Friday, January 6, 2017

1/6 Classroom Update!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful winter break and a very happy holidays! This week, we focused on the story The Mitten by Jan Brett, and we practiced retelling the story in lots of different ways! We acted out the story, sang a song about the story ("The Mitten in the Snow"), made retelling bags to tell the story, and read The Mitten mini-books. The mini-books and retelling bags are great ways for your preschooler to tell you about the story at home! We also wrote our own class version of the story, where each preschooler chose what they would like to go inside the mitten. We had some very creative ideas ranging from ghosts to rainbows to babies! They were all very excited to hear their own writing during story time!


We also learned about adjectives, or describing words, and brainstormed lots of different words we could use to describe different mittens during center time.  During center time, we each designed our own mitten, and then wrote a sentence to describe our mitten. Later in the week, we worked on fine motor skills by lacing yarn around our mittens. We also measured and counted how many animals and cubes fit inside real mittens (one mitten held 50 cubes!) and paper mittens.

Next week, we will learning about the letter H and ways to stay healthy. We will specifically be talking about how germs can make us sick as well as the importance of washing our hands and brushing our teeth! We will also be learning how to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" in Spanish!
Reminders:

Winter Weather: Brrrrr - winter is now here in full force! If the wind chill or temperature is below zero, we will not go outside to play during our outside play time. We have the wonderful opportunity to play in the gym during our outside play time on certain days when we cannot go out. If we are in the gym, I will leave a note on the classroom door and you may pick up your child from the gym.

Preschool Open House: Preschool Registration for next year is right around the corner! We will hosting a Preschool Open House on Thursday, January 19th from 6:30-7:30 pm. You can find our preschool brochure as well as preschool enrollment forms here. Enrollment for current WECC families will begin on January 16th, and open enrollment begins on January 23rd.

Record Day: There will no preschool classes on Friday, January 27 for Record Day. Childcare will be open all day.

Have a great weekend!




Friday, December 16, 2016

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!

Friday, December 9, 2016

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!

Friday, December 2, 2016

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:

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!


Friday, November 18, 2016

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!


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

Thursday, November 10, 2016

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!

Friday, November 4, 2016

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!