Christmas Fun for Everyone!

What a fun week we had in PK! From Christmas concert to Christmas party it was a festive week for sure! On Monday our afternoon class was fortunate enough to have the smoothie cart come through where students shared in making and drinking healthy smoothies.  Pin the nose on the reindeer, freeze dance and making winter play-doh were also highlights of the week!

Reindeer Stations with Kayla!

Reindeer sock wresting, jingle bell obstacles and making reindeer food was a huge hit!

Christmas Party!

We are all getting excited for Christmas, especially our Christmas elf Snowflake! Today we found our little elf had toilet papered our Christmas tree! Silly Snowflake!
At our Christmas party students decorated gingerbread houses, made reindeer food and searched for holiday pictures on the Christmas scavenger hunt.
Thank you to our volunteers in the morning class: Danika Auser and MaryAnn Friesen and afternoon volunteers Katryn Mawson-Dalmer and Susan Rice for helping with our gingerbread houses. We could not have done it without you! Also, thanks to everyone who sent in candy and Olivia's Grandma for donating the icing.

Click here to see the rest of the pictures from our week 

Zones of Regulation:

We will continue to talk about the zones in the new year.  This week we watched a few clips from the movie Inside Out to help us understand our feelings and emotions. Here is an example of a clip we watched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBt_O3wL0A

Coming Up!

In January we will be entering into our space unit! We will be making special outer space glitter jars and would appreciate if parents could send in empty water bottles with lids. Also, we would love to make a spaceship, so if anyone has an extra large cardboard box they no longer need, we would love to take it off your hands! :)

• Jan.10-11 : Early dismissal days
• Morning class will dismiss at 10:30, afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15
• Jan. 12 : Building independence family orientated programming session
• All PK families are welcome to attend
• See invitation for more information  
• Jan. 22: No School - ECS teachers meeting 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all the Pre-K staff! See you in the new year! 

The Christmas Concert is Coming Quick!

We have been busy this week practicing, practicing, practicing for our PK Christmas concert.  Our concert is going to be Wednesday, December 20th at 6:30 pm.  Here are the words for our song if you would like to help your child by practicing at home as well:

The Lights on the Tree

The lights on the tree go, blink, blink, blink… (open and close hands)

Blink, blink, blink… blink, blink, blink.

The lights on the tree go, blink, blink, blink

On Christmas Day.

The presents under the tree go rattle, rattle, rattle… (pretend to shake the presents)

Rattle, rattle, rattle…rattle, rattle, rattle

The presents under the tree go rattle, rattle, rattle

On Christmas Day.

Other Versus:

The bells on the sleigh go jingle, jingle, jingle (shake your pretend bells)

The cookies in the house taste yummy, yummy, yummy (rub tummy)

Christmas Star

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star

Way up high is where you are

Shining there for all to see

On the top, of our tree

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star

Way up high is where you are

He Has a Red Red Coat

He has a red, red coat
And a red, red hat,
His boots are black

And he carries a sack.
He has a twinkle in his eye
And a friendly smile,
And his name is Santa Claus

One more time!

He has a red, red coat
And a red, red hat,
His boots are black
And he carries a sack.
He has a twinkle in his eye
And a friendly smile,
And his name is Santa Claus

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a happy New Year.

Christmas Party

We will having our Christmas parties on Thursday, December 21st.  

The Monday/Wednesday students are welcome to join the fun during their regular scheduled time.  

This will be a wear pajamas and bring a stuffed animal day as well!

We will be making gingerbread houses during our party.  We will provide the houses.  Please send a small bag of candy with your child to school to use for decorating their gingerbread house.  We will mix all the candies together and give the students each a pile to use, so feel free to just buy one kind of candy to send and your child will still have an assortment to use for decorating!  

MORNING CLASS - please send candy that is PEANUT FREE.

We are still looking for one more MORNING parent volunteer to help out with the decorating.  Please let us know if you are interested in helping out!

Your child does NOT need to bring a snack this day (unless you think they will not eat our party food).

In order to prevent getting more food than we can eat for our party, we will be asking some parents to send snacks for this day.  Each family will get a turn throughout the school year.  Look for a note in your child's mail bag to see if it is your turn!

Zones of Regulation

This week we have been talking about the Zones of Regulation.  We have labeled the feelings attached to each zone and been talking about different "tools" that we can use when we slip out of the green zone.  The tools we have talked about include asking for a hug, shaking a glitter jar, squishing a stress ball, jumping on the mini trampoline, taking a break in the egg chair, and umbrella or belly breathing.  We will be prompting the students to select and use a self regulation tool if they need help calming down or dealing with their emotions at school.  We plan to continue to introduce the students to more strategies and tools they can use to help stay regulated throughout the school year.    

Christmas Fun

This past week it has been all about Christmas.  The PK students were thrilled to meet Snowflake the Elf who appeared in our classroom Monday morning!  We were shocked to see Snowflake dressed up as Spiderman on Thursday!    

 We worked as a team to create this beautiful PK Christmas tree.  

 The students have enjoyed different Christmas stations this week.  These stations have included making pretend gifts at the North Pole, decorating mini Christmas trees, and painting snowmen.

Unfortunately we didn't get too many pictures snapped this week.  However, we managed to sneak in a couple.  You can click here to see the pictures we did take.

Coming Up

This week is going to be busy and chalked full of Christmas fun!

• December 20th, 6:30 pm - PK/K Christmas Concert 
• doors open at 6:15 pm
• December 21st - Christmas Parties
• M/W students are welcome to attend during their regular time slots
• your child does NOT need to bring a snack this day (unless you think they will not eat our party food)
• please send ONE bag of candy for decorating gingerbread houses with
• wear your pajamas and bring your favorite stuffie!
• December 22nd - January 7th - No School, Christmas break
• January 10th and 11th - Early Dismissal Days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm

Welcome Miss Knull!

Our PK numbers are growing, and so is our PK staff!  We are absolutely thrilled to announce the addition of another full time teacher, Miss Breanne Knull.  Miss Knull and Mrs. Porter will be team teaching in the prekindergarten classroom for the remainder of the school year.  Welcome Miss Knull!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

We had fun this week setting up our Christmas tree.  The students were eager to help fluff the branches and decorate the tree.

The students were introduced to a variety of Christmas vocabulary words this week.  We clapped out each word and listened for how many "sounds" (or syllables) were in each word.  We also set up a special Christmas sensory bin with jingle bells, rocks, and magnetic wands.

You can click here to see more pictures of our Christmas fun.

Christmas Concert

We have been practicing our Christmas concert songs everyday.  Our Christmas concert will be on Wednesday, December 20th at 6:30 pm.  Here are the words if your child wants to practice at home as well:

The Lights on the Tree

The lights on the tree go, blink, blink, blink… (open and close hands)

Blink, blink, blink… blink, blink, blink.

The lights on the tree go, blink, blink, blink

On Christmas Day.

The presents under the tree go rattle, rattle, rattle… (pretend to shake the presents)

Rattle, rattle, rattle…rattle, rattle, rattle

The presents under the tree go rattle, rattle, rattle

On Christmas Day.

Other Versus:

The bells on the sleigh go jingle, jingle, jingle (shake your pretend bells)

The cookies in the house taste yummy, yummy, yummy (rub tummy)

Christmas Star

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star

Way up high is where you are

Shining there for all to see

On the top, of our tree

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star

Way up high is where you are

He Has a Red Red Coat

He has a red, red coat
And a red, red hat,
His boots are black

And he carries a sack.
He has a twinkle in his eye
And a friendly smile,
And his name is Santa Claus

One more time!

He has a red, red coat
And a red, red hat,
His boots are black
And he carries a sack.
He has a twinkle in his eye
And a friendly smile,
And his name is Santa Claus

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

And a happy New Year.

Group Snowman

We used paper 'snowballs' this week to paint our really big snowmen. The students worked together as a group to paint the snowmen. Click here to see more pictures of our snowmen project.

In the Gym

Last week in the gym we played "Red Light/Green Light."  This game develops locomotor skills while practicing starts, stops, and following directions. We also played "Tow Trucks" where the students took turns pulling or "towing" each other around on scooter boards with a pool noodle.  Tow Trucks is a fun way for students to get in some heavy work and strengthen their core muscles. 

Wheat Centers

We were lucky enough to have some farm based "wheat" centers from the Bread Lady to play with throughout the week.  The students enjoyed exploring the wheat sensory bin, looking for hidden items in the wheat bags, as well as playing farm with the mini farm set.  

Gingerbread Houses!

We will be making gingerbread houses during our Christmas party on December 21st.  We are looking for two parent volunteers per class to come in and help out.  Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering.

We will also be asking each family to send ONE kind of candy for decorating the gingerbread houses with.  If each family sends one kind of candy we can put all of the candies together for the children to share, then they will each have a variety to choose from.  MORNING families: please send candy that is PEANUT FREE.

We are also looking for a couple of parents who would be interested in making royal icing for our houses.  If you are interested in making a batch let us know, we have a fantastic recipe that we can share.

Coming Up

Next week we will continue our theme of Christmas. We will continue practicing for our upcoming Christmas concert. Important upcoming dates:

• December 20th, 6:30 pm
• Christmas Concert
• December 21st - Christmas Party
• The Monday/Wednesday students are welcome to attend during their regular classroom hours
• We will be making gingerbread houses with the kids during our party. We could use a couple of parent volunteers per class for the house making. If you are interested in helping out please let us know!
• I will be asking certain families to send snacks for our party. Please watch for a note coming home this week to see if it's your turn!
• December 22nd - January 7th - Winter break. No School

Little Bakers

What a fun week we had!  It was busy, busy with our visit from Let's Bake, snowman activities, games day, and some special activities planned by Chelsea and Kayla.

Let's Bake

A HUGE thank you goes out to Tracy McArthur, Danika Auser, Amber-Lea McCarty, Jessica Marazzo, Jen Iliffe, and Nicole Howatt who graciously donated their time to bake with us on Thursday.  Our day was jam packed and full of fun.  The day started with learning about baking, wheat, and flour.  The students were able to see some wheat as well as watch wheat get ground into flour.  

After a detailed lesson on how to wash our hands, each student was fitted with a hat and apron.  Then we dove right into baking bread and cinnamon knots.  The students each took a loaf of bread home and enjoyed their cinnamon knots for a snack!

At the end we learned about how wheat grows and is harvested.  We also planted some wheat that we will grow in our classroom.  The Bread Lady left behind some wheat centers for the students to explore in the classroom over the next week!

Thank you to Let's Bake for a fun filled day!  You can click here to see more pictures of our baking adventures.  

The Biggest Snowman

This week we read "The Biggest Snowman Ever" by Steven Kroll.  Then we challenged the students with a wonder... do you think we could make a really big snowman?  

That's where our big snowman project began.  The students worked in groups to trace and draw out some HUGE snowmen.  Next week we will paint them and add the finishing details.  You can click here to see more pictures from this activity.  

Bear Centers

Our classroom occupational therapist Kayla, along with our classroom speech and language pathologist Chelsea, planned some fun activities for our classroom on Tuesday.  

The students first enjoyed reading a version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."  They then rotated through stations that focused on developing fine motor, gross motor, and speech and language skills.  Click here to see more pictures of the centers.  

We had a games day on Monday.  Throughout the week we also enjoyed some different snowman stations during including "stuff the snowman" and ice exploration in the sensory bin.  You can click here to see the rest of the pictures from our busy week.

   

Coming Up

It's hard to believe that December is already here!  This week we will begin the oh so exciting theme of CHRISTMAS!  We will be getting ready for our Christmas concert and decorating our classroom Christmas tree.  Important dates:

• December 6th and 7th - Early Dismissal Days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am 
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm
• December 7th - last day to send a food donation for the Christmas Elves
• The class with the most food donations will win a root beer float class party! 
• December 20th - Christmas Concert 6:30 pm
• December 21st - Christmas Party 
• all students are welcome to attend during their regular scheduled hours
• December 22nd - January 7th - Christmas holidays, no school

Snowmen Snowmen

Last week we began our theme of snowmen.  The students enjoyed a little song we were singing called “I’m a little snowman.”

Art Corner

     

Last week in art we finished up our fluffy bears, as well as started new placemats.  These placemats were made using "scrape" painting and were a rather messy process involving squirting and then scraping paint on our paper!  Unfortunately due to the messy nature of this project we were only able to snap a couple of pictures of art this week.  

You can see more pictures of art and pictures from the rest of our week by clicking here.

Calming Tools

We have spent a lot of time learning different ways to calm down when we feel frustrated.  Self regulation is an important life skill that prekindergarten children need to be taught.  They need to understand that it’s okay to have big feelings like anger and frustration, but it’s not okay to hit, push, or take our anger out on others.  

I have begun introducing the students to the zones of regulation.  See the chart below for a quick run down on the different zones.  We have mostly been discussing the red, yellow, and green zones.

I used the book “Mouse Was Mad” to talk about feelings and different tools that we can use to bring ourselves out of the red zone.  Our classroom occupational therapist Kayla has also made us a book called “Hands Are Not For Hitting.”  The students love this little book that talks about all the fun things you can do with your hands and how hitting makes other people feel.

The calming tools we have discussed so far include: belly breathing, jumping on the trampoline, asking to take a break, standing still breathing, going for a walk, taking a drink, umbrella breathing, squeezing a stress ball, pushing your hands together, pulling your hands apart, and taking a break in the egg chair.  

Our team will be coaching and helping the students to pick one of these calming tools if they feel frustrated or red zone feelings when they are at school.  Some of these calming tools are also excellent to use when we are over excited in the yellow zone.  

Mr. Paul

We were lucky to have another visit from Mr. Paul on Tuesday morning.  Mr. Paul is the musical occupational therapist who will be visiting our classroom from time to time throughout the year.  This time he brought yoga cards, a singing bowl, and a dulcimer.  We loved learning about the dulcimer, and the students were all excited to try playing it.  It is always fun learning when Mr. Paul comes!  

You can click here to see more pictures from his visit.

Snow Pants Galore!

We all know the joy of trying to get prekindergarten aged children dressed for playing outside in the winter.  We spent this past week practicing these important dressing skills.  We had a lesson on how to get dressed to go outside, then we hung up the steps by our coat hooks.  The students have enjoyed having a visual reference to follow while they are getting ready.  

Let's Bake!

Our visit from Let's Bake is happening this Thursday, November 30th.  The Monday/Wednesday students are invited to join us during their regular classroom times.  Thank you to all of the parents who have already volunteered.  

I am still looking for one more parent volunteer from the MORNING CLASS. If you can help out please let me know!

Upcoming Robina Baker Events:

Coming Up in Prekindergarten

Next week we will continue our unit on snowmen.  

• November 30th - Let's Bake presentation
• the M/W students are welcome to join us during their regular time slot
• December 6th and 7th - Early Dismissal days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm
• December 20th - Christmas Concert 6:30 pm
• December 22nd - January 7th - Christmas Break
• January 8th - classes resume 

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Last week our classroom was all about bears!  Our song for the week was "Teddy Bear Teddy Bear."  We had bears in our sensory bin, bears in the gym, as well as a bear cave in our classroom!

In The Gym

We went on a "bear hunt" in the gym this week.  While singing the song "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" the students worked their way through an obstacle course of pylons, balance beams, hula hoops, and mats to strengthen their core and locomotor skills.  

Sensory Bear Art

We read the book "Big Smelly Bear" by Britta Teckentrup this week.  The students loved the silly storyline in this book about a bear who refuses to take a bath.  

We then made our own big fluffy bear paint by mixing shave cream, white glue, and brown paint so that we could paint our own bears.  The students loved squirting the shaving cream into the bowl and mixing up the fluffy paint.  

Click here to see more pictures of our bear art.

A Special Thank You!

Thank you to the Fouquette family for donating your home made marble run to our class.  The marble run has been a huge hit amongst all the students.  It has been great opportunity to learn about scientific concepts as well as practice our turn taking skills!  Thanks also to the Fouquette family for generously sending in play dough for us to enjoy!

Click here to see more pictures of the marble run and other fun we had this week.

Volunteers Needed!

I still need two more volunteers from the morning class for our Let's Bake Presentation that will be happening on Thursday, November 30th.  Thank you to the parents who have already offered to help out.  If you are interested in helping out please let me know.

Mark Your Calendars!

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.  The PreK and kindergarten Christmas concert will be Wednesday, December 20th at 6:30 pm. 

 

Coming Up

This week we will begin our theme of snowmen.  Important dates:

• November 30th - Let's Bake Presentation
• All students are welcome to attend 
• The M/W students can join in during their regular time slots 
• December 6th and 7th - Early Dismissal Days
• The morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• The afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm