Hello preschool families! As the year approaches a close, we are still finding plenty of time to have fun in preschool! This week we have been exploring dinosaurs, a real favorite for many of the students. We have explored a variety of dinosaur books, including, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? and If The Dinosaurs Came Back. We have created dinosaur fossil exhibits using play-doh and Q-tips, modeled dinosaur tracks in the play-doh, created dinosaur puzzles that were sent home, and done some dinosaur dance moves.
The date is set for our end of the year preschool graduation celebration! It will take place on Tuesday, June 19th, at 10:00am. Parents and family members are welcome to attend our celebration where we will have light refreshments, a slideshow, student performances, and a short graduation ceremony. Any parent wishing to donate juice, a special snack, or small plates are more than welcome to- please just let me know so I can plan ahead to fill in any gaps! I look forward to celebrating a year of accomplishments with you and your student. As always, thanks for all that you do :) Ms. McKay
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Our reading specialist Mrs. Richardson wanted to pass along a note about STEM versus STEAM.
Many families are hearing more and more about STEM or STEAM night activities at their child’s school. What is the difference between STEM vs. STEAM and what do the abbreviations stand for? The acronym “STEM” stands for: science, technology, engineering and math. The acronym “STEAM” stands for science, technology, engineering ART and math. As many of you know, at MES we have chosen to include “art” (for example: product design) into our STEM program, making it STEAM. Recently we hosted our first STEAM night for all families and it was a huge success. The focus of STEAM is to motivate and engage students in real-world activities. In the 21st century it is important to provide students with thought provoking and diverse, critical thinking opportunities that are student-centered that challenge creative thought in innovative ways. Educating the whole child to become a global citizen is becoming more and more important in the world we live in. Visit this website for creative activities which can be done at home using household items (Stem or Steam) but most importantly have fun with it! http://www.readingrockets.org/article/stem-tools-home Hooray for spring finally having a day that feels like spring! I am so excited for the weather to be nice so our preschoolers can enjoy more like outside learning. We have been exploring topics like weather, gardening, plants, and insects in our classroom. Some fun activities have included: investigating the similarities and differences between seeds for different plants, planting our own seeds, looking for a rainbow of colored plants in a seed catalog, and reading bug-themed stories such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Students have been excited to spend time outside and have been sharing lots of fun outdoor activities they like to do at home!
As the year begins to come to a close, I want to invite parents and families to attend an end of the year graduation celebration for our preschool class! I know some students will be spending another year in preschool, but many of our students will be moving on to Kindergarten. I am planning for this event to take place during the last, or second to last, week of school (June 11th-14th or June 18th-21st). Please let me know if your child WILL NOT be attending either of these weeks so that I can plan to have all our students included. Once I have set a date, I will send home an informational sheet with times and what to expect on this day. Thanks again for all you do to support your students at home! As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me through e-mail or phone at any time! :) Ms. McKay |