February Topics
February is the time for Valentines! While the children aren’t required to bring in valentines, you may use the class list on the back of this letter if you decide to have your child bring them in. Valentines Day falls on a Friday, and you are welcome to have your little one bring their Valentines any time the week of the 14th. On Thu and Fri we will send home the children’s Valentine bags that they have decorated. And please, if you choose to include treats, avoid products with nuts since our class is a nut-free zone. This month not only will we celebrate Valentines day, but we also get the opportunitites to talk about the ones we care about—Our friends and family! We will read stories about family and friendship, and learn new ASL signs for these special people in our lives. Kindergarten Readiness While some of our preschool classmates are moving up to kindergarten next year, all of our kiddos will eventually move on. To help your child be ready for this transition, you can do your part by reinforcing those important pre-academic skills with your child. Try to work reading time into your daily schedule—bed time is a great time for this—to show your child that reading and learning is important to you. Use rich descriptive language to model the skill of making observations. Things like color, number, and appearance can be easily worked into conversation. Take time at the grocery store to point out “environmental print.” This is everything from the big C on the Cheerios box, to recognizing the numbers on price tags. Attached you’ll find a kindergarten-readiness article. Start now working on these skills with your little one to best prepare them for the big K! Thank You! We’ve noticed a drop in number and severity of colds and other illnesses in our classroom. I think we can definitely thank our students for good hand-washing, and also you parents for keeping them home when they are too sick to be at school. Thank you for helping us stay healthy here at preschool. We will send out health alerts if any big illnesses/conditions pop up such as influenza, croup, pink-eye, or lice. So far so good, though! University of Idaho Students We’re very lucky this semester to have a University of Idaho student working in our class. This semester, Jordan Proctor joins us as our full-time practicum student. She will be here each day for the semester as she works on her Early Childhood Education degree. This is one of the many perks of being in our wonderful college town! Dates to Remember: · Mon Feb 17th President’s Day, No School Safety is the most basic need of every child. When a child has special needs, it may be even more difficult to make sure that they stay safe. Here is an article from the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council. It addresses most safety concerns that parents of children with special needs may face. Please take a moment to read through this wonderful article. Winter Clothes
This month we are talking about warm winter clothes. We will talk about the different kinds of winter clothes that we should wear when it’s cold, as well as reading the book, “The Mitten.” When you get your child ready in the morning, you can support our discussions by talking about what your child is wearing, the colors they can find, why we wear warm clothes, and have him/her be more active in dressing themselves. As you know, with the cold weather, warm coats are very important to young children. If you or someone you know needs help purchasing a warm winter coat for a child, you may talk to us about local resources, or contact the organizations below:
We continue to explore many different media of art such as painting, playdough, shaving cream, gluing, and collage materials. If you have any ideas or extra supplies you would like to share with our classroom, please let us know. And as always watch your child’s backpack for the latest and greatest creations! January Topics This month we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This is a great time to have conversations with your child at their level which talk about the ways that we are all different, and yet the same in many ways—and that’s a good thing! Take time to help your child notice ways that they are similar to other children (hair color, skin color, size, likes, dislikes, strengths), and ways that they are different. Reinforce the fact that every person is unique and good in their own way! Helping Out Here at Preschool we work every day with the children in helping out. We sing songs during cleanup, and every child is encouraged to help their classmates with picking up, talking, and solving problems. You can help your little helper by giving your child a simple chore to do each day such as shaking out a mat, feeding the cat, wiping a table, or dusting a shelf. This helps build a sense of responsibility and accomplishment as they feel good about themselves for doing something important. Dates to Remember · Mon January 20th: Human Rights Day, No School · Fri January 24th: Teacher Work Day, No School --Developmental Preschool Staff |
AuthorDevelopmental Preschool staff and students. Archives
December 2016
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Preschool Blog
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