Category "Preschool Newsletters"

29Jun2023

REMINDERS
**Children need to be at school by 8:45am. DON’T BE LATE

**Daily attendance is taken at 9:00am. If your child will be absent or late, call the preschool before 9:00am.

**July is a 5 week tuition month.

**August is a 4 week tuition month (Families leaving the week of 8/7 will pay 1 week in August).

**Growing Years will be CLOSED August 10th & 11th. Our staff will be cleaning and prepping for the new school year.

WELCOME
Please welcome Miss Shari to our Achievers Team! Miss Shari previously taught at Growing Years for 8 years and has returned as Lead Teacher in the Maple class.

JULY & AUGUST EVENTS

July 6…Sports Day…come to school dressed to represent your favorite sports team or dress up as your favorite player.

July 11…Purple Day…Wear the color purple today!

July 12…Hawaiian Luau Day…Come to school dressed in your best Hawaiian attire. We’ll dance the hula and have some fun. Aloha!!

July 14…Orange Day…Wear the color orange today!

July 18…Green Day…Wear the color green today!

July 20…Pirate Day…Wear your best pirate outfit to school. We’ll hunt for treasure, hoist the Jolly Roger and turn our structure into a pirate ship.

July 21…Red Day…Wear the color red today!

July 26…Costume Day…wear you favorite costume to school.

July 27…Blue Day…Wear the color blue today!

August 1…Yellow Day…Wear the color yellow today!

August 2…Disney Day…Wear your favorite Disney shirt today!

August 4…Rainbow Day…Wear All The Colors Of The Rainbow!

5Jun2023

Thank you for all your support throughout the year. Summertime is here and that means lots and lots of outside time. We’ll also continue to introduce themes as well as review letter and numbers through games and hands-on activities.
Please make sure your child is at school by 8:45am.

THANK YOU!
Our staff would like to thank you for all of the Hearts, Flowers, Food and Treats that were sent to us during Teacher Appreciation Week. We appreciate all the wonderful notes and messages.

SCHOOL CLOSED
We will be CLOSED the following dates: July 3rd & 4th and August 10th & 11th.

SUMMER CHANGES
Some of our Maple friends will exit this month for a summer break and return in the fall. We’ll also welcome new Preschool and Pre-K students throughout the summer. You may notice new faces and hear about new friends as the summer progresses. Please join us in welcoming our new students and their families.

If you requested schedule changes for your child during the SUMMER SESSION these changes will begin June 12th.

PIZZA PARTY
We’re celebrating the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer with a Pizza Party! There will be dancing, fun games, and pizza for lunch!

Friends who do not stay for lunch time are welcome to join us. They should be picked up at 12:45pm.

SUMMER CURRICULUM
During the summer we will be planning a variety of theme days and activities. Please make sure you read your newsletter carefully so you know what’s happening throughout the month.

We try our best to schedule theme activities on varying days throughout the month in order for everyone to get a chance to participate. Because we must maintain our child/teacher ratio, we cannot allow schedule changes or drop-ins in order to participate in the theme day. We’ll make sure your child has a chance to participate on his/her days.

VACATIONS
Please verbally remind your child’s teacher of any vacation time you will be taking this summer. Just let us know the week before you leave. You can also send an email reminder or send a message to us in the Brightwheel app.

LOST AND FOUND
Our lost and found box is FULL. Please check to see if any items belong to your child.

WELCOME
Please welcome Miss Mara to our Achievers Team! Miss Mara will now be the Lead Teacher in the Willow classroom.

May was a busy month for the Maples!

We practiced writing our name, talked about what we want to be when we grow up, conducted cool science experiments, explored with magnets, measured to see how much we grew this year, played with cocoa mulch, read lots of new stories, shared our crazy hair, played fun games that improved our letter and number recognition, learned about insects and watched our ladybugs and butterflies go through their metamorphosis.

We popped corn with the top off the popcorn popper and used all our senses during this experience. We listened to it POP!, smelled the popcorn, watched the kernels fly out of the popper, felt it crunch in our hands and later tasted it for snack.

This month we’ll learn some new songs, read some great stories, have some fun theme days, welcome new Preschool friends into our class, and spend lots of time outside in the sunshine.

Songs We’ve Been Singing
Buenos Dias
Ram Sam Sam
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
It’s An Insect, Not A Spider
Head, Thorax, Abdomen
Who Stole The Cookie?

Books We’ve Been Reading
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Bugs Are Insects by Anne Rockwell
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

1May2023

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
The week of May 8th is Teacher Appreciation Week! Show our staff how much you care by sending them a note of appreciation. Our Teacher Appreciation board is located at the entrance of the main building.

CONFERENCING
Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place this month. Please look at our schedules on the attendance board and make an appointment. We will review assessments and discuss your child’s growth and progress over the past nine months.

CLOSING EARLY
As a reminder we will be closing early on Friday June 2nd to prepare for our Pre-K Graduation Ceremony. Please make arrangements to have your child picked up by 1:00pm.

TUITION
*May is a 5 week tuition month.

*If your child will NOT attend in summer, you will owe 1 week tuition for the month of June (6/5 – 6/9). Children are expected attend the last week of school.

*If your child will NOT attend in summer but will RETURN in FALL (8/14), your holding fee (equal to 4.5 weeks tuition) is Due by 5/26.

Welcome
Please welcome Miss Mariam to our Achievers Team! Miss Mariam will be helping out in the Willow classroom while she takes ECE courses to become a preschool teacher.

Last Month…
We had a great time at our Easter Party! We played fun games like Pin The Ear On The Easter Bunny and Easter Basket Bean Bag Toss. We went on an Egg Hunt and spent a lot of time looking for that tricky Easter Bunny.

We shared our cool costumes on Superhero day and had fun pretending we had super powers!

We participated in lots of cool art activities; Sand art, watercolors on giant coffee filters, crayon resist painting, impression painting, and collage.

We played games, made vinegar and baking soda explosions and learned about different animals.

This month we’ll plant flowers and veggies in our garden, learn about insects, and wrap up the school year.

Books We Enjoyed Last Month…
The Easter Bunny Is Missing by Steve Metzger
Jack And The Jelly Beanstalk by Joan Holub
Books by Kate & Jim McMullan
I Stink!
I’m Dirty!
I’m Brave!
Giraffes by Catherine Ipcizade

Songs We’ve Been Singing…
5 Little Jellybeans
Little Bunny Foo Foo
Peter Cottontail
5 Little Ducks
Nursery Rhymes
*Jack & Jill
*Hickory Dickory Dock
*Old Mother Hubbard

Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

2Apr2023

EASTER PARTY AND EGG HUNT
Our Easter party and egg hunt will be Thursday 4/6. If your child does not come to school on Thursdays they’re invited to join us but must be picked up by 11:00am. Please let us know if your child is coming so we can set a spot for them at our party table. Look for our sign up to bring goodies for our egg hunt. Items will need to be at school BEFORE the day of our party.

CLOSING EARLY
We will be closing early on Friday June 2nd to prepare for our Pre-K Graduation Ceremony. Please make arrangements to have your child picked up by 1:00pm.

RECEIPTS / 2022 TAX INFO.
Parents requesting monthly receipts can now print their paid invoices from the Brightwheel website. For your 2022 taxes, W-10 forms have been completed for your convenience and can be picked up at the parent information board.

NEW CLASS
At the end of the month we will start our first Jr. Preschool class and welcome 2 year olds into our Willow classroom. Now that the Willow classroom will be in use, please avoid walking through the classroom when the children are present. Enter and exit the backyard through the Maples cubby room to avoid disruption.

Last Month…

Last month the Maples spent lots of time talking about St. Patrick’s day and the Leprechaun. We read stories about Leprechauns and talked about ways we could catch him. We learned that if you catch him he has to grant you a wish and take you to his pot of gold. We made up plans and built some very cool Leprechaun traps. We learned that Leprechauns come from Ireland. We listened to lots of Irish Celtic music and learned how to do a jig. On the day of our St. Patrick’s Day celebration, we set up our trap but the Leprechaun was too smart and tricky. He left us a special letter and some treats.

We spent a lot of time exploring rhyming words and nursery rhymes. We sang songs and read stories with words that rhyme and practiced making up our own rhymes. Learning how to put rhyming sounds together is pre-reading and is getting us ready for the next step!

We shared our Family Banners and talked about our family name(s). We had a lot of fun admiring all the different ways each family created their banner. We hope you enjoyed working on this project together.

We explored with light and reflection and did some cool activities with prisms, sparkle plates and flashlights. We talked about rainbows and the colors of the spectrum.

We learned about cars and construction vehicles and continued watching all the cool construction happening right in front of our school.

This month we’ll celebrate Easter, learn about different animals and plant in our garden.

Songs We’ve Been Singing
Michael Finnigan
Take Me Out To The Ball Game
Peanut Butter And Jelly
If You’re Happy And You Know It
Yellow Butter, Purple Jelly
Aikendrum

Books We’ve Been Reading
The Luckiest Leprechaun by Justine Korman
The Family Book by Todd Parr
Families by Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly
It’s Spring! by Linda Glaser
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
by Sherri Duskey Rinker

HAPPY EASTER!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

27Feb2023

SUMMER AND FALL REGISTRATION
Be sure to return the attached Summer / Fall registration A.S.A.P. Indicate vacation dates and any schedule changes for SUMMER and FALL.

Note: Children enrolled in the Pre-k program are required to attend a minimum of 2 full days or 3 half days. Children entering Pre-K must be 4 years old by September 1. All registration must be submitted by Monday 3/13. Failure to submit summer / fall schedules will result in the loss of your child’s spot.

MASKS
Effective March 1st we will be dropping the mask requirement for children and adults. Please let us know if you prefer to have your child continue wearing a mask.

BRIGHTWHEEL
Make sure to set up an account with Brightwheel so you are able to access your 4 Digit Check-In / Check-Out Code / QR Code. Each parent and authorized pick up has their own unique code that identifies them by name. Please be sure each authorized pickup is registered with Brightwheel and using their own number.

Tax I.D. # 82-4676859

REMINDER
We Will Be CLOSED April 21st For Staff Development.


Last Month…
We learned about Groundhog Day and had fun making shadows with our groundhog puppets. We talked about the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil and learned that he saw his shadow this year so that means six more weeks of winter!

We talked about friendship and Valentine’s Day. We had a great time at our Valentine’s party sharing our fancy Valentine’s with each other. Thanks for bringing the goodies.

We had fun reading the story “Pinkalicious” and making yummy pink cupcakes for snack.

We’ve been having a lot of fun watching the construction taking place in our front yard!

This month we’ll talk about the Leprechaun and St. Patrick’s Day. We’ll talk about families and share our family banners. We’ll learn about Spring, celebrate Royal Wednesday, and learn about cars and construction vehicles (both the Maples pick).

Books We’ve Been Reading
Pinkalicious by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann
Who Will See Their Shadow This Year? by Jerry Pallotta
Pete The Cat-I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond
Fancy Nancy by Robin Preiss Glasser
Not A Box by Antoinette Portis
Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis

Songs We’ve Been Singing
Skinna Marink
Ram Sam Sam
You Are My Sunshine
I Love Somebody
Aikendrum

HAPPY SPRING!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

30Jan2023

VALENTINE’S DAY
The Maples are having a Valentine’s Party on Tuesday 2/14. If your child does not attend school on Tuesdays they’re welcome to join us. Our party will begin at 9:00am. Children who do not attend on Tuesdays must be picked up by 11:00am. We’ll be sharing Valentine Cards with our friends. Please bring enough cards for 18 children. You do not need to address each card, just write your child’s name in the “from” area.

SUMMER AND FALL REGISTRATION
Its time to start thinking about your child‘s summer and fall schedule. Registration information will be sent out with next months newsletter. Its important that you specify any schedule changes, exit dates, return dates and vacation dates if possible.

Our current families have priority for summer / fall registration but please understand that we have a full list of students waiting to start and we must maintain our enrollment. Therefore it*s essential that you respond in a timely manner and adhere to your chosen schedule.
As a reminder, the last day of the school year is June 9th. Our 2023/2024 School Year Begins August 14th.

TAX INFORMATION
If you need a monthly receipt for future tuition payments, please leave a note for Shalimar in the tuition box. W-10 forms have been completed for your convenience and can be picked up at the parent information board. Our Tax I.D. # 82-4676859

FAMILY BANNER
This month we’ll send home instructions on how to create a family banner. Please complete the assignment at home and return it to school by Wednesday 3/1. Please make sure your child is an active participant in the creation of your family banner. We will share our banners throughout the week and have them on display in our classroom throughout the month of March.

PINKALICIOUS DAY
Wear the color Pink (Or Red) to school on Friday 2/24 in honor of Pinkalicious Day. We’ll read the story “Pinkalicious” by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann, and make yummy Pinkalicious cupcakes for snack. This is only for children who attend school on Fridays.

TEACHER CHANGES
Please be aware of recent staffing changes. Miss Ashlee (Redwood Class) has left Growing Years. Miss Roxann will assist Miss Elli in the Pre-K class.

Miss Dorene will return to Growing Years to assist where needed. Miss Dorene has been a part of the Growing Years Family for many years. She originally joined our team in 1999 and over the years she’s been our cook, meal planner, inventory manager and classroom teacher. We are very pleased to have her back with us!

SIDEWALK CONSTRUCTION
Please be aware the sidewalk project on Anita Avenue is set to begin this month. If you drop off after 8am you may want to give yourself extra time to account for any street closures, parking lot closures, and overall traffic. Our staff will do our best to assist with drop offs when we can.

PARKING LOT SAFETY
Please use caution when entering and exiting the parking lot. NEVER let your child walk/run through the parking lot unattended. Drivers should drive slowly and use caution when backing out of spaces. Whether you’re walking or driving, please be aware of your surroundings and be safe in the parking lot.

LAST MONTH…

Last month was full of fun experiences! We played with “icebergs” and excavated polar animals from the ice in our sensory tables. We painted with golf balls, salad spinners, string, and our fingers. We scooped and poured kinetic sand, rainbow rice and cinnamon oats.

We learned about Chinese New Year. We learned how to say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” (Wishing You Great Happiness And Prosperity). We learned that Dragons and the color red are very good luck. We had a cool dragon parade and practiced using chopsticks to pick up pom poms.

We had some cool rain storms in January. Because of our changing weather we’ve been cloud watching and learning the names of different types of clouds. We can spot Nimbus (gray rain clouds), Cumulus (white puffy clouds), Stratus (flat pancake clouds) and Cirrus (wispy clouds).

This month we’ll talk about families and friendship and get ready for our Valentine’s Day party. The Maples have come up with some great themes that they’d like to explore: trains, bulldozers, trees, cars, animals, numbers, and science. We’ll be incorporating these themes into our curriculum over the next few months.

We’re becoming very independent little people. We put on our shoes after nap, bus our own area after snacks and lunch, and did you know we can ALL put on our own jackets and sweatshirts by ourselves? Ask me to show you how I put my jacket on all by myself using the “jacket trick”. Some of us are already zipping and buttoning by ourselves but if we can’t, we’re using our words to ask for some help. Doing things on our own gives us great confidence and self esteem. Be sure to check the “What We Did Today” board daily to see what we’ve been up to.

SONGS WE’VE BEEN SINGING…
*A Hunting We Will Go
*Do Your Ears Hang Low?
*Alligator Pie
*Willoughby Wallaby Woo
*If You’re Happy And You Know It

BOOKS WE’VE BEEN READING…
Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor
Wolf’s Coming! by Joe Kulka
Clouds by Roy Wandelmaier
Snowball by Sue Hendra
Big Bad Wolf by Claire Masurel
My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz
Polar Animals by Wade Cooper

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

6Jan2023

The entire staff would like to extend their heartfelt thanks for all the gifts and goodies given to us this past holiday season. We hope your family had a wonderful holiday. We wish you health and happiness in 2023!

TUITION RECEIPTS
If you need a monthly receipt for future tuition payments please leave a note for Shalimar in the tuition box. A receipt will be provided when tuition is paid in full for the month. W-10 forms have been completed for your convenience and can be picked up at the parent information board.
Our Tax I.D. # 82-4676859

Last month the Maples learned lots of new songs and had fun talking and reading stories about Santa and his reindeer. We also learned about Hanukkah-the festival of lights. We learned new words like Menorah and Gelt, and we had fun playing the Dreidel game.

This month we’ll talk about winter and the changing weather. We’ll learn about animals (polar bears, penguins, etc…) and hibernation. We’ll also spend time finding out what the Maples would like to learn about and use their interests as upcoming themes.

Books We Enjoyed In December
Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights by Leslie Kimmelman
Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama by Selina Alko
Mrs. Claus Takes A Vacation by Linas Alsenas
It’s Christmas, David! by David Shannon
The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
Who Will Help Santa This Year? by Jerry Pallotta

Songs We’ve Been Singing
Santa Had A Christmas Tree
Rudolph’s Light
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
S-A-N-T-A!
Jingle Bells
I’m A Little Christmas Tree

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

29Nov2022

TUITION
December is a 3 1/2 week tuition month (3 weeks full rate + 1 week 1/2 rate).
ALL TUITION IS DUE IN FULL BY Thursday 12/22. We will be closing out the month and the year on December 31st. Late tuition will result in daily late fees and cash payments only. Tuition will NOT be carried over into January so please make sure your December payment is accurate.

We Will Be CLOSED 12/26 – 1/6. We Will Be Back On 1/9.

January is a 4 1/2 week tuition month ( 4 weeks at full rate + 1 week 1/2 rate). January tuition will be collected when we return from winter break on January 9th.

REMINDERS
*Please Call Before 9am if your child will be absent. Attendance for the day is taken at 9am and we need to know our count for the day.

*Check the Lost & Found box. Anything left after 12/16 will be donated to charity.

HELP WANTED
We are searching for qualified preschool teachers to join our teaching staff. If you know of anyone looking to teach at a great school with an awesome teaching team, send them our way!

Our job posting can be found on indeed and our Facebook page. Resumes can be sent to [email protected].

LAST MONTH…
In November we talked about what it means to be thankful and shared some things we are thankful for. We made coffee filter turkeys, fall collage, fall leaves and handprint turkeys. We painted with potato mashers, berry baskets, tubes, toothbrushes and our hands.

We scooped and poured cinnamon oats at the sensory table and squeezed and molded pumpkin pie spice scented playdough.

Over the last few months we have been talking about “filling the bucket”. We began by reading “How Full Is Your Bucket” by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer which is an introduction to emotions. The story revolves around the concept that we all have invisible buckets. When our bucket is full we are happy, filled up, content. When our bucket is empty we are indeed empty. This book is our introduction to a variety of feelings both happy and strong. We’ve begun to explore a variety of feelings and learn that our actions impact those around us, that we have the power to both fill up and dip into others buckets. We will continue exploring this concept by playing games, continuing to discuss various types of emotions and ways we can help regulate our emotions to ensure we keep our buckets and the buckets of others as full as possible.

This month we’ll learn new holiday songs and learn all about Hanukkah and Christmas. If your family has a holiday custom or tradition you’d like to share with our class please let us know.

Books We’ve Been Reading
The Thankful Book by Todd Parr
I Am Thankful by Sonali Fry
Thanksgiving For Emily Ann by Teresa Johnston
A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting
Pearl And Squirrel Give Thanks by Cassie Ehrenberg

Songs We’ve Been Singing
Mr. Turkey
Smells Like Thanksgiving
Let’s Be Thankful
Turkey Ted
Happy Turkey Day

Happy Holidays!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

27Oct2022

Thank you to all who participated in our Family Pumpkin Decorating Contest. All entries were very creative and looked awesome!! Congratulations to our winners and thanks again to all the families for participating and helping us judge. We hope you had as much fun creating them as we did admiring them.

Our Fall Fundraiser Was A Success! Thank you for supporting our school with sales and donations. We raised $1,138 for the purchase of classroom materials. Thank you so much for all your support.

PICTURE DAY
Ahern Photography will be here on Wednesday 11/16 to take school photos. All children in attendance will have their individual photo taken and will also be included in our class photo.

Look for a photo order envelope in your child’s cubby the week before picture day. Please return your photo order along with payment by the morning of picture day. If you choose not to order in advance you will have the opportunity to view and purchase photos after picture day but additional charges will apply.

If your child does not come to school on Wednesdays you’re welcome to bring them in at 10am to have their photo taken. Our class group photo will be taken after all individuals.

HOLIDAY
As a reminder we’ll be CLOSED 11/24 AND 11/25 for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

SYMPTOMS OF ILLNESS
Cold and flu season is upon us. Please keep your child home if they are showing ANY signs of illness. Last month we had to send a few friends home with runny noses. Please help keep everyone safe and healthy by keeping your child home if they display any symptoms of illness. Thank You!

SPARE CLOTHES
Please make sure your child has spare clothes at school that are appropriate for the changing weather. If you think it’s time to update your child’s change of clothes, bring in a new set of fall / winter clothes and put them in our clothes drop off box. We’ll send home the old clothes in exchange for the warmer ones.

JACKETS AND SWEATSHIRTS
Please make sure your child is bringing a jacket/sweatshirt to school everyday. Because of our unpredictable weather, we highly recommend sending your child dressed in layers. Wear a sweatshirt or long sleeves and bring a light jacket. The mornings tend to be cold, while the afternoons get very warm. We spend lots of time outside regardless of the cold weather so please make sure your child is suitably dressed. We can’t stress enough-LABEL ALL JACKETS, COATS AND SWEATSHIRTS! Even if your child has a hook with their name on it, it’s important to label the item. If you’re missing any of your child’s clothes be sure to check our lost and found box near the front entrance.

Please take a look in our Lost and Found box to see if anything belongs to your child. Any items remaining after December 16th will be donated to charity.

REMINDER
Our daily activities begin promptly at 9:00am. DO NOT BE LATE! Children should be at school by 8:45am so they have time to check out the activities in the classroom before we get started. If your child will be absent, please call before 9:00am.

October was a busy month for the Maples. Our themes for the month were Fall, pumpkins, and Halloween.

Last month we explored pumpkins! We guessed what was inside our pumpkin. We put our pumpkins in the sensory table and shoveled out all the gooshy guts and seeds. We painted with pumpkins and talked about how they grow. We put them in water to see if they sink or float. When we were finished with our pumpkins we put them in our garden so we can watch them rot and create a new pumpkin patch for next year!

We had fun getting ready for Halloween. We learned new songs, read lots of Halloween stories, went on spooky walks, danced to the Monster Mash, thought up ingredients for our Witch’s Brew, and had a great time sharing our costumes at our party. We read the story “Halloween Pie” and made yummy pumpkin pie for snack.

We created lots of awesome art last month! We painted with salad spinners, mashers, different types of brushes, berry baskets, shaving cream, and water color on giant coffee filters.

We engaged in fun sensory activities too! We scooped and poured cinnamon popping oats and molded and created with Halloween sparkle playdough.

This month we’ll focus our lessons on Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful. We’ll learn about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans and we’ll learn some new Thanksgiving songs.

SONGS WE’VE BEEN SINGING
Mr. Pumpkin
Five Little Pumpkins
I’m A Jack-O-Lantern
Walk In The Dark
Ghosts and Goblins

BOOKS WE ENJOYED IN OCTOBER
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler
We’re Going On A Ghost Hunt by Marcia Vaughan
The Spooky Wheels On The Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman
Room On The Broom by Julia Donaldson
How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley

27Sep2022

HALLOWEEN PARTY
We will have a Halloween party on Thursday 10/27. Wear your costume to school today! If your child does not come to school on Thursdays, they’re welcome to join us from 9:00am – 11:30pm. Please let us know in advance if your child will be attending so we can set a spot for them at our party table. We’ll share our costumes, play games and parade around the backyard at 10:15am. Parents are welcome to meet us in the backyard and take pictures as we parade around the bike path. Our party will continue after our parade. Please bring a change of clothes for your child if they stay all day. Look for our sign-up sheet to bring party snacks.

**We ask that parent’s refrain from entering our classroom during our party time. You’re welcome to take pictures as we parade outside but please do not come into our classroom. Thank you for your understanding.

PUMPKIN DECORATING CONTEST
It’s time for our annual Family Pumpkin Decorating Contest! If you are interested in participating, you’ll need to register, so be sure to look for the sign-up sheet. Please keep in mind we are looking for FAMILY PRODUCED entries. Make sure your child is an active participant in the decorating process. Pumpkin entries may be dropped off at the preschool throughout the week of the 17th but ALL entries must be submitted by the morning of Thursday 10/20 to be considered for judging. Our judging will be based on 3 categories–Silliest, Spookiest and Most Creative. We need you to help us choose our winners. Please vote (one ballot per family please) for your favorite in each category. More information regarding our contest will be sent home later in the month.

PROGRESS REPORTS & FALL CONFERENCING
This month you will receive a report regarding your child’s preschool experience over the last few months. There will be a calendar posted on the sign in/out board for you to schedule a conference if you would like one. Conferences are conducted in the afternoons/evenings and will only be available to those who schedule an appointment.

LAST MONTH…

The first month of school seemed to fly by and now we’re off and running!

September was the month for getting acquainted. We’re getting to know the routine, our school and each other. We’re making new friends and learning how to get along in our classroom.

Last month we had a lot of fun playing with different tactile materials that offered a sensory experience as well. We scooped and poured Kinetic sand and colored rice at the sensory tables. We shaped and molded poppy seed playdough. We painted with mashers, cars, feathers, berry baskets, golf balls and salad spinners.

We’ve been focusing in on the children’s interests and have some great themes planned for the future months. Our themes coming up in October are Autumn, Pumpkins and Halloween.

Songs We’ve Been Singing…
Ram Sam Sam
Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee
Hickory Dickory Dock
The Wheels On The Bus
The Good Morning Song
Five Little Monkey’s Swinging In The Tree

Books We’ve Been Reading…
Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley
Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann & Elizabeth Kann
No, David! by David Shannon
David Gets In Trouble by David Shannon
Little Tree by Loren Long
Peanut Butter Rhino by Vincent Andriani

Happy Fall To All!
Miss Shalimar & Miss Ashley