What an absolutely delightful week!
It was such a beautiful thing to see the wonderment and delight on the faces of your sweet little ones at the orchard and in class as we made the applesauce. I talked about it all week to my family until my own children said, "Okay Mom, we get it!" :)
Here is a run down of just some of the things we did this week:
* Read oddles of books about apples and Johnny Appleseed...I think the favorite was
The Apple Pie Tree
* Picking apples at the orchard...of course!
* Made apple mosaics. They are all on the bulletin board as you come down the stairs.
* Made YUMMY applesauce (Penguins will get to taste theirs on Monday!)
*Polar Bears made "wormy apples" for their fine motor...they were hilarious!
*Echo read our "Apple" poem
*Played "That's My Apple" with apple letters
*Polar Bears made "Apple" books that went home on Friday
*Played "Hot Apple"...like Hot Potato
* Colored and created LOTS of Apple pictures
* Our Seals and Penguins counted apples and WOW can they count!
Plus we learned our new prayer song (that we sing after our opening and closing prayer) "Jesus Loves Me"
It is our prayer that we were able to make some wonderful memories while learning about how apples grow!
This upcoming week our theme is "Firefighters and Fire Safety". We have our very first Community Helper visiting this week...Mr. Darby Rehbeck from the Newark Fire Dept. He will come with some of his equipment to show the children, talk about what firefighters do, and talk to the children about fire safety. On October the 6th, a fire truck will be visiting the school and our preschoolers will be able to also see it!
* The PreK Polar Bears also participated in our school fire drill on Thursday afternoon and did a fabulous job. Mrs. Walsh, our principal, was very impressed with them. GREAT JOB Pre-K!
***"SHOUT OUT'S" and "THANKS YOU'S"...... Many thanks to ALL you parents & grandparents! (of our SEALS, PENGUINS and POLAR BEARS!)
Thank you for your help, for chaperoning and driving, for donating an apple for our class applesauce, and just for your wonderful support and kindness. We feel so blessed to have you and your children.
** CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
With colder weather coming, please send the children in warm clothes as we will make EVERY attempt to go outside for recess (even if the grass is a bit wet).
If you have a prayer request for a friend or family, please feel free to send it with your child as we do intentions before prayer and would love to include them in our prayer time.
Working with your children reminds me of this scripture verse: "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him." Psalm 127: 3
Have a Blessed Week!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Apple Orchard
Hello All!
The children are SOOO excited about our upcoming apple orchard trip and so are the teachers! Looking at the forcast for Tuesday and Wednesday, I think it is going to be decent. We will only cancel if it is cold (50 degrees or lower) and raining OR raining with thunder and/or lightening. Neither of these looks forcasted. Let's pray to St. Rita! See you at the orchard!
The children are SOOO excited about our upcoming apple orchard trip and so are the teachers! Looking at the forcast for Tuesday and Wednesday, I think it is going to be decent. We will only cancel if it is cold (50 degrees or lower) and raining OR raining with thunder and/or lightening. Neither of these looks forcasted. Let's pray to St. Rita! See you at the orchard!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Apple Week!
Hello Wonderful St. Francis Preschool families!
What a beautiful weekend! Hopefully, our trip to the apple orchard will be just as nice!
We finished up our "Friendship" theme last week. The children are really starting to settle into the routine and I see them getting comfortable with their school friends and teachers. I wanted to mention some questions that parents had last week that also may be helpful to the rest of you.
Q#1. "My child got some kind of Hand Award and I don't know what it is for."
The "Helping Hand" Award is awarded daily to different students for being exceptionally helpful. Usually it is being helpful to without being asked to do so. When they recieve one, please pat them on the back in some way and say "great job" or "I'm proud of you."
I also award "Kind Heart Award". This is given to a child or children that is showing compassion toward others. I feel that children need encouragement for being kind and compassionate and these 2 little awards do just this.
I occasionally give out little slips of paper that say that your child had an exceptionally super
day. Again, these are not always given everyday but given as a "pat on the back" when we have had a extra nice day.
Q#2. "What is Lucky Ducky and how do you determine who gets it?"
Lucky Ducky is simply my helper for the day. They lead prayer, help with Calendar and circle time songs, lead the line for the day, pass out supplies (if able) and get to be first to pick their first literacy station of the day. ALL children will have an opportunity to be Lucky Ducky. I simply go down my roster and check off who gets it and when. I encourage the children to celebrate in someone else's joy such as getting Lucky Ducky for the day so we encourage the children to be happy for eachother. (This concept helps your child with large group communication skills.)
Q#3. "My child said they moved a clip today, what does this mean?"
This week we introduced our class discipline system to the Penguins and Polar Bears. Each child in each class has a little clothes pin with their name on it. When they break one of the class rules (which we have been going over since our first week together) we discreetly have the child finds his or her clip and place it on the stop light we have in the room. Green is the"warning" circle...we call it "Go with a warning" . This is their warning that what they are doing is breaking a class rule.
IF they break another class rule, they move their clip to the yellow "Caution" circle. They have some thinking time in the "Thinking Chair". We quietly sit down with the child and go over their behavior using a "REFOCUSING" sheet. This basically goes over what they did that was wrong, what are they going to try to do the next time and lastly, when they rejoin the class, what is it that they are going to do so they do not get into to a "pickle" again.
Lastly, if the child has problems again following the rules, they move their clip to the red "Stop" circle. This means that they must stop breaking the class rule(s) out of respect to me and their class friends. At this point, the child sits in the Thinking Chair again for a set time (usually according to their age) , we quietly do a refocus sheet together and a note is sent home to you...mom and dad. It is called a "Bummer Note". This is a a little note that lets you know that they made a poor choice and to please speak with them about it.
We always discuss their behavior and how they can improve their behavior with firm love and kindness; never degrading. We want the children to be confident and strong in making wise choices.
Any questions or concerns, please feel free to email or call me.
We start our Apple Theme this week! We will focus on apple based Math, Science, Fine Motor and Language Literacy this week in our stations. This week will be more teacher guided group activties and projects that the last couple of weeks. We will also start in our Religion Books this week. We will continue reading our Bible stories, learning about saints and angels, and start learning about the Holy Trinity. POLAR BEARS and will also start their ABC saints this week as our letter of the week is "A".
** REMEMBER: Graville Apple Orchard Field Trip this week! This is the address for those who have never been: Granville Apple Orchard
2770 Lancaster Rd.
Granville, Ohio
1 mile south of Granville on St. Rt. 37
Here is a reminder of when the groups are attending:
* TUESDAY Sept. 20th- SEALS (arrival at orchard approx. 9:15am) and POLAR BEARS (arrival at orchard approx. 12:45pm)
* WEDNESDAY Sept. 21st- PENGUINS only on this day (arrival at orchard approx. 9:15am)
*If you are meeting us at the orchard, you and your child should be at the Orchard at the arrival time listed above.
* If you are dropping your child off at the preschool for us to transport, your child should be at school at normal time. DO NOT FORGET HIS/HER car seat.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to ask;)
What a beautiful weekend! Hopefully, our trip to the apple orchard will be just as nice!
We finished up our "Friendship" theme last week. The children are really starting to settle into the routine and I see them getting comfortable with their school friends and teachers. I wanted to mention some questions that parents had last week that also may be helpful to the rest of you.
Q#1. "My child got some kind of Hand Award and I don't know what it is for."
The "Helping Hand" Award is awarded daily to different students for being exceptionally helpful. Usually it is being helpful to without being asked to do so. When they recieve one, please pat them on the back in some way and say "great job" or "I'm proud of you."
I also award "Kind Heart Award". This is given to a child or children that is showing compassion toward others. I feel that children need encouragement for being kind and compassionate and these 2 little awards do just this.
I occasionally give out little slips of paper that say that your child had an exceptionally super
day. Again, these are not always given everyday but given as a "pat on the back" when we have had a extra nice day.
Q#2. "What is Lucky Ducky and how do you determine who gets it?"
Lucky Ducky is simply my helper for the day. They lead prayer, help with Calendar and circle time songs, lead the line for the day, pass out supplies (if able) and get to be first to pick their first literacy station of the day. ALL children will have an opportunity to be Lucky Ducky. I simply go down my roster and check off who gets it and when. I encourage the children to celebrate in someone else's joy such as getting Lucky Ducky for the day so we encourage the children to be happy for eachother. (This concept helps your child with large group communication skills.)
Q#3. "My child said they moved a clip today, what does this mean?"
This week we introduced our class discipline system to the Penguins and Polar Bears. Each child in each class has a little clothes pin with their name on it. When they break one of the class rules (which we have been going over since our first week together) we discreetly have the child finds his or her clip and place it on the stop light we have in the room. Green is the"warning" circle...we call it "Go with a warning" . This is their warning that what they are doing is breaking a class rule.
IF they break another class rule, they move their clip to the yellow "Caution" circle. They have some thinking time in the "Thinking Chair". We quietly sit down with the child and go over their behavior using a "REFOCUSING" sheet. This basically goes over what they did that was wrong, what are they going to try to do the next time and lastly, when they rejoin the class, what is it that they are going to do so they do not get into to a "pickle" again.
Lastly, if the child has problems again following the rules, they move their clip to the red "Stop" circle. This means that they must stop breaking the class rule(s) out of respect to me and their class friends. At this point, the child sits in the Thinking Chair again for a set time (usually according to their age) , we quietly do a refocus sheet together and a note is sent home to you...mom and dad. It is called a "Bummer Note". This is a a little note that lets you know that they made a poor choice and to please speak with them about it.
We always discuss their behavior and how they can improve their behavior with firm love and kindness; never degrading. We want the children to be confident and strong in making wise choices.
Any questions or concerns, please feel free to email or call me.
We start our Apple Theme this week! We will focus on apple based Math, Science, Fine Motor and Language Literacy this week in our stations. This week will be more teacher guided group activties and projects that the last couple of weeks. We will also start in our Religion Books this week. We will continue reading our Bible stories, learning about saints and angels, and start learning about the Holy Trinity. POLAR BEARS and will also start their ABC saints this week as our letter of the week is "A".
** REMEMBER: Graville Apple Orchard Field Trip this week! This is the address for those who have never been: Granville Apple Orchard
2770 Lancaster Rd.
Granville, Ohio
1 mile south of Granville on St. Rt. 37
Here is a reminder of when the groups are attending:
* TUESDAY Sept. 20th- SEALS (arrival at orchard approx. 9:15am) and POLAR BEARS (arrival at orchard approx. 12:45pm)
* WEDNESDAY Sept. 21st- PENGUINS only on this day (arrival at orchard approx. 9:15am)
*If you are meeting us at the orchard, you and your child should be at the Orchard at the arrival time listed above.
* If you are dropping your child off at the preschool for us to transport, your child should be at school at normal time. DO NOT FORGET HIS/HER car seat.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to ask;)
Monday, September 12, 2011
News for You;)
Hello Wonderful Preschool Parents!
Happy Monday! Just a few things to touch on....
1. I will start calling parents Wednesday to confirm drivers from school for our trip next week. If you haven' t handed in our Driving Intention form, please do so asap.
2. You may start turning in your child's $2.00 for the Apple Orchard. We will check you off "paid" and store all monies in an envelope.
3. We have started something called "Snacktime Science" on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays. We are watching short science related excerpts from the Discovery site United Streaming. St. Francis has an account and so we are making use of the this great tool in preschool as well. Tuesday we will watch a short 2 minute talk on the Life Cycle of an Apple. On Thursday, it is a excerpt about Johnny Appleseed. These excerpts are no more than 5 minutes and will touch on our themes or science topics we are learning about.
4. Please send food and drinks in a bag of some kind so it is easier for little hands to grab and go for snack time. Thanks!
5. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Wise family as well as the St. Francis School Community. We ask for God's peace to continue to grace this family.
Happy Monday! Just a few things to touch on....
1. I will start calling parents Wednesday to confirm drivers from school for our trip next week. If you haven' t handed in our Driving Intention form, please do so asap.
2. You may start turning in your child's $2.00 for the Apple Orchard. We will check you off "paid" and store all monies in an envelope.
3. We have started something called "Snacktime Science" on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays. We are watching short science related excerpts from the Discovery site United Streaming. St. Francis has an account and so we are making use of the this great tool in preschool as well. Tuesday we will watch a short 2 minute talk on the Life Cycle of an Apple. On Thursday, it is a excerpt about Johnny Appleseed. These excerpts are no more than 5 minutes and will touch on our themes or science topics we are learning about.
4. Please send food and drinks in a bag of some kind so it is easier for little hands to grab and go for snack time. Thanks!
5. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Wise family as well as the St. Francis School Community. We ask for God's peace to continue to grace this family.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Please Pray
Dear St. Francis Preschool Families,
Over the weekend, St. Francis Elementary School lost a sweet and precious little guy. Michael Wise, a 1st grader at St. Francis, died on Saturday in an unexpected accident. Our intentions in class this week will be for the Wise Family. We ask that you lift the Wise family up in prayer. We pray that God's peace be with them during this difficult time.
Over the weekend, St. Francis Elementary School lost a sweet and precious little guy. Michael Wise, a 1st grader at St. Francis, died on Saturday in an unexpected accident. Our intentions in class this week will be for the Wise Family. We ask that you lift the Wise family up in prayer. We pray that God's peace be with them during this difficult time.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Our Wonderful First Week !
Whew! I don't know about your sweet little ones, but I was tired after our awesome first week of preschool! What a wonderful job the students did adjusting to the first week of school...only just a few tears:) I want to thank all the parents for the great support for the little ones and for the teachers. We are going to have a stupendous year.
Just a few reminders.....
1. Please make sure your child has something to carry his/her snack in. Please do not feel obligated to purchase a lunch box as a brown paper bag, plastic shopping bag, or a lg. ziploc bag would be fine. Not only will this help with keeping spoons, food and drinks all together, it will also help backpacks stay cleaner when little hands forget to snap snack bags or push down drink tops.
2. Also, don't forget your child will need a folder to transport work as well as important school information to and from school. If this is a hardship, please let us know and we can assist with this.
3. Please check folders as we are sending important papers home regarding the upcoming field trip.
4. Please send back the following ASAP to school: a.) Apple Orchard Permission Form
b.) Driving Intention Form
** If you need another, please let Mrs. Bloom or I know. Thank You!!
5. Ask your lovely child about the books: The Kissing Hand and The Rainbow Fish. These were just a couple of the literature books we worked with this week. The Kissing Hand touched on how we feel the first day of school. The Rainbow Fish is touching story about friendships and most importantly, sharing and being selfless.
Seals loved the our starting song "Wak'in up is Hard to Do"- isn't this the truth!
Penguins learned a song called "I wish I had.." all about those we love.
Polar Bears learned some great songs too! I think they like our starting song called "Hello Neighbor" but they especially loved "Bubblegum"!
6. It is Mrs. Blooms birthday on Sunday 9/11. All Friday classes sang Happy Birthday to her
and she got to pick her favorite song to sing with the Polar Bear class...which of course is "Tooty tooty ta" a silly fun song. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. BLOOM!
Just a few reminders.....
1. Please make sure your child has something to carry his/her snack in. Please do not feel obligated to purchase a lunch box as a brown paper bag, plastic shopping bag, or a lg. ziploc bag would be fine. Not only will this help with keeping spoons, food and drinks all together, it will also help backpacks stay cleaner when little hands forget to snap snack bags or push down drink tops.
2. Also, don't forget your child will need a folder to transport work as well as important school information to and from school. If this is a hardship, please let us know and we can assist with this.
3. Please check folders as we are sending important papers home regarding the upcoming field trip.
4. Please send back the following ASAP to school: a.) Apple Orchard Permission Form
b.) Driving Intention Form
** If you need another, please let Mrs. Bloom or I know. Thank You!!
5. Ask your lovely child about the books: The Kissing Hand and The Rainbow Fish. These were just a couple of the literature books we worked with this week. The Kissing Hand touched on how we feel the first day of school. The Rainbow Fish is touching story about friendships and most importantly, sharing and being selfless.
Seals loved the our starting song "Wak'in up is Hard to Do"- isn't this the truth!
Penguins learned a song called "I wish I had.." all about those we love.
Polar Bears learned some great songs too! I think they like our starting song called "Hello Neighbor" but they especially loved "Bubblegum"!
6. It is Mrs. Blooms birthday on Sunday 9/11. All Friday classes sang Happy Birthday to her
and she got to pick her favorite song to sing with the Polar Bear class...which of course is "Tooty tooty ta" a silly fun song. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. BLOOM!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Important time change and Apple Orchard Trip
To Polar Bear PreK families...
Well, no can say we didn't give our new afternoon hours a try but in the end the traffic won:) As a result, our afternoon Polar Bear classes will begin at 12pm and end at 3pm. We are REALLY hoping that the elementary traffic will have thinned out significantly by 3. My hope is that it will be safer for little precious ones and less of a headache for moms and dads! Who is the patron saint of traffic?...St. Christopher?....Pray for us!!!! (hey, it's worth a shot.)
For ALL St. Francis Classes (Seals, Penguins and Polar Bears)- We are, once again, collecting Campbell Soup Labels. Save, Save, Save! There is a large plastic bottle on top of our cubbies. You can either stick the labels in there or hand it too either Mrs. Bloom or Mrs. Burd.
Thanks in advance!
Many, many many thanks to our wonderful parents and guardians who are donating colored printer paper, Germ X, and Play-doh! You are awesome. We played with Play-doh the first day of classes and the students LOVED it! Thank so much for your donations. We are so blessed.
UPCOMING APPLE ORCHARD TRIP- Your sweet little one was sent home a permission slip to attend the upcoming Apple Orchard Field Trip during our "Apples" themed week the week of Sept.19th. (We plan on making yummy applesauce that week with some of the apples we pick! )
I have decided to give you as parents a couple of choices regarding transportation to the Granville Apple Orchard the day of your child's planned trip. Here they are:
Choice #1- You and your child drive separately and can meet the teachers at the Granville Orchard. Parents are MORE than welcomed (but not required) to chaperone this trip with your child. Meeting times and leaving times will be posted on Friday.
Choice #2- Drop off your student to school as normal and a parent volunteer will transport your child to and from the Granville Orchard.
I will be sending a note home Friday for you to let us know which you would like to do. We will need an accurate choice count so I (Mrs. Burd) can set up drivers.
Thanks so much. This is our first field trip but it is my hope to do more.
God's blessing to you and your family!
Mrs. Burd
Well, no can say we didn't give our new afternoon hours a try but in the end the traffic won:) As a result, our afternoon Polar Bear classes will begin at 12pm and end at 3pm. We are REALLY hoping that the elementary traffic will have thinned out significantly by 3. My hope is that it will be safer for little precious ones and less of a headache for moms and dads! Who is the patron saint of traffic?...St. Christopher?....Pray for us!!!! (hey, it's worth a shot.)
For ALL St. Francis Classes (Seals, Penguins and Polar Bears)- We are, once again, collecting Campbell Soup Labels. Save, Save, Save! There is a large plastic bottle on top of our cubbies. You can either stick the labels in there or hand it too either Mrs. Bloom or Mrs. Burd.
Thanks in advance!
Many, many many thanks to our wonderful parents and guardians who are donating colored printer paper, Germ X, and Play-doh! You are awesome. We played with Play-doh the first day of classes and the students LOVED it! Thank so much for your donations. We are so blessed.
UPCOMING APPLE ORCHARD TRIP- Your sweet little one was sent home a permission slip to attend the upcoming Apple Orchard Field Trip during our "Apples" themed week the week of Sept.19th. (We plan on making yummy applesauce that week with some of the apples we pick! )
I have decided to give you as parents a couple of choices regarding transportation to the Granville Apple Orchard the day of your child's planned trip. Here they are:
Choice #1- You and your child drive separately and can meet the teachers at the Granville Orchard. Parents are MORE than welcomed (but not required) to chaperone this trip with your child. Meeting times and leaving times will be posted on Friday.
Choice #2- Drop off your student to school as normal and a parent volunteer will transport your child to and from the Granville Orchard.
I will be sending a note home Friday for you to let us know which you would like to do. We will need an accurate choice count so I (Mrs. Burd) can set up drivers.
Thanks so much. This is our first field trip but it is my hope to do more.
God's blessing to you and your family!
Mrs. Burd
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