This week will be all about the letter Vv.  Today we learned how to write Vv the correct way in upper/lower case, the Vv sound, and the "sign" for Vv,  Our Board Story was about Vincent the vulture visiting Vicki the vulture with his best velvet best on.  Our Board words are violin, vegetables, and vulture.  We added 17 additional words to our Board. Way to go Preschool.  Our Circle Time story was Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert.  Our little ones loved this story.  We had fun brainstorming our favorite vegetables.  I learned that most our preschoolers do not like peppers, but really like carrots and cucumbers.  
In the Art Center we made our own vegetable soup craft.  This craft really showed off our cutting skills.  They did great.  
In the Writing Center we made our letter Vv crown. 
We also enjoyed doing floor puzzles, building with blocks, coloring in our letter Vv coloring books, and more.  In Math we continue to work on number recognition, counting, one-to-one correspondence, and patterns.  We will soon be learning about same/different; positions; bigger than/smallerthan; and more.  
I will doing a supply check this week.  If your child needs to update his/her supplies I will let you know.  I know some of us are in need of new crayons.  Please watch for a note in your child's folder by next week.  

**A book is like a garden carried in your pocket. - Chinese proverb

**Special Notes:
-I hope you all received and read your email from Fr. Jim.  We are all asking that if you think your child has been exposed to anyone with Covid that you keep them home until you know that they are safe to return to school.  We need to stop the spread.
-If your child is sick with ANY Covid symptoms, please keep them home.  You do not every symptom to be considered positive for Covid - many have only 1 symptom.  Also, please don't assume that your child's symptoms are a cold or allergies.  Keep them home and monitor them for a couple of days to be sure before sending them to school.  Let's all do our part to keep others safe and healthy.
-Our Easter Egg Hunt is still in the planning stages, but Mrs. J. and I are filling those eggs! Thank you to those who have sent in their bag of candy. Pray for nice weather so that we can hopefully do our hunt outside.  

We've had a very busy week in  Preschool.  Yes, this week we are learning all about the letter Tt, but we also celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday and started "March is Reading Month" and Dental Health Month. 
Letter Tt:  We have learned the correct way to write Tt in upper/lower case, learned the Tt sound, and the "sign" for Tt.  Stories, songs, and finger plays have helped us to learn more about letter Tt. We had fun making a human alphabet train in pre-K 4's.  Everyone held a letter and climbed aboard the alphabet train.  When the train stopped each preschooler took a turn sharing what they know about the letter they held.  It was a fun and silly train ride. 
Dr. Seuss: We have read many Dr. Seuss books this week (Green Eggs and Ham; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; 10 Apples on Top; Dr. Seuss's ABC; and Hop on Pop)
Our 3-Year Olds painted a red fish and blue fish during Art Center.  Our 4-Year Olds made and counted 1-10 apple prints for 10 Apples on Top.  We will continue reading Dr. Seuss books and doing/making Dr. Seuss crafts this week.
Reading Month:  March is Reading Month.  During this month we will have periods of quiet reading; Our 4-Year Olds will have DEAR time every Friday (Drop Everything And Read); we will have our buddies read to our classes via Zoom (from their room to our room); and many other fun reading activities. Each Wednesday is set aside to wear their March is Reading Month shirts (if they ordered one).
Dental Health: Throughout this month we will learn about our teeth and dental health.  This week we watched a fun video about visiting the dentist.  Stories and crafts will help us to learn throughout the month.

Along with all of these activities we continue to work on our scissor skills, counting, one-to-one correspondence, colors, and shapes.  In Pre-K 4's we continue to work on patterns in our Math Center.  We have also been working with sequence cards.  These cards help our little ones understand how events occur in logical order. This helps them with both math and reading skills. Sequencing allows them to recognize patterns in everyday life.  This helps them to make sense of the world around them.  
All of our Preschoolers are doing a great job!!

Special Notes:
*If your child is not feeling well, PLEASE keep them home.  As many of you know we have positive Covid  cases in the building.  We all need to do our part to help STOP the spread.  Stay home if you are not feeling well (if a sibling is not feeling well, please feel free to keep your preschooler home as well. If you would like me to send work home, please contact me and I will get a packet ready for pick-up), quarantine if you have traveled, wash hands frequently, wear a mask. 
Mrs. J and I clean our room each  morning before our students enter.  We wipe desks and chairs with antimicrobial cleaners, we spray door knobs, light switches, and locker handles, we open windows, and diffuse the air with our room diffuser.  We take great care to clean toys and bag them for days before anyone else uses them, we wash hands at school frequently, and more.  We can only do so much on our end.  We need your help.  A BIG thank you to those of you who are helping us stop the spread by following many of these guidelines. 
*Please be sure to send in 1 bag of candy with your child for our Easter Egg Hunt.  We cannot have this fun event without the help and generosity of everyone.  Mrs. J and I will time to fill all of those eggs.

**You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax all you need is a book.   
​-Dr. Seuss

Welcome Back!! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Winter Break.  
Today we started right back into our normal routine.  What a busy Monday in Preschool.
We started learning about the letter Ss today.  Our Board Story was about a sea horse and a salmon singing silly songs in the sea.  Our Board Words are sunflower, sailboat, sun, and star.  We aded 9 additional words to our board.  Can't wait to see what we add to our board on Wednesday.  During Circle Time we began a great discussion about Lent.  We learned that Lent lasts 40 days.  Lent is the waiting time before Easter.  Our Board Words for Lent are Pray, Fast, and Give.  We talked about each of these things and brainstormed about each.  Our little ones had some great ideas:
Pray - Talk to God everyday; say your prayers everyday; Jesus likes when you talk to him; You can talk to God anywhere - even in the bath tub; If we talk to Jesus then he listens.
Fast - You have to give some food away; Don't eat foods that you like;  If we don't eat our food than we feel hungry.  Instead of being hungry for food, be hungry for Jesus and he will smile (amazing); Don't eat anything on some days.
Give - We learned that giving means not just giving "things" but giving of ourselves.
Here is what are Preschoolers said:
Give people your nice; Be good and give God joy; Help people; Don't fight cuz Jesus didn't fight; give mommy a break; give people you love a hug; give away stuff you don't need.

They did a great job in our discussion.  I use the butterfly as a Lenten symbol in our room.  During Lent we pray, fast, and give to change. Just as a caterpillar spends time in his cocoon before changing into a beautiful butterfly, we spend time during Lent to change too.  If we spend time with God we can be more like Christ.  We will spend some time each day in class with Christ.  Our Circle Time Story today was Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam by Scholastic.  
We also did a short Social Studies lesson in honor of George Washington's birthday today.

In the Writing Center we did our Letter Ss Crown.  Please continue to practice scissor skills with your child at home.
In the Art Center we began work on a special Lenten craft.

**Special Notes:
*Thank you to those parents who are keeping their child home to quarantine after traveling during Winter Break.  It is appreciated more than you know.
*We will be doing an Easter Egg Hunt right before Easter break.  To make this fun and special day happen, I need each child to bring in 1 bag of candy so that Mrs. J. and I can fill our eggs.  Please watch for updated information about this fun activity.
*If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home.   We work hard to keep our classroom clean and disinfected.  We clean desks and chairs daily, wipe down cupboards, doors, lightswitches, locker handles, and more. We open windows at the end of our day.  We handwash, use hand sanitizer (when anymore wipes their nose and uses a kleenex we wash or use sanitizer), make sure we wear our masks properly.  We all need to do our part.

**Change from the inside out and your heart will be filled with love. - unknown

Our 3-Year Old's were very busy today.  We learned all about the letter Rr - we sang about the letter Rr, read about the letter Rr, and colored pictures about the letter Rr.  During Circle Time we learned how to write upper/lower case the correct way and learned the Rr sound.  We read the story My River by Shari Halpern.  This is a "big" book and our Preschoolers love when I pull out a big book.  We also talked more about Valentine's Day. We talked about how Valentine's Day is a special day that allows us to show and express love.  We brainstormed ways that we can show people in our life that we love them.  Here are some of our ideas:
give flowers, write someone a note, draw a picture of a heart, say "I love You" to everyone, be more kind on Valentine's Day, give people food, bring mommy chocolate cuz she loves chocolate, clean up your toys, tell your brother you love him and don't fight in front of mommy and daddy.  So many ideas.  We also talked about who to show our love to on Valentine's day: Mommy/Daddy; Grandma/Granpa; brothers/sisters; God; friends; your teacher; your pet.  It was a fun discussion.  I love having these discussions with my class. They are the best and always make me smile.  

In the Writing Center we made "Name Rockets".  Please continue to help your child practice their name at home.  While practicing, help them with proper pencil grip. We say rest it,  pinch, give it a pillow, and these 2 go under the bed.  Most of them know this saying and will move their fingers accordingly.  If you would like me to review/show you ask me at drop off or pick up.  
In the Art Center we made a Valenetine picture for our 5th grade buddies.  They are all excited to share these with their older friends.  

**Special Notes:
*Our Valentine party will be on Thursday, Feb. 11.  Our room mom has planned a special craft and has sent in a Valentine treat with water and juice.  THANK YOU Mrs. Padesky for all of your planning and hard work.  I so appreciate all that you do to make our Special celebrations so festive.  
*If you choose to send your child with Valenetine's to pass out please do not label the envelope with names.  It is too difficult for our little ones to pass them out.  
We have 12 students in our 3-Year Old Class.
*If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home to rest and help us to stop the spread of germs.
*If you are traveling over winter break, please consider quarantining before sending your child back to class.

This week will be all about the letter Rr for both 3's and 4's Preschool.  We will learn to write Rr the correct way in upper/lower case, the Rr sound, and for our 4-Year Olds, the "sign" for Rr.  Books, songs, and finger plays will help us to learn more about letter Rr.  I have some fun crafts planned for the week.
We also have Valentine activities planned for the week.  In Math we will be sorting Sweetheart candies by color;  we will play a roll and count Valentine game;  do Valentine crafts; read Valentine themed books; and learn about St. Valentine.  We will end our week with our little Valentine celebration.  Your child is allowed to bring in a Valentine and non-edible treat to share with their classmates.  We will decorate bags to collect our treats.  In our 3's class we have 12 students.  Our 4-Year Old class has 11 students.  Our room mom's have planned a special Valentine craft and are providing individually wrapped treats with juice/water.  Thank you so much for the time and attention that you put into planning these celebrations.  Our little ones get so excited!!
It will be a fun and busy week in Preschool this week.

Our Board Story today was about Rosie riding her horse round and round the racetrack.
Our Board Words are rugs, rose, rainbow, and rabbit.  Our Preschoolers added 9 more words and are excited to add more.  They love to see how many words they can add. Our biggest number thus far is 30 words.  Today we read one of our "big" books (which they love) called The River.  We ended Circle Time with the song "Shake Your Sillies Out". 
In the Writing Center we made our letter Rr crown.  Our Name Rocket craft in the Art Center was a big hit.  Everyone did a great job putting the letters of their name in the correct order.  Our shape this week is the heart shape.  
Keep up the good work Preschool!!

Special Notes:
*You may send a Valentine card and non-edible treat for your child to pass and share with friends.  3-Year olds :12 students
               4-Year Olds: 11 students
*If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home and let them rest.  This will help stop the spread of germs.
*We will not be playing outside this week due to the weather.  We will have extra playtime in our classroom or the gym if it's available. 

**Kids go where there is excitement.  They stay where there is love. - Zig Zigglar

We're learning all about the letter Qq this week.  Today we learned the Qq sound, the correct way to write Qq in upper/lower case, and the "sign" for Qq.  Our Letter Board story was about a queen and her quintuplets  quietly sleeping under the quilt.  Our Board Words are quilt, queen, quail, and quarter.  We added 6 new words to our board.  Great job!! Qq words are not easy.  
Today we focused on not only the letter Qq, but also on Ground Hogs Day.  Everyone enjoyed the story Groundhog's Special Secret by Iris Hiskey Arno.  We also listened to the story Grumpy Groundhog by Maureen Wright. These stories helped us learn all about Groundhog Day.
In the Writing Center we did our Getting Ready Letter Qq Page.
We had fun coloring and making our Groundhog crown in the Art Center.

Our theme this month will be SNOW.  We will be doing crafts, reading stories, doing finger plays, and more around the Snow theme.  

**Special Notes:
*Please watch for special notes coming soon about Valentine's Day
*I know that many of you are traveling over Winter Break.  Please consider quarantining when you return.  We do so much at school and in class to keep everyone safe.  Please help us with us.
*Thank you to all of you for keeping your child home when they are not feeling well.  I know we had a few out with coughs and runny noses.  It seems to be going around.  

**Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers. -Kahlil Gibran

Welcome to letter Oo Week.  Our theme this week has been Oo is for Ocean.  Short video/movies, books, and finger plays have helped us learn a lot about the Ocean.  Some fun facts we've learned are:
The ocean gives us about 80% of the oxygen we breathe
There are 5 oceans on planet earth
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and it's name means 'Peaceful Sea"
There are over 1 million different animal species in our oceans
Scientists say that there is some sea life that hasn't been discovered yet
Ocean animals are known as marine life, sea life, or ocean life and include animals, plants other organisms.
Our favorite ocean creatures are the shark, sea horse, and octopus
God wants us to keep his oceans clean - we learned that there are 5.2 trillion pieces of plastic in our ocean.  Our preschoolers decided that we all need to be sure to throw our trash in garbage cans, cut our plastic bottle holders apart before throwing them away, recycle, and as Gavin said "Be a good water person."

We also learned a lot about Oo is for Octopus.  Our little ones learned that they have 8 legs covered with sucker sensers; they have a parrot like beak that they use to eat their prey such as crabs; they have 3 hearts and 2 eyes; they can change color to hide from predators; they shoot "ink" as a defense mechanism.  Our little ones loved watching videos of the octopus swimming - so peaceful and elegant looking. 

We had fun sorting sea shells, playing in sand, and making ocean crafts.  What a fun Ocean week.

Our 3-Year Olds are doing a nice job with their scissor skills.  We will continue to practice fringe cutting for another week and then will move onto cutting lines.  Please practice with your child at home. 
We continue to practice our counting, number recognition, shapes, and patterns in Math.
Our 3-Year Olds are busy learning to write their names.  Everyone has mastered the first letter of their names, a couple have the first 2 letters, and 2 are now writing their whole name with little to no help.  Awesome job!!!!
Our 4-Year Olds are all writing their own names and are starting to show an interst in writing the last names.  I now have 2 students writing their first and last name with no help.  Way to go!!!!!

We continue to be busy in Preschool.  Everyone is doing such a good job.  They make me proud.

Let's learn about the letter Nn.  This week we are learning the Nn sound, the correct way to write Nn in upper/lower case, and the "sign" for Nn.  Fun videos, books, and songs are helping us learn about Nn. 
We had a messy day in  Preschool. Today we had fun playing in Moon Sand that we made with flour and baby oil.  Our sand allowed us a fun tactile way to write letters, make shapes, and more.  We also used glue and shaving cream to make puff paint for a special winter craft we are making this week.  We will display these at school for all to enjoy for a while.  Our little ones really enjoyed our busy day.
Our focus in Religion this week is the story of Noah's Ark and God's Rainbow Promise.  Today we watched a short animated video about the story of Noah.  We also had fun learning the "Arky, Arky" song.  We will continue with our lesson on Thursday.

**When you go through deep waters I will be with you. -Isaiah 43:2

**Special Notes:
*If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home.  We work very, very hard to keep our room as clean and free of germs as possible.  Mrs. J. and I do a lot of daily cleaning, we sanitize, wash, scrub desks, wipe down anything and everything that may have been touched by tiny fingers, open windows, and more.  If your child comes to school and is not quite acting like their normal self, shows sign of fever, cough, excessive runny nose, or seems extremely tired we will call you for a pick-up. 
*Please have your child ready to exit your car in the morning.  This includes having their coat on and zipped; hat, gloves, mask on etc.... We need to keep our line moving as quickly as possible.  Mrs. Nesom, Mrs. Everhart, and myself have had to help too many students with winter gear in the morning.  It is cold outside and we have many Preschoolers standing outside waiting for everyone to get in line.  If we have to continually help get your child dressed in the morning, it keeps everyone outside longer than necessary. 
 
Also, please be sure to dress your child for the weather.  We do try to have outdoor play time if it is not too cold out.  I am unable do this if I have too many little ones without hats, mittens, and boots (if we have snow on the ground). Thank you for your help.
*I have had some parents ask about Valentine's Day.  We will have a small class party - our Room Mom is working on that now.  I am waiting to hear from Mrs. Forsythe to see if we will be allowed to pass Valentine cards out in class.  I will keep you posted as information comes my way.

This week we will learn all about the letter Nn.  We will learn to write Nn the correct way in upper/lower case, the "sign" for Nn, and the Nn sound.  Our Board Story is about Nick and Nancy.  Our Board Words are: nickle, necklace, nurse, and nest.  We added 18 additional words to our board. Awesome job!!  
In Science/Health this week we will focus on Nutrition.  Today we played pretend and packed healthy lunchboxes.  Everyone did a great job.  I am very proud of them.   A fun video about eating healthy taught us more about nutritional foods.  We will continue to talk about healthy eating habits all week. 
In the Art Center we started a fun craft based on the story The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  We will finish these up on Wednesday and hang them in our hallway for all to enjoy.  
Our Religion this week will focus on the story of Noah's Ark and God's Rainbow Promise.  Today we heard the story of Noah and started to learn the "Arky, Arky" song.  
It looks like it's going to be a fun and busy week in Preschool.

*Whoever does not love, does not know God, for God is love. -1John 4:8

**Special Notes:
*If your child is not feeling well, please keep him/her home to rest.  If your child is running a fever, they MUST be fever free with no medication for 24 hours.  
*I am starting to get questions about Valentine's Day.  Normally we pass out and share Valentine's with our classmates.  I will be talking to Mrs. Forsythe to see what will be allowed for our party this year.  I will keep your updated on what our Valentine's Day party will look like.  Our Room Mom's are already working on crafts and a special snack.
*Please mark your calendar - NO SCHOOL on Monday January 18th in honor of MLK Day.

Welcome back.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas break.  I had a very relaxing couple of weeks.  Obvioiusly, with the way things are, my family stayed home and did not gather with anyone outside of our household.  Instead, we stayed home and had movie nights, game nights, and played on-line trivia via zoom with our extended family.  I spent some time reading, cleaning out closets, and organizing.  I even got some naptime in.  It was a nice break.  It was nice to see all my sweet Preschoolers smiles this morning as they excitedly shared what Santa brought them.  It's nice to be back. 
This week we are focusing on the Letter Mm.  We will learn how to write Mm the correct way in upper/lower case, the Mm sound, and the "sign" for Mm.  Our Board Story today was about Mama Monster making many muffins.  Our Board Words are monkey, money, milk, and mouse.  We added 22 more words to our Board.  Great job!!!  During Circle Time we started to learn about Mm is for Michigan.  This is what we learned today about our great state:
*Michigan is shaped like a mitten and we are called the "mitten state" or the great lake state because we are surrounded by lakes
*Michigan has an upper peninsula and a lower peninula.  We got to the U.P. by way of our beautiful Mackinac Bridge
*Our State Bird is the Robin and our State Tree is the White Pine

We will continue to learn more about Michigan through the week.

In the Writing Center today we did our Getting Ready letter Mm practice page.
We also made our letter Mm crown.  In Math we sorted colored marshmallows and counted to see what color we had more of on our plates.  We will continue to do marshmallow math on Wednesday.  We will end our week with M&M math.  This is always a big hit with our little ones because they get to eat their M&M's when we finish.  

*Special Notes:
*If you have traveled or were with larger groups of people over the holidays we are asking that you please keep your child home this week to be sure that we are not spreading any germs to others in our classroom.  Please work with us to help keep everyone safe and healthy.  If your child shows any signs or symptoms of an illness, we will call you to pick them up from school. 
*Wednesday is the Feast of the Epiphany. The epiphany, or showing, of Jesus teaches us that Jesus’ coming into the world was important to the whole world and that the Good News of Jesus Christ is meant for everyone!  The epiphany is also called "little Christmas". We will be reading stories and learning about this special Feast on Wednesday. 
*Thank you, Thank you all so much for all of the Christmas gifts that you gave to me.  My heart was overflowing with special feelings of love and joy for all of you and all of the ways you made my heart smile.  The candy, candles, gift cards, cash, jewelry, mugs, Yeti tumblers, pictures, and more were all so wonderful. I have no words to express my gratitude and love to you all for your kindness and generosity.  I am still working on my thank you notes, so please watch for those coming home with your child (if they have not yet gotten one).  God bless all of you!!

**Thankfulness is the quickest path to joy. - Jefferson Bethke