Newsletter - January 20th

Star Class News

Week of January 20th

We hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful sunny weekend! Hopefully this weather will continue this week so we can head outside to play. Remember to dress kids for the weather of the day. Dressing kids in layers is a good plan since it can be chilly even when the sun is shining. Putting names in coats, jackets, hats can help keep track of your kids belongings and not get them mixed up with someone else's.

Good Night Moon Field Trip

Payment is due if you signed up for the Good Night Moon Field trip. The cost per person is $5.00. We will only be going on the 12^th and meeting at the theater around 9:15. We will start collecting money this week and need to send it in January 31^st. Please give the money to Teacher Jo or Teacher Jaylene so they can check you off as paid.

Family Fun Night

Remember to sign up for our Family Fun Night for Friday, January 31. In order to plan this event we need an idea of how many families will be attending. We have planned a pajama party, cookie decorating, hot chocolate, and a movie “The Snowman and the Snowdog”. This event will run from 5:30-6:45 with the movie starting at 6:15. We will have a sign up by the classroom door, please let us know if you plan to attend.

Portfolios

We are going to have to re-evaluate what work is going to go into the portfolios. They are filling up faster then we expected! We will be sending home some of the old work and keeping only one or two projects from each month (instead of one project from each theme) along with their handprints, stories, name sheets, and alphabet work. So if you see more work coming home in the next few weeks, don't be surprised!

Registration for Next year

Registration for next year is coming up quickly. Feel free to check out the 4 year old classes, ask around, and see what you think. If you have any questions or would like recommendations please let Teacher Jo know. We cans sit and talk before or after school, or schedule a time that works. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

This week

This week we will be learning about the stories of Caralyn Buehner, who has written several snowmen books including Snowmen at Night, Snowmen at work, and Snowmen all year. We will be creating our own snowmen and talking about what happens to snowmen when it gets hot. We will also be playing in shaving cream this week which we have found the kids love to explore, so please send spare clothes. We have had to change shirts before after playing in shaving cream.

Word Wall

This week we will bring back the word wall with the letter Xx for X-ray and Xerox. Please have your child bring something that starts with the letter to put in our pelican.

Important dates and events

January 20^th – MLK Day

January 23^rd – Kindred @ 10:15

January 31^st - Family Fun Night

February 12^th – NWCT play “Goodnight Moon” 9:45

February 17^th – Presidents Day – No School

This weeks songs in the Star Class

Snowman

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman, 
Once there was a snowman tall, tall, tall. (Gradually move hand higher) 
Then the sun it melted, melted, melted, 
Then the sun it melted small, small, small. (Gradually Move hand lower)

I’m a little Snowman

I’m a little snowman,
Short and fat.
Here is my scarf.
Here is my hat.
When the sun comes out.
I’ve got to go!
But I’ll be back 
The next time it snows.

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - January 13th

Star Class News

Week of January 13th

Thank you all for helping last week run so smoothly. The kids appeared to be eager to return to school, and it was great seeing all of them! Last week we talked mostly about how to care for our books at school and at home. We even set up a book hospital for our books that have been damaged and several kids helped us repair some of our books.

Book Bags

Last week we made our book bags, and this week they are dry and ready to check out books! We will be sending home a book from our library for the kids to read at home, as they bring them back in their book bags, they will be able to check out another book. Have them bring them into class so we know who has brought back their books and book bags. We have a place for them behind the red chair in circle time.

Good Night Moon Field Trip

We are headed to NWCT to see Goodnight Moon. The cost per person is $5.00. We will only be going on the 12^th so all families are invited to attend, thank you everyone for already signing up. We will start collecting money this week and need to send it in January 31^st. Please give the money to Teacher Jo or Teacher Jaylene so they can check you off as paid.

Family Fun Night

Remember to sign up for our Family Fun Night for Friday, January 31. In order to plan this event we need an idea of how many families will be attending. We have planned a pajama party, cookie decorating, hot chocolate, and a movie “The Snowman and the Snowdog”. This event will run from 5:30-6:45 with the movie starting at 6:15. We will have a sign up by the classroom door, please let us know if you plan to attend.

Dressing for the weather

Remember to dress kids for the weather of the day. If it is not raining, we will go outside. Dressing kids in layers is a good plan. Putting names in coats, jackets, hats can help keep track of your kids belongings and not get them mixed up with someone else's.

Cold and Flu Season

We are still in the middle of cold and flu season, so here at school we will be cleaning and disinfecting daily. Please have your kids wash their hands before entering class and remember our school policy on sick kids. If kids have a fever, runny nose with mucus, or have vomited in the last 24 hours, please keep them home. Most kids that are sick usually don't feel like participating  in classroom activities anyway. So keep them home and let them rest. Also, if your child will be out of class for the day, please call the preschool office, send me a text or email letting us know.

This week

This week we will be learning about the illustration and stories of Jan Brett. We will be reading the Hat, the Mitten, and the Snow Bears in class as well as looking at several of her other books to see if we see similarities in her stories (her artwork is amazing!). We will be creating Mittens and Hats of our own, talking about where you what climates need Cold weather clothes, and creating a Snow Bear collage.

Word Wall

This week we will bring back the word wall with the letter Zz for Zebra and Zoo. Please have your child bring something that starts with the letter to put in our pelican.

Important dates and events

January 20^th – MLK Day

January 23^rd – Kindred @ 10:15

January 31^st - Family Fun Night

February 12^th – NWCT play “Goodnight Moon” 9:45

February 17^th – Presidents Day – No School

This weeks songs in the Star Class

The Mittens on my Hands (Sung to The Wheels on the Bus)

The mittens on my hands
Keep me warm
Keep me warm
Keep me warm
The mittens on my hands
Keep me warm
All Winter long!

The Hat on my head covers my ears...

The Scarf around my neck is oh so long...

The boots on m feet jump in the snow...

Polar Bears Tune: Mary had a little lamb 

Polar bears are soft and white, soft and white,
Polar bears are soft and white, and live where it's cold

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - January 6th

Star Class News

Week of January 6th

Welcome Back!! We hope you all had a great break and wonderful Christmas. We are excited to be coming back. Remember that your children have been home for several weeks, and may have difficulty returning to school. Say good bye at the door and we will call if they are too upset and can't stay in class.

Book Bags

Starting next week we will be sending home book bags. This is a great opportunity for children to learn the responsibility of checking out books. They will get to check out books from our room, and when they bring their book AND book bag back to class they will get to check out another one. In June, we will collect the bags and books and send the book bags home with their special portfolio.

Family Fun Night

The Butterfly Class is in the process of planning and organizing a Family Fun Night for Friday, January 31. In order to plan this event we need an idea of how many families will be attending. We have planned a pajama party, cookie decorating, hot chocolate, and a movie “The Snowman and the Snowdog”. This event will run from 5:30-6:45 with the movie starting at 6:15. We will have a sign up by the classroom door, please let us know if you plan to attend.

Dressing for the weather

Remember to dress kids for the weather of the day. If it is not raining, we will go outside. Dressing kids in layers is a good plan. Putting names in coats, jackets, hats can help keep track of your kids belongings and not get them mixed up with someone else's.

Cold and Flu Season

We are still in the middle of cold and flu season, so here at school we will be cleaning and disinfecting daily. Please have your kids wash their hands before entering class and remember our school policy on sick kids. If kids have a fever, runny nose with mucus, or have vomited in the last 24 hours, please keep them home. Most kids that are sick usually don't feel like participating  in classroom activities anyway. So keep them home and let them rest. Also, if your child will be out of class for the day, please call the preschool office, send me a text or email letting us know.

This week

This week we will be talking about books. Mostly how to care for our books, but also the parts of a book. We will be learning about and becoming illustrators and authors as we get ready to start checking out books. In the upcoming weeks, we will be learning through different famous children's authors and illustrators.

Word Wall

This week we will bring back the word wall with the letter Nn for nose and near. Please have your child bring something that starts with the letter to put in our pelican.

Important dates and events

January 6^th – Classes Resume

January 10^th - Tuition Due

January 20^th – MLK Day

January 23^rd – Kindred @ 10:15

January 31^st - Family Fun Night

February 12^th – NWCT play “Goodnight Moon” 9:45

February 17^th – Presidents Day – No School

This weeks songs in the Star Class

Author and Illustrator – written by the Star Class Teachers

The Author writes the words

The Author writes the words

Oh My I love to read

The Author writes the words

The Illustrator draws

The Illustrator draws

Oh I love to read

The Illustrator draws

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - December 16th

Star Class News

Week of December 16th

This week is going to be busy. Our Winter Concerts have been rescheduled Tuesday and Wednesday during class time, plus we had already planned our Gingerbread forests and field trips. Since we had to move the concert to Jason Lee, we will just be singing our songs. We will see what we can do about getting a slide show of pictures to view after winter break. Since everyday is going to be hectic, we have changed our newsletter for this week to highlight what is happening each day.

Monday

Monday will be a normal day. We will be creating our Gingerbread Forests and working on catching some our work from last week. We should not need any help with the Forests on Monday, but if you would like to you are always welcome to stay!

Tuesday

After you drop off your children, we would like to invite you up to Jason Lee to hear the Tuesday kids sing Christmas songs from the winter concert. We will singing at 9:30, then coming back down to class to make our Gingerbread forests. Since we would have less time then we originally planned, we would love to have as many families as possible come down to the class to help. (We will also still have some of our friends making up work from last week, if we have time)

Wednesday

Wednesday will be a day of singing! After you drop of your children in class, we would like to invite you up to Jason Lee to hear the Wednesday kids sing our Christmas songs from the winter concert. After the concert we will be coming back to class to have a quick circle if time, then heading over to Kindred to sing Christmas songs to the “Grandma's and Grandpa's”. Since we will not have a lot of time for projects, we will play our own “reindeer games” during the times we are in class, and continue working on our social skills.

Thursday and Friday

Thursday and Friday are our Bowling Alley field trips. We will be joining all of the other classes at Crosley Lanes Bowling Alley on December 19th and 20th at 9:30. We will be meeting at the Bowling Alley, please let us know if you need directions. The price is $2 per bowler. We hope that you all can join us, you are welcome to join us both days if you would like. We will have a sign up sheet to let us know who to expect each day.

Winter Break

We hope that you all enjoy your Winter Break, classes will resume January 6^th!

Word Wall

With our hectic schedule this week, and not exactly sure how all of our timing is going to work out each day, we have decided not to have word wall this week.

Important dates and events

December 17^th/18^th Winter Concert @ 9:30 (rescheduled time)

December 18^th Kindred 10:15

December 19^th/20^th Bowling Field Trip 9:30

December 23^rd-Jan. 3^Rd Winter Break

This weeks songs in the Star Class

We will be singing our Holiday Show Christmas songs and..

Classroom needs

Various Colors of Card Stock

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - Dec 9th

Star Class News

Week of December 9th

Winter Concerts

The winter concerts are here!!!! Our concert will be Tuesday, December 10th at 6:00. The doors will open at 5:30 so you can save your seat and then bring your child to our class by 5:45.

Gingerbread Trees

Instead of gingerbread houses, we have decided to do Gingerbread trees the week of December 16^th. We will be putting out a sign up sheet this week for items that you will need. Please feel free to stay and help us out on the 16^th and 17^th! We will be doing the Gingerbread trees right away and you are welcome to take them with you as they finish!

Bowling Alley Field Trip

This year we will be going to the Bowling Alley for our Holiday Celebration. We will be joining all of the other classes at Crosley Lanes Bowling Alley on December 19th and 20th during class time. The price is $2 per bowler. This is one of my favorite field trips. I hope that you all can join us! We will have a sign up sheet to let us know who to expect each day.

Book Fair

Check out the Book Fair in the Hidden Chapel behind Maria's office. This is a great way to help our school and get some Christmas shopping done! There are books for kids of all ages available to purchase and reasonable prices.

Bowling Alley Field Trip

This year we will be going to the Bowling Alley for our Holiday Celebration. We will be joining all of the other classes at Crosley Lanes Bowling Alley on December 19th and 20th during class time. The price is $2 per bowler. This is one of my favorite field trips. I hope that you all can join us! We will have a sign up sheet to let us know who to expect each day.

Food Drive

Little Acorn is participating in a holiday food drive now to the beginning of Christmas Break. If you would like to bring food to donate, we have a box outside of our class that will be emptied periodically. Tickets will be on sale until December 4^th and can NOT be purchased at the door.

This week in the Star Class

We can't believe that Christmas is only two weeks away! This week we are going to be talking about the sights and smells of the Holidays, creating Christmas trees, reindeers, candy canes, and finishing our Christmas presents. We hope to be sending home the gifts this week! We would also like to invite you to class this week if you have any holiday family traditions that you would like to share with use! In the past these have included a favorite holiday story, Reindeer food, and holiday treats.

Word Wall

This week we will be working on the letter M for Merry and Mint. Please have your child put the item they brought that starts with that letter in the Pelican before school.

Important dates and events

December 7^th-13^th Book Fair

December 10^th Tuition due @ Noon

December 10^th Winter Concert @ 6:00

December 18^th Kindred 10:15

December 19^th/20^th Bowling Field Trip 9:30

December 23^rd-Jan. 3^Rd Winter Break

This weeks songs in the Star Class

We will be singing our Holiday Show Christmas songs and..

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows

All of the other Reindeer, used to laugh and call him names

They never let poor Rudolf join in any Reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say,

“Rudolf, with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight.”

Then how the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with glee

Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, you'll go down in history.

Classroom needs

Various Colors of Card Stock

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - Dec 2nd

Star Class News

Week of December 2nd

We hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving break! We only have three weeks left until Christmas break and we are going to be busy for the next few weeks getting ready for the holidays!

Family Traditions

We love the holidays because of the family traditions that develop that make it so meaningful to each of us! We would like to invite you to come in the week of December 9^th to introduce some of your families holiday traditions. This could be a dish that your family makes around the holiday season, a favorite holiday book, or a craft or activity your family does together. If you have anything you would like to share with our class, please let Teacher Jo or Teacher Jaylene know and we can get you on the calender.

Food Drive

Little Acorn is participating in a holiday food drive now to the beginning of Christmas Break. If you would like to bring food to donate, we have a box outside of our class that will be emptied periodically. Tickets will be on sale until December 4^th and can NOT be purchased at the door.

Santa Breakfast

Please get your tickets Monday if you are planning to go! We have been informed that there is not a lot of interest yet, and the Santa Breakfast could be cancelled if we do not sell more tickets. Our Santa Breakfast which will be Saturday, December 7^th from 8:00-10:00. Tickets are $5.00 per person and includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, and milk or coffee. Feel free to invite grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, and friends. We could use volunteers for this event, all volunteer hours will go toward your 2 hours of volunteer time!

Winter Weather

We are in the winter weather mode and need to be aware of school closures. If the weather is looking questionable you can check the website, our Facebook page or sign up for the remind 101 from LAPS that will send you a text regarding closures. We will also be sending out an e-mail as soon as we hear of any closures.

February Fieldtrip Sign up

Please make sure you fill out our February Sign up even if you do not plan on attending, that way we don't pester you! February 12^th we are heading to NWCT to see Goodnight Moon. This year we are only going Wednesday, February 12^th, so everyone is invited to attend. The cost is $5.00 per person. After your child's name please let us know how many tickets you will need. Please remember our school policy is that the teachers do not transport or supervise the children during fieldtrips, so you will need at least one adult per family. We will start collecting the money after our Winter Break.

Winter Concert

Mark your calenders for Tuesday, December 10^th at 6:00. We will be putting on our Winter Concert with the Butterfly and Rainbow classes. We hope that everyone can come!

This week in the Star Class

This week we are keeping our projects quiet, as we work on our holiday surprises! We will not be putting out a lesson plan this week (it will be in class with us) or sending it to you so there is a chance you will be surprised when you open your gifts! It is hard enough for our little friends not to share what they are giving as gifts. We will also be heading up to the sanctuary every day this week to practice for our Winter Show everyday so we get used to singing with the other classes and staying on stage.

Word Wall

This week we will not be doing a letter for our word wall, but if your child would like to bring in something we can attempt to find a word that rhymes!

Important dates and events

December 2^nd Tuition Due

December 4^th Ticket sales end for Santa Breakfast

December 7^th Breakfast with Santa 8:00-10:00

December 7^th-13^th Book Fair

December 10^th Tuition due @ Noon

December 10^th Winter Concert @ 6:00

December 18^th Kindred 10:15

December 19^th/20^th Bowling Field Trip 9:30

December 23^rd-Jan. 3^Rd Winter Break

This weeks songs in the Star Class

We are still working on our Christmas songs for our Winter Concert! If you hear them at home, we know it is a little early but in order to have at least some of the kids sing at the Winter Concert we need to start singing them now. We won't put them in the newsletter so you can be somewhat surprised at the concert.

Classroom needs

Various Colors of Card Stock

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books