Hi Everyone!

The rainy weather this week allowed for some extra time to explore the classroom.  The childrenhave continued to enjoy painting at the easel and building with the big wooden blocks.  We have also introduced Cuisenaire Rods, magnetic shapes and the “Wooden Stir Fry Slicing Play Set.”  Since many of the children really enjoy building puzzles, we have found the need to rotate our puzzle collection every week. 

On Monday, the children made apple bread and played Alphabet Bingo.  Miss Bannon and Miss Guerette helped them wash the apples and cut them into pieces with plastic knives.  They also helped mix all of the ingredients and pour the batter in the pan.  It smelled so good as it cooked!  After lunch everyone got to have a piece.  Yummy! 

On Tuesday, we celebrated Margaret’s Birthday and Star Day.  Her mom, Priscilla, and dad, Joe, joined us for Morning Meeting.  Margaret also has an older sister, Lucy and a niece, Mia.  Margaret came to her family from Guatemalawhen she was three months old.  Her Star Board was decorated with photos of Margaret when she was a tiny baby and as she grew bigger and bigger.  One picture is of Margaret sitting in front of pumpkins at IokaValleyFarm.  She also has a dog named “Moo!”  When she was a baby, Margaret liked to play with her “Baby Gym.”  Now that she is four, Margaret likes to read books, grow and pretend she can fly like a butterfly.  Priscilla read, “The Berenstain Bears Go To The Doctors”, by Stan & Jan Berenstain. For a special treat, Margaret shared strawberries, brownies,  juice and popcorn.  Thank you and Happy Star Day and Birthday, Margaret!

On Wednesday, the children decorated large hearts with markers, crayons and colored pencils.  While they worked, we sat with each child and asked them what they “hoped” to be able to do in PreK this year.  We recorded their “Hopes and Dreams” on small hearts and posted them with their decorated hearts on a bulletin board in the classroom.  On Thursday, we shared everyone’s Hopes and Dreams and we talked about what kind of rules we should have to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve his or her goals.  Naturally, many of their rules began with “No,” such as “No hitting”; “No biting”; “No throwing toys;” and “No putting sand on the floor.”  Next week, we will talk about the frequency of  “No” in our rules and reword many of the rules in a more positive manner.  With some prompts and suggestions, we will narrow our rules down to three phrases we feel are easy to remember:

Take Care of Ourselves

Take Care of Each Other

Take Care of our World

We will then post these rules in our room and we will refer to them as needed throughout the school year.  We will also reflect back on our Hopes and Dreams, to see if we are accomplishing them. 

On Friday, we had our first finger-painting experience.  This is always a messy and fun activity.  When questioned, the children said that it felt good, gooey, squishy, slippery, wet, and mushy. The mixing of 2 colors was a fun experiment for the children.  They found that mixing yellow and purple make brown, and yellow and red make orange, along with other combinations.

On Wednesday, we met “Clever Cat” from Letterland.  Clever Cat likes to sit near the Letterland Castle and have a cup of cocoa, while working on her crossword puzzle.  She also likes to cook carrots, cauliflower, custard and cake.  She is very clever and she likes helping her friends solve problems.  We also discussed the fact that when “c” is followed by “h,” it makes the sound /ch/.  For fun, as some of our friends leave at 12:30, we say “Ciao!”  Next week, we will meet “Dippy Duck.”  Instead of “quack-quack-quack,” she says “d-d-d!” 

In addition, next week we will talk more about autumn and begin exploring our “Self-Awareness” unit.  We will talk about and celebrate how we are alike and how we are different.   

A HUGE thank you to all the families who participated in our first book order.  We earned 30 books and thousands of bonus points that will help us  increase our class library.  Your children are getting the gift of literacy; early exposure to books of all genres has been shown to increase interest in reading throughout life.  Our next order will be in November, with books arriving in time for holiday gift giving.

Some of the books we read this week were:

The Berenstains’ B Book

One Fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, by Dr. Seuss

The Wind Blew, by Pat Hutchins

Many poems from Treasury of Children’s Poetry

  

This Friday is a very special day at BCD.  As you may be aware, Friday, October 8th is Grandparents and Grandfriends Day.  Parents should send lunch and beverages for all of the children and grandparents in the morning.  Please remember to send in a separate snack and beverage for your child (ren) for earlier in the morning at our 9:35 am snack time.

Grandparents and Grandfriends will be escorted to the Pre Kindergarten and Beginner Three classrooms at 10:30am.  Pre K students, Grandparents and friends will go to Library at this time.  After Library, Pre K and their guests will return to explore the PreK classroom.  Lunch will begin at 11:45am.  At 12:15, we will all go to Fitzpatrick Hall for a special choral presentation in Fitzpatrick Hall.  Grandparents will be dismissed at 12:30pm. Let us know if your child will depart with his or her Grandparent or Grandfriend.  Parents may pick children up at the wall at 1:00pm.

Some Guests will have more than one grandchild or grandfriend to visit.  Our time together will be exploratory and informal.  These families have a number of options.

  • Families with multiple Grandparents and multiple siblings may choose to divide their time equally, between different siblings’ classes, and then join together (preschooler included) in the oldest siblings’ classroom for lunch.   In this case, grandparents should return to the Preschool classrooms to collect the Preschool child and have lunch with the older sibling in their designated lunch area.
  • Some families may choose to have one grandparent stay with one child and another grandparent visit his or her sibling.  For lunch, everyone can join together in the oldest student’s classroom. 

Please let us know ahead if your child’s guests will be in need of any special accomodations.  We would like them to be as comfortable as we can.   

Thank you so much for helping us coordinate this very special day.  If you have any questions, please let us know.  We’ll be happy to help! 

Our First Full Month of Pre K!

  Important Reminders:

  • Please be sure to return Library books on Fridays.
  • Please be sure to put appropriate flatware in your child’s lunch.  Our supplies are very limited.
  • Please be sure to send two drinks in your child’s lunch, one for snack and one for lunch.  Water bottles are highly recommended as we can refill them.  Our supplies of cups are also limited. 
  • Sneakers or other sturdy shoes are needed each day for the playground. 
  • Please be sure your child has a sweater or sweatshirt everyday, as the weather in the Berkshires can change very quickly.
  • Older students have outdoor time until 12:40 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Please wait until that time to allow Preschool children to play on the playground, as this is the only time they have to be outdoors during their busy day.
  • Please enter the classroom through the Coat Room.  This way you can unpack your backpacks and in the wet and soon slushy weather, our floors will stay dry.  Thank you!

IMPORTANT REMINDER:  Please do not send in “heat-ups” that contain any peanuts, nuts, nut oils, pesto, coconut, Thai food or pine nuts.  Our kitchen is nut free.

Important Dates:

  • Friday, October 8th, Grandparents’ Day, 1 p.m. dismissal 
  • Monday, October 11th, No School, Columbus Day.
  • Tuesday, October 19th, trip to Ioka Valley Farm.  Depart from BCD at 8:45a.m. Return to BCD ~ 12:30p.m., More details to follow!
  • Friday, October 22, Pizza Friday
  • Thursday, October 28th, Preschool Halloween Celebration with Beginner Threes.  Details TBA .

    • Enjoy the weekend!

    Ellie and Joni