12/16 Classroom Update

We had such a fun week reading different versions of The Gingerbread Man and participating in many different winter activities! We made our own gingerbread babies, played a gingerbread math game, identified beginning sounds of winter words, baked gingerbread cookies (they were a big hit!), decorated gingerbread houses with playdough, and practiced rhyming with a gingerbread rhyming game!

Making Gingerbread Babies

Practicing beginning sounds and letter writing

"Ice Skating" in our classroom

Singing and dancing with Ms. Janet

Our family has very exciting news to share this holiday season. Payton and Webster are expecting a baby brother in May! Sending best wishes for a joyous holiday season from our family to yours!

Reminders:

Winter Gear: Please label all coats, hats, mittens, boots, and snow pants. We have many students with similar items so it is very easy for them to get mixed up if they are not labeled!

Winter Break: There will be no preschool classes from Monday, December 19 through Monday, January 2nd. Preschool classes will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd. Childcare will be open on December 20-22 and December 27-30.

 Have a wonderful winter break!

12/9 Classroom Update

I am so proud of what an amazing job our preschoolers did this week at their concerts! They all worked so hard learning and practicing all the songs, and they were very excited to show off all of their hard work! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the parents that helped out with our parties and made the day even more special for our preschoolers!

Making snowman necklaces at our AM Winter Party

This week, we talked about winter and the letter W. We read the classic story The Snowy Day, and used special "snow" paint to make our own snowy day adventures. During center time, we constructed snowmen out of marshmallows and pretzels, made a walrus for our letter book, created animal tracks in playdough "snow," built dens for hibernating animals, completed snowman patterns and much more!

Painting snowy day adventures

During circle time, we made a chart of words that begin with the "w" sound, sang a silly letter W song, and practiced writing the letter W. We also started learned different weather words in Spanish and practiced them during calendar time when naming the weather!

An example of one of our letter charts (Please excuse my terrible drawing skills!)

Next week, we will be reading many different versions of The Gingerbread Man. We will be participating in many gingerbread man themed activities, including making gingerbread cookies during class on Wednesday. 

Reminders:

Winter Gear: Please label all coats, hats, mittens, boots, and snow pants. We have many students with similar items so it is very easy for them to get mixed up if they are not labeled. Mittens are also ideal for students this age because it helps them be more independent when getting ready to go outside. If you notice that your preschooler is coming home with snow pants on backwards or a backwards hat, don't worry! We are working hard to teach them independence in getting dressed for the snow! 

Winter Break: There will be no preschool classes from Monday, December 19 through Monday, January 2nd. Preschool classes will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd. Childcare will be open on December 20-22 and December 27-30.

Have a great weekend!

12/2 Update!

It's hard to believe that it is already December! This week, we learned all about the letter M, and read lots of fun monster books. A few of our favorites included Go Away Big Green Monster, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Where the Wild Things Are, If You're a Monster and You Know It, and Monsters Love Colors. During center time, we mixed colors to make new colors, made mice for our letter books, played many different monster games, compared same and different monsters, made monster masks, and went on a monster hunt. We also practiced our colors in Spanish and sang our Spanish colors song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLQSdu4V94).

Playing "Monster Letter Match"

Playing "Monster Match: Same or Different?"

Making "Glad Monster, Sad Monster" Monster Masks

Playing with Monster Goo

Next week, we will learn about the letter W and talk about winter. We will also be learning different weather words in Spanish!

Reminders:

Scholastic Book Orders: Books make great holiday gifts! December book orders went home this week and are due by Tuesday, December 6. You can order books online by completing the steps below. You may also turn in your paper order and payment to me and I will input your order for you.

1. Go to the Scholastic Reading Club Website here.
2. Click Connect to your Teacher and enter our class activation code: PJFBX.
3. Then click to order from this month's flyer. Our default flyer is the "Early Childhood" flyer; however, you may order from any of the flyers. You can view more details about each book and add them to your cart by clicking on them in the flyer. 
4. After selecting your items, click on the cart to create an account or sign-in to your existing account in order to check-out.  
5. December Orders need to be placed by this coming Tuesday, December 6th in order to make sure they are delivered in time for winter break!

Winter Concert/Party: Please join us in the Board of Education Room for our Winter Music Concert with Ms. Janet on Wednesday, December 7th at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. After the concert, we will meet in our classroom for a winter celebration! We hope to see you all there! If you would like to help out with our parties, please sign-up using the links below:

• AM Class Party Sign-Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-amwinter
• PM Class Party Sign-Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-pmwinter

Winter Break: There will be no preschool classes from Monday, December 19 through Monday, January 2nd. Preschool classes will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd. Childcare will be open on December 20-22 and December 27-30.

Have a great weekend!

11/18 Update

This week, we were so excited to get a brand new circle time rug! Each friend has their own special spot on the rug, and we have much more room to spread out, dance, and play games! We want to send a big thank you to our director Ms. Jackie VanderPloeg and Asst. Superintendent Mrs. Jeanne Glowicki for gifting our class this beautiful new rug!

 

This week, we began talking about Thanksgiving and all that we are thankful for.  We went grocery shopping to prepare for Thanksgiving at our classroom grocery store, cooked feasts in our classroom kitchen, played with pumpkin pie playdough, made name turkeys and harvest corn and much more! We also have been reviewing all the letters we have worked on so far this year and have enjoyed singing all of our old letter songs! Next week, we will continue to talk about Thanksgiving and review our letters. 

Important Reminders:

Thanksgiving Break: There will be no preschool classes Wednesday, November 23 through Friday, November 25th for Thanksgiving Break. School will resume on Monday, November 28th. 

Winter Music Performance/Parties: We invite you to our Winter Music Concerts on Wednesday, December 7th at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. Our concerts will be held in the WECC Board Room, and we invite families to join us back in the classroom for a winter party following the concert. If you would like to help with the party, please use the following links to sign up. We hope to see you all there!

• AM Class Party Sign-Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-amwinter
• PM Class Party Sign-Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-pmwinter

Have a great weekend, and if I don't see you beforehand, a wonderful Thanksgiving!

11/10 Update

This week, we learned about the letter N and numbers! We learned how to count to 10 in Spanish, and practiced counting in Spanish daily during calendar time and while reading counting books. We also learned how to play a new counting game called "Race to Fill the Cup." This game practices both counting and one-to-one correspondence. We made nests for our letter books and noodle necklaces, and we also practiced writing and finding the letter N. During center time, we practiced writing our numbers in salt trays and made numbers out of playdough. We also did some counting with our names in a ten frame!

Preschool friends playing "Race to Fill the Cup"

Preschool friends making nests for our letter books!

Preschool friends practicing writing numbers in salt!

Next week, we will work on reviewing the letters we have learned about so far. We will also be learning about Thanksgiving and participating in Thanksgiving themed learning centers. 

Reminders:

No School Friday 11/11: There will be no preschool classes tomorrow (Friday 11/11). Childcare will be open all day. 

Picture Orders/Retakes: Picture Orders are due Wednesday, November 16th. You can turn your picture order into me or to Ms. Jackie in the office. Picture retakes will also be on Wednesday, November 16th.  If you would like to have your child's picture retaken, please let me know!

Thanksgiving Break: WECC will be closed for Thanksgiving break from Wednesday 11/23 through Friday 11/25. School will resume on Monday 11/28. 

Have a great weekend three day weekend!

11/4 Classroom Update

Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered and helped out with our Halloween parties this week! Our morning class had so much fun making jack-o-lanterns with real pumpkins and eating "pumpkin" oranges and chocolate cones! Our afternoon class made amazing jack-o-lantern masks and loved their spooky chocolate cupcakes. I loved seeing everyone in their costumes! If you have any great pictures from the party, feel free to email them to me so that I can share them with others via our blog!

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out for parent teacher conferences. I really enjoyed meeting with all of you, sharing about your child's growth, and learning even more about your child. We will have conferences again in the spring (usually in March). In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

This week, we learned about the letter R and talked about royalty. We discussed kings, queens, princes, princesses, and knights, as well as learned about castles. We read about princes and princesses, built castles out of blocks and foam shapes, played in our classroom castle, made crowns, practiced writing the R, made rabbits for our letter books, and played a crown game. We also are working on learning how to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in Spanish!

Next week, we will be learning about the letter N and working with numbers. We will learn to count in Spanish, count the results of our mock "presidential" election (Will it be Duck or Farmer Brown?!), learn new math games, and much more!

Reminders:

No School Friday 11/11: There are no preschool classes on Friday, November 11th. Childcare will be open all day. 

Picture Orders/Retakes: Picture Orders are due Wednesday, November 16th. You can turn your picture order into me or to Ms. Jackie in the office. Picture retakes will also be on Wednesday, November 16th.  If you would like to have your child's picture retaken, please let me know!

Thanksgiving Break: WECC will be closed for Thanksgiving break from Wednesday 11/23 through Friday 11/25. School will resume on Monday 11/28. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy the wonderful fall weather!

10/28 Classroom Update

This week, we learned about the letter B and discussed bedtime. At the beginning of the week, we talked about our bedtime routines and important things to do before going to bed. We especially loved our visit from Ms. Alisha, a dental hygienist at Kingma's Pediatric Dentistry, where we learned about how to take care of our teeth and make healthy choices for our teeth. Later in the week, we discussed the differences between night and day, and sorted things that we do and see during the night and day. We also painted starry night skies, went on a letter B hunt, practiced one-to-one correspondence making bedtime quilts, and put our babies to bed in our dramatic play area.

Preschool friends writing the letter B using the multi-sensory "Wet/Dry/Try" Method

Preschool friends painting stars in the night sky

As winter approaches, we have also been working on zipping our coats at school. I model for the students how I zip my coat, then allow them opportunities to try before helping friends that still need help. When helping students, I help guide them through the steps so that they are learning and doing at the same time. This is a great skill to practice at home as well!

Important Reminders:

Halloween Parties: Thank you to everyone who signed up to help with our Halloween parties! We are looking forward to sharing in the Halloween fun with all of you on Monday! Our morning class party runs from 10:45-11:15, and our afternoon party runs from 2:45-3:15. Students (and grown-ups too!) are invited to wear their Halloween costumes on Monday. They may wear them to school, or we can also help them change before the party as well if you prefer.

• AM Class Party Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties2

• PM Class Party Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties3

Fall Conferences: Fall conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 1st and Wednesday, November 2nd after school. If you have yet to sign up, please do so using the link below. If your child receives speech services with Ms. Amanda, she will at conferences on Tuesday, November 1st. Please fill out the pre-conference form in your child's folder and return it at your earliest convenience. I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you!

• Fall Conference Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties4 

Picture Retakes: School picture retakes will be held on November 16th. Please let me know if you would like to have your child's picture retaken.

Have a great weekend!

10/21 Classroom Update!

This week, we learned all about the letter P and how pumpkins grow! We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin, examined what's inside a pumpkin, compared different sized pumpkins, and learned what pumpkins can be used for. We painted pumpkins using apples and added jack-o-lantern faces, made and played with different Mr. Pumpkin heads, painted paper plate pumpkins with shape faces, made a P is for Penguin for our letter books, created a scene to go along with our "5 Little Pumpkins" rhyme, and much more!

Next week, we will be learning about the letter B and talking about bedtime routines and night versus daytime. We will also have a visit from Kingma Pediatric Dentistry on Tuesday (AM) and Wednesday (PM), where we will learn about the importance of dental health and brushing our teeth. Each student will get a free toothbrush as well!

Reminders:

Pajama Day: This coming Thursday, October 27th, we will be having a pajama day in class to go along with our "Bedtime" theme! Students are invited to wear their coziest pajamas and to bring either their favorite blankie or a small stuffed animal to share with the class.

Halloween Party: We will be having a Halloween Party in our classroom on Monday, October 31. Costumes are encouraged :) The morning party is from 10:45-11:15 am, and the afternoon party is from 2:45-3:15 pm. If you are interested in helping out with the party, please click on the links below to sign-up!

• AM Class Party Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties2

• PM Class Party Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties3

Fall Conferences: Fall conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 1st and Wednesday, November 2nd after school. Please follow the link below to sign up for one ten-minute parent-teacher conference. If your child receives speech services with Ms. Amanda, she will at conferences on Tuesday, November 1st. Please fill out the pre-conference form in your child's folder and return it at your earliest convenience. I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you!

• Fall Conference Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties4 

Have a great weekend!

10/13 Classroom Update!

This week, we learned all about the letter D and dinosaurs. During center time, we made dogs for our letter books, built the letter D with lines and curves, practiced writing the letter D and went on a letter D hunt. We also dug for dinosaur bones, made dinosaurs out of playdough, made up our very own dinosaurs, and played a few dinosaur games.

During circle time, we learned about how dinosaurs were discovered, how paleontologists study dinosaur bones, facts about different types of dinosaurs, and we also compared our feet to the size of a T. Rex's foot. In both classes, we were able to fit all our shoes inside the T. Rex's foot, and we still had extra room!

Reminders:

Halloween Party: We will be having a Halloween Party in our classroom on Monday, October 31. Costumes are encouraged :) The morning party is from 10:45-11:15 am, and the afternoon party is from 2:45-3:15 pm. If you are interested in helping out with the party, please click on the links below to sign-up!

• AM Class Party Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties2

• PM Class Party Sign-Up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties3

Fall Conferences: Fall conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 1st and Wednesday, November 2nd after school. Please follow the link below to sign up for one ten-minute parent-teacher conference. If your child receives speech services with Ms. Amanda, she will at conferences on Tuesday, November 1st. Due to the short amount of time we have during conferences, I will be asking parents to fill out a pre-conference form to help me make the most effective use of our time together. This form will be coming home in your child's folder next Thursday (10/20). I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you!

• Fall Conference Sign-Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties4 

Have a great weekend!

10/7 Clasroom Update!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the parents who accompanied us on our field trip on Tuesday! We had such an amazing time at Schwallier's eating delicious donuts and drinking apple cider, picking apples and pumpkins, feeding the goats, jumping in the hay, going down the slide, and petting the baby goats, kittens, and bunnies.

  

 

This week, we learned all about apples and how apple trees grow. We learned about how the apple trees change as the seasons change, as well as how apples start as a flower and grow into a fruit. While learning about the parts of an apple, we made our own apples which are now on display in the hallway. 

After reading Ten Apples Up On Top, we also practiced painting apples and counting.

 

Next week, we will be learning about dinosaurs and focusing on the letter D! 

Upcoming Events:

Picture Day: Picture Day is this coming Tuesday, October 11th. Both the morning and afternoon classes will be having their pictures taken on this day. If you are absent on Tuesday 10/11, then we will try to get your picture taken on Wednesday, 10/12. Otherwise, picture make-ups will be Wednesday, November 16. 

Friday 10/14:  I will be out of the classroom for a Handwriting Without Tears conference all day. Ms. Mackenzie will be running class with the help of a substitute teacher. 

Halloween Party: We will be having a Halloween Party in our classroom on Monday, October 31. Costumes are encouraged :) The morning party is from 10:45-11:15 am, and the afternoon party is from 2:45-3:15 pm. If you are interested in helping out with the party, please click on the links below to sign-up!

AM Class Party Sign-Up:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties2

PM Class Party Sign-Up:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daca62aa2fe3-mskaties3

Have a great weekend!

9/30 Classroom Update!

It's hard to believe that it is already almost October - the month of September seemed to just fly by! This week, we focused on Fall and the letter F. Here are some highlights from the week:

This week, we had so much fun playing in our classroom Apple Orchard. At our apple orchard, we could pick, sort, and sell apples and other goods at the Apple Orchard store.

We used apples to stamp and paint fall trees, as well as made tissue paper leaves on fall trees.

  

After reading The Leaf Man, we collected and used leaves to make our own leaf men!

  

We also began working on our letter books. Each week, we will make a new letter so that at the end of the year we have a full alphabet book to take home. This week, we made our F is for Frog page.

Next week, we will learn all about apples and focus on the letter E!

Important Reminders!

Spirit Week: We will be having an EGR Spirit Week this coming week (10/3-7) at Woodcliff. Here are the themes for each day:
           Monday: Pajama Day
           Tuesday: Crazy Hair/Hat Day
           Wednesday: USA Day
           Thursday: Favorite College/Team Day
           Friday: Blue and Gold Day

Apple Orchard Field Trip:  We will be visiting Schwallier's Country Basket on Tuesday, October 4th. Our morning class will be leaving promptly at 8:30 am, and our afternoon class will be leaving promptly at 12:30 pm. Because we need to leave right at our usual class start time, I will be opening the classroom doors at 8:15 am and 12;15 pm in order for us to try to leave on time. Here are a few important reminders for the day of the field trip:

• Please dress in layers and wear boots/shoes that can get muddy. Right now, the forecast is for mostly cloudy skies with a high of 72. Hopefully it will stay nice!
• Please remember to bring your child's car/booster seat pre-labeled with your child's first and last name on the day of the field trip.
• If you are joining us on the field trip, please fill out a volunteer form here. If you volunteered to drive other students than your own child, you will also need to stop by the office to fill out a driving self-report form with your drivers license, proof of insurance, and registration.

Scholastic Book Orders: September book orders have shipped and should be arriving this week. October book orders went home this week and are due by Thursday, October 13. You can order books online by completing the steps below. You may also turn in your paper order and payment to me and I will input your order for you.

1. Go to the Scholastic Reading Club Website here.
2. Click Connect to your Teacher and enter our class activation code: PJFBX.
3. Then click to order from this month's flyer. Our default flyer is the "Early Childhood" flyer; however, you may order from any of the flyers. You can view more details about each book and add them to your cart by clicking on them in the flyer. 
4. After selecting your items, click on the cart to create an account or sign-in to your existing account in order to check-out.  
5. October Orders need to be placed by this coming Thursday, October 13th.

Have a great weekend!

9/23 Classroom Update!

This week, we focused on the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and the letters in our names. We also read lots of alphabet books, and learned a new letter sound song called "Who Let the Letters Out?" You can listen and sing along to "Who Let the Letters Out?" here. This week, we played a letter game and tried to get our letters to the top of the coconut tree. We also made our own coconut trees with the letters in our name. We completed coconut tree color matches, built letters with pattern blocks, searched for letters in the sand table, and made letters out of playdough.

This week, we had our first visit from our music teacher Ms. Janet. With Ms. Janet, we learned lots of new songs, tapped the talking drum, and played the sticks. Ms. Janet comes every other week, and she visits our afternoon class on Wednesdays and our morning class on Thursdays. We can't wait for her to come back in two weeks!

 

Here are some of the great books we read this week to go along with our theme:
.

     

Reminders:

Field Trip Volunteers: We are visiting Schwallier's Country Basket on Tuesday October 4th to pick apples, pick a pumpkins, and play with farm animals. If you signed up to drive for the field trip, please stop by the WECC office to fill out a self-report driving form with your license, registration, and proof of insurance. 

Picture Day: Picture Day for both our morning and afternoon classes will be on Tuesday, October 11th. Makeups will be held on Wednesday, November 16th. 

Have a great weekend!