Happy April!
I hope your Spring Break was an enjoyable one!
This month will be filled with lots of exciting events, exploration, and learning! We will “travel” around Europe, learn about teachers and what they do, learn more about spring and discover weather patterns, meet creepy crawly creatures up close, test out our patience, and share about our Spring Break adventures!
A reminder to please arrive by 9:30am so the children understand the flow of the day, can do their appointed jobs and to hear about what our day will be like.
Monthly Curriculum
Theme: Spring
Value: Patience
Color: rainbow
Multicultural Visit: Europe
Animal: Insects
Community Helper: Teacher
Additional Theme: Weather Cycles
Letters/Sounds: Vv, Xx
Words: Review
Numbers: 61-70
Shapes: Review
Countdown to Graduation!!
2 months & 26 days
*Graduation Day is June 29th
** Week One- April 3- 6
————————————————————
This week, we will be learning about SPRING and WEATHER PATTERNS. We will learn about plant life cycles, clouds, precipitation, wind, and RAINBOWS! Our class will create many beautiful crafts using natural and recycled materials including bird feeders, our nature names, and a rainbow windsock.
For S.T.E.M. we will be creating our own sprout houses and growing a bean plant! Each child will create his/her own greenhouse environment using a Ziploc like bag, moist paper towel, and bean seed. Being in control of the process will help them take ownership over their project and feel proud of their accomplishment when it sprouts. The children will also get to take ome a small pot in which they will plant some flower seeds with you! I will give them each a small book to document their flowers growth and to track how many times they water it and where it is placed in or out of your home.
The children will also have the opportunity to experiment and explore rainbows with prisms! The kids have already expressed interest in rainbows but this week we will really get to learn the scientific properties of how they are formed. To mix in rainbow colors, plant anatomy, and nature, we will be dying white flowers the different colors of the rainbow! This will be not only beautiful but also a good visual on how a plant “drinks” up water and distributes it to different parts.
Week Two- April 9 – 13
This week we will be traveling through Europe! We will “travel” to the UK, France, Italy, and Germany while learning about traditional foods, music, clothing, art, sport, famous monuments, and their varying environments. While we are adventuring through Europe, we will be making crafts that represent each country, making/trying traditional foods (pasta, croissants, kartoffelpuffers, and shortbread cookies) listening to the national anthems, and listening to a story in each language or accent.
Additionally, The class will learn more about Teachers! I will share my experience being a teacher, inform the children about the various types of teachers, and discuss their questions about what and who teachers are, how a person becomes a teacher, and why a teacher is so important to the community. the kids will also have the fun opportunity to be teacher for the day!
Week Three- April 16 – 20
This week, we will investigate INSECTS! The children will learn the different parts of an insects body, their shared characteristics such as an exoskeleton, and the various species of ant, beetle, bee, butterfly, and moth. The class will create their own insect dioramas, a chart labeling the insects bodies, and artistic representations of butterflies. We of course want to continue with our thought of respecting nature so we will not be capturing wild insects to observe in class. We will, however, be given small caterpillars to raise until they turn into butterflies!!
Our school will also be visited by the Critter Squad! They will bring along a variety of insect, arachnid, and reptile friends to show off and teach us a bit more about.
Monthly Academic Focus
Academically, we will be going over the Letters: Vv and Xx. Each week, we will focus on one letter/sound and practice writing it, review words that start with that sound, search for things in our classroom that start with that sound, and read a book about that letter and its sound. We will also continue listening to the zoophonics song to help the children learn their letter names and sounds in a more entertaining way. We will be reviewing ending Family words using the sounding out methods we have learned so far. We will learn to read these words by blending sounds from left to right and matching them to picture words!
For math, the children will have the opportunity to create flower and insect patterns using our class tangram shapes. This will help them practice identifying the shapes, figure out which shape best fits where, and enhance puzzle skills. Our class will practice going over numbers 60-79 with the 100’s pocket chart, the Montessori Tens Board and beads, and our unifix blocks. These materials will allow us to match the quantities with its appropriate number. We will also practice reading numbers from left to right and how our two digit numbers all have an identifying number in the front followed by our unchanging 0-9 pattern (6 for 60’s & 7 for 70’s).
CVC Words
the for of
to up down
a look see
I is little
and go it
you we said
in can not
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!
Volunteers
I have openings on for mystery readers, art activity leaders, Science/Math activity leaders, career day discussions, and cultural presentations.
Dates available in April: Wed 4th, Thurs, 5th, Tue – Thurs 10-12, Tue 17th, Wed 18th
Time available: 10:40am
Reminders
– Birthdays at PLAY – Our class celebrates all birthdays after our lunch (approx. 12:35pm).
If you’d like to be here for the festivities or if you would like to have a small celebration with decor, treats, etc. please notify me as soon as possible so we can plan it all out and I can offer my help.
Reminder, we do not allow an excess amount of frosting! The majority of our class does not nap and therefore can burn off the sugar high.
– 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, book, or game 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 (typically) every other Saturday from 5:00pm-12:00am. $15/hr for an individual child or $20/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 please feel free to ask myself, Gabriel, or Ms. Annie.
School Calendar 2017
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