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NOVEMBER CALENDAR
Saturday, 11/6: Work Day, 9:00am - 2:00pm
Wednesday, 11/17: Intergenerational Thanksgiving Feast, 11:30am - 12:30 pm in the Hillview Multipurpose Room, Families invited!
Tuesday, 11/23: Board Meeting, 7:30 - 9:30pm
Thursday & Friday, 11/25 & 11/26: Thanksgiving Recess, School Closed
DECEMBER CALENDAR
Monday 12/20, Friday 12/31: Holiday Break, School Closed
ROOM 6 UPDATE
A big thank you to all the parents who worked with us at the Fall Festival. It’s a fun way to see other families and help children have fun while playing “games”.
November is the time when we celebrate family and friends. We talk about helping others and have our Intergenerational Feast on Wed, Nov 17. Families are invited as we celebrate each other while enjoying a turkey lunch. Please ask a teacher if you have any questions.
We have really been enjoying all the activities at circle time,. Children have been singing, playing can drums, using musical instruments, and listening to lots of stories read by teachers. They have even been doing kids yoga with Teacher Jeff.
Children have also been enjoying the different experiences at the art table using glue, paint, collage materials, etc. Children’s art is displayed on the walls of our classroom so please take a look.
Thank you for your support and orders for our Scholastic Firefly Book Club. It enables us to get free books for our classroom. We appreciate your participation.
Happy November! - Laura, Irina, and Jeff
Referral Program Winner
Congratulations to Lani Cliff, our September Referral Program Winner. As a reminder, our Referral Program works like this: for each parent that you refer to our school who comes in and does a visit with the office, your name will be entered in a raffle. At the end of the month, a name is drawn and the winner receives a prize! It’s as easy as that.
Room 5 Update
The school year is really under way now and all the children are adjusting well to the daily routine. Friendships are forming and new skills are developing. It’s wonderful to watch a child’s self-esteem grow with each task done on his/her own.
We’re focusing on self-help skills, as well as working together as a group to accomplish tasks. The children have been fascinated with the concepts of real and pretend and love to be “grown-ups” in the dramatic play area. Our book area has also been very popular, with the children asking to be read to as well as spending time “reading” on their own or with a friend. As the weather gradually changes, the school environment (both inside and outside) will begin to change as well. Paint colors and other art materials will change, clothing worn daily may be different, the air may be much cooler, and leaves will change color and begin to fall. All of these changes become topics of discussion and opportunities for learning to take place. There’s a lot of fun ahead!
A special thank you goes out to Avery’s family for bringing in the mouth-watering garlic bread, to Crystal’s family for the traditional Moon cakes, to Nikos’ family for the great big box of goldfish, and to Lawton’s family for the delicious homemade oatmeal cookies. Happy Autumn!
- Teachers Jan, Maria, Liz, and Pauline
ROOM C UPDATE
We are all continuing to adjust to the new routines, new friends, and to learning new songs, fingerplays and stories. The children seem to be having a great time in Room C.
We have been continuing our theme of real vs pretend, learning about imagination, colors of Autumn, self, self-help, and self-safety. We have also been practicing cutting with scissors, because cutting gets us ready for writing.
Thank yous to: William Schuberts mom, Lisa, for the applesauce her kindergarten class made for us and for the white paper; Clarissa Daniel’s mom, Theresa, for the pumpkin bread and apples; Kira Wagner’s mom, Bethani, for the envelopes; and Amanda Ornest’s mom, Christine, for the animal crackers.
Sharing was a big event in October. Sharing is always the first full week of the month and your child may bring one sharing item each day they attend school during sharing week. November sharing is November 1-5.
If there is any information you would like us to know about your child, please feel free to talk to a teacher. We want both your and your child’s experience at school to be a positive one.
We are all looking forward to a year filled with fun, play, exploration, learning, and friendships.
- Ada, Iris, Lynn, and Chris - - -
WANTED: FRESH FRUITS
If anyone has fruit trees, the teachers love to get fresh fruit to give to the children at snack time. We will take any fruits from apricots to lemons. Please talk to your child’s teacher.
BIG FIVES UPDATE
October is always a fun month. Our weather is changing which is fun when we’re doing calendar and weather. The Helper of the Day finally gets to choose something other than the sun picture. We’ve already had partly sunny and rainy! On the first rainy day the children were very excited to be able to spend more time inside and have the opportunity to use the big dramatic play room for two extended periods. We’ve been doing all sorts of fun activities with fall shapes-pumpkins, leaves, bats, and looking at shapes using the artwork of Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brancusi. We’ve made sculptures out of playdough, clay, marshmallows and toothpicks, and Styrofoam. Working in three dimensions is new for many children. We even painted real trouts and printed them to celebrate Francy Fish Week. Some of the children enjoyed cleaning and exploring the fish more than they did the actual painting and printing. It is great fun opening and closing the mouth, moving the gills and tails, prodding the eyes, and opening up the fish cavity and discussing where the insides were. There were also discussions about whether the fish were “real” and whether they were “alive”. We also added another pet to our collection, another Betta that the children named Sakana Thomas Blue Fish. When children name pets, one really gets interesting names!
In November we are looking forward to a unit called “The Election Connection” which should be fun with the presidential election occurring simultaneously. We will be looking at the United States map and finding the state quarters for all that have come our so far. We’ll also be talking about families, helping others, good nutrition, and of course Thanksgiving. Should be another fun and busy month.
- Gini, Sharon, and Josette
DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Last month, I shared an article about what teachers wished parents knew. During the past month, Children’s Corner teachers shared their wishes which I am passing on to our parents. Teacher Lynn in Room C wants parents to know “that it’s important to encourage pretend play, getting dirty, and being with other children. It’s an important part of how children learn.” Teacher Iris would like parents to be more aware of good nutrition and consider nutrition when packing lunches for school. Because it is our policy to let children eat the foods in their lunchbox in any order, children often do not choose their healthy foods first and are “full” before getting to it. Teacher Ada “wants parents to remember to tell children the truth. If parents tell children that there will be a reward or consequence for a particular action, they must be sure to follow through. Telling children the truth builds trust-and trust is very important in our lives.”
After all her years teaching, Teacher Chris had many wishes. She wrote, “I wish parents knew: that our teachers are well trained and dedicated to the various learning styles of all children in our program; that all children develop at their own pace; that teachers work hard while teaching; that teachers generally are not paid what they are worth in this field; that our school has low ratios compared to other schools; that we serve ‘special needs’ children and provide all children with the ‘school’ experience; that parents can help the developing process by working with the child’s teachers.”
Teacher Pauline wished that parents would try to remember their own childhood and that there is usually more than one way to do anything. Teacher Laura in Room 6 said, “I wish parents knew that children are not miniature grown ups. They don’t think like adults or react like adults. It takes a lot of love and patience to help children understand at their developmental level sometimes. Explaining things once doesn’t always work-it may take many explanations, many different ways, before a child really understands. Patience, love, and a good sense of humor can really help.”
From Room 5, Teacher Jan wants parents to know that “1. Separation is an individual issue-some children need a lot of time to trust that mom will come back and they can trust us. 2. Parents are the expert on their child. 3. If parents bring their child to school sick, or feeling better because they have given the child aspirin, other children may get sick and their own child may get worse.” Teacher Maria wishes parents “knew that children need to be emotionally, physically, and psychologically ready and willing to try toilet training.” Teacher Liz would like parents to know that teachers want and encourage parents to come to them, to talk with teachers as often as desired, and to ask questions and share information or concerns.
Stephanie in the office asked if she could share that she wishes parents knew “1. Office staff and teachers communicate with each other. 2. Office staff love children and babies. 3. The office truly cares about our families. 4. Communication is key to understanding.”
We are fortunate to have wonderful, caring teachers at Children’s Corner. My wish is that parents would get to know the teachers and work with them to provide a great preschool experience for children.
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