt over. The navy blue long-sleeve Knights
t-shirt is only to be worn on Fridays.

For girls, only white or navy blue tights or leggings are permitted.

Pants with holes in the knees are to be patched or not worn at all.

Ties are mandatory for all boys first grade and up on Wednesdays for
Chapel.

Boots of any kind are not allowed.

Beginning Monday, January, 24, students out of the uniform dress code
will be sent to the office and will remain there until a parent can
bring the proper uniform.

-------

It is our policy that students will go outside for recess unless it is
raining. Please send your children to school with warm coats and
anything else you would like them to wear in the cold weather.

We have ordered a few more long-sleeve Knights t-shirts for purchase.
They should arrive next week. If you would like to buy one, please see
Kathy Barnes in the office. The t-shirts are $15.

January 14th

2011-01-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

The students have really enjoyed bringing home the class books, the "Can You Guess" bag and are looking forward to their time with Teddy. Hannah took him home last week and Jack has him this weekend spending a special weekend with his dad. Brinley has reserved the weekend of Feb 12th, so if anyone else would like to put in a request for Teddy let me know as soon as you can. Other wise I will randomly send him home with the students.

It was super cold this week and so the children have spent most of the week indoors. Hopefully it will be nicer next week and they can go back out to the playground. Continue to send coats however because we will try our best to go outside as the weather allows.

This week we have started talking about winter weather and have started a class book that describes the things the students like to do in the winter. This should start going home sometime next week. We are continuing to learn our letters and sounds and are counting our way to the 100th day of school, which is coming up very soon.

Monday is MLK Day and we are out of school but we will talk more about him on Tuesday. This will lead into our study of our community and the schools International Days celebration the last week in January.

We will also be doing a science experiment with water, Borax and pipe cleaners. Be sure to ask you child what this is all about.

Friday, January 21 is our "Donuts with Dad" party. Dads will come in from 7:45-8:15 and be served donuts, tacos and coffee. Please come and enjoy a time of visitation before you head off to work.

For our 100th day the Kindergarten class will head up a balloon release activity that all classes are invited to attend. As for our class we will have many activities revolving around 100. One of these will be to have a 100 snack. Instead of having every student bring in a collection of 100 items they need to bring in 100 snacks. (For example, 100 raisins, 100 Cheerios, 100 M&M's, 100 pretzels, 100 gummy bears.) The idea is that we will put all of the snacks in one big bowl and have a trail mix type of treat. (NO PEANUTS PLEASE) If you would like I will put up a sign up sheet by the door in the room so that snacks are not repeated.

Wow, Parent/Teacher conferences are coming at the end of February. Start thinking about coming in and seeing all that your child is learning in Pre-K. More information to come about this.

I hope that you all have a fun and safe three day weekend.

Mrs. Keever

First Week Back

2011-01-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Today ends a very busy week. The children seem very happy to be back and they have been working very hard. The class books have started going home with the students and the "Can You Guess", bag has been a huge hit. They really enjoy sharing their clues and guessing what is inside. Just a reminder that when the books come home you have two days to return them in the bag that they were sent home in. There were some questions about the last few pages that were left blank in them. This space is for you as a parent to write any comments that you choose about the book itself or something that your child might have shared with you about the book.

The "Can You Guess", bag needs to be returned the next day of school. Place one item in the bag and help your child write three clues. These too will be placed in the bag and sent to school. Remind your child that it is a secret and not to tell anyone what it is until they have had a chance to guess it during our Morning Meeting.

Teddy has also started coming home so if you know that you have a special event coming up and would like your child to possibly bring it home that weekend, just let me know so that I can try to have your child take it home on that date. You can email me at school.

Another BIG reminder is the weather. Next week we are supposed to have some really cold days. Please send a coat with your child. Hats and gloves are optional but always a good idea. Make sure your child's name is in all articles of clothing sent to school.

This week the students worked on letter Ll and Ii. We focused on how to write the letters correctly, what sounds they make and words that begin with these letters. Be sure to ask your child about this. In math they worked on ordinal numbers (first, second, third and fourth), telling time to the hour and using number lines, they identified numbers that were before, after and between.

Next week we will continue to work on letter Ii and begin letters Tt and Hh. In math we will be working with money, identifying objects within a group, problem solving and complete our Unit Five Assessments. A math assignment will be sent home for you to help your child with on Monday.

Looking ahead, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is coming soon and we will be talking about him and the impact that he had on our community. We will continue to talk about winter weather (even though it is hard to discuss snow when there is none) and in Science will be making Crystallized Snowflakes.

Have a great weekend and we will see you next week.
Mrs. Keever

December events

2010-12-31T17:20:00.000-08:00

I want to first apologize for the delay in accessing this site. We have all had a busy Christmas season and I hope everyone had a safe holiday. Please be assured that I am enjoying being a part of your child's educational experience and expect the rest of the year to be full of exciting activities. The implementation of many new lessons as well as classroom and home adventures are sure to bring lots of fun.

Let me fill you in on some of the things your child did during the month. We began December getting to know one another. There were a few changes made in how the classroom was structured and I have to say your children were real troopers. I tried to make these changes slowly and explain each one and why I chose to make them. As most of you know the room has been some what flip flopped enabling the use of the long board (old chalk board) to be used as the Morning Circle Time Wall. A visual schedule was added so the children will know what is happening on a day-to-day basis. Believe me, they keep me on my toes about this. A weather station was also added and the children love to dress the frog in the proper clothes. Another big addition is the Word Wall. We will be learning some sight words during the second semester of school and these will be placed on this wall. The children can then use the Word Wall as a reference when they want to write a note home or describe a picture that they have drawn.

A few other events that happened during the month were the Christmas Program, Santa's Workshop and our Gingerbread Man Hunt. During the second week we read five different variations of the classic story. The Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Boy, Gingerbread Girl, Gingerbread Baby, and Gingerbread Friends were the tittles of these books. We talked about the differences and similarities, made predictions and discussed how they made us feel. At the end of the week the Gingerbread Man paid us a visit and led us on a treasure hunt in the hopes of finding him somewhere in the school. We followed clues he left behind and found that he is really fast. He escaped the grasps of Mrs. Alwine and Mrs. Barnes only to send us hunting in the gym, library and playground. We finally were led back to our room where we found him sitting in Mrs. Keever's chair. We made a decision as a class to eat him and we all thought that he tasted really good.

The following link will take you to a site that includes many pictures of our school days. Please enjoy visiting it often as I will add pictures with new events. Mrs. Keever's Classroom Pictures

Just a few more items that I would like to bring to your attention. The first is Teddy the classroom bear. Teddy will have the opportunity to visit each student for a weekend between now and the end of the school year. The purpose of this is for your child to share some of his/her experiences with the rest of the class. This will be accomplished when Teddy comes home for a visit. The children are allowed to take Teddy anywhere and everywhere he/she goes. The only thing that I ask is that he not get wet. In other words Teddy loves to go watch swim lessons but does not like to actually swim. A book will accompany Teddy in his personal backpack. This book is for you and your child to write a story about his visit. As you share your weekend with Teddy you are welcome to take pictures. Include these with the story. It will help your child recall the events and share them in class.

Another new item that will be coming home is the "Can You Guess?" bag. This is a lunch bag that will come home with each child several times between now and the end of the school year. When you see this in your child's backpack help him/her select a small item that they may bring to school and share. With your help, your child will need to think of three clues that your child will bring to school and "read" to the class. Place these clues inside the bag with the item to be shared. The other students will listen to the clues and try to guess what is in the bag. It is recommended that the items be small enough to fit in the bag and not be breakable. They will be sent home the same day. The students will not be allowed to play with them during school time.

We will be making class books as well. We have actually already made two of them and these too will begin to come home. They are books that the students themselves have helped create. They will cover many categories over the course of the school year. Many of them will reflect on activities that we do in class and others will be observations that the students make about a particular topic. When these arrive at home, I ask that you take the time to sit down with your child and have him/her show you the book. This is a great opportunity for him/her to share with you about what he/she is doing at school. Some books will have some reading and you can help them with this. The books will be sent home in a plastic bag to help protect them from being damaged. Please return them to school the same way. You will be allowed two days for each book. This will give your child time to read and reread the book to you and others while also allowing every child a turn with the book.

Thank you,

Mrs. Keever

Class Quilt Project

2010-12-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

Our class did a STELLAR job on their beautiful quit that will be auctioned in the gala February 4! Each student decorated a block with his or her name and hand print and STARS! Then a very talented mom pieced it all together and produced the final quilt.

Please, if you have not already, contribute $10 for the cost of supplies. And certainly make plans to come to the Gala on February 4.

Candy Cane Lane next Wednesday, December 1

2010-11-23T12:32:00.001-08:00

You most certainly will not want to miss the First Annual Candy Cane Lane Children's Holiday Fashion Show and Luncheon benefiting the Children's Hospital at Scott & White on Wednesday, December 1.

The fashion show will feature some of our adorable students modeling holiday fashions from My Vintage Baby, Orient Expressed and original designs from Amanda Duggan, a mom of a CCS student!

The luncheon will begin at 11 a.m. and is catered by Megg's Cafe. Tickets are $20. Space is limited so we urge out parents and friends to reserve a chair as soon as possible. To make your reservation, please see Kathy Barnes in the office or call 774.8622.

Parents Plus is also hosting a Holiday Bazaar in conjunction. Talented parents and friends of the school will have lots of gifts on hand to purchase. It is really going to be a fabulous day. The Bazaar will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission to the Bazaar is free.

This Week in Pre-K

2010-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

In Pre-K this week we are studying about the first Thanksgiving. On Friday our studies will culminate with the Sharing Feast at 11:00am. The entire school will gather in the Parish Hall to share a meal together. Parents and grandparents are invited to help serve the children's plates. Our class is responsible for bringing rolls to share. The program will end with the students singing of two songs they have learned about Thanksgiving.

Also, please send a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly with your child this week. We will say a blessing over these offerings at the Sharing Feast and will then take them to Food for Families to be distributed to families in need. At this special time of year we reflect on how abundantly God provides for us and want to, in turn, provide for others.

The letter we are studying this week is the letter I i. This works out perfectly with the study of Indians and pilgrms! We are making Indian vests to wear to the Sharing Feast. Come see how cute we will be!

In math we are studying patterning and sorting and are using manipulatives, in addition to our math sheets, to help us as we learn these concepts.

Our Bible lesson this week is the Feeding of the 5000. Mrs. Acomb's first grade class will present the skit for chapel on Wednesday. Parents and special friends are always welcome to attend chapel with us at 8:25 each Wednesday morning.

CCS Celebrates Veterans Day

2010-11-08T11:52:00.001-08:00

Please join Christ Church School as we celebrate Veterans Day on
Thursday, November 11, at 11 a.m.

Students are encouraged to wear a white or red shirt. Uniform pants/
shorts/skirts are still required.

At 11 a.m. we will have our own Veterans Day Parade to honor all
veterans, especially parents and grandparents of students who are
veterans. We would love it if you could join us on this special day!

Fun Things in Store This Week

2010-11-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

The theme for the week is Health and Nutrition. The class will learn about the food pyramid and good food choices. The week will culminate with a vegetable and fruit tasting on Friday. This will include an art project using the fruits and vegetables to paint with! Mrs. McRae's class is having Stone Soup this Friday and they have invited the Pre-K class to join them and taste some of their delicious soup and hear the story Stone Soup.

We are presently on Lesson 32 of the Saxon kindergarten math curriculum. We're studing shapes and the number 5 this week.

For the pre-reading curriculum, the letter of the week is Nn. From 9:30-10 a.m. on Friday the class will have a special treat. The 4th-6th graders are coming to read books to the students. The Pre-K students really enjoy this one-on-one time with the big kids. The older students plan to make this a regular Friday activity.

The color of the week is brown. Students are invited to wear a brown shirt to school on Friday. If your child doesn't have a brown shirt, the regular school t-shirt is fine.

The Bible story this week is Gideon and the Fleece from Judges 6. The 4th-6th grade students will present the chapel skit on Wednesday and the Pre-K class will be learning more about Gideon and the fleece later in class. Immediately after chapel this Wednesday, Mrs. McCauley will be taking individual school pictures so have your children looking their best that day!

CCS Book Fair Saturday! Support CCS!

2010-11-05T08:28:00.001-07:00

Art Project for CCS Gala

2010-10-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars! The CCS Annual Gala, "Starry Knights", is scheduled for Friday, February 4, 2011! It's going to be a fabulous evening with friends with a delicious dinner in conjunction with the silent and live auctions!

This year each class will be working on a class project for the silent auction. It's a great way to get our students involved and create one of a kind treasures! Our class will be making a class quilt and the children will be working on their portion on Monday, November 1.

Please send $10 to cover the cost of project supplies.

Feel free to contact Kristy Eidson with any questions!

October 20th

2010-10-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ask your children to tell you how chapel went today! They did an awesome job with acting out the story of Samson tackling the Lion. Ask your child which character they were in the play - they did a great job!

Please sign up for the bake sell items and to volunteer in our booth this Saturday!

Thanks-
Ms. Mills

Royal Volunteers Needed for Canterbury Faire

2010-10-13T11:54:00.001-07:00

BAKE SALE
We are asking for everyone to donate one large item (such as a cake, pie, or bread) and one batch of small items individually wrapped (such as cookies, brownies, rice krispy treats).
• Label everything with tags or printed labels from your computer, be sure to mention if the item contains nuts. Don’t worry about pricing, we will handle that.
• Presentation is everything! Large items sell much faster if they look great. Check the dollar store for Fall or Halloween plates to display your creation.
• Individual items don’t need to be wrapped as fancy, most of these will be sold and eaten at lunchtime. These will be priced at 50 cents each, so package accordingly (one brownie per bag, two cookies per bag, etc.).
• Delivery times: Friday, October 22 before 4pm at the front of the school, or Saturday October 23 before 10am at our table by the Parish Hall.

CLASS BOOTHS
Sign up for a time to help at your classroom booth. Each class has a booth and parents need to sign up for 30 minute time slots. If you are unable to go into your child's class and sign up, send your teacher an email and let her know when you can help.

RAFFLE
Ready for a fall getaway? The Canterbury Faire committee is so excited to announce a raffle for a weekend getaway to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. It is a kid's dream and fun for parents, too! Tickets for the raffle are available in the office. Tickets are $10 per ticket or 3 tickets for $20.
A special thank you to our generous raffle sponsor Sherri and Graves Erskine, Geico Local Office serving the Killeen/Temple area.

Questions? Don't know what you can do to help? Contact Holly Steele, Canterbury Faire Chairperson. Thanks everyone for supporting this Parents Plus fundraiser!!

Conferences

2010-10-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

It was very nice to get to sit and talk with each of you! I enjoy working with your children! Thanks for making my first parent conferences at CCS very comfortable, I am blessed to have a great group of children and parents!

Thanks!
Marci Mills

2010-09-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Please don't forget to send stuff for the Apple Party tomorrow!!!!

We are in second place in the box top competition - please help up step it up and take first place - we want a PIZZA PARTY!!!!!!

If you haven't signed up for conferences on October 11th - Please contact me!!!!

Thanks!

Christ Church School Sunday :: October 3

2010-09-27T12:25:00.001-07:00

We hope you make plans to join all of us for Christ Church School Sunday this Sunday, October 3.

CCS is the primary ministry of Christ Church and the parishoners always appreciate seeing "their" students. At the 11 a.m. service the church will offer prayers for the school and will recognize the faculty, staff, school board, but most importantly our students. Upper School students will also sing.

Following we will have cake and fellowship in the Parish Hall. It is a lovely morning and we hope you will be there.

Students are encouraged to wear their Chapel uniforms.

Family Shields

2010-09-23T12:19:00.001-07:00

Family Shields on display at Canterbury Faire 2009

Canterbury Faire is just around the corner (October 23!). We are asking each family to help with decorations by designing their own family coat of arms on the shield provided. During medieval battles, knights would put their family coat of arms on their shields so they could easily be identified as friend or foe on the battlefield. Have fun with it and make this a family project to do together with your children. If you still have your shield from last year, please send back so we can display the shields for others to view.

Shields will go home with students Friday. Keep in mind that this project is per family, not per student.

Please have the project completed and returned to school no later than Monday, October 18, so we can display them on the that week. On the day of the Faire they will be displayed outside on a castle wall to add to the medieval theme of the event.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

September 20th

2010-09-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry that I have not been blogging! Actually I have been but they have been going to a different blog page - not sure how that happened! Wow - I just love technology!

This week we will be discussing:
* My Home
* Color Yellow
* Letter "Y"

Some of the activities to look for this week include:
* Decorating the letter "Y" with Yellow
* Shape Houses
* Cutting Play dough
* Letter Stamps

Looking forward to a great week!!
Ms. Mills

Setember 3rd

2010-09-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Have a Great Weekend!!!!

See you on Tuesday -
Ms. Mills!

Show Some Spirit!

2010-09-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand, we are offering the navy blue CCS Knights shirt in short sleeve. Please return this form to the office to place your order. Orders are due no later than Friday, September 10. The cost is $12.

We do have some long sleeve Knights t-shirts available as well. The cost for the long sleeve t-shirt is $15.

September 2nd

2010-09-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to go home early because I had a horrible headache - it was very hard leaving because all the children were so sweet and kind - they told me they were sorry that I wasn't feeling good and they would miss me. When I woke up this morning I wanted to stay in bed but their sweet voices reminded me that I needed to go to school!!! I am enjoying each and every child in Pre K this year - thank you for sharing your children with me!

Today we learned how to count to seven and how to sky write the number seven. We also learned how to match items of the same color (see their worksheets for today).

As the week draws to an end we will review our book - Pipo, The Puma and put all of our numbers together 1 thru 8.

If you get a chance, ask your children to name all the friends in their new classroom, see if they can tell you all eleven friends in our class!

Reminder: Please have girls wear shorts under their dresses and skirts - they dont like it when they are laughed at for showing their panties while on the playground!

Hope you have a great evening!
Mrs. Mills

August 39th

2010-08-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Just wanted to give you a glimpse of what is going on this week.

THEME: "My New Friends at School"
SHAPE: Circle
GOALS:
* Learning the importance of sharing with my new friends at school.
* Learning all of my new friends names.
* Communicating my likes and interests with my new friends.
* Interacting with my new friends in a positive manner.

Looking forward to an awesome week with your children in Pre-K!
Ms. Mills

August 24th

2010-08-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Another Awesome Day is Pre-K!

Math is so important in our everyday lives and your children are learning great math skills and are excited about them. We learned about the number two and we traced the number two on our number line! Please check your child's backpack for their math worksheets. Ask your child to draw the number two in the air - they should be able to tell you the chant they learned:

"Curl Around and Slide to the Right" (repeat 3 times)

"That's how we write the number two."

sing to the tune of "Skip to My Lou"

Rules of the Day:
* Use Walking Feet in the Building
* Be Kind to our Friends - we talked about not calling each other names, keeping our hands and our feet to ourselves, and helping our friends when they need or ask for our help.

Have a great evening!
Ms. Mills

Week 1 - My Classroom

2010-08-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

It was an honor to meet each and everyone of you and your children last Thursday and Friday! I really enjoyed getting to know your children and I hope that they enjoyed the first two days of Pre-K!

This week we will be learning about "My Classroom"! We will be learning how our classroom is set up and the rules and expectations in our classroom and in our school. We will learn the different learning centers and the rules within each learning center. Ask your child to tell you about the different learning centers and see if they can tell you how many friends are allowed in each learning center.

Today we had an awesome learning circle - the children were very interested in using the counting bears to understand an important math concept. The number we learned today was number one and we learned that when we count items we start with the number one. The children also practiced writing the number one and did an awesome job! During learning centers the children made and painted a number one out of a paper towel holder.

Looking forward to an awesome week with your child!

Ms. Mills

Welcome to Christ Church School!

2010-08-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to PreK!

I am very excited to show you my new blog - this is an awesome way to communicate during the year. I am looking forward to meeting you and your child!

Ms. Mills