Welcome to ECP - 3B
2018-2019

Mrs. Cuocolo 

 

Diocesan Wide Theme: Rejoice in the Lord Always
Franciscan Value for January: justice

Important Dates

Thursday, 1/17 -  bring in a favorite B for bear for B week, Chic Fil A money is due for 1/28 (it WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED after this date)
Friday, 1/18 -  ECP Conferences - NO SCHOOL FOR PRESCHOOL (Eagle's Club is not available)
Monday, 1/21 -  NO SCHOOL- Martin Luther King Day
Wednesday, 1/23 - bring in a picture of you for Religion
Thursday, 1/24 -  bring in something that makes a sound and bring a picture of something you like to see ( can be a real picture or from a magazine) for Religion
Friday, 1/25 -  TAG Day - pajamas, pretzel day, visit from Delaware Museum of Natural History
Monday, 1/28 -  Catholic Schools Week Starts, Dance party for EC-3, Chic Fil A for those who ordered
Wednesday, 2/6 -  Mom's Morning for M week 8:20-10:15
Wednesday, 2/27 - Dad's Day for D week 8:20-10:15
Wednesday, 3/27 -  NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day for Teachers

 

Daily Updates

January 16, 2019
 What busy Wednesdays we have with Gym and Spanish! Today, my friends enjoyed sharing their baseball caps and their baby dolls and balls. We enjoyed bagels for morning snack - thank you to all who contributed!

We listened to the story 'Polar bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?" today and talked about the animals in the zoo. We then talked about the fact that bears hibernate and shared other facts that we know about bears. We decided that bears are large animals so we brainstormed all of the large animals that we could think of! My friends then created a polar bear picture with blue paint. They also painted with a blue balloon - they thought this was really funny! My friends also worked to cut out a blue triangle as we are really working on our scissor skills to prepare us for the 4 year old room!

I read a story about Martin Luther King Jr today and we talked about how he wanted everyone to be treated fairly. My friends did not think it was fair when I said that only the girls could eat lunch today and that only children with brown hair could go out for recess. I told them Dr. King wanted everyone to be treated the same and did not think what we looked like should matter. We are all people created by God and God loves us all the same. I explained that Dr. King worked to change the rules so that people were treated fairly, but that he did it peacefully - he did not fight to change these unfair rules. My friends all then used water colors to paint a peace sign. They each had to tell me how they can be a peace maker. They glued their peace signs (after they cut them out) and their sentence to a paper for me to hang in the hallway. Remind them tonight to be a peace maker!

We did a fun and simple (but really cool, according to the kids) science experiment. We used a B for blue and ballooon and bottle and baking soda to inflate a balloon. I filled a water bottle 2/3 full of vinegar, filled a balloon half full of baking soda and as I turned the balloon on to the bottle, the balloon started to inflate. The kids were amazed!

~ Please continue to review our letters of the week thus far. We have done A, H, F, P, C, L, T, N, J, S, , W and B. Work on letter recognition.

~ We will begin last name identification in February. Start exposing your child now to their last name. My friends all do a great job with their first names. They can all recognize their first names - now you cna work on naming the letters in their first names.

~ My friends should all bring a favorite bear tomorrow for B week.

~ Chic Fil A forms are due tomorrow.

~ If you volunteered to send in items for our brownie treat tomorrow, please remember to do so! We will have a brownie for morning snack.

~ For conferences on Thursday and Friday, please PARK OUT FRONT in front of the big building. You do not need to sign in at the Main Office. There will be a sign in sheet at the door of our building. 


January 15, 2019
Today was another busy day for us. Our days fly by becuase they are filled with so much learning and fun!

This morning, we talked more about our letter B and read another story about birds. My friends then made a B for bird for our end of the year ABC book. They also worked on the fine motor skill of stringing cheerios on a pipe cleaner to make a bird feeder for them to hang on a treet at home. We normally hang them here at school but we aren't able to get to the trees thanks to the snow that is covering the ground. My friends also used marbles in a b for box to paint a letter B black and blue. They also filled in the letters Bb with stickers - this is a fine motor skill. I also played a bear counting game with the children in partnrs. They had to roll a dice, count the dots and then count that numbers. They had cups numbered 1 through 6 and had to put the bears in to the corresponding cup. This was a fun counting and partner game to play. I will play it again tomorrow with my friends who did not get to play it today.

In religion today, we talked about our five senses and focused on our sense of touch. We talked about things that feel hot, cold, rough and smooth. We talked about touches that let someone know that they love us - hugs, holding hands, a kiss on the cheek, praying hands. I encouraged the children to think of a way to show their love tonight at home - remind them to do so!

We did go outside after lunch for 20 minutes to run around on the blacktop. Please remember to send gloves and hats as we do try to get out daily!

~ Tomorrow is Gym day. Remember names on shirts and girls need to have their hair pulled back.

~ My friends all need a baby doll or ball for show and share.

~ If you signed up to send in bagels for our B tasting, please remember to do so.

~ We will have mini bagels for snack tomorrow, so you only need to pack a drink for snack if your child will eat the bagel.
~ If you have not paid for the in house field trip VIA Smart Tuition, please remember to do so. Send the permission slip back once you have done this. This is an in house field trip.

~ For conferences on Thursday and Friday, please PARK OUT FRONT in front of the big building. You do not need to sign in at the Main Office. There will be a sign in sheet at the door of our building. 

Have a wonderful evening with your family!




January 14, 2019
I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend and bundled up to make memories in the first snowfall of the new year!

Today is Sammie's 4th birthday, so the children enjoyed cotton candy drinkable yogurts and marshmallows this morning for snack. Happy birthday, Sam, and thanks for the ummy treats!

This will be a busy, short week for us! We met our new letter of the week - letter Bb today. We looked at pictures of a ball, a book, banamas, a bike and a box. We will talk about birds and bears and other hibernating animals this week.

Today we read a story called 'Birds in our Backyard". It talked about what birds need to survive and how there are birds all around us. We then bundled up and went outside to feed the birds. We walked all around the big building and stopped to drop food for the birds. We heard a few birds chirping while we were out there and even saw one watching us from afar. I told the children the birds will be so happy to see the food because the snow makes it even harder for them to find food. They had so much fun feeding the birds!



The children then had to cut a triangle and a square and build a birdhouse for a blue bird. They then sprinkled real birds food at the bottom as a decoration. My friends also created a blue bird out of blue tissue paper, did their B crayon rubbing to find a butterfly and a boat and filled a letter B with buttons. They were busy boys and girls today!

We did take time after lunch to run around outside. We watched an icicle melt in the warm sun.

~ If you have not paid for the in house field trip VIA Smart Tuition, please remember to do so. Send the permission slip back once you have done this. This is an in house field trip.

~ For conferences on Thursday and Friday, please PARK OUT FRONT in front of the big building. You do not need to sign in at the Main Office. There will be a sign in sheet at the door of our building. 

Have a wonderful evening with your family!




January 11, 2019
Hooray for Friday! And what a fun Friday it was for my friends! We began by observing our walking water experiment from yesterday. We were amazed that we made the colors orange, green and purple from our colors of red, yellow and blue!

After library, my friends became chefs and helped me gather the ingredients, measure and mix the ingredients to make our yummy waffles. Our room smelled so warm and cozy and my friends all ate 1 and a half wafffles! You might have some requests for waffles this weekend!


We read a book about "weather days" and talked about the types of weather we have. My friends each then made a weather wheel that they can spin each day to show the weather for the day. My friends also made a "it is winter" picture and painted white snowflakes. My friends also used water colors to paint a w. 

After lunch, we bundled up and took our winter walk! We looked at the empty trees and felt the cold air. 

We did our Scholastic News on Ice today. We watched a video about liquid turning to a solid form of ice. We then played a game on the Smart Board where we had to decide if the object was frozen or melting. 

We are hoping for a w for win for the Eagles this weekend!

~ Remember bird food on Monday - this could be bird seed or cheerios in a bag. We will go out on Monday to feed the birds for B week.

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the time with your family!

January 10,  2019
What a busy and fun day we had! We started our day by watching the video for "What a wonderful world" and talked about all of the things we saw - birds, trees, the ski, the ocean, the sun , people and animals. The children were then each given a magazine and told to cut out two pictures from our wonderful world and glue them to our 'Wonderful world" collage. They did such a nice job finding and cutting out these pictures. They really enjoyed cutting from the magazines! The children then cut a circle and painted it blue and green. They then glued on the words "What a Wonderful World" and filled the earth with stickers of animals, flowers and trees. They turned out so cute!

In Religion, we talked about wonderful us designed by God. I told them God made each of us wonderful and that no one else is like us. We talked about what makes us wonderful and ways to take care of our wonderful bodies - eating healthy, exercising, and sleeping well - so that we can grow big and strong. My friends then cut out a heart and glued on 'Wonderful Me" and the picture of themself that they brought in. My friends also made a watermelon and did their W push pins.

In Science, we read a story called "Warthogs Paint" and talked about the three primary colors - red, blue and yellow. The warthogs mixed the colors to form the colors of the rainbow. We then did our "walking Water" experiment. We filled 7 cups with water and then placed red food coloring in the first and last, we placed yellow in the 3rd and blue in the 5th. We then connected the cups with paper towels and watched as the water "walked" up the paper towels and into the plain water in the next cup. We predicted what will happen when the colors mixed and were amazed to see new colors forming. Our Scientists are excited to come in and observe tomorrow!





We were not allowed outside for recess beause it was too windy, but we did sneak out for 5 minutes on the playground after lunch. They needed to run around and were all bundled up for it!

Reminders for tomorrow:
~ Wear your Eagles shirt or a green shirt. As I said, I am not a football fan but I love a good playoff party so I jump right on that bandwagon!

~ My friends need a picture for our winter collage tomorrow.

~ We will take a winter walk after lunch tomorrow. Please remember hats and gloves!

~ We willl make waffles for our morning snack to end W week. No need to pack a morning snack if your child will eat waffles.

Have a wonderful night with your wonderful children! Tomorrow we do the Friday dance!



January 9, 2019
Wacky Wednesday! It was fun to see the children this morning - some were in mismatched clothes, some in pajamas, some with silly socks or crazy hair! They loved this day to dress wacky. Our day was not at all wacky because I have found with the little ones, it is best to stick with routine and not disrupt the day too much. I read the story "Wacky Wednesday" and we talked about all of the silly things that happened in the pictures.

I read a story called 'When I grow up" today. In the story, the boy and girl think of all the fun jobs they would like to have as they grow up, but realize it is fun to be a kid. The children each then told me what they would like to be when they grow up and why - some of their answers were just so sweet! They then had to decorate a person to look like them when they are grown up. My friends also worked on filling in a letter W with "wheel pasta" and cutting a yellow square for scissor practice.

Wednesdays are our busy day with Gym and Spanish so there does not leave much time for work!

We did go outside for recess after lunch - it was a w for windy day! Please remember to dress appropriately (hats and gloves) as we will be going outside each day as long as the weather allows. They need even just 10 minutes to run around and get some fresh air.

~ My friends should all have a picture of themselves tomorrow or Friday.

~ Online book orders are due tomorrow - our code is QFX2R.

~ I am looking for a dentist or dental assistant to come talk to the class for D week at the end of February....do we have any in the group? If so, please let me know.


Stay warm tonight - winter is here!

January 8, 2019
Terrific Tuesday. We had a great day today and were able to get so much done. My friends attended Technology and Miss Luce had them working on using the mouse on the computer. She said many of my friends were already able to control the mouse and was impressed by that.

We started the day by reading a book called "White as a Seashell" and all of my friends shared their white objects. They really enjoy bringing in these objects from home and telling us about them. 

I read a story called "The Snowman" today and children then painted using W for watercolors a snowy scene. They also decorated a snowman that we will add to their snowy scene. These turned out really cute! My friends also did their W is for Whale for their end of the year ABC book. 

I did a color assessment with my friends today. I still am not a fan of "assessing" 3 and 4 year olds but in reality, I must do it for conferences and our progress reports. Please take these assessments with a grain of salt and keep in mind that they are taking place in a bustling classroom where there are MANY distractions - for the children and for me! I promise that all of these children will know their letters and numbers in kindergarten, if not before. This is not a reflection on you as a parent (I taught first grade for 8 years and I did not think Gianna was ever going to learn to read - not good for a child of a first grade teacher), so please focus on the growth that you see and not on what you think they can do and should be doing at this point. They all develop differently (Aidan was reading chapter books in prek and Gianna is just reading them in second grade because she wasn't ready until now and that is okay - took me a while to get there and realize that) but they will all get there. Don't rush it - let them be little!

This afternoon, we did Science with W for weight. We looked at the balance scale and how it works. My friends had to look at objects and feel objects to predict which objects would weigh more than others. They really enjoyed this activity and I loved that they were accurately predicting that the bigger or heavier objects would "pull the scale down". We will do this again this week.

~ Tomorrow is Wacky Wednesday. Remember they can do whatever they are comfortable with and that will not be in the way during our school day. For some kids, this may just be mismatched socks - let them decide what to do. It is fun to see their interpretation of wacky! We do have Gym, so all friends MUST WEAR SNEAKERS and should have their name in their shirt. 

~ Online book orders are due by Thursday. The class code is QFX2R.

~ Please remember to pay for the in house field trip VIA Smart Tuition and send in the permission slip to let us know who has done so.

~ My friends need a picture of themselves for Religion Thursday (or Friday if not here on Thurs). We will talk about wonderful you!

~ Please check the dates above each night as I am always adding reminders! Thank you for reading and remembering ALL that I ask of you! I know it is a lot but the children do enjoy all of these activities that bring our letter of the week to life!

Have a great night!

January 7, 2019
I hope that everyone enjoyed the first weekend of the new year. I am not a football fan AT ALL (much to my son's dismay) but even I know that was a great ending last night! Go Eagles!

This morning we talked about our new letter W. We looked at pictures of a window, a web, a wagon, a watch and a wig. We listened to and did the motions for 'Wheels on the Bus". We talked about the seasons and that we are in the season of winter. I asked the children to tell me about the weather in the winter - they said it was cold and they wear jackets and gloves and that it snows. We have some friends very excited for a snow day! I read a book called "Berenstein Bears and the Four Seasons". We talked about what happens in each season and then voted on our favorite - winter was the winner, surprisingly! The children then made a season wheel to show what happens in each season and to see that the seasons repeat. 

I will be "assessing" the childrne this week of identiying the letters of the week that we have done thus far, color recognition, number recognition and counting, and shape recognition. This is in preparation for our conferences next Thursday and Friday.

The children painted and decorated snowmen to hang from our ceiling today. We also "made" snow by mixing together a "speedy snow" solid and the liquid water. The children loved watching the "snow" form. This will be in our sensory table for the week.

Ellie turned 4 on Saturday. We celebrated today with a cookie at lunch time. Happy 4th birthday, Eliie, and thanks for the yummy treats!

~ My friends need to bring in something white for W show and share tomorrow.

~ Wednesday will be WACKY WEDNESDAY! The children can wear mismtached clothes, pajamas, clothes inside out, crazy hair - whatever they are comfortable doing. They do need to wear sneakers for Gym.

~ My friends need a picture of themselves for Religion Thursday (or Friday if not here on Thurs). We will talk about wonderful you!

~ Please check the dates above each night as I am always adding reminders! Thank you for reading and remembering ALL that I ask of you! I know it is a lot but the children do enjoy all of these activities that bring our letter of the week to life!

~ Please remember to pay for the in house field trip VIA Smart Tuition and then return the permission slip so that we know who has paid.

Here's to a 5 day week! Stay warm!

January 4, 2019
Happy Friday! 

Loved seeing my friends in their sunglasses today! We imagined we were on a warm, sunny island while we had them on. We wore them to Library to spread our sunny good wishes!

Today we celebrated Evelyn's 4th birthday. Evelyn was four on Christmas Eve and we celebrated with cupcakes at lunch. Hpapy birthday, Evelyn, and thanks for the yummy treats!

We attended Mass this morning for the feast of the Epiphany. It was a beautiful Mass and my friends did such a nice job. Some of our 5th grade buddies sat with us to help model the way to sit in church. I loved that after church, many of the girls were singing 'Glory to God" and told me what a pretty song it is. I have to say that this is my 3 rd year in preschool and this is the first class that I have taken to Mass on a regular basis because I know they enjoy it - and can handle it! We like going to Mass because it brings us closer to Jesus and lets that light shine a little brighter in our hearts.

We read a story called "Snowman Soup" and painted snowmen today. Hopefully soon, we will get to build a real snowman!

~ There is a note in your child's folder with information about Mom's Morning. Please mark your calendar and make arrangements now so that you can be here.

~ There is a permission slip for an IN HOUSE field trip from Delaware Museum of Natural History. The directions for payment on Smart Tuition are on this sheet. Please follow the directions to make your payment and then return the permissions slip to school so we know that payment was made.

~ Next Wednesday will be WACKY WEDNESDAY for W week. Please allow your child to be as wacky as they are comfortable with - inside out clothes, pjs to school, mismatched clothes, messy hair, etc.

~ Scholastic Book Orders are due online by Thursday, January 10. OUr class code is QFX2R. Thanks for instilling a love of reading in your child!


Have a wonderful first weekend of the new year - make it a good one!

January 3, 2019
I was happy to be back for a full day with my friends today! Thanks to all who reached out to check on Gianna. She checked out as all clear at the doctor. I was told that whatever she is fighting is "viral" - which as parents, we all know how annoying this diagnosis is! Here's hoping to goo health for all in 2019!

This morning we visited church with Mrs. Ballintyn to see the s for stable where the three kings will find Baby Jesus on Sunday, the feast of the Epiphany. I was so proud of my friends because they knew so many of the answers to the questions she asked about the Christmas story.


I read a book to the children about the three kings. The children then created a picture of the three kings - thse turned out so cute and in their folders. Remind your child to always follow that star and to let that light shine by doing kind things for others. My friends also made an a for snowman by gluing the letters of their name in the correct sequential order.

Today we did a Science experiment - S for sink or float. The children each took turns adding items to sailboats . We predicted how many of each item it would take to sink the objects. Love watching the children get involved in these hands on learning activities!



~ Remember sunglasses for S week tomorrow!

~ We will attend Mass with the school tomorrow at 9:30 for the feast of the Epiphany. Please remind your child of the importance of being reverent and quiet while in God's house.

~ Scholastic Book Orders are due online by Thursday, January 10. OUr class code is QFX2R. Thanks for instilling a love of reading in your child!

~ Please check the dates above to be aware of all of the fun we have going on!

~ There is NO SCHOOL for the preschool on Friday, January 18. This will be our conference day. Eagle's Club IS NOT available for preschool children that day.

Have a wonderful night - tomorrow we do our first Friday dance of the new year!



January 2, 2019
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year! I am wishing for that, too, as my daughter is home sick again. I am leaving early today to get her to a doctor's appointment to check her ears and throat. Always something! Mrs. K (former pre K para) will be here with Mrs. Monarski. I am sorry to leave early on our first day back, but motherhood comes first. I am sure you all understand and can appreciate that feeling.

I was so happy to see my friends this morning and SO PROUD of them - we did not have one single tear shed this morning! They all came right in and jumped right back into our routine. Good job, friends! This second half of the year always flies by!

We will continue with letter S this week. My friends made a snowflake out of handprints today for our Religion bulletin board and alaso made an S for snake for their end of the year ABC book.

Please remember something soft tomorrow for Show and Share.

I loved their silly socks today!

We will visit the s for stable in the church tomorrow to see baby Jesus. Please remind your child of the importance of being reverent in church.

Happy, healthy 2019! Looking forward to watching your child grow and learn this year!  It will be a great year!


December 21, 2018
We made it! Christmas break is here. My friends were so excited that they forgot to get dressed and came to school in their pajamas!

Today was a day filled with excitement. We enjoyed special muffins and gogurts for our morning snack. We did our Scholastic News about gingerbread men and then we created our own gingerbread men.

It had stopped raining after lunch, so we took a long walk outside to enjoy the 60 degree December day. We took one last walk over to visit Baby Jesus in the stable. After our walk, we came in and snuggled up with our stuffed animals for a movie and popcorn before rest. It was a perfect dreary day to be cozy!

I hope that you enjoy looking through the bag of goodies that the children have made for you. You have several new ornaments to add to your tree now. They are so proud and they worked so hard this month....And I apologize for the glitter that is no doubt all over your house at this point!

Thank you all for the very thoughtful and generous gifts. I am truly grateful. Quite honestly, the best gift is spending time with your child and I hope that they enjoy our time together as much as I do.

We will continue with letter S when we return from the break. We will talk about snow and snowmen and the seasons. Remember silly socks on that first day back - even mismtached socks are silly!!

I wish you all the Merriest Christmas and good health and happiness in 2019. Enjoy this very magical time. I know it is easy to lose some of that joy as we stress and lose sleep over all that still needs to be done, but truly the time together is what your children will remember, so take a moment for yourself and just soak it all in. They are at a truly magical age ( and not to sound cliche, but it really does all go by so quickly) so enjoy it! I know I am excited for the time spent with my family and while I have 22 people coming for Christmas Eve and no menu planned or groceries bought, I will be enjoying Longwood Gardens tonight with my crew because everything else can wait and will somehow get done.

I look forward to the excitement that 2019 will bring in our classroom! 

December 20, 2018
What a busy day we had today. My friends made S for s'mores with Golden Grahams, marshmallows and M and Ms. They had fun following the directions and mixing the ingredients together. 

We also did a fun Science experiment with S for skittles. The children worked in partners to create a color pattern of red and green skittles. I was so impressed with how well they did this! They then poured water in the center of the plate and watched as the sugar dissolved and the colors swirled together! What a fun, simple and festive experiment!


My friends made reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve. They also created S for Santa's Sleigh with the letters of their name.

~ If you are sending in items for our morning treat on Friday, please remember to do so. We will have muffins tomorrow morning so no need to send in a morning snack.

~ There is NO HOT LUNCH tomorrow. Please remember to pack a lunch for your child. 

~ I will be sending home a bag filled with all of your child's Christmas crafts, their gifts from Mrs. Monarski and me, and their wrapped gifts to you on Friday. Each child MUST BE WALKED IN on Friday so that a parent can take the bag of goodies with them. Thank you for your help in this!

~ Friday is Christmas pajama day - or any pajamas if you do not have Christmas pajamas. Remember a special stuffed animal also!

Have a wonderful night. Deep breaths, it will all get done. It somehow always does - at least I keep telling myself that!


December 19, 2018
Thank you to all who joined us for our Christmas songs this morning. Please know that the children worked really hard to create their "props" and learn their songs. It is not easy to get up in front of all of those adults and sing. I am proud of them and there really is nothing sweeter than the singing voices of little angels!

We had a very busy day with Gym and Spanish! We managed to sneak a few other "work related" items in!

Thanks to all who contributed to our special pizza lunch!

~ If you are sending in items for our morning treat on Friday, please remember to do so.

~ I will be sending home a bag filled with all of your child's Christmas carfts, their gifts from Mrs. Monarski and me, and their wrapped gifts to you on Friday. Each child MUST BE WALKED IN on Friday so that a parent can take the bag of goodies with them. Thank you for your help in this!

~ Friday is Christmas pajama day - or any pajamas if you do not have Christmas pajamas. Remember a special stuffed animal also!

December 18, 2018
Unfortunately, we did not go to church today because the manger scene was not ready for us. We will go in the New year to celebrate the Epiphany.

We read a story about the Stable today and created an S for stable out of S for stickers. The chidlren did a great job with this and it will come home in their bag of Christmas crafts on Friday. We also worked on a special Christmas gift to you! Such a fun and exciting time of year!

~ Tomorrow is pizza for lunch. Hooray no need to pack a lunch!

~ We have Gym tomorrow. Please remember to have your hair pulled back for girls and a name on your shirt.

~ Wear Christmas shirts or colors tomorrow - nothing fancy as we do have gym. All friends should be in sneakers.

~ Remember something that makes a sound for S show and share.

~ On Wednesday, you must sign in and out of the Main Office for our Christmas songs. Please drop your child off, as you normally do (you may want to come a few minutes later), walk over to the Main Office to get your visitors sticker and be back to our classroom around 7:45/7:50. Please know that we have about 9 songs we have been working on and that it will take only between 5-10 minutes for us to sing them for you. You will then say your goodbyes and go back to the Main Office to sign out.

~ Please bring 2 canned goods with you on Wednesday morning, if you can. These are our "gifts for Baby Jesus". We will donate them to the Parish Food Closet.

~ I will be sending home a bag filled with all of your child's Christmas carfts, their gifts from Mrs. Monarski and me, and their wrapped gifts to you on Friday. Each child MUST BE WALKED IN on Friday so that a parent can take the bag of goodies with them. Thank you for your help in this!


December 17, 2018
I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend and did something fun and festive to enjoy this magical time of year! I pray everyone stays healthy over the next few weeks !

Today we met our new letter Ss. We said Scarlett and Sammie both start with S. We looked at pictures of the sun, socks, the number 6, soup and a saw. I told the children that stable, star, Savior (Jesus) and of course, Santa, all start with the letter S. We will continue with letter S upon our return from the break and will talk about seasons and snow and snowmen.

My friends all looked so cute and ready for the holidays in the Santa hats!


I read a story about how Santa got his job today. The children really enjoyed this cute book. They then made an S for Star Santa craft. We also read a book about an angel who wanted to find a special gift for Baby Jesus and finally decided to bring light to the stable - she became that S for star that was shining brightly on that first Christmas to let everyone know where to find Baby Jesus. The children then created a star ornament with tissue paper and glitter - we might be covered in glitter from now until Friday with all of the festive activities in here! They also made a beautiful ornament of a stable silouette with tissue paper. 

After lunch and recess, we took a walk to visit the S for stable that is outside of Mr. Hart's office. We talked about each of the important people who were there in that stable warm and dry with Jesus. The children loved seeing this large lit up stable!


Tomorrow we will visit the church with our DRE, Mrs. Ballintyn, and she will share a story about the stable with us and fingers crossed, the beautiful Church manger will be there for us to admire.

~ On Wednesday, you must sign in and out of the Main Office for our Christmas songs. Please drop your child off, as you normally do (you may want to come a few minutes later), walk over to the Main Office to get your visitors sticker and be back to our classroom around 7:45/7:50. Please know that we have about 9 songs we have been working on and that it will take only between 5-10 minutes for us to sing them for you. You will then say your goodbyes and go back to the Main Office to sign out.

~ Please bring 2 canned goods with you on Wednesday morning, if you can. These are our "gifts for Baby Jesus". We will donate them to the Parish Food Closet.

~ I will be sending home a bag filled with all of your child's Christmas carfts, their gifts from Mrs. Monarski and me, and their warpped gifts to you on Friday. Each child MUST BE WALKED IN on Friday so that a parent can take the bag of goodies with them. Thank you for your help in this!

~ Please remember to send in pizza money tomorrow if you have not yet done so.

Have a SENSATIONAL night!



December 14, 2018
What a fun, festive day we had! We started our day with a Christmas concert from the band and ended with our Science project with 5th grade - building a Christmas tree as high as we can with gumdrops and toothpicks. The 5th graders also read us our Christmas stories and made jingle bell necklaces with us!
 

Here are some pictures from our fun morning:




 Wishing everyone a HEALTHY wekend filled with holiday fun!

Remember S for Santa hats on Monday!

December 13, 2018
What a busy and productive day we had! I love the excitement of this time of year, but also love that the kids don't really have a concept of time to know just how close the big day is! 

Today we did table work and I was so proud of my friends for following my directions. We counted items and practiced one to one correspondence. We listened to a story called " A night of great Joy" and talked about how joyful and happy everyone was to learn of the news of the birth of Jesus. My friends then shared their items that bring them joy and told us why - they did a great job sharing. They then cut out a heart and filled it with pictures of that first Christmas night and we labeled it "Joy to the World". My friends also made a "J is for Jesus" and worked on forming a letter J on the whiteboard. In Science, we made it rain in a J for jar with hot water and ice cubes. We observed the "rain" throughout the morning.

We had 3 friends home sick today and sent another one home with a persistent cough. I feel so badly that we just can't shake this cough in here. As much as I miss my friends and as much work/fun things we have planned right now, my advice is to keep them home as long as you can when they are sick. If they return to school and are not 100%, they may pick up something else. I hope to see some more of our friends tomorrow.

~ Please remember to send $2 in an envelope marked with your child's name and pizza money by tomorrow. If I do not receive this, I will assume your child is not having pizza and will not include them in the count.

~ Just a reminder that there is NO EAGLE'S CLUB tomorrow! All friends must be picked up at 11:35 in the back parking lot. We will send home all sheets and blankets today.

~ We will join with our 5th grade buddies tmoorrow for a Christmas science project. My friends should each bring a Christmas book - or two - for their buddies to read to them. These should take about 10-15 minutes to read. 

Have a joy filled night and stay healthy!


December 12, 2018
Hooray for a sunny Wednesday! The little elves came in ready to work today. 

We still have 4 friends who are home fighting colds/coughs/fevers and we sent another one home today with a fever. I am so sorry that so many of my friends are not feeling well. We sang our song "We wish you well" in an extra loud voice today in hopes that it brings healing thoughts to all of our friends. Please remember that your child must be symptom free and FEVER FREE FOR 24 HOURS WITHOUT MEDICATION before they can return to school. Thank you for giving their little bodies the time they need to rest and feel better, and for keeping those germs at home. We clearly like to share our germs in here!

My friends enjoyed Gym and Spanish today so we did not have much classroom time but we worked hard in the time that we did. We listened to a story about the Shepherds guarding their flocks at night on the night that Jesus was born. I told the children that we are the sheep and Jesus is our shepherd. He watches over all of us and keeps us all safe, just as the shepherds kept their sheep safe. The children then glued cotton balls to a sheep and included the words "Jesus is my Shepherd". My friends also used J for jars to paint circles and created candles for our morning of songs next Wednesday.

~ My friends should all bring in something that brings them JOY (happiness) tomorrow. It can be a picture or a toy or a stuffed animal. 

~ Please remember to send $2 in an envelope marked with your child's name and pizza money by Friday. If I do not receive this, I will assume your child is not having pizza and will not include them in the count.

~ Just a reminder that there is NO EAGLE'S CLUB on Friday! All friends must be picked up at 11:35 in the back parking lot. We will send home all sheets and blankets tomorrow (or today if your child does not go to school on Thursdays). 

~ We will join with our 5th grade buddies on Friday for a Christmas science project. My friends should each bring a Christmas book - or two - for their buddies to read to them. These should take about 10-15 minutes to read. 

Have a wonderful night and stay healthy!



December 11, 2018
Can you believe we have just two weeks until the big day? We are busy little elves in here as we excitedly prepare for the birthday of Baby Jesus and the arrival of Santa!

This morning we worked hard to prepare a few Christmas surprises. My friends also made a J is for jellyfish page for their end of the year ABC book. They also worked on a fine motor skill of gluing jewels on a letter J. Please continue to reinforce and expose them to our letters of the week at home. This will help with letter recognition and identification.

My friends were so well behaved this morning in church. We attended the Rosary in Spanish to honor the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalope. We were sitting in church for over an hour and most of what was said was in Spanish, but they did such a  great job. I had two pass out cold on my lap and two others who were almost asleep!

We still have 3 friends home with colds/coughs. So many of my friends are coughing. Please remind them to cover their coughs with their elbows. I know coughing can last for weeks and you cannot keep them home for coughs, but if it is impacting their sleep and behavior, please give them a day or two at home to rest. We want everyone to be healthy and ready for December 25!

Thank you to everyone for your generosity in our Adopt A Family program. I was so overwhelmed and humbled by the generosity shown. It is wonderful to know that we are paying our many blessings forward and making Christmas happen for a family for whom it otherwise might not. The children helped me to wrap the presents yesterday so they could be a part of this experience. Thank you for all that you contributed!

~ Please remember to sign the prgress report envelope and return just the envelope. You may keep the report for your records. I have a copy here at school.

~ Tomorrow is Gym day. Please remember to make sure that your child's first name is on their shirt or sweatshirt. Girls should have their hair pulled back.

~ Please remember to send $2 in an envelope marked with your child's name and pizza money by Friday. If I do not receive this, I will assume your child is not having pizza and will not include them in the count.

~ Just a reminder that there is NO EAGLE'S CLUB on Friday! All friends must be picked up at 11:35 in the back parking lot.

Have a wonderful night and stay healthy!



December 10, 2018
I hope that you all enjoyed the weekend and some magical Christmas wonder! I apologize for the lack of an update on Friday. My daughter took a nosedive on Thursday night so I stayed home Friday to take her to the daughter. Bronchitis it is! So Day 4 of the Zpack and a weekend of rest (can canceled fun Christmas plans with friends) has her, and me, back to school today! We have a few friends who are also home and not feeling well, so I pray that everyone is feeling better soon and returns to school. Way too early in the season for all of this - and way too busy of a time for this nonsense and canceled fun!

Today my friends each went down to the Art Room to do some shopping for their loved ones! They went down a few at a time with 7th grade helpers. They were so excited to make their purchases...now how many will be able to keep them until Christmas? i bet many of you will be opening presents tonight! Enjoy - this really is a special time for them and it really does go by in the blinnk of an eye! Bottle it all up and soak it all in! Thank yuo to all who helped make this morning a fun and special one for SJB!

We met our new letter of the week today - letter Jj. I told the children that Jesus, the greatest Christmas gift we will ever receive, starts with J. We looked at pictures of a jar, a jacket, juice, a jeep, a jet and jelly. Jacob's name also starts with letter J.

I read a story called 'The Legend of the Candy Cane" today and showed my friends a candy cane. We realized it can look like a J for Jesus and when turned the other way can be a shephard's staff - the shepherd's were the first to learn of the birth of Jesus. The red reminds us of Jesus' love for us.
The children then made a candy cane ornament to remind them of the greatest gift of Jesus! These will come home next week in their big bag of Chrismas crafts.

My friends also did their J crayon rubbing to find a jacket and a jar. They also worked to cut a heart and share with me their greates gifts from Jesus to pplace on their hearts.

~ Tomorrow we will attend the Rosary with the whole school. Please remind your child the importance of being still and quiet while we are guests in God's house.

~ Your child's "progress report" is in their folder. Please look it over and keep it for your records. Please sign the envelope on the indicated line and return to school. If you have any questions, please email and let me know. Thank you!

~ Pizza money is due by Friday. 

~ My friends all need a clean, empty toilet paper roll with their name on the inside bottom. If you have not already sent one in, please do so by tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

Have a wonderful evening!
 



December 6, 2018
We had a special guest visit today. Lilly's grandmother from Holland came in to tell us about the celebration of the feast of St. Nicholas. We heard about the special traditions and customs of Holland to remember the spirit of giving that St. Nicholas inspires. We each enjoyed a chocolate shoe while we listened and there is one in your child's lunchbox to enjoy later. We enjoyed hearing about how another country celebrates an important holiday to them! She reminded us of the magic of St. Nicholas on this his feast day! We put our slippers in the hallway this morning in hopes that St. Nicholas would make a visit to us.

Today in Science we made N for noodles dance. We each had the chance to touch cooked noodles to feel how soft they were. We placed the noodles in the smelly liquid of vinegar and noticed that they sunk right to the bottom. We added food coloring to make our water look fun and festive. Each child then added baking soda after we used our sense of smell, sight and touch to observe and describe the baking soda. As we added the baking soda, we noticed our noodles "dancing" their way to the top of our liquid. When we added more baking soda, they danced even more. The noodles were then floating at the top. We love the power of science!




My friends worked at tables to sort big N and little n and did a great job with this activity! They are getting ready for the 4 year old room every day! We listened to a story about St Nicholas and watched the song "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" on the Smartboard. The children then made adorable St. Nicholas crafts that are hanging in the hall. I also assessed them on counting and N for number recognition.

While we were at recess, we had a visit from St. Nicholas! He left us each an orange, candy cane and piece of chocolate along with a candy cane blessing. I read the blessing to the children and we talked about the magic and generous spirit of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas also left two new presents for the class - a fun building set and a color matching game that I will play with the children. What a fun surprise. Thank you, St. Nicholas, for the visit and the treats!


~ My friends all need a picture of their favorite gift from Jesus ( sibling, family, pet, cousin, etc) on Monday. 

~ We will visit Santa's Secret Shop on Monday. Please remember to send in the envelope with your child on Monday. This is a fun morning for my friends!

~ Please return all Adopt a Family items by Monday. I will be wrapping the presents with the children to allow them to be a part of this experience.

~ There is NO HOT LUNCH on Monday or Tuesday of next week as the cafeteria is being used for other activities.

~ Please remember mittens and hats as we do go out to recess each day!


December 5, 2018
Happy Wednesday! I was so happy to be back with my friends today. Please know, that I do not like to miss school days. I realize the importance of routine for the little ones and I do not like to disrupt that. I spend my days at home worrying about my friends at school and hoping that everything is going well. That being said, I have to sometimes be "mom" first and know that when I am not here the children are in very capable hands with Mrs. Monarski and the sub. Thank you for your understanding.

Today was a whirlwind of a day between Gym and Spanish but we managed to get a lot done! My friends made nine noodle necklaces for letter N, we painted a necktie, painted a yellow night star that led everyone to Baby Jesus in the manger, filled letter N with Newspaper and created a God Made Night picture using the moon, stars and clouds. I can't believe we got it all done but my friends love to be busy! 

We listened to a story called "God Made You just right" and talked about all of the ways that God made us special - and that no one else is just like us. My friends then shared their N is for newborn pictures and we talked about things we can do now that we are "big kids" that we could not do when we were little. We made a collage of our newborn pictures and labeled them with our N for names since we decided we look so different now. 

We have two friends home sick and one friend who went home with a fever. I hope all of our friends are feeling better soon. Thank you for keeping them home when they are not 100%. I know it is not easy - we juggled the last two days to keep Gianna home - but it really is important that they get the rest their little bodies need to fight whatever it is that they have. It is also important to not bring germs to school to share, especially at this time of year. PLease know we are doing all we can to keep the classroom safe and healthy - lots of Lysol, spraying toys and a lot of "magic soap" and hand washing. Thank you for doing your part at home, no matter how hard it is to do.

~ If you have not sent a slipper or extra show in for St. Nicholas Day tomorrow, please remember to do so.

~ I will place the Scholastic Book Order tomorrow.Our class code is QFX2R. I will bag the books so friends cannot see them if they are presents.

~ We are out of baby wipes in the classroom if you have any to spare at home, we would appreciate it.

~ Adopt a Family items are due tomorrow, but can be sent on Friday if you need to. They are techinically not due until next Wednesday but I need the weekend to wrap and make sure we have all that we are supposed to for the family in need. Thank you again for your generosity!

~ My friends all need a picture of their favorite gift from Jesus ( sibling, family, pet, cousin, etc) on Monday. 

~ We will visit Santa's Secret Shop on Monday. Please remember to send in the envelope with your child on Monday. This is a fun morning for my friends!

Have a nice night and stay healthy!




December 3, 2018
I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend and did something festive and fun and made a holiday memory to treasure!

We will continue to talk about letter N this week. Today we listened to a story about Noah's Arc. We talked about what an arc was and we listed animals that we saw that Noah took wih him. I told the children that Noah trusted God so much and listened to what he told him to do and that after the storm, God sent a rainbow to let him know that everything was okay. The children then created a Noah's arc with animals. These turned out so cute! 

I worked on an N for number assessment today - asking the children to count as high as they can and to identify numbers one through 10 in random order. Please continue to practice counting - this is a good car skill to practice. My friends also worked on cutting today as we are really looking to strengthen those skills!

I will not be in school tomorrow. My daughter is home sick with the croup. My husband stayed with her today but is running an important meeting tomorrow, so I will be home with Gianna. Miss Marilyn from Eagle's Club will be here to help Mrs. Monarski. 

~ My friends need a newborn picture of themselves for Wednesday.

~ Remember Wednesday is gym day so please make sure that their first name is visible on their shirts and that the girls have their hair pulled back.

~ Please send one slipper (or an extra shoe if you do not have slippers) to schol by Wednesday for St. Nicholas to visit us on Thursday. My friends who are not here Thursday will get their treats on Friday. Please make sure that your child's name is on the slipper.

~ Adopt a family items are due by Thursday. Please make sure items are UNWRAPPED and that you mark who it is for - Girl Age 2, etc.
 
~ Envelopes for Santa's Secret Shop are being sent home today. Please do not send them in UNTIL MONDAY. Please follow the firections on the grene paper attached and let me know if you have any questions. All of the items that we will be shopping for are $2. This is a fun way for the children to make a surprise purchase for a loved one so I do hope that all of my friends participate!

~ A sign up genius was sent for conferences on Thusday, January 17 and Friday, January 18.

From Mrs. Schock
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0445A5AC22A5F58-physical2

Have a great night and I will see my friends on Wednesday!



November 30, 2018
What a week it has been! Today we did the Friday dance after just 2 days of school together. I hope that next week is a calm and "normal" week for SJB! Again, thank you for your understanding and flexibility with the schedule this week.

The Library is obviously not available as it continues to dry out, so we took the time this morning to play a whole class memory game with big picture cards. We gathered together on the rug to do this and the children had a great time. I loved seeing them excited for a friend when he or she made a match - if only we could all do this for each other!

We read a story today called "A Not So Silent Night" and talked about the many noises that were heard on the night Jesus was born - animal sounds, the innkeper saying no room, the angels appearing, the newborn Jesus crying. We then made a nativity for Jesus using popsicle sticks. The childrne also made a night scene of the Nativty using water colors - these came out so pretty! My friends also did their letter Nn pushpin paper. We also tasted our Nilla Wafers and Nestle Strawberry Milk. Thanks to all who contributed.

I will not be sending home towels and sheets today. They will come home next Friday.

A sign up genius will be sent home next week for conferences on Friday, January 18. STUDENTS DO NOT HAVE SCHOOL ON THIS DAY AND EAGLE'S CLUB IS NOT AVAILABLE, so please make arrangements now. It is not necessary that we meet for a conference but it is nice to meet face to face to discuss your child's progress thus far and to answer any questions that you may have.

A first trimester progress report will be sent home on Monday, December 10.

Please pratice cutting and putting coats on independently this weekend!

My friends all need a picture of them as a newborn on Wednesday so look for one this weekend.

All friends need one slipper by Wednesday, December 5. This is for the visit of St. Nicholas on Thursdsay. Please make sure that your child's name is on the slipper - on a piece of tape or a sticker. If you do not have a slipper, please do not buy one. Send an extra shoe!

~ My friends all need a clean, empty toilet paper roll by next Friday, December 7. PLease write your child's name on th bottom inside of the roll. Thank you!

~ Please be sure to look at ALL of the important dates above to make sure you are aware of all of the exciting things happening in December.

Advent starts on Sunday. Your child has an Advent wreath that they made in their bookbag and 4 "flames". Please light a candle at the start of each week and talk about ways they are letting their light shine to let others know that Jesus is in them!

~ My friends should all wear a shirt with a number on it on Monday - or something that starts with an N.

~ Hot lunch is available again starting Monday!

Have a wonderful weekend - take time to breath it all in during this exciting and magical time of year! This magic does not last long so really savor it - I now have one "non believer" in my house!


November 29, 2018
Welcome back! I hope that everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday and the extended break that it brought with it! I know I was happy to get back in to the routine today (as much as we can have a routine during these next few exciting weeks). My own two kids were not happy about the early wake up but they were ready to get back to school to see their friends - and I was, too!

I was so proud of and impressed by the children for coming in with bright smiles ready to start the day together - and no tears even after that long break! They walked in and were ready to go - I let them have extended morning play since they were happy to see their friends after a week apart!

Today I introduced the new letter N. We will talk about letter N until next Wednesday and then we will move on to letter J. We said that Norah's name starts with an N and so does November. We looked at pictures of a nose (talked about things our noses can smell), a nest, a nail, a needle, a net and a necklace. 

During the last two days, I was working to transform our classroom from Fall to prepare for the season of Advent. Today we talked about the season of Advent as I reminded the children that the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birthday of baby Jesus. We looked at the Advent Wreath in our room and I told the children it is made of evergreens because God's love for us will never fade or die and that it is a circle because God's love for us knows no beginning or end. We counted the four candles and noted that there are 3 purple ( a time to prepare our hearts for the birth of Baby Jesus - we should do things to let that light inside of us shine) and 1 pink candle ( a time to rejoice that Jesus is soon coming!). The children then each made an Advent candle to bring home tomorrow. I will also send 4 "flames" so that each Sunday, they can "light" the candle for the week. With your child, you can talk about ways to prepare their hearts for the birth of Baby Jesus on Christmas. I know this is an exciting season but let's try to focus on the real meaning of this season as much as we can so that the chidlren learn the true meaning.

We listened to a story called "O Holy Night" today - this was an age appropriate book telling us about the birth of Jesus - how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and there was no room at the inn for them so the innkeeper let them have room in the stable for the N for newborn Jesus to be born. The children then created a manger with their handprints on a heart to let everyone know that they are preparing their hearts for the birthday of Jesus. These are hanging on our classroom Religious Bulletin Board. Review with your child the name of Jesus' mother and father.

My friends also practiced cutting today and it looks like many of them were practicing over the break! Thank you! Keep it up as it is paying off!

We took a brief morning recess and afternoon recess today. Please make sure that your child has a hat and mittens as we do plan on going out every day as long as the weather allows. Continue to practice putting on coats independently!

We started learning our Christmas songs today so you may hear a preview at home during the next few weeks!

** Please read the daily update below for November 28 if you have not already done so.

~ We will do our letter N tasting - Nilla wafers and Nestle Strawberry Milk on Friday so please send in the items then if you volunteered to send anything in for this. Thank you!

~ My friends all need a clean, empty toilet paper roll by next Friday, December 7. PLease write your child's name on th bottom inside of the roll. Thank you!

~ We will not be sending sheets and blankets home to be washed tomorrow. We will send them home next Fri 12/7.

~ Please be sure to look at ALL of the important dates above to make sure you are aware of all of the exciting things happening in December.

Tomorrow we will do the Friday dance already!

November 28, 2018
I hope that everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday with their families. I apologize - I wrote an update on Tuesday, Novmber 20 but for some reason, it did not publish. I wanted to let everyone know just how thankful I am for the opportunity to be your child's teacher. I know for my own children, their preschool teachers were some of the most influential people in their lives and I do not take this role lighlty. Thank you for trusting me with the job of laying the foundation for your child's education and for instilling a lifelong love of learning in them. Thank you also for trusting me with their safety and care throughout the day - I know as a parent, this is not easy. I am thankful for each of you and your children who make it fun for me to come to work everyday. Thank you for all that you do to make my job here easier! SJB is an amazing community and I am thankful to be a part of it as a teacher and a parent.

I know these last few days have been an inconvenience for many, myself included as the teachers have been in school on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I too had to arrange for childcare. But thank you for understanding that the safety of the children and faculty had to be put first. I hope that despite the inconvenience, you were able to enjoy the extra few days of time with your children - and not packing lunches and rushing out of the door in the morning. We have to find the little hidden blessings in these curveballs that life throws at us! 

And now we will come back and be ready for the excitement that these next few weeks will bring with them. This is my most favorite time of the year and being in here with the children really helps me to slow down and enjoy the magic that this season brings with it. 

We will cover letter N for the remainder of this week and next Mon and Tues. We will start letter J next Wednesday and will start letter S the following Wednesday. 

~ We will do our letter N tasting - Nilla wafers and Nestle Strawberry Milk on Friday so please send in the items then if you volunteered to send anything in for this. Thank you!

I look forward to seeing all of my friends on Thursday!



November 19, 2018


Thank you to all who contributed to our Thanksgiving feast. We had a delicous morning snack and enjoyed the time we spent together. I am thankful for the opportunity to be your child's teacher. This is a wonderful class of students and parents!

We gathered with our 5th grade buddies for a STEAM activity today. My friends had to make a turkey using materials provided and then use classroom objects to "hide" the turkeys so that they don't end up on a Thanksgiving table. The children did a great job and enjoyed the time with their buddies. It is so cute to watch the "big" kids work so gently with the little ones!



Tomorrow we will attend Thanksgiving Mass with the school. Please remind your child of the importance of being reverent in "God's House".

November 16, 2018
Happy Friday! Yesterday should have been Friday with the craziness and traffice headaches that the snow brought with it. I hope you all had safe, uneventful travels home. 

Today we worked on patterning and another Thanksgiving turkey craft. We did our Scholastic News on turkeys - we watched a video and played a feather pattern game on the Smartboard. We listened to a story called " Give Thanks to the Lord" and we each named something we are thankful for and we thanked God for all of the gifts He has given to us. We are blessed. 

My friends enjoyed the day with their teddy bears - they even joined us in Library! We were able to get outside after lunch to run around on the blacktop and enjoy the sunshine after yesterday's cold, snowy day.

~My friends all need a picture of something they are thankful for on Monday. This can be a real picture or from a magazine or the computer. We will not be making a collage. We will just be sharing in a circle what we are thankful for and why.

~ Monday is an 11:35 dismissal. There is Eagle's Club. Only my friends staying for Eagle's Club need a lunch. We will have a special morning snack for Thanksgiving so need to pack a lunchbox with a snack. 

~ My parent volunteers for Monday's snack should report to the Main Office around 9:10 to sign in. They will send you back to our building where you can come to our room to help set up. Thank you!

~ Remember to practice cutting and putting coats and mittens on independently this weekend. Ask your child to show you the magic trick!

~ If your child does not go to Eagle's Club next week, you do not need to send the towels and sheets in on Monday. We do not have rest on half days. 

~ A sign up genius was sent for our Christmas Adopt a Family program. Please be as generous as your budget allows during this season of giving. If you have any questions, please let me know. Donations are due by Thursday 12/6 - please do not send in until the week of 12/3 as storage is an issue in our classroom. Gifts should be sent in UNWRAPPED and labeled with the age of the child for whom it is for. Thank you so much for your generosity. I am always overwhelmed by the generous and giving spirit of the SJB community!

On Wednesday, December 19, parents are invited to stay after morning drop off for a brief (about 10 minutes) "show". We will sing Christmas songs that we have been working on. Please make arrangements at work now so that you can join us on this day. We will start at 7:45 and be done by 8:00. 

Have a wonderful weekend with your family! We will be celebrating my baby's 8th birthday tomorrow - it is truly amazing how fast time flies!


November 15, 2018


Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! We bundled up and snuck outside at the first sign of the snowflakes to enjoy the first snow of the season. The children had fun running around and trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. The joy of being 3 and 4!

We had a busy day despite the excitement of the first snowfall of the season. I kept the blinds open today so we could see when the first snowflakes started to fall. We have a beautiful view from our window. We bundled up and headed out to run in the snow for 5 minutes! The children loved this and it is so fun to watch their excitement over these joys in life!

Today we worked at tables on forming letters Tt. We also worked on finding what was different from a group of pictures. The children did a great job with this task.

For our T science experiment, we talked about thermometers and each child looked at a thermometer. We talked about temperatures. I then had them feel a glass of water that was room temperture  and one that was ice water to talk about the difference they felt. I also had them observe that a plastic cup melted from the super hot water that I put in it ( i did not let them touch the hot water). We made our predictions about what would happen when we put the thermometers in each cup. We then observed that the temperature went high in the hot glass and dropped low in the ice cold glass. We will observe at the end of the day and all temperatures should be at room temperature by then.

We read a story about a turkey today and made a T for tissue paper turkey. The children also created a turkey using the letters of their name to form the feathers. We also used our water bottles to make "drums" for our feast and we made necklaces using beads and straws to wear for our feasts. We shared our T for towels after recess.  It was a busy day!

~Tomorrow we do the Friday dance

~ Tomorrow is Chic Fil A for those who ordered. Please send ketchup if yuor child would like it.

~ My friends all need a T for teddy bear tomorrow.

~ My friends should wear T cloths tomorrow - teal, turquoise, trucks, etc.

On Wednesday, December 19, parents are invited to stay after morning drop off for a brief (about 10 minutes) "show". We will sing Christmas songs that we have been working on. Please make arrangements at work now so that you can join us on this day. We will start at 7:45 and be done by 8:00. 

Drive safely!



November 14, 2018

What a whirlwind of a Wednesday! Despite vision screenings (all children received a sticker, even if you opted not to have their vision tested), Gym in the classroom and Spanish, we did manage to get quite a lot done today.

We created a T collage with pictures of turtles, trucks, tigers, trees and many other T words. We tasted Cinnamon Teddy grahams and Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams. After a class vote, chocolate chip was our favorite with 10 votes. We decided that 10 is a bigger number than 4 so more friends like the chocolate chip bears.

We listened to a story called "Thanks for Thanksgiving" and created thankful heartsshare what we are thankful for. My friends also painted an acorn using an acorn topper to paint with. My friends also worked on fraying feathers to create a headress for Thanksgiving My friends also worked ona prewriting sheet to learn about moving from left to right.

I hope to see some of you at Barnes and Noble tonight! It is a fun night!

My friends all need a favorite towel for show and share tomorrow.

On Wednesday, December 19, parents are invited to stay after morning drop off for a brief (about 10 minutes) "show". We will sing Christmas songs that we have been working on. Please make arrangements at work now so that you can join us on this day. We will start at 7:45 and be done by 8:00. 


November 13, 2018
*** My friends all need a clean, empty toilet paper roll for Friday. We will use for a craft/science experiment next Monday. It would be great if the roll was brown, not white, as we are using it for w turkey craft. A paper towel roll would also work. We will be cutting our rolls in half. 

My friends all came in ready to go on this rainy, dreary Tuesday. They really are such bright spots on the dark days!

Today we enjoyed Technology on Tuesday for T week with Miss Luce. Some of my friends wanted to try to use the mouse today so she set them up with a game to play to work on this skill. We were unable to take a morning recess so we did the Turkey Trot and Turkey Hokey Pokey following along with the Smart board. Thanksfully the rain stopped and we were able to get outside to run around after lunch. I will always do my best to get them outside for even 5-10 minutes as they need that time to stretch and get fresh air. As the weather gets colder, please be sure that your child has appropriate outer wear to allow us to do our daily outings. Thanks to all who have mittens (not gloves). This makes a huge difference.

We listened to a story about Thanksgiving today and talked again about the reason that we celebrate. My friends then created a T for turkey for their end of the year ABC book. My friends also made Indian corn by crumpling tissue paper.

I worked on letter recognition with the children going over the letters that we have done thus far. We have done A, H, F, P, C, L, and T. Please review these letters with your child. Continue to expose them to our letters of the week. The children are not expected to master the letters this year - please do not panic if they cannot name them. They will learn their letters next year but we continue to expose them this year to help with recognition. The goal is that they know the letters in their first name by the end of the year.

We played a game today where the chidlren had to name a picture that they had and decide if it starts with T or not. They enjoyed this game and did a great job with this skill.

After recess, we did Religion. We talked about all of the gifts that we have and that God blessed us with our gifts and that we should be thankful for all that we have. We colored a prayer that they can share on Thanksgiving and we listened to a few Relgious songs about being thankful. Talk with yuor child about all that we have to be thankful for during this holiday season and always!

~Tomorrow we will have gym in the classroom. Please remember to pull your daughter's hair back and to make sure that your child's name is on their shirt/sweatshirt.

~ My friends all need a T picture for our T collage tomorrow.

~ We have the vision screening tomorrow morning. Just to add to the craziness of a Gym/Spanish day. We will be lucky if we get anything done tomorrow!!

~ Remember to head out to Barnes and Noble at Christiana Mall tomorrow to support the school Book Fair. This is a fun night for your family and the SJB family and a great way to support our school library. Mr. hart will bedoing story time at 6pm.

~ Have a great evening. Stay warm!

November 12, 2018
*** My friends all need a clean, empty toilet paper roll for Friday. We will use for a craft/science experiment next Monday. It would be great if the roll was brown, not white, as we are using it for w turkey craft. A paper towel roll would also work. We will be cutting our rolls in half. 

Welcome to the start of a new week together. I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend, despite the cold windy conditions on Saturday! 

Today we introduced our new letter Tt. We looked at pictures of a table, tooth, television, tiger and turtle. My friends each did their crayon rubbings to find letters Tt, a turtle and a tire. They also each cut  ateal triangle and I have to say I was very impressed. It looked like many of my friends were practicing over the weekend. Keep up the good work!

We listened to a story called "Let it Fall" and talked more about the changes that happen in the fall. The children then painted a fall scene with fall colors and falling leaves and the words "Leaves fall down." My friends also worked on a special Thanksgiving gift today! The children also created a tree from the letter T. They did a great job cutting and gluing pieces of paper independently.

We enjoyed Music with Mrs. Wagner and a morning recess this morning.

Please see the above note about the Book Fair. This is a fun night for SJB and a great way to support the school library! 





November 9, 2018
Hooray for Friday! My friends were all so cute in their team shirts. We enjoyed sharing our animals that we love during circle time. 


Today we enjoyed story time in the Library. Our animals were able to join us!

I read the story "Leaf Man" today and my friends shared their leaves from home. We then sorted our leaves based on color, shape, and size. The children then used their leaves to create their own leaf men. Love to see their creativity shine through! My friends also worked on doing their L pushpins and used dot dot markers to color a leaf. My friends also created an L for lollipop with the letters in their name. 

Today we tried a science experiment that did not work. I explained to my friends that this happens sometimes and that a real scientist would try the experiment again and would maybe change a few things to see why it didn't work. I explained that things don't always go as planned but we don't get upset. We just keep going - kind of like Pete the Cat says to do! A good life lesson!

We were able to get outside for an afternoon recess after enjoying chic fil a (and pretzels this morning - these kids might not need to eat for days!). We played on the playground and took a nature walk to look for signs of fall. We walked through leaves to hear the crackling, crunchy sound they make then they are dried up.

After recess, we did Religion. We talked about ways to let others know that Jesus is in our hearts - by sharing, helping and using kind words. We looked at our Religion sheet and spun the wheel to share how each of the people pictured were showing God's love. We listened to and watched the video for "This Little Light of Mine". I reminded them to let that light shine this weekend. Feel free to use those words this weekend - ask them if their light is shining?!?

Next week we will talk about the letter T and Thanksgiving and turkeys.

~ My friends all need an empty and dry 8 oz water bottle for Monday. PLease pel the label off and write your child's initials on the cap.

~ Practice cutting skills this weekend. Children need to practice this skill at home so they are comfortable holding scissors and can improve upon their cutting skills.

~ Practice identifying your child's name with them. Go over the letters in their name with them. I am doing this one on one each morning. They should all be able to find their name in a group and tell you at least the beginning letter in their name.

~ Please practice the magic trick in putting their coats on! Some of my friends can do it and are so proud.

Have a great weekend together as a family. Take time to breath and enjoy the calm before the fun but craziness of the holiday season sets in! I will be freezing at a baseball tournament in Maryland!! 


November 8, 2018
Today was another fun and productive day in our classroom. We started our day with whole group table work - listening to and following directions with colors and finding numbers. My friends all did an amazing job with this activity - I was so proud of them! Each friend then had the chance to form a letter L on s dry erase board. We will not do much in terms of letter formation in here as they are not developmentally ready for this, but we will do some basic writing skills. 

My friends then became scientists. We did a super fun and cool activity called "colors in sunlight" - l for light. The children each had a cup with milk - we talked about the l for liquid that this was and reviewed what a liquid is. They poured their liquid in to a bowl. We then added three drops of three different food colors to the bowl - making sure not to mix the colors. We observed that the colors did not move, they stayed in "their spot". We then had a thick, orange liquid that we used our sense of smell to think about. I explained this was dish soap. The children then slowly poured this liquid into their bowls and were amazed by what happened. The colors all moixed together and we now had pinks, purples, yellows, and teal. The dish soap broke up the surface tension of the milk causing all of the colors to mix (way beyond their heads but I do explain the science behind it when I can). Thhis is one of my favorite experiments of the year - I think it was theirs too!



Today in Religion we talked about being a light in the world. We said the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and we show others this when we are kind, loving and when we share. This makes our light shine brightly for others to see. I said that sometimes that light has a hard time showing because we all have bad days but we need to work hard every day to let our little lights shine to show everyone that Jesus is always in our hearts. We listened to the song "This Little Light of Mine". The children then made candle holders with tissue paper and cups and the words "This Little Light of Mine, I'm Gonna Let it Shine". Feel free to put a battery operated candle in there to remind them to always be the light and to let that light shine for othrs to see! The children also created hearts with the words 'I Love my Family" and included their family photos.

We enjoyed morning recess on the big playground and we had Art after lunch! The WHOLE CLASS SLEPT at rest time. This was a first for the year! Way to go, friends!

~ Tomorrow is pretzels for morning snack for those who ordered. If you did not order, please send in a snack.

~ Tomorrow is Chic Fil A for those who ordered. Ketchup is not always available to please send some in a container if your child prefers to eat with ketchup.

~ Tomorrow is a School TAG day. Wear your favorite team shirt!

~ Everyone needs a leaf tomorrow for our collage.

~ Bring in an animal that you LOVE for l week show and share.

~ Please support our school's biggest fundraiser by donating to Bid A Mania fund for our classroom. Thank you!

Tomorrow we do the Friday dance!


November 7, 2018
What a whirlwind our Wednesdays are! We were so happy to see the sun today!

We shared our large and little pictures today and brainstormed other items that are large and small. We also enjoyed lemonade as our drink for morning snack and we tasted Lucky charms for L week. Gym was in the classroom today and my friends danced with Mrs. Schock. They did a great job following her directions.

Today we listened to a story called "Autumn's First Leaf" and talked about the changes that happen between summer and fall. The children then created fall wreaths with leaves of various fall colors. My friends also used their toilet paper rolls we collected to paint brown for a tree trunk and filled the branches with leaves of various colors (Fruit Loops). My friends also painted with a pinecone and filled in letters Ll with leaf stickers and stamps. We practiced cutting pictures of leaves, too. Please remember the importance of practicing scissor skills at home. Some of my friends still need a lot of help in this area.

I worked on a shape game and assessment with the children also.

We took a morning recess on the big playground to enjoy the sun and then we took a leaf walk to collect leaves for a craft tomorrow. We noticed that some of the trees were already bare and that some still had leaves but that the leaves were all different colors.

~ My friends all need a family picture for tomorrow or Friday. It can be the same picture that just came home from a Religion craft.

~ My friends should all bring a leaf on Friday for a leaf collage.

~ My friends all need one small (8oz) water bottle by next Monday. The water bottle should be empty and dry and the label should be removed. Please write your child's initials on the lid. We will use this for Thanksgiving. Thank you!


November 6, 2018
Today was another rainy, dreary day but these little ones are a bright spot on days like this - they come in all smiles and ready to go! 

Today we listened to the story 'The Grouchy Ladybug" and we then created an L for ladybug for their end of the year ABC book. We also read a book called "I like Me" and talked about all of the many things that make us special. The children each then shared with me something that makes them special and why they like themselves and they created a person to look like them. It is so important to remind the children just how special they are and that while we are all different and have different talents and gifts and apperances, we are all special. The children also painted a Ll with a lemon which was funny and did dot dots on leaves. They also created leaves out of colorful tissue paper. We had a fun and busy day!

~ My friends all need one small (8oz) water bottle by next Monday. The water bottle should be empty and dry and the label should be removed. Please write your child's initials on the lid. We will use this for Thanksgiving. Thank you!

~ Please see the note above about Bid A Mania and the Book Fair.

~ Remember to practice cutting, putting coats on and finding names with your child!

~ Wear an L shirt tomorrow. We do have Gym in the classroom so be sure that your child's name is on their shirt please.

~ Remember a picture of something large and something little for our collage.

Stay dry and safe out there!


November 5, 2018
It is a rainy Monday and we were in our classroom all day because we have Music in here and we cannot go to the cafeteria and we certainly could not go outside but my friends made the best of this rainy Monday and kept working right along. I hope that you all took advantage of the beautiful, sunny, wind free day yesterday. It was a perfect fall Sunday.

Today we met our new letter of the week - letter Ll. We said that Lilly's name begins with L and we looked at pictures of a lemon, a lion, a leaf, a letter, a log and a lamp. We practiced making the letter L on our imaginary papers.

I read a story about a scarecrow today. Each friend had the chance to hold a stufed scarecrow and then as a class we created a scarecrow on our flannel board. The children then created a scarecrow craft that will be put in our hallway to scare the crows away. My friends also worked on their L crayon rubbing and played a game with me to work on naming shapes. We also worked on following directions in a prewriting activity.

After recess, we listened to a story called "Fall, leaves, fall" and we talked about all of the colors that we see on the trees and other signs of fall. The children then painted a leaf either red, green, yellow or orange. They will hang from our ceilings for the month of November.

We had a dance party at recess to get some of our energy out since we can't go outside. This class likes to dance and they have the moves!

~ My friends all need one small (8oz) water bottle by next Monday. The water bottle should be empty and dry and the label should be removed. Please write your child's initials on the lid. We will use this for Thanksgiving. Thank you!

~ Please see the note above about Bid A Mania.

~ Remember to practice cutting, putting coats on and finding names with your child!

Stay dry and safe out there!

November 2, 2018
Happy Friday! We survived Halloween week! 

My friends enjoyed a fun Library class this morning - they got to jump into leave piles with characters from a Clifford story! We love our Friday story time at the Library!

Today I read the story "if you Give a Cat a Cupcake." The children held their stuffed animals during the story and were then each invited to introduce us to their pets. After the story was over, the children retold it to me by sequencing the events. The children each then had 2 mini cupcakes to decorate with icing and sprinkles and then to enjoy as a treat. This was so much fun and another tasty way to bring a story to life!



The children each then created a cat out of a paper plate and black tissue paper. They then each had to complete the sentence 'if you give a cat a cupcake, she will ____________" by telling me something from the story to rewrite. They then painted cupcakes using "puffy paint" and "sprinkles" - they loved doing this and they turned out so cute!

We took a morning recess to enjoy this warm November day and the fact that it is not raining as they said it would do all day!

Today we listened to a story about colors and talked about all of the beautiful colors that we saw on the pages of this story. The children each then had to come find their name on a circle and color it their favorite color. I also did a color assessment with each of my friends.

~ Monday starts winter uniform. Shorts may no longer be worn to school. Children must be in plain black sweat pants or SJB sweat pants - NO LEGGINGS for the girls.

~ Monday is the last day to place the order for Chic Fil A day on Friday, November 16. The payment should be made VIA Smart Tuition.

~ Remember to turn your clocks back on Saturday night.

~ We will focus on letter L and leaves next week.

~ Practice cutting skills this weekend. Children need to practice this skill at home so they are comfortable holding scissors and can improve upon their cutting skills.

~ Practice identifying your child's name with them. Go over the letters in their name with them. I am doing this one on one each morning. They should all be able to find their name in a group and tell you at least the beginning letter in their name.

~ Please practice the magic trick in putting their coats on! Some of my friends can do it and are so proud.

Have a great weekend together as a family. Take time to breath and enjoy the calm before the fun but craziness of the holiday season sets in!


November 1, 2018
Welcome to November! What a great month this will be as we celebrate all that we are blessed with and the many reasons we have to be thankful.

I hope that you all had a fun evening with your little trick or treaters. My friends came in with way more energy than I expected - they had a great day despite the excitement, lack of sleep and sugar high that last night brough wiith it.

We do have 3 friends out with coughs and colds so we wish them well. Thank you for keeping your children home and allowing them time to rest when they are not feeling well. Their little bodies need that time to recover and fight whatever illness it is that they are fighting. I realize it is not always easy to keep children home (my own daughter was home sick 3 days this week so we had to do some juggling) but ask that you please do your best to not send them to school when they are not feeling 100%. I hope that all of us wil be back together again soon!

Today we attended Mass with the whole school for All Saint's Day....I did not realize we were doing this yesterday so I did not prep the children or you. My friends did an amazing job and I was so proud of them. It is not easy to sit so still and quietly - especially after the excitement of yesterday - but they were so good and I was so impressed. We talked about what an honor it is to go to God's house, especially with the big kids. talk to them tonight about church. We took a 15 minute morning recess on the big playground afterwards as a treat and to enjoy this BEAUTIFUL fall day!

We shared and graphed our favorite colors today. Pink was the class favorite with 4 votes. The children do a very nice job of identifying the bigger numbers and smaller numbers when we do our graphs.

Today we read a story called "Little Cloud" and it was about a cloud that took on various shapes trying to be other things but then ealized its job is to be a cloud and to make the rain. The children then used c for cotton balls to paint clouds.

Today we celebrated Kennedy's 4th birthday with cupcakes at lunch. Happy 4th birthday, Kennedy and thanks for the treat! If your child had a sweet treat in their lunchbox, they may not have had it because they had to pick between the cupcake or treat. Please feel free to send in one small piece of candy from Halloween for them as a special treat AFTER they eat their lunch - remind them of that at home also, please.

~ My friends should all bring a stuffed cat or lion (or dog if you do not have a cat - do not go crazy looking for a stuffed cat) for a story tomorrow!

~ Enjoy this gorgeous weather  get outside and play before the rain rolls in tomorrow.

Tomorrow we do the Friday dance!


October 31, 2018

Happy Halloween from all of us in EC-3B!

We had a great time at our parade and party. Thank you to all who sent in treats and to all who volunteered and to all who took time out of your busy day to come see our parade. It was a fun morning!

We did not do much "work" today as we were so excited for this fun day but we did do our Scholastic News. The children enjoyed coming to the SmartBoard to create jack o lanterns. They also did a great job counting seeds and deciding which number is a bigger number. 

We took a long morning recess on the big playground to soak up this beautiful fall day. Watching the workers work on the roof is an added bonus!

Tomorrow my friends should wear their favorite colors for C week.

Scholastic book orders are due online tomorrow - our class code is QFX2R.

Please make sure that water bottles are filled for snack and lunch. We do not have a sink in our room ro fill them. 

Enjoy the eveing. I reminded my friends that manners work magic and to say Trick or Treat, Please, and Thank you! Have a fun night with your little pumpkins....tomorrow should be a day of being tired for my friends! We will do our best.  

October 30, 2018
It was like superhero, royalty day in here with everyone in their capes and crowns! This was good prep for tomorrow!

Today we listened to the story "Chicka, Chicka, 1,2,3". We looked for each number in the tree as we read about it. The children then each cut a circle and glued a tree trunk and branches to create their own coconut tree with a few numbers falling from them just like in the story. These turned out really cute! My friends also painted a day sky and night sky to thank God for creating the sun, moon and stars. My friends also used dot dots to fill in a pumpkin.

This morning, we did a fun, hands on pumpkin volcanoe. The children really enjoyed watching the reaction occur.




~ Please remember to practice putting coats on indenpendently at home and to practice zipping. We have one friend who can do this already! Also, as cold weather approached, I ask that children wear mittens not gloves as they are too hard to put on 30 hands every time we bundle up. Please make sure that you have mittens for the winter months!

~ Please make sure that your child's name is on all coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts. Thank you!

~ Halloween Parade -  All parents and grandparents are invited to join us as we parade on Wednesday at 8:30. Please park in the front of the school if you do attend. We will parade in the area between the Geres building and the playground. After the parade, we will come in for our class party. Only the 3 volunteers will be allowed in to attend the party. Thank you for understanding. My friends should wear their uniforms under their costumes as we will change after we parade through the school. Please send a bag in for us to place costumes in after they are removed. Thank you!

~ If you would like to take your child with you after the parade or after the party, please let me know. I know this is an exciting day and some parents have asked about this. Please do what works best for your schedule!

~ Each child needs a clean, empty toilet paper roll for Friday. Their name should be in the bottom inside of the roll.


October 29, 2018
I hope that you all enjoyed the weekend and made fun, Halloween memories!

This week, we will continue to talk about the letter C. Today, we carved a pumpkin while wearing our Halloween shirts. First,we listened to a story about Joey the Jack O Lantern. Each child then had the chance to scoop out the insides and carve (with my assistance) the pumpkin. This was a fun way to celebrate C week and Halloween!


We worked on a Halloween pattern today and my friends did a great job as a whole group activity of listening and following directions to complete the patterm. You can practice patterning with candy after Halloween.

Today we talked about Halloween in Religion and we listened to two songs about pumpkins. The children each had the chance to raw a face on a pumpkin - I was impressed with their eyes and facial features that they included.

~ All friends need a clean, empty toilet paper roll by Friday. Please make sure that your child's name is on the bottom inside of the roll.

~ My friends all need to wear a cape or crown for C week tomorrow.

~ Please remember to practice putting coats on indenpendently at home and to practice zipping. We have one friend who can do this already! Also, as cold weather approached, I ask that children wear mittens not gloves as they are too hard to put on 30 hands every time we bundle up. Please make sure that you have mittens for the winter months!

~ Please make sure that your child's name is on all coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts. Thank you!

~ Halloween Parade -  All parents and grandparents are invited to join us as we parade on Wednesda at 8:30. Please park in the front of the school if you do attend. We will parade in the area between the Geres building and the playground. After the parade, we will come in for our class party. Only the 3 volunteers will be allowed in to attend the party. Thank you for understanding. My friends should wear their uniforms under their costumes as we will change after we parade through the school. Please send a bag in for us to place costumes in after they are removed. Thank you!

October 26, 2018
What a busy and crazy day this was - thank goodness we got to do the Friday dance today! This morning during circle time, there was a knock on our door and we heard a lot of loud yelling "boo!". I ran to the door and the hallway was empty but there was a bag of treats left as a Halloween surprise. Each child has a cup filled with goodies and a bag of pretzels. That was a fun start to our Friday!

We shared our pictures of God's creations and talked about many things in nature that God has created and how beautiful these creations are. My friends each made a blue circle for the water and cut out green pieces for the land and filled our world with animal stickers to thank God for His many gifts. These are hanging on our classroom Religion bulletin board.

Today I read a story about a scarecrow. I told the children that a scarecrow's job is to scare the c for crows away from the C for corn. In our story, the scarecrow was shy but had to learn how to be brave to keep the crows away. The children then worked to create scarecrows. My friends also used orange markers to form letters Cc and used a candy corn stamp to fill in letters Cc. They each also cut a pink circle - keep practicing those cutting skills at home!

After recess, we enjoyed our C veggies - carrots, cucumbers and celery. I encouraged all of my friends to please try but was met with some resistance. Thank you to all who sent in our healthy treats. We voted and our class favorite was carrots with 5 votes. 

After recess, we were left with just the girls in our room, so we enjoyed a few minutes of a my little pony show as a treat.

We will continue with letter c next week.

Please sign and return one copy of the October checklist in your child's folder. Keep one copy for your own records.

~ We will carve a pumpkin on Monday. My friends may wear a Halloween shirt or an orange shirt.

~ Remember that HOT LUNCH WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE for the next month. Every child must have a packed lunch starting on Monday.

~ My friends all need a picture of something that is their favorite color for a C collage on Monday.

~ Please remember to practice putting coats on indenpendently at home and to practice zipping. We have one friend who can do this already! Also, as cold weather approached, I ask that children wear mittens not gloves as they are too hard to put on 30 hands every time we bundle up. Please make sure that you have mittens for the winter months!

~ Please make sure that your child's name is on all coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts. Thank you!

~ Halloween Parade -  All parents and grandparents are invited to join us as we parade on Wednesda at 8:30. Please park in the front of the school if you do attend. We will parade in the area between the Geres building and the playground. After the parade, we will come in for our class party. Only the 3 volunteers will be allowed in to attend the party. Thank you for understanding. My friends should wear their uniforms under their costumes as we will change after we parade through the school. Please send a bag in for us to place costumes in after they are removed. Thank you!

have a wonderful wekeend. Stay dry and make happy fall memories!


October 25, 2018
Today was another day of learning, fun and sunshine! My friends came in and created a heart on which they glued the words "I am a Child Of God" and they placed their pictures of themselves on the heart. Each child then made a crown to wear with the same words on it. We talked about what it means to be a child of God and how we can show others that Jesus is in our hearts. Remind them at home that they are children of God and to show others this by their loving actions.

We did a Science experiment with C for celery today. The children worked with partners to pour the liquid water into a cup. We observed the water and noted that it does not have a smell or a color. Each child then added 3 drops of food coloring in to their cup. We then talked about our celery and the children were told to us eone word to describe it. They all chose green. We talked about the leaves on the ends of the celery. They then carefully placed their stalk of celery in to the colored water and I placed them on the Science table where they will sit for a few days for us to observe what happens to the leaves. Again, another simple, easy, inexpensive hands on learning experience that you can do at home.

On our visit to God's house, my friends were so well behaved. Mrs. Ballintyn gave a brief tour of some special items in the church - the crucifix, the statue of the Holy Family, the pews and the altar. She then read a great book to use about what it means to be a chil of God. We talked about showing love, kindness and forgiveness to everyone and that God loves us all - those with brown eyes, blue eyes and green eyes.As we were leaving, my friends were each allowed to bless themselves with Holy Water.  I was so proud fo my friends for how quietly they sat in Church. We will make many more trips to God'se House this year. 


After our visit, we took a 10 minute morning recess on the big playground to enjoy another sunny fally day. We counted 8 sunny school days in a row on our weather graph! Hopefully we get another one tomorrow to end the week.

I read a story called "What it Means to be Catholic" - this is a very simple, age appropriate book that explains what is so special about our faith. The children then cut and glued together pieces to make a 'c is for Church' craft and used water colors to make a 'C is for Cross" craft.

~ My friends all need a picture of something God created for our collage tomorrow - this can be a real picture, from a magazine or the computer.

~ If you volunteered to send in vegetables for our tasting tomorrow, please remember to do so.

~ If your child is having picture retakes done or school pictures done tomorrow, please remember to send your order form or to return the original package for retakes. They do not need to wear their uniform if they are having pictures taken.

~ If you did not send a picture of your child today for Religion, please do that tomorrow.

~ I will send home two copies of the October transition checklist tomorrow. Please sign and return one copy and keep one copy for your records.

~ Please remember to practice putting coats on indenpendently at home and to practice zipping. We have one friend who can do this already! Also, as cold weather approached, I ask that children wear mittens not gloves as they are too hard to put on 30 hands every time we bundle up. Please make sure that you have mittens for the winter months!

~ Please make sure that your child's name is on all coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts. Thank you!

Have a wonderful evening - tomorrow we do the Friday dance!



October 24, 2018
It was another busy and fun day here in our room! Thank you for reading my page and making sure that all of my friends had their hair pulled back and their names on their shirts!

We went on a top secret fun mission in between Gym and Spanish - ask my friends to tell you about it!

Today we listened to the story 'If you give a mouse a cookie" for C week. When the story was over, we retold the story by putting the events in the correct sequential order. My friends each then made a mouse and told me in their own words what would happen if we gave the mouse a cookie. Each friend then had 2 mini cookies to enjoy! My friends also worked on cutting a c for circle - keep practicing at home! We also played a cookie counting game to practice matching numbers and objects and one to one correspondence.

We enjoyed sharing our favorite colors in Show and Share today!

~ We will visit the Church tomorrow with Mrs. Ballintyn for a tour of the C for church. Please remind your child of the importance of being quiet and reverent while in God's house.

~ Every friend needs a picture of themselves for Relgion on Thursday or Friday.

~ If you volunteered to send in vegetables for our C tasting on Friday, please remember to send them in on Friday morning!

~ Please remember to practice putting coats on indenpendently at home and to practice zipping. We have one friend who can do this already! Also, as cold weather approached, I ask that children wear mittens not gloves as they are too hard to put on 30 hands every time we bundle up. Please make sure that you have mittens for the winter months!

~ Please make sure that your child's name is on all coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts. Thank you!

I am leaving early today for a meeting with other preschool teachers from the Diocese. Miss Marilyn from Eagle's Club will be with Mrs. Monarski for the remainder of the day.

Have a great day -stay warm out there on this blustery fall day!


October 23, 2018
What a picture perfect fall day! We loved the bright, warm sunshine and enjoyed a morning recess on the big playground to make the most of this fall weather!

Before Technology this morning, we worked to make our Harvest Chex Mix. Each child had 5 cups with the ingredients in them - Chex cereal, mini pretzels, candy corn, candy pumpkins and Reeses Pieces. We identified our ingredients and talked about how important it is to follow a recipe correctly or it could ruin the taste of the food (not in this case). I then walked them through step by step the order in which to put the ingredients in - it is always interesting to see who can follow along. After all of our ingredients were in the bag, we zipped them and the children had to shake the bag to "mix" the ingredients. They were then able to taste test their treats - and the rest is in their lunchbox to share with you tonight. Thank you to all who contributed to this C snack.

I read the story "The Mixed Up Chameleon" today. First we talked about what we know about chameleons - they have long, sticky tongues, they can jump and they can change colors. The chamaleon in this story discovered animals in a zoo and wanted to be like each of these animals and changed to be like each of them until he was really hungry and did not have his chameleon tongue to catch a fly and he realized that what he really wanted was to be himself. I told the children that we all have special gifts and talents and that we should be happy to be who we are because God made us exactly as we are supposed to be. The children then worked to use saran wrap to "paint" a mixed up chameleon - they loved this activity! My friends also worked on a C for Cat for their end of the year ABC book. 

After lunch and recess, the children worked with partners to create a gate for their "5 little pumpkins". It was interesting to see them work together with the blocks that they were given to create a flat surface on which the pumpkins could sit. We will do more activities like this throughout the year where the chidlren are presented with a goal and given materials and they work together to make it work.




~ Tomorrow is Gym Day - please make sure that your child's name is on their shirt or sweatshirt and that girls have their hair pulled back.

~ Tomorrow is Show and Share - something that is your favorite color.

~ Every friend needs a picture of themselves for Relgion on Thursday or Friday.

~ Please remember to practice putting coats on indenpendently at home and to practice zipping. We have one friend who can do this already! Also, as cold weather approached, I ask that children wear mittens not gloves as they are too hard to put on 30 hands every time we bundle up. Please make sure that you have mittens for the winter months!

~ Please make sure that your child's name is on all coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts. Thank you!


October 22, 2018
I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend. We need to take advantage of the sunny days and get outside and enjoy that crisp, fall air! We took a morning recess to get some time in the sun to start our week!

Today we met our new letter of the week - letter Cc. We looked at pictures of cat, cow, cake, cup, camel and cookie. We will spend the next two weeks talking about the letter C.

I read a story called "10 orange pumpkins" today. This was a subtraction story - at the turn of each page, a pumpkin disappeared. I had 10 small plastic pumpkins that we used to count as we turned each page. The chidlrne loved this story and activity. The children then worked to create C for candy corn and we made pumpkins by painting their hands. The children also did their C crayon rubbing and discovered a cat and a cactus.

After lunch, we talked about ghords. I then explained that ghords are bumpy and all different colors. I passed around 3 ghords and a small pumpkin for the children to hold and feel and describe. They will be on our Science table for the week for the children to explore.

~ if you volunteered to send in items for our Harvest Chex Mix tomorrow, please remember to do so.

~ Everyone will need one clean, empty toilet paper roll by Friday 11/2. Please make sure that your child's name is inside on the bottom of the roll. Thank you!

Have a great start to the week!


October 19, 2018
Thank you for a fun morning at the Pumpkin Patch! We were blessed with a beautiful day to end our letter P theme! 

Have a great weekend.

October 18, 2018

Today was a fun and busy day to end our two weeks of the letter P.

This morning, we worked at tables on finding the letter P in a pumpkin patch. The children each then had a turn to form a letter P on a dry erase board - they did a great job. We then gathered at our tables with our pumpkins. We talked about the size of our pumpkins and made predictions of which pumpkins were the heaviest. We used a balance scale to test our predictions. The children were suprised that just beause a pumpkin was bigger did not mean it would be heavier. We had deorative pumpkins that were bigger than small real pumpkins but the real pumpkins weighed more. 


We took a bief morning recess on the big plaground to enjoy the bright fall sunshine. After recess, we did a P for popcorn science experiment. The children worked with partners to create a reaction to make popcorn kernels dance. As one of the young scientists exclaimed "This is so cool!". I love watching their excitement as they make these observations and test the world around them. We watched what happened as we added more baking soda and vinegar. After our experiment, we enjoyed some popped popcorn as a treat!


We then read a story called "A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch" and it was all about a class taking a field trip to the pumpkin patch. I told my friends that there were many of the same things that we will see tomorrow on our trip. The children then worked to make a pumpkin puzzle to put the letters of their name in the correct sequential order. They also worked on a pumpkin dot dot, stamping a P with pumpkins, and counting pumpkins and stamping for one to one correspondence. My friends also made P for pasta necklaces to work on fine motor skills. It was a busy morning but it flew by!

You can feel the excitement in the air - it is like Christmas Eve around here! The chidlren are so excited for tomorrow and to ride a school bus. Make sure everyone gets to bed early tonight so they are ready for our day! I hope that you all read over the letter that was sent home yesterday.

~ Please remember to sign in at the Main Office and to be OUTSIDE of our building by 8:20. We will come to you by 8:25 - please do not ring the doorbell to come in to the building.

~ You may want to pack a change of clothes for your child just in case.

~ Remember that children should not bring anything in to school with them.

~ I did not hear from anyon so I assume that all of my friends will be leaving after the trip. I will send all blankets home today.

~ Children should wear their school uniforms. make sure they have appropriate outer wear to be outside for 2 plus hours.

~ There are 8 chaperones who have not paid yet. If you did not pay, please go on to Smart Tuition and do so.

~ I sent home clothes today to be switched out for warmer weather clothes. Please be sure to send back a shirt, a pair of pantsm one extra pair of underwear, an extra pair of socks and shoes in the Ziploc bag on Monday. Thank you!

Next week we will start the letter C and talk about candy, costumes, colors and the Catholic Church.


October 17, 2018
What a beautiful Wednesday it was today. We took advantage of the bright sun and had a productive day -with some time on the big playground - even with 2 specials today!

We talked about items that are pink and purple - my friends looked great in their P clothes - and listened to a story called 'Pink as a Piglet" and 'Purple as a Plum". My friends then worked to create a P for pattern with pieces of paper. They were able to choose the two colors that they wanted and then they had to work to create the color pattern. They did a great job with this activity! My friends also used water colors to paint a P for popsicle. They also had to cut a purple square - remember to practice those cutting skills at home. They used pink and purple paint to form letter Ps.

Today we tasted vanilla and chocolate pudding and then grpahed our favorite. Vanilla received 5 votes with chocolate getting 9 votes. My friends decided that 9 is more than 5 so chocolate was the favorite in our class. I explained again that this does not mean that chocolate is better than vanilla. This is an opinion and in the opinion of our class, chocolate is the better flavor. Now if we did it again tomorrow, vanilla could be the favorite because we all know how 3 year olds change their minds!

~ My friends all need to bring a pumpkin tomorrow - it can be a fake pumpkin that is used as a deocration or a real (small) pumpkin.

~ I sent home a paper with information regarding our field trip on Friday. Please read this paper carefully. I plan on sending all blankets home tomorrow but if you plan on leaving your child here after the trip, PLEASE EMAIL ME TO LET ME KNOW. Please let me know if you have any questions about our trip.

~ Friday is a Tag day, but my friends SHOULD WEAR GYM UNIFORMS for our field trip. Today was considered our pink tag day.

~ We will send home clothes from cubbies tomorrow to be switched out with warmer weather clothes. Please return on Monday. Please send one pair of pants, one shirt, one pair of underwear, an extra pair of socks and shoes in a bag marked with your child's name. Thank you!

October 16, 2018
Today was a fun and busy day in our room but we managed to sneak outside for a few minutes of morning recess to enjoy the sunshine!

This morning we played more "Pop the Pig" with partners. The children are having so much fun with this game. The children also worked to use a hole puncher to punch holes in a paper pumpkin - not as easy as it sounds. This is a good fine motor skill.

Today we talked a lot about pumpkins and read a story about pumpkins turning into jack o lanterns. The children then worked at their tables to create their own jack o lanterns - they had to be sure they each had a stem, mouth, nose and eyes. They did a great job with this activity. 

For letter P, we talked about penguins and l read a story about penguins. The children shared with me what they know about penguins - they like cold and they walk funny. We also learned that penguins are birds but do not fly. The children then created a penguin from the letter P for their end of the year ABC book.

We also made P for prayer pockets today. The children each told me special people in thier lives who they would like to pray for. They can pull a name from the pocket each night and say why this person is special and keep them in their special bedtime prayers.

The children enjoyed doing our 5 little pumpkins poem today. This is such a fun time of year.

~ My friends can wear pink, purple or polka dots tomorrow. My boys can wear something with a police officer on it or any other P shirt like a Phillies shirt.

~ We will taste pudding tomorrow and vote for our favorite flavor.

Have a great night! 



October 15, 2018
I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend and is ready for another week of learning and fun! This week. we will continue to talk about the letter P and will end with our trip tpo the Pumpkin Patch on Friday.

We started our morning by playing "Pop the Pig" for the letter P. This is a fun game that involves knowing your colors and number identification. The children are playing with partners. We will continue to play throughout the week.

I loved seeing all of the princesses and pirates coming down the hall this morning! 

We went on a princess/pirate parade to the other building. We visited with Sister Joann!

This morning I read a book called "The Pirate who Said Please". While they listened to the story, they enjoyed a bag of Pirate's Booty popcorn. We talked about the fact that the pirate was P for polite and he learned that if he was kind to others, they would be kind to him. The children then created a pirate out of a paper plate. They also worked on doing their pushpin for Pp and they used marbles to paint a pumpkin. 

We were able to get outside and run around a bit after lunch. There were lots of P for puddles but it was not raining so we took advantage of that and burned off some energy.

After recess, we acted out "Five Little Pumpkins" with little pumpkin puppets. Each child will have a turn to do this during the week.

It is supposed to be much cooler this week so please make sure that your child has a coat as we will be going outside. Please practice putting coats on independently at home to help with this process.

~If you would like to send in signs of fall for our sensory/science table, we would appreciate it. We would love acorns, pinecones, leaves, ghourds, mini pumpkins. Thank you!

~ If you did not send in your child's blanket and sheet today, please remember to do so tomorrow or Wednesday.

~ I will send home information about our field trip later this week. If your schedule allows, please plan on taking your child with you when we return to school. Our afternoon will consist of rest time and it is very hard for my friends to say goodbye to mom or dad and to return to school. 

October 12, 2018
My silly friends forgot to get dressed this morning and came to school in their pajamas! What a perfect way to spend this Friday , fall morning. I personally think that every day should be pajama day!

This morning, we enjoyed the story "If you Give a Pig a pancake". We talked about whether we thought this was a real or pretend story based on the pictures. At the end, the children worked to help me sequence the events of the story. We then made our pancakes! My mom came in to help - the children thought this was funny that I have a mom, too!. We talked about the ingredients we needed and how it is important to follow the steps of a recipe in order for it to turn out the right way. Each child helped to mix the batter. They then watched as we poured the batter on to the griddles (after we talked about how hot they are) and loved when we flipped the pancakes. The children each then enjoyed two pancakes! They then created pig puppets and had to tell me one fact from the story. They did a great job and these turned out so cute! This was a delicious way to end our week!.




~ We will continue with letter P next week and will end our letter P with our trip to the pumpkin patch.

~ My friends can dress like a princess or pirate on Monday. Again, please be sure they are comfortable for school.

Have a wonderful fall weekend. Enjoy this time together!
October 11, 2018
Today was another busy day filled with learning and fun! We started our day with table work in an activity where the children had to listen to and follow directions. They then worked on "partner patterning" - two "p"words. The chilren had bears of different colors and had to work with their partners to create a pattern. It took a few turns but then they really got the hang of it! 

We read a story about pumpkins today and learned the process of growing a pumpkin - from digging the dirt, to planting seeds, to watering the soil, to seeing yellow buds as the beggings of the pumping to vines growing tiny, green pumpkins that turn yellow and grow bigger and eventually turn orange and are ready to be picked. We acted out each part of the process as we read about it. We then completed a pumpkin Science experiment. The children again worked in partners for p week. Each pair had a plate with an outline of a pumpkin drawn on. They used Reese's pieces to make the pumpkins on the plates. We then talked about sugar and I explained that the candies are coated in sugar. Some of my friends raised their hands when I asked who has had a lollipop and then had their tongue turn the color of the lollipop. I explained that the warmth of our tongues dissolves the sugar of the lollipop. Each set of partners then poured warm water on the pumpkin made of Reese's pieces. They were amazed as they watched the water turn orange, brown and yellow from the sugar dissolving from the candy. As a treat at the end, they were able to enjoy a few pieces of candy. We love being Scientists!



After snack, we shared our pets and told why we like these pets. We were then lucky enough to be able to go outside and take our pets on parade. It was good to get out and stretch our legs and get some fresh air.


I read the story "What Pet Should I Get?" and we talked about how hard it is to make a decision sometimes! The children in the story had to decide on a dog, cat, fish or tutrle. The story ends with them making a decision but we are left to decide what they choose. We then graphed what decision we would make and a dog won with 4 votes. The children then each created a dog, cat, fish or turtle  - they had to pick - and they had to tell me why they picked that pet. These will be hanging on our hall bulletin board - they turned out so cute!

In the morming, we have been working with the kids on playing games with friends. They are learning how to play matching and memory games and learning the skills of taking turns. There is not much sweeter than watching them get excited for a friend when they make a match! 

We enjoyed art class today and we were able to get out on the blacktop for recess after lunch. We needed that time to run around!

~ Several of my friends are needing reminders to not hit their friends. Please review this rule at home. OUr hands are to be gentle at all times and if someone hits you, it does not make it okay to hit them back. Remind them to always use their words. Thank you!

~ Tomorrow is PAJAMA DAY!!! for p week. What a great way to celebrate Friday. My friends need to be able to use the bathroom independently in their pajamas. All friends need to wear sneakers.

~ We will make pancakes tomorrow for P week. Yummy!
 ~If you would like to send in signs of fall for our sensory/science table, we would appreciate it. We would love acorns, pinecones, leaves, ghourds, mini pumpkins. Thank you!

~ We are all set with coloring books for a while. Thank you to Evelyn and her sister for sending so many books in for us!

~ We love seasonal stickers - Halloween, leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving - if you would like to send any in that you may see upon your travels. Thank you!

~ Please pratice putting coats on independently with your child! This will make our times of transition much faster. THANK YOU!

Have a great evening - tomorrow we do the Friday dance - in our pjs!



October 10, 2018
Our Wednesdays are so busy with Gym and Spanish - sometimes it is hard to find time to do our work, but my friends worked hard today and we got it all done and even had 10 minutes for some time on the big playground this morning! I am so impressed with how well the children transition from activity to activity and just keep going! This is a long and busy day but the children just come in ready to go. Thank you for your part in that!

Today we talked about our new letter Pp. We looked at pictures of pizza, pencils, pigs, a pear, a pan and a pumpkin. We will talk alot about pumpkins this week and next!We practiced making letters Pp with our pretend pink and purple pencils. 

After Gym and Spanish, we shared our pet pictures and talked about P for pet. My friends told me why they like their pets. I then read the story "Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons". This is always a favorite. The children enjoy making the Pop sound when Pete loses a button and love to sing the song. This story is also a Math lesson as we count Pete's buttons each time he loses one. I then played the CD for my friends and they sang along. Each child then made a "Pete the Cat" and counted on his four groovy buttons. 

After recess, we gathered for our Religion lesson on people who care for us - moms, dads, sisters and brothers, grandparents, Mrs. Cuocolo, Mrs. Monarski, doctors, police officers - and how they show they care for us and keeo us safe. We said a prayer thanking God for these people in our lives. We then listened to a song about safety.

~ It is supposed to rain tomorrow. My friends are not allowed to have umbrellas - as they are not always safe for us - but please send your child in a raincoat or in a coat with a hood. If it is raining very hard, we will eat lunch in the classroom but it is best to be prepared. Thank you!

~ My friends all need a stuffed pet for show and share. We wlill go on a pet parade!

 ~If you would like to send in signs of fall for our sensory/science table, we would appreciate it. We would love acorns, pinecones, leaves, ghourds, mini pumpkins. Thank you!

~ We are all set with coloring books for a while. Thank you to Evelyn and her sister for sending so many books in for us!

~ We love seasonal stickers - Halloween, leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving - if you would like to send any in that you may see upon your travels. Thank you!

THANK YOU for reading my teacher page! All of my friends had their names on their shirts for gym and my girls all had their hair in ponytails!!

have a wonderful evening!

October 9, 2018
I hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend and made happy fall memories! I was happy to see my friends today and was so proud of them for walking in and being ready to go!

Today, we finished the letter F by learning a song about a firetruck and learning the motions that go along with the song. We listened to a story about firemen and then we created 5 little firemen with a handpoem. The children also worked on fire safety patterning, coloring the numbers 911 and using dot dots to create a dalmation. They also played "Fish" with a friend to end letter F week. What a fun week it was! Tomorrow we will start with letter P and will end P week with our trip to the Pumpkin Patch next Friday, October 19. 

~ Everyone needs a picture of a pet for a collage tomorrow. This can be your pet, a grandparent's pet or a picture from a magazine. If it a personal picture, please write the child's name on the back.

~ Tomorrow is Gym day. Please make sure that all of my friends have a name on their shirt and that girls have their hair in a ponytail. Thank you!

~ Our friends love to color. If you have old, unused coloring books or are at the Dollar Store and want to pick some up, we would be grateful. You may notice that friends bring home papers with other names on them sometimes. I use scrap paper from work that was not completed and let the children color on the scrap paper.

~ If you would like to send in signs of fall for our sensory/science table, we would appreciate it. We would love acorns, pinecones, leaves, ghourds, mini pumpkins. Thank you!

Have a fabulous night!


October 5, 2018
What a busy, fun and fast Friday we had! We got a lot done on a half day!

Today we enjoyed our (gold)fish tasting. We tasted cheddar, pretzel and vanilla goldfish. After our voting, pretzels had the most votes with 6 votes! We listened to a story about Fall and talked about signs of Fall- changing leaves, falling leaves, acorns and pinecones. My friends then shared their signs of fall and then painted a fall tree with orange, yellow, red and green leaves. We also worked on cutting and following directions as a prewriting skill.

We had so much fun with fifth grade buddies today. We listened to a story about Christopher Columbus and then worked with partners to create an ocean and the 3 boats that he sailed on. The children also listened to their stories read to them by the fifth grade friends. This was so much fun! We will get together with 5th grade throughout the year.

Enjoy the long wekeend. Make lots of fun, fall family memories!

Next week we will finish the letter F on Tuesday and will start letter P on Wednesday.

October 4, 2018
What a great day we had - it was another beautiful day and my friends worked hard and played hard!

This morning, we spent time in Mrs. Albert's room with Firefighter Tim for F week. Firefighter Tim is father to one of our four year old friends and works for the city of Wilmington. He talked to us about ways to keep safe. My friends learned to call 911 (you may want to practice at home) in case of an emergency and that if there is a fire they should get out and stay out. Firefighter Tim also told us that if we are ever stuck and can't get out of a house, we need to wave our arms and yell 'Help me. I am over here". The children practiced this. He also gave them homework to go home and find a meeting place in the event of a fire. He then put on his fire safety gear so my friends could see what he would look like and know to not be scared. Firefighters are our friends. Thank you, Firefighter Tim!



This morning we also did a Science experiment for letter F. We talked about how if we throw a rock into the water, the rock sinks because it is heavy. We talked about how some of us know how to float and some are learning. We then made predictions for various items - marble, paper clip, block, penny, straw, legos, etc - as to whether they would sink or float based on how light or heavy they are. Each child was able to try the items in a bucket of water as we tested our predictions. The children loved this and were surprised that a paper clip sank even though it is so light. This is another free, not messy experiment you can try at home for our little Scientists!

We listened to a story about firefighters and the children each made a fire truck. They also did their f pushpins. They filled in a letter F with feathers and we read a story called "feathers for lunch".

After recess, we gathered for Religion and talked about ways our families show their love and what makes our families special. We said a prayer for our families and sang a song about families. The children cut a heart and glued the words "Thank you, God, for my family" and their famil picture on the heart. We then shared our pictures and named who is in our family. Talk about ways your family shows love tonight.

We enjoyed our F show and share today also. They are so proud of these items that they bring in!

~ Friday is an 11:35 dismissal for my friends. There will be Eagle'e Club. We will only have snack on Friday - we will not have lunch, unless your child is attending Eagle's Club.

~ We will be joining with fifth graders on Friday to read and do a craft. Please send in a book or two (total reading of about 10-15 minutes) for the 5th grader to read to your child.

~ Everyone needs a sign of fall - can be a picture - for Friday.

Have a fun night with your family!

October 3, 2018
Today was a fun fall day for my friends! We enjoyed Gym and Spanish. Mrs. Schock told me what great listeners they were in gym and I was so happy to hear that!

Today we created an awesome farm collage with horses, ducks, a barn, a rooster, a cat, sheep, chickens, a duck and even a farmer! We then read the story "The Farmer in the Dell" and we then sang the song. The children then worked with Mrs. Monarski to create a sheep and with me to create a horse from their handprint. Farm animals are fun!

Please continue to practice cutting at home. Just hand them paper and let them get comfortable with scissors in their hands. This is a really important preschool skill and many of my friends are saying it is too hard to do. Practice will help strengthen this skill!

~ My friends all need something that starts with F for show and share tomorrow!
~ My friends all need a family picture for tomorrow or Friday.
~ A firefighter will visit us at 8 am tomorrow for F week!!
~ Online Scholastic Book orders are due by tomorrow. Our code is QFX2R
~ Friday is an 11:35 dismissal for my friends. There will be Eagle'e Club. We will only have snack on Friday - we will not have lunch, unless your child is attending Eagle's Club.
~ We will be joining with fifth graders on Friday to read and do a craft. Please send in a book or two (total reading of about 10-15 minutes) for the 5th grader to read to your child.
~ Everyone needs a sign of fall - can be a picture - for Friday.

Have a fantastic night!


October 2, 2018
Terrific Tuesday! Today was a great day for my friends. They all came in ready to learn and have fun.

Today we celebrated Norah and Gabriella's 4th birthdays. They each turned 4 today! We enjoyed a cupcake from Norah for morning snack and a rice krispy treat and fruit snacks from Gabriella at lunch in the cafteria. There is also a bag from Gabriella in your bookbags. Thanks for the treats, girls, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We talked about our new letter Ff today. We looked at pictures of a fork, fox, fingers, foot, fan and fish. We listened to a story about a "Frog on a Log" and laughed at the silly words and pictures. The children each then made a frog out of the leter F for our end of the year ABC book. My friends also did a crayon rubbing for letter F to find feet and a fish. They also created a cow for farm week. We will talk about farm animals this week and will make many crafts for the farm animals. We listened to the music 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm' today and sang along to the fun animal sounds.

Today we worked at tables as small groups to cut, count and match numbers. The chilren did a great job with this activity!

We got outside for morning recess on the big playground today! They love this morning outside time and really do need even just 10 minutes of it.

All of my friends need a picture of something found on a farm for our farm collage tomorrow - it doesn't have to be an animal. Please remember to let the children try to find items on their own - this is their "homework".

Everyone needs a family picture for Thursday or Friday - if you do not come to school on Thursday.

Friday is an 11:35 dismissal. We will not eat lunch at school. Eagle's Club will be opened and chidlren who attend Eagle's will eat lunch. My car rider friends will be dismissed on the blacktop at 11:35. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We have gym tomorrow - please make sure that your child's name is visible on their shirt and that girls have their hair pulled back in a ponytail. Thank you!

Have a fantastic fall night!


October 1, 2018
Happy first day of October - and what a gorgeous first day it is! I hope that everyone got out and enjoyed the fantastic fall weather that we were gifted this weekend!

Today was a fun and busy day of learning! We finished our letter H week today and will start with letter F tomorrow. This morning, we went outside for a H for hunt. I had 14 H pictures hidden on the playground and the childrne had to hunt to find one and then bring it back to me and tell me if it was a big H or little h and what h pictures was on it - some had hearts, horses, hens, and helicopters. Ask your child if they remember what was on their card. I was so proud of how well they listened and followed directions. We then stayed outside for a bit to enjoy the beautiful day! 

When we returned from our hunt, we became scientists. We talked about Humpty Dumpty and what we knew about him - he was an egg, he fell, etc. I asked them to name some other things that can break easily like an egg - glass, ornaments, pictures were some of the things that they named. We then listened to the story of Humpty Dumpty. We then experimented with hard boil eggs. Each egg had a face and was a Humpty Dumpty. We put the eggs in bags with various items - one bag had feathers, one had marbles, one had legos, one had cotton balls, one had pieces of straw and one had pieces of tissue paper. We talked about if the items were hard or soft and we predicted if we thought the items would crack or not. Each child had one turn to drop the eggs - we did it once on the carpet and checked - and then we did it on the hard floor. We were surprised that every egg cracked, but some cracked mcuh more than others. I then peeled a hard boiled egg for them to see. Everyone got to feel a peeled egg and an egg with the shell still on. After we were done, we did a group activity and created our own Humpty Dumptys. The children did sucha  great job of following my directions and completing this project. Many required minimal help from Mrs. Monarski and me. 

After lucn and recess, we were visited by a firetruck and three fire fighters from Mill Creek fire hall. The children each had the chance to walk through the truck, from one side to the other. We saw the lights go on and talked about how firefighters keep us safe and are not scary. It was a good way to end H for helpers week and start F for firefighters week. They each have an H for helmet from the firefighters.

~ My friends should all wear something that starts with the letter F tomorrow - flower, frozen character, farm animal, firetruck, etc. If they don't have anything, just wear a favorite shirt. Please do not go out and buy things for our 'wear days". These days are not meant to be stressful or expensive - they are to bring our letter of the week to life and make it fun and interesting.

Have a great night - get outside for a bit and soak up this beautiful day! 
September 28, 2018
Today was a fantastic Friday! We did the Friday dance and celebrated the end of another week of school and the completion of the month of September. 

This morning, I read the story 'A House for Hermit Crab". This is a cute story about a crab who outgrows his house so he must find another home to move into. We talked about how neat it is that wherever a hermit crab is, it is "home" because it carries its house on its back. I then introduced the class to our pet hermit crab that lives at my house - Hermy. Gianna, my daughter, was kind enough to let me bring him to share with the children today. I showed them his empty bigger shell that he will move into when he is ready. We talked about the fact that Hermy needs food, water and shelter just like we do. I then took Hermy out and let him explore on the rug. The children loved this and really enjoyed watching him pull back into his shell when he sensed me coming - he used his antanae.

We talked about things that all of our houses have - doors, windows, rooms, etc. We talked about and listed some animal homes and said that even though our houses are different from animal homes - they have the same job to keep us safe and dry during storms and to be a warm place where we are loved and cared for. The children then shared their pictures of their houses and why they like their house and we put them on a collage for the letter H.

During Centers, the children worked to make a hermit crab. They decorated the plain shell just as the crab in the story did. They also made a house out of the letter H and put a roof and door on.
I worked with chidlren on creating a color pattern using H for hearts to make a necklace.

After lunch, my friends joined me in a circle for Religion. We talked about all of the people in our lives who care for us and how they care for is. We said a little prayer thanking God for helpers and then brainstormed ways that we help - by listening, by cleaning up. Remind them this weekend to be H for helpers. We ended by listening to a story about God's helpers in our lives.

On Monday, we will be visited by Mill Creke fire company. They will bring a fire truck for us to see after recess! 

We will finish with letter H on Monday and will start with letter F on Tuesday.


~ All friends will need a picture of their family for Religion on Thursday next week. If you are not here on Thursday, please bring on Friday. The weekend is a good time to print pictures that we need!

~ If you volunteered to send in goldfish next Friday, please add it to your weekend shopping lists!

Have a Happy weekend!! Make memories together as a family and get out and enjoy the sun!

September 27, 2018
My friends all did an amazing job of sitting still and quietly this morning in church for our visit with the Bishop. I was so proud of them. We were in 'God's house" for 45 minutes and they did a great job. We will take many visits to church throughout the year. They had 10 minutes after church to run around on the big playground as a reward for sitting so quietly for that long!

Today we did a science experiment using our hands to feel mysertious objects inside a bag and our sense of h for hearing to listen to the sounds that the items made. The children used words to describe what they felt in the bag - soft, hard, round, pointy, smooth, etc. They then predicted what they thought was inside the bag! The items were cotton balls, marbles, blocks, buttons and a mini pumpkin. It is fun being scientists! This is an easy, free and mess free experiment that you can do at home.

Today we talked about H for Holy Spirit and we noticed that we say these words when we make the sign of the cross. I told the children that the Holy Spirit is in us all - we all received it at our Baptism. I said most of us do not remember our Bapisms because we were too young, but some friends remembered the baptism of a younger sibling or a cousin. take time this weekend to look through their Baptism pictures with them. We talked about the white dove as a symbol of Baptism. The chidlren then created a white dove to rmeind them of the Holy Spirit within them - we painted their hands white and used white feathers which they loved!

After recess, we did a Scholastic News called Hello School. We watched a video about children at school and were surprised that the school day in the video looked a lot like our day at school. We talked about different ways to say H for hello - say hi, smile, give a high five, do a handshake, etc.

We had our first Art class today after recess. We met Mrs. Newcomb and were happy to learn that Art is right here in our building. The children did a great job following directions and creating self portraits.

~ My friends all need a picture of their house or a house for our H collage tomorrow. If it is your house, please make sure that your child's name is on the back of the picture.

Tomorrow we do the Friday dance! 


September 26, 2018
What a crazy weather Wednesday it was - the day started cloudy and wet and humid and the sun came out and it was H for hot at recess! We were happy to see that sun.

We have 3 friends home sick and sent one friend home not feeling well. We are sad that so many of our friends are not feeling 100% but thank you to the parents for keeping them home (or picking them up) and llowing their little bodies time to rest and recover. Just a reminder that childrne must be fever free and symptom free for 24 hours without the use of medication before they are allowed to return to school. We hope everyone is feeling better soon!

Today, my friends worked on one to one correspondence by counting hearts and stamping the correct number of hearts in each. This is a good math skill and fine motor skill wrapped in to one! They also painted a very Hungry caterpillar. We read a book called 'Hooray for You' and talked again about all of the tings that make us special. The children then worked with Mrs. Monarski to cut an h for heart and to glue the words 'Jesus Loves Me" and put the picture of them on the hearts to remind themselves that they are each special and loved by God!

My friends had a busy morning with gym and Spanish. We also enjoyed a Hershey kiss for H week.

After recess we listened to the story "Happy Birthday Moon". In the story the bear buys a hat for the moon's birthday. We each were proud of the hats that we wore for h week. We wore them to gym for Mrs. Schock to see and she loved them!

There is a permission slip for our class trip to Ramsey Pumpkin Patch in your folder today. The payment must all be made via Smart Tuition. The directions on how to do this are explained on the paer form being sent home. Please do not send money to school! The form must be completed and sent back when you make your online payment. Unfortunately, I cannot answer questions about Smart Tuition (my husband takes care of that in my house!) so please contact Sue O'Hanlon in the Parish Busisness office with any questions.

We will visit the Church tomorrow with grades EC-3 through 3rd grade. The Bishop will be in attendance and we will sing 'Jesus Loves the Little Children". We have been practicing in Music class. I pointed out the church today and told the children that it is God's house and that we will viist it tomorrow. Please remind the children that church is a quiet place and that they need to sit still - this should be a challenge on week 3 of school but I know they will do it!

Have a happy day!

September 25, 2018
Today was a terrific Tuesday! So proud of my friends and how they have made this transition to "big kid school".

We do have 2 friends home with colds so we wish them well. Again, I remind you that if your child is not feeling 100% , please do not send them to school. Please keep them hom so that they can rest - and not spread their germs!

My friends enjoyed sharing their items that make them happy today. Love to learn more about them during these show and share moments!

Today we talked about what we know about horses and then we read a book on horses. My friends then created a horse out of the letter H for our end of the year ABC book. The children also worked on cutting, gluing and sorting in a hot/not hot sheet that we did. My friends also worked on their fine motor by stamping a letter H with hearts. I also played a shape matching game with each friend during our center time. They did a great job naming and matching the shapes! Look around in the real world to find shapes - they are everywhere!!

We were able to go out for a brief morning recess on the blacktop after technology so we could move around a bit after sitting fro 20 minutes. We also had a recess on the blackop after lunch. We are hoping to see the sun soon!

~if you signed up for the honey teddy grahams, please send them in tomorrow.

~ Tomorrow is wear a hat for H week. It can be any type of hat.

~ My friends all need a picture of just them for a Religion craft tomorrow.

~ Remember today is the SJB Frazzberry takeover! Go enjoy a treat after school and help raise money for our school while doing it!



September 24, 2018

I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend and got out and enjoyed the fall weather on Saturday! Today we had our first TEARFREE day. This was amazing on a Monday morning. Good job to all of my friends. A lot of my friends are even walking down the hall on their own - keep it up!

Today we talked about our new letter of the week - letter H. We used our pretend crayons to write a big H and little h in the air. We will not do alot of actual letter formation with paper and pencil this year as they are not developmentally ready for this but we will be doing many other prewriting activies. We talked about h words - heart, head, hand, hippo, hat, heart and house to name a few. Since it was raining and we couldn't get outside for recess this morning, we danced to "If You're Happy and you know it" and "Happy" to get some of our wiggles out! Then I read the story "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". We talked about what food we would want to eat if we were really hungry. The children then made a hungry caterpillar by putting the letters of their name in order to build the caterpillar's body. We will do many activities where we build our names to help the children learn the correct sequential order of their names. The children also did their H crayon rubbing and found the letters Hh and a heart and a hat.Most of them were so proud because they were able to do this with little to no help this week. I also painted their hands and we talked about how their hands can help. They each brainstormed a way for their hands to help - remind them of this tonight! This afternoon, we read a story about what it means to be a helper.

Today we opened the sensory table. Each week the table will be filled with different sensory items - either related to our letter of the week or the season. We talked about the important rules that items do not belong near our faces - and NEVER in our mouths. All items must stay in the table and that only 2 friends are allowed at the table at one time. This week the table is just filled with big balls and cups and bowls just to get them used to being at the table. Every child had a turn today and they did a great job!

~ We did get outside for afternoon recess today. We were happy to get some fresh air!

~ Tomorrow is bring in something that makes you happy for H week. This can be a picture of something or someone.

~ Everyone needs a picture of just them for a religion project.

Have a happy night - stay warm and cozy

September 21, 2018
Thank you all for coming out last night. It was great to see so many of you. I hope you found the evening informative. There were so many other topics I could have discussed and here are a few:

~ Code Red - As I said on Wednesday, we will be practicing many different drills in order to keep us safe throughout the year. Please know I will never let the children know if we are in danger, but I will let them know that it is an emergency and that they need to be silent and listening. I will always do everything in my power to keep them safe while they are in my care. If you ever have any questions about school safety, please email me and I will be ahppy to discuss this with you.

~ Webpage - Thank you for checking my page nightly. I really appreciate that. Please use my notes and pictures from the day as prompts for asking your child about their day. Also, our webpage does not have spellcheck so I apologize for any erroros or typos - I am usually typing while I eat or in a hurry at rest time. 

~ Missed days - We do not really track attendance at this stage. We note it just for our own knowledge, so please do not worry about your child missing school. If you have a day off of work or have a fun activity planned, please do not fret about them missing school. You really only have so many years to enjoy this luxury so i encourage you to take advantage while you can.

~ Kid Stuff books - If you do not want to purchase the KidStuff fundraising books, please put a note on it and place in your child's bookbag so we know. Thank you!

~ Please read over the packet that I sent home and sign and return the last page. 

I loved seeing all of my friends in red today. Gues who forgot her red?!?! Oops...it was one of those mornings at my house! My friends also enjoyed sharing their A for animals. We discussed some facts about each animal.

After Library, snack and morning recess ( we were busy), we tasted our red and green apples and our apple cider. I encourage the childrne to try everything and most of them did. We talked about the different tastes of the red and green apples. We then graphed our favorite - red had 9 votes and green had 5 votes. Thank you to all who sent in the items for our tasting! 

We read a story called "The Apple Pie Tree" today and pretended to make an apple pie. The children then worked with Mrs. Monarski to create stained glass apples using tissue paper (a god fine motor skill). The children also sat and painted a big A and little a and were encouraged to do their best to stay inside the lines. My friends worked with me to create a pattern with red and green apples. They are doing so well with patterning.

After recess, we read our first Scholastic News on Apples. Each week, we will read a Scholstic News magazine - a lot of times they are related to the theme we are on or the season we are in. I pull the big issue up on the smartboard and there are interactive games, videos and songs. The children really enjoyed this activity - it is a nice ending to our week together.

~ There is a banana in your child's bookbag from Valeria's dad! Thanks so much for the healthy weekend treat!

Our letter next week is H for horse and home. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy the fall weather making memories together! Thank you for a great first 12 days of school together!

September 20, 2018
What a fun and busy day we had today! This morning we started something that we will do on Thursdays when our roup is a little smaller (today we only had 10 kids.  We do tablework where Mrs. Monarski sits at one table and I sit at another and we work on a skill with that small group. Today we worked on listening and following directions - we worked on finding a designated color crayon and tracing lines from the left to the right (these are very early prewriting skills). The children also worked on a sheet where we had to find two things that were alike and find the one that was different. They did such a  great job on these skills! I was so proud of them.

After tablework, we became scientists. We used our sense of sight to describe how an apple looks. I then cut the middle of the apple out and we used our sense of touch to feel the seeds and the inside of the apple. We then used our sense of smell to smell vinegar again. I filled the cored apple with baking soda - we used our sense of sight to see that it was white. I then showed them the vinegar and we described it as clear. I then showed them green food coloring and told them that food coloring would change the color of something but not the taste. We counted as I put 3 drops of food coloring in the vinegar and we observed the change in color of the liquid. I then poured the vinegar into the cored apple with baking soda which caused a reaction that looked like an explosion - or a volcanoe some of my friends noted. We used our sense of hearing  to listen to the fizzing reaction. The children loved this experiment!

 

I read a story about an apple orchard today. The children then worked on a green and red pattern with Mrs. Monarski. They then worked on finishing apple patterns. We will do a lot of ABAB patters this year. I describe it as taking turns . 

Today in Religion, we talked about what it means to be a friend - we listed ways we show that we are friends. I told them that Jesus wants us all to be friends and to make others happy by taking turns and sharing. We will work on this during our year together. The children then created an A for angel with their handprints. They turned out so cute!

~ I look forward to seeing you tonight at 6:30 in our classroom. I am of course losing my voice and my power point presentatino won't upload! But we will make the best of it! Remember this is for parents only and that this is not a time for conferences. Thank you!

~ Tomorrow is wear red day for Apple week. My friends should also bring an animal that they love for A show and share.

~ If you volunteered to send in apples or cider, please do that at drop off tomorrow or even tonight if that is easier.

September 19, 2018
Happy, sunny Wednesday! My friends were so happy to put a sun sticker up today on our weather calendar. I am so proud of my friends - so many of them are walking down the hall on their own and with big smiles! Keep it up!!

Wednesdays are very busy days here that don't leave us a lot of time in the classroom to do our work, but that is okay because we are learning and having fun in Gym and Spanish. My friends enjoyed both specials today and I was so happy to get a good report when I picked them up from each.

I read a story about apples today and we talked about ways apples are used - apple juice, applesauce, apple cider, apple doughnuts, candy apples. My friends then stamped a letter A with apple stamps and used dot dots to fill in an apple - this is a good fine motor skill. My friends also worked on cutting a heart. We will practice using our scissor skills a lot in our classroom.

This morning we took a brief morning recess on the playground since it was such a beautiful day. I took time at the end of recess to practice a drill in case we ever have to get off of the playground quickly. I eplained to the children that I will only ever blow my whistle if there is an emergency (I will never blow it to signal the end of recess, etc) and I need them to come right away when they hear me and to line up silently. I said that sometimes we might have to take a walk away from the building and they need to stay in a silent line behind me. I told them that they will always be safe with Mrs. Monarski and me. The children did such a great job during our practice drill. I was so proud of them! We will practice other drills over the coming weeks - locking our room and staying quiet inside, leaving our room quickly and going into the neighborhood. It saddens me that we need to even practice this and to be honest it terrifies me (as a teacher and a mom) that this is a sad reality in this day and age. I promise I do not take this job lightly and will always do what I can to keep your child safe while they are with me just as I expect my own childrens' teachers to do. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. 

After our lunch and recess, I read a story about the color red and we talked about things that are red - cherries, strawberries, firetrucks. My friends each then shared their red picture and glued them to our red collage. My friends were so proud of the pictures that they found!

Thank you for reading my page nightly - I loved how many girls had ponytails and that most of my friends had names on their shirts, as I requested!


~ Back to School Night is on Thursday at 6:30 in the classroom. This event is for PARENTS ONLY. I also ask that you please remember that this is not time for conferences as this night is about sharing our day and expectations for the year with you.

Have a great night - get out and enjoy the beautiful weather!
 

September 18, 2018
My friends did a great job today with their red show and share. They really are so proud of their items that they bring in and they love to see what their friends have to share. This is a great activity to reifnorce our letter of the week and to help them increase their confidence in talking in front of friends. Valeria brought in red grapes to share with the class. What a healthy treat that we enjoyed with our morning snacks!

My friends enjoyed Technology today. They watched videos all about the letter A and apples to support our letter of the week.

Today I read the story "The ABC book" and we talked again about the letters in the alphabet. My friends then created an alligator out of the letter A that I will keep for our end of the year ABC book. They also painted an fall tree using an apple half as their paintbrush! Their tress are so colorful. They really enjoyed this activity.

We also started our first science experiment today. Each week, we will do a science experiment for our theme. Today we talked about how scientists use their senses - we listed our body parts and named each sense - to learn about their world around us. Today we used our sense of touch to feel how and apple feels - smooth and heavy. We used our sense of sight to describe the apple - red and shiney. I then cut an apple into quarters and we looked at the inside of the apple and talked about the stem, the core and the seeds. I then introduced the word "liquid" and explained that a liquid is something that can be poured from one container to another and will make a puddle if it spills. We used our sense of smell to smell a cup with water, a cup with vinegar and a cup with vegetable oil. We decided that the vinegar does not smell very good. I then put one apple slice in an empty cup labeled air, one in a cup with water, one in cup filed with vinegar and one in a cup with the oil. We will make an observation - this is our big scientist word - each day this week.

We are also taking turns each day acting out a little poem called "Five Little Apples". They might be able to recite this for you at home.

~ We took a brief 5 minute morning recess on the blacktop and we were able to get on the play ground after lunch for 20 minutes before the rain started!

~ Scholastic Book Orders are due online by tomorrow. I will place the order tomorrow afternoon. 

~ Everyone needs a picture of something red for our red collage tomorrow. This can be cut from a magazine or printed from a computer. Please allow your child to help you find an object that is red. This is their "homework".

~ Thank you for all of the sidewalk chalk. You are so generous. We are set for a while now. 

~ If you are out and about and see stickers that you would like to send in, we use a lot of stickers here in this classroom! 

~ Tomorrow is Gym Day. Girls should wear their hair pulled back in a ponytail. If your child's name is not on their shirt, please stick it on with a piece of tape for Mrs. Schock. Thank you!

~ Back to School Night is on Thursday at 6:30 in the classroom. This event is for PARENTS ONLY. I also ask that you please remember that this is not time for conferences as this night is about sharing our day and expectations for the year with you.

~ Ask your child if they had a job at school. They love to do their special jobs and are so proud of themselves!

Stay dry tonight! It was a good napping day - they were all so tired and our room was so dark. But I am ready for more sunshine!


September 17, 2018
I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend! It was a gorgeous one and I hope that everyone got outside to have a lot of fun and make happy, family memories. And now here we are ready to start our second full week of school.

I was so proud of my friends as there were NO TEARS this morning at drop off! Hooray !! They are all doing so well with this huge transition to school. Even though many of them have been in day care or other schools, this is a big change for them and they are doing so well. Thank you for your work in helping to make this possible. And everyone looked great in their red, white and blue!

We enjoyed Music with Mrs. Wagner this morning and are working on a special song for when the Bishop visits next week.

My friends enjoyed their pretzels for morning snack so they may have an extra snack that they did not eat from this morning. It is amazing how many of my little friends can eat a big hole pretzel.

Today I introduced our new letter of the week - letter Aa. We practiced making the letters with our "pretend crayons". We saw pictures of words that start with A - ant, alligator, apple, ape, ABC and acorn. This week we will talk about the letter A and apples and the color red. I read the story "Ten Apples Up on Top" and we pretended to put 10 apples on our head. We counted the apples on the animals heads in the story and made predictions of what we thought might happen. The childrne then worked to paint an apple to hang fromn our ceilings. They also had to stamp and count 10 appls. The childrne also learned to do crayon rubbings that we will do at the start of each week for our new letter. We call it magic as they make the letters and pictures appear, we then talk about what pictures start with the new letter. Today we learned that A was for apron and apple. My friends were also able to play with play doh for the first time and were sp excited to do so. We reviewed the ruiles of play doh. This week they have apple cookie cutters and a cookie cutter for the letter A. 

We got a morning recess in on the playground and were able to spend more time on the playground after lunch. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so please send your child to school with a jacket with a hood. Children are not allowed to bring umbrellas to school. 

~ Bring in something red for Show and Share tomorrow.
~ Pretzel money is due tomorrow. I recommend that everyone order the pretzels as it ios very sad when all of your friends have a pretzel and you do not. We send the pretzels home in a bag if your child does not want to eat it.
~ Remember to check the important dates above nightly!

Have an Amazing Monday!

September 14, 2018
Happy Friday. Today we did the Friday dance!! We celebrated the end of our first full week togther - it flew by (as a teacher, as a parent, not so much..). 

My friends all did such a great job sharing their items for "All About Me". I loved getting to know a little bit more about them and they were so proud and excited to share their items! Thank you for all reading my page and for sending these items in! This really does make a big difference.

Today we finished our "All About Me" theme by listening to the story 'What I like About Being Me". The children then got to color a boy or a girl and we graphed the number of boys and girls in the room. The children could tell by looking at the graph that we have more girls than boys. We counted and found that we have 11 girls and only 4 boys and that 11 is a bigger number than 4. The children also created a person by gluing together a head, arms, lefs, feet, hands and hair - they then had to draw on two eyes, one nose and one mouth. We then played a dice game where I rolled one dice that gave us a movement (for example, bend) and then a second dice with a body part (ex, knees) and we had to follow the directions for the movement.

We also talked more about letters and reviewed 'Chica Chica Boom Boom". The children then had a chance to hold a real coconut (from the alphabet coconut tree in the story) - we talked about whether it was light or heavy and the fact that it was not smooth - it felt kind of hairy. We then did a coconut painting where we rolled the coconut in paint to paint our papers. The kids thought it was fun to paint with something other than a brush or their hands - we will do that a lot in here!

~ Monday is TAG day for the school. The theme is red, white and blue.

~ All of my friends will get a pretzel from the Philly Pretzel factory on Monday for morning snack. Please remember to send in a drink.

~ Our theme next week is letter A, the color red and apples.

~ Remember to send the blankets and sheets back in on Monday. It would be helpful to send the same sheet as I am starting to know what sheet blongs to each child. Please send it in a bag that will stay in school until Friday.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend filled with laughter and happy times with your family. Thanks for a great start to the year!
 

September 13, 2018
My friends all looked so handsome and so pretty in their special picture day outfits this morning. There were some issues with the cameras during our scheduled time so we had to sit and wait for a very long time but my friends did an AMAZING job! I was so proud of them for how patient they were. They earned a long morning recess for the patience that they showed!

We read the story "Chrysanthemum" this morning. In this story, Chrysanthemum does not like her name after friends at school started making fun of her for how long it was and how funny it sounded. We talked about the fact that we each have a special name that our moms and dad chose for us and that we should be proud of our names because it tells who we are and about us. We talked again about the letters that our names start with. The children then had to find the letter that their names starts with and glue it to a sheet with that letter already on it. They did a great job matching the letters. They were also able to use water colors to paint their names. They loved this fun project!

After recess, we shared our special items that start with the same letter as our names. They loved seeing their friends items and they did a great job sharing! We will do this weekly and it is amazing to see their confidence grow as the year goes on.

My friends all need to bring in a small brown bag with 3 items that tell about them for tomorrow - family picture, small stuffed animal, small ball or little car or something that is their favorite color. We will share these to end our 'All About Me" week.

~ I am asking that EACH CHILD bring in a small canvas tote (can be purchased at AC MOORE) or a reusable bag from the Disney Store (or something similar). Please make sure that your child's name is on the bag. If you buy a canvas one at AC MOORE, feel free to decorate it at home. This bag will carry their blanket and  sheet back and forth to school. You can send it on by Friday so we can send blankets home in it or you can send it in on Monday when you send in their clean sheet and towel. This bag will stay in their cubbie all week but it will make transporting their towels and blankets easier - they often don't fit in their bookbags. Thank you!

September 12, 2018
What a wonderful Wednesday! My friends came in ready for our day - and what a busy day it was! On Wednesday, we go to Gym and Spanish so we do not have a lot of classroom time to get things done!

We talked about the fact that the cafeteria was going to look different for Gym and my friends were excited to see this. Mrs. Schock said that our class was so well behaved and such good listeners. We are looking forward to playing games and having fun each week as we exercise and release some energy.



We had a nice time in Spanish also and were very good listeners and got to sit in big desks in the big building. 

We listened to "Chica Chica Boom Boom" today and talked about all of the letters. We talked about the letters that start each of our names. My friends also learned a fun ABC march - this was a lot of fun and we will do it almost daily. My friends each made a coconut tree using their handprints as the tree and then used stickers to create their names - these are hanging on our bulletin board. My friends will hopefully learn to recognize and spell their first names by the end of the year. After recess, we watched a "Chica Chica Boom Boom" video that the children enjoyed.

~Tomorrow is Picture Day. Please remember to sen din your form or a print out from your online order - please do not email me this as I will not be able to print these in the morning for you. My friends should wear an outfit that you would like for pictures but they MUST WEAR SNEAKERS. Moms of girls, I know this may not be the outift that you envision but I promise you do not see their feet in the pictures. This is for safety reasons for the playground. Safety and comfort are key when you are three!

~ My friends also all need to bring in something that starts with the same letter as their name tomorrow. Make sure they know what letter their name starts with and what their object is. This will be for our first show and share.

~ I am asking that EACH CHILD bring in a small canvas tote (can be purchased at AC MOORE) or a reusable bag from the Disney Store (or something similar). Please make sure that your child's name is on the bag. If you buy a canvas one at AC MOORE, feel free to decorate it at home. This bag will carry their blanket and  sheet back and forth to school. You can send it on by Friday so we can send blankets home in it or you can send it in on Monday when you send in their clean sheet and towel. This bag will stay in their cubbie all week but it will make transporting their towels and blankets easier - they often don't fit in their bookbags. Thank you!

Have a nice night - hopefully it stays dry for some after school play time!


September 11, 2018

What a great job my friends did coming into the room today! There were far less tears than yesterday. Every day will get easier!

I loved all of my friends nice colorful shirts today! It is fun to see their personalities come through on these dress down days. Good job, moms and dads, all of my friends were dressed down. Thank you for reading my page and remembering!

This morning, we took a walk to the big building for technology with Ms. Luce. The children did such a nice job of walking over to the big building and up the steps to the second floor. I was so proud of them! The children enjoyed watching 'Pete the Cat' videos. Each week, they will watch videos that correspond to our theme for the week.

After Computer, we took a walk to meet our school nurse, Mrs. Perrine. I explained to the children that Mrs. Perrine will help them if they are ever not feeling well, have to take medicine or fall and need a band aid. I also explained that she will NEVER give them a needle (as this was a concern). I don't want them to ever be afraid to go see the nurse. We talked about what a bright and happy office she has!

In Centers, we talked more about what makes us each special and we read a fun book called "I really like me". We talked about the fact that we are all different but that we are all friends and a team now that we are in the same class. The children then had their hand painted to create a friendship tree. We also talked about our flag ( we say the Pledge each morning) and the colors that we see in our flag. We certainly did not talk about 9/11, but we did make a little flag for each of them to hold. We talked about how special our flag is. Remember to hug yuor loved ones a little tighter tonight!

We were able to play outside after lunch - my friends loved sidewalk chalk so if you would like to send some in, we would appreciate it!

~ Please remember to reach out to Mrs. Malatesta at mmalatesta@sjbdel.org if you need to start the process for your background check. It is helpful if both parents complete this process. It is $30 and is good for 5 years. You mus have a background check completed in order to vlunteer in any way here at school. You must also have a signed Volunteer Covenant on file - this will be signed annually. OUr first field trip is Friday, October 19, so please make sure all forms are done by then as all friends need a chaperone to attend.

~ I will be sending out a sign up genius for apple tasting next week. PLease let me know if you do not receive the sign up genius. I will send it this afternoon.

~ Picture Day is Thursday. I know that some of my friends are not here on Thursday. They can have their picture taken at retake day in October. Our scheduled time is 8:00. If your schedule allows, you can meet us at the Library at 8:00 for your child to have their picture taken and then you may take them home with you (THIS IS ONLY FOR MY M,W,F friends). Please remmber to send in the picture form with your child or the printout if you completed the form online. 

~ Remember to check the dates above for all important information about classroom fun!

~ I am asking that EACH CHILD bring in a small canvas tote (can be purchased at AC MOORE) or a reusable bag from the Disney Store (or something similar). Please make sure that your child's name is on the bag. If you buy a canvas one at AC MOORE, feel free to decorate it at home. This bag will carry their blanket and  sheet back and forth to school. You can send it on by Friday so we can send blankets home in it or you can send it in on Monday when you send in their clean sheet and towel. This bag will stay in their cubbie all week but it will make transporting their towels and blankets easier - they often don't fit in their bookbags. Thank you!
September 10, 2018
Happy Monday. Welcome to our first full week of school! I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend, despite the weather. It looks like it will be a rainy, dreary week but we will make the best of it! This morning we sang the songs "Rain, Rain go away" and "It's raining, it's pouring"...we talked about good rainy day activities - jumping in puddles, watching a movie, doing a puzzle, reading a book. 

I know drop off was hard for some of my friends today. Let's be honest, who wants the weekend and time with family to end? But all of my friends were settled after just 10 minutes. I was so proud of them. Goodbyes are hard but once they realize the fun we will have and how fast our day goes by, it will get easier for them. Again, I THANK YOU for dropping them at the door. It really does make the morning transition easier for everyone - you included!

Today we met Mrs. Wagner and had our first Music class. The children had the chance to sing, dance, play with scarves and wooden sticks. I was so impressed with how well they did for their first class! It was a lot of fun. Mrs. Wagner will come each Monday morning for 45 minutes!

We talked about ways that we are special and what makes us special. I asked the children who was a boy and who was a girl, who has brothers and sisters and who doesn't, who has blond hair and who has brown hair. We decided the world would be really boring if we all looked alike or only wanted to play soccer or play with dolls. God made us each special and He loves us just as we are. We sang a little song about being special. I then read a book called "Designed by God so I must be special". We talked about what our eyes and ears do and how special each of our body parts is. The childre then created a person using materials to decorate our Religion bulletin board. They did such a nice job and really took their time doing this! I also worked on a sheet with each child where I asked questions in an effort to get to know them better. After our crafts and play time were done, we all gathered to do our Religion pamphlet (this is in their folder). We talked about the fact that we are meeting new friends in school and we named the friends we know and all of the fun things we will do. It is going to be a great year of learning and fun and celebrating what makes us all special!

We were able to get outside for recess after lunch. We ran around on the blacktop for a bit since the  playground was wet. After we came in, we watched a brief 15 minute Daniel Tiger show. We will sometimes watch shows on the SmartBoard but this will not be a daily occurence. I usually only do it on days when we cant't stay outside because of the weather.


~ Tomorrow is wear your favorite shirt day for "All About Me" week. Children can wear whatever pants they want or their gym shorts.

~ Please remember to reach out to Mrs. Malatesta at mmalatesta@sjbdel.org if you need to start the process for your background check. It is helpful if both parents complete this process. It is $30 and is good for 5 years. You mus have a background check completed in order to vlunteer in any way here at school. You must also have a signed Volunteer Covenant on file - this will be signed annually. OUr first field trip is Friday, October 19, so please make sure all forms are done by then as all friends need a chaperone to attend.

~ Picture Day is Thursday. I know that some of my friends are not here on Thursday. They can have their picture taken at retake day in October.

~ Remember to check the dates above for all important information about classroom fun!

~ I am asking that EACH CHILD bring in a small canvas tote (can be purchased at AC MOORE) or a reusable bag from the Disney Store (or something similar). Please make sure that your child's name is on the bag. If you buy a canvas one at AC MOORE, feel free to decorate it at home. This bag will carry their blanket and  sheet back and forth to school. You can send it on by Friday so we can send blankets home in it or you can send it in on Monday when you send in their clean sheet and towel. This bag will stay in their cubbie all week but it will make transporting their towels and blankets easier - they often don't fit in their bookbags. Thank you!

Stay dry out there!

September 7, 2018

Happy 2nd day of school and Happy Friday! In our room, we celebrate Fridays by doing the "Friday dance"...many of the children will also want to do this at home!

There were some more tears this morning as the reality that this was happening again set in, but for the most part it was a smooth transition into our room again this morning. Again, I thank you for saying goodbye at the door and understanding this is a "rule"for a reason - it would just prolong the tears and the goodbyes. I do not allow you in the room even on mornings where your child is crying. I will pry them off of you and wave you on, as hard as it may be for them and for you. A few weeks from now, the tears will all be a distant memory!

Today we visited Mrs. Oldiges and Mrs. Tobin in the library. We got to walk over to the "big building" and had a lot of fun in the library listening to a story about Courduroy and playing a game of 'Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar." We look forward to going back to library next week!

We took a brief morning recess on the playground after our morning snack. The children really enjoyed running around and having fun with their friends. I will try to get out for a morning recess or walk every day as this is an important part of the day in the life of a three year old! Please remember to always dress your child for the weather!

We listened to the story of "Pete the Cat Rocking in his School Shoes". In the story, Pete was in the library, the cafeteria and the playground - all of the places that we go. He was not nervous or scared because he sang his school song - we rocked a long to this also. The children then made Pete the Cat headbands and I painted their hands to create a Pete the Cat in his school shoes.

~ Your child's water bottle or drink for lunch must fit in their luncbox. We cannot remember to grab water bottles from cubbies to take to the cafeteria with us. Thank you for understanding.

~ Please make sure your child's morning snack is in their lunchbox and marked somehow either with a sticker or the words. Again, please pack what they will eat  (but no cookies or fruit snacks for morning snack). We have had some tears over not liking our morning snacks!

~ Towels and sheets will be sent home next Friday to be washed.

~Remember a small stuffed lovie in their bookbags please! This helps with rest time.

Have a wonderful weekend filled with lots of family time! Remember that Monday might be like starting all over again after 2 days off....I promise, it it will get easier!

 

September 6, 2018
What a great first day we had - we all survived (moms and dads, that includes you, too). I know, believe me, I know, how hard it is to "let your child go". Even if they have been in a day care prior to this, this is a change and this is "school" so I am sure this was hard for you. Thank you for following and respecting my rule that goodbyes are said at the door. It really does make our morning easier on everyone! You did it! I am proud of you. Thank you for trusting me with this immensely important job of teaching your child. I promise this is not something that I take lightly!

The children all came in so nicely with minimal tears - I was so impressed and so proud of them! Today was a busy day talking about all of the things we will do in school and learning some of the routines and rules of our day. In no time, they will have it down pat - they learn and adapt so quickly at this age.

I read the story "The Kissing Hand" today and we talked about who was nervous or scared this morning . In the story, Chester Racoon was also nervous and did not want to go to school. His mom kissed his hand and told him to put it to his cheek anytime that he needed to feel her love. Chester then realized that school was fun and that he enjoyed meeting new friends and that his mom's love was always with him and that she would always get him after school. The children then worked to create a Chester racoon. I painted their hands - they all said it tickled - and we made a kissing hand for you to remember that their love is always with you. We also made preschool headbands for them to wear. The children also learned a little racoon hand poem that they enjoyed! It was a busy morning mixed with work, play and fun! It will be a great year in Ec-3B!

The children all did a great job eating in the cafeteria! I think they thought it was a lot of fun to eat with "the big kids."

Some children were looking for stuffed animals at rest time. Please remember to send one in their bookbag tomorrow if you did not today. We will not send sheets and towels home to be washed tomorrow since it is a short week.

We took 7 group bathroom breaks today and had several children tell us when they needed to go. Knock on wood, it was an accident free day! Let's keep it up tomorrow!!

I hope that everyone has a great night - and gets to bed early. I know I will! See you tomorrow - let's hope that day 2 goes just as well!!

September  2018
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 Thursday, September 20.

~ 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 2018

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 27 at 6:30 in the back parking lot of the school. When we meet for our orientation on either Tuesday, September 4 or Wednesday, September 5, please bring the following items:

 

1. Student information sheets
2. Change of clothes and shoes - in a ziploc bag marked with your name and in a bag - does not need to be a gym uniform - seasonably appropriate clothes 
3. Blanket and fitted crib sheet labeled with your name for rest time - FULL DAY STUDENTS ONLY
4. Box of tissues - 1
5. Clorox wipes - 1
6. Baby wipes - 1
7. 2 pictures of just YOU for your cubby and seat
8. A clean, empty white frosting container for your crayons
9. A happy smile ready to make friends and have fun while learning!

*** Remember that ANY VOLUNTEER must have a background check and volunteer covenant on file to volunteer at school and attend field trips. Please make sure that all paperwork is in to avoid confusion. You can check wih Mrs. Malatesta to see if you have all papers on file. If you are in need of a background check, please email mmalatesta@sjbdel.org and she will respond with the steps needed in order to complete this process. I will have copies of the volunteer covenant at Orientation. 


If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at kcuocolo@sjbdel.org


Enjoy the last few weeks of summer,
Mrs. Cuocolo

Specials Schedule
Monday -  Music 8:25-9:10
Tuesday - Computer 8:45-9:00
Wednesday - Spanish - 9:25-9:55
                 Gym 9:55-10:40
Thursday - Art 12:00-12:30
Friday - Library - 8:25 - 9:10