3/30 Classroom Update

This week, we learned all about the letter Q and communities. We practiced writing the letter Q and made the letter Q into a queen for our letter books. We also learned about different types of communities, places in our community, and important jobs people do in our community. Together, we created a classroom community with many different types of buildings and places we might see in our community. We also learned about important community helper jobs and wrote about what kinds of jobs we would like to do when we grow up!

Our classroom community project

 Fighting fires in our new Fire Station dramatic play area

Saving the day in our new Fire Station dramatic play area

Construction vehicles in the sand table

After spring break, we will be learning about the letter G and different modes of transportation. 

Reminders:

Spring Break: There will be no preschool classes Friday, March 31 - Friday, April 7 for Spring Break. Preschool classes will resume Monday, April 10th. Childcare will also be closed Friday, March 31st and will be open the week of April 3-7.

For those of you staying in town, here is a link to fun things going on around Grand Rapids: https://grkids.com/grand-rapids-spring-break-daily-activity-guide/.

Scholastic Book Orders: April book orders are due by Friday, April 14. 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. April Orders need to be placed by Friday, April 14.

Have a wonderful and safe spring break!

3/23 Classroom Update

Thank you to everyone who came out for Parent Teacher conferences this week! It was so nice to be able to share in your child's growth since the fall. I can't wait to see how they continue to grow over the rest of the year!

This week, we learned all about the letter O and animals that live in the ocean. We sorted ocean vs. not ocean animals. built sea animals out of playdough, practiced identifying and writing the letter O, played with ocean animals in our water table, made the letter O into an octopus, painted crabs and seahorses, and much more!

Practicing letter/number writing in the sand

Building ocean animals with playdough

Marble painting seahorses

Next week, we will be learning about the letter Q and talking about communities. We will be learning more about our community and different places within our community, as well as different jobs people do within a community.

Reminders:

Spring Break: There will be no preschool classes Friday, March 31 - Friday, April 7 for Spring Break. Preschool classes will resume Monday, April 10th.

Scholastic Book Orders: April orders went home this week and are due by Friday, April 14. 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. January Orders need to be placed by this coming Friday, April 14.

Have a great weekend!

3/17 Classroom Update

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This week, we participated in lots of fun and engaging St. Patrick's Day learning centers. We learned a little about Ireland, symbols of St. Patrick's Day, and St. Patrick's Day legends and celebrations. During center time, preschoolers painted leprechauns using forks, built leprechaun traps, painted shamrocks, played leprechaun math games, practiced rhyming words, and sifted through rainbow rice to find gold and match uppercase gold letters to lowercase letters. Here are some picture highlights from this week:

Painting leprechauns

Matching uppercase letter "gold" to lowercase letters

Building leprechaun traps

Building leprechaun traps

A mischievous leprechaun visited our classroom!

Next week, we will be learning about the letter O and the ocean. We will be learning about animals that live in the ocean and exploring ocean life through sensory, hands-on play!

Reminders:

Spring Conferences: Spring conferences are this coming Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22 in the Board Room here at WECC. For parents of children who receive speech services, Ms. Amanda will be at conferences on Wednesday 3/22. To sign-up for a ten minute conference or check your conference time, please follow the link here: Spring Conference Sign-Ups. I sent home a pre-conference form in your child's folder this week. Please fill it out and return it at your earliest convenience. I look forward to meeting with all of you and sharing your child's growth!

Spring Break: There will be no preschool classes Friday, March 31 - Friday, April 7 for Spring Break. Preschool classes will resume Monday, April 10th.

Have a great weekend!

3/10 Classroom Update

This week, we met the Magic C Bunny and learned all about the letter C! The Magic C Bunny will be helping us learn about many upcoming letters that have curves. We practiced writing the letter C, colored words that begin with C, sang silly letter C songs (C is for Cookie is my favorite!), and made a cat for our letter books.

We also learned about rainbows and why they occur (water or prisms separate white light into all of the colors). We recreated rainbows in our classroom using flashlights, prisms, and water, as well as made liquid rainbows using different liquids. We learned the order of the colors in the rainbow and finger painted rainbows. After reading the story Elmer, we painted our own rainbow parade of elephants (many are now on display in the hallway!). We also sorted colors, completed color puzzles, and practiced recognizing and writing color words.

Finger painting rainbows

Sorting by color

Observing and coloring a liquid rainbow

Next week, we will be reviewing many of the letters we have learned about so far and participating in lots of fun, St. Patrick's day themed learning centers! Students are welcome to wear green on Friday, March 17th, and be on the lookout for signs of leprechaun mischief!

Reminders:

Spring Conferences: Spring conferences will be held Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22 in the Board Room here at WECC. For parents of children who receive speech services, Ms. Amanda will be at conferences on Wednesday 3/22. To sign-up for a ten minute conference, please follow the link here: Spring Conference Sign-Ups. I will be sending home a pre-conference form in your child's folder on Thursday 3/16. Please fill it out and return it at your earliest convenience.

Spring Break: There will be no preschool classes Friday, March 31 - Friday, April 7 for Spring Break. Preschool classes will resume Monday, April 10th.

Have a great weekend!

3/3 Classroom Update

This week, we learned all about the letter Z and talked about animals that live in the zoo. We sorted zoo vs. non-zoo animals, built zoos out of blocks, danced like zoo animals, made zoo animals using playdough and pattern blocks, measured zoo animals, and identified the beginning sounds of zoo animals. We also made zebras for our alphabet books and practiced writing the letter z!

 Building a zoo with blocks

Making zoo animals out of pattern blocks

Next week, we will be learning about the letter C and reviewing our colors. We will be conducting lots of experiments to replicate rainbows in the classroom to learn about why these natural occurrences happen. We will also be mixing colors to create new colors, paint rainbows and work on recognizing color words. 

Reminders:

Winter Clothes: Please continue to send snow pants, boots, coats, hats and mittens to school with your child each day. As long as the weather permits and the playground is not too icy, we try to get outside each day and want to make sure everyone is prepared!

Spring Conferences: Spring conferences will be held Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22 in the Board Room here at WECC. For parents of children who receive speech services, Ms. Amanda will be at conferences on Wednesday 3/22. To sign-up for a ten minute conference, please follow the link here: Spring Conference Sign-Ups.

Spring Break: There will be no preschool classes Friday, March 31 - Friday, April 7 for Spring Break. Preschool classes will resume Monday, April 10th.

Have a great weekend!