The End of the Year is Here!!!!!

     There are only 7 days of preschool left as I write this post!  This year has whizzed by and I can't believe it's coming to an end already.  We have had an amazing year full of learning, exploration, fun, and discovery.  I have truly enjoyed teaching each child in my class this year.  Every day, the children are discovering something new and I'm learning new things too.  Thank you to the parents for sharing your child with me this year!  I look forward to teaching some of the children again next year and also getting updates from the children who are moving on to Kindergarten.  

     In the classroom, we are wrapping up our plant study.  The children planted okra, Swiss chard, and lavender seeds.  Some of the seeds have sprouted.  Each day, the children are responsible for watering their seeds or sprouts.  Next week we will plant our seeds at the community garden across the street. 

     The children did a GREAT job at the Music Show.  This is the first time I have ever put together a performance with preschool children and I was so pleased with how well they did.  The children worked hard and practiced many times for the performance.  I'm so proud of the great show they put on.  Thank you to all the families that were able to attend the show.  The children were very excited and proud.

     Each day the children have been answering a "Question of the Day" as part of the arrival routine.  Some of the children have been coming up with their own questions, asking their friends, and recording their responses on paper.  I love watching the children take a lesson I have presented and making it their own.  The children are practicing their writing, counting, and comparing in this activity.  


REMINDERS...

• Preschool Family Fun Day - Friday May 22nd @ Sharpsburg Primary, 1:00 on the playground.  There will be crafts and activities for each preschooler to take home.  Each family will gets a beach bucket, books, activities, and a everyone who attends will get a Popsicle.  We hope to see you there! 
• Last Day of School - Thursday May 28th.  Please make sure your child brings his/her school bag every day the rest of the year.  We will be sending home a lot of things between now and the end of the year.   
• End of the year report cards will be sent home the last week of school.  

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK  YOU to all the parents and family members who have volunteered their time and talents both inside and out of the classroom this year.  I sincerely appreciate the support of everyone who has been involved in our classroom.   

Have a safe and fun filled summer!!!!
-Ms. Katie

May the Fourth (be with you)

A little Star Wars humor for any other Star Wars fans out there :)

     Welcome to the last month of school!  Wow, only 4 weeks of school left until summer break.  This time of year is so exciting and busy.  

     We are busy, busy, busy in our room completing end of the year projects.  The children have been working on a special Mother's Day gifts that will be coming home this week.  Many children continue to work through their picture dictionaries and a few are finishing them up.  Mostly 4 and 5 year old children are working on this project, so don't worry if your child does not come home with one.  We are also finishing up our Get Set for School workbooks.  Children who are going on to kindergarten have been working in these handwriting books all year.  They will be sent home when we are finished.  

   This week we will be planing seeds from the Williams Community Garden.  After the seeds sprout,we will walk over to the Community Garden and transplant the seedlings.  We are planting Swiss chard and okra.  We are continuing to work on recycled lid collages and melted crayon art (whenever we have parent volunteer).  

     Last week, a few of the children used unifix cubes to measure their friends.  Since the children were so interested in measuring each other, I made a chart so they could record their observations and compare.  This also became a spontaneous lesson in counting by 10's.  All week, the children were taking turns measuring and being measured.  They worked together to create sets of unifix cubes, write down their observations, and help each other with measuring.  It was such a fun learning activity for everyone.  The children really enjoyed measuring each other and being measured and I loved being a part of this teachable moment!  Some of the concepts that were a part of this activity include: counting with 1:1 correspondence to 60 or higher, creating sets of 10, counting by 10's, comparing numbers, understanding taller, shorter, more, less, writing names of peers, recording information on a chart, and much, much more.   



THANK YOU

• A very big THANK YOU to all the parents and families that have volunteered and supported our classroom this year.  Without your help, we wouldn't be able to do many of the great projects like sewing, string art. and melted crayon art.  There are still opportunities to volunteer before the end of the year.  Sign up via Sign Up Genius (click the link) or contact me directly if there is a date and time not listed that works for you.  

REMINDERS...

• Montessori Preschool Music Show
• Thursday May 7th @ 10:30 and 2:00 in the auditorium.  We hope to see you there!
• Preschool Family Fun Day 
• Friday May 22 @ Sharpsburg Primary.  1:00-2:00
• Please make an enrollment appointment for the 2015-2016 school  year.  Returning preschoolers and new kindergartners need to enroll.