Hello preschool families! I have been so busy this month that I wasn't able to get a preschool update in. This month we have been busy learning about letters in our alphabet and snowmen. Students have created their own snowman art projects, read snowman books, and acted out a snowmen poem. We have been enjoying the snow on the playground as much as possible, as long as it hasn't been too icy or frigid cold out.
The letters we have been practicing in class so far have been S, T, M, and this week we will introduce G for Groundhog's Day. Students are learning what the letters look like, both uppercase and lowercase, what sounds the letters make, and words that start with the letter. We have incorporated letter learning into our morning work when students arrive into class through different worksheets that I periodically send home. We also have been watching the ABC Mouse letter videos that have catchy songs to talk about letters and reading AlphaTales books to learn more about words that start with our letter of the week. Today School Smiles came into our class to discuss mouth hygiene with students. Preschoolers watched The Berenstain Bears Go To the Dentist and a dental hygienist showed them proper tooth brushing techniques and let them practice on a giant set of teeth. The students really enjoyed using oversized toothbrushes to brush the teeth of puppets. I am sending home teeth cleaning goody bags from the program and I have several extras. If you would like a bag for a sibling, or an extra for your child- please let me know and I will send one home. A reminder that we do not have school this Wednesday, the 31st, for a teacher's workshop day. Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and I will be hosting a party, similar to our Christmas party! On Wednesday, February 14th, we will have a Valentine's/friendship celebration. If you have any shoeboxes lying around the house, we will be decorating Valentine's mailboxes in the weeks leading up to the celebration to collect the student's Valentines. I invite parents to join us for our celebration from 10:30-11:30am where we will have Valentine's craft activities and a special snack. I am also asking for any snack donations to make our party extra special! I have leftover juice boxes from our Christmas party and plenty of plates and silverware, but holiday treats are welcome. I will send more information home at the end of this week about our Valentine's celebration. Have a wonderful week :) Ms. McKay
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Happy New Year to all my Middleton preschool families! I hope everyone had a restful and joyous holiday break. I also hope everyone was able to weather this storm we had come through! It has been a crazy week with only one day of preschool, so I am looking forward to a, hopefully, full week next week. Students this week began learning about the letter S. We will continue our exploration of the letter S next week as well and will introduce a new letter, T. While we are not going in ABC order for our letter learning, research shows students benefit more from learning letters in context. For example, by learning a couple of letters at the same time, students learn how to compare the sounds and understand how letter sounds work together. You can practice at home by having your child listen to you say several words that begin with the same letter (ex. boat, ball, boy) and then asking if they hear the same sound in other words (ex. cat, toy, balloon). This phonics instruction is crucial for students are they begin their journey towards reading!
With all the snow we've been getting, we are exploring snowmen and winter themes along with our letters. Students have enjoyed playing with a Christmas themed sensory bin where they can wrap their own presents. We practiced our cutting skills and number order by creating winter pictures. And we have been reading fun snowman building books such as How to Build a Snow Bear by Eric Pindler and Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. Though much of the preschool routine has stayed the same into our new year, I have introduced the students to morning work. Each morning after students arrive in the classroom, they take care of their backpacks and snow gear and then they will find their name tag at the tables. Students will have a short activity to complete before they move on to free play. For students entering Kindergarten next year this is a good introduction to the expectations they will see. For students with one more year of preschool, this gives them an opportunity to practice skills and explore our learning topics in another style. Stay warm and enjoy the snow! :) Ms. McKay |