Welcome to April!
More date night opportunities, a fun field trip and exciting live caterpillars are to come this month!
Don’t forget, we have Show & Tell every Friday. Place your share item in our green treasure box during drop off and make sure it is labeled.
Like always, please make sure you have the latest version of the Brightwheel app for daily updates, communication and our calendar (There’s a calendar tab in the Brightwheel app).
Curriculum
Theme: Spring
Value: Patience
Color/s: Yellow
Multicultural Visit: Europe
Holiday: Cesar Chavez
Animal: Insects
Community Helper: Teacher
Additional Theme: Weather Cycles
Letters/Sounds: Jj, Kk, Qq
Shape: Diamond
Numbers: 13, 14
As in every preschool classroom, these plans may evolve to better suit the interests of the children. I will be updating parents with pictures, videos, and write ups of what the children are learning and doing during the day. These will be posted to our Brightwheel app.
Circle Time
During our circle time, we begin our class by singing a good morning song, counting how many kiwis came to school, the weather and days of the week. This is also when we introduce the activities as well as reviewing letters and numbers.
First Week
On our first week of April, we will be focusing on spring. We’ll have a sorting activity, make sensory bottles and a flower collage. Through these activities, the kiwis will learn that flowers begin to grow, we see more insects and the weather changes in the spring.
We will also practice being patient by reading a story and learning a breathing exercise. We’ll also try some yoga poses to practice our breathing and how to calm our body when we need to be patient.
Second Week
During our second week of April, our kiwis will be learning about insects. We’ll make a list of what makes an animal an insect as well as identifying some insects from our animal toy bin. We will also make a diagram of the metamorphosis of the butterfly. By having real live caterpillars in our classroom, the kiwis will experience the metamorphosis first hand.
Third & Fourth Week
For our second half of the month, we will be learning about the weather, our community helper the teacher, as well as Europe.
We will also have an emergency drill on the third week of April and a Disney dress up day on the 25th. Please see the calendar towards the bottom of this email.
For our potty training kiwis:
Please bring extra clothing as we will be moving forward to underwear after the spring break. We will only be doing pull-ups for nap time to those who need it. Kiwis who are not potty trained by the end of the school year in June, will not be able to move up to become a strawberry/ raspberry.
(We highly recommend to bring at least 4 pairs of underwear, pants, extra sock and shoes. Also for nap time we encourage you to bring pull ups that have the side openings.)
Upcoming Events
PLAY Family Outing
Saturday, April 14th!
The entire school community is invited to meet up at Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena at 10am. Please have your child wear their PLAY shirt so others know you are with our school group!
These monthly outings, ‘Field Trips’, are aligned with our themed curriculum and give your child the opportunity to share what they are learning in class with you. They also give families the opportunity to meet each other and make new friends! You might even see a teacher there with their family!
Reminders
Cubbies and Lunch Boxes
* Parents, please remember to keep your child’s cubby stocked with pull-ups/ diapers as well as wipes if needed. Along with extra clothing in case of any accident. (This includes 2 pairs of underwear, 2 shirts and 2 bottoms)
* Please label all of your kiwis things including lunch boxes and water bottles.
Upcoming Birthdays
If you’re kiwi has an upcoming birthday, and you would like to bring a treat to share the celebration, please remember the following:
– We are a nut free school
– No frosting
– Treats are served towards the end of their lunch time, approximately around 11:15a.
– Notify the teachers in advance to let parents know in case, they would like to opt out due to allergies or other diet concerns.
What is Date Night?
An opportunity for you to go out and let the kids have a “slumber party” at the school with teachers they know and trust.
– Date night begins at 5PM and ends at 12AM on a Saturday night
(specific dates found on our calendar below)
– The kids play until about 7PM
– Followed by dinner of pizza and a juice box.
(Feel free to bring snacks and/ or water)
– Then, a child appropriate movie is played on a projector as the children get comfortable in their cots for bedtime.
Things to bring:
Pajamas
Blanket
Pillow
Toothbrush/ toothpaste
*A big bag to place everything in, to make it easier for carry out
Cost:
$15/hr for an individual child or $20/hr for a pair of siblings
(min. charge is $60).
School Calendar 2018
April
Tuesday – 3rd- Back from Spring Break
Saturday – 7th- Date Night with Mrs. Gloria
Saturday – 14th – PLAY Family Outing
Saturday -21st – LAST Date Night with Ms. Jennifer
Wednesday – 25th – Disney Character dress up day!
May
Friday – 4th – Star Wars Day
Saturday – 5th – Date Night with Ms. Diana & Ms. Lorraine
Monday – 7th – PLAY’s Cinco De Mayo Fiesta
Monday – 7th- Teacher Appreciation Week – Give a Creative gift
Tuesday – 8th – Teacher Appreciation Week – Give the gift of Food
Wednesday – 9th – Teacher Appreciation Week – Give a gift that Grows
Thursday – 10th – Teacher Appreciation Week – Give the gift of Touch
Friday – 11th – Teacher Appreciation Week – Give a Class gift
Friday – 11th – Moms & Muffins
Saturday – 19th – Date Night with Mrs. Hasmik & Ms. Cynthia
Monday – 21st – Blueberry Parent Teacher Conferences
Tuesday – 22nd – Kiwi & Peach Parent Teacher Conferences
Wednesday – 23rd – Strawberry & Raspberry Parent Teacher Conferences
Thursday – 24th – Pineapple Parent Teacher Conferences
Monday – 28th – NO SCHOOL – Memorial Day