Take Me Outside!

Last week was national "Take Me Outside" Week.  We decided to have some outside fun.  On Monday and Tuesday we enjoyed taking nature walks around the school yard.  We found some really cool things right in our own school yard!  Wednesday and Thursday we worked on some of our fine and gross motor skills by spending some time outside drawing with sidewalk chalk.  

You can click here to see more pictures of our outdoor adventures.  

Halloween Fine Motor Tasks

This week we worked on  strengthening that all important pincer grasp by gluing Halloween candies onto the first letter of our name.  On Thursday the children also enjoyed a friendly vocabulary developing game of Halloween Bingo.  

You can click here to see more pictures of our Halloween activities.

Picture Palooza!

I finally have the green light to post pictures from our classroom.  I have went back through my blog and posted pictures throughout.  I hope you enjoy seeing first hand some of the fun we have in this room!

Please note - if you have not signed your child's FOIP form, or if you did not give consent on your child's FOIP form, then I am unable to post pictures of your child on my blog.  Feel free to contact myself or Cheryl and Maureen in the office if you are unsure or require further clarification.  

Christmas Card Fundraiser 

Robina Baker School does a really cool fundraiser.  Each child makes a unique piece of art work that you can order to be printed on Christmas cards.  I will be sending the fundraiser information home next week.  We are almost done making our cards - they are so cute!  I will email pictures of the art work, as well as post pictures on my blog as soon as we are done so that you can have a preview of what your child's cards will look like.  

Please let me know if you have any questions or require further clarification about this fundraiser.  You have no obligation to order cards if you are not interested.  

Halloween Party

We will be having our Halloween Parties on Tuesday, October 31st.  Our Monday/Wednesday students are welcome to join us for the parties (during their regular scheduled time slot).  

The children are welcome to dress up for the day.  I have asked certain parents to send snacks for the party, so you do not need to send snacks with your child for this day unless you think your child will not eat our party food.

Our morning class will participate in the Halloween Parade at 9:00 am.  Our afternoon class will be having their own Halloween Parade at 12:45 pm.  All parents and families are welcome to come watch the parades!  

Pajama Day

We will kick off our Bears unit on Thursday, November 2nd as well as Monday, November 6th by having a bring a bear and wear your pajamas to school day.  

Your child is welcome to wear their pajamas and bring their favorite bear to school on these days!

Coming Up

Next week will begin with Halloween and end with Bears!

• October 31st - Halloween Party - all students are invited to attend
• Halloween parades at 9:00 am and 12:45 pm - all parents are welcome to come watch 
• November 1st - PD Day - no school
• November 2nd - PJ Day - wear your pajamas and bring your favorite bear
• November 6th - PJ Day - wear your pajamas and bring your favorite bear 
• November 7th and 8th - Early Dismissal Days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm
• November 13th - no school - Midterm break  

Pumpkin Palooza!

We had a fun week exploring with pumpkins.  During center time, students had fun cleaning pumpkins in the "pumpkin wash."  Later in the week, we worked on those important hand-eye coordination skills by hammering golf tees and pushing tacks into pumpkins.  I was impressed by how well some of the students could manipulate the hammers!

Click here to see more pictures from this week!

This week during circle time we practiced our language skills by reciting the "Five Little Pumpkins" Poem.  This is a finger play the students enjoyed acting out together.  

Copy Cat

In the gym this week we played copy cat.  The students each had a turn to be the "cat" while everyone copied his/her actions.  It was all giggles (and a whole lot of running!)  This is a fun game you could play at home with your child as well.  The students loved having their turn to lead the activity.

Shoes

We are working with your children on developing independence everyday.  One big step is putting on and taking off their own shoes and coats.  Some of our students have shoes that are extremely difficult to get on and off.  Please consider sending your child to school in footwear that they can easily put on and take off so that they can feel successful with independent dressing.

Water Bottles

I am looking for empty disposable water bottles that we can use for crafts.  If you have any to spare please let me know!

Pumpkin Volunteers 

I will be looking for parents that are interested in volunteering to carve pumpkins with us on Halloween!  I will need two volunteers to help the morning class and two volunteers to help the afternoon class.  Please let me know if you are interested in helping out.  

Party Snacks

Throughout the year I will be asking parents to send snacks for our different parties.  This prevents us from getting too much party food, and also allows every family to have a turn to send a snack.  You are never required to send party snacks.  If I ask you to send a snack and you are not able to at this time, please let me know and I will be happy to ask another family instead.  

Watch for snack notes to be coming home early next week - if you see a note that means it is your turn to send a snack!

Parent Meetings

I have had parents asking if prekindergarten has parent meetings.  We do not have parent meetings on the same night as the rest of the school.  

Our PUF funded and mild/moderate funded students will be having their meetings soon to go through their Individualized Program Plans (IPPs).  These meetings will be taking place over the next three-four weeks.  I will be contacting you soon to set up a day and time.  The majority of these meetings will be taking place on Fridays.  

Parents of students who are not funded, you will have a chance to meet with me too!  I will set up a day near the end of November, and you will be able to sign up for a time to sit down with me if you would like to hear about how things are going at school.  

Coming Up

This week we will continue with our Halloween theme.  

Important Upcoming Dates:

• October 31st - Halloween Day
• all students are invited for this fun day
• the morning students will still come in the morning
• the afternoon students will still come in the afternoon
• students are welcome to come to school in their costumes on this day
• we will be having party snacks, so your child does not need to bring a snack to school unless you think they will not want to eat our party food
• November 1st - PD Day - No School
• November 2nd and 6th - Pajama Days
• wear your pajamas and bring a bear to school!

It is Fall!

Our theme this week was fall.  The students had fun making leaf soup, sweeping up the leaves in our classroom, and painting fall trees using tinfoil as a paintbrush.

Click here to see more pictures of our fall fun!

Our song this week was "All the Leaves are Falling Down."  This is a little action song that the kids really enjoyed.  I will attach the words in case you want to sing it at home as well.  Singing familiar songs with your children helps to practice and reinforce those developing language and early literacy skills.  

Fall Walk

We spent some time outside this week collecting leaves and enjoying nature.  We sorted the leaves by color (red, yellow, brown, and green).  The students discovered that red leaves were the hardest to find.  And the color we found the most of??? Brown!

Story Time!

Over the past two weeks we have been reading "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey" by Lucille Colandro.  This is a fun song book that is full of rhyming words.  The students had fun retelling the story this past week as we took turns "feeding" the old lady the different items that she eats in the book.  

In the Gym

This week we enjoyed exploring basketballs, rackets, hula hoops, and bean bags.  The students were eager to try bouncing, passing, catching, and hitting balls.  

Coming Up

Next week we will begin the exciting unit of Halloween!

Important Dates:

• October 31st - Halloween Parties
• all students are invited to attend this day.  Watch for more information to come home soon.  
• am students will come in the morning
• pm students will come in the afternoon
• November 1st - PD Day - no School
• November 8th and 9th - early dismissal days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:30 pm

  

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had another successful week of prekindergarten.  This week our theme was Thanksgiving.

Fine Motor Strengthening

We strengthened our hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills this week when we made a two part turkey craft.  The first part involved coloring a coffee filter and then spraying it with water to make the turkey feathers, and the second part included using a cut out of our foot to make the turkey's head and body.  We also had a stuff the turkey sensory bin that worked on developing pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination.

Click here to see more pictures of our fun from this week.

A Special Little Snack

The students loved creating their own snacks this week.  We had fun making apple smiles using apples, Wow Butter, and marshmallows!  This sensory activity got a little messy - sorry for all the Wow Butter that may have come home on your children's clothing!!  I was really proud of the students for trying this snack.  Some of them were unsure, and others dove right in.  But, for the most part everyone willingly gave it a try.

Click here to see more pictures of our apple snacks.

Library Books

The students began borrowing library books this week.  Your child is allowed to keep their library book for one week.  Our library schedule is as follows:

• The morning class will go to the library on Monday's and Tuesday's 
• The afternoon class will go to the library on Tuesday's and Wednesday's
  

If your child brings their library book back, they will be allowed to choose a new book to take home during our library visits.

**Full time students are welcome to trade books on any of the library days they wish.  They can trade books once or twice a week.  We will help them to choose a new book if they have a book in their book bag on library day.

Please note, our afternoon class did not go to the library this Wednesday because it was early dismissal day.

Belly Breathing

I have introduced the students to another form of deep breathing, belly breathing.  When we belly breathe the students lay on the ground and are encouraged to take a deep breath in through their nose and "fill their belly with air," then slowly blow it out of their mouth.  While they belly breathe I open and close our "breathing ball" above where they are laying as a visual on when to inhale and exhale.  This is an excellent self regulation tool that we often use after we come in from being outside.  The ball we use is called a "Hoberman" Sphere. 

I'm a Little Turkey

Our song this week was "I'm a Little Turkey."  The students enjoyed doing the actions and singing along to this cute little song.  I have included the words in case you want to sing it at home too!

I'm a Little Turkey
 (to the tune of I'm a Little Tea Pot)  
I'm a little turkey, 
look at me.  
I'm as chubby as can be.  
You might think I'd be a tasty bite, 
but I'll be hiding on Thanksgiving night! 

Coming Up!

Next week we will begin our fall theme.

• October 9th - no School - Thanksgiving Day
• October 31st - Halloween Party
• watch for more details to come home soon!

I would like to wish all of my prekindergarten families a safe and happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you get to have some quality family time together this weekend!

Apple-Palooza!

Well, it was a fun week in prekindergarten!  This week was all about apples.  Unfortunately we are still waiting for the green light to post pictures.  I promise I will share them all when I can - it will be worth the wait!  

Fine Motor

This week we made an apple craft to begin strengthening our fine motor skills and developing the all important pincer grasp.  We also had fun making apple pie play dough.  Play dough is a wonderful sensory experience that develops fine motor skills and hand eye coordination at the same time.

Click here to see more pictures of our apple projects.

Mr. Paul

Our Tuesday classes had a treat this week with a surprise visit from Mr. Paul.  Mr. Paul is a musical occupational therapist.  He is subcontracted through the Black Gold School District and will visit our PreK classes periodically throughout the school year.  He had a last minute cancellation Monday night, so we were able to squeeze in our first visit on Tuesday.  

When Mr. Paul visits he does music with the children, and mixes in different fine and gross motor activities at the same time.  This week the students did yoga, deep breathing, played his mandolin, as well as sang along to several different songs.  

Don't worry Monday/Wednesday students - you will have times with Mr. Paul throughout the year as well, and it will be worth the wait!

Click here to see more pictures from our visit with Mr. Paul!

How Tall Am I?

We had fun this week measuring each other with apples.  This activity worked on cooperation, counting, as well as hand-eye coordination skills.

Click here to see how many apples tall your child was!

Terry Fox Run

The students were full of energy and ready to run around our school yard on Wednesday and Thursday during our Terry Fox Run.  We chatted briefly about who Terry Fox was and what he was running for, then we enjoyed the beautiful weather as we adventured around the school yard.

You can click here to see more pictures from our Terry Fox run.

Ten Apples Up on Top!

This week we read Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss.  The students had fun helping to reenact the story using apple blocks, a stuffed bear, and a toy mop.  This is a fun counting book with a silly story line that most children adore.  

To carry on with the apple theme we did a little finger play apple poem with the students this week: Five Little Apples.  Here are the words in case you want to do it at home as well!

  

Emergency Evacuation

Our Thursday morning class experienced their first emergency evacuation practice this week.  The students were very brave and remained calm during the entire practice - I am so proud of each and every one of them!

Click here to see more pictures from week three.

Coming Up Next Week

Next week our theme will be Thanksgiving.  We will be making a special snack on Wednesday and Thursday involving apples, Wow Butter, and marshmallows!  Please still send a snack to school on these days with your child (just in case they are still hungry afterwards, or in case they are not interested in eating our snack).

• October 4th and 5th - Early Dismissal Days
• The morning class will dismiss at 10:25 am
• The afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm

Week Two!

We survived our first full week of prekindergarten!  The students seem to be settling into the routine of school.  Unfortunately the rainy weather kept us inside most the week.  However, we were lucky enough to go to the library, the gym, as well as have music class with Mrs. Stanksi this week!  

You can click here to see more pictures from music!

This past week we continued to work on developing our school routines.  Our Monday afternoon class experienced their first school wide emergency evacuation practice.  I was so proud of how patient our students were.  They had to stand in line for a long time until the drill was over.  

We are Crazy About Pete!

This week we experimented with strawberries, blueberries, and mud - just like Pete!  Earlier in the week we painted with berries and mud.  We also painted using shoes, as well as painted shoes using red (strawberry), blue (blueberry), and brown (mud) paint.  The students were delighted on Wednesday and Thursday when they were finally allowed to taste test those juicy berries.  It was all squeals during Pete's sensory walk.  The students had the opportunity to walk through bins of strawberries, blueberries, mud, and water during center time.  

You can click here to see more pictures from our Pete fun.

In the Gym

Last week in the gym we began to learn about the gym rules.  We also learned a new fun game called cat tag.  Next week we will continue to work on being the safe in the gym, and we will also be learning a new game called airport.

Scholastic Book Order

Next week your child will be bringing home a Scholastic Book order form.  Purchasing books from Scholastic is completed optional.  You are by no means obligated to buy books from the Scholastic Book order.  Scholastic Book orders give parents the opportunity to buy high quality children's books for a reasonable price.  When you make a purchase from Scholastic, our classroom earns points that can be used to purchase new books and materials for our prekindergarten classroom.  You can pay online or with a cheque.  Our first Scholastic Book Order is due on Thursday, October 5th.

Click here to see more pictures from week two!

Lost and Found

Please let me know if this sweater belongs to your child!  It was left behind one day during the first week of school.  

Coming Up

Next week prekindergarten will be all about apples!  We will also be having our own little Terry Fox Walk/Run around the school yard on both Wednesday and Thursday. 

• September 27th - picture day for the full time and M/W students
• September 28th - picture day for the T/Th students 
• October 4th and 5th - early dismissal days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm
• October 5th - Scholastic Book orders due 

Happy First Days!

Prekindergarten has gotten off to a great start.  I am so proud of how brave each and every one of our students has been!  We have had a fun couple of days and I think we are going to have an amazing year.

You can click here to see more pictures from our first day of school!

Routines, Routines, Routines!

We have spent a significant amount of time these last couple of days trying to begin to establish some PreK routines.  Children are more relaxed in their environment when they have a predictable routine set in place.  We will continue to work on establishing our PreK routines over the next month.

Safety

We started talking about Emergency Evacuations this week.  We even began practicing emergency evacuation drills within our classroom.  We are getting ready for a real emergency evacuation practice that will be happening soon with all of the other boys and girls from our school!  I have been talking to your children about the importance of staying together with their PreK teachers and class during an emergency evacuation drill.  I have also been warning them about how loud the emergency evacuation bell is - but that it's okay, it is just loud, not scary.

Pick Up

As we work to find our end of the day and pick up routine, I am asking parents to please make sure a PreK staff member knows you have picked up your child before you leave.  Especially with our afternoon classes when there are kids from other grades going in and out of the school at the same time.

I am working with the students that they need to get their outside shoes or boots on, then line up on the black line and wait until a staff member can help them find their parents.  Thank you for helping us with this process!

Umbrella Breathing

This week I began to teach the students about "umbrella breathing."  Umbrella breathing (deep breathing) is a self regulation tool that can be used for calming yourself when you are upset.  We will be practicing umbrella breathing every day in our classroom using our "breathing bell."  Once the students understand how to umbrella breathe we will work with them to use umbrella breathing as a tool to help calm themselves down if they are upset.

You can click here to see more pictures from our first week of school.

Pete the Cat

Our theme right now is Pete the Cat.  We have been reading "Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes" by Eric Litwin.  I strongly recommend this book if you are looking for a story to enjoy with your child.  Next week we will have Pete themed art and sensory play.

Coming Up

Next week we will continue to enjoy our Pete theme.  We plan to get messy squishing berries and mud just like Pete does in the book!  We will also be working on how to play together, how to clean up after ourselves, as well as emergency evacuation practices.  We will begin going to the gym and library next week as well, although we will not be bringing library books home at this time (maybe the following week).  We will also begin having music classes with Mrs. Stanski.

Important upcoming dates:

• September 27th - Picture day for PreK students (except T/Th kids)
• September 28th - Picture day for the T/Th PreK students
• October 4th and 5th - Early Dismissal Days
• the morning class will dismiss at 10:30 am
• the afternoon class will dismiss at 2:15 pm