Planes, Trains and Automobiles: A Week of Transportation

Greetings Pre-K Families,

This week in Pre-K we are talking about Transportation and the definition of that big word.  We are learning that there are many forms of transportation and that they can be categorized!  We will play a Transportation Bingo game and talk about how different modes of transportation can be use in the air, in the water and on the land.  Our letter this week is "Uu."  This is our last letter of the year, however we will continue to practice letter names and letter sounds.  Please keep working on letters/sounds at home, as we will begin testing them next week!  

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, we will go on a field trip to the Taylor County Highway Department.  There, we will learn about all of the big machines that help take care of and repair our roads.  Be sure to ask your child about the L-O-U-D horn.  :)  Here are our group pictures from the field trip!

Here is our Monday/Wednesday group!

Here is our Tuesday/Thursday group!

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:

**Our theme for next week will be "Oceans." 

**On Wednesday, May 15th and Thursday, May 16th, we will be going on our next field trip to the Klussendorf Family Farm.  We will be leaving around 8:35 A.M. and coming back around 10:45-10:50.

**Thursday, May 16th is an Early Release Day.  The students will be dismissed at 1:52 P.M.

**Our last Families Being Involved event will be on Friday, May 17th.  More information will be sent home in your child's folder next week.

**Please continue to send snow pants for your child.  The playground is still wet and messy.  We will let you know when the children no longer need to wear them.  Hopefully it is sometime in the very near future!  

Perfect Partner Work

During "zoo week" the students were able to create a crocodile number line.  The task was trickier than usual because they had to work with a partner!  The children were encouraged to help each other and to go one number at a time.  It is always a great thing when you see children learning from each other!  

Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Peyton and Rylee

Bayley and Kayelee

Leila and Maddie

Nathan and Braeden

Cole and Paige

Olivia and Ethan

Wyatt and Keagan

Evan and Blake

Jaeden and Taytene

Keaton and Sadie

Chloe and Zoey

Hanul and Sawyer

Morgan and Keegan

Aaron and Hayden

Zoo Week

We have a very fun-filled week in Pre-K!  Our theme this week is "Zoo" and our letter is "Zz".  We only have one more letter to learn and we've learned the whole alphabet!  Please continue to practice identifying letters and letter sounds.  Alphabet awareness is a 4th quarter skill.  To meet this benchmark, students must be able to identify 14 letters (including upper or lowercase).  This will be assessed later on in the quarter.  

Recently there have been some questions/concerns about the homework that Pre-K sends home with the children.  Please remember that this homework is in no way mandatory.  If you feel that the amount of homework is too much for your child, please complete what you can when you can.  We send homework home for various reasons:

• Keeps the parents connected with what we're doing at school.
• Encourages one-on-one time with another adult and the child.
• Reinforces skills that we are working on at school.
• Offers some repetition/consistency in working on these skills as we are a 2-day program.
• Extra skill practice for the child.

If you have any questions about the optional homework/activities being sent home, please feel free to ask.

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:
**This week is Week of the Young Child.  On Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30-10:15, Hair and Company will be performing in the MAES gym.  Dress up days for the week are as follows:

Monday - PJ Day

Tuesday - Sports Day

Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day

Thursday - Beach Day

Friday - Inside Out Day

**Thank you to Nestle Pizza for donating pizzas for our special snack on Monday and Tuesday! 

**Thursday, April 18th is our Potluck Dinner and Dance.  We look forward to seeing the families that signed up to attend!

**Our theme next week will be "Transportation."

**We will be going on a field trip to the Taylor County Highway Department on Wednesday, April 24th and Thursday, April 25th.  Please have your children wear older clothes as it can be dusty and dirty in the shop!

**In May, we have an art project that requires egg cartons.  If you have any clean, cardboard egg cartons, please send them with your child to school.  (Please send 12 count cartons only.)

**We will be going on a field trip to the Klussendorf Farm on Wednesday, May 15th and Thursday, May 16th.  

**Our final Families Being Involved workshop is scheduled for Friday, May 17th in the afternoon.  More information will come home as the date gets closer.

Pets Week

This week in Pre-K we will be learning about pets.  We will talk about which animals make

good pets and which animals would make bad pets and why.  We will also learn how to care for pets by giving them food, water, a place to live and love.  Our letter this week is "Pp."  We will be focusing on words that start with "Pp" and will talk about how we can make the /p/ sound by making our lips pop.  Please continue to practice at home.  :)

On Wednesday and Thursday we will be going on our second field trip of the year to the Medford Veterinary Clinic.  Our class will be there from 9:45-10:15.  There, we will learn about how the vet staff takes care of our pets and other animals, as well as see the surgery room and some x-rays taken of animals when they were either hurt or pregnant.  

We will share many fun and exciting stories about our pets at home throughout the week!  

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:

**Next week our theme will be Zoo.

**Next week is The Week of the Young Child.  We will have dress up days each day.  Please reference the flyer that was sent home earlier this month for all of the fun events offered throughout the week.  Dress up days are as follows:

Monday - Pajama Day

Tuesday - Sports Day

Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day

Thursday - Beach Day

Friday - Inside Out Day

**April's Families Being Involved event will be the Potluck Dinner and Dance on Thursday, April 18th.  This is during The Week of the Young Child.  The invite was sent home and RSVP's were due back before Easter.  If your family plans to attend, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can plan accordingly. 

**Our 3rd field trip will be on Wednesday, April 24th and Thursday, April 25th.  We will be going to the Taylor County Highway Shop to see all of the different kind of transportation they use!

**In May, we will be doing a project using egg cartons.  If you have any clean cardboard egg cartons (not Styrofoam) please send them to school with your child by Thursday, May 3rd.

**May's Families Being Involved workshop is scheduled for Friday, May 17th in the afternoon.  We will be hosting a petting zoo!!  More information will come home when the date is closer.

Easter and Spring

Greetings,

Although it doesn't really feel like spring outside, we have started talking about it in our classroom.  Hopefully by talking more about it, the weather will begin to cooperate.  :)  Last week and this week our theme is Easter and Spring.  Projects include: creating a hatching chick, making a bunny-duck, creating a special bunny treat basket and much more!  Our letter last week was "Bb" and our letter this week is "Ee."  Please continue to practice letter names and sounds with your child at home.  During the school days, we continue to work hard on completing our quarter 3 testing.  The children are making great progress as the year goes on.  Quarter 3 report cards will come home in early April.

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:

Week of the Young Child:

During the week of April 15th, we will be celebrating The Week of the Young Child.  There are numerous fun and exciting activities planned.  More information will come home right after Easter.  The dress up dates for that week include:

Monday - Pajama Day

Tuesday - Sports Day

Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day

Thursday - Beach Day

Friday - Inside Out Day

**There will be no school on Friday, March 29th through Tuesday, April 2nd for all grades due to Easter Break.  School will resume on Wednesday, April 3rd.

**Our theme for the week of April 3rd will be "Seeds and Flowers."

**We will be going on a field trip to the Medford Veterinary Clinic on Wednesday, April 10th and Thursday, April 11th.  More information will come home this week in your child's folder.  If you would like to chaperone, please contact me as soon as possible.  This will ensure that a background check has successfully been completed.  A background check is necessary before any parent volunteers or chaperones.

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter...and please...THINK SPRING!!  :)

Ms. Brittany

St. Patrick's Day

This week in Pre-K we will be learning about St. Patrick's Day and those quick and quiet leprechauns.  I wonder if the sneaky little leprechaun will visit our room this week?!?!?  Our letter this week is "Qq."  We will be teaching the kids that Qq is often paired with its friend, Uu.  Please continue to practice letter names and letter sounds at home with your child.  I really appreciate the families that take the time to complete the homework.  Although it is not required in Pre-K, it gets your child into the "homework routine" as well as gives them extra practice on skills while they are out of the classroom.  Thank you for being an excellent partner in your child's education!

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we will be having our PBIS Beach Day.  If you have not returned your slip, please contact me as soon as possible.  Your child may also dress up in beach wear including: shorts, skirts, sandals, Hawaiian shirts, etc.  Please remember that we go outside each day for recess, so warm clothes will be needed as well.  Please do not send your child to school in a swimming suit.

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:

** Our theme for the next two weeks will be Easter and Spring Time.

**The March Families Being Involved workshop is scheduled for this Friday, March 15th from 1:30-2:30 at the MASH pool.  If your family signed up to attend, more information was sent home Monday and Tuesday, stating where you should park and enter the school.

**There will be no school from Friday, March 29th through Tuesday, April 2nd for all grades due to Easter break.  School will resume on Wednesday, April 3rd.

**We are working on scheduling a field trip to the Medford Veterinary Clinic on Wednesday, April 10th and Thursday, April 11th.  More information will come home as the date gets closer.

**Some of you have asked about Kindergarten registration.  If your child is currently in Pre-K at MAES, s/he will be automatically enrolled in Kindergarten at MAES. 

Night Time

This week in Pre-K our theme is Night time.  We will talk about fun things we can do in the night, as well as creatures that are awake when it is dark outside.  On Monday and Tuesday, we will learn a new B-I-G word, nocturnal.  Be sure to ask your child what it means.  :)  Our letter this week is "Kk."  This is a special letter because it makes the same sound as the letter "Cc."  Be sure to practice identifying this letter and its sound at home.  Some of our projects this week include:  My Kk Book, making a dream catcher, creating a page for a classroom book about things we do at night and constructing an owl. 

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week we will be having a PAJAMA (and movie) DAY!!!!! Each child is invited to wear a pair of their favorite, but warm, pajamas to school, as well as bring in a stuffed animal.  We will be watching the movie in the afternoon on Wednesday and in the morning Thursday!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

On Monday and Tuesday your child received a note in his/her folder about the upcoming Beach Day celebration at MAES!  This is a PBIS celebration for filling up the big shield.  The beach day will be on Tuesday, Mar. 12th and Wednesday, Mar. 13th.  Please send back the form as soon as possible if you are planning to attend!

REMINDERS AND UPDATES:

**Our theme next week will be "St. Patrick's Day."

**There will be an early release day on Tuesday, March 12th.  Dismissal will be at 1:52 P.M.

**Our next Families Being Involved event will be on Friday, March 15th from 1:30-2:30 at the MASH pool! 

**There will be no school for all grades  on Friday, March 29th through Tuesday,  April 2nd for Easter break.