On January 8th we will be going to the DNR Adventure Center in Detroit.
Plan to dress your child in a light weight, long sleeve t-shirt. We have green rocket t-shirts that kids will put over top of their long sleeve shirt. It is easier to keep track of our kids when they are all wearing the same color 🙂
Our bus will be picking us up from River Oaks around 9:15am. One parent (who has cleared the background check) will need to ride with their Preschooler on the bus.
We will be eating breakfast at school prior to leaving for our field trip. Lunches will be eaten in the cafeteria at the Adventure Center prior to coming back to school. Parents can pack a lunch for themselves and for their own child if you wish. I can order a sack lunch from the school for Preschoolers if you want your child to have a school lunch (most likely PB&J, fruit, carrot, juicebox). Let me know which option you prefer.
William Ford PreK will be joining us for the fieldtrip.
All PreK kids have to have their own adult with them at all times on the trip. Those riding the bus must have a cleared background check.
Costs of the field trip have been covered by Dearborn Public Schools.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me. bassj@dearbornschools.org
Students will be retaking their kindergarten readiness assessment starting the week of February 3rd. This marks the half way point of our year together. Once we return from Winter break, we will be working hard on naming letters and letter sounds. Over break it would be helpful if you could help your child practice skills that we have already covered so that we can move forward.
Skills Practiced So Far:
Recognizing numbers 0-7.
Counting quantities of items 0-7 and using the last number counted to answer “how many.”
Writing numerals 0-7.
Naming and ordering the letters in your child’s first name.
Writing the letters in your child’s first name (using a capital letter for the first letter, and lowercase letters for the rest).
I will be absent on Mon, Dec. 16th to attend a funeral. Ms. Aldafaii and Ms. Flynn (my favorite sub/retired PreK teacher) will be here with children. Please remind children to be good listeners–
Upcoming Dates:
December 19th…12:30 Parent Meeting at Cotter Preschool- Winter Fair celebration.
December 23- January 5…Winter Break- No School for ALL Dearborn students
January 8th…Field trip to DNR Adventure Center (details to come next week)
January 16th…Parent Meeting at River Oaks 8:45-9:45am
January 20th…Martin Luther King Jr. Day- No School for ALL Dearborn students
January 21st….1/2 Day for PreK, dismissal at 11:30am.
New Skills to Introduce this Week:
Children will be using their number recognition skills this week to further practice counting. Children will be playing 2 math games this week with a partner.
Children will be working on social skills- turn taking and encouraging a partner to play a game with them.
Children will learn about letter Mm.
Skills Introduced, but Need Additional Practice:
Children are working on naming letters in the first name.
Children learning to order letters from their first name to spell their first name.
Some children are learning to trace or write their first name.
Children will work on counting quantities 1-5 and using the last number to name how many they counted.
On Friday I started changing toys in the block area. We will be talking about different types of homes, as well as building neighborhoods/communities in lessons this week. I thought it might be fun to tape photographs of the kids’ actual homes onto blocks for them to build with!
Would you please take a picture of the front of your house and email it to me?
My email address is bassj@dearbornschools.org
Pictures would work best if they were landscape (sideways) not portrait (up and down). See below for examples of pictures that would fit onto our blocks.
Pictures of homes that would work for our block area.
Children will make graphs to organize data. Children will be encouraged to use their first letter of their first name to make their “vote.” Children will be asked to interpret graphs that are created this week. Teachers will help children identify which has the most/least, count quantities, and compare quantities.
Children will begin identifying the first letter in their classmates’ names. You will most likely hear your child saying “Oh- that’s Sakinah’s S” or “That’s Ruqaya’s letter” when pointing to the letter R. Children take ownership over letters in their name, so we will begin learning letters this way!
Children will learn about differences in the emotions ‘sad’ and ‘angry’. During problem solving we are noticing children use the word ‘sad’ to describe any negative emotion they are experiencing. We will begin to add to their emotion vocabulary by reading books about instances when others are ‘sad’ or ‘angry.’ Sad will be described as an emotion when your body is feeling like you will cry. Anger is more intense…it’s an emotion when your body feels hot and tight about something that is happening.
Skills Already Introduced, but need additional practice:
Children will name letters in their first name.
Children will place magnetic letters in order to spell their first name.
Children will use shapes to draw pictures.
Children will use problem solving cards to help them solve social problems with their peers.
Assessment Findings:
Last week I retested children on naming shapes (square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, oval, circle). Here are the results:
Outside time is a daily part of the Preschool routine. We go outside before lunch for 35 minutes and after rest time for another 35 minutes. If temperatures are below 20 degrees we will stay inside…but temperatures were well above that guideline today…so we went out both times today! Children who are dressed in snow pants, a warm jacket, scarf, hat, waterproof mittens, and snow boots stay warm and enjoy exploring the changes in temperature.
PLAN TO BRING HATS, SCARVES, WATERPROOF MITTENS, AND BOOTS EACH DAY!
Snow pants, and boots are NOT just for the days we have snow on the ground. These are layers to help children stay warm during cold temperatures. Bring them everyday- whether or not there is snow on the ground!
Children can keep their snow pants at school. If you want your child to bring snow pants home each day- let us know. We will send children home from school, wearing their coat, hat, mittens and in their boots (shoes will be put in their backpack). Please have your child wear their coat, scarf, hat, mittens and boots back to school in the morning. Put their slip on/velcro tennis shoes back in their backpack.
Children should change into their slip on/velcro tennis shoes prior to coming into the classroom in the morning. The wet boots track water onto the carpet in the classroom…children (and teachers) sit on the carpet, so please have them change into dry shoes! Sitting on wet carpet- ewww, no thanks!
Have you ever worn boots for 7 hours? It’s hot…and not comfortable at all- please bring them slip on shoes/velcro tennis shoes (no LACES!) to change into.
The coat, snow pants and backpack can be hung on the hooks inside your child’s cubby. Waterproof mittens, hat, and the scarf should be put in the blue/green basket in the top of your child’s cubby. Wet boots go on the clear mat in front of your child’s cubby.
Children dressed in warm weather clothing, enjoying winter time.
