Monday, February 20
Dear Parents,
We found a couple of familiar animals in the question box today…a zebra and a lion. We likely won’t
be on an African safari anytime soon (though that’s definitely on my bucket list!) we can see some
of these animals at the zoo. We’ll be building a zoo of our own this week as we explore different
animal species and learn some interesting facts. Today we heard about the importance of stripes
on a zebra. Can your child tell you about it?
We had fun color mixing to create the greenery for our zoos. These will become tree tops,
bushes, and grasses all around the zoo. We marble painted zebras to add to our land. Check out
the beginnings of the PreK Zoo out in the hallway.
The sensory box is filled with different zoo animals and Easter grass. I’ve observed patterning and
sorting, as well as different animal herds being assembled. New in the math center, they are
practicing number recognition and one-to-one counting as they feed my number monkeys bananas.
I brought a bag full of different items we need for different reasons: water, food, sunglasses,
bandaids, & Jesus. I asked the children different questions to figure out each item I was talking
about. God provides for our needs in many different ways and even through different people. He
heard about how Jesus provided for a large group of people when He fed 5,000 which just 5
loaves of bread and two fish. A miracle indeed!
The February snack schedule is here. March is ready here. Please send snack for 14 on your day.
See what’s for lunch here
See many of you tomorrow!
<><,
Mrs. Maxfield
Tuesday, February 21
Dear Parents,
We brainstormed different jobs of a zookeeper and added them to our BIG notebook. We read
Who Works at the Zoo? and listened for anything else to add to our list. A zookeeper is a busy
person! One of the children asked why there aren’t zookeepers in the wild. We’ll be learning
about animal instincts this week too.
We had a true test of wills with a direction following activity, assembling a giraffe to add to our zoo.
We continue to work on this skill in directed activities like this and throughout our daily routine.
After assembling their giraffes, they children went to town adding spots.
We worked on building the letter Z with our Handwriting without Tears pieces. Two little lines and
one big line make the letter Z. Can they tell you something that starts with the /z/ sound?
We watched our Bible story on the smartboard this morning. We are amazed how Jesus provided
and how God provides for us each day. We reviewed our special Bible words, “O give thanks unto
the Lord, for He is good.”
The February snack schedule is here. March is ready here. Please send snack for 14 on your day.
See what’s for lunch here
See many of you tomorrow!
<><,
Mrs. Maxfield
Wednesday, February 22
Dear Parents,
Pastor Rall led preschool chapel this morning. He was eager to be back after a double knee
replacement last month. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to heal and return to his
normal, active self soon. He brought 3 kinds of lights with him. One was dim, one was bright, and
one was VERY bright. He told us about Jesus’ Transfiguration, when His face shone bright like the
sun. Ask your child about it.
We shared about different trips we’ve taken to the zoo. We thought about different behaviors
we’ve seen animals do. One that kept coming up was sleep! We learned that lions sleep about 20
hours a day! I think I may be jealous of a lion.  We read At the Zoo together and saw some of
these behaviors in our book too.
We practiced short snips today making the fringe of a lion’s mane. It wasn’t long until they
discovered that the closer the snips, the fluffier the mane looks. Check out our new additions to
our PreK Zoo out in the hallway.
We added the letter Z page to their Handprint Alphabet book today. I bet you can guess what
animal we added!
Mrs. Beran is headed to Phoenix tonight to attend a conference with her husband. She’s also
competing in a marathon while she’s there! Go, Mrs. Beran! Mrs. Devri Davis will be here with us
on Thursday in her absence.
The February snack schedule is here. March is ready here. Please send snack for 14 on your day.
See what’s for lunch here
See many of you tomorrow!
<><,
Mrs. Maxfield
Thursday, February 23
Dear Parents,
Busy day! The kids were super excited to have Mrs. Davis here with us this morning. She delivers
our lunches on Wednesday, so some of the kids know her, but we talk about her every day when
we do our lunch count because she usually works in the office each morning at the main campus
and receives our lunch count. For others, it was a great opportunity to put a face with the name.
We read My Trip to the Zoo and heard a story that sounded very much like the characters could
have been at our fantastic St. Louis Zoo. We added elephants to our zoo and learned today that
an elephant’s trunk is approximately 6 feet long. To make that real life to a preschooler, that’s as
long as Mrs. Maxfield is tall! Our elephants required paint, so they are drying out in the hallway.
Hopefully they’ll be ready to go up tomorrow.
Zippy came to Jesus Time today and told us about one of his favorite things, going grocery
shopping. He was just amazed at how the grocery store gives him his favorite things. The children
were quick to tell him that it’s not the store that does it, but all of the people that God gives us.
From the farmers to the cashier, there are many people involved in it all. God provides for us
through many different people! Zippy told us some of his groceries and we played a game with
them. Ask your child about it!
The February snack schedule is here. March is ready here. Please send snack for 14 on your day.
See what’s for lunch here
See many of you tomorrow!
<><,
Mrs. Maxfield
Friday, February 24
Dear Parents,
I shared one of my favorite zoo stories with the class today, Put Me in the Zoo. An unassuming
creature (a bear? a dog? we aren’t real sure) wants to be a part of the zoo, but discovers the
circus is a better place for him. We made some spotted creatures just like him. We also added
hippos to our zoo. We learned that a hippo isn’t always yawning when he opens his mouth really
big. Sometimes, they are trying to be scary. Like yesterday, our hippos are quite covered with
paint, so they may have to be added when we return next week.
All week the children have been working on observing different creatures and figuring out
different ways that they could be grouped. As they worked, they had wonderful explanations as
to why each creature was included in each group - some by appearance, some by genus, some by
number of feet. I loved watching their little minds at work.
We thought of many different ways that God provides for us. I called out those blessings and the
children shouted, “Thank you, God, for your good gifts.” Two students’ grandmas have recently
been released from the hospital and they both agreed, this is a great time to say, “Thank you,
God!”
The February snack schedule is here. March is ready here. Please send snack for 14 on your day.
See what’s for lunch here
Enjoy the weekend!
Mrs. Maxfield
Parent Letter – Friday, February 24
Next week…
JESUS TIME: .The Good Samaritan – Jesus says to show mercy
THEME: Dr. Seuss Week
LETTER: Q
LETTER BAG: Skylar
THANK YOU – Thank you for your continued support of our chapel offering mission project. This
quarter, we are supporting the Papua New Guinea Mission Society. We have 3 more weeks left on
this project.
WOL AUCTION - The auction committee is hard at work planning a wonderful event on May 12.
Can you lend a hand? Do you have a friend with a business who might be willing to donate goods
or services to be auctioned off? Are you or a friend particularly crafty or handy and able to
create a wonderful piece of artwork, home décor, or furniture that could be auctioned off?
Maybe you just have a favorite restaurant you’d like to donate a gift certificate to. Consider how
you can help! Proceeds from this auction will be going toward playground improvements, especially
toward a play structure at the main campus. Here’s a link to the donation form if you are able to
help us out. Thanks!
BOOK BUDDIES – New book buddies came home this week. Please enjoy the book and buddy
with your preschooler and return it next week on your child’s first day back of the week.
EASTER EGG HUNT – Each of Word of Life’s supporting churches hosts an Easter egg hunt on
different weekends prior to the Easter holiday. More information will come home with the children
as the events near, but you can mark your calendars:
 April 1 – at Ascension Lutheran Church
 April 8 – at Lindenwood Park, hosted by Timothy Lutheran Church
 April 15 – at St. Lucas Lutheran Church.
MARCH 17 – I will not be at school on our last day before Spring Break. I’m taking a personal day
so my family can be on our way to Canada. My whole family of 14 will be driving to Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada, to celebrate my grandmother’s 100th birthday on the 19th. I appreciate your
prayers for safe travel and good health for my spunky little granny. We are all excited to see her!
Mrs. Beran and Mrs. Hofman will be covering the day for me.
PTL DINNER OUT NIGHTS - Word of Life’s Parent Teacher League (PTL) plans monthly
fundraisers at local restaurants to benefit the PTL. At each event a portion of the proceeds are
donated back to PTL to fund teacher classroom requests. We hope you’ll be able to join us.
 March 6 at Pie Five 1778 S. Hanley – All day, 11 AM-9 PM, with 20% going to PTL. Please
mention Word of Life when ordering.
 April 11 at JJ Twiggs at 5600 Hampton – more info coming
 May 8th from 5-8 PM at Culver’s on Big Bend at I-44
SNACK SCHEDULE – Please send in snack for 14 when it is your day. The snack schedule for
February is ready for you here. March is ready here.
LUNCH MENU – See what’s on the menu here.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES:
 March 20-24 – NO SCHOOL Spring Break
 April 14 – NO SCHOOL in observance of Good Friday
 April 16 – NO SCHOOL on Easter Monday
 April 21 – EARLY DISMISSAL at 12:30 PM for teacher faculty meeting
 May 12, 6:30-10:30 PM – “Come Sail Away” Dinner Auction at Orlando Gardens
 May 26 – Last day of school, PreK closing program – more details will come after spring
break