March

March 2012

This month we will focus on weather, rainbows, butterflies, ladybugs, and St. Patrick’s Day.  We will plant some seeds, make several different crafts about rainbows, and get ready for our butterfly unit that we will start after spring break.

Reading

This month we will focus on sequencing.  We will talk about the beginning, middle, and end of a story.  Also we will talk about conflict and conflict resolution (what was the problem and how was it solved).   Happy Reading!

Math

-          We will continue our time unit. 

-          We are still practicing counting by 10. 

Other

  Every Friday we have a science experiment and record our results in our science journals.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Party

We had a fun Valentine Party!  We played games, decorated Valentine boxes, and distributed Valentine cards.  

Reading

We’ve 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 learned about "greater than" and "Less than".  We will continue with simple subtraction and will start our money and time unit.

-          We are still practicing counting by tens.  

Other

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

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

December

In the month of December we will learn the letters M, N, and O.  We will be traveling by train (the Polar Express) to different countries and learning how they celebrate Christmas.  We also have a special visitor in our classroom.  His name is Buddy and he is one of Santa's elves.  He likes to hide and watch the children at preschool.  He then returns to the North Pole and tells Santa how they are behaving in class.  We've seen buddy sitting on our flag pole and sitting above the window on the curtain rod.  We never know where he will be hiding, but we love finding him each day!

In math the children will be learning to count by 10’s.  We've been working 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 learn 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’ve 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 Monday, Dec. 10, and Tuesday, Dec. 11 we will have a Polar Express Christmas party.  At the party we will have a gift exchange.  Please bring a $5 gift for a boy or a girl (if you have a boy bring a boy gift, if you have a girl bring a girl gift).  We will also be decorating cookies, reading some Christmas stories and drinking 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!!

Ms. Rachel

P.S. School will start back on Monday, Jan. 7, 2013.

November

Thanks for all the help with our Halloween party.  The children had a lot of fun; they especially loved the costume parade!

I would like to express my gratitude to each of my wonderful students and their families.  I truly feel blessed to be able to teach your children.  They are amazing and I am grateful to be able to be a part of their lives.  Being a preschool teacher and being able to work out of my home is my dream job.  Thanks for sharing your children with me.

In the month of November we will have a special visitor in our classroom, Tom the Turkey!  He is afraid of Thanksgiving and has chosen our classroom as a hideout.  Every morning the children have to find him and reassure him that our classroom is a safe place.  He will then feel comfortable and be able to sit on the counter and watch the children throughout the rest of our class time.

In math we will begin working on simple addition and start learning how to count by 10’s. 

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

On Thursday, Nov. 15 and Friday, Nov. 16 we will have a feast (parents are invited to join us).

I am collecting empty rectangular Kleenex boxes for an upcoming project.  If you have any that you’d like to contribute, I would be very grateful.

Thank you for all you do!!

Ms. Rachel

October 2012

Hello Everyone!!

Fall is here and we are already off to a wonderful beginning of preschool. We had two great field trips and I hope the children will find fun ways to use their pumpkins! Three year old class parents ask your child about the enormous pig that we saw.  Pre-K parents ask your child about the “Bee Sanctuary”.  All the children are getting accustomed to the classroom and they are all adjusting well.

Your children are a delight and they will teach us many things. They will help us remember how to play, to live in the present moment, and to make new discoveries.  The classroom skills we are working on are; cooperate, share, take turns, laugh, play and “use our words”.  In Reading we are learning about the parts of a book and we are learning to sequence our story.  We have also started “finger stretching” which is stretching out a finger to each letter sound we hear in a word.  In Math we are reviewing numbers and their values, we have also started to learn about patterns.  In Science we are learning about mixing chemicals and their reactions.  We have learned the word predict and have started making predictions about our science experiments.

I’m really looking forward to our year together and I look forward to my time with your children . . . a special time watching them grow and discover.

Things to Remember

·         Have your child use the restroom and wash his/her hands before coming to class.

·         Dress for the weather. We will go outside unless it is pouring.

·         Keep your child home if they have had a fever, have vomited, or had diarrhea in the last 24 hours. If they are coughing with shortness of breath, and/or have thick, green “goobers”, please don’t send them to school.

·         If your child will not be attending class, contact me at home or by e-mail before class starts.

·         Tuition is due by the 10th of each month.

Upcoming Events

·         3 yr. old Music Class will be on Tuesday, October 9

·         Pre-K Picture Day will be on Wednesday, October 10

·         Pre-K Music Class will be on Friday, October 12

·         3 yr. old Picture Day will be on Tuesday, October 16

·         All Book Orders are due by Wednesday, October 17

·         3 yr. old Halloween Party will be on Tuesday, October 30.  The children can wear their costumes to class.  Also at 9:15 (weather permitting) we will have a parade of our costumes outside to the cul-de-sac and back to preschool (this is a great picture opportunity if you want to hang around outside for a bit).

·         Pre-K Halloween Party will be on Wednesday, October 31.  The children can wear their costumes to class.  Also at 9:15 (weather permitting) we will have a parade of our costumes outside to the cul-de-sac and back to preschool (this is a great picture opportunity if you want to hang around outside for a bit).

Great Beginnings!!

I am excited about my classes this year! The kiddos are so kind and very smart! We are off to a great start. 

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".

 Just a reminder that tuition is due by the 10th of every month. Thanks for all you do to make preschool fun and educational for your child!

Welcome to Preschool

Welcome to Ms. Rachel's class. I am delighted that your child is part of my preschool! I look forward to getting to know each child as we grow together this year. Each day will be filled with fun and exciting adventures to help your child develop emotionally, academically, and socially. The class will be learning and exploring many concepts and themes throughout this year, and I am excited to begin our journey together. 

Each month you will receive a calendar to let you know about our themes, class activities, and important events in the classroom. I will also send all correspondence home in your child's folder via his/her book bag, so please check it daily! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

To keep parents informed about their child's progress, a report card will be sent home at the end of each semester. I look forward to watching your child learn, grow, and flourish throughout this year.

Sincerely, Ms. Rachel

Back to School Night

Back to School Night Three year-old Class - "Back to School Night" will be Tuesday, August 21 from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Pre-K Class - "Back to School Night" will be Thursday, August 23 from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. The first day of school for the Three Year-Old Class will be Tuesday, September 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The first day of school for the Pre-K Class will be Wednesday, September 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Call me if you have any questions. If you cannot make it to the "Back to School Night" call me and we can set up a different time for you and your child to come check out the classroom.

April 2012

Spring is in the air!!

Science - This is such a great time for preschool. We can learn and explore so many fun things this month. We will be talking about seeds and plants, the water cycle, recycling, and insects. We will be starting our butterfly unit and our caterpillars will be arriving soon. The kiddos will love to watch the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly!

Reading - We will finish up our last letter in the alphabet and then start a review of all the letters. Next month we will start blending sounds and the children will be able to read some simple words (so exciting to see how much they've learned).

Math - We will review money and time, then go back and review addition and subtraction. These last two months will be focused on reviewing what we have learned this year.

March 2012

This month we will focus on weather, rainbows, butterflies, ladybugs, and St. Patrick’s Day. We will plant some seeds, make several different crafts about rainbows, and get ready for our butterfly unit that we will start after spring break.

Reading
We will focus on sequencing. We will talk about the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Also we will talk about conflict and conflict resolution (what was the problem and how was it solved).

Math
- We will review money and start our time unit.
- We are still practicing counting by 10.

Other
- We will continue to learn to tie shoes.
- Every Friday we will have a science experiment and record our results in our science journals.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

February

Valentine Parties
At our Valentine parties we will play games, decorate a Valentine box, and distribute Valentine cards. 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 are 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. I would like each child in the Pre-K class to bring in 10 items on Wednesday, Feb. 29.

Other
- We will also start to learn to tie shoes.
- We are going on a Field Trip to a dentist office
- We have a special guest music teacher that will be coming once a month to teach a fun music class.

Registration Time

Rachel’s Preschool
2012 – 2013 Registration

I have pre-registration for current students and family members from Jan. 5 to Jan. 19. Registration for anyone else will start Jan. 20.

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, 2012
• Child must be potty trained
• Class is every Tuesday and Thursday (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Class will start Tuesday, Sep. 4, 2012
• 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, 2011
• Class is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Class will start Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2012
• Monthly tuition is a flat rate of $85 a month

Please ask me for registration forms if you are interested.

Thank you!!
Rachel