November 2017

NOVEMBrrrrrrr!                                              

And just like that it feels like Winter! Pretty soon we will be seeing snowflakes falling instead of the Autumn leaves falling! 

We have many things coming up that you all need to hear about!

 PIZZA NIGHT: Wed., Nov. 15th - 5:30pm

You should have received your pizza order form by now (copies in the office). 

Please fill it out promptly and return it to the office before Friday, Nov. 10th. It's a great night to come out and have a good meal and meet your children's friends and their families.

PURDY'S CHOCOLATE! 

You should have received your emailed link to order online some great Christmas chocolate for our annual fundraiser! We also have paper copies if you prefer to write a cheque. And please! Don't forget to send the link to your friends and family!! 
Order deadline is Nov. 24th. 

Important Dates:

Nov. 13 - Remembrance Day (Preschool Closed)

Nov. 15 - Pizza Night & Cake Walk- 5:30pm

Dec 12/13 - Christmas Services (3s/4s) - 6pm

Dec 20-22 - Children's Christmas Parties

Dec 22 - Last Day Before Christmas Break

Jan 8 - First Day Back to Preschool

YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENED IN CLASS THIS PAST MONTH...!!

Discovery Twos - Arsi, Danielle, Vibha, Susan

What a fun month this has been! We have been busy learning about fall and getting ready for our Halloween party! So much to do!

October is always a great month to explore leaves and the season of Autumn. We had such a great time exploring leaves in the water table. The children were able to touch and see the leaves close up. We even looked at some gourds and squashes close up and felt how some were bumpy or smooth.

We then took our adventures into Halloween! Our house corner transformed into a costume corner where the children could dress up and use their imagination! We also made fun art such as salad spinner sparkly bats, eight legged creepy spiders, and puffy paint ghosts! 

During circle time, the children listened to songs about scarecrows, owls, bats and our favourite five little pumpkins sitting on a gate!

We had a great time at our Halloween party! The children enjoyed coming in their PJ’s! Oh so comfy! We’d like to thank the parents who brought the party food this time!

We’d like to remind parents as the weather is getting chillier, please make sure the children have nice warm jackets as we do go outside when it’s not raining. Even on our sunny days, our yard is very shaded and tends to be cold! 

In our upcoming month, we will be looking at some classic nursery rhymes! How fun!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask a teacher!

301 - Estelle & Susan

Hello everyone!

October has been a busy month, first we prepared for Thanksgiving. We talked about what we are thankful for such as family, friends and toys. We also made paper bag turkeys and a pine cone centerpiece.

Next we got ready for Halloween and we made ghosts, spiders, pumpkins and spooky sponge prints. We learned some pumpkin rhymes and songs such as If You're a Monster and You Know It  and 5 Little Pumpkins.

We learned about fire safety with Fireman Dan and practiced techniques such as Stop! Drop! And Roll! and crawling low under pretend smoke.

The children have settled nicely into the program and routine. They are lining up to go to the gym and music class with ease and they are attentive and engaged at circle time.

The children are enjoying music class with Rachel and love the songs and games she is teaching them.

A few reminders:

For newly toilet trained children, please send in wearing sweat or legging type pants for easier and quicker undressing (Some children wait until the last minute).

Please remove lunch kits and water bottles in the morning and put in the top cubbyhole for easier access at snack time.

302 - Karen, Sousan, Brita & Aleysha

Leaves are falling.

Leaves are falling to the ground without a sound.

Days are getting shorter.

Nights are growing longer.

Fall is here. Fall is here.

This month we talked about Thanksgiving and what the children were thankful for. We are happy to let you know that they all said Mom and Dad.

For art the children made turkeys out of coffee filters, diffusing them with fall colours.

We also made a wreath out of fall coloured leaves and we used water colours to diffuse the leaves.

We also had a visit from Elmer the Safety Elephant talking about road safety.

On to Halloween. We decorated the room with webs and pumpkins.We brought out Halloween puzzles, costumes in the home corner and Halloween books.

At the art table we made spiders, spider webs, stamping shapes of bats, pumpkins and ghosts with paint and made ghosts with cotton balls.

At circle we shared the felt stories 5 Little Pumpkins, Room on a Broom, sang a trick or treat song and the children told us what they were going to be for Halloween.

Our Halloween party was a great success and we loved to see all the children in their costumes!

Thank you to all the parents who contributed snacks!

We are getting into colder weather and we will continue to go outside if the days are sunny. Please bring mittens, toques and warm jackets so your child will be comfortable outside.

November is here and we will be talking about Remembrance Day and hibernation.

Don’t forget to get your form in for our annual Pizza Night and Cake Walk on November 15th!

401 - Karen & Rosie

Autumn winds begin to blow, coloured leaves fall fast and slow.

Whirling, twirling all around, till at last they touch the ground.

During the week of Thanksgiving we asked the children what they were thankful for and we wrote their answers down and posted them on the door. The general consensus was family. ❤️ For art we displayed gourds and asked the children to draw them and we certainly have some very talented artists! The children really enjoyed the edible art-pumpkin tarts.

We jumped into fall activities bringing in an assortment of leaves to our water table along with chestnuts and pine cones.

Keeping up with the Leaves theme, we used a variety of Fall water colours to use on leaf shape diffusing paper and the combinations of colours looked amazing!

We had a visit from Elmer the Safety Elephant. The children learned about road safety. Also, we watched a video featuring Fireman Dan teaching the children about what to do in case of a fire and how to Stop! Drop! And Roll!

The last 2 weeks of October we focused on Halloween. We read stories about 10 Little Ghosts, Room on a Broom, 13 Days of Halloween and many more.

For art we made paper plate spiders, glittery webs, mummies, decorated bats and pumpkin sugar cookies.

Our Halloween party was a great success and thank you all for the yummy snacks!

Next month we will be introducing our adopted whale Echo. Each child will get a weekend to spend with Echo and share their adventures on Monday during our circle.

Please be sure to join us for the Pizza and Cake Walk night on November 15th!

402 - Arsi, Danielle & Rosie

What a Great October we had!! It was full of such awesome learning opportunities.

We explored the meaning of Thanksgiving. We decorated our own turkeys and had fun with our families ‘hiding’ Tom the Turkey. We read 5 Turkeys and There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie.  We also played What Time Is It Mr. Turkey? and The Thankful Game.

We moved onto discovering Autumn – we had real leaves in the water table to feel and see.  We learned the reason why leaves change colours.  We used real leaves to make prints and watched coloured water diffuse on special paper to make our own fall leaves. We weighed pine cones & chestnuts to work out which ones were heavier.

Then it was time for ‘Spooky Halloween’.  We cut, carved & decorated pumpkins.  We cut out curly tails for our Ghosts.  We used cotton buds to make our own skeletons and we played Stick the Heart on the Skeleton. We added legs to our spiders and spun our own web.  Lastly, we make our own witches that we could hang.

We finished the month with our Halloween party.  Thanks to those who brought in treats.  We also went for a visit to Amica Senior's Home in the village to ‘Trick or Treat’.

We’d like to remind parents that as the weather is getting chillier, please make sure the children have nice warm jackets to wear as we do go outside when it’s not raining. Even on our sunny days, our yard is very shaded and tends to be cold! 

Also, please remember to pack and extra change of clothes.  Accidents do happen and it is always less stressful if we have our own clothes to put back on. 

Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

403 - Estelle & Sousan

Hello everyone! We had a new student that joined the class at the beginning of October: Welcome Benjamin!

This month we talked about Thanksgiving and Halloween. For Thanksgiving, we talked about what we are thankful for such as family and friends. The children made pine cone turkeys and drew pictures of what they were thankful for.

For Halloween we made different decorations such as scarecrows, pumpkins, paper bag witches, Frankenstein's monsters and bats. We also learned the purpose of a scarecrow and some Halloween songs and rhymes.

The children have settled nicely into the routine and play nicely together. They especially enjoy dressing up and pretend play in our home corner. The train table has also been popular with some children.

Some expectations we have for our class is that we walk inside, use our inside voices and we sit and listen at circle and give our friends space on the circle carpet. These expectations come back to our class rule “No one gets hurt”. We also teach the children that we share the building with other programs such as music classes and senior's activities and therefore we need to be respectful when in the hallways, by walking slowly and talking in quiet voices. Thank you for reminding your children of these expectations.

Music - Rachel

Music class in October was spent singing songs about turkeys, falling leaves, and Halloween characters. 

We played lots of holiday themed music games, and learned about the Rhythm Family (Big Daddy Whole Note, Mama Half Note, Big Brother Quarter Note, and Little Sister Eighth Note). We also drew Autumn inspired pictures while listening to the Autumn Movement of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons composition. 

Now it’s full speed ahead for Christmas! The month of November will be spent preparing for our Christmas Services on December 12th and 13th. 

The Resource Office - Marion

I have been spending time in each of the classes and everyone is settling into the daily routine.

Some developmental milestones to be aware of in the 2s:

• They can jump, run and climb stairs
• are starting to use 3-4 word sentences
• often do the opposite of what’s asked
• learn about rules but are not able to remember them all the time
• show affection by returning a hug or kiss
• like to pretend play

Families can help:

• by reading stories and asking questions
• talking about the things they are doing and seeing
• being calm and comforting after a temper outbursts
• being consistent with what they can and cannot do
• offering lots of choices

Some developmental milestones to be aware of in the 3s:

• being toilet trained during the day, usually dry during the night
• using 8-9 word sentences
• pedal a trike and kick a ball
• sometimes express feeling with words
• use imagination to create stories & play activities
• longer attention span

Families can help:

• going to community activities
• giving them small chores to do around the house
• model when to say please, thank you and sorry
• can put away toys with some help
• schedule appointments for teeth, hearing and eyes

Some developmental milestones to be aware of in the 4s

• like to play make believe
• ask questions
• can dress themselves with some assistance
• share and take turns but can be possessive of favorite toys
• starting to understand danger

Families can help:

• let them make meaningful choices every day
• give them crayons and markers so that they can practice drawing
• pay attention to them when they are talking
• give them opportunities to play with other children. 

No two children develop, grow or learn in the same way or do things at the same pace.