HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Welcome to January 2020
But now that we are here in 2020, our vision for the rest of the year will be perfect! We have a lot of fun things planned for the new year so keep watching your classroom bulletin boards for upcoming special events. And please remember, preschool is closed on Friday, January 31st so our teachers can have a Professional Day. We will be taking a workshop on Anxiety in Children.
IMPORTANT DATES & EVENTS
JAN 31 - PRO D DAY - PRESCHOOL CLOSED
JAN 31 - CURRENT FAMILIES SEPT. 2020 REGISTRATIONS DUE
FEB 3 - COMMUNITY FAMILIES SEPT. 2020 REGISTRATIONS DUE
FEB 12/13/14 - CHILDREN'S VALENTINE'S DAY PARTIES
FEB 17 - FAMILY DAY - PRESCHOOL CLOSED
FEB 25 - CHURCH PANCAKE SUPPER
SNOW DAY!! We are getting into snowy weather soon! If you wake up to snow, check the media and if School District 44 is having a snow day, we also will be having a snow day!
SEPTEMBER 2020 PRESCHOOL REGISTRATION
We will be handing out registration forms for currently enrolled families for September 2020 on Monday, January 13th and Tuesday, January 14th. You will need to fill out your form and attach your deposit cheque (which consists of your September fees plus a $50 registration fee).
Because you are currently enrolled, you will get priority placement but ONLY IF YOU HAVE YOUR REGISTRATION SHEETS IN BEFORE FEB. 1ST.
If you have a child born in 2018 that you want to register for the 2s program, stop by the office for a registration form.
I know it was a long time ago...but here is what happened in the classrooms last month, last year and last decade!
DISCOVERY TWOS - Arsi, Danielle, Marjan, Rose, Vibha
Happy New Year to All!
Please extend a very warm welcome to the newest member of our teaching team: Rose! She will be teaching in class 201 and 202 as we had 7 more children join our preschool in January. Please take the time to say hi!
December was such
a fun month for our 2s! We dove right into the month with the Nativity scene on
our light table. Baby Jesus was surrounded by Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men and
some of the animals. We read the book “Silent Night” and for art we decorated
angels with beautiful gold foil paper!
Next up was the book “Where’s Rudolph?” and our
favourite “Shake it Santa” song with a Santa shaped shaker. We also played a fun,
colourful ornaments felt board game where the children guessed which colour was
missing. Moreover, we also enjoyed the felt rhymes “5 Santa’s” and “5 Little
Gingerbread.” We decorated gingerbread people with Christmas stickers and used
crayons to give them different colours. We also decorated mini Christmas trees
with colourful tissue paper and Christmas sequins that made them so shiny.
At circle, we
enjoyed the felt story “Christmas tree, what do you see?” Our house corner
transformed into Santa’s bake shop and the children enjoyed “baking” Christmas
cookies and cupcakes. They even tried using real spatulas to flip and carry the
cookies!
Our table toys
were so much fun too. We had Christmas puzzles and sparkly red playdough with
various Christmas shape cookie cutters. Our sand box was fun to hang out spot too
with red and green coloured bowls, buttons, and scoops! The children really liked
hiding the buttons and then digging to find them.
The children also
had fun working on their special surprises for their Moms and Dads. They worked
really hard using sparkly red, green, and gold paint to salad spin their
ramekin gifts. Later, they also helped the teachers make Rice Krispie treats
and coconut clusters that went inside their decorated ramekins. Furthermore,
the children also decorated pine cones with lots of sparkles to hang on their
trees at home! So much fun!
In the water
table, we enjoyed scooping and dumping red and white rice with scoops and cups!
What a nice change to have for Christmas!
On our last few
days before our break, we made stockings and turned ourselves into reindeer
with really neat reindeer headbands! Our party was so much fun too. We
practiced our songs such as “We wish you a Merry Christmas,” and “Jingle Bells”
to sing for our awesome parents at our mini in-class concert. Thank you to the
parents who brought in the yummy food for our party! What a great way to end
the year!
We would also like
to thank all our parents for your kind words and your very thoughtful gifts. We
hope you all had a relaxing and fun filled holiday season!
In the upcoming
weeks, we will be looking at winter and winter animals! If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to ask your teachers.
TREEHOUSE ROOM- Karen, Susan, Brita, Marjan, Carol
Hello all Treehouse Room families! Happy New Year to you all!
The month of December was very busy. We all
love the holidays but know there is a lot to get done. The spirit of Christmas
was kicked off with the Christmas Services held in the church. As teachers, we
always know the holidays are very near when practicing for the concerts are in
full swing. We love seeing the children sing, dance and laugh as they recite
their Christmas songs. Everyone at St. Catherine’s Preschool hopes you all do
too. We would like to acknowledge our music teacher Tiffany’s hard work during
this time. Thank you, Tiffany!
While practicing for the Christmas Services we
began teaching the children the importance of the traditional Christmas story.
Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus were discussed at great lengths in our classroom
within December. The back wall was made into a barn and stable. Farm animals
were created, and books were read to the children such as “A Christmas Story”.
In the Treehouse Room
we enjoy creating spaces for the children to learn, explore, and socialize with
their peers. The two exciting spaces we
created to allow the children to grow were, the “Ice Cave” under the tree house
stairs and the house corner was transformed into Santa’s sleigh. We saw smiles,
sharing, socializing and friendships created within these spaces. Santa’s
sleigh always fosters the opportunity for the children to share the small
sleigh. As teachers, we enjoy watching the children navigate sharing and socializing
together and always step in if we feel the students need our help.
Our Treehouse students
were very excited when a letter from Santa was received at the preschool! We
all wrote to Santa within the first week of December in the hopes he would
write back before we went on Christmas break and he did! Each child drew a
special picture for Santa and his elves. We think Santa loved them because he
wrote back to tell us how beautiful they were. The children enjoyed listening
to the letter Santa wrote back as they all sat at circle. 
Circle time within our
classroom is an important time for the children to learn the benefits of
listening to others, waiting your turn and sitting in a cross-legged position
(we don’t want anyone’s toes to get stepped on). This month at circle, we
listened to many Christmas themed felt stories, heard some tape stories and interacted together with Christmas action songs. Some highlights were: “The
Nutcracker” tape story, “5 Little Reindeer” felt story and “SANTA” sang in the
tune of BINGO. 
The teachers of the
Treehouse room would like to thank each of the parents who kindly contributed
to our Christmas parties that took place in the last 2 days of school. As
mentioned before, these parties wouldn’t be possible without each of you and
your contributions. The parties are always a fun way to cap off the end of the
year. The children LOVE the party food and often ask for more once the food has
finished!
We all hope you enjoyed your child’s take-home
Christmas gift. Each one was made with love and enthusiasm. As teachers, we
love seeing the children proudly create a gift to give to their family. We hope
they found a special place on everyone’s Christmas tree this year.
January is always a month for organization and
motivation and as teachers we plan to dive deep into our curriculum and allow
your children to excel at preschool. We will start the new year off with an
exploration on the season of winter. We hope to even experience some real life
snow this month so we can maybe bring it into our classroom!
Thank you for taking the time to read our class
blog! Check back here next month for more exciting updates on your child’s
preschool experiences. SUNFLOWER ROOM - Arsi, Danielle, Carol
How time flies…Oh what fun we have had these past 4 months!
We have been so busy playing with our new friends, exploring & learning new
things.
For the month of December, we started with the Nativity. We
used Popsicle sticks to make our own stable and shapes to make Mary, Joseph and
baby Jesus. This was a great way for the children to tie their songs &
costumes for the Christmas Service in with their school environment. The
Christmas Concert was AWESOME!! They all
looked great and performed like naturals.
The
following week we read ‘The Gingerbread Man’ and decorated gingerbread men with
glitter glue and squares. Then we
listened to the story the ‘Christmas Angel’ and cut our angel wings and made
our own angels.
Next,
we read ‘There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell’, ‘Tough Cookie: A
Christmas Story’ and ‘Santa’s Underwear’. We then made Paper Plate
Santa’s.
In
preparation for next year, we attempted to write our names in Christmas Cards
to our parents, along with some pictures.
Lots of fun was spent decorating our Christmas glass star gifts for our
parents plus helping prepare the YUMMY coconut clusters for the inside of the
gifts. We listened to the story ‘The
Littlest Christmas Tree’ and finished off tracing, painting & decorating
our own Christmas tree.
We
enjoyed listening to the CD stories ‘Santa Knows’, ‘The Three Bears Christmas’
& ‘Russel’s Christmas Magic’. We
listened to the felt rhymes ‘5 Christmas Trees’, ‘5 Christmas Stockings’ and ‘5
Gingerbread Men’ and we played guessing games with Christmas lights and stockings.
Thank you to all the parents who provided the party food. A
fun time was had by all. We would also like to thank the families for their
Christmas wishes and gifts.
In January we will start encouraging more self-help skills
& kindergarten readiness.
Any questions, please feel free to ask us.
MUSIC PROGRAM - Tiffany
Happy New Year, families!
This is an exciting time for
our music class as we start 2020 off with beat and rhythm recognition and
counting. We have been introduced to the Rhythm Family and they are so cool!
Big Daddy whole note is very slow and
only gets one clap per measure. But watch out for Little Sister eighth note,
she’s really fast and gets a total of eight claps per beat! Next up, the
‘Cousins Three’. Each family is a representation of duple and triple time.
January is a great month to introduce new concepts and
dive deeper into what we have already learned. Adding to our music vocabulary,
we are going to learn about the difference between, the ‘beat’ and the
‘rhythm’. We will also learn some basic conducting patterns and how to ‘feel’
the beat.
By next month, we will be singing loud and proud OR quiet
and careful! ‘Tempo’ will teach us how fast, or how slow, to go. Furthermore,
we will be confident in following the beat and we will be creative with the
rhythms we choose! Next up, ‘how to be your own conductor and instrument
making!
RESOURCE ROOM - Marion
Happy New Year!
But before we move into 2020, I would like to say how wonderful the Christmas Services were and the church was filled with so much love, smiles and song. Thank you to Tiffany who put together the wonderful program.
At preschool the children learn songs and rhymes with lots of repetition. We sing the same Hello and Goodbye songs in the classrooms and often repeat stories either in felt or book form. They love the ones with catchy phrases where they raise their voices and say silly things.
Just looking forward to the next 6 months and all the play/work the children will be doing. Our 2s will start to engage in parallel play and co-operative play, this means sharing and turn taking with their peers. The 3s will be encouraged to be more independent
when following their daily routines. They will be encouraged to put their own coats on and hang them up when they come back from outdoors. Kindergarten Readiness will be the focus for our 4s and there will be a letter to each family telling them what the teachers as they enter Kindergarten. It will be a big transition but they will be ready. If you have any questions please speak to the teachers or drop by the office.
Thank you for all your lovely gifts and well wishes and I am really looking forward to 2020 as I will be a first time Gran-mere!
