First week of school!

Hi New and Returning Families,

Our introduction week went wonderfully.  It was so much fun seeing all our returning children and meeting all the new children.  Orientation was a great opportunity for the teachers to meet all the parents.  We look forward to partnering with all of you this coming school year.

The teachers have been preparing for an exciting and extremely fun year with your children.  Each class has wonderful curriculum to enhance your child's development and bring them delightful days of learning.  There will be fun themes in all the classes and in our dramatic play area.

We are so fortunate to have a great teaching staff again this year.  Teacher Mary and Teacher Sarah, our Pre-k teachers, have been revising and extending the four year old curriculum so each of your children will have a successful transition into Kindergarten.  Children will build confidence in their own skills throughout the year.  Language arts, science, math, writing are some of the academic components your children will be exploring and learning while "playing" at school. Sarah, Mary and I will be attending a workshop for Handwriting Without Tears in October.  I have already attended the writing/literacy workshop, so I will be taking their math workshop this time.  Mary and Sarah will attend the writing and literacy workshop.  We will be collaborating on curriculum after the seminar.  Mary and Sarah have many creative and exciting activities to share with the children this year.

Teacher Lolly S., Teacher Daran and Teacher Theresa will be our team teaching the three year olds in our MWF Class.  When children turn three everything is "why", and these teachers are prepared to answer all those "whys" with an array of hands-on-exploration activities.  They are creating new curriculum to expand our current curriculum in  science, small group, outside play, math, small and large muscle.  They are specialist in helping children start learning conflict resolution and are ready to handle limit-setting behaviors.  The morning will be a great balance between free choice play and more structured large and small group times.

In our TTH Class, Teacher Tammy, Teacher Karen and Teacher Theresa will have loving arms waiting to help your children with separation, tantrums and transition.  Twos have tremendous energy and the teachers have prepared some awesome curriculum for your children to enjoy.  Awesomely MESSY exploration of inside activities and outside activities will keep your children busy all morning long.  Paint and water will be a big splash at preschool.  Please remember to dress your children in play clothes.  Children will have opportunities to sing, dance and play instruments at music time. 

In our Toddler Class, Teacher Karen is looking forward to sharing a morning of learning with parents and children.  For many children this is the first experience they will have in a large group setting.  This parent participation class is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the school and share in their delight. You will be right there to comfort your child if needed and to help your child explore all the wonderful activities that will be here at school.  Play dough, water, bubbles, blocks, paint are just a few of the activities that will be set up in the classroom.  At music time children will dance, sing, watch puppets and listen to stories. 

We all are always available to answer questions you may have about your responsibilities in the classroom and to discuss your expectations for the coming school year.  If you have questions regarding your child, it is always best to set up a time to meet, either with the teachers or the director, outside of classroom time. We feel it is important to talk about any concerns you may have when the child is not present.

Every week I will be sending out an email regarding the upcoming week's activities, This coming week's theme is "All About You".  Teachers and children will be sharing and learning fun facts about each other.  What makes us the same and what makes us different?  Each class will focus on getting to know you, so all the children can start learning new friends names. We have kept the curriculum simple this week because some transitions may be a little more challenging.  All classes will have age appropriate activities especially geared for their age group.

I will include the developmental aspects of the different activities the teachers set up in the classroom. For example; why play dough?  Play dough is a wonderful activity to strengthen your child's small motor muscles in their hand. When children play with dough  their finger dexterity, eye-hand coordination, vocabulary, senses are all strengthening and developing. We have an opportunity to introduce new words; smooth, bumpy, soft, cold, warm, long, short, the possibilities are endless.

Often I will attach information and articles I find helpful and interesting for parents to read.  This time I have attached some information about the benefits of playing with Play Dough.

I will also be incorporating parenting tips on a variety of subjects.  If there is any subject you would like me to address, please just let me know. 

This is going to be an incredible school year, all of us partnering together to bring your children an exciting learning experience filled with wonder and joy.  Thank you for trusting us to care for and teach your little ones.

Sincerely,
Director Karen and all the preschool teachers