Thursday, September 25, 2014

It's Fall! Eventhough it's still 90+ degrees outside!

  Yes you read that correctly it's fall! Unfortunately in So. Cal we don't have a fall we have continued heat. Sorry families for not updating the blog for a few weeks life in our room and at my house have been very busy. I have a few updates and some things to share.

  First off your children are doing great and are getting down the routines and rules of our school and they are all adjusting to each other and me. Keep encouraging your child to follow the school rules and routines and let then know when you think they are doing a good job.

  Everyone who participates on the rug during Zoophonics has really learned the sound and signals. For more information on Zoophonics you can find them online and some youtube videos so you can practice at home. It's one sound to one signal for example allie the alligator says a with one opening and closing of the hands to make an alligator mouth Our class even did well when I mixed up the cards this week. Speaking of Zoophonics Halloween is just around the corner and that means Zoophonics character dress up day is coming. Every year before Halloween we have our school wide Zoophonics day and party. We ask that those who want to dress up as their favorite Zoophonics animal. For example I am Zeke the Zebra for my animal. It doesn't have to be a fancy costume even just ears and an animal tail are fun so start thinking of those great ideas now to beat the rush before Halloween.

  We have been working on numbers in class as well I have tested a few kiddos on the numbers 1-5 that's our focus right now. We are also working on the concept of subitizing which means connecting the number in written form to the number of objects. For example 5 ***** that's what subitizing is. You can practice this as well at home and also counting wrote counting is an important skill as well. This can be fun games like with play dough you can make balls and count them or even make the forms of the numbers with play dough. For wrote counting count steps when you walk or just counting out loud. You can also allow kids to help you cook by counting the scoops you use or the number of times you stir in the bowl. Learning math concepts can be fun!

  This last week of all about me we will be focusing on family and pets. I am asking this week if your child can bring in a family photo to share with the class. This is a great time for them to practice speaking in front of others on a subject they know a lot about. This will translate to elementary learning as well with common core kids are asked to present their work often in class so the ability to feel comfortable talking in front of their peers is important. We will do things like this off and on so they begin to feel comfortable speaking to others and answering questions in class.

  We are wrapping up our study of all about me and we are working on a theme for our next study but in the coming weeks we will talk a little bit about pumpkins and fall of course in our small group time, and because I love eating pumpkin so much we may do a little cooking and tasting too!

  Since we talked about tasting please remember that snack is a small snack. I know a lot of kids are not breakfast fans so come snack time they are very hungry but we do give the kids correct preschool sized portions of food for snack and we serve water to drink. If your child doesn't choose to eat snack we don't keep alternative snacks nor do we allow them to eat snacks from home. Encourage your child as best you can to eat breakfast even if its something small and encourage them to try some of the new foods they encounter at snack. Remember it takes 50 exposures to a new food before a child can truly decide if they like it, so if you keep trying I will too. As for a breakfast a few easy fast ideas you can try are smoothies, breakfast sandwiches, leftover dinner (I do this sometimes at home) my kids love a grilled ham and cheese some mornings more than they would cereal. Think outside of the box some kids just like different foods in the morning.

  Jubilee is coming up and our game booths are looking a little under staffed. This event and others like it work on what we call parent power! If every family puts in an hour we can make sure our 3 booths are manned all night and the kids will have a great time. If child care is worry see if another family will help watch your child while you work then you do the same for them. We are only asking for an hour and parents who work the booth get a parent power hour for each hour they work. You can work the booth, a spouse can, an older teen (who is responsible) can, grandma can, auntie, etc. Please see the sign up sheets and choose something you can help with this week! Anyone donating items please have those into the office by next Friday so that they can be counted and set up for distribution. You can purchase jubilee tickets and wristbands in the office as well as meal tickets. Meals are pre-sale only so if you want a yummy dinner option please purchase those tickets before the event.

  I think I covered everything! I want to thank all the parents working in class for all your hard work and efforts over the past weeks without you our classroom wouldn't run. Enjoy another hot weekend ahead and I will see everyone soon!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

September

  We made it through the first 3 weeks of school! And everyone has done great. Thank you to all the parents working the first few weeks it isn't always easy those first few weeks, but with all your hard work we made it. I have enjoyed getting to know your children and I hope to gain more knowledge as we go on.

  Now that we are all more comfortable at school we will be adding activities and things as we go along. We have started our Zoophonics program which is what we use at IPS to teach the letters and sounds for more information on the program you can check the company's web page and videos for all the sound and signal cues can be found on youtube! Each letter is lower case, and each one has an animal which is the card we use at this point in the year, and one signal which is the hand or body motions. These are fun to practice at home. Our first letter this week is a for Ally Alligator, next week we move on to Bubba Bear and his sound we will go through the whole alphabet daily and each week there will be a focus on one letter and character.

 We are also working on color recognition most of our class knows all their colors! So now we can find other objects in those colors! We will also start on some number games and counting. We are also learning new songs as we go along.

  Our topic is still all about me as we continue to get to know each other. We will also begin to pull a little focus towards apples as we get ready for our first field trip this month. September 18th and 19th we will be headed to Willowbrook  apple farm. The tour is short and very appropriate for preschool we even get to press cider! On field trip days families meet at the location, participate in the tour with their child and then when its done its your choice when to go. The school is closed on field trip days and there is no lunch bunch. More information will be in the Friday Blast very soon.

   In the Owl room we are working a lot on social/emotional skills of being in school. We are working on sharing, taking turns, and not hurting others with our words, hands or bodies. We are also working on remembering to go potty. So please help me by just giving your little ones a reminder here and there as to how we can get a long, and share. We are doing great with bathroom reminders and I think everyone is getting in the routine of using the bathroom at school.

   Parents when you help in class its a great time for you to see up close and personal how your child is learning. Please remember on your work days you need to be in class by 8:15am please don't come too early teachers are still preparing for the day and its hard with little ones here before we are ready. Please plan to stay on work days until 12:15 so that you can finish your jobs and things are all clean. You all are doing an awesome job with the cleaning and our room has been great!


   Please remember to check your emails for the Friday Blast and any other information coming from the office.