Wonderful Winter

     Welcome to 2014!  I hope everyone had a wonderful break and enjoyed the time off.  I know I did!  We are off and running in the New Year.  There are many new works out in the classroom.  Some popular works this week included: salt painting, liquid pouring with a funnel, cut and glue a snow man with small, medium, and large circles, and letter stamps.  Other works that the children have continued to show an interest in include; brown stairs with pink tower, free choice art, and science discovery shelf.  All of the children are also working hard on writing or tracing their name each day as part of our sign in procedure.  Some of the children are even starting to write their last name!
     We did not have a letter of the week this week, but reviewed the letters we have learned so far.  Letters we have learned so far: M, S, T, A, P, F, C, E, R, B, L.  The children are learning the letter names and sounds in preparation for reading.  Letter names and sounds are also taught through sandpaper letter and other works in the classroom.  The Ohio Early Learning and Development Standard in this area is for children by end of preschool to "Recognize and name some upper and lower case letters in addition to those in first name."  
     Another literacy skill we have been working on includes blending and  segmenting syllables in words (mostly the children's names).  You can practice this skill at home by clapping out the syllables in different words.  For example: You would clap 3 times when saying the word dinosaur.  Saying it in syllables "di-no-saur" and clapping for each syllable.  Then have your child try it.
     The Ohio Department of Education has some good resources available related to preschool and Early Childhood Education.  Check them out here:
ODE Early Learning
    
     This week we read the book "Snowmen at Night."  The children are doing very well with reading comprehension questions for books that have been read multiple times.  Reading comprehension is a crucial skill for school success and something that we work on each day.  Click the link for tips to develop reading comprehension.
5 Tips for Reading Comprehension

     This week, I will begin assessments for 2nd quarter progress reports.  3rd and 4th quarter progress will be reported by the substitute who will be here during my maternity leave.

*I hope to upload pictures to Shutterfly.com soon, but I'm currently having a technical problem with the camera. 

*We need a few bags of white mini marshmallows for a snowman project.  If you would like to provide a bag, please send them by 1/16.  Thanks!


REMINDERS...
*For the safety of the students, parents/adults need to walk their children to the classroom door and remain with them until the teacher arrives.  This is in the Preschool Handbook, page 6.  
     If you have misplaced your copy of the handbook or want to review it, you can find it online by clicking the link below or go to www.norwoodschools.org, then click Williams Elementary on the left, click "School Forms" on the left, then click Preschool Handbook. 
Preschool Handbook
     Thank you for taking the time to review the handbook!
*Sign up to volunteer in our classroom - we can always use an extra set of hands.
*No School 1/20 and 1/27.
*Progress Reports sent home 1/28.
*Parent-teacher conferences 2/13 and 2/20.  Sign up sheets sent home 1/13. 
* I am planning to go on Maternity leave at the beginning of March.  I hope to meet with parents at conferences to discuss your child's progress and also plans for next school year. 
*Coming Soon - Enrollment information for the 2014-2015 school year. 




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