January 11th

 

Can you spot the difference between these sets of pictures-we could! Autumn in Ohio provided us with not only the opportunity for several walks in the leaves but the excitement of exploring the environment after two unexpected snowfalls. In early November, we went on a nature “hike” through the front of the property and discussed the rotting pumpkins in the garden, noted the seasonal changes like the different colors on the trees, and rolled down the hill in the leaves. After we returned from Thanksgiving, we put on our snowsuits and hats and gloves and boots (thank you for bringing in everything J) and went outside to play in the snow. We made snow angels, found the tracks of several animals (including our class) that had already investigated the snow, and debated what had happened to the bird whose feathers we discovered by the pine trees. The answers for that question ranged from that the “bird got really cold and the feathers were frozen and fell off” to “the bunny was hungry and ate the bird.” (we promise we have not been reading Bunnicula!)

             

            

Need assistance after the holidays? The preschool-PreK class is available to help complete your tasks. The students can assist with party planning and preparation-including cleaning the tables and chairs and sweeping the floor, writing out invitations and thank-you notes, counting the people who are arriving and ensuring the table has the correct number of place settings, taking pictures and writing down messages, making guest beds and doing the laundry when they leave and completing those pesky end-of-year-reports. The members of our group also will gladly assist in caring for younger children and may even be persuaded to entertain your guests!

Here are some more highlights from our “year”!

We discovered two new birds at our window-the cardinal and the chickadee.

We read our favorite books-and shared them with our classmates.

 We listened to Owl Babies and asked questions about the owls that came to visit our school in November.

 

 We expanded our knowledge of scientific and mathematical concepts through investigation and discovery-with some help from our friends.

We worked on mastering the skills critical for future literary success.


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 And we shared our holiday traditions with not only our classmates but the younger children as well.

 

 

 

 

We hope you enjoyed 2013-we know we did!

State Standards:

Domain:  Cognition and General Knowledge

Subdomain: Mathematics

Strand: Number Sense

Topic: Number Sense and counting

Standard: Count to 20 by ones with increasing accuracy.

Domain: Language and Literacy Development

Strand: Writing

Topic: Writing Process

Standard: With modeling and support, print letters of own name and other meaningful words with mock letters and some actual letters.

Domain: Social and Emotional Development

Strand: relationships

Topic: Peer interactions and relationships

Standard: Demonstrate socially competent behavior with peers

Final notes:

Do you have empty oatmeal canisters, tea boxes or hot chocolate packages? Please consider donating them to the preschool classroom for our winter café!

Please remember to write down time your child has arrived or been picked up on the weekly attendance form –especially if your teacher has not yet entered the building or has finished teaching for the day. This is important not just for our records but assists your child to master an understanding of how time is measured. Thank you!!