Hello Raspberry families,
I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend!
As we are approaching the second half of February, we will continue to demonstrate all sorts of “Heart Smartedness”. It’s been wonderful to see! We’ll also have a friendship bucket list in which our students tell us what being Heart Smart means to them. Of course, to maximize the fun and education in our classroom, we’ll be learning about presidents, friendship, farmers, farm animals , doctors.diamonds, number sense, gross and fine motor skills, dramatic play, science and discovery. And yes, preschool life never gets boring!
Monthly Curriculum
Theme: Love
Value: friendship
Color: Pink and purple
Multicultural Visit: Asia/china
Animal: Farm Animal
Community Helper: Doctor
Additional Theme: president’s day
Letters/Sounds: Ww Ee Oo
Shape: Diamond
Numbers: 20-30
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 Bloomz app.
** Week One
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** This week we will focus on farm animals, the letter’ Oo and our presidents.
Math
– We will continue to work and use Montessori materials in circle time and math centers.
– Number sense: Looking at money and the presidents on money. We will talk about pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and paper money.
Reader’s Workshop
This week in Reader’s Workshop, students will review strategies to support sight word vocabulary: look, read, spell, write, look and read.
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Writer’s Workshop
We will use our notebooks to focus on proper letter formation for e and o.
-we will continue to practice our Word of the Week activity and weekend writing activity.
Phonics
This week students will learn the letters O and E and the sound/words it makes. Home connection: Find some things around your house that begin with o and e.
Mindfulness
This week we will practice Heartfulness with ourselves. We will make a list of the things we appreciate about ourselves, and each student will choose 3 kind words to make themselves feel better at anytime.
Teaching for Understanding
– Learn primary colors and what two primary colors make
-What is a President? What do they do? We will feature patriotic books or short biographies of our presidents
-Farm Animal Theme: Where does food come from? How do farms work, and why are they important? And how can we make healthy food choices?
Activities:
-Art activities:
Teamwork open ended activity: primary/secondary painting activity
Stomping mud art using farm animals
Barn and Farm animal craft
corn on the cob painting activity
-Sensory activities:
Milking a cow with gloves activity
Washing station: raspberries will wash dirty animals using tooth brushes
-Science:
Indestructible egg activity
Week Two
Math
This week, the students will continue to work on number order, number writing, and connecting numbers to corresponding quantities.
-February also brings us a whole new shape to learn: the diamond.
Social Emotional Learning
This week’s Tool is our Straight Pretzel, which reminds us to be honest and go straight to the truth. Even if we make a bad choice or have some responsibility in a problem with a friend, our straight pretzel can help us make a repair.
Phonics
-This week students will revise the letters Ee ,We and Oo and its corresponding words
-We will continue to practice sight word list 1 and 2.
Writers workshop
This week in Writer’s Workshop, we will practice stretching out words like a rubber band and write down all the sounds we could
Activities:
Science Activity:
-Egg balance science activity
Art activities:
– Stethoscope and yarn activity
– Diamond activity: marshmallows and cotton swabs
– Cooking activity:
We will have make our own Golash. Ingredients needed: milk, cheese, eggs and butter
Upcoming Events
The Petting Zoo is coming to PLAY!
One of our learning themes this month is Farms. On Wednesday, February 21st the children will have the opportunity to see and pet small/baby sheep, goats, bunnies, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, and a pony.
Feel free to dress up your child in a fun Farmer or animal outfit!
Picture Day is Monday, March 5th!
All pictures will be taken between 8a – 11a. If Monday is not your regular school day you are welcome to bring your child in for just the pictures or for an extra school day as a Drop-In.
Feel free to pack a spare play outfit for when pictures are all done!
Reminders
– If you plan on parking in our lot, we ask that you please limit your stay to 10 minutes. Lingering in the lot makes it difficult for other parents trying to Pick Up/Drop Off their child on time.
– I know saying goodbye can be hard, but you can do it and so can your child!! Remember to keep a consistent routine throughout the year, prepare your child for your departure, validate their feelings, and remind them that you will be back.
– Hot lunch will continue to be $5 when ordered in advance, however if ordered the day of or by the week it will be billed at $6.
– Show and Tell is every Friday! Encourage your child to bring in a special toy of their choice to share with the class. Show & Tell is great because it’s fun for the kids and simultaneously enhances effective communication, strengthens their vocabulary , improves their listening skills, and promotes self confidence.
– Date Night is every other Saturday from 5:00pm-12:00am. $15/hr for an individual child or $17/hr for a pair of siblings (min. charge is $60). Dinner and a movie are also provided.
– We are now NUT FREE! We have a number of students in the school allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, in order to keep them safe we ask that you please do not send your child to school with any products containing nuts. If you would like a list of nut-free food suggestions let me know and I will get you a list!
– And lastly, a personal request from myself, please try to label all of your child’s items! Many families buy the same things and sometimes other students or teachers may move your child’s items mistakenly; labeling your things will greatly help avoid any mishaps!
If you have any other questions about the parent handbook feel free to ask myself, Gabriel, or Ms. Annie.
School Calendar 2018
February
Wednesday- 21st- Petting Zoo Visit
March
Saturday – 3rd- Date Night with Ms. Jennifer
Monday – 5th – Picture Day
Saturday – 10th – Date Night with Ms. Cynthia
Friday – 16th – Celebrating St Patrick’s Day
Tuesday – 20th – Egg Hunt
Friday – 23rd to 2nd – NO SCHOOL- Spring Break
April
Tuesday – 3rd- Back from Spring Break
Saturday – 7th- Date Night with Mrs. Gloria
Saturday -21st – Date Night with Ms. Jennifer