Ms. Piper’s Class Newsletter 1-18-19
Hello, preschool families! We hope this message finds you well. This is the classroom update for the month of January.
What We’re Learning
We are currently on our 4th STEM Unit, Life Cycles of Plants and Insects. In this unit, we are focusing on what insects are and what their life cycles look like, then on what plants need to grow, what their parts, are, and what their life cycles look like. We have also touched on frog life cycles. So far, the children have enjoyed reading favorite books by Eric Carle, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Grouchy Ladybug, and The Tiny Seed. They have made coffee filter butterflies, sprouted lima beans (to be transplanted later this week), and engaged in pretend play in our Insect Lab and Gardening Center.
In literacy, we have been practicing more and more letter recognition and letter sounds (using Zoophonics for remembering sounds). We have played rhyming games and given more attention to the beginning sounds (vs. letters) of words and names. Literacy homework is currently on hold, but you will soon see homework that focuses on lowercase letters as we start to work on them in class.
In math, both the morning and afternoon classes have been taking off! We now work on numeral recognition and counting for numbers 1-20. We have begun to work on recognizing the patterns within numbers using 10 frames. Additionally, we have worked on simple patterns, finding shapes in our environment, and measuring objects by length. We make all of this as fun as possible—the children think we are trying to “stump” them, but of course, they are always too smart (*wink)!
Ms. Laura
We have a new classroom paraprofessional, Laura Mikesell, who started last week. Ms. Laura had already spent time with us while doing her practicum while working toward her BS in Early Childhood Education. Please give her a warm welcome if you see her!
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up the first week of February. Sign-up info will go home next week. If your child has an IEP meeting during the month of February, you do not need to sign up for a conference unless you would like to.
Family Photos
Thank you to everyone who has sent a family photo for our wall! If you have not, please send one (either printed or by email) if you can, so we can out it up for your child to look at and tell us about!
Important Dates
· Friday Jan 25: No preschool
· Thursday Jan 31: Scholastic Book Order Deadline
· Monday, Feb 4, Tuesday, Feb 5, and Thursday, Feb 7: Parent-teacher conferences
· Thursday Feb 7: PJ Day, mini-fundraiser, sponsored by PTO, $1.00 donation for children to wear PJs for the day
· Thursday Feb 14: Valentine’s Day Celebrations (more info to come)
· Friday, Feb 15: No preschool
· Monday, Feb 18: Presidents’ Day—No preschool
· Wednesday-Thursday Feb 20-21: Whole Class Picture Day
Parent Volunteers
Please consider volunteering in our classroom or in the office! Volunteers must attend volunteer training offered by the school before starting to volunteer in preschool, due to licensing rules and regulations.
· Monday, August 13, from 4:00 – 5:30 pm -completed
· Friday, September 21 from 9 am – 10:30 am -completed
· Monday, October 22 from 4 – 5:30 pm -completed
· Friday, January 18th from 9 am – 10:30 am -completed
· Tuesday, February 19 from 4:00 – 5:30 pm
· Friday, March 15 from 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Classroom Wish list
As the year moves along, we are beginning to run low on some supplies. This is a particularly crafty bunch, so we especially go through art supplies and collage materials! If you would like to donate items, we are in need of the following:
· Tempera paint (preferably washable)
· Small notepads
· Pom poms
· Googly eyes
· Prototyping materials—these are recyclables such as egg cartons, cardboard tubes, fabric, etc.
· Sequins
· Straws
· Small paper bags
· Buttons
Ms. Piper, Ms. Jen, and Ms. Laura