Week 10: What a Halloween fun filled week we have had. We have made jack-o-lanterns out of paper plates and real pumpkins. For our class jack-o-lantern, we got to clean out the inside of the pumpkin ourselves and then tasted the seeds after they were cooked. The pumpkin didn’t smell that great and the inside was slimy & wet. Making our jellyfish for the letter “J j” was great because we got to color with markers and then watch Ms. Ng use a spray bottle with water. The water made the colors blend together to make tie-dye. The tentacles were made of colored streamers. Next week, we will be learning about the letters “K k” and L l”. Also in November, we will be learning about Thanksgiving and Fall. Snack is due for everyone on Monday, November 2nd. Please call or email Ms. Ng if you have any questions. 847-965-4500 x110 or vng@golf67.net If you have not signed up for a conference time on Thursday, November 5th or Tuesday, November 10th, please do so A.S.A.P. If you need help or have questions, contact Ms. Ng right away. Week 9: This week, we made many different art projects to help us connect with the letters “H h” and “I i”. For the letter “H h”, we made a big House and drew all the different things in our own houses on the inside. We also created a big heart. We placed 4 mini hearts inside and sewed the heart closed all by ourselves. The sewing part was the hardest but it turned out very nice. For the letter “I i”, we made an Igloo and colored pictures that began with the letter “I i”. Later, we cut and glued the pictures inside the igloo. The fun thing we did for “I i” was make insects! The Music Festival was Thursday night and we did GREAT! Everyone sang and danced on stage. It was so much fun, we want to do it again. Ms. Ng videotaped us and we got to watch our performance on Friday! We think we were superstars! Week 8: Another amazing week! We worked so hard and finished all our work everyday! We got stars on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!!! In total, we have 6 stars!!!! Hopefully we can keep earning stars and get our movie by Winter Break. We have been doing group lessons this week and really enjoying them. While we work on our group project, Ms. Ng is able to give each of us individual time with her to work one-on-one. The directions have been clear and easy to follow, so we do not need to ask anyone for help! Maddie and Makayla share the same birthday! On Friday, we celebrated Maddie’s birthday!!! She brought yummy cupcakes with colored frosting and Halloween rings. On Monday, we will celebrate Makayla’s birthday and we cannot wait to see the yummy treat she will be bringing. Next week, we will be learning about the letters “H h” & “I i”. Ms. Ng says we should practice the letter sound of “Aa”, “Bb”, “Cc”, “Dd”, “Ee”, “Ff”, & “Gg” at home with you. Week 7: This week has been great! We know our routines in school very well and need little to no reminders anymore. Every morning we come into the classroom, put our backpack & coat in our locker, take our folder out and place it in the black bin, tell Ms. Ng what we want for lunch, and last, go to our table and write our names. We have been writing our names every morning this week and are getting better each day! Centers have been going smoothly and we are learning to pay attention to our work and not our friends. Sometimes we have centers all day because we have specials in between. Ms. Ng says center time will be done the whole year and it will help get us ready for Kindergarten. Currently, the playgrounds at Hynes are being remodeled. While this is happening, we have indoor recess and practice sharing the toys in the classroom and asking to play with others. We really like playing with the blocks, kitchen, and computers. Week 6: We have learned the beginning three letters of the alphabet, “A a”. “B b” & “C c”. We are secure with the sounds & are working on identification. Sometimes we get the sound and letter name mixed up but as the year goes on, we will get better. Next week, Ms. Ng plans to teach us about the letters “D d” & “E e”. We will also review all the letters learned to date on that Friday. On Wednesday, we had a very exciting morning. The whole school had a practice fire drill. We worked on “push & go” for the doors, walking out the school without talking, and waiting patiently outside for the all clear to go back in. We did a good job! Ms. Ng and Miss Hirsch decided to change the snack schedule starting NOW. Instead of individual snack and drinks provided daily by the students, everyone will bring 1 classroom size bag or box of snack & 1 bottle of juice on the assigned dates. This way, we work on not wasting food and drink. The first snack drop off date is Monday, October 5th! Week 5: This week has just flown by! We have been working very hard on the letters “A a” & “B b”. We practiced correct writing by starting at the top and working our way to the bottom. Everyone needs to practice connecting the letter sound to the correct letter. It is tough but we are smart and ready for the challenge. Next week, we will review “A a” & “B b” on Tuesday and continue on with “C c”. Ms. Ng may teach us “D d” too but if we need more time with “A a”, “B b”, & “C c”, we will take it. It is better to go slow and steady than fast and zig zaggy. Our new student Mustafa started this week and we have been working hard to make sure he feels comfortable and safe. Together, as a class, we will learn the letters and much more. We are very excited to continue our learning adventure with him. Week 4: We have finished our color unit!! Our final colors were Blue, Purple, Black & White, Pink, Brown, and Color Mixing. We got to make color crafts, paint using those specific colors and read books about the colors. Our favorite part was cooking with the colors because we got to eat what we cooked! On Monday, a new student started in our class. It has been fun teaching him the rules of the classroom and getting to know him. Since we have been at school longer, we are doing our best to be role models for him. He is a very fast learner and working very hard. Starting next week, we will be learning the Letters of the Alphabet. Our first letter will be “A a”. While learning how to identify and produce the letter “A a” sound, we will also work on patterning, counting, and shapes. We will do this by working with different items that begin with letter “A a” such as, Apple, Alligator, Ape, Airplane, ect. You can help us at home by asking us what we learned in school that day and repeating the “A a” sound when you speak. For example, you would say… a, a, apple. Say the letter “A a” sound 2 times and then the word. We will continue learning about the Letters in the Alphabet in order. Depending on how well and quickly we learn; we will spend 1 to 3 days working on a specific letter. Next week, we will learn letters “A a”, “B b”, & “C, c”. Possibly “D d”. Week 3: What an exciting week it has been!!! We have gotten to learn about the colors RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, and GREEN. We have been finding things that are those colors in the classroom and using our brain to think of things outside the classroom. Ms. Ng makes a game out of it and so far, we have been winning! In the cooking center, we have been mixing white frosting with colored food dye. By adding just two or three drops of colored dye and mixing with a popsicle stick, we got a new color. Spreading the colored frosting on graham cracker was yummy and messy! We got frosting on our faces sometimes. Instead of using paintbrushes to paint, we have been using q-tips. This way, we learn to use a little bit of paint at a time and will not waste paint. By ourselves, we have been describing what we feel when we see a certain color and then, painting that feeling. The best time at school is when we get to play in the classroom and have free choice. We have been sharing and playing nicely together. Sometimes, we all want to play the same thing and squish into one table so no one gets left out. It is a tight fit but we enjoy it! Next week, we will learn about the colors BLUE, PURPLE, BLACK, BROWN, WHITE, and the RAINBOW (color mixing too). Week 2 This second week of school was wonderful! We have been learning all about ourselves. We got to make self portraits of ourselves out of shapes and we did such a good job that Ms. Ng decided to hang them in the classroom. Throughout the week, we have been making two books. One book is all about our own interests and the other one is a special “hands” book about everyone. You will get to see and read these books at Parent Teacher Conferences in November. We had share time on Thursday and everyone showed the class pictures of themselves and their families. We passed around the pictures in a circle and used on two fingers so we did not leave smudges. Ms. Ng and Mrs. Tomsic thought everybody looked so CUTE! Now that we have been in school for 9 days, we have played with everything in the classroom. Together, we are learning how to take turns, participate in all the centers and clean up after ourselves. Sometimes we do not do a good job and Ms. Ng has to close the center or toy for the rest of the day or the next day. Ms. Ng has been reading stories to us and a special on was The Kissing Hand. It is about a raccoon who is afraid to go to school for the first time. His mother kisses his hand and he feels her love all through his body and in his heart. Now, when he goes to school and misses her, all he has to do is look at his “kissing hand” and he feels her love right away. We made you (mom and dad) your very own “kissing hand”! When you miss us, you can look at your “kissing hand” and feel our love. Special Note to Parents: I had an enjoyable time meeting with all of you and discussing the Pre- school expectations. Your interest and questions were great and appreciated. I look forward to creating a safe, encouraging, and fun learning year for your child with you. Thank you for your support and the opportunity to be your child’s teacher! Week 1: Dear Parents, We had a wonderful first week of Pre-school! The children are all so sweet and eager to learn the rules, school routine, and new things each day! We are going to have a very exciting school year! This week we concentrated on learning the jobs we need to do each day and feel comfortable with the morning routine. This is our morning routine……. 1.When the children arrive at school they need to open their backpacks, take out their folder, and place it in the folder basket. 2. The kids then put away the rest of their belongings (lunch, backpack, and coat) in their locker. Please do not have your child bring any toys, or trading cards to school. 3.The children sit at their table once they have put everything away in their locker. 4. Next, the children wait for me to call them by name and place their picture in the lunch columns (hot lunch, cheese sandwich, PB and J, and home lunch). 5. Then, the children go to back to their table to complete a morning worksheet in their journal (tracing name, coloring a picture, ect). 6. As the children complete their morning work, Mrs. Tomsic or I will check their work, date it, and give the child a sticker. 7. Last, the children go and play in the classroom for 10 minutes before circle time. This week we began learning our school routines, how to play and learn in our classroom, and the names of our new friends. Next week, we will begin our “All About Me” unit. Open House is next Thursday, September 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at Hynes School. Please plan on attending. There will be a short and informative presentation in the gymnasium. Then, you will be invited to our classroom where I will discuss the goals for the school year, as well as review your child’s daily/weekly schedule at school. I highly encourage you to participate in this evening and look forward to seeing you then! Your children need to stay at home; only parents are invited. Routinely, your child will bring home schoolwork as well as notes from school. The office sends home information you may be interested in. On most Friday’s I will be sending home newsletters. All of these materials will be in your child’s folder. Please check your child’s folder EACH DAY and remove whatever is in it. Your child should always have a folder in his/her backpack. You can send me notes and other information using this folder. Your child should check inside his/her folder each morning upon arrival to see if there is something from you to give to me. If you ever send me anything, please make your child aware that it is in his/her folder and to give it to me. This will take some practice. The children are off to a great start! I am really looking forward to a wonderful school year with this class. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me at school! I will try my best to reply back within that day or the following day. Have a nice weekend! *Please review the rules and routines before sending your child off to school each morning! Ms. Ng