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;)
