SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

Dear Pre-K "A" Parents--

HAPPY SPRING! It's wonderful to be back at school with your children. Springtime is always a busy time at school. During the remainder of the school year, we will....

~study and learn about the life cycle of a butterfly.
~continue to practice writing first and last names using lower case letters.
~continue to learn and practice writing numbers.
~continue with our study of the letter sounds. We only have 3 more letters!
~introduce the /ch/, /sh/, and /th/ digraph sounds.
~have the Lower School Special Friends' Day on Friday May 7th. (More info. will be sent home at a later date about his event.)
~do learning activities outside during our Pre-K Outdoor Week, the week of May 24th.

We hope this provides you with some insight into our last 2 months of the school year. Please check the Important Dates section on the right side of this Blog for other dates and events to remember. Hope you're enjoying the sunny, warm, Spring weather!

PASSOVER

Today we learned about the Jewish holiday of Passover. After reading a story about Passover, the children were given the opportunity to taste a piece of matzoh at snack time. Mrs. Spolter also brought in some "Toffee Matzoh" that she made. Be sure to ask your child which matzoh tasted better! Later on this week, we will read a story about Easter and discuss the similarities and differences between these two holidays.

SPRING IS COMING!

We started off our morning reading the story, "Wake Up! It's Spring!" Then, we changed Friendly Frog into his Spring outfit!

Partner Reading

After making our little books at seatwork, each child got a partner with whom to practice reading the story.

ROOT BEER FLOATS!

We enjoyed Root Beer Floats today for snack to celebrate our study of the letter sound, "R". They were REALLY yummy!

ZERO THE HERO DAY!

Today we celebrated our 120th day of Pre-K (give or take a few snow days)! Maddie and her mom provided a project for us to do to help us celebrate. Be sure to ask your child where the zeros are in the project! Thanks to Maddie and her mom for a fun project!

RED RADISH!

In our letter sound story this week, there is a rabbit that grows a radish. Today at snack, children were offered a radish to try if they wanted. Many children did try the radishes and liked them. In fact, there were no radishes left by the end of snack!

REMINDERS...

RHYME TIME!
~The sound box items that children bring in tomorrow should be 2 objects that RHYME!~

BOOK IN A BAG
Don't forget to have your child bring back his/her "Book In A Bag" tomorrow.

A IS FOR ASTRONAUT

Today we read the book, "Floating In Space", a non-fiction book about how astronauts function in Outer Space when they are in the rockets. We learned how they eat, sleep, exercise, work, and even go to the bathroom! After the story, we drew a picture of an astronaut during seatwork to put in our Pre-K Alphabet Memory Book.

FREE CHOICE FUN!

Reese practicing the upper and lower case "R".

Ian and Ethan enjoying the rice in the Sensory Tub.

In the Art Center this week, students can make rockets as you see in the photos below.

Oliver launching his rocket.

Jake launching his rocket.

After reading a story about stars and constellations, children could create their own constellations in the Art Center.

First, stars were put on their paper.

Next, children connect the stars to make a constellation.

Below is a finished constellation. Children were given the choice to name their constellation.

Finally, children could hang their constellations on the window close to our Pre-K Space Center.

RHYME TIME!

Dear Pre-K Parents~

Your children are becoming experts at rhyming sounds! Since we are studying the letter sound /R/ this week, we would like to create a class RHYMING book. On Thursday this week, we would like for each child to bring in 2 objects from home that rhyme for Sound Box (i.e. rope and soap or a hat and a bat). Please assist your child if necessary in making sure the 2 objects rhyme. We will take a photograph of each child with his/her rhyming objects to create a class rhyming book. The objects will come back home on Thursday. Remember--the 2 rhyming objects will be your child's Sound Box items for sharing this Thursday. Once the book is completed, each child will have the opportunity to bring it home with you for an evening. Thanks for your help and support from home. Happy Rhyming!

VISITING CHICKS

We had some special visitors to Pre-K this morning. Sasha's dad brought in some chicks that hatched last week on their farm. We learned what they eat and what the different colors of the chicks mean. The children enjoyed meeting and holding the chicks.

MUSIC CLASS

For the next 10 weeks-through May 7th-the children will be studying "Music for Little Mozarts". This an excellent study of basic musical concepts, starring Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear. There will be a coloring page in your child's blue folder to reinforce at home what he/she learned in Music class. I'm excited to present this to them and hope your child will share with you what we are learning. Please e-mail me with any questions.
Mrs. Butler

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAEVE!

Today we celebrated Maeve's birthday. Her mom read us the story, "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" and then we enjoyed sunshine cookies with Spring-colored frosting. They were very yummy. Maeve's friends gave the cookies a "thumbs-up"!

WACKY WEDNESDAY

We enjoyed our "Wacky Wednesday" at school today. Be sure to ask your child what was wacky about today. When we asked the children what they thought wacky means, here were their ideas...
~one sock on and one sock not on.
~makes people laugh.
~crazy.
~silly.
~funny.
~backwards.
~you don't recognize someone.
~funny.
~not wearing your regular clothes.
~wearing different colored socks.
~something that makes people laugh.

STAR OF THE WEEK--GRIFFIN

Today we learned more about our friend, Griffin. Thanks for sharing your photos and telling us about your favorite things!

HAPPY MARCH!

Hello Pre-K "A" Parents!

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us last week. We enjoyed sharing your child's growth and progress with you. We will conference with you again in late May to celebrate your child's accomplishments and success this year in Pre-K. As we enter the month of March, here are some updates and highlights to share with you...

"WACKY WEDNESDAY"
This Wednesday (March 3rd) will be designated as "Wacky Wednesday" in Pre-K since we are studying the letter/sound "W". If your child would like to, he/she can wear something "wacky" to school. For example, two different-colored socks, different shoes, wearing a shirt backwards, etc. Have fun and be creative! Obviously, dress code does not need to be followed on this day! CHILDREN SHOULD STILL BRING ITEMS TO SHARE FOR SOUND BOX ON WACKY WEDNESDAY.

"THE BEAR CASE"
The children are doing a great job in rehearsals for our play, "The Bear Case". Please continue to practice their lines with them at home as it helps our rehearsals at school. If you need another copy of your child's lines, don't hesitate to e-mail me and ask for them.

OUTER SPACE
We are continuing our study of Outer Space for the next 2 weeks. The children have created their own planets, including describing them, which are hanging on the bulletin board outside our classroom. We also have some "Out Of This World Authors" in our Pre-K class. The children are creating their own Space stories at the writing center.

SPRING BREAK
Saturday March 13th-Sunday March 28th