DECEMBER!!

Can you believe it's already here?  It seems like just days ago we started the school year!  Before we know it it will be a new year.  Enjoy these holiday times and remember to get some special time in with the children amidst all this bustle and business.  They'll need it.  These busy times of the year are often when you will see problem behaviors escalate and a lot of that is due to the fact that we are pulling the children around on our own stressful schedules.  Stop and smell the gingerbread every once in awhile and you will be rewarded for it in the form of happy, well-adjusted, COOPERATIVE children.  Remember to deposit into their accounts every day!  :)

 

Here is what we will be doing in the month of December:

 

Wednesday, Dec. 1: Today we will start making Christmas presents.  Don't tell, but it will involve clay and glaze.  Such fun!

Thursday, Dec. 2: See Weds., Dec. 1

Friday, Dec. 3: We'll have a new friend joining us today.  His name is Treyvon and we will all help him learn the ropes.  We'll also make some wrapping paper for our secret gifts and write in cards for said gifts.

Monday, Dec. 6: A space station has arrived in the dramatic play room and, as a result, we will get "spacey"!  Today we will glaze our gifts, make control panels for moon rovers and rocket ships and do some scrapbooking.  If you happen to have any lids and small recyclables that you think might make a control panel for a space vehicle complete send it in. 

Tuesday, Dec. 7: We will make wrapping paper for our gifts today and do some spinner painting.  If you have an extra salad spinner that you don't mind getting "painty" I would appreciate having another one for the day.  Or, if you have one lying around that you never use and don't mind donating to the school, my husband would be happy.  We'll also be doing some scrapbooking.

Wednesday, Dec. 8: We will splatter paint today!  Yay!  Note to parent helpers: wear play clothes today.  We will make a moon rover and do some negative space painting.

Thursday, Dec. 9: Splatter paint...see Weds., Dec. 8.  Also, we will make stars from wrapping ribbon and negative space painting.

Friday, Dec. 10: Today we will fingerpaint a Christmas tree as a group and make handprints.

Monday, Dec. 13: We'll decorate our group tree from last Friday and make a reindeer face to go along with the handprints.  We will also make a bird feeder to put on the trees in the playground.

Tuesday, Dec. 14: We will make reindeer today and wrap Christmas presents to send home.  We will also make gingerbread puppets.  We'll be reading a lot about gingerbread this week leading up to our Christmas party on Thursday. 

Wednesday, Dec. 15: We will make planets out of wrapping ribbon, make sandpaper gingerbread people and make gingerbread puppets.

Thursday, Dec. 16: We will make gingerbread cookies today and decorate them at the end of class.  You are welcome to come and help and join in the feast of cookies for the last 45 minutes of class.  Think good thoughts about being able to go outside today!  Enjoy your holiday break, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!

Friday, Dec. 17: See Thurs., Dec. 16.

 

REMEMBER: We will try to go outside as much as possible.  Please send coats with hoods (or send them with a hat), and gloves, boots, raincoats, etc.  I try to be out as much as I can and the children will enjoy it so much more if they don't get cold and wet.  There will be no school Dec. 20 through Dec. 31.  School will resume Jan. 3, 2011.  If there is inclement weather we will follow the CSD.  If they happen to be out of session anyway, please watch the website for updates.  Thanks for all your help!!!  Anne.  

November 15-30

Hi everyone! 

 

I hope that you are enjoying some time outside in between downpours.  I have been going on nature walks with my own children quite a bit lately.  As the days grow shorter and the weather turns colder I feel like we need to get outside as much as we can while we can.  We have seen some amazing things and enjoyed the beautiful colors of nature's palette.  It has been worth all the extra time it takes to wrap ourselves in plastic rain coats and rubber boots.  We feel a little like Christopher Robin and his merry band of mischief-makers.  I have been sharing my discoveries with the children during meeting time, and then inviting them to explore them in the science center.  If you can force yourself to get out, it is really worth it. 

 

Here is a line up of what the rest of November has in store for your little ones:

 

Monday, November 15: The children started a project last week with fire engines, ladders and "flames".  We will be finishing that up today.  We will have a fire drill and learn some fun new art literacy subjects with Heather Anderson.   

Tuesday, November 16: We'll start making a fire engine for all of us to play in.  The children will have a chance to do some free painting  and see what colors they can "mix" up.  We'll practice getting out of the building in case of a fire and learn a new artistic skill with our artist-in-residence, Heather Anderson.

Wednesday, Nov. 17: We will have a SUBSTITUTE today.  Mrs. O'Connor will be here for me today.  I am going on a Center Crawl to learn how to make our outdoor area even better.  Julie (Mrs. O) will be telling the story of Stone Soup in preparation for our Friendship Feast next week.  The children will have a chance to stamp with vegetables and see the neat shapes they can make.  They will also cook up some pretend soup of their own.

Thursday, Nov. 18: The fire department visits today!!  They will come in the big trucks and show the children their gear.  We will make fire hats and badges and learn all about how to "get low and go!". 

Friday, Nov. 19: We'll have a visit from the fire department today.  They'll come and talk with the children about being fire safe, knowing their meeting spot in case of a fire, and show the children what they will look like in all of their gear.  The children can make their own fire hats and badges.  We'll have so much fun!  We will also talk about what kind of vegetable the children would like to bring for our feast on Monday.

Monday, Nov. 22: We'll make stone soup for our Friendship Feast today.  We will be open with the other class and cut up vegetables to make soup for the feast.  There will also be an option to make a turkey.  We'll eat our feast together in Andy's classroom.  There will be NO SCHOOL  for the rest of the week.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and relish your time with family.

Tuesday, Nov. 23: We'll make stone soup together today.  We will cut vegetables and assemble the soup in our classroom.  We'll also make corn bread.  We'll eat our feast at the end of the day after we have some time outside (hopefully).  There will be NO SCHOOL  for the remainder of the week.  Please be safe and have an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday!

Monday, Nov. 29: Not all activities are planned just yet, but we will be moving into our space unit and the dramatic playroom will be looking very "spacey" when the children come back! 

 

Again, please be safe in your travels over the holiday week.  Enjoy some time with family and outdoors if you can.  Find something cool outdoors and share it with me.  I love new discoveries! 

 

Cheers,

Anne.

Pizza Night!

I arrived home earlier from a nice evening spent at Fultano's with many of my preschool friends and even some alumni!  It was a great evening, and it was so nice to walk in and see the place packed!!  I am so thankful of those of you that could make it.  Those of you that couldn't pull it out this time, fear not...I think we will do this one again.  Maybe we could all wear our red shirts next time and create a scene.  Thanks so much to the greatest parents in town!

 

Here is a look at what next week entails...

 

MONDAY: Feel that spidey tingle?  We are going to be studying spiders this week.  Yes, SPIDERS!  Expect to hear some shrieking and some ughs and eeks.  We will learn about the spider life cycle of spiders today and read a fun story about a busy little spider.  Also we will cut out our farm animals for our farm books we started last week.  We'll continue to practice our Halloween sing-a-long songs for Wednesday evening's festivities.  I will really try to get the lyrics of those songs on the blog this week!! 

TUESDAY: We will be discussing monsters and ghouls today.  As Halloween approaches the children start to have some questions and even some concerns about all the scaryness about.  We will read the book, Go Away Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley.  It is a great way to start discussions and soothe fears.  We will take a picture of the children with a monster mask and make a book about our own monsters.  We will leave it in the classroom and discuss the monsters that we will make, "go away!"  We'll also do some fingerpainting to make our own monster on Thursday.

WEDNESDAY:  We'll continue to learn about and discuss spiders and their webs.  We will paint a web and do observational paintings of pumpkins.  Continued singing...for the PUMPKIN CARVING EXTRAVAGANZA happening at the school in the Fellowship Hall at 6:30 tonight.  You don't want to miss this event!

THURSDAY: We will make a monster face with our finger painting from Tuesday and we'll put our monster book together.  We'll also have some oogy slime in the texture table.  Bwahahahhahaahahh!

FRIDAY: We'll have open school today.  We will paint with q-tips to make webby pictures and we'll make spiders to hang from your ceiling.  We will also have slime in the texture table.  See Thursday.  :)

 

Thanks again to all of you for being so great.  You make such a difference in all of these children's lives.  Anne. 

 

Week of October 18-22

Hi Folks!

 

This week we will be talking a lot about barns and animals and how to care for animals and pumpkins and pretty much all things farm.  We will be singing some farm songs and maybe a pumpkin song or two.  I love this time of year when mornings are starting to get chilly and the leaves start to turn and cinnamon becomes my favorite scent.  It is definitely starting to feel like fall.  This week will be a fun one.  It looks like the weather might hold for us to be able to go to the pumpkin patch as scheduled.  We'll meet at Andy's farm and have some play time, find a pumpkin, have a snack, and go for a nature walk.  It is always a good time!  The following is a look at what our week holds in store for us:

 

Monday: We'll sing Down On Grandpa's Farm and read a book about a farmer and his hat.  We'll care for the guinea pigs and listen to their heart beats.  We will have a chance to see the inside of a pumpkin.

Tuesday: Pumpkin Patch Day!  We will meet at the school and then travel to Teacher Andy's farm.  I will have directions for you at the school.  We will spend most of our day at the farm and school will dismiss from there.  Bring a snack as usual, we will eat together in the barn.

Wednesday: Pumpkin Patch Day!  See Tuesday.  :)

Thursday: We will sing Down on Grandpa's Farm and read a book about a goat travelling through his farm neighborhood.  We'll get to feel and manipulate the inside of a pumpkin and we'll paint with pumpkin pieces!

Friday: We'll have open school today and play with our friends from the other class.  We'll continue to sing farm and pumpkin songs and we might even make a scarecrow to put in our play area.

 

The Pumpkin Patch field trip is a lot of fun.  We will end our day with a nature walk.  You are welcome to join us for any or all of the activities.  The children can use the pumpkin they choose from the patch for our pumpkin carving event next week. 

 

If I haven't spoken with you for a phone conference yet, I apologize.  I am still making and returning calls.  I will speak with you as soon as I can!  I have enjoyed catching up with you.  See you soon!  Anne.

 

Cooperation

Things are going so well in the classroom that it makes me smile just to think about it.  The children are really getting the routine down and I am starting to see friendships grow.  We are really having fun.  This last week of September we are finishing up with our color mixing unit and talking about sunflowers.  The 3s class is expanding on our Little Blue and Little Yellow project from last week and the 4s class will be experiencing sunflowers this week.  Don't forget the Safety Fair at the school on Wednesday from 11:45-1:15.  The police and fire department will be there to let the children explore and assist the parents with car seat application and such.  I believe there will be helmets for distribution as well.  If you have questions direct them to our PCPO representative Jen Keeney at jentoliver@yahoo.com.  She has organized this great event for us.  Thanks, Jen!

 

This is what our week will look like in the classroom:

 

4s

Monday we will play with and observe sunflowers.  We will be able to dissect them and touch them and smell them and play with them.  We will also start a project of observational painting of sunflowers.

Wednesday we will continue with our observational painting and talk a little about police and safety for the upcoming Safety Fair (11:45-1:15 outside in the covered picnic area).

Friday we will have a Science Day and we will paint with seed pods and talk about seeds.  We will finish up our observational painting.

 

3s

Tuesday we will read a story about some curious and creative mice.  We will do some more color mixing with red and yellow this time.  (Last week we concentrated on yellow and blue.)  We will also have free painting with jars of paint for paint mixing.

Thursday we will read the mouse story again and use red and blue for mixing this time.  We are really exploring the fact that different colors do different things when mixed.  We will be discussing that phenomenon as we see and explore what the different colors do.  This lesson seems to stick with them all year so it is one of my favorites.  They really start to get the concept of colors blending and the possibilities that affords them.  Fun!

 

I need to send a big thank you to all of you for helping out and being such a great group of parents!!  I am so lucky to have such a wonderful bunch of children and then to find out their parents are just as wonderful...it just blows me away.  You are all so great!  Thank you!

 

Anne.

3s training

Congratulations to the 3s parents for making it through your training!!  It is such a huge amount of information to process in such a short amount of time.  I commend you for your effort and positive attitudes.  I think that this is going to be a great group!  I am really looking forward to working with and getting to know all of you.

 

I hope to see some or all of you at the upcoming Open House on Monday. The times are from 10-12 and from 5-7.  Stop by for a visit and see your child's hook, nametag, and name card.  The classroom is shaping up day by day.  

 

See you soon! 

4s training night

Congratulations to my 4s class for successfully making it through another meeting.  This time of the year is hard because it feels like you are at the school all the time, but it does get better.  I want to tell you how excited I am to have all of you in my class!  It is going to be a great year and we are going to have so much fun!!  I can't express to you enough what a great step you are taking by being part of a school in which you are so closely involved.  It is going to make such a difference when your children move on to elementary school.  You really need to pat yourselves on the back. 

 

I completely forgot to tell all of you that you are now a member of the blue class.  Your parent cubbies are labeled in blue and anytime there is a class distinction of some sort look for the blue.  Go Team Blue!!

 

Again, thank you all SO much for being involved and such a valuable part of the team that makes up Canby Community Preschool.  We are soooo lucky to have you and I am looking forward to making this the best year yet!

shout out

I just want to say a BIG thank you to Mark Hagel for watching a whole bunch of children today at our (somewhat on the long side) budget meeting.  Thank you, Mark.  We appreciate you so much.  Your willingness to help and ability to do so with such effectiveness is amazing!  We, as a community, are so lucky to have you!!  Thanks!

 

I also want to thank Janis Hagel for working so hard for all of our benefit.  Thank you! 

 

I also want to thank (and maybe apologize to) Canon Hagel for putting up with his parent's hard work.  Thank you, Canon!!

 

Just one more, I promise.  I want to say thank you to the board members that were available to take time out of their busy schedule to come and beat this thing through.  We are going to make it a great school year no matter what the numbers say!!

 

I am so proud of all of us!  :)  Anne.

parade

The parade was so much fun!  The float decorating party was a hoot as well.  I loved having a potluck.  I want to thank Tracie Heidt for all of her great ideas and for the executive board members for being so helpful in putting it all together.  Also, a big Thank You to my partner in crime Andy for being a great co-worker.  It was such great fun to see all of my old friends and to meet some new ones and even to see some alumni along the parade route!  Thanks to everyone for making CCP such a great place to be.

School year approaching

Yay! my first blog posting!  Thanks to Mark Hagel for setting this up for me.  I hope to use this throughout the school year. 

We are starting to get things ready for the school year and it is getting really exciting!  I can't wait to see all my old friends and to meet my new ones!  See you soon, and enjoy the rest of the summer!