Pond Preschool – Week of February 13 – Week of February 20

The last couple of weeks the children have been working on a lot of different things.  In the pictures that follow you will see evidence of the following KDI’s (Key Developmental Indicators).

• Initiative:  Children demonstrate initiative as they explore their world.
• Planning:  Children make plans and follow through on their intentions.
• Problem solving:  Children solve problems encountered in play.
• Self-identity: Children have a positive self-identity.
• Sense of competence: Children feel they are competent.
• Building relationships:  Children build relationships with other children and adults.
• Cooperative play:  Children engage in cooperative play.
• Fine-motor skills:  Children demonstrate dexterity and hand-eye coordination in using their small muscles.
• Vocabulary: Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases.
• Phonological awareness:  Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.
• Alphabetic knowledge:  Children identify letter names and their sounds.
• Concepts about print:  Children demonstrate knowledge about environmental print.
• Shapes:  Children identify, name and describe shapes.
• Spatial awareness:  Children recognize spatial relationships among people and objects.
• Patterns:  Children identify, describe, copy, complete, and create patterns.
• Data analysis:  Children us information about quantity to draw conclusions, make decisions and solve problems.
• Art:  Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through two-and three- dimensional art.
• Classifying:  Children classify materials, actions, people, and events.
• Experimenting:  Children experiment to test their ideas.

~Harmony

Pond Preschool – Signing in and out

Hello Families,

Please be sure to sign your child in and out each day on the sheets located outside our classroom.  Besides our own goal to keep accurate records of the children’s attendance, we are also coming up on our licensing renewal. Signing children in and out is a state requirement.  We are fortunate to have a representative from licensing who is very thorough, and we want to have everything ready for her! Please see a teacher if you are unsure of the location of the parents sign in/out sheet.

Take care,

Harmony

Pond Preschool – February 2012 Dates

Here are the February dates – please make note of them!

February 2012

• 2/1 – Ms. Harmony off – Danielle will close
• 2/5 – Happy 4th Birthday Davis!
• 2/6 – Tammy Holley Time 9:00-10:00 ( wear your tennis shoes)
• 2/7 – Fire Drill @ 4:15
• 2/8 – SHARING DAY- items must fit in cubby, no weapons (see note below)
• 2/12 – Happy 3rd Birthday to Isaya!
• 2/14 – Lion’s Club Vision Screening (more information to come)
• 2/17 – Happy Birthday Ms. Kristen!
• 2/21 – Tammy Holley Time 9:00-10:00  (wear your tennis shoes)
• 2/22 – Ms. Kristen out at noon
• 2/23 – CRAZY HAIR DAY!! (see note below)

Based on the continued interest of the children in sharing their items from home and the memories of crazy hair day from our summer activities, we will be planning two special days in February:  Sharing Day on February 8th and Crazy Hair Day on February 23.  This is just one more way that we can carry forward and capitalize on children’s interests.

~Harmony

Pond Preschool – Week of January 23, 2012

In the pictures above you will get a good idea of what was worked on this week.  The children love it when we document their work with pictures.

In the classroom the children have been building with big blocks and with small and big legos.  Some children have made trains and some have tried making the “tallest tower.”  There was a lot of talk about which is taller?  Which is longer? And how many blocks did you use?  Many of these creations went right to the save counter and have been added to and used all week.

Well – we have been enjoying the back and forth weather.  When there is snow the children have fun sledding, shoveling and moving it all around.  When there has been rain, the children have enjoyed splashing in puddles and pulling each other in wagons.  On Monday our playground had so much standing water that we decided to take the children on a neighborhood walk.  The children came back with lots of stories about what and who they saw.  Seems like many of our friends from the center enjoyed a neighborhood walk as well.

-Harmony

Pond Preschool – Welcome Back!

Isaya joins Ms. Kristen and the Blue Group.

WELCOME TO PRESCHOOL, ISAYA! 

Our first week back was fun.  The children were excited to see their friends and teachers.  There was a lot of talk about the time spent with family and about gifts they recieved.  Speaking of gifts, we would like to extend a huge thank you for all of the generous gifts that were given to us.  We certainly feel appreciated.  We hope that you also enjoyed your gift that your child made for you.  There was much excitement about the paintings done for the mugs.  “It’s so sparkly!” many children said.

As we move through January, we are not so sure about the snow, (when it will be here?!), but we are sure since we live in Michigan, it will come sooner or later.  Make sure you are keeping an eye on the  condition of your child’s snowpants and boots — they may need washing and/or drying.  We will continue to keep the hats and mittens washed and dryed.  Also make sure anything new that you bring into the classroom for your child is labeled clearly with their name. Thanks!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

–Harmony

Pond Preschool – January 2012 Dates

December offered a bit of snow, but not enough for our liking!  The kids keep asking us, “When will we get more snow?”  We hope it will come soon.  Snow offers so many fun outdoor play activities.  The kids are ready to use the sleds and are excited to paint the snow.  We are keeping fingers crossed and hoping for flurries to start…..any time now!

Here are our important January dates.

Mark your calendars:

• January 2 – Gretchen’s House CLOSED
• January 3 – Welcome Back!  Gretchen’s House re-opens
• January 9 – Tammy Holley -9-9:30 & 9:30-10 (wear your tennis shoes)
• January 10 – Fire Drill 10:15a.m.
• January 11 – Happy 4th Birthday Ashley!
• January 16 – MLK Day – Gretchen’s House closed to children – staff training day
• January 16 – Welcome Back Carrie!
• January 27 – Tammy Holley – 9-9:30 & 9:30-10 (wear your tennis shoes)
• January 30 – Happy Birthday to our director, Laura!

–Harmony

Book Fair starts Monday, December 12th

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/gretchenshouse7

Clifford The Big Red Dog will also be visiting classrooms on Tuesday, December 13th.  Infant/Toddler teachers are very aware that some of their children may not be so fond of Clifford, so we are making arrangements so that they won’t have to see him or interact with him if they prefer not to.

–Harmony

Clifford's visit to Pond Preschool last year!

Pond Preschool – Snow Pictures!

The kids have really enjoyed the freshly fallen snow.  They were excited to use the snow shovels, get the sleds out, and try to move them down the hill.  They are really getting into the swing of things getting themselves ready in all their winter gear.  Thank you for bringing in the much-needed clothing and extra sets of hats and gloves.  We have worked really hard to be sure items are labeled so that they can be easily found.  Please help us in making sure all of your children’s items that are brought into the room are labeled.   Many of the children have the same kinds of gloves.

-Harmony