This month is FEBRUARY and the season is SPRINGTER!!
That is Spring with just a bit of Winter sprinkled in!!
She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead."
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead."
--A.A.Milne
"NOT!"
--Winter
Registration for September is now complete. Thank you for handing in your registrations and deposits. You will receive confirmation on which class your child will be enrolled into before March 1st.
Class 401 had 25 people who all wanted the 20 spots available so we will hold a lottery draw at the February 5th Board Meeting. Those not chosen will go on a waitlist for Class 401 and will be enrolled into their 2nd choice.
Important Upcoming Dates & Events
FEB 13/14 - Children's Valentine's Day Parties
MAR 5 - Church Pancake Supper
MAR 8 - 4's Skating Party (NOTE DAY CHANGED!!!)
MAR 18-22 - Spring Break PRESCHOOL CLOSED
APR 10/11 - Easter Services & Easter Tea
IT'S TIME TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CLASSROOMS THIS PAST MONTH---CHECK IT OUT!
DISCOVERY TWOS - BRITA, DANIELLE, VIBHA
We can’t believe it is February already!
In January we were learning about winter and we
discovered that penguins and polar bears live where it is very cold. We also learned about what clothes we would
need to dress ourselves in for the cold weather. Some winter art activities that the children
enjoyed doing were decorating mittens, hats, polar bear printing, and making
penguins. We made snowmen out of
diffusing paper and watched how the paper absorbs the water colours.
At circle time we talked about winter animals. Our two’s really enjoyed Five Little Snowmen
felt rhyme and colour recognition mitten game.
Here is a list of the two’s favourite books: "Snow Friends", "Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?", and "Snowflake Baby".
Please let us know if you are actively toilet training at home as we would love to help you at school.
For the rest of the month of February, we will be talking
about Love, Friendship and Valentine’s Day.
As always, please come and speak to us if you have any
concerns.
CLASS 301 - CAROL, SUSAN
Hello Everyone!
What an amazing January we've had. The weather couldn't
have been better, as we were able to go outside to play almost every day. It's
so good for the children (and yes, the teachers, too) to get out each day for
some fresh air and some different gross motor play.
All the children settled in well after the two week
holiday, and we started our Winter theme. We worked on crafts ranging from
Snowmen and Snowflakes, to Winter Sports and beautifully decorated mittens
hanging on the line to dry. I think the highlight activity for this theme was
"Playing in the Snow" (shaving cream).
From all things snowy, it was a smooth transition into
our project on Hibernation. We made dens and caves for the Canadian hibernating
animals that we discussed (bears, skunks, groundhogs, bats, snakes, frogs and
many more!). Carol and Susan noticed that the children were getting out blocks
each day and building roads to go with the cars so the following week we set
out more building toys, including a small "log" set and magnetic
builders.
On the 25th of January we marked Robbie Burns' Day by
making and colouring Scottie dogs and some tartan collages.
And finally, in our last week of January, real bears who
would hibernate became teddy bears. We started with cute little brown bears,
and then teddy bear stamping, games, and songs, and finally plans for a big
Teddy Bear surprise.....which you'll hear about in next month's blog.
Thank you for your continued support of all our fun and
games and education!
CLASS 302/404 - KAREN, SUSAN, CAROL
Our focus this month was Winter (even though it does not feel like it).
We talked about what activities we can do in winter and what type of clothing we wear.
A den was made under the stairs which we filled with hibernating animals, pillows and faux fur. It was so cozy and inviting.
For one of our art projects the children decorated snowflakes with watercolor and Epsom salts which gave it a firm finish and sparkly appearance. We continued with the snowflakes on the Make It table and at the easel.
At Circle we sang songs about snowflakes, many felt board rhymes, read "50 Below Zero", "Kitten and his Mitten", "What Snowmen do at Night" and many stories about winter.
The children's other art projects were melted snowmen, decorating paper mittens (they were hung up on string in class and on a board to give the effect of drying them out), igloos made with cotton balls, bears made from paper plates and stamping with bear stamps.
Please check out the back wall with a beautiful scene of the Northern lights and the igloo’s below.
As we enter into February we will be celebrating Chinese New Year and having our Valentine’s party on the 14th. Please sign up on the bulletin board outside of the classroom if you would like to bring something to share.
Also we will be starting on our Card Project. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have about this. It is great way to show off your child’s art on a card.
Last but not least we will be starting Kindergarten Readiness with our 4’s.
Thanks for reading!
CLASS 401 - ARSI, KAREN, LISA, MARJAN
In
a blink of an eye, Christmas and New Years flew by just like that! We hope
everyone had a great break and enjoyed some time with family and friends! We
would like to thank you all for the thoughtful cards and gifts.
In
the month of January, we began by talking about winter animals. Since it’s cold
outside, we looked at animals that live in the cold. We learned about penguins
and read the book “Penguins in the Snow,” and made cute penguins with big
googly eyes.
The children also had fun making snowy owls using paper plates and white feathers after we listened to the story called “Snowy Owl.” There were feathers flying everywhere!
Next, we moved on and learned about what we wear during the winter. We listened to the CD story by Jan Brett called “The Mitten” and also decorated our own mittens as well.
The children enjoyed seeing all the animals trying to fit into the tiny mitten. We also read another story by the same author called “The Hat.” This led the children into cutting out their own paper toques and stamping them with various designs. This was a great way for the children to practice cutting and using hand eye coordination.
Our
last two weeks of the month, we laughed a lot, listening to the series by
Lucille Colandro called “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed….” We learned the
old lady swallowed many funny things such as a frog, a shell, a cow, a rose, a
book, and even a mermaid who swallowed a shark! Every book made the children
smile and LOL! This led to us into: making green frogs, painting real shells,
using celery stalks to make rose prints, and decorating a mermaids tail and a
shark! We learned how to sequence the items that she ate in some of her stories
and played memory matching games too. The children even had a chance to “feed”
the Old Lady with a cardboard cutout of her. What a fun series to read!
REMINDERS:
-please remember to send a labelled cup for your child for snack/lunch
-make sure your child goes to the bathroom in the morning before entering the classroom
-check our side board for sign up sheets and new information
-please remember to bring Echo back on time for the next child’s turn
In the next month, we will be focusing on friendships, caring, and being a friend. We will also do some fun activities for Valentine’s Day and learn about Chinese New Year.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to a teacher!
In
the month of January, we began by talking about winter animals. Since it’s cold
outside, we looked at animals that live in the cold. We learned about penguins
and read the book “Penguins in the Snow,” and made cute penguins with big
googly eyes. The children also had fun making snowy owls using paper plates and white feathers after we listened to the story called “Snowy Owl.” There were feathers flying everywhere!
Next, we moved on and learned about what we wear during the winter. We listened to the CD story by Jan Brett called “The Mitten” and also decorated our own mittens as well.
The children enjoyed seeing all the animals trying to fit into the tiny mitten. We also read another story by the same author called “The Hat.” This led the children into cutting out their own paper toques and stamping them with various designs. This was a great way for the children to practice cutting and using hand eye coordination.
REMINDERS:-please remember to send a labelled cup for your child for snack/lunch
-make sure your child goes to the bathroom in the morning before entering the classroom
-check our side board for sign up sheets and new information
-please remember to bring Echo back on time for the next child’s turn
In the next month, we will be focusing on friendships, caring, and being a friend. We will also do some fun activities for Valentine’s Day and learn about Chinese New Year.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to a teacher!
CLASS 402 - ARSI, DANIELLE, MARJAN
January brought us a little bit of cold winter weather, so we decided to dive into some stories from one our favorite author, Robert Munsch! In the first week, we read “Deep Snow,” “Zero Below,” and “Thomas’ Snowsuit.” These stories brought some giggles to the children.
We loved listening to Robert Munsch tell the story himself
through his CD stories. For art, we made polar bears using a fork to give it a
special furry effect and we also used shaving cream and watercolors to make
marble prints on our own boot shape. It was really fun seeing the children’s
faces as they saw the colors just appear on their boot! In our second week, the
children listened to the stories “Makeup Mess,” “Stephanie’s Ponytail,” and
“Smelly Socks.” More laughter was heard in the room as the children saw the
funny images in these books! We used real makeup to decorate a face just like
in the story, we used straws to blow hair on a head shape, and we used a salad
spinner to make our socks “smelly” with colors such as green and black! It was
so fun seeing the children on crazy hair day. What a way for parents and
children to get creative. 
Our next focus was on castles. The children learned about the different parts of the castles such as the turrets, the drawbridge, and the moat. We also talked about how long ago there was no electricity and running hot water.
CLASS 403/304 - KAREN, SUSAN, CAROL, BRITA
A big thank you for reading our Blog!
For the month of January we talked about Winter, even though it did not feel like it. We put faux snow in the water table, in the art, playdough and hanging from the ceiling but still no real snow. We put coloured icebergs in the water table and even painted with coloured ice. The children decorated snowflakes for art using watercolour and Epsom salts to make them sparkle. Snowflakes were also on the easel to paint and on the Make It table to decorate. Children were even caught in a snowstorm for art.
We decorated mittens and hung them up to give the appearance of drying them out. Paper snow globes were made filled with snowmen and snowflakes, we made melted snowmen and igloos.
At circle we talked about what activities we can do in winter, what clothing we can wear and all the things we would not do or wear in winter. Read 50 Below zero, What snowmen do at night, listened to CD stories about 12 days of Winter and Bear Trouble and many felt rhyme songs.
Under the treehouse a den was made with faux fur and animals that hibernate, it was very cozy. We ended the month with a Teddy Bear picnic which the children (teachers too) wore their pajamas and brought in their favorite stuffed animal. For art we made a bear trail mix and had it with our picnic on a blanket along with our snack.
Our Friday afternoon program consisted of making an edible “snowball”, mini apple pies, watching a DVD called Dora Saves the Snow Princess while eating popcorn and a Teddy bears picnic.
With February upon us we will be celebrating Chinese New Year, having our Valentine’s party (sign up sheet for food our the bulletin board), starting our Card Project and Kindergarten readiness.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
MUSIC PROGRAM - TIFFANY
February is friendship month and we are doing activities
that show how music can bring us together. We have officially learned all of
the instruments in the keyboard family and, in February, we will be moving on
the the string family.
When we all match the same beat, if feels good. A steady
beat is calming and brings us down to Earth. The Rhythm Family is going to be
with us all month, as we continue to focus on the beat. Our favourite activity
is marching to the beat of our own drums!
Now that we know how to play forte and piano, we are
challenging our musical skills further by adding ‘tempo’ to the mix. Tempo
means how fast or slow the music goes. Sometimes we sing forte/fast, sometimes
we sing piano/slow. We can choose. We have the power!
As we move towards Spring, we will begin to prepare for
the Easter Service in April. We love to sing about flowers and the sunshine. We
will use music to learn about growth and the wonderful opportunities that come
with getting bigger.
THE RESOURCE OFFICE - MARION
I am very happy to see the classrooms engaging in various
themes. The Boards, both in the classrooms and down the hallway reflect
the learning that is going on in our classrooms.
Around this time of year the question always
comes up “Is my child ready for the next step?” That might be more
sessions, longer hours or going off to Kindergarten. Young children change
so fast – if they can’t do something this week, they may be able to do it a few
weeks later. When preparing children for Kindergarten the teachers are
looking for certain skills which will help with the next step. We will be
sending out a letter with a check list for Kindergarten readiness, please look
through it and if you have any questions ask the teachers.
Our program is always evolving and now we have the all day
option along with extended hours. I want to talk about multi-age
classrooms and how they can benefit a child’s growth and development.
Children learn at their own pace. The children are not held to a
strict curriculum that may be too challenging or not challenging enough. Younger children look up to the older ones and will often model
turn taking, sharing and problem solving techniques. The older children
are taking on a leadership role. Every child within a multi-age classroom
is viewed as a exclusive individual. Expectations for the children will
not be closed to age-specific curriculum, and this allows the child to work at
their own achievement level.
_______________________________________________________________
CONTEST: If you can tell us which class did a story by Jan Brett and what the story was called, your child can stop by the preschool office and pick a prize out of the prize box!!
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