Friendship Day Newsletter

                           

FRIENDS, FRIENDS, ONE, TWO, THREE.

All my FRIENDS are here with me!

Dear Preschool Families,

Throughout the month of February, we will focus our attention on FRIENDSHIP.  This theme will highlight activities that celebrate and encourage cooperation, sharing and caring.  Friendship activities will include;

•sending Friendship notes to classmates

•playing Friendship Musical Chairs

•reading and discussing Friendship books

•discussing our HEARTS and how to keep them healthy

•sharing and eating Friendship Fruit Salad.

Exercise is important for healthy hearts and so is eating right.  Eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and limiting amounts of protein and fat keep our hearts healthy.  On THURSDAY, February 12th we will promote HEALTHY HEARTS by making a fruit salad to share with friends.  Please send one piece of fruit to school in your child’s snack box.  We will use the fruit to prepare a fruit salad and share it with classmates.  Taking good care of yourself is one way of saying “I love you”.  Here is another way;

“I Love You” in Sign Language

Important Reminders

* Friendship Day will be celebrated on February 12th.  Please remind your child to complete friendship notes for each classmate prior to this date.

*Preschool Winter Vacation begins on FEBRUARY 23rd.  We will return on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4th.

*Please remember to send your child with outside clothes every day.

*Flu season is upon us - please be respectful of our 24 hour sick policy (fever and/or vomiting).  

*Please send in new FACT and FICTION books for the month of February.

 FRIENDSHIP DAY

February 12

Over the past several months the preschool children have enjoyed playing with each other and have become very interested in having FRIENDS/COMPANIONS. Learning to be a good friend, playmate and classmate does not happen quickly or without practice.  Making friends is a lot of hard work. Preschoolers have been participating in many activities that celebrate and encourage friendship, cooperation, sharing, and caring.  We have been learning that;

*friends know each other’s names

*friends are polite and kind to each other

* friends enjoy talking and listening to each other

* friends share happy feelings together

*friends help each other when one is feeling bad

*friends share and take turns

*friends work out problems by talking to each other

*friends can be quite different from each other

*friends are interested and curious about each other

*friends enjoy laughing together

*friends plan together

To celebrate our friendship and learning, Scholars have compiled a “FRIENDSHIP FOLDER” complete with decorative paper, envelopes, various paper hearts, and class list.  This folder will give your child an opportunity to create special cards or notes for classmates to be distributed at our friendship celebration on Feb. 12th.  Please assist your child as needed with this project.  If you have made other plans with your child to recognize friends, please keep the folder and utilize it in a fun way!  Friendship cards may be sent in prior to our celebration and can be placed in friendship folders located in the preschool classrooms (friendship folders will go home this week and friendship notes may be returned any time prior to Feb.12th).  

If you have any questions regarding this special event please let us know.

Thanks,

SUZANNE and ELIZABETH

NEXT WEEK’s LEARNING

FEBRUARY 2-6

NEW VOCABULARY

HIBERNATION/COLLAGE  

PAUL KLEE

Klee was an artist interested in the art of children and tried to capture the creativity of children’s art in his own painting.

He also enjoyed incorporating and camouflaging letters in his work.

HOW MANY LETTERS CAN YOU FIND IN THIS PAUL KLEE PAINTING?

PAUL KLEE NAME COLLAGE

A SEQUENCING Project

Creating Masterpieces with

LETTERS IN STUDENT’S FIRST NAMES

First… TRACE OVER THE LETTERS in your name using crayons

Second… PAINT OVER THE LETTERS with watercolor paints

FEATURED BOOK and LETTER

“M”

THE MITTEN by JAN BRETT

Fitting eight forest animals into one enormous mitten!

RES ICE BLOCK CAIRN CONSTRUCTION

Ice Block Structures!

BALANCING WORK and PLAY in Preschool

Preschool activities typically serve two purposes. In addition to preparing students for the structure of future formal learning, they are also intended to spark a child’s imagination and curiosity and instill a love for learning.

Each week as we plan various learning activities, we keep in mind the word BALANCE! We attempt to offer a rich curriculum that is the best fit for preschoolers and incorporates both WORK and PLAY!

Last week, the morning class was inspired by a classmate’s experiment. EZRA completed an experiment at home that included both SOLID/LIQUID and BALANCE concepts!  He created an ICE CAIRN by balancing a variety of colorful ice blocks. CAIRNS are typically made by BALANCING a pile of rocks to mark a spot for walkers however, EZRA set out to see if ice blocks could be used to create a structure that would measure taller than his body. His work took several days to complete and he incorporated a variety of problem solving skills in order to

accomplish his task.

 Classmates were impressed with his results and unanimously, voted to experiment with ice blocks!        

This week, scholars will fill various shaped containers with colorful LIQUID and FREEZE the mixtures. Later they will attempt to construct colorful ice CAIRNS in front of RES to blaze the walkway to school!

Be on the lookout for some amazing structures that will include the ART of BALANCE, (WORK and PLAY at RES)!

Last Week's Learning - January 20th - 24th

OUR RICHMOND COMMUNITY

 

This week our social studies curriculum focused on the RICHMOND COMMUNITY and student ADDRESSES. With an upcoming celebration of FRIENDSHIP DAY (Valentine’s DAY) we are beginning to discuss a plan for making and mailing notes to classmates in our RES Post Office. Over the next few weeks, scholars will focus on learning individual ADDRESSES and why they are important. Preschoolers will also learn that ADDRESSES include NUMBERS and LETTERS!     

Most good stories begin with the familiar phrase ONCE UPON A TIME, so preschool story tellers used this renowned phrase to begin a tale about their hometown of  RICHMOND!    

      OUR HOME...RICHMOND, VERMONT

Once upon a time, many preschoolers lived in the town of RICHMOND! It was the month of JANUARY and TEMPERATURES were FRIGID and COLD! The children loved to play outside building snow people, but when the THERMOMETER pointed to ZERO DEGREES, they had to keep warm in their homes with their RELATIVES. Every preschooler lived in a house that had NUMBERS and LETTERS which made their HABITAT UNIQUE!

ADDRESSES are important to know so:

• Firemen and Policemen can come to your house if you need help
• The Pizza Deliveryman can bring you a cheese pizza
• You can get birthday cards and presents
• You can tell your friends where you live and they can come and play with you
• If you lose your credit card out the window of your car someone can give it back
• If you get lost in the woods the police can get your back to your house!

All of the RES preschoolers living in the RICHMOND COMMUNITY attended Richmond Elementary School and were EMPATHETIC FRIENDS! They cared for each other every day at school and the RESPECTFUL learners lived happily ever after! THE END

A NEIGHBORHOOD in RICHMOND, complete with ADDRESSES,

SNOW PEOPLE and ICICLES!

After reading TACKY the PENGUIN, Scholars focused on our first POT RECIPE, PASTA with SAUCE, or PASTA with CHEESE!

After graphing individual preferences, preschoolers prepared the warm, rich, CARBOHYDRATE snack and enjoyed eating it with friends! DELICIOUS!:)

A BIG THANK YOU TO TEO, MADDIE and MOLLY... FOR PASTA AND SAUCE DONATIONS!  

METEOROLOGISTS continue to track weather each day and spent time this week completing individual THERMOMETERS by adding the letters, D, C and H. Each letter represented TEMPERATURES; DANGER, COLD and HOT!   

    

 PRESCHOOL PENGUIN PARADE

PENGUINS ATTENTION, PENGUINS BEGIN!!

 

To view the Penguin DANCE google, JACK HARTMANN PENGUIN DANCE (www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBHtpU1tB3E)

IMPROMPTU LEARNING...THE BEST KIND!

Each day a scholar wears a bright STAR sticker that symbolizes the designated STAR of the day. Unfortunately, the ADHESIVE on the sticker can lose its “stickiness” if students reposition their star on their clothes.On Thursday, the “STAR” was reminded by EMPATHETIC peers to keep the star sticker on her shirt so it would not fall off! This lead to further conversation about things that are sticky and have ADHESIVE! One idea led to another... and in a matter of minutes we were experimenting with static electricity! Scholars were amazed to learn that even though a balloon does NOT have ADHESIVE, hair sticks to the rubber surface when it is rubbed on their heads (FRICTION)!

VERY COOL and FUN!

  

NEXT WEEK’s LEARNING

January 26-30

NEW VOCABULARY:

  CUB   COMPANIONS

POLAR BEAR PAINTING                 

                          LINES and CURVES

Over the past two weeks, scholars have used “pretend” snow crystals (salt and sugar cubes) in the classroom texture table to build igloos and ice floes for a variety of arctic animals. Polar bears, penguins and foxes have enjoyed student made arctic habitats.

   

This week, we will complete a fun painting project that incorporates the writing of lines and curves! The results will be cute and cuddly bear cubs!

Writers will use crayons to draw the cubs on blue paper prior to painting and will follow these writing directions;

1. Connect two large curves on the bottom of paper to create a CIRCLE.
2. Next, draw two small curves on the sides of the top of the CIRCLE.
3. Then, draw two CIRCLE eyes and an upside down TRIANGLE nose
4. Finally, draw two dot eyes and add the letter “J” coming down from the nose and then a backwards “J” to make a symmetrical nose!
5. Paint the bear cub face white first.  Let dry.
6. Paint the eyes and nose with black paint.  Let dry.
7. Paint a snowstorm with six sided snowflakes with white paint. Done!

                                           FEATURED LETTER and BOOK

J

JAMAICA and BRIANNA

by Juanita Havill

A story about FRIENDSHIP, COMPANIONS and EMOTIONS

OUR SECOND F.F.F.F. (Food For Forest Friends)

Cheerios and dried Fruit on wire

SNOW PAINTING...Can you write your name in SNOW?