We Are "Fall"-ing Into Place!
As I walked through the halls this morning I noticed all the colour appearing on our bulletin boards! Preschool is officially "up and running" when we see the artwork starting to appear around the school. Take a walk around and check them all out!
Get excited when you ask your child about their artwork they bring home. Ask open ended questions like "Wow! Look at all those colours! Which are the colours you like best?" or "You've done a lot of work on this picture. Tell me about it. What part did you paint first?". Start a discussion. If you ask yes or no questions, you will usually only get a yes or no answer.
*TIP: After you have showcased your child's art at home by hanging it on the refrigerator (or wherever it is you hang it), take a photo of it, and put the photo into an Art Album. Saving all your child's artwork takes up a lot of space (I have 3 suitcases full of my boys' artwork and they are 24 and 20 years old!!). An Art Album takes up much less space and your child will have a wonderful keepsake.
Look What Happened at Preschool Last Month:
DISCOVERY TWOS (Class 201 & 202)
Our youngest members of St.Catherine's Preschool are beginning to settle in nicely to the program. Most are happy to stretch their boundaries. A few still need a little more time to feel secure with Mom and Dad leaving. Such is the nature of two year olds. Often this is their first experience away from family. They love to explore their surroundings, but need to still stay close to their primary base of support and trust. Separation anxiety is quite strong at this stage, but often it is only the "good-bye" that is difficult. For this reason we encourage you to make your "good-byes" short and reassuring.
We setup the rooms in a way that facilitates exploration and
discovery through play. A great deal of time is spent exploring, pushing,
pulling,filling, dumping and touching. Toddlers feel secure in
environments that are familiar and for this reason you may see the same toys
and equipment out for several weeks. What we will do is present these
familiar toys in different setups (e.g adding a set of wooden blocks to the
cars and garage.
Two's love painting, splashing in the water table, housekeeping,
singing and dancing at circle time. Although play tends to be more
solitary, they enjoy being in each other's company, playing side by side. We
are still waiting for a few more family photos. Children love to look at
these pictures especially if they are missing mom or dad. Please
encourage your child to walk up and down the stairs holding onto the railing
when being brought to or leaving the preschool.
Check the white board outside the classroom for a synopsis of our
day and please feel free to talk to us if you have any questions or concerns.
We look forward to an exciting year- a year of tremendous growth
in confidence and abilities. We hope that this first group experience
will be an enjoyable and memorable one for both you and your child.
Vibha, Danielle, Arsi, Marion, Susan & Stephanie
Class 301:
The children are beginning to adjust well to the classroom rules, the daily routines and to their friends and teachers.We spent time practicing each other's names by playing games and singing name songs at circle time. We had stories on families, talked about seasonal changes and Autumn, did art with leaves, and introduced the children to the wonders of shaking tons of sparkles on massive layers of glue!
We will continue with Fall explorations, then moving right into magical Halloween stories, rhymes and 'spooky' art projects.
Class 302:
A warm welcome to our returning and new St. Catherine's families!Our first month of preschool found us very busy making new friendships and renewing old ones. Through name games and songs we have become acquainted with each other at circle time. We have been learning about ourselves through stories, songs and rhymes to help build confidence, independence and a positive attitude towards each other.
We also explored the sights and smells of fall by viewing leaves that change colour, looking at a giant sunflower, sorting acorns and chestnuts, creating art pieces with bright paints.We were both very happy and amazed to witness a very relaxed, calm, upbeat conversation between the children sharing stories on unicorns and rainbows as they all had their expert opinions on the subjects while having snack. We are so fortunate to be with this group of little people!
We will focus on Autumn and Thanksgiving in the upcoming week
before moving on to the well loved Halloween theme filled with pumpkins, cats,
witches and other magical creatures.
Karen and Gabi
Class 304:
It has been a very busy first
month. Gradual entry was a success. The children have settled in very nicely
into the classroom. They are getting familiar with the routine and getting to
know the children in the classroom.
For the first month we focused on
talking about friends. We talked about how we play with our friends at
preschool and what it means to be a good friend. We also talked about our rule
at preschool which is no one gets hurt. At circle we read stories and sang
songs about friendship. For art we painted friendship links, worked together as
a class to make a hand print collage, and painted fall leaves.
Next month we will be exploring
thanksgiving and Halloween.
Stephanie and Gabi
Class 401:
September seemed to zoom by so
quickly. It was a great month getting to know all of the children and
familiarizing them with the daily routine at preschool. It was nice seeing the
familiar faces and the new faces as they walked into the classroom. We are getting
to know the children better as the days go on and they are getting to know the
other children in the classroom.
For the first month we talked
about our one rule at preschool which is no one gets hurt. We made a poster
with out hand prints on it so that we could have it up in our classroom to
remind us of the rule.
Then we talked about our families
and learned more about each person in the classroom. For art we made self
portraits and drew the people in our families.
One week we focused on Johnny
Appleseed. We talked about who he is and why we sing his song at grace. We
decorated apples at the art table and one day the children helped cut some
apples to make applesauce.
We also talked about Echo, our Orca Whale that we adopted from the Vancouver aquarium. Each week one child
will have a turn to take him home.
Next month will be all about
thanksgiving and Halloween.
Stephanie and Susan
Class 402:
What a great start
to the beginning of the new preschool year. It was awesome to
meet some new faces and welcome back
some familiar ones. Everyone has settled in quickly.
We spent the first few weeks getting
reacquainted with each other and our number one rule – No One Gets
Hurt. We read the book “Swimmy” by Leo Lionni and learnt how to work as a
team, working together. We used a mixture of colours and shapes to make
our ‘own members of the team`. We also spent some time talking about sharing
with our friends and learning our friend’s names.
We explored “Me, Myself
and I” and it was interesting to see how the children pictured
themselves. We used felts to make our own self portraits and then
decorated ‘ourselves’ with materials and hair.
We also draw our own family in our own houses. We read stories “I like
Myself" & "Families are Different”. We played lots of games so we
can also learn our friend’s names.
Last week we looked into
the story of ‘Goldilocks and the 3 Bears’.
We read the story, listen to a felt story, watched a movie, and listen
to many different adaptions of the story. For example, “Goldie Rocks,
Tackilocks, Afrotina and the 3 Bears and A New Chair for Baby Bear”. We then matched small, medium and large
bears, cut out our own bowls and decorated it with porridge and of course we
made ‘oatmeal muffins’. Yum.
We have a fun October
planned and are looking forward to having some more fun. If you have any questions, please feel free
to ask us. We also want to remind you to
pack and extra set of clothes as sometimes we do get messy. We look forward to the year ahead. Danielle, Arsi & Sousan.
Class 403:
Wow we can't believe how quickly
September passed us by. It was a busy first month with gradual entry. It went
very smoothly and the children have settled in now with the daily routine. They
are all getting to know the other children in the class and the teachers.
For the first month we talked
about our one rule at preschool which is no one gets hurt. We made a poster
with out hand prints on it so that we could have it up in our classroom to
remind us of the rule.
Then we talked about friendship.
We talked about how to be a good friend at circle time and what that looks like
in the classroom. For art we worked together and did a lot of collaborative
pieces.
One week we focused on Johnny
Appleseed. We talked about who he is and why we sing his song at grace. We
decorated apples at the art table and one day the children helped cut some
apples to make applesauce.
We also talked about Echo, our Orca Whale that we adopted from the Vancouver Aquarium. Each week one child
will have a turn to take him home.
Next month will be all about Thanksgiving and Halloween.
Stephanie, Estelle, Gabi, Karen,
and Sousan
From The Resource Office:
Welcome everyone to a new school year. I have been
visiting all the classrooms and helping with gradual entry. Over the
years I have found that when dropping off your child a quick hug and kiss
goodbye is the best way and although they may start to cry it is usually short
lived as children “live in the moment”. They can be easily distracted by
a toy or a song and then are ready to play.
The 2s are settling into
their little routines: lining up, going upstairs to the playground/gym, washing
hands, having snack and sitting at circle time. They love to sit on their
little mats and sing songs and listen to short stories. They will be
working on their verbal and social skills throughout the year.
The 3s
will be working on their fine motor skills (pincher grasp, cutting with
scissors, Lego, puzzles, etc.) and their gross motor skills (riding bikes,
running and climbing).
The 4s will be developing their literacy skills
through chants, rhymes and sequencing games and their numeracy skills through
matching and sorting games.
If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s
development please talk with the teachers or come by my office to chat.
There are some very good resources in our Parent Resource Library.
Marion
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Fri. October 7th - Scholastic Orders Due
Mon. October 10th - Thanksgiving: No Preschool
Sun. October 16th - Messy Harvest
Fri. October 21st - Elmer The Safety Elephant
Thu. October 27th - Halloween Party (202/302)
Fri. October 28th - Halloween Party (402/304)
Mon. October 31st - Halloween Party (201/301/401/403)
Don't forget to stop by Cobs Breads in the Village and mention our preschool before they ring you up! We get 5% of all sales!!
Tina Spencer, Director
St. Catherine's Childcare Society
Tina Spencer, Director
St. Catherine's Childcare Society
