Winter Clothes

BRRRRRR....these past few days have been awfully cHiLlY out, meaning winter is just around the corner!!  This week in Pre-K, we will be talking about "Winter Clothes."  The children will learn a song to help them get dressed for recess and home.  At school, we work to have the children be as independent as possible and we encourage you to do the same at home.  Although it does take a little bit longer to allow them to zip their own coats and put on all of their own winter clothing, it helps them grow and learn.  Before you know it, they're pretty quickly getting dressed for the outdoors!  :)

This week our letter is "Ww" and our numbers are 8 and 9.  Please continue to work on counting and recognizing letters and numbers at home.  In our classroom, we are beginning to test on Quarter 2 skills.  If there is any skill your child did not receive a "B" in from Quarter 1, those skills will be re-tested for Quarter 2.  If you have any questions about your child's progress, need advice on things to work on at home, or are wondering how you can strengthen certain areas, please don't hesitate to ask.  I certainly appreciate all of the help you give your child from home!

Updates and Reminders:
**Next week our theme will be "Cookies and Christmas Trees."

**Please send appropriate clothing to keep your child warm at recess.  We go outside twice a day.  This includes jackets, hats, mittens, boots, and snow pants.  Please remember to label your child's belongings to help keep them organized at school.  :)

**December's Families Being Involved workshop will be Friday, December 7th at 1:30 in the MAES cafeteria.  If you signed up, we look forward to seeing you there!

**Our Christmas program is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 19th and Thursday, Dec. 20th at 10:30 A.M.  An official invitation will be sent home next week!

**There is no school Monday, Dec. 24th - Tuesday, Jan. 1st as it is Christmas break.

**The Families Being Involved workshop for January is scheduled for Friday, January 18th.  More information will be sent home after Christmas break.

Families Being Involved Bowling

Today was our Families Being Involved Bowling workshop at The Sports Page.  We had a great turn out and families seemed to really enjoy their time bowling.  I was able to capture some really great pictures from the event.  Thanks to all of you who were able to attend.

Rylee watching her ball.  I wonder if she got a strike!

Evan and Laney hanging out while bowling.

Families enjoying time together.

Olivia showing us how its done.  :)

Easton showing his strong muscles as he bowls.

Peyton showing proper bowling technique.  :)

Eli and his dad choosing a bowling ball.

Hayden, his mom and his sister hanging out.

Hanul and mom watching others bowl.

Keaton and Max (Ms. Kirsten's friend) bowling together.

Keaton and his mom pose for the camera.  (It took me awhile to convince Mom to let me take her picture.)

Keegan and Mom spend time together.

Morgan, Dad and her sister work together while they bowl.

Hats for Hope help Sandy

Below is the link to the Newsline 9 story that aired on Wednesday evening highlighting the fundraiser MAES did to help victims of Superstorm Sandy.  Our class was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time!!  I was asked if Newsline 9 could take some footage of our class, and I eagerly obliged!  Please check out the wonderful story by clicking the link.  I would personally like to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated.  These opportunities are such great learning experiences and instill many positive character traits in the children.  I am so proud of the kids, their families, and our school!  A special thank you goes out to Kim Fechhelm who organized the whole fundraiser!

Enjoy!!  :)

Hats for Hope help Sandy

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Hello Pre-K Famlies,

I sincerely apologize for not updating our classroom blog last week during our theme of "Scarecrows."  It has been a very busy time in our classroom as we wrapped up quarter 1 testing, prepared report cards, had dress up dates and more!  Thanks for being patient!  

This week and next week in Pre-K we will be learning about Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful.  The children will be coming up with all different things they are thankful for.  We already had a great list started today including food, families, legos, toys, pets, cousins, and school.  It is so wonderful to hear them come up with these ideas all of their own.  Our letter for this theme is "Tt" and we will be focusing on numbers 5-7.  Please continue to work on letter sounds and counting at home.  

Some fun projects we will be creating include a patterned place mat for our special Thanksgiving treat, a fun water colored turkey, and My Tt Book, to name just a few!  For filling up the PBIS big shield, our classes will get to participate in a movie party.  The movie will take place this week Thursday and next week Monday.  Hooray for great behavior!  Within these next few weeks, each child will also participate in a vision screening at school.  There is a lot of things to fit in before our extended holiday weekend!  :)

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:

**The weather is getting chilly and the children go outside twice a day.  Please send your child to school in warm clothes including a winter hat, mittens, hats and boots.  If there is snow, they will also need snow pants.  We do not have extra mittens/hats to allow your child to wear if they forget.  Please remember to label each child's materials in order to help us keep them straight at school.  Already this year, I have a few pairs of gloves and a few hats with no names that no one is claiming.

**The November FBI workshop is schedules for THIS Friday, November 16th.  If your family signed up, we look forward to seeing you there!

**There is NO SCHOOL for all grades Wednesday, Nov. 21st - Friday, Nov. 23rd due to Thanksgiving break.

**December's FBI workshop is schedules for the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 7th and will be cookie decorating.  More info came home in your child's folder today.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

The Pre-K Christmas program is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19th and Thursday, December 20th.  The program will begin at 10:30 A.M. with refreshments to follow!