1/27 Classroom Update

This week, we met "Lizzy Lizard" and learned about the letter L. Many of our learning activities focused on the library (i.e. library manners, the job of a librarian, and what you can find at the library). We also learned about the different parts of a book and discussed how to properly take care of books. During center time, preschoolers practiced reading the pictures and using book manners with special "teacher" books, and they learned how to use our classroom listening center. Preschoolers also practiced writing the letter L, play a ladybug math game, built the letter L with playdough, and we finished up some of our winter assessments. Progress reports will be coming home this week!

Making a Ladybug for our Letter Books

Playing Ladybug Roll & Cover. This game works on counting, one-to-one correspondence, number recognition and fine motor skills. 

Playing with ladybugs and other insects in the sand table

It's hard to believe that it is almost February! Next week, we will be learning about the letter U and focusing on opposites. We will also be talking about our birthdays and birthday celebrations. 

Reminders:

Preschool Registration: Preschool Registration is here! You can find our preschool brochure as well as preschool enrollment forms here.

Winter Progress Reports: Winter progress reports will be coming home in your child's folder on Thursday, February 2nd.

WECC Illness Policy: Please remember to keep your child home if they are throwing up, having diarrhea, or if they have a fever. Our rule at WECC is symptom free for 24 hours. Thank you!

Valentine's Day: The week of Feb. 13^th- Feb. 17^th will be spent participating in Valentine’s Day activities in Preschool and discussing friendship. In lieu of a party and students bringing in individual Valentines for each member of our class, we are asking for students and their families to create ONE BIG VALENTINE using a heart that will be provided by school. I will be sending home your child's valentine heart in folders on Thursday, February 2nd. Please return your “Class Valentine” to school by Monday, Feb. 13^th so that we may share it with the class and display it for our school community.

Mid-Winter Break: Please remember that there is no school Monday, Feb. 20^th for Mid-Winter Break!

Have a great weekend!

1/20 Classroom Update

This week, we learned about the letter K and focused on shapes. During circle time, we practiced our shapes in Spanish, built shapes using other shapes, built and drew Mat Man as a team, made a chart of words that begin with K, and read lots of fun books about kites and wind. During center time, we raced a timer to match shape puzzles, completed shape sorts, molded different shapes out of playdough using many different tools, made a K into a kangaroo for our letter books, practiced writing the letter K, and made paper bag kites. The AM class was able to fly their kites in the gym this morning, and the PM class will get to fly their kites soon!

During circle time, we met Mat Man, and practiced building and drawing him. Here you can listen to the Mat Man Song, as well as watch Mat Man being built: Mat Man Song. This song/activity builds both body awareness and helps preschoolers learn how to draw people.

Racing the timer to complete all the shape puzzles

Drawing Mat Man

Building with Foam Shapes

Next week, we will be learning all about the letter L, as well as learning about the library and important parts of a book. We will also be learning many different school words in Spanish!

Reminders:

Preschool Registration: Preschool Registration is here! You can find our preschool brochure as well as preschool enrollment forms here. Enrollment for current WECC families began on Monday, January 16th, and open enrollment for all families begins this coming Monday, January 23rd.

No Preschool Classes 1/27: There will no preschool classes on Friday, January 27 for Record Day. Childcare will be open all day.

Winter Progress Reports: Winter progress reports will be coming home in your child's folder on Thursday, February 2nd.

Have a great weekend!

1/13 Classroom Update

'Tis the season for germs, sniffles, and flu bugs. This week, we learned about the letter H and important things we can do to stay healthy and not get sick! At circle time, we showed how easy germs can spread using glitter, met a new friend named "Sneezy" and taught her how to cover her mouth and nose correctly when she sneezes, and learned about how to get rid of plaque in our mouths by brushing our teeth. During center time, we made an H into a horse for out letter books, reviewed previous letter of the weeks by writing them on etch-a-sketches, practiced writing the letter H, and went on a letter H hunt. We also practiced the steps to good hand washing, sorted healthy and unhealthy foods in the kitchen, brushed yellow teeth shiny and white using toothbrushes, made mouths, and counted "germs." 

Our dramatic play area now also includes a doctor's office, where our doctors were busy treating lots of sick and injured patients this week. We learned about all the different tools in our doctor's office and how they are used to keep us healthy. 

Taking care of our poor, injured baby!

Next week, we will be learning about the letter K and talking about kites (with a focus on shapes!). We will be reviewing our shapes, as well as learning our shapes in Spanish.

Reminders:

PM Class Folders: Due the unexpected snow day on Thursday, I will be sending home your child's folder on Monday!

Preschool Open House: Preschool Registration for next year is right around the corner! We will hosting a Preschool Open House this coming 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 begins on Monday, January 16th, and open enrollment begins on January 23rd.

Scholastic Book Orders: January orders went home this week and are due by Friday, January 20. 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, January 20.

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

Winter Progress Reports: Winter progress reports will be coming home in your child's folder on Thursday, February 2nd.

Have a great weekend!

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!

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!