Reminders for Tuesday, November 1st

Please remember that there will be NO afternoon class on Tuesday, November 1st due to early release for parent/teacher conferences.  Parent/Teacher conferences are from 5 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.  Please check your conference reminder note for your conference date and time. 

Happy Halloween!

This past week we have been reading Halloween books and doing fun projects in anticipation for the upcoming holiday.  Here are a few favorite book picks from week:

Connor's favorite book of the week was We're Going on a Ghost Hunt by Kris Hirschmann.  

Connor said that he liked "the haunted house.  I'm not scared in the haunted house and I run fast with my fast new shoes."

America's favorite book of the week was 10 Trick or Treaters by Janet Schulman.

 America said she liked when they "knocked on the doors and the pirate girl."

Abigail said that her favorite book this week was Scaredy-Cat, Splat! by Rob Scotton.

Abgail said "I like the scary part."

The students had a great week and are very excited for what Halloween may bring on Monday.  

Week of October 31st to November 4th

There will be several changes to the preschool schedule during the week of October 31st to November 4th.  Please note the changes below:

Monday, October 31st

• Class Halloween parties.  Students may bring their costumes to school. 

Tuesday, November 1st

• NO PM class due to early out for conferences.
• Parent/Teacher conferences from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

 Thursday, November 3rd

•  AM class to Jefferson County Park.  Please dress appropriately for the outside weather.
• NO PM class due to early out for conferences.
• Parent/Teacher conferences from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Friday, November 4th

• NO SCHOOL

Pumpkins!

We love pumpkins!  

The students spent lots of time learning and working with pumpkins this week. It has definitely heightened their excitement for Halloween.  In our learning about pumpkins, we have come across some really neat facts that the students were excited to learn.  Did you know that a pumpkin is a fruit?

On Friday, we cut open a small pumpkin and investigated what it smelled like and looked like inside.  We planted two pumpkin seeds in a tub of dirt and laid the cut open pumpkin in the middle of the tub to watch it decompose over the next week or so.  The students are really excited about getting to watch a pumpkin grow in the classroom.

 

Here are some pictures of different things we have worked on throughout the week:

The 3 year old class worked on shape identification while making their jack-o-lantern's. 

The older students worked on scissor skills to make their jack-o-lantern's.

 Our pumpkin masks!

A pumpkin's life cycle

School Pictures are IN!

Our school pictures have arrived.  I will be sending them home with students on Friday, October 21st. 

Fire Prevention Week!

This week we have been focusing our learning on fire safety.  Students learned how to stop, drop and roll and the reasons why they would use this technique.  Teachings also focused on what to do at school in the case that the fire alarm would sound, jobs of fireman and other fire safety lessons. 

Here is one of our favorite readings from this week:

Firebears: The Rescue Team by Rhonda Gowler Greene is a fast moving story that captured the attention of the preschool children from beginning to end.  The rhyming nature of this book had the children eager to participate.

This week we practiced how to stop, drop and roll.  With our practice of the actions, we also focused on the reasoning of why and when we would use this practice.  Here is a student telling us what to do if our clothes catch on fire:



Here is one student showing us how to stop, drop and roll:

 
Along with the fire safety teachings of the week, we also focused on how to be safe at school in case of a fire.  We practiced what we would do in case of a fire at school.  Students were taught how to exit the building safely and follow their teachers to the class "safe" spot outside of the school building.

Please enjoy some of our fine motor work from this week:

 We watercolor painted a picture of a fireman.

We rolled a dice, counted the dots and than added that many spots to our fire dog.

After a week long unit on fire prevention the students shared with me some
of the things that they learned about fire.

Apple Tree

This week we have been working on the poem, Apple Tree in both the 3 year old and 4 year old classes.  The students have worked very hard and are eager to share it with you!

This Week In Preschool

This week in preschool we have been very busy.  Our fall unit lead us into discussing apples.  In the middle of the week, we taste tested the different colors of apples and chose our favorites.  With our favorites chosen, we made a class graph to decide which color of apple was liked the most.  

Enjoying the Indian Summer!

October Preschool News

Dates to Remember:

• Monday, October 31st - Halloween - Class parties
• Tuesday, November 1st - Early Release - NO PM CLASS - Parent/Teacher conferences in evening
• Thursday, November 3rd - Early Release - NO PM CLASS - Parent/Teacher conferenes in evening - AM CLASS TO JEFF. CO. PARK
• Friday,  November 4th -  NO SCHOOL

Learning in October:

• We will continue our fall unit through the first week of October.  We begin a closer look at apples this week.  We will have apple tasting, painting and much more.
• We will do a fire prevention unit during the week of October 10th.  We will learn how to stop, drop and roll and about the jobs of firefighters.
• We will end the month with a unit on Halloween and pumpkins.  Our learning will range from being safe while trick-or-treating, life cycles of pumpkins, planting pumpkin seeds and watching a pumpkin decay in our classroom. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

• If you signed up for conferences at the beginning of the year, I will be sending home a reminder of the date and time that you selected.
• If you have not signed up for a conference time, I will be sending home a paper about the date and time of your child's conferences.
• Please note that the PM class will not have class on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.  Also, there is NO school on Friday of this week.

AM Class Field Trip

• The AM class will be going to Jefferson County Park on Thursday, November 3rd during our class time.  
• Please have the students wear outside weather appropriate clothing.
• The PM class will take their field trip to the park in the spring.

APPLES!

During the past week, we have talked about fall weather and characteristics.  Next week we are going to add to our fall unit by discussing apples.  We are going to taste them, paint with them, discuss characteristics, etc.  We have already began to learn a poem entitled Apple Tree.  We hope to share our apple poem with you next week!