October News
4’s
As we enjoyed a change of seasons outside, we were engaged in many activities inside our classroom too. We surrounded ourselves with leaves, pumpkins, apples, witches, and ghosts. Our stuffed animals were blessed by Deacon Vic on the Feast of St. Francis, and we visited church with Seminarian Steven to look at stained glass windows. Our classroom is now decorated with our “pretend” stained glass. We learned about Christopher Columbus, visited Brad’s farm, and began our “letters” of the week. We looked at the number three, squares, and the colors orange and blue. It has been fun learning our color words, each time we explore a new color. We continue to practice writing the letters in our name, and encourage you to do so at home as well. Two highlights of the month included the visit by the firefighters from Bel Air Fire Station and our Halloween Party. A BIG thank you goes out to Bridgit Goedeke and her committee for a terrific Halloween celebration. Our costumes were all very special and exciting!
Now on to Thanksgiving preparation and a November full of fun! First, don’t forget to return the permission slip for vision screening. That takes place next week, and something to take advantage of. On Monday, November 9th, we will be taking a walking field trip to the Bel Air Fire Station. We will leave school at 8:45 to arrive by 9:00. There we will receive a tour, and explore fire trucks and ambulances. We will complete this activity in about an hour, so we will be returning to school. Parents are invited to join us for our walk there, but again no siblings please. This is always a learning experience for the children and a lot of fun.
Noted on the calendar is Show-and-Tell on Wednesday, November 18th. The children should bring something to school that begins with any letter we have covered so far (A through F). Please guide them gently on choosing something to bring, but please let them make the final decision. This is a nice review of the beginning sounds.
In November, we will continue our letters of the week, the numbers 4 and 5, triangles, Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the beautiful feast of Thanksgiving. We will discuss our families, and how thankful we are for all good things that God has given us. You will be receiving a special invitation to our Thanksgiving Play and reception very soon. It will be on Friday, November 20th. We will be asking for a few “food items” for our reception, so please be on the lookout for a sign up out front. We ask that you sign up for 1 thing only.
Also in November, we will have parent/teacher conferences. This is a good opportunity to discuss your child’s progress thus far, and to answer any questions you might have. A conference is in place of a first trimester written progress report. At our meeting, I will share what our progress report looks like. In order for conference sign up to be fair for everyone, the sign up will be posted by 6:00 a.m. out in front of our building on the corkboard on Friday, November 6th. Please note there will be separate lists for A.M. and P.M. classes. It will be clearly marked. If you sign up on the wrong list, you may miss out on your preferred time. This way, parents who need to drop their children off at EDC before work will be able to sign up before school. There will be plenty of time slots available, and the sign up will be outside before and after school for several days. I plan on offering conferences, not only Monday (Nov.23rd) day and evening, but also on the Friday before, (Nov. 20) after school. Those on Friday will be limited, but I like to offer a few times since 39 children are a lot to squeeze in on Monday. I do alternate my 15 minute slots between my a.m. and p.m. classes.
Finally, our “class book” has begun to circulate. I hope you enjoy sharing it with your child as much as I enjoyed the children dictating the stories to me. Please return the book the next class day in order that another family may take a turn.
I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. It will be here before we know it! My little “blessings” are your children that I am so grateful to be with each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Love,
Mrs. Thomas
* recap of dates:
11/2, 11/4- Vision Screening
11/6- Conference sign-up posted
11/9- Trip to Bel Air Fire Station
11/18- Show-and-Tell
11/20- Play and reception
11/20- after school conferences (limited)
11/23- day and evening conferences
October/November News
3’s
What a busy month for our 3’s! We welcomed fall through our apple displays, fall leaves, salt dough pumpkins, thumbprint trees, scarecrows, and ghosts. Our trip to the farm was a fun-filled afternoon. We also discussed fire prevention and enjoyed a visit from some firefighters. In spite of the weather and some nerves, many of the 3’s climbed through the fire truck to look around.
We mixed food color this month to create orange, and then we experimented with mixing of red and yellow jello. It was a bit messy, but awesome to watch! We also had fun with the color blue, the square, and the number “3.” We continue to work on the letters of our names, and we encourage you to reinforce this at home. All young children struggle with holding a pencil properly, so when you see it held incorrectly at home, we ask that you intervene.
Halloween was wonderful, and our costumes were exciting and varied. A big “THANK YOU” goes out to Jill Doran for coordinating our Halloween festivities, along with her committee. The children really look forward to their holiday celebrations.
Even though November is a shorter month, we will jam-pack it with tons of activities. First, don’t forget to return the permission slip for vision screening. That takes place next week, and is something to take advantage of. Secondly, we will have show-and-tell Wednesday, November 18th. The children should bring something to show and talk about which they are thankful for. It can be any “favorite” they might have. We will continue our shapes in November with the “triangle’ and our colors, brown and black. Four and five will be our numbers for the month. We will think of all the things we have been given from God for which we are thankful. We will explore families, Pilgrims, and Native Americans. On Friday, November 20th, we will have our Thanksgiving Feast. Families are welcome as we kick off the holiday season with Thanksgiving songs, fingerplays, and traditional “seasonal” foods. We will be asking for a few items for our feast. Look for a sign-up outside our building. If you don’t get a chance to sign up for something, it’s okay, because there will be many more opportunities throughout the year for signing up. Join us on Friday, November 20th at 1:45 p.m.
Also in November, we will have parent/teacher conferences. This is a good opportunity to discuss your child’s progress thus far, and to answer any questions you might have. A conference is in place of a first trimester written progress report. At our meeting, I will share what our progress report looks like. In order for conference sign up to be fair for everyone, the sign up will be posted by 6:00 a.m. out in front of our building on the corkboard on Friday, November 6th. This way, parents who need to drop their children off at EDC before work will be able to sign up before school. Please note there will be separate lists for A.M. and P.M. classes. It will be clearly marked. If you sign up on the wrong list, you may miss out on your preferred time. There will be plenty of time slots available, and the sign up will be outside before and after school for several days. I plan on offering conferences, not only Monday (Nov.23rd) day and evening, but also on the Friday before, (Nov. 20) after school. Those on Friday will be limited, but I like to offer a few times since 39 children are a lot to squeeze in on Monday. I do alternate my 15 minute slots between my a.m. and p.m. classes.
Thanksgiving is indeed right around the corner. I am very “thankful” for our little ones, and the fact that they have become a special part of my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. I continue to encourage those who have not completed the STAND process to do so. It is so important that your children see you volunteering in our classroom. It is quite a special day for them when a parent is helper. Thank you for all you do, and in advance, have a safe and blessed holiday!
Love,
Mrs. Thomas
* recap of dates:
11/2, 11/4- Vision Screening
11/6- Conference sign-up posted
11/18- Show-and-Tell
11/20- Feast (1:45 p.m.)
11/20- after school conferences (limited)
11/23- day and evening conferences