Message from Our Principal, Paige Gordon ([email protected])
Dear Families: There are a number of updates I want to provide to you. First — thank you to staff and families who helped set up, volunteer for jobs during, attended, donated items, and/or cleaned up for our Trick or Treat Street on Friday. Special shout out to parents of the PTO who helped with pizza, balloons, pumpkins, balloon vendor, airbrush tattoos, sign up genius, helped get the FFFPD and FPD to attend, cotton candy, popcorn, and more! Costumes were fantastic, and the event was so well attended! Thank you everyone!
Also – thank you to families and staff for the 100% fall conference attendance – demonstrating the commitment we all have to partnering together to support our students and families during one of the most important phases of life – early childhood.
VOLUNTEER TRAINING: We are excited to once again host Volunteer Training at various points through the year in our cafeteria at Spark! Volunteer training is required by the Department of Human Services, as we are a licensed preschool, in order to volunteer in the preschool classroom at our school. A sign up form will be emailed to families in a separate communication. Because of some sensitive topics, this training is best attended by adults (babies are okay to attend). Childcare is not provided during training. If translation is needed, please indicate this on the form. The dates for volunteer training for the next three months are:
- Tuesday, November 28, 2023, from 8:30 – 10:00 am in the cafeteria
- No training will be offered in December
- Thursday, January 25, from 4:15 -5:45 pm in the cafeteria.
NOVEMBER CANNED FOOD DRIVE to benefit the Carbon Valley Help Center: We are having a canned food drive from Monday, October 30 to Thursday, November 16 to support the Carbon Valley Help Center. If families are able, please send in non-perishable foods which have not expired. Ongoing needs include: Beans, Macaroni & Cheese, Canned Fruit, Pasta & Rice, Canned Meat, Canned Soup & Stews, Canned Vegetables, Peanut Butter, Cereal…etc. We will be taking this to the Help Center, located at 150 Buchanan Ave, Firestone, CO. The Carbon Valley Help Center is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with appointments recommended (303-833-6626 to set up an appointment)… walk ins accepted based on availability.
Important Inclement Weather Information: SVVSD recently sent a message to families about protocols for weather-related scenarios, and this information can be found here on the SVVSD website. NOTE THE THREE OPTIONS based on road conditions and weather forecasts, we will make one of three decisions: a) keep a normal in-person school schedule (No Change), b) institute a two-hour weather delay, where school will start two hours later than normal (Delayed start), and c) lose to in-person learning and shift to a shortened online learning day (Online learning day)
During any inclement weather shortened online learning days: 1) At-home assignments (20-30 minutes) are sent home prior to being needed during an online learning day schedule, 2) Teachers may also email families during an online learning day to include activities or may set up activities in SeeSaw, 3) Staff will check their email throughout any online learning day in-case students reach out with questions or need additional assistance, and 4) During an online learning day, from 11:00 – 11:30 am is an Online Office Hour.
In the event of a delayed start of two hours, at Spark! Discovery Preschool:
- Morning Preschool Classes from 8:30 – 11:10 am will be canceled
- Afternoon Preschool Classes from 12:25 – 3:05 pm will follow a normal schedule
- Full Day Classes (Ms. Kaylee and Ms. Noreen): Will begin 2 hours later than their regularly scheduled start time — which is at 10:30 am
- Wrap-around childcare will begin at 11:00 a.m.
SPIRIT WEEK is coming NOV 13 – 16!
Nov 13 – World Kindness Day: Write a note or draw a picture for a staff member or your classroom.
Nov 14 – Neon and Tie-Dye day
Nov 15 – Favorite team / sport shirt day
Nov 16 – Formal / Fancy / Dress up Day
We invite our families to join us on our social media outlets:
Facebook: Spark-Discovery-Preschool-of-St-Vrain
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparkdiscoverypreschool/
Twitter: @SparkDPS
LUNCH / SNACK Menus: Families can now find the monthly Lunch Menu at LINQCONNECT. This online system allows you to filter for allergens and see the Breakfast Menu. You change between Breakfast and Lunch in the upper left hand corner. Change the month to reflect November’s menus.
With respect – Paige Gordon, Principal – Spark! Discovery Preschool
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SVVSD Equity and Community Engagement: Our school district’s Native American Family Night in partnership with SVVSD Priority Programs was a huge success. Please join us next time! Location: Innovation Center Time: 5pm-7pm. Dates: November 28th 2023, Feb 27th 2024, and April 30th 2024
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Important Dates
Oct 30 – Nov 3 2023
- All week: Mathematical focus on Counting for November
- All week: STEM PROFILE OF THE MONTH: ENTHUSIASTIC
- All week: Fundations letter and letter sound learning: Qq, Rr
- Stem Unit 2: Oct 23- Dec 1
- Lifecycles of Animals: Mary, Marie, Kelli
- Transportation: Julia and Moira
- Drama and Theater: Noreen and Kaylee
- Moving and Grooving: Dance and Fitness- Kiersten and Tori
- Ooh-Aah Science- Blair, Miranda, and Amy
- Mon, Oct 30 through November 16: Canned Food Drive At Spark! to benefit the Carbon Valley Help Center
- Tue, Oct 31- Happy Halloween!
- Tue, Oct 31- Canned Food Drive At Spark!- Carbon Valley Help Center
- Wed, Nov 1- Late Start for K-12 (not applicable for PK), determined by SVVSD — preschool and childcare will be on a normal schedule
- Wed, Nov 1- PTO sponsored PJ Day- P$1.00 suggested donation
- Wed, Nov 1- Tuition is due. Questions? [email protected] (school secretary)
- Sun, Nov 5- Daylight Savings change (fall back 1 hour)
Nov 6 – 10, 2023
- All week: Mathematical focus on: Counting
- All week: STEM PROFILE OF THE MONTH: Enthusiastic
- All week: Fundations letter and letter sound learning: Ss, Tt
- STEM UNITS: From Oct 23 – Dec 1, students will experience STEM UNIT 2 (Read more about our ’23-’24 Program of STEM here):
- Life Cycles of Animals: Ms. Mary, Ms. Marie, and Ms. Kelli’s classes
- Transportation: Ms. Julia and Ms. Moira’s classes
- Drama and Theater: Ms. Noreen and Ms. Kaylee’s classes
- Moving & Grooving: Dance / Fitness: Ms. Kiersten and Ms. Tori’s classes
- Ooh-Aah Science: Ms. Blair, Ms. Miranda, and Ms. Amy’s classes
- Mon, Nov 6 – 16 – Canned Food Drive At Spark!- Carbon Valley Help Center
- Tues, Nov 7: ELECTION DAY
- Sat, Nov 11- Happy Veteran’s Day (observed)
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A message from the Spark! Campus Supervisor, Alicia Hall ([email protected]).
At Spark! Discovery Preschool we take safety and security seriously and want to ensure that every student can learn and grow in a nurturing and safe place. Please be sure to follow all posted speed guidelines in our parking lots and on the city roads bordering the school. The school zone speed limit from 7am-4pm (M-F) is 20 MPH on city roads and much lower in our parking lots. Young children can be very unpredictable. Please be cautious when driving in these areas especially during drop off and pick up times. When weather hits it can cause slippery spots that delay stopping time. At Spark! we have 2 stop signs near our school. One is at the SE corner of the parking lot where you can turn into our parking lot or go straight to Thunder Valley and one is at the SW corner of the parking lot leaving the school. Please be sure to come to a complete stop at these locations. These are very high traffic areas and coming to a complete stop will help with safety. If you as a parent see a safety concern please reach out to me, so I can help address any concern.
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A message from the Spark! Health Clerk, Amanda Rivera ([email protected])
Thank you for all your help in turning in General Health Appraisal forms and Immunization records. At this point, we now have all immunization records and General Health Appraisals put into the system. Please check Infinite Campus, and if a child is non-compliant for immunizations, then we do not have records or updated records, and are in need of them as soon as possible. General Health Appraisal reminders will also be going out to families. If parents/guardians get one of these letters from the health office, then I either do not have one on file, or it has expired. Please contact me if you have any questions.
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A message from the Spark! Attendance/Registrar, Amy Yanez [email protected]
If your child’s going to be late/absent for the day, calling in your child’s absences by 8 AM reduces the amount of time it takes for staff to call each family individually and safely account for our students. Please call 720-652-7906 — if no one is available to take your call please leave a message and someone will return your call as soon as possible.
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A message from the Spark! Secretary, Stacey Petering [email protected]
Fall is in full swing at Spark! With the changing colors of fall leaves, also comes changes in family dynamics. Here is a reminder if families need to change their Infinite Campus Emergency Contacts, changes in home addresses, and adding or changing contact phone numbers. Come see us at the school office or call and we can help facilitate those changes.
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COUNTING: THE BIG IDEAS OF EARLY MATHEMATICS focus for the month of November
There’s more to counting than just 1, 2, and 3! There are two kinds of counting, rote counting, which is the reciting of number names in order, from memory. Then, there’s rational counting, which is matching a number name in order to objects, as well as understanding that when you have counted the last item in the set, that number represents the total of the objects in the set.
BIG IDEA #1 (Counting): Counting can be used to find out “how many” in a collection. The science/math parents should know…
Finding out how many things are in a collection is the primary reason to count, and knowing how many allows preschoolers to do several important things, such as conduct number operations, compare sets (more or less), and identify equivalence (sameness). Dr. Gwen Dewar, author of an article called “Preschool Math Lessons: A Developmental Guide for the Science Minded Parent, states, “Numerosity is the conceptual bedrock for most basic math skills. Kids who don’t grasp numerosity…have trouble understanding the counting system. They also have more difficulty with arithmetic and making measurements (Booth and Siegler 2006; Siegler and Booth 2004). How can we help kids learn about numerosity? Recent experiments on American first graders suggest that approximation activities are helpful. Show kids two sets of objects and ask them to judge which is bigger — without counting (this is called subitizing) (Hyde et al 2104). Such activities might help preschoolers, too. But very young children have a lot more to learn. They need to know that specific numbers signify, or map onto, specific quantities. And this understanding may improve with practical, hands-on experience with real sets (Dehaene 1999; Hirsh-Pasek et al 2003).”
Recently, (and I cannot remember who said it or where it was written) but I heard something we want to share with you. Often as parents we get hung up on having our children count to high numbers such as 30 or 40, in the same way we like to hear them recite the alphabet. However, reciting numbers to 35 does not mean they understand the meaning of numbers no more than reciting the alphabet means that they can read. Instead, counting should connect to daily concrete experiences. Use personal interests, daily life, objects and sets of objects around the home, and play opportunities to count concrete items with your children—it’s more real and less abstract.
BIG IDEA #2 (Counting): Counting has rules that apply to any collection. The science/math parents should know…
There are 4 rules to counting that are developed in preschoolers in the following order, which experts agree that rational counting can happen only after all 4 are mastered (p. 51-54, 2014):
- Phase 1: Stable Order
This idea is that counting words have to be said in the same order every time. The order, 1, 2, 3… is fixed—it’s always the same.
- Phase 2: One-to-One Correspondence
This means that one number is named for each object. Here, it’s important that they coordinate their physical movement of the finger and eyes across the objects to match one number to one object.
- Phase 3: Order Irrelevance
This is the idea that the order the objects in the group are counted in will not matter—the end result is the same. For example, if we are counting 8 goldfish crackers, we can put them in a line right to left and count, push them away into a pile and count them, put a mark by them to count them, or even make groups of 5 and 10 to help count large sets.
- Phase 4: Cardinality
With this concept, the child applies the numbers to the objects, uses the correct number sequence, counts them each only once, and then once he stops counting, they reuse the last number counted to name the total in the set.
What can a parent do with their preschooler?
Stable Order Ideas:
- Sing counting songs—include movement as you do
- Count up and back from any number
- Post and reference a 1-10 number line that uses dots and numbers when you are working on counting
- Once counting 1-20 is mastered, work on skip-counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
- Interrupt a count and have them count backwards down to 1 again.
One-to-one Correspondence:
- In daily routines, like giving crackers
- Use music and movement such as marching to a drumbeat.
- Play “Chutes and Ladders” again and again and again!
- Help them to coordinate their hands, eyes, and objects to point to each object for each number name.
Order Irrelevance
- Arrange and rearrange a collection to confirm the count (line it up, stack it up, clumps of 5…)
- Teach them to group objects by 5s, 10s, etc. to make it easier to count.
- Model and talk out loud about how your method for counting, such as lining objects up, group objects, counting by 5s or 10s.
Cardinality
- Label the set by “how much” or “how many” items there are in total at the end
- As you are counting objects, practice labeling at the end, such as 1, 2, 3… 3 crackers for snack.
Sources:
Collaborative, Early Math. Big Ideas of Early Mathematics: What Teachers of Young Children Need to Know. S.l.: Pearson, 2014.
Dewar, Gwen, PhD. “Preschool Math Lessons: A Developmental Guide for the Science-minded Parent.” Preschool Math Lessons: A Developmental Guide for the Science-minded Parent. Parenting Science, 2008-2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.