I Stink...

I think it is pretty obvious that I stink at keeping this updated as regularly as I would like to! I will try to be better.

Just a quick note to update you about the Christmas program:

I had a date/time scheduled to go to the Riverton Transitional Rehabilitation Facility to perform for the residents there...however, due to a scheduling conflict on the rehab center's end, we are no longer able to put on our program there. Therefore, the program will be held here at my house at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17th. Both classes will meet here, and parents and grandparents are welcome to come. Please note that the program will take the place of our regular class time. The program will run about 20 minutes, and light refreshments will be served afterwards.

I do ask that you be mindful of neighboring driveways, mailboxes, etc. when coming to the program. There will be a lot of cars looking for parking - please feel free to use the driveway!

Thanks so much for your support. I know the kids have been working hard on their songs they are going to sing for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks!

Letter 'G' and Necklaces

This past week we worked on the letter 'G'. One of the highlights of every week is putting together the alphabet page for whatever letter we are working on. This week the kids got to put green scraps of paper on their 'G' alphabet page (because green starts with 'g'). They then cut out picture that start with the 'g' sound and glued them to the paper, as well. As usual, this is quite the messy project as we work to improve cutting and gluing skills...I am seeing progress, though! The kids also got to make a human 'G', which is also a favorite activity!

The 'G' letter page

Morning class capital 'G'

Morning Class lower- case 'G'


Afternoon class lower-case 'G'

Afternoon class capital 'G'

We also talked about the first Thanksgiving this past week. On Tuesday we focused more on the pilgrims and on Thursday we focused more on the Native Americans. In the book we read the Indians wore necklaces. The kids got to make a necklace on Thursday, just like the Indians had in their story. This was probably the highlight of the week. The kids loved this project! I am sure you had a chance to see their completed look!
Morning Class:

Afternoon Class:

Next week we will be talking about the letter 'H' and will be doing some Thanksgiving activities.

Weekly Update

As you already know, we had a Halloween party at school on Thursday. I have never seen such cute and creative costumes! We had everything from cowgirls to puppies and kitties, princesses to dragons, transformers to Thomas the Train, superheroes to storybook characters, and much more! I hope your kids had fun at the Halloween party...I think they did.

In case they your kids didn't tell you, here is what we did last week:

Tuesday: The kids were introduced to the letter 'E'. The kids did their 'E' alphabet page, and got to glue cut-up pieces of envelopes to their capital letter 'E' and their lower-case letter 'e'. We read the book "Ten Timid Ghosts" and then made our own ten timid ghosts on a piece of paper. Not only was this fun for the kids, but it provided an opportunity to practice our counting! The kids also turned pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns by gluing on eyes, a nose, and a mouth. They were practicing naming shapes in this activity, and probably didn't even realize it!

Thursday: As I already mentioned, we had our Halloween party on Thursday. We made flying ghosts out of paper and streamers, played pin the stem on the pumpkin, and had a costume parade (which I thought was cute!). I hope your kids had fun!

A.M. Class Costume Picture

A.M. Class Game Results

P.M. Class Costume Picture

P.M. Class Game Results

Field Trip Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the field trip we had last week. I couldn't have asked for better weather, and I hope everyone had fun!

Morning Class

Afternoon Class

Now for a few announcements and reminders: Our Halloween party is going to be Thursday, October 29th. Your child may dress up, if they want to (please, no masks). We will be having a costume parade and will be going trick-or-treating. I will be sending home a note with more details on Tuesday. You are invited to attend the costume parade and go trick-or-treating with us, if you would like to. The costume parade will start at 11:00 (a.m. class) and 2:00 (p.m. class). Hope to see you there!

Weekly Update

This week went by really fast for me! Both classes worked hard and got a lot done. We focused on the letter 'C' this week and completed our 'C' page for our alphabet books. The alphabet page has a capital C and a lower case C on it, and the kids got to glue cotton balls (cotton starts with the 'c' sound) on these letters. What fun! We also started our farm unit, and talked about the animals found on a farm, the sounds they make, and matched mama animals to their babies.

If your kids came home singing Christmas songs this week, there is a reason for that! Though Christmas is still weeks away, we have started practicing songs that we will be singing for our Christmas program. For our program this year, we will be going to a retirement home to sing for the residents there. Of course parents, other family members, and friends are welcome to attend the program, as well. I will be giving you more details as the program gets closer...but if you want to practice singing "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" with your kids at home, that would be great! Those are the two songs we have started practicing. (If there are any parents who would like to help out with singing practice, let me know...I am taking the last ten minutes or so of each class to practice our songs).

Finally, we had pictures yesterday. The kids did great, and I am excited to see the pictures when they come back. Emily said to expect the editing/printing of the pictures to take about two weeks.

I hope your kids had a good week at school...see you next week!

Applesauce

Yesterday was applesauce day! We wrapped up our apple unit by making applesauce at school. The kids got to help cut up the apples (using a plastic knife), and got to put their cut-up pieces into the blender. After a class vote we decided to add a bit of cinnamon, and then the kids watched as the blender went to work! I am pretty sure it was the highlight of the kids' day!

A.M Class hard at work cutting the apples:

P.M. Class Working Hard!

Before...

and after.

What We Did This Week...

Hi Parents:

We had a good second week of school! The kids are starting to remember the classroom rules and procedures, and we are still working on settling down into our routine. We did a lot of projects this week. We talked a lot about what makes each child special. We made name signs (covered in pinto beans, which I am sure your child showed you), made self-portraits out of paper plates and construction paper, and took turns looking in the mirror to see what traits each child has that makes them unique.

We also focused on the letter 'A' this week. We started an alphabet book (which won't come home until we have studies all of the letters), made "Human A's", which the kids LOVED (see the pictures below for an explanation), and talked a lot about things that start with the 'a' sound. If your child came home chanting "A, 'a', apple", it is because they heard that a lot this week!

Here are some pictures from this week's activities:

Human A's-Morning Class

Afternoon Class (capital and lower case A's)

Preschool Pictures and Field Trip Info

You may have noticed in the sidebar that we are having preschool pictures on October 8th, and are planning a field trip to the pumpkin patch on October 22nd. I know there are still a few weeks before these events, but I wanted to give you plenty of notice so you could get them on your calendars.

Preschool Pictures:
Emily Hatch of Carpe Diem Photography will be here on October 8th to take your child's picture (if you want them taken, that is...there is no obligation). Emily is my sister's sister-in-law and has been taking our family's pictures for the last several years. We love her work and I am excited she is coming to do the preschool pictures. I will be sending home an order form as the date gets closer. For your info, picture units will cost $4.00 each.
1 class picture = 1 unit
1 8X10 = 1 unit
2 5X7 = 1 unit
1 5X7 and 4 wallets = 1 unit
1 5X7 and 1 3.5X5 and 2 wallets = 1 unit
8 wallets = 1 unit
If you would like to see samples of Emily's work you can visit her blog at: www.carpediemphotography.blogspot.com

Field Trip:
On October 22nd we will be going to the pumpkin patch on a field trip. This outing will take the place of our regular preschool day. Please note that I will not be transporting children. Please plan on attending the field trip with your child (younger siblings are welcome to join us!). I will be needing a few parents to volunteer as group leaders on the field trip (4 parents for the a.m. class, 3 parents for the p.m. class). Group leaders will be working with three or four children on different activities while at the pumpkin patch. If you would like to be a group leader on the field trip, please let me know.

If you have any questions about pictures or about the field trip, please call or email. Thanks!

First Week of School

Finally! I have the blog up and running! Here is a recap of how our first week went:

Tuesday:
I had a fun first day of school, and I hope your kids did, too. Today we spent a lot of time talking about how things are going to go in the classroom. We talked about how to sit when we gather on the carpet (criss-cross applesauce...have your child show you if you don't know what this is!), went over a few classroom rules, and talked about the "Sad Chair". The Sad Chair seemed to make an impact on the kids, so I thought I had better explain what it is. The Sad Chair is a designated chair we have in the classroom that a child is asked to sit in if, after a warning, they are not following the classroom rules. It is called the Sad Chair because I feel so sad if they are not getting to participate in what the rest of the class is doing. If a child ever has to visit our Sad Chair, it is up to them to decide when they are ready to follow the classroom rules and come and participate. So far our Sad Chair has remained vacant!

We also worked on some projects on our first day. We read the book "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?" and started our own Brown Bear books. We also started our "All About Me" books, which we will finish on Thursday.

I hope everyone had a good first day of school. As always, if you have any questions please let me know! See you on Thursday!

Thursday:
We were busy today! We started learning our "Days of the Week" song, went for a circle walk (in the backyard) to look for circles, made flowers out of circle cut-outs, finished out "All About Me" books, and made picture puzzles! We also worked on some pre-writing skills, started learning the Pledge of Allegience, and worked on counting. No wonder the kids were tired at the end of the day! I hope the kids had a great week and are excited to be in school.

Here are some pictures from the A.M. Class:











P.M. Class Pictures: