Pre K Parent News April 30, 2010

Hi Everyone!

Thank you so much for all that you did for Joni and I this week.  I feel so fortunate to have the privilege of teaching your children.  All week long the children have surprised me with special hugs and precious drawings.  It was such a treat to have the yummy breakfast buffet on Monday morning (especially since I had not yet done my grocery shopping for the week!)  The beautiful and aromatic bouquets of flowers decorated our rooms all week, as well.  Thank you for the yummy cookies on Thursday  and the special gifts all week.  Today, we were treated to a lovely luncheon.  It was like a mid-day oasis of peace and serenity.  Extra thanks go to Emily, Deb, Warren, Kate and Kate’s mom, for taking care of the children while Joni and I dined.  Wow!  Once again, thank you for all of the special treats this week.  I feel truly appreciated!

We introduced a number of new games and manipulatives related to insects this week.  The Science Corner has become The Entomology Lab.  We have plastic and rubber insects of all sorts and sizes.  In the Math Corner, we have a new insect counting banner.  Children can velcro the number of insects next next to the corresponding number.   We also have plastic sorting insects and colorful beetles, with which we can sort and create repeated patterns.   In the Art Corner we have insect texture plates.  We also have Insect Lotto and Insect Dominoes.   This week we made paper ants with fastener legs.   After listening to a story about ant hills, the children had fun learning about all of the rooms ants make for their colonies.  They also used a magnet to make their ants follow the tunnels and rooms in a paper model of an ant hill.  We started learning about insects by studying ants, because it is very easy to see that they have three body parts (a head, thorax and abdomen,) six legs and antennae.  Next week we will learn about lady bugs and bees.

Our grass, radishes and sunflowers are doing quite well.  It is time for us to send them home for transplanting.  Please make a point of taking them home if you have not already done so.  Perhaps you can even transplant our super grass to a spot on your lawn!  We are also waiting for our Surprise Garden to sprout.  We planted some left over bird seed to see what will happen.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. B. joined us to help us put together a table and set of chairs for the B3’s classroom.  The children were a great help, as they made sure he had all of the right screws at the right time!  He claims they were very good assistants.

If you are noticing that the children are extra peppy when you pick them up at 3:00 in the afternoon, it may because we have started having a 10 minute dance party before we depart for the day.  This started earlier in the week when we could not go outdoors due to rainy weather.  Fun!  If your child has a favorite CD that he or she would like to share, feel free to send it in.

We also spent some time preparing for next week.  We hope that all of our mommies received their invitations to our special breakfast next week.  Let me know if you will not be able to attend.

Some of the Books We Read:

Alphabet Adventure, by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood

When the Fly Flew In…, by Lisa Westberg Peters and Brad Sneed

When Gorilla Goes Walking, by Nikki Grimes and Shane Evans

Poems We Read from:

Something Big Has Been Here, by Jack Prelutsky

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, selected by Jack Prelutsky

Important Reminders:

• As the temperature has changed, please check your bag of extra clothes for your child to be sure everything fits and that there is a complete change of clothes
• Bring Library books back on Fridays
• If lunch items need to be heated up, please be sure the container can be too
• Please be sure to include a spoon or fork when needed
• The Preschool classrooms open at 7:55a.m.
• Remember to have your child wash his or her hands before entering the classroom each morning
• Please be sure your child has sneakers and socks for the playground. Sandals, crocs, cowboy boots, etc. are not safe on the climber.
• It is good idea for children wearing dresses to also wear shorts or leggings.

Dates to Note:

Thursday, May 6th, 7:55am to 9:00am, Preschool’s Mommies’ Day Breakfast (Drop in and grab a bite to eat with us before you start your day!)

Friday, May 7th, Music Concert, 1:00pm (B3s through 3rd Grade will perform.)

Friday, May 14th, Pizza Lunch

Wednesday, May 26th, Fun and Field Day (Dress for outdoor fun and getting wet!)  Details TBA

Thursday, May 27th, Fun and Field Day, rain date I

Friday, May 28th, Spring Fling Day, details TBA

Monday, May 31st, No School, Memorial Day

Wednesday, June 2nd, Fun and Field Day, rain date II

Thursday, June 3rd, Move Up Lunch (we call it “Lunch With Mrs. Patel”, for Pre K , and “Lunch With Mrs. Atwater”, for the B3s)

Thursday, June 10th, Last Day of School; Closing Ceremonies; All School Family Picnic, beginning at noon; dismissal at 1:00pm