Ms. Nicky’s News
We are off to a great start to the school year! The students are getting used to the schedule and routines, and seem to be enjoying preschool. Hopefully you are hearing good things at home! We have started our social-emotional curriculum, PATHS, and students loved meeting the puppets we will be using throughout the year to teach the lessons in the curriculum. We have also started having our Kid of the Day, so be looking for a compliment sheet to come home with your child within the next couple of weeks if they haven’t already come home with one. We are encouraging students to work hard each day to receive STARPOWER, and several students have already done so.
We are giving students many opportunities to identify their name in our environment, and they have practiced writing their name several times during our Writing Time. We will be starting our Zoo-phonics, Handwriting Without Tears, and Building Blocks math curriculums the week of September 5. We will also start our first STEM Unit of Roads and Transportation the week of September 5. In the coming weeks, we will start visiting the library, computer lab, and MakerSpace, as well.
STEM Profile of the Month: Responsible
“I take care of doing my part. I make good choices. I can be trusted to do what is right.”
Some books to encourage being responsible:
Arthur’s Pet Business by Marc Brown
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Working With Your Child At Home
Thank you so much for completing the “Pete the Cat shoe” project with your child. We have gotten a lot of these back and the students have enjoyed sharing their projects with the class. It has been a lot of fun to get to know more about everyone!
The first handwriting assignment will be coming home on September 7. Please encourage your child to complete the assignment on their own, and even try to get them to attempt to write their own name on their paper (you can provide a model on another sheet of paper.) It would also be helpful to talk to your child about the letters they are working on–what the letters are, the sound they make, and different words that start with that letter. I will also be sending home a math worksheet each week starting September 7. This, too, will focus on material that we are working on in class.
I know many students in the class went to Spark! last year, so you may feel that the work they are receiving isn’t challenging them enough. Once we get more settled in, I will start sending different work home for them that will challenge them more.
A reading log will also be coming home this week. Please try to read with your child each night.
Monthly Calendar
I will send a monthly calendar home in Thursday folders that highlights the STEM unit we are studying, the letters of the week we are focusing on, positive behavior parties, spirit days, and any other important dates. Once we start going to the library, I will also put those dates on there as a reminder of when to send books back. Hopefully, this will be a quick resource you can use to make sure you have everything covered here at school.
Scholastic Book Orders
I will not be sending Scholastic Book orders home this year. Last year, I had very few families make purchases, so I don’t really want to ask a parent volunteer to go through all of the trouble again to put the packets together each month only to have nobody place an order. Instead, if you would like to order books from Scholastic, please let me know and another teacher said she would be happy to give me a form to give to you, and then you can either send it back to me and I will get it back to her, or you can order online. Then, I will get the books from her once they come in and get them to you.
Weather Changes
With Fall upon us, we will likely see the weather changing throughout the day. We will try to get outside every day that it is not raining, so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately. When in doubt, please send a jacket. We will check the temperature each day before we head out and if it’s cool enough to need a jacket, we will have them put theirs on.
Important Dates
September 4: NO SCHOOL-Labor Day
September 7: PBIS Award-Parachutes in the gym
September 7: PTO Meeting (6 p.m.-8 p.m.)
September 13: Spark! Spirit Night at McDonald’s (5 p.m. -7:30 p.m.)
September 14: FREE Parenting Class (6:30 p.m.-7:45 p.m.)
September 16: Miner’s Day Parade in Frederick
September 22: BELIEVE Fundraiser begins
September 26-27: Picture Day (more information to come)
September 28: FREE Parenting Class (6:30 p.m.-7:45 p.m.)
Happy Birthday!
September 8: Penelope