Happy 30th!

Saint Andrews Preschool is 30 years old and still having fun!  On Sunday, November 16, we will celebrate in worship and host an Open House after the 11:00 am service.  For three decades, children have been learning and playing in our classrooms.

Pat Bickel and Ellen Smearman were both teaching at Hudson Memorial Preschool when they decided to open a new preschool in North Raleigh.  In September 1984, the doors opened at Saint Andrews.

Our building has grown over the past 30 years.  When the new sanctuary was built, we turned the original fellowship hall into three new classrooms.  We enlarged the playgrounds and expanded our program.  Fashions and hairstyles have changed, but the smiles on the children's faces remain the same.  Saint Andrews Preschool is a great place to be!

Trunks, Treats and One Big Trick!

Church members and preschool families decorated their cars and served up candy and other goodies last Wednesday at our second annual Trunk or Treat event.

The Man With the Yellow Hat and Curous George were there.

Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma and the Wolf made an appearance too.

That's one big frog.  Good thing he didn't mistake the princess for a fly!

 

The Witchen Kitchen was just getting set up when I snapped these pictures.  I heard their homemade treats were more divine than devilish.  Mmm!

There were lots of other characters there that night and it was fun to see former and future students who came to the party.

Who was hiding in our castle dungeon?  A fire breathing dragon!

This Under the Sea trunk was already wet.  Good thing!  Because Mother Nature provided a big old Halloween trick in the form of an untimely rain shower just as the party was getting started!  But that didn't end the fun.  We just moved it inside and kept on going.

We were a little soggy, but it was still a lot of fun.  Many thanks to all of the preschool families who decorated trunks and wore their costumes, and even stayed after the rain started!

Apples and Pumpkins: A Harvest Storytime

Hello, friends

Hello, friends

Hello, friends

It's time to say "Hello!"

After just one storytime, the kids were really good at remembering the signs for the Hello Song.  We know the signs for "hello," "friends," and "goodbye."

And then it was on to the stories.  This storytime was all about harvest and we read three books about picking apples and pumpkins and funny barnyard friends.

The Apple Pie Tree was a lot of fun to read.  Not only did we learn about apple trees, we got to keep track of Mr. and Mrs. Robin as they made a nest and raised their babies in the tree while the apples grew.

Way up high in the apple tree

Two shiny apples were looking at me

I shook that tree as hard as I could

And down came the apples

Mmm!  They were good!

Bzzz!  We learned that apple trees needs bees to pollinate the flowers and make them grow.  But not everyone likes bees.  We read a funny story about some farm animals who tried to get rid of a pesky bee.

 

No harvest storytime would be complete without a few choruses of "Old MacDonald."

And then we read one of my very favorite stories about a little girl who goes to the farm to pick apples and pumpkins.   

We looked at some pictures of a farmer's market.  We talked about who works at the market and who grows the things that you can find for sale there.  

Then I had a surprise for the kids... a special field trip to our very own Farmer's Market right across the hall!  

Let the farming and selling begin!  We had so much fun that we kept the market open for two weeks so everyone could play in it more than once.  (Therefore, we had a chance to take a lot of cute pictures!)

Anybody want a fresh, homemade pie?

Farmer's markets are just another reason why fall is my favorite season!