January

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday! 

Thank you so much for all the gifts.  We had a fun Polar Express Pajama Party! 

Registration for the 2014-2015 preschool year will start in a couple of weeks.  Priority registration will open to current students and siblings on Monday, January 13.  Information will be available soon. 

This month some of our themes will be:  Health, Mittens, Winter/Snow, and Bears.  We will continue with simple addition and counting by ten.

We will hopefully have a field trip to Whole Foods during the last week of the month.

Please note that we will not have preschool on Monday, January 20 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). 

Hopefully we will have some winter weather this month.  Cold weather is perfect for our water to ice experiments, ice to water experiments, mitten/glove graphing, snowman making (we learn size seriation-large to small).  We will also talk about hibernation and which animals hibernate. 

--Anyone with extra shoe boxes/Kleenex boxes????  We will use them in February to make Valentine boxes--send them in anytime!

Thank you again!!

Merry Christmas!

In the month of December we will learn the letters M, N, and O.  

We will learn about Christmas around the World, and complete a fun Gingerbread Man unit.

In math the children will be learning to count by 10’s.  We will continue to work on patterns, and simple addition.

In science we will be talking about snowflakes and how they are made and what they look like magnified.  We will talk a little about the water cycle.

In reading we will continue to talk about sequencing, conflict, and conflict resolution (the problem and how it is solved).  A great at home activity would be to ask your child (after you have read a book together) to tell you what happened in the beginning of the book, what happened in the middle, and at the end.

On Thursday and Friday, Dec. 19 and 20 each class will have a Polar Express party.  They can wear pajamas to school and at the party we will have a gift exchange.  If you have a boy, please bring a $5 gift for a boy.  If you have a girl, please bring a $5 gift for a girl.  We will also be decorating Gingerbread boy and girl cookies, reading some Christmas stories and drinking some hot chocolate.

Now is a great time to start saving rectangular boxes (kleenex boxes, or shoe boxes) for Valentine Card Boxes that we will make in February.

Thank you for all you do!!

In the month of November we will learn the letters I, J, K, and L.  

We will do some activities with the color orange, the shape diamond, and the number 2.

In math we will continue working on number recognition and start simple addition.

In reading we will continue talking about the parts of a book (cover, cover page, author, and illustrator).  We will also continue to talk about sequencing, conflict, and conflict resolution (the problem and how it is solved).

On Thursday and Friday, Nov. 21 and 22 we will have a feast in class (parents are invited to join us).

At this time of year I always have some parents ask if tuition in November and December is less than the other months of the year.  Tuition is the same every month.  I have based my monthly tuition on what it costs for the whole school year and then divided it into nine monthly payments.  So you are not paying for a month at a time you are paying for the whole year in nine payments.  Of course, if at any time payments are difficult for you please come and talk to me and I’m sure we can work something out.

I love, love, love, my classes this year!!!  They are amazing kiddos!  Thank you for sharing them with me.

This month we will cover the letters A, B, C, and D. We will start our Math unit, reviewing the numbers 1 - 10. We will learn all about each other, our families, emotions, apples, and Johnny Appleseed. We will also start our science curriculum with the topics of "Mysterious Mixtures", "Sticky Stuff", and "The Air Up There".

Thanks for all you do to make preschool fun and educational for your child!

Back to School Night

Our "Back to School Night" will be Thursday, August 29.  The Pre-K class will meet at 6:00 p.m. and the Three year old class will  meet at 7:00.  I'm so excited to see all the preschoolers!

The Three year old class will have their first day of school on Tuesday, September 3, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

The Pre-K class will start on Wednesday, September 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

I hope to see all of you this week!

April

As we begin the month of April, I hope we will all be able to enjoy warmer weather and many beautiful spring days.  

We certainly have been keeping busy at preschool. During the month of March, the children had a lot of fun engaging in a variety of activities.  Some of our fun themes included mixing colors, weather, butterflies, rainbows, and Dr. Seuss.  Our rainbow theme was very popular. We discussed the colors in a rainbow and how rainbows are formed. We did a lot of experiments such as making rainbows in the snow with spray bottles filled with colored water, mixing the colors of a rainbow with eye droppers, and making a rainbow on our table using a pitcher of water, a CD and a flashlight.

In Math we will continue to review addition and subtraction.  We will continue our Time unit and start our Money unit.

In Reading we will continue to talk about conflict and conflict resolution and will start learning letter blends.  

We have also started "Center Time".  This is a time where the children can rotate around to different centers with manipulatives in math and reading for them to practice.

Our April themes will be plants and flowers, trees, insects, spring, frogs, and recycling.  We will get to plant seeds and learn all about the parts of plants and flowers.  Our frog unit is one of my favorites (hopefully I can order tadpoles for us to observe).  

In May I will do assessments in the Pre-K class and set up Parent/Teacher conferences.

February

Valentine's Day

At our Valentine's Day Party we will play games, decorate a Valentine box, and distribute Valentines.  Please have your child bring one Valentine for each student (including themselves).  Have your child sign his/her name on the back of the Valentine, but do not address them.  It can be frustrating for the children to write, read and match up all the names.  There will be a sign-up sheet available for those that would like to contribute items for our party.  Please feel free to contact me if you have a special item you would like to send for the party.

Reading

We have been focusing on the parts of a story.  Good questions to ask when you read with your child are:

-          Who was in the story?

-          Where did the story take place?

-          What was the problem in the story?

-          How was the problem solved?

-          How did the character feel at the beginning/end of the story?

It’s also a good idea to ask your child what he/she predicts will happen in the story before you read.  Then check afterward to see if their prediction came true.  Happy Reading!

Math

This month we will start our money and time unit.

We are still practicing counting by 10.  

field Trip

We are going on a Field Trip to a dentist office!

Registration Information

Rachel’s Preschool

2013 – 2014 Registration

Classes:

There is non-refundable $30 registration/supply fee for every child that registers for a class.

Three year old class: 

• ·         Child must be three years old before Oct. 1, 2013
• ·         Child must be potty trained
• ·         Class is every Tuesday and Thursday (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  I follow the District 20 schedule.
• ·         Class will start Tuesday, Sep. 3, 2013
• ·         Monthly tuition is a flat rate of $65 a month

Four year old class/Pre-K class:

• ·         Child must be four years old before Oct. 1, 2013
• ·         Class is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  I follow the District 20 schedule.
• ·         Class will start Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2013
• ·         Monthly tuition is a flat rate of $90 a month

Please ask me for registration forms if you are interested.  

I will e-mail you all the paperwork.

Thank you!!

Rachel