Don't Play With Your Food!!

I'm sure that many of you tell your children that they should eat their food, not play with it.  Well, I usually tell them the same thing....unless we have Froot Loops for snack!!!  I was walking around and noticed a few children "learning while eating."  I couldn't help but encourage the children to check out how their friends were sorting their snack by color!  Ms. Teresa taught the children a fun activity where someone picks a color, such as blue.  Everyone then picks up a blue Froot Loop, holds it up and when Ms. Teresa says, "Down the hatch!" they get to eat it!  Just wanted to share all of the learning that goes on throughout the day!

The Magic of PlayDoh

Although very messy and not a favorite of parents, playing with PlayDoh is a GREAT way to give your child's hands a work out!  Because of it's consistency, PlayDoh targets fine motor skills as the children work to kneed it, roll it into balls, roll it out to be a snake, and/or press cookie cutters into it.  The ideas and creativity are endless!!!  Below is a sacred PlayDoh recipe from the preschool teacher at UW-River Falls, where I attended college and student taught.

PlayDoh

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 cups water with food coloring

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

Mix all in a large pan (or pot) and stir over low heat until the magic of PlayDoh happens!

Here are some ideas that you can encourage your child to do with PlayDoh:

• Roll it out to look like a snake and then cut it with scissors
• Roll it out with a rolling pin and make "cookies" using cooking cutters
• Create a pretend "meal" using the PlayDoh
• Make animals with it
• Create a person's face - don't forget to add all the parts: ears, a nose, hair, eyes, eyebrows, a mouth and teeth!!

The possibilities are endless!  One thing that is certain, is that your child will be building up those little muscles in their hands and fingers, which will help them complete many important tasks!

Cookies and Christmas Trees

Greetings,

I hope your Thanksgiving break was excellent and long enough for you!  :)  I was definitely ready to get back to school and see all of the students.  This week we will be talking about "Cookie and Christmas Trees" as well as the letter "Ww" and numbers 8 and 9.  Please take some time to review the "Ww" sound with your child.  You can also find objects around your house to count!  This helps tremendously in the classroom!

Monday and Tuesday we will begin practicing our Christmas songs for our programs.  The dates for those are as follows: Mon/Wed group : Wednesday, December 21st and Tues/Thurs group: Thursday, December 22nd.  The program will be held in the MAES gym with refreshments served afterwards.  Please check to make sure you have the correct date, as it was misprinted in the past Classroom News.

Our theme for next week will be Christmas!   

Upcoming Events:

December 2: Families Being Involved- Cookie Decorating

December 12 and 13: Fluoride Varnish Day

December 21 and 22: Christmas Programs

December 23-January 2: No School (Christmas Break)

Thanks for all that you do to help your child succeed in and out of the classroom!  It is great to see so much homework being completed and returned!

Ms. Brittany

Information Regarding Pertussis

Pertussis Advisory

There have been several cases of pertussis at various schools in the district.  Some of you have come to me with questions, so I am sending you a copy of the advisory that went home to parents of children who may have been in contact with the affected child.

What is pertussis?                  Pertussis (also called whooping cough) is a disease caused by bacteria that spreads from person to person with close contact.  Pertussis is often mild in older children and adults, but can cause serious problems in infants.

Who gets pertussis?               Pertussis is most common among people who are unvaccinated, or who have lost the protection they got from childhood vaccines (immunity usually wanes by adolescence), and have not received a booster dose of vaccine.  Infants are also likely to get the disease since they are often too young to have full protection from the vaccine.

What are the symptoms?        Pertussis is a cough illness whose symptoms can range from mild to severe.  It usually begins with cold-like symptoms, with a runny nose, sneezing and dry cough.  After two weeks of cold-like symptoms, the cough slowly gets worse.  The next stage, which may last from four to six weeks, may be marked by coughing spells that are uncontrollable and may be followed by vomiting.  Between spells, the person may appear to be well and usually there is no fever.  These typical symptoms are more common in infants and young children.  Vaccinated children, teens and adults may have milder symptoms that can seem like bronchitis. 

How is pertussis spread?       The germs that cause pertussis live in the nose, mouth and throat and are sprayed into the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs or talks.  Other people can then inhale the germs in the droplets produced by the person with pertussis.  Touching a tissue or sharing a cup used by someone with the disease can also spread the disease.  The first symptoms usually appear 7 to 10 days after a person is exposed, although sometimes people do not get sick for up to 21 days after their last exposure.

How is pertussis diagnosed?             A doctor may think a patient has pertussis based on their symptoms, however, a culture or PCR test can help a doctor confirm this. For testing, a swab is taken from the back of the nose.

How can pertussis                  Although DTP or DTaP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis)

be prevented?                                    


usually provides adequate protection against pertussis to children, the effects of the vaccine wear off over time, leaving most teens and adults at risk of the disease. However, a vaccine for teens and adults, called Tdap, is recommended to give protection against pertussis in these age groups. Tdap is given as a single “booster” dose. If your child or adolescent (10 years of age or older) has not yet had a dose of Tdap, contact your                                                       healthcare provider to discuss receiving this vaccine. If your the DTaP series (check with you provider if you are unsure).

                                                Antibiotics are sometimes given to help prevent illness in the contacts of someone with pertussis, or to decrease infectiousness in someone with pertussis.  After five days of treatment a case is no longer contagious.

What should I do?             If your child is symptomatic, he/she should be evaluated by your family’s health care provider. If pertussis is suspected, testing for pertussis should performed and five days of  antibiotic treatment should be completed before returning to school.Please contact your health care provider and bring this advisory with you.  

Students who are symptomatic and who have had close contact with a case of pertussis will be excluded from school until they have completed 5 days of appropriate antibiotic therapy.

From Medford Area Public School District Medical Advisor Dr. Mark Reuter and School Nurse Jill Koenig

Thanksgiving

Greetings,

During these next few weeks we will be talking about Thanksgiving and thankfulness.  A few activities the children will take part in include making tie-dye turkeys, patterning, playing a match game with letters, and writing the first two letters of their first names.  Our letter during this time is "Tt" and the numbers we will focus on include numbers 5, 6 and 7.  Next week on Monday and Tuesday we will have a Thanksgiving Feast where we celebrate the holiday with pumpkin bars and a Thanksgiving movie with all of the Pre-K classes at MAES.  

At home, please continue to work on the letters and numbers of the week.  It is also great practice to have your child write his or her name whenever possible.  This helps tremendously with their writing at school.  I am thrilled with the progress they have made so far this year!  Some students that came to Pre-K not knowing any letters of their name can now write their whole name!  It's an honor being on this journey with your children!

Please remember that there is no school on November 23-25, as it is Thanksgiving Break.  When the children come back, we will jump right into talking about Winter Clothes and the letter "Ww."

Have a great week and a great Thanksgiving!

Ms. Brittany

Scarecrow Week

Hello Everyone,

The children are excited about the recent snow fall.  I'm not sure if I can say the same.  :)  With the winter weather, comes all sorts of extra winter gear at school.  Please label your child's things with his/her name or initials so that we can help keep things organized!

This week in Pre-K, we are talking about Scarecrows and the letter "Hh."  Wednesday and Thursday are dress like a scarecrow day.  The children seem to really like the dress up days.  Thank you for putting in the effort to help them participate!  This week we are focusing on numbers 3 and 4.  You will see "homework" sheets that will give your child extra number practice!  Please say the number rhyme with them as they write each number.  

This Friday is our Families Being Involved - Bowling event.  If you signed up, your bowling times are as follows: M/W - 8:00 A.M. and T/TH - 9:30 A.M.  Once you arrive at the Sports Page, we will have you head to your lane and you can begin bowling!  I'm looking forward to seeing lots of happy faces!

Thanks for all you do to help your child succeed!  Every little bit helps!

Ms. Brittany

Halloween Pictures

Here are some pictures of our Halloween celebrations!  The children enjoyed trick-or-treating with their classmates, sampling tasty treats, and playing spoooooky games!  Thanks for sending treats and costumes!  It definitely made the day fun for the children!