Welcome to ECP - 3B
2017-2018

Mrs. Cuocolo 





Important Dates

Tuesday, 10/24 - wear a cape, crown or cap(baseball hat) for C week
Wednesday, 10/25 - wear a shirt that is your favorite color for C week, bring in a picture of one of God's creations for C week and Religion
Thursday, 10/26 - bring in a picture of something that is your favorite color for our collage
Friday, 10/27 - bring in something that is your favorite color for Show and Share
Monday, 10/30 - pretzels for snack
Tuesday, 10/31 - Halloween parade at 8:30 in back parking lot
Friday, 11/17 - 11:30 dimissial for everyone, including half day students 
Wednesday, 11/22 - 11:30 dismissal for everyone, including half day students 
Thursday, 11/23 - NO SCHOOL
Friday, 11/24 - NO SCHOOL
Friday, 12/15 - 11:30 dimissal for everyone
Friday, 12/22 - 11:30 dismissal for everyone

Thursday, October 19, 2017




What a great half day Thursday we had! Today we finished our theme on P by making pancakes. This was so much fun. We talked about the importance of making sure that we have the right ingredients, following the directions and making sure we measure correctly. We talked about our dry ingredients (Bisquick) and our wet ingredients (eggs and milk) and then each child had a chance to mix the batter. We then talked abot staying away from hot things like the griddle. The children watched as I poured the batter onto the hot griddle and then as Mrs. Monarski and my mom (who came in to help) flipped the pancakes. We listened to the story "Pancakes, Pancakes" by Eric Carle as we waited for the pancakes to be ready to eat! The children really enjoyed this fun activity! And they all seemed to really enjoy the pancakes.

Today we also did our Religion lesson in which we talked about parties and that Jesus invites us to a party at his house every Sunday - there is music, and friends and food and we leave feeling happy. The children reminded me that Jesus is in their hearts and we reviewed that we can always make good choices and bad choices but that if we make a bad choice, we need to say we are sorry and make it right again. The children then shared the pictures from their party that they had brought in.

Today the children created a color pattern on their own using two colors and they also practiced cutting and finishing a pattern of apples. The children also worked to identify the letter P and mark it orange while marking all other letters green. We also created our pet collage. It was a busy morning and we got a lot done.

~ Remember to practice cutting skills this weekend.
~ Children can practice putting sweatshirts and coats on independently. It sounds silly but many of them are unable to put their coats on and even their sweatshirts. It makes it much easier if they are practicing at home. 


Enjoy the long weekend - go outside and make memories in the beautiful fall weather. Mrs. Schock would love if my friends practiced jumping jacks and catching a ball! Have fun!


Wednesday, October 18, 2017
What a beautiful fall day we had today! And another busy day in our classroom. We listened to the story of "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" again today and sang along to the song. These are great books that the children love - they would make great Christmas gifts!

Wednesdays are busy because we have 8:15 snack and go right to Gym and then right to Spanish, but my friends are such hard workers that we still manage to have fun, learn and get a lot done. We took our pets on a pet parade to Gym and then to Spanish. The children were so proud and excited - and they even got to rest with their stuffed pets this afternoon!

During Centers we listened to a great story called "The Pirate who Said Please". This was a great book and a reminder to always say please and thank you. My motto is that "manners work magic". 
The children then used a paper plate to create a pirate for the story. We used peach paint and put an eye patch on for more p words! The children also worked on using dot dot markers to fill in a pumpkin - this is a fine motor skill. The children also used pom poms to paint a letter P. I also called the children over to ask them to identify colors and will send this home next week.

~Please send in a pet picture - of your pet or from a magazine - for a collage tomorrow.

~ We did not use our party pictures today. We may do it tomorrow ith Religion but I will send them home if not.

~ My M, W, F friends are bringing their extra pair of clothes home today and everyone else will do so tomorrow. Please switch out shorts for pants so that our clothes are weather appropriate. Everyone should have a ziploc bag labeled with their name and the bag should contain:
       1. one pair of pants and top (does not need to be a gym outfit)
        2. two extra pairs of underwear
        3. one extra set of socks and sneakers


~ Tomorrow is an 11:30 dismissal. We do not eat lunch on half days. Eagle's Club needs a lunch. Please pack a drink and morning snack for all of my friends.

~ There is NO SCHOOL on Friday for conferences for the other grades. We will meet in February.

~ There is a skills checklist in an envelope in your child's folder today. This is just to touch base and let you know what I have observed in the first few weeks of school. Remember this was a big transition. Pleas sign and return the original copy and keep the extra copy for yourself. If you have any questions, please send me an email. Thank you!

~ We are in need of baby wipes and paper towels for our classroom. Thank you for your generosity!

Enjoy this sunny, beautiful fall day!
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
We were so busy today and got so much done! And my friends remembered to get changed out of their pajamas and put on their uniforms today!The children came in right away and painted a popsicle pink or purple - we talked about all of the P words in just that one activity! We listened to 'Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons" - we sang the fun and catchy song and really enjoyed the story with a good lesson. Pete had 4 buttons and he was so proud of these groovy buttons. The buttons popped off one by one but Pete did not cry or get upset. This was also a great lesson in subtraction as we realized the numbers were getting smaller as he lost the buttons. The children then created a Pete the Cat and gave him his four groovy buttons. The children also worked on marble painting a pumpkin and completing their pumpkin pizzle with their name. 

We also did a whole group activity to trace the formation of the letters P and p using purple and pink crayons. They did a great job!

Today we did our Scholastic News on pumpkins. We talked about how pumpkins grow and how they are different sizes and even feel different. The children had the chance to feel a bumpy pumpkin and a smooth pumpkin. We learned a new vocabualry word - humungous and talked about things that are really big. The children then watched a video about the life cycle of a pumpkin. 

My friends did a great job following the directions today on our activities. I was so proud of them! It was a P for productive day in our room!!

~ Tomorrow my friends may bring a stuffed animal that can be a pet for P week - dog, cat, fish, bunny, etc

~ Please remember that Thursday is an 11:30 dimissal for all of my friends. We do not eat lunch in the classroom on those days. Eagle's Club friends will eat their lunch there. Please remember to pack a morning snack and drink.

~ Thank you to those who sent in items for our fall sensory table. If you would like to send in gourds or jack be littles (the tiny pumpkins), we would appreciate it for our sensory table or our science table.



Monday, October 16, 2017

My silly friends forgot to get dressed today! The children were so happy and proud to be in their pajamas today. I think every Monday should be pajama day!

We are still working on the letter P this week so we continued to talk about pumpkins and read another story about a pumpkin patch. We discussed some of the things that we saw on our trip on Friday. The children then worked on putting a pumpkin puzzle together to spell their name. Please work on identifying their name at home and orally spelling it. Children also worked with me on creating a color pattern with teddy bears. They then worked on using a hole puncher to put holes in a pumpkin. This is a fine motor skill that isn't as easy as it seems! My friends also stamped pumpkins into a letter Pp and cut purple squares to practice scissor skills more!

Halloween is on a Tuesday but all of my friends - my M, W, F friends are invited to join us. They may come to school at normal start time and may be picked up at 10:15 - they may not stay a full day.  We will parade through the back parking lot at 8:30 (moms, dads, grandparents are all invited to the back parking lot for this event) and we will then parade through the school and come back to our room for a small snack. 

Have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo



Friday, October 13, 2017
Thank you to all of your chaperones! It was a great day at the pumpkin patch! Everyone should sleep well tonight.


Remember that Monday is pajama day for P week continued. Please make sure that your child can independently get their pajamas up and down in the bathroom. Everyone must wear sneakers.

I will be sending out the sign up genius for the Halloween party. I have decided that I will allow 3 volunteers for each party. Once you sign up to volunteer for a party, I ask that you not sign up again so that every parent can have a chance. I am going to try this method this year and see how it goes! 

Halloween is on a Tuesday but all of my friends - my M, W, F friends are invited to join us. They may come to school at normal start time and may be picked up at 10:15 - they may not stay a full day.  We will parade through the back parking lot at 8:30 (moms, dads, grandparents are all invited to the back parking lot for this event) and we will then parade through the school and come back to our room for a small snack. 

Pratice scissor skills over the weekend! And practice putting coats on independently as the colder weather approaches!









Thursday, October 12, 2017
Today was a busy, wet, windy Thursday! This morning we shared our letter P items at Show and Share - we had a pink pig, Paw Patrol, Philly Phanatic, penguin, princess, red panda, Pooh bear, and Pluto. I love watching my friends proudly share their items and grow in confidence as they talk in front of their friends. After snack, we went on a p for parade through the big building with our P items and showed them to Sister Joann.

Today we did a science experiment for letter P. We made a pumpkin out of Reese's Pieces using orange, brown and yellow pieces. We talkde about that this was a candy and not a fruit or vegetable. We said candy is filled with sugar. We then poured warm water and watched as the sugar coating dissolved and the colors started mixing together. My scientists used magnifying lenses to carefully examine the process and we made our observations. This was a fun and colorful experiment!


In Religion today, we heard the Gospel story about a man who asked his sons for help. One son said no and then came back to apologize and help. The second son said yes but then went fishing instead. We talked about the choices that we make and that we can make good choices and bad choices and that Jesus is always in our hearts to help us make good choices if we listen to Him. We then did our Seeds magazine and talked about choices that the children had to make and we picked the one we would choose. Remind your children to always try to make a good choice but that it's okay to make a bad choice sometimes - we all do - as long as we realize our mistake and say that we are sorry.

In Centers, we read a story about a pumpkin patch and talked about how a pumpkin grows in ppreparation for our trip tomorrow. We then worked on p for patterning by creating a boy/girl pattern and then using colored pumpkins to create a pattern. You can practice simple A/B patterns at home with colors. We said the colors have to take turns. Pick two colors and alternate and take turns to create the A/B pattern. The children also worked on creating a penguin out of the letter P for our end of the year ABC book. 

Everyone looked great in their PINK today!

~ Remember that Monday is Pajama Day for P week continued. My friends should wear sneakers and they must be able to get pajamas up and down independently in the bathroom - no one piece pajamas please.

****** When you bring your child to school tomorrow, please walk them to our room (I know many of my friends want to do so independently) so that you can sign your name and cell phone number to a list that must be handed in to the office before we leave for our trip! Thank you****

~ Remember to pack a snack and drink for the morning to send with your child. Do not send their lunch with them. 

~ Children should wear their uniforms and weather appropriate layers. The field may be muddy so please keep that in mind when putting shoes on them and you tomorrow.

~ Remember to pack a lunch for you and your child. You may want to bring a backpack to carry your things.

~ Please sign in at the main office and meet us in front of our building by 8:45. The bus will leave promptly at 9:00 am. Please do not ring the doorbell to enter our building. We will meet you at the front of our building and walk to the bus together.

~ If you wish to take your child with you when we return, we will bring them in and get their things and bring them back to you. The children who stay will just be going down for rest. 

Have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo







Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Today was a busy day as we have two specials on Wednesdays - Gym and Spanish. It leaves us little time to get things done in the classroom but we still managed to do so. 

In Gym, the children practiced playing with balls. They practiced drop and catch and toss and catch. Ask them to show you at home. Remember to also practice jumping jacks!

Today we created our P collage - we had pirates, pirate ships, princesses, pizza, pigs, police officer, pumpkins and a panda! Please remember to let your child help you find these items. They may not be able to look at a page and tell you what starts with the /p/ sound but show them a picture and ask if it starts with that sound and let them pick what to bring to make it more meaningful to them. 

We also tasted pudding for our p snack. We tasted chocolate and vanilla and graphed which was our favorite flavor. No surprise that chocolate was the big winner!

We listened to a story about pumpkins and how they grow in fields in order to prepare us for our trip on Friday. During Centers, the children could then create a pumpkin that we will hang in our "field" in the hallway. The children also did their crayon rubbing for the letter P and found that the mystery pictures were a pig and a pear. The children also had scissor practice with cutting a purple square - please remember to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE cutting skills at home! 


~ Tomorrow is our Tag Day since we will miss it on Friday. Please wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. if your child does not have pink, just send them in play clothes.

~ Please bring in something that starts with P for show and share tomorrow.

~ If anyone would like to send in tiny pumpkins or ghourds to enhance our sensory table, we would appreciate it! Maybe take time this weekend to let your child pick a tiny pumpkin or ghourd or Indian Corn to send in. Also be on the lookout for acorns to send in!

~ Field Trip Notes
 1. Children should wear their school uniform. Please dress appropriately for the weather and remember that the fields may be wet if there is rain this week so old sneakers are best.
  2. Please send your child with a morning snack and drink in a brown bag or in their lunchbox. Please do not send their lunch to school. You should bring their lunch with you when you arrive for their trip.
  3. Please pack wipes or hand sanitizers to wipe hands before lunch.
  4. You may want to bring a backpack to carry your lunch and your child's lunch.
  5. Remember that you may take your child with you upon our return to school if your schedule allows. We will bring the children back into school to get their things and will then bring them out to the front of our building to you. Children who stay at school will be going down for a rest.
  6. The bus will leave promptly at 9:00am. Please wait for us at the front of our building at 8:45. We will bring the children out to you. Please do not ring the doorbell to our building as kindergarten will be working. 
  7. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo





Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Welcome back after a mini fall break. I hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend and took time to make memories together!


This morning, we said hello to our new letter of the week, letter Pp. In computer, we watched a video about pumpkins and the letter P. We listed words that begin with p - pumpkin, pizza, pig, pan and pear to name a few. Try and think of P words at home this week.

Today we used the Smartboard to watch a video about firefighters and ways to keep safe. The children learned to get out and stay out if there is ever a fire! We sang a song and did the motions to the wheels on the firetruck. We then played a game on the Smartboard about what materials are hot and we should stay away from. The children used their Scholastic News magazines to follow along. We then created firemen and a firetruck out of our handprints! This afternoon after lunch, a real firetruck came to school. We met some firefighters and they showed us what they wear - their uniform - when they fight a fire. We learned that firefighters are our friends and that we should not be scared. The children were able to see the hose in use - it was really neat. Thanks to our friends at Mill Creek Fire Company for coming out to show us their truck and talk with us about fire safety.






~ Please bring a picture of something that starts with the letter P or is pink or purple for our collage tomorrow!

~ My volunteers who offered to send pudding in, please remember to do so tomorrow!

~ Field Trip Notes
 1. Children should wear their school uniform. Please dress appropriately for the weather and remember that the fields may be wet if there is rain this week so old sneakers are best.
  2. Please send your child with a morning snack and drink in a brown bag or in their lunchbox. Please do not send their lunch to school. You should bring their lunch with you when you arrive for their trip.
  3. Please pack wipes or hand sanitizers to wipe hands before lunch.
  4. You may want to bring a backpack to carry your lunch and your child's lunch.
  5. Remember that you may take your child with you upon our return to school if your schedule allows. We will bring the children back into school to get their things and will then bring them out to the front of our building to you.
  6. The bus will leave promptly at 9:00am. Please wait for us at the front of our building at 8:45. We will bring the children out to you. Please do not ring the doorbell to our building as kindergarten will be working. 
  7. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo





Thursday, October 5, 2017
What a great day we had. This morning after circle time, we came together to do a science experiment. We did a sink or f for float experiment. We gathered around a bucket of water and talked about how some of us use floaties to help us swim. We talked about predictions and how there is no right or wrong answer - we just make a smart guess. Each child then had the chance to place an object (a lego, a paper clip, a pompom, a block, a woodent cube, a penny, a marble and a button) into the water. Before they did so, we predicted whether we thought the object would sink or float. The children loved this fun experiment for the letter F. You can try this at home with minimal effort or mess - the best kind of experiment. Remember to remind them to be scientist and to make a prediction!


Today during centers, the children had the chance to form the letter F and f by moving their "cars" (crayons) along the track. We also listened to another story about a farm and made cows out of paper plates for another bardyard animal for our farm. The children also worked to trace lines from farm animals. This activity that seems quite simple is very important as it teaches writing readiness. They are learning the skill of working from left to right and proper grasp as I tell them they need to grip tightly and concentrate to follow the lines as best as they can. This is also a good listening activity as I tell them to find certain colors and they need to follow these directions. 

I did leave for a few hours today - during lunch, recess and art - to attend a funeral here at St. John's for my husband's aunt. The children may mention that I was gone for a bit! Thanks to Mrs. Gaspar, AJ's mom, for coming in and helping at lunch and recess.

~ This weekend, continue to practice cutting skills! Let them have scissors and paper and just cut away.
~ As the cooler weather approaches, it is also a good time to have your child practice putting their coats on independently. We will certainly help them but it makes it easier for us if some of our friends can do this on their own. So while it may take a few extra minutes on your end, let them try to put their coats on and even start zippering if they can.
~ We have done the letters Aa, Hh, and Ff. Please review these letters at home. 
~ Practice jumping jacks so we can impress Mrs. Schock next week!


~ Looking ahead to our field trip on Friday, October 13.... You are allowed to take the children with you when we return from our field trip if you would like. We will return between 12 and 12:30 and will then have rest time for any students that stay. I found last year that many children were upset to have to say goodbye again in the middle of the day for a few hours, so if your schedule allows, you may want to consider taking your child with you upon our return. Thank you!

Enjoy the LONG weekend. Soak up the warm sunny days while we have them and make happy memories together as a family! I look forward to seeing my friends on Tuesday or Wednesday!

Wednesday, October 4, 2017
What a beautiful Wednesday it was! This morning we read a story about farm animals and we then shared our farm pictures to create the farm collage. Before gym, the children tasted the cheddar and pretzel fish for a little snack. After gym, we voted on our favorite fish flavor and found a funny surprise when we counted the results. Eight of my friends like cheddar best and eight of my friends liked pretzel best. We talked about how this was a matter of opinion and that there is no right or wrong answer. 

We read our Seeds pamphlet today and listened to a Gospel story about Jesus and how He likes to help us grow. We talked about things that help us grow - healthy food, exercise, love and rest are some of the things we thought we need. The children then shared their baby pictures and added them to a poster that says We are all God's children. We talked about how much each of them have grown and changed since they were babies and how they will continue to grow.

We listened to a story about a firehouse today and learned that the firehouse dogs are called Dalmations. The children then had a chance to create a dalmation with our black dot/dot markers.

~Tomorrow is bring something that starts with F for our Show and Share.

~ Today in gym, the children learned to do jumping jacks. You can practice at home! Ask them to show you their new skill!

~ Looking ahead to our field trip on Friday, October 13.... You are allowed to take the children with you when we return from our field trip if you would like. We will return between 12 and 12:30 and will then have rest time for any students that stay. I found last year that many children were upset to have to say goodbye again in the middle of the day for a few hours, so if your schedule allows, you may want to consider taking your child with you upon our return. Thank you!

Have a fantastic night,
Mrs. Cuocolo



Tuesday, October 3, 2017
What a fantastic day we had! My friends shared their F shirts - we had flowers, flip flops, firetrucks, and fireworks! Way to go! The children had Computer class today and watched videos on Fire Safety which we will talk about this week during F week and Fire Safety month. After Computer, we went to the Library for our Vision Screening. The children did such a great job as they patiently waited their turn. 

During Centers, we talked more about our letter of the week and we read a story about night time on the farm and how all of the noises from the day become quiet as the sun goes down. We talked about farm animals that we know. The children then created their frog out of the letter F for our end of the year ABC book. They also covered the letter F with feathers and created firetrucks again for the letter F and fire safety month. We have fun and our days fly by!

After recess, we used the Smartboard to look at pictures of words that begin with F and we played an F matching game where we had to fish for the letters F and f.

~ Everyone needs a baby picture for tomorrow. Please be sure that your child's name is on the picture.

~ Everyone needs a picture of something that is found on a farm for our farm collage tomorrow. This can be from the computer or a magazine.

~ I still need one volunteer to send in 8 packs of vanilla pudding snack packs for next Wednesday for our pudding tasting for P week. Thank you!

~ Looking ahead to our field trip on Friday, October 13.... You are allowed to take the children with you when we return from our field trip if you would like. We will return between 12 and 12:30 and will then have rest time for any students that stay. I found last year that many children were upset to have to say goodbye again in the middle of the day for a few hours, so if your schedule allows, you may want to consider taking your child with you upon our return. Thank you!

Have a fantastic night,
Mrs. Cuocolo



Monday, October 2, 2017
I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend and got outside to soak in the beautiful fall weather!

This morning we said hello to the month of October. We talked about leaves and pumpkins and our field trip and Halloween and all of the fun things that this month will bring! We had Music with Mrs. Wagner to start our week together.

Today we talked about the letter F and looked at words that begin with F - fox, fish, fan, feet, fingers and fork. We used our fast feet to run in place and practiced making the letter F with our imaginary crayons.  We talked about farms and read a book about animals that live on a farm and what happens on a farm. During Centers, the children did their crayon rubbing and made the letters Ff and fish and feet appear. They used sponges to create sheep and we painted hands to create a horse. These pictures will be hung on our farm bulletin board in the hallway.

After recess, the children practiced cutting. We used the farm animals as our stop signs to know when to make the scissors stop moving. I have seen improvement already in scissor skills so please continue to practice at home also.

~ Tomorrow is wear something that begins with the letter F - flower, firetruck, flag, fish, etc.
~ Scholastic Book Orders need to be placed by tomorrow.
~ The vision screening will take place tomorrow. If your child does not attend school on Tuesday, their vision will not be tested. There is no need to bring them in for this.
~ If I could have one volunteer to send in 8 packs of chocolate pudding (the jello snack packs) and one volunteer to send in 8 packs of vanilla pudding for next Wednesday, 10/11, we will do a pudding tasting for p week. Please send an email. Thank you!

~ Looking ahead to our field trip on Friday, October 13.... You are allowed to take the children with you when we return from our field trip if you would like. We will return between 12 and 12:30 and will then have rest time for any students that stay. I found last year that many children were upset to have to say goodbye again in the middle of the day for a few hours, so if your schedule allows, you may want to consider taking your child with you upon our return. Thank you!

Have a fantastic night,
Mrs. Cuocolo



Friday, September 29, 2017
We had a great day!  The children all looked great in their hats! We worked on creating handprints and labeled them "helping hands".  The half day was a great way to end H week!

Have a great weekend!




Thursday, September 28, 2017
What a busy and productive day we had! We started the morning with a little science "experiment" using our h for hands. We talked about our 5 senses and how we use each of our senses and the body parts that we use. We talked about things that we smell, see, hear, taste and feel. The children came up with some great examples. We then used our h for hands to feel (we closed our eyes) items in a big. The children were so patient as they sat in a circle and waited for their turn to feel. We described what we felt - big, small, hard, soft, squishy  - and the used the adjectives to try and guess what was inside. Our items were - a tiny pumpkin, leaves, cotton balls, play doh, pasta and blocks. The childrne made such great guesses and we talked about the fact that in Science, there is no right or wrong guess. This was a fun hands on activity for h week!

This morning we did our first Religion lesson with our Seeds pamphlet. The weekly lesson is tied into the Gospel reading for the week. This week we talked about places we like to visit - Grandparent's house, cousin's house, Jesus' house - and how we feel loved, welcome and safe in these places. We then listened to a story about a boy visiting his grandparents. The children then completed their magazines as we talked about Jesus loving us and always welcoming us. In center time, the chidlren had a chance to cut an h for heart (with my help) and we then placed their picture and the words "Jesus loves Me" on the heart to remind them that Jesus always loves and welcomes us. We said Jesus lives in our hearts.

We listened to the story of " The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and the children then worked on creating caterpillars out of the letters in their name. They also had a chance to paint a caterpillar. We will hang these in the hall for all to enjoyed! During the story, we talked about the days of the week and the different colors of the foods. This is such a great book!

This afternoon in Art with Mrs. Taylor, the children painted fall trees and some of us got paint on our clothes. The paint will wash out and their trees turned out great!

~ Tomorrow is an 11:30 dimissal for all of my friends, including half day students. We will meet you all out on the blacktop past the playground at 11:30. THANK YOU!

~ Reminder that we do not have lunch tomorrow. Your child needs a morning snack and drink only. The children staying for Eagle's Club will need a lunch.

~ Tomorrow is wear a hat day for H week!

~ Everyone needs a picture of a home tomorrow for our H is for Home collage. It can be your home, an animal's home or a home from a magazine.

Have a happy evening,
Mrs. Cuocolo





Wednesday, September 27, 2017
What a wonderful Wednesday it was. My friends all looked so handsome and pretty - and many of them walked down that big hall again with big smiles on their faces and without mom or dad by their side! We did an awesome job while waiting to have our pictures taken. We had a bit of a traffic jam in the library where picures were taken but my friends waited quietly for about 25 minutes. We listened to a funny story about Piggie and Gerald. Mrs. Tobin commented that we were the best and quiestest class of the day - and there were 5 classes before us. That made my heart so happy! I was so proud of the children!!

In gym class this morning, the children had a dance party. Mrs. Schock said that they all listened so well and followed the directions perfectly. My heart was happy again. I love hearing good news about my friends and sharing it with you.

We tasted our honey teddy grahams this morning for our H tasting. My friends know that "manners work magic". They know to say "Yes, please" if they would like to try our snack and to say "no, thank you" if they do not want to try it. I love hearing good manners!!

This morning we had just a brief time for Centers but we worked on creating necklaces with heart beads for H week. Each child had to pick and count  beads that they wanted to use. This is a great fine motor skill. The children also worked on identifying the letter H and stamping it with heart stamps. 

~ Remember that all of my friends need to bring a picture of themselves for a Religion craft tomorrow. It does not need to be a a religious picture. If you are not here tomorrow, please bring it on Friday!

~ Thank you to all who sent in napkins. We are set now for a while. I truly appreciate the fact that you are always willing to send in supplies and hope you know that I pay it forward by providing supplies for my own children's classroom. 

~ Your child will receive a Scholastic Book Order form today with a letter explaining how the club works. This is voluntary and you do not need to order from this program. It is a great way to get books that your kids love at a discounted price - and a great way to encourage a love of reading!

Looking ahead to Friday:
1. It is an 11:30 dimissal for all students - even my half day students. We do not eat lunch on half days - please just pack a morning snack and drink. My Eagle's Club friends need a lunch.
2. It is wear a hat day for H week - a baseball hat, a cowboy hat, a sun hat, a silly hat, a Santa hat, etc.
3. Everyone needs a picture of a home for a collage - it can be of your home, an animal's home or a picture of a home from a magazine.

Thank you and have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo



Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Today we talked more about our letter of the week - letter H. During Centers, we listened to a story of "Happy Hen" and we counted Happy Hen and her 10 chicks. We also practiced making animal sounds while we read. We then worked on creating a horse out of the letter H for our end of the year ABC book. The children also did a letter H with the dot dot markers.

Please be sure to review our letter of the week with your child. You may want to make a card for each letter as we do them each week and practice having them identify the letters. Lay the cards out and ask which is the big A? Which is the little h? Make it a game! The chidlren also worked on counting and stamping hearts for Math - this a the skill of one to one correspondence.

Today we shared our letter H items for show and share - we had hats, helicopters, a hanger, a helmet and a horse! This is a fun way to make our letter come to life! Thanks for reading my page and for sending the items in!

We also practiced cutting lines today - please continue to practice at home. Scissor skills are one of the most important skills they will learn this year.

Our sensory table is filled with corn and pie plates and sifters and measuring cups this week. The children are having fun in there!

~Tomorrow is School Picture Day. Please remember to send your child in their Sunday best and to have sneakers on for Gym class. Our picture time is 8:30 am so we will go before snack and before gym. 

~ Your child will receive a Scholastic Book Order form tomorrow with a letter explaining how the club works. This is voluntary and you do not need to order from this program. It is a great way to get books that your kids love at a discounted price - and a great way to encourage a love of reading!

~ Every child needs to bring a picture of themselves on Thursday or Friday. We will use this for a Religion activity - it does not need to be a religious picture. The pictures will be returned in a few weeks.

~ We are in need of napkins for the classroom if anyone is willing to send them in after your next trip to the grocery store! Thanks so much!

Looking ahead to Friday:
1. It is an 11:30 dimissal for all students - even my half day students. We do not eat lunch on half days - please just pack a morning snack and drink. My Eagle's Club friends need a lunch.
2. It is wear a hat day for H week - a baseball hat, a cowboy hat, a sun hat, a silly hat, a Santa hat, etc.
3. Everyone needs a picture of a home for a collage - it can be of your home, an animal's home or a picture of a home from a magazine.

Thanks and have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo

Monday, September 25, 2017
I hope that everyone enjoyed the beautiful summerlike weekend! Welcome to another week in EC-3B. I was so surprised and so proud this morning when several of my friends walked down the hall by themselves - and with a big smile. This is not easy to do, but is especially hard on a Monday morning. I am sure you saw the signs that tomorrow is 'Independence Day'. Please remember that this does not apply to the three year old rooms. But again, take your child's cue. If they want to walk down independently or with a friend, please let them. Let them make that call - and it may change on a daily basis. Please do whatever they are comfortable doing so that they can start their day in a positive way. Thanks for your support!

Today we started the day with Music. We pretended to be faarm animals and made noises and moved around the room in many different ways. After Music, the children were intorduced to the letter of the week - letter H. We talked about big H and little h and we practiced making each one with our "imaginary crayons" - we use our fingers and write the letter in the skiy. We looked at pictures of h words - horse, heart, hand, ham, house and hat. During Center time, the children did their magical crayon rubbings and made the letter H appear along with a heart and a hat. The children also created a house out of the letter H - they decided on the colors for the house and the roof and where to put the windows. We listened to the story "A House for Hermit Crab" and the children decorated a hermit crab with colorful pieces of tissue paper just like the crab in the story decorated his plain shell.

At snack time, we had a practice fire drill. I was so impressed and proud of the children . not one single friend screamed, yelled or cried when the alarm went off. It was great. They listened and lined up and we were the first ones out of the building - and the quiestest if I do say so myself. Afterwards we talked about why we practice these drills and I told them that Mrs. Monarski and I will always keep them safe if there is ever an emergency. Please remind them of this at home tonight and praise them for doing such a great job.

~ Thank you to everyone who has sent in stickers! I love that my friends lay quietly at rest time for a sticker. 'Will rest for sticker'.
~School pictures are on Wednesday. Your child may wear dress clothes but please put sneakers on them as we will have a dance party in Gym that day. Sneakers keep us all safe while we are playing and no one sees your shoes in the picture.
~ Tomorrow is bring in something that starts with the letter H for show and share. Please have your child help you find something so that this activity is meaningful to them.

Have a happy Monday,
Mrs. Cuocolo


Friday, September 22, 2017
Happy Friday! What a great and busy day we had and another week in the books! My friends are doing so well. We are adjusted to our new school routine and we are so busy learning and having fun that our days fly by.

Today we went to Library and celebrated Curious George's by listening to a story about George at the zoo. The children each decorated a cupcake and the class had pressents for George - a book, bananas, sprinkles, etc. The decorated cupcake will come home on Monday.

Today we acted our story of "Way up high in the apple tree" and we talked about one less as the apples fell from the tree - this is the beginning of subtraction skills. We also talked about the fact that today is the first day of fall. We talked about the changing colors we see on the leaves and that we would soon start to see leaves on the ground as they fall from the trees. We watched a brief video on the smartboard about the signs of fall. Happy first day of fall!

The children heard a story about Johnny Appleseed today and we pretended to be Johnny Appleseed. We packed our bags full of apple seeds and walked along and dug holes and planted our seeds in the holes. Ask the children what Johnny wore on his head as a hat.

At Center time, the children worked to count apples and match the stamps to the apples for one to one correspondence. Children also practiced their cutting skills with Mrs. Monarski's help by cutting a red rectangle. Please practice cutting at home this weekend. We will do this weekly to build their scissor skills and confidence in cutting.

When it was time to clean up, some of my friends chose to keep playing and did not clean up so they had to come in at recess to clean up and they missed some of our time on the playground. Please remind your child to be a handy helper and clean up when it is time to do so! We are a team and we all have to work together.

Have a wonderful weekend! Make happy memories together as a family!
Mrs. Cuocolo

Thursday, September 21, 2017
What a great day we had today! The children were happy to share their red objects - we had firetrucks, mermaids, masks, pom poms, trains and more! It is always fun to see the objects that come in - please make sure that your child has a say in what they bring in to share so it is meaningful to them. After Show and Share, we did our Scholastic News issue on apples. The children watched a short video about the many ways we use apples - pie, applesauce, apple cider, etc. We then read our magazine and learned about the parts of an apple - the skin, the stem, the flesh and the seeds. I then cut an apple open and we looked at the parts of the apple. They all had a chance to feel the skin, stem and seeds of the apple. We then sang our song "way up high in the apple tree" and used apples on popsicles to act it out and count how many apples were left. This is a great Math lesson - without seeming like a math lesson. We are taking away and counting one less. Some of the children "get it" already!

To continue with our A and apple theme, the children had the chance to paint a letter A red. I helped them trace the lines of the big and little a and then they did it on their own. We talked about the formation of the letter as we did it. The children also worked on finding objects that are the same and then marking the object that was different. They each then used dot dot markers to complete an apple. The children also had the chance to use an apple and different colored paint to create a fall tree. They thought it was fun to paint with apples to create beautiful trees for the first day of fall tomorrow! The children were also called one on one during center time to play a matching game with shapes and to count apples and do a one to one correspondence. We only have 8 friends on Tuesday and Thursday so the children are able to get more one on one time which is really nice to reinforce our theme and letter for the week.

After recess, we reviewed the Sign of the Cross and I showed them a picture of Jesus on the cross. We talked about the fact that we make the Sign of the Cross to remind us that Jesus is in our hearts. They then colored a picture of the sign of the cross.

What a busy and hot day! The children also enjoyed Art class with Mrs. Taylor.

~ Tomorrow is a school wide dress down. The theme is wear red, white and blue. If you would like to send in a donation for Hurricane Relief efforts, student council is taking a collection.
~ The students who ordered pretzels will receive them for morning snack tomorrow so no need to pack a morning snack. But please remember to pack a drink as they will get thirsty.
~ Field trip money and permission slips are due tomorrow!
~If anyone is willing to send in Honey Teddy Grahams (one big box) for our H tasting next week, please email and let me know. Thank you!

Have a wonderful night,
Mrs. Cuocolo

Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Thank you to all who attended Back to School Night last night. The chidlren loved hearing their notes this morning and thought it was so funny that you sat in their seats. If you have any questions about anything from last night, please feel free to send me an email. It's going to be a great year!

Today we went to gym and met Mrs. Schock. She was so impressed with how well we listened and how well behaved we were. The kids enjoyed listening to her directions and playing her fun new games! After Gym, we went right to Spanish. Our Wednesdays are busy going from special to special so we eat an early snack at 8:15. 

After Spanish, we tasted our apples. First, we talked about how many apple slices we all had. We each counted 4 slices. We then talked abot the two colors that we saw - green and red. Each child then tasted a green apple - if they were willing, I do not force anyone to try the foods. One friend used the great adjective of sour to describe the taste. We talked about how it was crunchy and juicy! They then each tasted a red apple. We decided it was more sweet than sour. The childrne then decided if they liked green or red better and we glued their apple to a chart. We then counted that 11 friends liked red best and 4 liked green best. We said 11 is a bigger number so more friends liked red apples best. I reminded them that it was okay if they liked green best - we all like different things. Each child then shared their red picture for our red collage.

We also used the Smartboard to visit an apple orchard - we looked at the trees and watched as people used ladders to pick their apples. We then sang the fun song '5 Little Apples' and counted backwards until no apples were left on the tree. We will act this out tomorrow with apples on popsicle sticks.

~ Reminder that tomorrow is bring in something red like an apple for Show and Share!
~ Friday is a school wide dress down and the colors are red, white and blue. We will also have pretzels for morning snack for those who ordered.
~ Please remember to send in all utensils that your child will need for snack and lunch - forks, spoons, napkins, straws, etc. We do not always have extra in our room!
~ I forgot to mention last night, that this site for our teacher pages does not have spell check, so please accept my aplogies now for any typos or spelling mistakes that you will find. I am often typing this in a rush as that I can move on to the next item on my to do list!

Enjoy this sunny day in the middle of the week,
Mrs. Cuocolo

Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Terrific Tuesday! We had another great day and a fast day here in EC-3B! Our days fly by because we are so busy. We enjoyed another Technology class today with Miss Luce. The children watched apple videos and learned more about our letter A - the letter of the week.

Today we listened to the story "The ABC Book" by Dr. Seuss. The children then worked to create an alligator out of the letter A for our end of the year ABC book (I will hold on to each letter activity like this until the end of the year). The children also worked on an activity that involved following directions and identifying colors. My friends also created necklaces using the colors red and green - this is a great fine motor skill and one that we will doa lot this year. I was impressed with how well they were able to complete this activity. We also played a sorting game on the smartboard with the letter A. Each child had a turn to decide if the A was a big A or little a and place it in the correct basket. They loved doing this!

We took 6 group bathroom breaks today and were accident free! Hooray!! Most of my friends fell asleep and all of my friends layed quietly at rest time.

Our Back to School Night is tonight in our classroom at 6:30. Just a reminder that this is for parents only so please leave all children home. Also a reminder that this is a general meeting and isn't time for us to discuss your child specifically. We can set up a time to do so if you feel that is necessary at this point. I will try to keep my speech to about 45 minutes as I know we all want to get home after a long day!

Tomorrow is wear red day - your child may wear a red shirt, red shorts, red socks - whatever they are comfortable in. We do have gym so sneakers should be worn. You can wear a red shirt with your gym shorts or you may wear other play shorts. 

Also tomorrow is a birng a picture of something red - from the computer or magazine - to put on our red collage tomorrow.

I look ofrward to seeing some of you tonight,
Mrs. Cuocolo


Monday, September 18, 2017
I hope that you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful, summerlike weather! I know Mondays are tough and they come around so fast but I was so proud of my friends for coming in with smiles today!

Today we celebrated Gabriella's 4th birthday. She brought in cupakes to share with the class so my friends may have an extra snack in their lunchbox. Happy birthday, Gabriella, and thanks for the treat! We also listened to her favorite story about Pete the Cat!

Today we introduced our first letter of the week - letter A. I introduced a picture of letter A and we practiced making letter A with our imaginary crayons. We also looked at pictures of words that start with A - ape, ant, alphabet, apple, acorn and alligator. We also said that our friends, AJ and Adelynn start with the letter A.

The children then created a stained glass apples with colored pieces of tissue paper. They also stamped a letter A with apples and did a crayon rubbing of the letter A. We said this was like magic and it made the pictures appear. We listened to the story "Ten Apples up on Top" and had fun counting all of the apples and pretending that we were balancing apples on our heads!

We also used the Smartboard (the website is StarFall) to learn more about the letter A - the sound it makes and the more words with A - astronaut, alligator and apple orchard. The children really enjoyed this!

The children enjoyed Music with Mrs. Wagner this morning. The children enjoyed pretending they were on a farm and maing animal sounds! Music is a great way to start our week together. We also took a short 10 minute morning recess!

Remember that tomorrow night is Back to School Night at 6:30 in our classroom. This is for parents only - please no children. I will go over our daily routine, curriculum and answer any questions about our program. Please remember that this is not time to discuss any questions or concerns about your child specifically. We can set up a seperate meeting or touch base over the phone if we need to. I will try to keep it to 45 minutes so that we can all get home for bedtime!

Have an Awesome night,
Mrs. Cuocolo

Friday, September 15, 2017
Fantastic Friday! Hooray we all made it through our first full week of school. I am so proud of the boys and girls. I feel like the transition has been pretty seamless. I hope you feel the same on your end.

Today we started the day with Library. The children listened to a funny story called "Giraffes Don't Dance" and then they danced in the libary which we all thought was so silly. It was a fun start to our Friday.

The children finished painting apples to decorate our room today. We also graphed whether we are a boy or a girl and used the graph to see that we have more boys in our room then girls. Each child had the chance to share their object that starts with the same letter as their name. Such cool things were sent in! Many of my friends could tell me what letter their name starts with and were so happy to share their items with us.

The children also painted with a coconut today - we will do some funny things in here! We talked about the coconut from Chica Chica Boom Boom, then they named the three color paints that I had (green, red, and yellow) and then we rolled the coconut in a box to paint our papers. We never touched the coconut but we painted with it and they thought this was pretty cool. They turned out neat!

After lunch, we worked as a whole group on cutting with scissors. We talked about scissor safety and that scissors are only used on paper. Please practice proper scissor holding techniques at home and practice cutting as this is a skill that they children must master this year. Have them cut a line by marking one point on one end and one on another. We will be doing this a lot in school.

We took 6 group bathroom breaks today and were accident free again. Hooray, friends. 


If anyone would like to send in stickers to add to my collection, I would appreciate it. We love seasonal stickers (apples, pumpkins, leaves for now) and Disney characters. Don't make a special trip but if you are out and about this weekend and pick some up, we would appreciate it!

Have a wonderful, warm weekend together as a family!!
Mrs. Cuocolo


Thursday, September 14, 2017
We had another great day today! We got started right away with some painting to decorate our room. The children did a great job using sponges to paint. After circle time, we took turns sharing our favorite toys. Each child had to stand and tell us what their favorite toy was, why they liked it and had a changce to show us if it could do something cool. Our toys stayed in our cubbies so that they were safe. The children did a great job telling us about their toys!

We did our first Scholastic News magazine today. We will do these weekly or every other week to tie in with seasons, holidays or a related theme being covered in school. Today was all about making friends at school. We watched a brief video on the Smartboard and then each child followed along in their magazine. We talked about ways to be a friend and gave thumbs up for the pictures of the children being good friends and making good choices. We decided that it is going to be a great year of learning, sharing and making friends.

We took a brief morning recess and then came in to listen to "Chica Chica Boom Boom". The children then created chica chica boom boom trees with their handprints and then spelled out their names using sticker letters. We will do a lot of activities with their names this year as recognizing and orally spelling their names is a skill they should know for the 4 year old room. Some of my friends can already do this! Our trees will be hanging on our bulletine board in the hall. The children also had a chance to play in the sensory table. It is filled with rice, magnet letters and magnet wands. Our table will change with the season and themes we cover in the room. They all followed the rules and played so nicely in the table. I think this will be a favorite spot during center time.

The children also had to work to find the first letter of their first name and glue it on a paper with the matching letter. The children could then color the blank letter their favorite color. Please work on name regnition at home to reinforce what we are doing here at school.

We had our first Art class with Mrs. Taylor after lunch/recess. It's hard to have a special late in the day but the children did great and Mrs. Taylor was impressed with all she was able to do with them.

We took 6 group bathroom breaks today and were accident free! Hooray! Most of my friends fell right to sleep at rest time. They love to get their stickers for resting or laying quietly! If anyone would like to send in stickers to add to my collection, I would appreciate it. We love seasonal stickers (apples, pumpkins, leaves for now) and Disney characters. Don't make a special trip but if you are out and about this weekend and pick some up, we would appreciate it!

~~ Tomorrow is bring in something that starts with the same letter as your name for Chica Chica Boom Boom. Please make sure that your child can identify their object.

Have a great night,
Mrs. Cuocolo

Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Wet but wonderful Wednesday! We had a great day and I am so proud of and impressed by how nicely the children are coming into the classroom and settling into our morning routine. They are starting to sing along with some of our songs - days of the week - and trying to say our prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. We are off to a great start!

We took 6 group bathroom breaks and everyone stayed accident free! Yay, friends!! This is quite impressive! More of my friends are also coming to me and telling me if they need to use the bathroom so good job!!

We were not able to have Gym class today because Mrs. Schock was not here but we did go outside for a few minutes on the playground before the rain started. We then walked over to the big building - we were so quiet - to Spanish with Miss Kovall. The children were able to sit in the big kids desks which they thought was pretty cool! We impressed Miss Kovall with our good listening ears.

For Centers, we listened to a story called "Celebrating Me". It was another story about how special we all are. We then counted how many letters are in our name and made a graph for this. The children each then made a leaf on a friendship tree that will hang in the hall. We painted their hands to do this and to create a poem for you that will come home at Back to School Night next Tuesday at 6:30 (remember this is for students only). 

It was raining when it was time for lunch so we took a walk to the cafeteria and used our lunchboxes as umbrellas on our heads. We then had indoor recess and played with trucks, blocks and potatoe heads. The children also had a chance to play a "Kissing Hand" matching game with Mrs. Monarski.

~ The children who attend school on Thursday need to bring in a favorite toy tomorrow to share for "All About Me" week. It should fit into their book bag.

~ A note about our field trip on Friday, October 13, will be coming home this week. All of my friends (even friends who are not here on Friday are invited to attend the trip). Each child must have a chaperone attend with them - mom, dad, grandmom - the chaperone does not need to have a background check. A paper explaining the forms needed will be sent with the permission slip. Permission slips, money ($20) and all forms MUST BE RETURNED TO SCHOOL by FRIDAY, 9/22.

Stay dry today - it's a good night to cuddle up as a family!
Mrs. Cuocolo

Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Terrific Tuesday! Today was a great day for my friends. They are coming in so nicely and settling into our morning routine. They really seem to be enjoying our carpet time with calendar, the weather, morning prayer and the pledge. You will receive a copy of our morning prayer to practice next week at Back to School night. 

This morning my friends also shared their favorite shirts at carpet time. They were proud to tell us why this was their favorite! We will do weekly activities like this to tie in with our theme/letter of the week.

We attended our first Computer class today. We took the LONG walk over the big building and all the way up the steps to the Computer Lab. My friends were so quiet on our walk and did such a great job. Miss Luce, our Computer teacher, had a Pete the Cat montage ready for us and the children really loved it. Miss Luce was so proud of the children and they each earned a sticker. It was a great morning.

We took a brief morning recess to enjoy another dry and warm day. We then came in for Centers. We listened to a story about celebrating our accomplishments and reviewed again all of the ways that God made us special. Today, we traced hands and counted our fingers and used ink pads to create our fingerprints to show that we are all unique and special. The children also played a matching game with animals from "The Kissing Hand". We also worked to finish some projects from the last few days. The kitchen area was open today during Centers and the children had a nice time playing there.

We took 7 group bathroom breaks today and we were accident free! Hooray!! The children are doing a great job of letting us know when they have to go. Keep up the great work!

All of my friends slept at rest time today. YAY, friends!! I think a few days of early wake ups and working hard have caught up with us!! They need that down time.

***I would like to do an apple tasting next Wednesday to tie in with our apple theme. If you are willing to send in 8 individual bags of Mott's green or red apples, please email and let me know. Thank you!

Have a great night!
Mrs. Cuocolo



Monday, Septmber 11, 2017
Happy Monday! I hope that everyone enjoyed the gorgeous weather this weekend. It was a perfect weekend to get outside and play!

I was so proud of my friends for coming in to school so nicely this morning. Way to go!

The children are falling into the morning routine nicely. They are starting to try to sing our songs and say our prayers. They also love their important jobs - check nightly with your child to see what job they had today. After our morning circle time, we had Music with Mrs. Wagner. The children did a great job and had so much fun with her instruments and learning some new songs! Music is a fun way to start our week!

After Music, we had snack and then took a quick morning recess since it is so nice out. The children really love and need those 10 minutes of running around outside. After recess, we listened to the story "Designed by God so I must be special". We talked about how God made us special and how we use our body parts for different things - eyes to see, ears to hear, feet to run and play and hearts to love. We listed different gifts from God that we can see, hear, touch and taste. The children then had a chance to decorate a person to look like them. They are really enjoying our crafts. The children also had a chance to use our special "dot dot markers" to decorate a racoon and the letter R. I taught them all how to use the markers the correct way as we will use them often this year. They thought they were really cool!

For the first part of our recess after lunch, we drew with sidewalk chalk and on the blacktop. The children had a great time - but some friends were covered in chalk so don't be suprised if your child comes out covered in chalk today!

We took 7 group bathroom breaks today and went accident free - good job, my friends!! We will continue to take several breaks a day as we settle into this new school routine!

~ Tomnorrow is "wear your favorite shirt" day for All About me" week. My friends who are here on Tuesdays can "dress down" out of their uniform tomorrow and wear a favorite shirt. We will talk briefly about their clothes.

~ Please remember to send all utensils (straws, spoons, forks, etc) that your child will need for snack and lunch. We do not always have extras for the children to use. Thank you!

Enjoy this beautiful day as we pause to remember this somber day in US history. Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight!
Mrs. Cuocolo

Friday, September 8, 2017
Happy Friday! And Happy First Day of School for some of my friends. It was another big morning as we welcomed 8 new friends to our classroom this morning. My friends who were here yesterday were good role models for our new friends. We reviewed our morning routine - attendance, calendar, weather, morning prayer and the pledge of allegiance. We had morning snack and went to Library where we met Mrs. Oldiges and Mrs. Tobin, our school librarians. They took us on a tour of the library and they read us a funny story about making silly choices. We each got to hold a stuffed friend while we listened! After library, we went to the playground for a short morning recess. The children really enjoy running around and playing together and this is how friendships will form. 

Today we listened and rocked out to the story "Pete The Cat rocking in my school shoes". Pete was in school for the first time - and going to the Library, the playground and the cafeteria - but he was not nervous because he was rocking in his school shoes. We each showed our school shoes. The children then had a chance to create a Pete the Cat with his four red school shoes. We also listened to the story on CD and were rocking out to the song that Pete sang. The children really enjoyed this book!

We played on the playground again after recess and had a great time and were ready for rest time today. Most of my friends are able to lay quietly on their mats but please remind your child that rest time is a very important part of their day. They need that quiet down time to rest after a long day and an early start. My friends who rested or laid quietly will have a sticker on so please praise them if you see a sticker!

I know that at orientation I asked you to send only one change of clothes for the cubbie, but please send in an extra pair of underwear - or two - for us to keep in the cubbies also. 

Thank you to those who sent in baby wipes. We appreciate it!

Have a great weekend and rest up because Monday we get to do it all over again - and for 5 days!

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Mrs. Cuocolo

Thursday, September 7, 2017
Happy first day of school! Congratulations! You all did great - and so did your children. I thank you all for your cooperation as you said your goodbyes at the classroom door. This is how we will do it every morning - it really does set the tone for an easier morning for us in our classroom. 

The children spent time playing together this morning as we settled in. We talked about clean up time and they all did a great job showing me this when I rang the bell to do so. We started our carpet time routine this morning and the children each had a special job to do - ask your child what their job was. We said our morning prayer, did the calendar, our weather charts and said the pledge of allegiance. We will discuss our morning routine more in depth at Back to School Night on Tuesday, September 19.

We took a brief morning recess after snack this morning. The children really enjoyed the fresh air. After recess, we listened to the story "The Kissing Hand". Chester Racoon was sad to leave his mom to go to school so his mom began kissing his hand each morning so he could put the kiss to his cheek as he missed her throughout the day. The children really liked this idea. If you have not already done so, this is a great book to read and you might want to start doing your own kissing hand each morning. My daughter and I do it - and it really does help! After listening to the story, we created a Chester Racoon that will hang here in the classroom.  Your child also has a poem with their handprint on it - they thought it tickled to have their hands painted! The first day of school and we are already painting!! it will be a great year.

We ate lunch in the cafteria today - the children did great! We then played on the playground and ran on the field before coming in for rest time. We listened to the story of a child's first day in preschool and how they cried because they would miss their mommy but then they realized how much fun they were going to have and how much they were going to learn with their new friends.
I hope everyone comes in ready for day two tomorrow - it's already Friday!

We did take 7 group bathroom breaks today and most of my friends were accident free - GREAT JOB!! We will continue to take several bathroom breaks a day as we settle into our routine.

A few general notes:

~ Please make sure that your child has a drink for snack and for lunch. If they have a large water bottle, two drinks is not necessary.

~ We are in need of baby wipes (not flushable wipes) for the classroom and would appreciate if you would be willing to send in any that you have! Thanks so much!

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow - for some of my friends this will be their first day and some will be pros by tomorrow morning!

Enjoy the night as a family!
Mrs. Cuocolo








September  2017
It was so nice to meet you at orientation! I know I covered a lot of information in a short amount of time. Please feel free to email me with any questions. I will cover much more at our back to school night on Tuesday, September 19.

~ Please remember to bring a white empty icing container on the first day of school if you did not do so for orienation. This will be your child's crayon can for the year.
~ Please remember to send in two pictures of just your child if you did not do so already. One picture will mark your child's cubbie and one will mark your child's seat at the table.
~ Please read and review the potty training policy and sign and return on Thursday or Friday.
~ I look forward to a great first day on Thursday or Friday! Remember that if your child is only registered for M, W, F, their first day will be on Friday. Only children who are full time or registered T, W, Th will start on Thursday.
~ I know I said that we do not have an Independence Day in our program, but I do ask that you leave your child at the classroom door. Please say your goodbyes at the door and allow them to come into the classroom on their own. Mrs. Monarski will greet them at their cubbies and will help them unload all of their supplies. Saying goodbye at the door allows for a smoother transition in to the classroom.
~ Remember to bring your smiles (and brave faces, parents) to school for the first day. It WILL be a great year!
 

August 15, 2017

I hope that you are all enjoying your summer and have made a lot of fun memories at the beach, playground, pool, library and spending time with family and friends. I look forward to meeting some of you at the social on Monday, August 28 at 6:30 in the back parking lot of the school. When we meet for our orientation on either Tuesday, September 5 or Wednesday, September 6, please bring the following items:

1. Yellow emergency card - both sides completed
2. Student information sheets
3. Change of clothes and shoes - in a ziploc bag marked with your name and in a bag
4. Towel labeled with your name for rest time - FULL DAY STUDENTS ONLY
5. Box of tissues - 1
6. Clorox wipes - 1
7. Flushable wipes - 1
8. Hand sanitizer - 1
9. A happy smile ready to make new friends and have fun while learning!!
10. 2 pictures of just YOU for your cubby and seat
11. A clean, empty white frosting container for your crayons
12. The orange communication form