Newsletter - February 17th

Star Class News

Week of February 17th

Thank you to all of the families that made it to our Good Night Moon Field trip. We had fun seeing so many of our friends there. We hope you enjoyed it! We also want to thank everyone for the goodies provided for our Valentines party. With short notice, we were able to have a wonderful lunch with pizza, fruit, crackers, and treats to go along with our movie.

Donations Needed

We are currently seeking donations for the Auction. We are in need of items for both Silent and Live Auction. If you have anything you would like to donate or know someone with a business who would like to donate items or service we would love to accept them. We would also be very happy to provide a receipt for tax purposes. Thanks for your support.

Save the Date

Mark your calendars for our Annual Dinner Auction to be held Saturday, March 29, 2014

from 5:00 – 8:00 in Jason Lee Hall. Limited childcare will be available for preschool aged children during this event. Early bird tickets will go on sale March 3rd. Additional details will be available next month.

Registration for Next year

Registration has begun for 2014-2015. If you haven't had a chance to register, stop by Maria's office to get a spot!

This week

This week we are going to be working on one of our class auction projects, catch up on some of the work we like to do monthly (since we are behind with all of the missing days) and start our Mo Willems unit. Mo Willems has written some of our favorite books, this week we will be learning about two of his famous characters Knufflebunny (a beloved stuff animal that gets lost) and Pigeon (trying to get stuff he wants). Next week we will be continuing our Mo Willems unit with other great characters Elephant and Piggie.

Word Wall

This week we will be introducing the letter Oo for Octopus and Olives. Please have your child bring in items that start with the letter and put them in the pelican so we can share them at the end of the day.

Important dates and events

February 19^th – Kindred @ 10:15

February 28^th - Family Fun Night 5:30 – 7:00

March 3^rd – Tuition Due

March 3^rd – Early Bird Ticket sales for Auction Begin

March 9^th – Daylight Savings Time Begins

March 10^th – Tuition grace period ends at NOON

March 14^th – Early Bird ticket sales for Auction - END

March 17^th - Early Release @ 11:30 for Paddy Hough Parade @ 12:30
March 20^th – Kindred @ 10:15

March 21^st - Auction Tickets Sales END

March 24^th–28^th - Silent Auction for student made items

March 29^th - Annual Dinner Auction 5:00 – 8:00

This weeks songs in the Star Class

We will be singing our favorite songs from the year. Children will get to pick the songs they would like to sing.

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - February 10th

Star Class News

Week of February 10th

We hope that everyone was able to get out and enjoy the snow and stay safe! Teacher Jo spent the weekend wrapped up in her blanket looking out while her kids spent many hours in the snow sledding. Luckily it looks like the snow is melting, so we can get back to school. Remember if there is a 2 hour late start for Vancouver School District, we will not be at school. Unless they have to shut down the theater for weather concerns, we will be meeting for our field trip Wednesday regardless of what Vancouver School District is doing.

Good Night Moon Field Trip

Our field trip is Wednesday this week! There will be no class on this day. We will meet at the theater around 9:15, the performance begins at 9:15. It might be a good idea to carpool with another family to help with the parking situation.

Valentines Party

We are going to have a Pajama Party to celebrate Valentines Day on Thursday and Friday.

or our Valentines Day celebrations, we will be having a Pajama Party to celebrate Good Night Moon on Thursday and Friday after our field trip play! Since I wont be able to have families sign up for goodies. Teacher Jo will be picking up a special treat for the kids, if you want to help donate just let us know. We will not be having an official party, but we will be creating Good Night crafts, snuggling in for a small video, and handing out valentine cards. We have found at this age it is easiest to leave off the names of the other kids, but those that are ready can practice writing their own names over and over! We have 10 kids that come on Thursday, 11 kids that come on Friday or 16 kids total in the Star Class. You can decide how many valentines you want your child to bring in.

Registration for Next year

Registration has begun for 2014-2015. If you haven't had a chance to register, stop by Maria's office to get a spot!

This week

This week we are going to be learning through Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. We will be sorting mittens, saying good night to our favorite things, and having a Pajama Party on Thursday and Friday.

Word Wall

Due to the play and unknown number of days....we will NOT be having word wall this week. If your child would like to bring in something to share that they say Good night too, they are welcome to bring it in and put it in the Pelican.

Important dates and events

February 10^th – Tuition grace period ends at noon

February 12^th – NWCT play “Goodnight Moon”

February 13^th – PJ Party and Valentines day

February 14^th – PJ Party and Valentines day

February 17^th – Presidents Day – No School

This weeks songs in the Star Class

Good Night

Good Night (childs name/object), Good Night (Child's name/object)

Good Night (child's name/object)

It's time to say Good Night

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - Feb. 3rd

Star Class News

Week of February 3rd

Sorry to send this out so late tonight! The Superbowl game had me a little distracted. Way to go Seahawks!!!

Good Night Moon Field Trip

Our field trip is next week! We have some families that are interested in carpools. This may be a good idea, since there is not a lot of parking near the theater. Please let us know if you would be interested in carpooling and we can see if we can arrange something.

Portfolios

Clare's family has graciously donated new binders for us so that we can fit more of the children's work in their portfolios. They have also offered to help us transfer the work we have already added on Wednesday during class time. If anyone can help out, please feel free to stay. We will set up a work area in the kindergarten class. Thank you Mitchell family!

Registration for Next year

Registration for 2014-2015 is this Wednesday for In-House Registration beginning at 9:15 in JLH and Open Registration will be held on Feb 7^th.

Valentines Day Celebrations

For our Valentines Day celebrations, we will be having a Pajama Party to celebrate Good Night Moon on Thursday and Friday after our field trip play! We will not behaving an official party, but we will be creating Good Night crafts, snuggling in for a small video, and handing out valentine cards. We have found at this age it is easiest to leave off the names of the other kids, but those that are ready can practice writing their own names over and over! We have 10 kids that come on Thursday, 11 kids that come on Friday or 16 kids total in the Star Class. You can decide how many valentines you want your child to bring in.

This week

This week we will talking about the author of Pete the Cat, Eric Litwin. We have enjoyed talking care of Pete the Cat in our class (several of our friends have dressed him up and made sure to take him to the doctor). Now we get to create projects around him, talk about our favorite shoe colors, count his buttons, and help him share his magic sunglasses while we create our own!

Word Wall

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

Important dates and events

February 3^rd – Tuition Due

February 5^th – In House Registration begins at 9:15

February 7^th – Open Registration begins at 9:15

February 10^th – Tuition grace period ends at noon

February 12^th – NWCT play “Goodnight Moon” at 9:30

February 13^th – PJ Party and Valentines day

February 14^th – PJ Party and Valentines day

February 17^th – Presidents Day – No School

This weeks songs in the Star Class

Check out http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/ for the songs and stories of Pete the Cat!

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

Newsletter - January 27th

Star Class News

Week of January 27th

As I was sitting down to write this newsletter, I noticed some pretty funny grammatical errors I made last week. Feel free to give me a hard time when you notice them. I sometimes have to write with a few distractions at my house, and don't proof read as well as I should. This week we will have a friendly fire fighter visit on January 27^th and 28^th. Scott, a dad in the Rainbow room, will be here with all of his gear to talk to classes. This will be a great time to practice being a good audience and learn about fire safety.

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. All money is due this week. Please give the money to Teacher Jo or Teacher Jaylene so they can check you off as paid.

Family Fun Night

Our Family Fun Night is this week. 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.

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 can 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 Karen Beaumont, who has written several fun books including Move Over Rover, I ain't gonna paint no More, and Who Ate all the Cookie Dough. Through her characters, we can learn about spacial awareness, honesty, and self control. Monday and Tuesday, we get to paint (hopefully on paper) although we will be finger paining a little as well, then heading to hesseltine to see the firefighters. Wednesday we will create our own dog houses, and talking about who gets to be in and out. Thursday and Friday we will get to make cookies, creating cookie cutter art, and play with “cookie dough play dough”.

Word Wall

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

Important dates and events

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

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar (Song with game)

Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
[Teacher Jaylene] took the cookie from the cookie jar.
Who me? [Student points to herself.]
Yes, you! [Students nod their heads "yes" and point at the student.]
Not me! [Student shakes her head "no."]
Then who? [Everyone shrugs their shoulders.]

Keep going around the group

Classroom needs

Wipes

Glue Sticks

Pictures if not in yet -

Cubby picture

 All About Me books

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