Monday: The children came in great this morning...no tears at all.  We look forward to our first full week! Today started our All About Me unit.  We read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom today and talked about the letters in our names.  The children glued on a coconut tree and found the letters in their name and put the stickers on their coconut tree.  They also practiced cutting for the first time.  Mia, Noah, and Gemma were the first ones to share their All About Me collages. We will have 3 children a day share this week. Magnet exploration and color sorting manipulatives were some of their favorites at centers time. We had our first music class today! Mrs Wagner introduced the children to different musical instruments. We also had gym class outside after lunch with Mrs Schock. The children were very good listeners and had fun running, doing jumping jacks and playing red light, green light!

Tuesday: We had a terrific Tuesday! The children listened to Pete the Cat and the new guy story about similarities & differences and making new friends.  They painted a Pete the Cat and glued on the cat face.  We worked on counting the letters in their names and a first attempt at writing letters in their name.  Nicolas, Audrey and Kevin shared their All About Me posters today! We enjoy learning about each child’s favorite things and seeing similarities and differences as well. The children found fall leaves and painted the leaves for resist painting with Ms Koval. They also enjoyed playground time, a picnic snack outside, drawing with chalk and blowing bubbles.  It was a beautiful...almost fall like day! Please label the inside of all sweatshirts and jackets.  Continue to practice daily prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance (prayers that we say in class are posted in the prayers tab). Tomorrow we will have our first lesson from our Religion Book. 
Lastly, morning drop off still seems to be going very well so you may drop off between 7:20-7:45 for our building regardless of siblings or not.  Reminder pick up today started at 2:30 instead of 2:20. Thanks! 

Wednesday: Just a few reminders:
Homemade Playdough and “About Me” bag is due Friday if you haven’t turned it in already.
Arrival 7:20-7:40 and Dismissal 2:30.
Please submit Student Update Form to the office if you haven’t already.  I am waiting to post pictures on my page till those last 4 student photo release forms are turned in. Thanks!
Please wash face masks & keep a second one in your child’s backpack. One of the bands broke today on a mask and thankfully she had a back up one. They get taken on and off throughout the day and the children are getting much better about putting them on independently.  Keep practicing at home as well.
We painted hands today to create a Pete the Cat picture. The children picked out colors and glued on Pete's colored shoes. We listened and watched the story Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.  We talked about the changing color shoes.
The children had Spanish class today and are doing very well learning some songs and words in Spanish with interactive activities.  Class ended with the Spanish version of Baby Shark animated song on the smart board and doing the motions.
It was a beautiful day to enjoy the playground, bubbles, and running outside. Thank you for having sweatshirts and jackets labeled.  That made it easy when they took them off outside when it warmed up.
We completed our first whole group Religion Book Lesson. The children listened to a bible story and we discussed the picture on the front of pamphlet. We then spoke about Jesus and how he loves all children.  The students colored the word ALL and can finish coloring the flags at home.

Picture Forms are came home in folders today. Picture Day for our class is Wednesday, September 30th. Children may dress in regular clothes for pictures. They do not need to be in uniform. All children will get thieir picture taken even if you decide not to order. These are the pictures that will go in the yearbook.

Thursday: We added 2 fun things to our day today: Playdough time and Classroom “Jobs”.  Thanks for making playdough at home! It turned out great! Each child had their own tray with their playdough and tools.  We decided to give classroom jobs a try! We will see how it goes.  We have Calendar Helper, Flag Holder (during the Pledge), Door Holder, Greeter, Lights Helper, and Line Leader.  If that works out we may add more. We will switch weekly.  Today the children made paper dolls to look like them.  They took a lot of time choosing and gluing on hair, eyes, clothes, etc.  They turned out cute! The other half of the class will make theirs tomorrow and we will display them in school. The children also did watercolor painting.  Bubbles, cars, running, and playground was fun today in this beautiful weather!  We look forward to Me Bag sharing and Favorite colors outfits tomorrow to wrap up our All About Me theme. 

Friday: We wrapped up a great week with Color Day wearing favorite colors! Our next dress down day will be on Friday 9/25 and will be red for our Apples theme next week. The children did such a great job sharing their “Me Bag”. Thank you so much for helping to gather their favorite things and the pictures were so cute! They really enjoyed telling us all about their favorites! The children had another playdough time at the end of the day. 
Our Back to School night Monday will be via Zoom at 6:30.  An email will go out this weekend with the link for security reasons. Please let me know if you didn’t get it.  A copy of the presentation will go home in a separate folder Monday for you to review.
Have a great weekend!
 
 




 

Week of September 8

Monday: Labor Day

Tuesday: The children had a great first day! They came all the way down the long hall and picked up on routines right away! They were excellent listeners throughout the day and had fun learning friends’ names! We read the book The Kissing Hand and talked about feelings.  They made a handprint with a Kissing Hand heart.  They also colored a first day headband and we read Mouse’s First Day of School. They also enjoyed centers, playgound time, sidewalk chalk, and an activity with Ms Koval on favorite things and feelings. Lunches looked yummy and they were hungry. Just a reminder to label snack as well as Eagles Club snack and drink. We were busy and most took a snooze at rest time!  Excellent day and we look forward to fun days ahead!

Wednesday: For some of our friends it was their second day of school but for other friends it was their first day! Everyone did a great job! They are really getting to know each other and are very empathetic! When a few came in sad other friends came right over to console them and offer toys.  That makes my heart happy! This class is SO sweet! We practiced names again and the children are really picking up on our routines and expectations. We talked about feelings and reread the Kissing Hand to go with our Chester the Raccoon craft.  The children also enjoyed the Spanish lesson with Ms Koval about feelings and emotions and sang a few songs. We enjoyed outside play on the playground twice and blacktop/grass area. They ran around and popped bubbles and drew with sidewalk chalk. 

Thursday: We had great day today and were able to get outside in between the rain.  We took a long walk around the main school building and church.  The children looked and listened for any animals or insects and found quite a few! We blew bubbles for them and played Red Light Green Light.  We were able to get out again after lunch and drew with sidewalk chalk and made roads, ramps and parking lots for the toys cars we brought out.  Bubbles again and lots of running and laughing! In just a few days they have really opened up and are forming friendships! 
In the classroom they explored some new sorting by color manipulatives during centers time. They also had the opportunity to paint with watercolors.  Our book for the day was David Goes To School and the children glued pieces to make a “David” to go with the story. They did a great job following directions. We are continuing to work on learning Prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Friday: We’ll that’s a wrap for the first week of school! We are so blessed that all of the children have been coming in happy and eager to have fun and learn! They have been very busy and are probably wiped out after this week! I know we are! It was a long time preparing for the start of school and not knowing how things would go. We are very happy to see things going well and smiling faces! 
The children were busy painting today. They painted a plate for a David face to go with the story “No David”. Next they glued on the face pieces. We also had easel painting available which some of them chose to do for free art.  
We completed our first Scholastic “My Big World” magazine.  These usually correspond to our theme or season and are a fun addition to our lessons/activities.  We read it and did a few of the online activities on the smart board.  They also completed the activity in the magazine and talked about feelings in small groups with me. 
In your child's folder you will find a "Me Bag" This is a way for the children to bring in a small show and tell next week for "All About Me" week. The bags are due on Friday September 18th. Please don’t forget about the All about me collage due next week if you didn’t turn that in already.  I have a lot of them. (That was your child’s folder from class visit days). We will start sharing on Monday. My goal is to have 3 children share a day. 

Dismissal has been a bit of a challenge for myself and the children. It is so difficult to recoginize parents with masks and sometimes sunglasses. I ask that when you see our class coming down the sidewalk please come a little closer so we can see you right away. Today seemed to go better. Thank you for your help and your patience with dismissal and the parking lot in general. 
Please email me at any time with any questions or concerns. I know it is difficult not communicatiing during drop off and pick up.

​​​​​​Thanks for your patience this week with morning drop off. The teachers and staff that were helping at the door to our building were very pleased with the flow and the spacing and would like to request that we push the time up a bit for the 3 year old classes. So, please try to drop your child off at 7:40 if they are not coming in earlier than that with a sibling in our building. We will see how that flows.
Thank you so much! Have a wonderful weekend!

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