Wow!! December already?? How did that happen so fast??
We are almost done 2018 and 2019 is not far off! But first...we have a JAM PACKED few weeks with special art projects, our Christmas Services, a bit of collecting for those less fortunate and maybe even some caroling in the Village!!
UPCOMING EVENTS & DUE DATES
Dec. 12 - Christmas Service - 6 pm - 301, 401, 403
Dec. 13 - Christmas Service - 6 pm - 302/404, 402, 304
Dec. 19 - Children's Christmas Party - 201
Dec. 20 - Children's Christmas Party - 202, 302/404, 304
Dec. 21 - Children's Christmas Party - 301, 401, 402, 403
Dec. 21 - LAST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
Jan. 7 - FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
Jan. - Registration 2019/20 (Enrolled Families)
Feb. 1 - Registration 2019/20 (Community Families)
Feb. 18 - FAMILY DAY - PRESCHOOL CLOSED
CAUTION - We are in the season of INFLUENZA and although it may be a minor inconvenience to some, it can mean a HOSPITAL STAY or worse for others.
Please keep your sick children at home. If your child seems unusually cranky or tired in the morning, they may be coming down with something!! And this is the time they are most communicable! Please err on the side of caution and let's keep the GI illnesses down to a minimum! (More than 2 cases of vomiting and diarrhea in the same class and we have to contact the Health Inspector!) Check the bulletins boards for our Health Policy.
THE TEACHERS HAVE SOMETHING THEY WANT TO SHOW YOU....LOOK BELOW FOR YOUR CHILD'S CLASS. Also, check out what Tiffany (Music) and Marion have to say...
Discovery Twos - Brita, Danielle, Vibha
November has been a very busy and exciting month in the
2’s! We spent two weeks exploring the world of transportation and two weeks
learning about bears and hibernation!
For the two weeks of transportation, the children learned
about how we move through the world by buses, cars, planes, sailboats, trains,
and hot air balloons! Each centre in the room was setup to experiment with the
different modes of transportation. During art, we created tractor prints with
wheels, sponge painted buses, roller painted planes, and using collage to decorate
hot air balloons and paper sailboats. At circle time, the children learned
about the different modes of transportation through songs, pictures, poems, and
books. They loved the books and songs “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Down by the
Station”.
For the last two weeks of November, the children explored
the world of bears and hibernation. At circle time, we discussed what bears do
before they hibernate, IE. eat a lot, and what hibernation means. We used
pictures, songs, felt board stories, rhymes, and memory games to explore
hibernation and bears. The children loved the story “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
What do you see?”.
During art, we painted grizzly and black bears, and roller
painted a cave. In the housekeeping corner, we created a bear cave by setting up
a tent and placing bear stuffed animals and rugs inside. The children loved it!
The entire room was setup to reflect bears and hibernation. It was so much fun!
We wish you all a magical holiday and a Happy New Year!
We look forward to seeing you in the new year!
Please note that it is a great time for toilet training
the week after Christmas. The holiday rush and excitement is over so the
children can focus on the task.
301 - Carol, Susan
Hello Everyone,
November in the Treehouse Room started with a sigh of
relief from Carol when Susan DID return from her honeymoon in Hawaii! And of
course she hit the ground running. In the few days after Halloween, we
discussed fire safety with the children and did paintings of fireworks.
We then had a display for Remembrance Day, including talk
about what it means to Canadians and a poppy craft to take home.
We have enjoyed two weeks covering a Transportation
theme, including, among other things, every vehicle we could think of: sailboats, trains and tracks, rocket ships, school buses, traffic lights and
signals. A large number of these resulted in crafts decorating the boards in
our hallway.
Music with Tiffany continues on Wednesdays and is always
popular.
The last week of November saw us planning and starting
some Christmas preparations and rehearsals.....most of which are Top Secret,
until closer to the 25th.
We have managed to continue playing outside for many more
days than we usually expect at this time of year, but whether outside or in the
gym, we all get time to run, jump, balance, ride, and slide with our friends
everyday.
Things are getting busier and very exciting for all of
us, so our times at circle, singing, looking at books and listening to stories
is a welcome quieter time in our day at preschool.
Things may seem
busy at "home time", but we are always happy to answer your
questions or to catch up with you then or at the start of the day.
We look forward to seeing you all (and extended family
and friends) at the Christmas Service in December.
302/404 - Karen, Susan, Carol
For the month of November we talked about transportation.
So many ways to go from here to there! For art we made hot air balloons,
trains, paper airplanes, school buses, paint stamping with foam and cookie
cutter shapes. Last but not least painting with trucks through brown paint and
coffee grounds to give the effect of dirt. That one was a little messy but it
sure did smell nice.
Transportation comes in many forms so we had a lot to
talk about! We brought out all our books about cars, trucks, bikes, planes,
trains, hot air balloons etc. We played felt board games about where you would
find each form of transportation: in the air, ocean or ground.
Around the room
we put out different toys for children to create from. By manipulating Lego to
connecting straws, so many creative things were built.
I hope everyone had a chance to see the airport/plane
that we made in the home corner. The children enjoyed playing at the computers
with screens, using our rotary phone, looking for places to go on the maps,
handing out tickets and preparing the food to serve the passengers.
We also talked about Remembrance Day and made paper
poppies.
Thank you for coming out to support our annual pizza
night!
December is here we are already getting a head start on a
Christmas surprise for you! We have a very busy month and only a few more classes
to get in all done in. We are having our Christmas party on Thursday December
20th and we will have a sign up sheet for parents to contribute to, thank you.
Please let us know if your child will be absent so we are
able to plan accordingly. Our wonderful music teacher Tiffany is also preparing
songs for our Christmas service, you may hear your children continuing these at
home.
As the weather gets colder we will have more gym days but
when the sun is out we still like to try and get outside. Please always make
sure your child has the appropriate clothing for the cold temperatures.
Let December begin.
401 - Arsi, Karen, Vibha, Lisa
November was a fun filled month with lots to learn! We started the month with discussions about
Remembrance Day. We talked about why we
wear poppies and to remember all the people who help keep us safe.
Our next exciting topic was “Have you filled a bucket
today? We talked about how everyone has
an invisible bucket that they carry and throughout the day, they must try doing
good things to fill their buckets. For
example helping clean up, sharing a toy and helping a friend. We will be continuing bucket filling
throughout the school year and we strongly encourage parents to do so at home
as well.
Our next adventure led us to our adopted orca whale named
“Echo”. Each child will get to take Echo
home for the weekend and bring him back on Monday and tell us all about Echo’s
adventures with them. All our friends at
school look forward to hearing about his weekend.
From there to here,
And here to there
Funny things are everywhere
Yes, our next exciting topic was Dr. Seuss. Our children jumped right in to many stories
of Dr. Seuss and enjoyed playing with rhyming words.
Here are few of our favourite Dr. Seuss books:
-Green Eggs and Ham
-Ten Apples up on the top
-Cat in the Hat
-Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
-One fish, Two fish
This is what we learned from Dr. Seuss.
The more that you READ the more things you will KNOW.
The more that you LEARN the more places you’ll GO.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please
do not hesitate to ask.
402 - Arsi, Danielle
November has sure been a busy
month!
We started the month with the grooviest cat around named Pete! The
children loved the stories and the songs that accompanied them! We read “I Love
my White Shoes,” “My Groovy Button,” “The New Guy” & “Rockin’ My School Shoes.”
For art, the children used various shapes like rectangles, triangles,
semi-circles to make Pete and added colorful shoes to his feet. They also used
their fine motor skills to cut out Pete’s shirt and glue on his groovy buttons!
Our
look into Diwali, which is the Festival of Lights, in India was amazing! We
learned that it’s a big celebration that brings families together all over the
world! The children practiced saying “Namaste” which means hello and “Shanti”
which means peace.
We looked at books that showed us the beautiful and colorful
art form of rangoli in which patterns are created on the floor using materials
such as colored rice, dry flour, colored sand or rose petals. The children also
had a chance to make their own diyas for art which are oil lamps that are
used to decorate houses during the festival. We even played freeze dance while
we listened to Diwali songs!
Our next topic was one that will continue
throughout the school year! We read the book “Have You Filled A Bucket Today?”
We talked about how bucket filling means saying and doing nice things for
friends and family such as sharing or helping at home. We also learned that
everyone has an invisible bucket that they carry around and throughout the day
depending on what they say and do, they fill or dip into their bucket!
Furthermore, we learned that bucket dipping hurts our friends and families.
Bucket dippers are people who don’t share or say things that are hurtful. We
decided as a class we are going to do our best to be bucket fillers and fill
our classroom jar! (Once it’s full of our bucking filling hearts, the class
will get a surprise….Ssshhh!)
For Remembrance Day, we read a book called “A
Poppy to Remember” and the rhyme “Five Brave Soldiers.” We discussed how long
time ago men and women had to go far from home to help bring peace and safety
to Canada.
Moreover, we talked about how we remember the brave men and women who
weren’t able to come back home from war by wearing red poppies. For art, the children
traced, cut out, and decorated a poppy.
All
the children were super excited when we introduced Echo. Echo is our real
adopted whale that is part of pod A55. Since he’s happier swimming in the
ocean, the children take turns taking Echo, our class stuffy, home for a
weekend! It’s a great way for them to share their adventures with Echo with
their friends at circle time. We are excited to see all your pictures,
drawings, or mini stories in the coming weeks!
This led to our week of sea life
where we read the story ``Orca`s song,’ ‘There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout,’ and ‘Fidgety Fish.’.
For art, the children used their hand-eye
coordination to cut out big and small circles to glue onto Echo’s whale
shape and we also marble painted a trout. And we cut out a large circle and used
various shapes to make a walrus. It was a fun week exploring sea life!
Our
last two weeks of November, took us back to the classic fairy tales such as
‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears,’ ‘Little Red Riding Hood,’ ‘Sleeping
Beauty,’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs.’
We first started with
Goldilocks and learned the story very well. We acted out the story using masks
and the children knew the lines of the characters! They enjoyed the repetition
of the story and even related to Goldilocks bucket dipping by eating the
porridge, breaking the chair, and sleeping in Baby Bear's bed without asking!
We
also looked at other variations to this story called ‘Tackylocks and the Three
Bears,’ ‘Goldi Rocks & the Three Bears,’ and even ‘Goldilocks and the One
Bear.’ We were able to compare and contrast between the stories!
For art, we
cut and glued a bowl shape and used real oatmeal to fill the bowl. Furthermore,
we sequenced the order of small, medium, and large beds, chairs, and bears.
Since we were on this very fun topic, we adventured to the library where the
librarian read a very funny version of Rapunzel called, ‘Falling for Rapunzel.’
We also listened to the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and listened to the
felt story of the ‘The Gruffalo.’ It was very nice of the North Vancouver Public
Library to also give each child a book to take home!
In
the upcoming weeks, we will be focusing on the story of the Nativity and many
fun filled Christmas stories, songs, and art! We will also be practicing our
songs for our Christmas concert!
403/304 - Karen, Susan, Brita, Carol
Our afternoons have been full of talk about
transportation. What are all the ways we can get from here to there? Take a
trip on a plane, train, car or boat. We must not forget about our feet as they
are a means of of transportation too!
For art we made traffic lights and sang a
catchy tune about the colours. We made hot air balloons by putting water colour
on a large coffee filter and attached a basket. When they were done we
displayed them on a board in the hall.
We also made trains, school buses,
stamped using paint with foam and cookie cutter shapes. Maybe you noticed an
art that smelt like coffee? We gave the children brown paint with ground coffee
and put it on paper to roll over with trucks, was it ever messy but the
children enjoyed it.
On our book shelf we had every type of transportation
imaginable, these were very popular with the children and we always had
requests to read them.
We hope you noticed the home corner. It was turned into
an airport/airplane. The children enjoyed playing on the keyboards, using our
rotary phone, looking for places on the map to go, giving and receiving
tickets. There was even food served on the plane and everyone wanted to be the
captain.
We have a busy December ahead of us with lots planned.
The children have started their Christmas gifts to you.
Christmas services are coming up and our music teacher
Tiffany has been getting us ready.
On Friday the 14th we will be going to the Capilano library
for a Christmas story time.
We will be going caroling in the Village and will have our
Christmas party on the 20th and 21st. There will be a food sign up sheet on the
bulletin boards.
As we get into the colder weather there will be more gym
days but if the sun is out we will be going outside. Please make sure your
child is dressed appropriately.
We wish you and your family a happy a safe Christmas
break.
Music Program - Tiffany
Happy Holidays, families!
As our Fall term comes to a
close, we have had fun celebrating our hard work by playing musical chairs.
We
have spent most of our month rehearsing and we are excited to show you what we
have prepared for the upcoming Christmas Services. We are signing loud and
proud, ringing our bells and we might even do a little laughing! Laugh along
with us and sing as we celebrate the birth. Together, with joy and music!!
The New Year brings opportunities to explore even
more instruments and to become better acquainted with ‘The Rhythm family’.
We
will learn how to read and count basic rhythms in duple time. Prepare for lots
of clapping, tapping and stomping as we enter the new year with style and a sweet
beat!
The Resource Office - Marion
Hello everyone.
Manners!
During the preschool years is a great time to teach
social graces because your child is naturally eager to please you .
The way we
behave towards people, especially ways that are socially correct and show
respect for their comfort and their feelings is very important to share with
our children. Parents can model and point out other people exhibiting the
behaviour you would like to see in your children.
Children like to imitate Mom
& Dad and will learn to use “please” and “thank you” in everyday conversations
even faster when you praise them for using their manners.
Children
at this young age are still possessive, so encouraging them to share may be
difficult. It can take time for him/her to understand that he/she may
feel uncomfortable while someone else plays with his/her toy. Talk about
sharing and turn taking. Be enthusiastic when your child offers a toy to
someone or gives them a turn on his/her scooter. Your child may care more
about getting praise from you than about the toy.
How often does this happen, I
remember it like it was yesterday. The boys are playing, laughing have a
great time. The phone rings, perfect time for a little chat, answer the
phone and within less than a minute it happens. There is screaming, then
crying and then a little person trying to pull on your leg and get your
attention. At first you quietly say, “Just a minute I’m on the
phone”. Not good enough! After several attempts to refocus on the
phone call you give up and say, “I will have to call you back”. Hang up
the phone go over to where the boys are and everything is quiet and they are
playing so nicely.
Children need to learn to wait for their turn and you
could say, “Mommy is on the phone. Please play with your blocks while I
finish talking and I’ll be right there.” Then follow through when you are
done with the call by thanking your child for being patient and giving him/her
your undivided attention.
Thanks for reading the Blog.
TEACHER PAINT NIGHT!! Hey! The teachers all got together and had a paint night! We have hung all the paintings on a bulletin board and we want you to choose the ones you like best!!
We had such a fun night that we are thinking of doing it again!! If you are heading down to the Preschool Office you will see the bulletin board. Ask your children to choose their favourite painting!
If you have read this far you probably have a halo around your head as you must be an Angel! It takes a lot of time and energy to create these Blogs and we really appreciate you taking the time to find out what is going on around the Preschool. Please bring your child to the office to get some stickers because you are an amazing parent!!
All sounds great! Excited for the Christmas shows! -Rachel
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