Week of November 30:

Monday: It's GREAT to be back! All the kids were SO excited to see each other again and it was so cute to hear about how Thanksgiving was and about Christmas preparations!  Everyone had a lot to talk about!  I introduced the letter N for Nativity.  We read a story about the beginning of Advent.  We will read from this special storybook each day in December! We have many other We said a prayer and blessing for our Advent wreath.  We added the first candle which represents Hope.  The children made an Advent wreath with handprints and did an excellent job cutting the purple candles by cutting along a streeaight line.  They glued on all 4 candles and flames.  The children also made the letter N page for their alphabet book (N for night sky).  They did a great job peeling off the star stickers and gluing on the moon.  The class also had Music and Spanish today.
Thank you for signing up for our Adopt A Family project! Please also consider purchasing Stuffing Mix for our food pantry for the less fortunate.  Both items are due next Tuesday, December 8th. 
Wednesday is picture retake day.  If you would like school pictures retaken, more info is in the email sent from the school office.
Scholasic Book orders came home today in backpacks if you ordered.  Also coming home today was your Thanksgiving gifts and a few crafts that were on display.  In the religion lesson today we listened to the story about how Mary heard the good news from an angel that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus.  Just like Mary had to prepare for the birth of Jesus, we have to prepare to celebrate Jesus at Christmas.  We have a special Advent Calendar in the religion pamphlet to color one per day.  They also have a Santa Countdown to Christmas activity to glue one cotton ball (provided in the baggie) to the date on Santa's beard.  I explained to the children that both start tomorrow, December 1st.  Have fun!

Tuesday: The sun was shining and the children were thrilled to enjoy the playground again for the first time in a few weeks! The temperature is dropping and we do go out twice a day, so please remember to send in warm coats, gloves/mittens and hats.  Please help us as we work with the children on putting on their own coat.  We have some that can put it on themselves and even zip! We usually show them to lay it down, put arms in, and flip it over their head if they are having trouble putting it on one arm at a time.  Today we talked about the new month of December and we read the first story in our Advent book.  The children also painted a winter scene using a ball of foil dipped in paint during Spanish class.  They also painted a candy cane turned upside down to make a J for Jesus for our hall display.  They added a baby Jesus and hay to the J.  Just a reminder tomorrow is picture retakes if you are interested. I am excited for the children to come in tomorrow and see the transformation of an area of our classroom to be “Santa’s Workshop”! I purchased fun elf and Santa hats/headbands for each child which I will write their name in and we now have that fun area for them to enjoy the spirit of the season! 
I am asking that each child please bring in an oversized white T-shirt (can be men’s) by Dec 16th. It will be used for an angel costume and returned to you. Thank you!
Reregistraion is due for next year.  Spaces are filling up for our PreK classes.  Please complete the online form and submit the registration fee through smart tuition. Contact Mrs B if you have any questions. Thanks!

Wednesday: We had a fantastic day and the children LOVED Santa's Workshop! They were bustling choosing and buying gifts with the cash register, putting them in gift boxes and in the true fashion of giving to others were surprising their frinds and teachers with gifts! So cute! I will be posting pictures.  I will let them choose the hats I bought tomorrow. Its fun to add new things to our classroom each day! They also enjoyed the manger scene figurines and sets.  We have a cute Little People one and a nice wooden Mellisa & Doug set.  We read the next Advent story and a story Mouse's First Christmas.  The children made a nativity craft and did spot the dot for the letter N.  They had an interactive Spanish class as well learing the spanish words for cold weather clothes and used the smartboard to dress a snowman.  They played with sensory bins of kinetic sand with molds and mini cups after rest time.  Mia shared her letter bag for the letter N.  What a busy day! 









Week of November 16:
Please email me if you did not receive emails from me and the school office Monday, Nov 16th.

The school is planning a few service projects for the holidays.  Please refer to my main page for the link.  Thank you in advance for your generosity! 


Week of November 9

Monday: We enjoyed the continuation of the warm weather! The children did a great job in music class this morning and then went outside with Ms Koval. They made pushpin letter L and a pilgrim for our hallway display during centers time. 
Just a reminder that we no longer need a towel and sling bag (just sheet and blanket or towel for rest time.) Those will come home again this Friday to be washed. Please send in spare clothes for the fall if you haven’t already.  Just a reminder that the daily winter uniform is the sweatpants and sweatshirt.  Children may take the sweatshirt off during the day, but please have their name in it.  
We are in need of brown paper grocery bags for our Thanksgiving celebration.  Please let me know if you have any that you can send in.

​​​​​​Tuesday: Just a reminder if you would like to place a Scholastic book order...I am placing the class order tomorrow.  This is the last one before Christmas.
https://orders.scholastic.com/WVKPP
Another beautiful day and the children enjoyed playing in a small leaf pile and putting a pile of leaves at the bottom of the slide to go through.  Oh the laughs and smiles were contagious! The children made a painting with Ms Koval using real feathers for paint brushes and did other activities with feathers.  At centers time they made a fall leaf using marbles rolling through paint by tipping a box moving the marbles through fall colored paint.  They thought that was neat.  I hung them from the ceiling in our classroom and they look great! The children did more letter and name practice by peeling off and putting on letter stickers under the correct letter of their name to match while saying each letter.  Continue to practice at home.  I am assessing for progress reports and reviewing all the letters we have done so far.  Knowing those and the letters in their name is a great start! (Letters A, H, F, P, C and L). Tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be a bit rainy.  Please try to send jackets with hoods in the event it’s raining at dismissal.  Also, throughout the year you are welcome to send or wear boots or spare sneakers (optional).  Sometimes the water puddles up on the sidewalk.  Thank you!  Last, please be on the lookout for a sign up for Thanksgiving Class Party donations. Thanks in advance for your continued support and generosity!

​​​​​Wednesday: We made it out before the rain this morning which was nice! This afternoon the children had a dance party after lunch and played with playdough after rest time.  We also worked on our Scholastic Big world activities for Fall “What Goes Crunch In Autumn?” We watched a video clip on the Smartboard that went with it about fall and also played an interactive fall leaves and letters game.  We did the activities I the booklet this time as a class.  The children had to follow along as they looked at the digital version with me on the Smartboard.  We read inside it and they answered the questions.  On the back they had to match the green leaf with the same shape leaf for fall colors.  That was pretty tricky but some were able to match them.  During centers the children made an acorn handprint as a little fall keepsake.  They loved the “magic painting” where as they painted their name appeared! 
I finally have last week’s pictures posted on the pictures tab.  Sorry for the delay...I was having some technology issues.
Friday is a fall colors dress down day.

Thursday: We made the most of our rainy day inside as we stayed busy every second! The children enjoyed a few sensory experiences... Shaving cream with letter and shape writing on trays and moon-sand in their sensory bins. The children made a squirrel and also created a turkey in Spanish with the paper plate they painted using feathers on Tuesday! We had a dance party and enjoyed indoor recess fun with floor puzzles and games while working on taking turns and working together! Hopefully the rain clears out for tomorrow!

Friday: The weather turned around for us today and we were able to get out for a nature walk this morning, and to the playground after lunch.  The children are very observant noticing the different types of leaves and colors.  We also searched for squirrels,worms, and acorns.  We wrapped up letter L this week and will start on the letter T next week.  The children made some special things for Thanksgiving today at school. We are still in need of brown grocery bags if you happen to have any.
We kept folders till Monday since we didn't have any papers going home today and their bags were full with the bedding.  Just a reminder that sheet and towel/blanket should be returned Monday, but the towel and sling bag that came home before can stay at home until warmer weather. Thanks and have a great weekend!


Week of November 2

Monday: Hopefully everyone enjoyed Halloween weekend! The children were excited to share stories at group time.  I introduced the letter L and our Fall Leaves theme.  It was appropriate seeing all the leaves whipping around in the wind today! We will be collecting some this week! We watched a few short video clips during lunch on the letter L, the sound it makes, and the words that begin with L.  The children made a ladybug craft from the letter L for our alphabet book.  We also did a spot the dot L page.  The children have gotten very good at searching carefuly and only marking the letter L with the dot paint.  Just a reminder that bedding, towels, and sling bags are coming home this week.  Only the bedding should be returned next Monday. Thanks!

Tuesday: The children have learned a lot through our stories on why leaves change color. We have observed and collected leaves from outside to take a closer look at the similarities and differences. They told us about trees that they have in their yard at home and we talked about raking and jumping in them.  We look forward to finding more outside on the nice days ahead.  Today the children worked a lot with scissors and are really improving.  They cut snips of fall colored construction paper into tiny pieces to go on fall trees that are on display in the hallway.  They also cut out some decorations in Spanish class.  The class had fun playing with playdough this afternoon.  
I look forward to talking with you tomorrow or Thursday.  Look for a phone call at our scheduled time from the school phone number to the number you provided. Please feel free to take this time to ask me about our day and routine, your child and how they are adjusting to school, and any other questions you may have.  Thank you!

Wednesday: Today the children loved collecting leaves outside to make leaf rubbings during centers time.  They thought that was so cool seeing the leaf appear through the paper.  We talked about the shapes of leaves and the veins and stems.  We worked on the letter L page and naming pictures that begin with L. The children enjoyed Spanish class. They had fun playing with playdough today as well.  Vincent brought in the letter bag for the letter L and then brought a bag of lollipops for his friends.  Its coming home in your folder.  Thank you!

Thursday: Another beautiful fall day! Since we didn't have Spanish or lunch we decided to take them out for a few minutes of extra playgound time before dismissal! The children like to use bubbleblow outside and since the bubbles work well they really enjoy seeing the ones they dont pop fly away. This morning when we went out they discovered that blowing bubbles onto the damp playset causes them to stay without popping. It didn't take them long to fill the playset tunnel with bubbles which they thought was so cool.  We did too! I have pictures I will post. Today the children created an owl with squares of brown paper the we called feathers.  They turned out cute and are on display in the hallway.  The children also worked on naming the letters in their name and finding the letter tiles and tracing the letters. Thank you for scheduling calls and taking that time to touch base with me so I can share all the great things I see your child doing in the classroom.  It has been so nice talking with you!

Friday: Happy Friday! The children enjoyed playdough time and singing and dancing to some of our favorite songs.  They also had fun outside on this beautiful day.  They made fall leaf wreaths and chose a favorite leaf to tell about.  Those will go home Monday. Have a great weekend! Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!



Week of October 26

Monday: We had a rainy day on what wasn't supposed to be a rainy day! We made the most of it with some extra activities.  Today we started with the letter C for costumes and candy! The children did the spot the C and letter soup. For our craft they made a spider handprint. They enjoyed lots of Halloween songs and dances during Music class. We watched some short Halloween videos during playdough time and we had a Halloween Dance party! They ended the day making birthday cards for Sr JoAnn.

Tuesday: Happy 4th Birthday to Gemma..the first of our friends to turn 4!
The children enjoyed extra time outside with the sub for Ms Koval having some fun activities ouside for them. We had a fire drill this morning and it happend to be when we are already outside.  They did a great job lining up and walking to our meeting spot. The children enjoyed making a ghost after we read a ghost story. They also worked on a letter C activity and found each letter of thier name to stamp with letter stampers.  We ended the day playing hot potato using a pumpkin prop to the song Ghostbusters.

Wednesday: We had a wonderful Wednesday! We gave “Boo” treats to another class and had fun knocking and yelling “Boo!”and then we scampered back to our classroom! We read the book Go Away Big Green Monster! The children painted a paper plate neon green & then added each of the parts for the Green monster face! We have them on display in the hall. We also watched a story on the Smartboard called Crankeinstein! We practiced the sound the letter C makes and did the pushpin letter C.  They enjoyed an interactive Spanish class today.  
The weather isn’t looking too promising for tomorrow and Friday.  I sent an email about Friday but forgot to mention....please try to minimize what your child brings with their costume (limit accessories and no swords etc).  Please try to have your child wear a jacket with a hood and shoes that can get wet. Spare shoes/socks would be great just in case. Our party will be at snack time so you don’t need to send in a morning snack. We are going to hold off on sending bedding home this weekend with costumes and treats coming home.  If there is something you need for the weekend, please let me know.  Thanks again!

Thursday: We made the most of our day indoors and boy did it rain today!
We had another fun Halloween dance party! They are really good at following along and doing all the motions! We also played some interactive games on the smartbaord.  The children loved a game Ms Koval did with them to go with a book she read: The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! The children took turns hiding a sign that said Boo While another child waited in the hall with the teacher.  They came in and the class had to give clues..hot or cold...for the student to find the Boo sign. The children made a Halloween handprint bat for our craft.  They practiced cutting and gluing with our activity for the letter C.  We look forward to tomorrow's festivities! 

Friday: Our Halloween activities were a success! Thank you to the Home and School volunteers for the Bingo prizes, Pumpkin lollipop game, and photo booth.  The children also enjoyed the games in the classroom and parade! Thank you for sending in treats and food for the party! The costumes were all wonderful! 
Dismissal is 11:30 on November 4-6.  Please pack a snack and waterbottle.
Just a reminder...Please email me with the contact number for the phone conference next week if you haven't already. 
Monday starts the winter uniform guidelines.  Sweatshirts, sweatpants, and tshirt are required. Please label sweatshirt if it's not already.  Please send in fall/winter spare clothes (pants, shirt, underwear and socks.  It doesn't need to be the school uniform. 
Just a reminder...our school day starts at 7:35.  The doors to our building will close and you will have to go to the office to check in if you arrive after that time. 
 

Week of October 19

Monday: I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! The sun was shining today and the children were busy as can be! We had music class this morning and they went outside during their time with Ms Koval.  Thank you to everyone who brought in pumpkins today! We would like to have the rest tomorrow or Wednesday morning.  We have our "field trip" to the SJB pumpkin patch Wednesday morning around 10:00.  We are also hoping to have a picnic lunch.  We have a lot of fun things planned and the children are really looking forward to it!
Today the children painted bat stencils for our Halloween Craft and we continued to work on the letter P and letters in their name.  
Scholastic Book Club fliers went home today. The due date for this order is Nov 11.  This will be the last one I submit before Christmas.  You can order books for any age online.  The books in the fliers are just a sampling.  I will sort the books and distribute them.  I think there may also be an option for free shipping to your home with orders over $25.  Shipping is free with our class order to school.  If they are gifts, just let me know and I will package them double bagged or hand you the bag at dismissal.  Thanks!
I plan on checking in with each of you through a brief phone conference.  I will be sending out a sign up genius through email this week with dates for Nov. 4th and 5th.  Children are dismissed at 11:30 that day and phone times will be available those afternoons. If those dates do not work, other arrangements can be made.

Tuesday: Tomorrow is our trip to the pumpkin patch.  If you haven't brought in a pumpkin yet please bring it tomorrow morning so that we have enough for everyone.  They were the perfect size! Thanks again!
We have lots of fun fall activities to do outside starting at 10:00.  The children are very excited!
Today we listened to the story I Want My Mummy and then the children made mummies! We have them on display in the hall.  The children also worked on the say it, build it, trace it name activity.  I encourage them to practice at home naming the letters in their name and finding letter magnets, tiles, or blocks to build it.

Wednesday: Our trip to the pumpkin patch was so much fun! The children learned more about pumpkins through our story and short film today and then they were able to go outside and choose the pumpkin they wanted from our field of pumpkins thanks to you!  They painted their pumpkin, got a Halloween temporary tattoo, stuffed a really cute scarecrow! They loved pulling handfulls of hay out of the hay bale and shoving it in the head, jeans and shirt! I will be sharing the pictures I took. We were just starting to carve our pumpkin when the rain rolled in! We were able to finish inside.  We put lights inside it and it glowed during rest time. The children each took a treat bag and their pumpkin home. What a fun day! 
Just a reminder Friday is orange dress down day for Pumpkins!

Thursday: What started off as another foggy morning turned into a beautiful warm fall day! The children enjoyed making a candy corn craft. We displayed them hanging from strings in the classroom. They shared at group time what their favorite candy is. They worked on the push pin letter P activity and practiced cutting today. The children did a great job listening to Ms Koval's Halloween book Room On the Broom.  They followed along carefully and answered questions together about the story and the order of events. After rest time they enjoyed Halloween sensory bins with all kinds of fun stuff to find and scoop.  

Friday: We started off our Friday morning with a foggy & misty morning walk.  We observed the crows that kept squawking and flying around....squirrels scampering about and fall leaves. We also looked for different shapes which is what they had fun with a few weeks ago with Ms Koval.  The parishioners leaving mass were smiling and saying hi to all of the little cuties in their orange shirts. We stopped to take a class picture in front of school. For today’s art project the children painted green with glitter in the circle on their paper and hen it dried they added a witches hat, hair, nose, eyes, and mouth.  They really have been doing so well following multi step directions! Today we also watched the video clip from the Scholastic Big World on pumpkins and completed the activities in the booklet that came home.  There was an interactive game they played on the smart board from Scholastic and each student was able to use the pointer to move a shape to create Jack-O-Lantern faces. Have a great weekend!


Week of October 12

Monday: No School

Tuesday: Welcome back! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend! The children were eager to be back at school today! We started the morning off with playdough which we usually do some afternoons.  It was fun to mix things up.  They enjoyed rolling it out and cutting it with playdough scissors.  Some of the children chose to make sculptures that were very creative!
I introduced the letter P and the theme Pumpkins.  I read the Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin. We went for a walk around the entire campus this morning searching for all kinds of things in nature.  The rain had stopped and it was nice to look around and talk about the things we saw and the changes to the leaves that are beginning.  There were water droplets on the leaves and many chose to save 1 leaf they found.  
In Spanish class they made a skeleton handprint and also crumpled and glued tissue paper for a skeleton accesory.
During centers the children painted a pumpkin by stamping a lego in orange paint.  They enjoyed seeing the differences in designs.
They worked on capital P and lowercase p for Spot the Dot.
At the end of the day we played Picture Bingo. They did a great job!  Please look for an email newsletter and a Halloween party donation sign up this week.

Wednesday: Today the children made a handprint pumpkin and a pumpkin patch for the letter P page for our alphabet book.  In Spanish class they learned about Mexico and holidays in Mexico. They located Mexico and the United States on the smartboard interactive map and Ms Koval had other activities they enjoyed in class.  The sun was shining and the weather warmed up.  Just a reminder the children usually take off their sweatshirts & jackets once they start runnning around outside. If you didn't have their name on the sweatshirt tag (or if it wore off) we wrote it so we didnt get them mixed up on the playground.  Hopefully that was ok. Sam shared his letter bag for the week today.  Great job finding some creative P objects at home! I decorated more for Halloween in the classroom after school so hopefully they are excited to see our room in the morning!
Halloween Party sign up link:

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/4090b4fa9ad2ba4fb6-ec3b

Thursday: What a beautiful fall day again! We made the most of it considering the weather tomorrow isnt looking too good.  The children enjoyed a picnic lunch which was fun! We also had playgound time and took some toys outside.  After rest time we had water play sensory bins and squirt bottles out in the grass. Today was much better at rest time with the encouragement from you and the incentive from us for the water play afterwards.  With the impending rain tomorrow, please remember that we are not allowing umbrellas...please have your child wear a raincoat or a jacket with a hood to school on any rainy days.  An email went out yesterday with some updates and our homeroom moms sent our a sign up for the Halloween party using email addresses that were for our class in the directory.  It looks like everything is signed up for already so thanks a million! We appreciate your generosity and the children are really looking forward to the party! Feel free to send in the items if you have them in advance and I will store them.
Today the children made a "thumbkin" pumpkin patch.  It was still drying so it will go home tomorrow.  They also worked on forming the letter P. 

Friday: We made the most of our first rainy day! We had a dance party with all kinds of songs...Halloween songs and some other favorites! They did a great job following along for the actions on the smartboard. After lunch they did some Halloween Yoga with a story and different poses.  Once again they did a great job! To celebrate good listening all day they had a little treat at the end of the day.  Pictures are posted on the pictures tab. For our craft today they made 5 Little Pumpkins sitting on a gate to go with our story/rhyme. They also free painted with watercolors after lunch.  During Spanish class they made more decorations for October Party in Mexico. They made beautiful colored decorations and then painted with baby oil on qtips to make the image appear on the other side of the paper. It was really neat!  
We will continue with the letter P and have more pumpkin and Halloween crafts next week. 
We will go on an "in house field trip" to a pumpkin patch.  Thank you so much for sending in pumpkins for this! We will either do it on Wednesday or Friday so please have your pumpkins in on Wednesday.  The 2 that were brought in today were the perfect size! 
Have a great weekend!

Week of October 5

Monday: Today was the 10th anniversary of our Early Childhood Building so the students in our building got cute little number 10 cookies! The children were so excited! They are coming home in your child's lunchbox.
Today Fr Joe came in to speak about St Francis and bless our pet pictures.  The children are bringing home a St Francis prayer and coloring page to read with you and color to keep at home.
Coming home in the oldest/only child's folder is the Home and School Fundraiser Coupon book.  Please refer to the email with more information.  I showed the children and told them not to open that envelope.
Today we started on the letter F which ties in with Fire Prevention week.  We learned about Firefighters though our book Firefighters A to Z.  The children also each had a picture and had to determine whether the object was safe to touch or unsafe to touch and hang it on the correct side of the chart.  They did a great job with that! We made the letter F into a firefighter for our Alphabet book.  They also did Spot the Dot for the upper and lowercase letter F. 

Tuesday: We had a great day learning about fire engines through the books I read.  The children made a fire engine out of shapes and did a great job gluing all the pieces together.  With Ms Koval they did great following directions to draw a large oval for a pumpkin and then they cut their pumpkin out.  We are still working on scissor skills and they are getting the hang of it.  They sponge painted that pumpkin.  Later they painted a pumpkin during centers time to hang in our pumpkin patch in the hallway.  We also worked on forming the letter F for our letter activity. Thanks to Emily for all the fun F objects she found at home for the weekly letter bag. I read the Foot Book she brought in her bag as well.  Great job with the letter bag so far!  Each week we will sent it home with the next in line alphabetically.  We had our musical parade and recess entertainment for the older children.  I just laugh each time as the older classes clap for the children as they walk by and our class plays the instruments even louder.  Lots of running and bubbles as well as we celebrate beautiful sunny fall days!  
I will be sending out information soon as we prepare and plan for some Halloween Fun!  Your child WILL be able to wear costumes to school on Friday, October 30th and we will have a class party and parade.  Unfortunately parents will not be able to attend this year.  We promise to video and take pictures to share with you.  I will have a Sign Up Genius out soon for prepackaged food and treats for our class party. Thank you in advance for your understanding and generosity.

Wednesday: What a beautiful day that felt like summer again! I thought it would be fun to do some water play this afternoon! We played in the grass area behind our classroom and each child had a tub of water with bubbles and lots of scoops, cups, funnels, sponges, farm animals, and other toys.  They really loved the squirt bottles and it was a good way to cool off.  They played with the water after the playground and again for a little bit after rest time.
We read Arthur's Fire Drill and talked about fire drills at school and having a meeting place and practicing at home.  We also talked about the reasons to call 9-1-1.  The children painted a dalmation dog with dot sponges and glued on a fire hat. 

Thursday: The students enjoyed another beautiful fall day! They also practiced cutting again.  I have found paint sample cards to be a free perfect tool for cutting practice. It’s sturdy and has short lines between the colors which makes it very manageable.  We have been working with the children on proper scissor hold with thumbs up.  Any practice you can give at home would be great too.  We also use plastic scissors with playdough which is great for strengthening fine motor and scissor skills as well. 
The children made a firefighter for our craft and we practiced knowing 9-1-1 and tracing the fire hoses.  We also used a tactile card to trace the letter F with their finger and make the letter F with the Handwriting Without Tears magnets to form the capital F.  
We had a sample art class today with Mrs Newcomb.  They made apples from a paper plate and drew a picture.  They enjoyed it.  This afternoon before dismissal we played Fire Safety picture Bingo and they did a great job!

Friday: The children made handprint firefighters to go with a little poem/song.  They also had free painting at the easel.  They finished pumpkin face decorating with Ms Koval and they turned out so cute! We enjoyed the beautiful day.  Just a reminder there is no school on Monday.  Enjoy the long weekend and we will see you next week! 

Week of September 28

Monday: Today we started the day off with our first schoolwide fire drill.  The students did a great job exiting quickly and orderly. (The advantages of having a classroom right at the back door!)  I introduced the letter H and the theme horse and farm animals.  We talked about all the animals found on farms.  We read a silly book Inside a Barn in the Country.  The children sang horse songs in music class and made horse galloping sounds with rhythm sticks.  The children made a horse puppet during centers time and did a great job gluing on pieces and cutting the tissue paper to make the hair.  They worked on identifying upper and lowercase Hh through our "Spot the dot" pages using dot paints.  They did an excellent job finding them all on their own.  The class made the H page for their alphabet book this afternoon.  Everyone worked at the same time on it and followed directions on what to glue and draw on their page.  They made the H into a house and had very creative ideas for adding windows, family members, the sun, bushes, and flowers. We will save the pages each week and compile a book at the end of the year.
Picture Day is this Wednesday at 8:15.  Your child is welcome to wear whatever you choose, but please pack sneakers if they are wearing dress shoes (shoes will not be in the picture though.)  Please return the picture form if you choose to order.  Everyone will be photographed indivually for the class composite for the yearbook. 

Tuesday: The children had fun learning more about farm animals.  We had out 2 toy farms and lots of farm animals to play with.  They also learned farm songs and listened to a funny story about a cow.  They sorted farm animals and made patterns.
They went on a “shapes walk” around campus with Ms Koval and learned the Spanish words for the shapes and then looked all around outside for each shape! Afterwards they painted a paper plate pink and made a pig face by gluing on all the pieces.  We worked on the letter H with the pushpin and they also colored things that begin with H. The children also beaded bracelets after rest time.  They did a great job choosing which beads they wanted and stringing them on. We had just enough time at the end of the day for “Kids choice” and they spotted a kids animal bowling set on the shelf we haven’t used yet so they each went bowling!  Fun way to end the day!

Wednesday: Picture day seemed to be a success! The children were so cute all dressed up and waited patiently and followed directions.  There are a few pictures from the day posted under the pictures tab. In class they made cows out of paper plates.  We have added some of each animal this week to our Farm Animals bulletin board.  We have been talking about the different foods we get from farms.  They have been having fun with our Farm Stand Color Sorting game.  We have been finding out what friuts nad veggies they like and don't like and which friends like the same foods.  The barn toys and all the animals have been popular too. The children practiced writing the letter Hh. We also had a religion lesson today from our curriculum book about friends and school and things that they like.  We talked about how Jesus loves everyone. At recess they had a blast playing with all kinds of musical instruments! They entertained all the older students that were out for recess! It was so cute!

Thursday: Continuing with our farm theme the children listened to a story about the food that comes from farms and another short story on farm animals.  The children then chose 2 Farmers Market toy foods that were different colors and they we sorted them and then determined which color had the most. We are always counting and using positional words throughout the day. The students helped read and then color their farm counting book.  We were running short on time so they can finish that and read it again at home.  They painted a chick today but instead of using paint brushes they stamped a fork dipped in yellow paint which really helped to resemble feathers! They added a beak, legs and eyes after it dried.  We hung some of every animal on our bulletin board which I will post a picture of tomorrow.
We had an extra music class today which was fun!
Before lunch we watched a story read on the Smartboard Mrs Wishy Washy's Farm.  She washes all the animals on her farm in the book.  We then had a picnic lunch outside and after the playground we had washing tubs and washed toy farm animals with soap, water, and sponges! It was getting a little hot in the sun today so that was nice and they had fun!

Friday: We didn't get a chance to go outside in the morning but it cleared up nice to go out after lunch.  The children had fun painting with watercolors, making a fingerprint sheep. They also made a huge train track. During Spanish class they made a shapes collage which was a continuation from their shapes walk on Wednesday.  Ms Koval would like to display them outide her classroom.
Enjoy the beautiful sunny fall days this weekend! Monday is the feast of St Francis.  Please send in a picture of your pets if you would like Fr Joe to bless them. Thanks!

Week of September 21

Monday: Today we started our weekly theme Apples and the Letter A. We read The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple tree book. We discussed the amazing things that trees do with each changing season.  We discussed that Fall begins tomorrow.  The children identified the letter A (upper and lowercase) and found the A’s on the dot paint letter search page.  We identified some A pictures out of our A jar.  Back to School Night Zoom call 6:30.  Packets with info went home in a special folder today.

Tuesday: Thank you so much for taking th time to join the Back to School Night Zoom call.  Please return the paper acknowledging receipt of the information that was in the separate folder.  As always....please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions/concerns.  If you are interested in the private Facebook Group for parents in the 3 year old classes please let me know and I will send the group link that one of the parents created.
Thank you for those who ordered Scholastic Book Club books online.  The class order has been placed and I will let you know as soon as they come in. An October flier will come home this week.  As always ordering is optional but we were able to get a lot of free books already with this order for our classroom.
 Today we charted the “Do you like to eat apples?” question and at the same time practiced identifying their names in print.  YES won by a score of 9 to 2. We read the story Johnny Appleseed and did a color word activity and also fingerpainted an apple the color of their choice.  We did an apples sink/float experiment.  We watched a video clip on how an Apple grows.  The children were amazed at the time lapse showing the process. The class also played with playdough this morning and had a wonderful time on the playground enjoying the sun and perfect temperature! 

​​​​​Wednesday: We had a very busy day! At Circle time we read the book Apples Apples and talked more about how Apples grow.  Audrey shared the Letter Bag for the week.  She did a great job starting us off with the first letter bag and great items from home that began with the letter A! Next Mr Delfin (our school counselor) came in to talk about feelings and emotions and also what a school counselor’s job is.  He showed a cute video clip with the characters from the Disney Movie Inside Out. They drew a picture of something that makes them happy. They also sang and danced along with the song If You’re Happy And You know it!
Ms Koval taught another great interactive Spanish class with them.  Hopefully they are starting to share some Spanish words they know at home.
The children worked on fine motor skills by poking holes to make an uppercase and lowercase A with a pushpin one on one with me. We will do that for each letter. They really concentrated and followed directions and the lines to form the letters. They also made a A craft for the first page in our letter book.
The temperature really warmed up! We enjoyed playground time and runnnng.  Thanks again for having sweatshirts labeled. 

​​​​​​​Thursday: The children enjoyed reading A Trip to the Orchard today.  We talked about all the varieties of apples and some of them said they have visited an orchard before.  We sang “Shake the Apple Tree” and “Way up High in the Apple Tree”. At centers time the children made suncatchers with tissue paper squares on contact paper and then I laminated them so the sun shines through nice on your window.  They also stamped real apples in paint to make a bushel of Apple prints.  They also worked on forming the capital letter A and following directions.  During Spanish Ms Koval took them on a senses walk outside around the campus! We enjoyed the “big playground” this morning for the first time and they really liked that! 
2 requests: Please have a spare mask in your child’s backpack if you don’t have one in there already.  In a pocket in the bookbag is fine... or in a bag somewhere inside.  There have been some runny noses this week and we want to make sure we all stay as healthy and clean as possible so we would like to be able to swap them out.
Please pack 2 napkins or paper towels (as most of you are doing).  The children are becoming very independent but we would like them to get their snack and lunch and put it on their napkin themselves.  Thanks!
Tomorrow is Dress down day for Apple colors if you would like.

​​​​​​​Friday: We wrapped up our letter A and Apples week with some fun activities.  The children looked great for wear day wearing Apple colors and 2 friends even had cute Apple shirts! The children took turns stacking 4 real apples.  We read the book 10 Apples Up on Top and they counted out 10 apples and glued a picture of them adding the 10 apples on the top of their head! They thought that was funny! We also did Apple color patterns with dot paints.  To end the day we played with playdough and practiced rolling and cutting it with playdough scissors.  Have a great weekend!

* We just got approval from all the parents for pictures so I will start adding to our “Pictures” tab this weekend.
 

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!
 
 




 

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