Author: Lauren Paulisin

Dear Families,

We are so excited for our first field trip to the DNR Outdoor Adventure Center! There is a lot of important information about our field trip and it can be hard to remember all of it. Please read this important information about our field trip:

• Date: Wednesday, January 18
• Time: The bus will leave at 9:30 AM and we will return to Salina by 1:30 AM
• Permission slips MUST be signed by Tuesday, January 17!
• Please drop your child off to the classroom at 8:15 AM. If you are planning on chaperoning, please be in the classroom by 9:00 AM SHARP
• CHAPERONES:
  • If you plan to chaperone on the trip, be in the classroom at 9:00 AM SHARP! (This is to ensure we are on time for the bus)
  • Only one parent/chaperone may attend the field trip with their child
  • NO SIBLINGS may come on the field trip
  • The DNR Outdoor Adventure Center is a wonderful opportunity to learn with your child about nature and outdoor learning activities! We highly encourage you to attend the field trip with your child!
• LUNCHES:
  • Please pack a healthy lunch and water bottle for your child
  • CHAPERONES: Please pack a healthy lunch and water bottle for yourself
  • DO NOT PACK PEANUTS AND TREE NUTS due to food allergies
  • The DNR Outdoor Adventure Center has vending machines.  We understand that some students have allergies, and some are airborne. We do not know what food(s) are in the vending machines, so please be mindful of what you and your child eats/eats around.
• When we are on the bus, we will seat three children on one seat and two adults on another seat. This is due to the amount of space the bus can hold.
• A light breakfast will be offered to the children when they arrive to school. If you feel like you want your child to eat a heavier breakfast before the trip, we encourage you to offer your child a breakfast at home (they may also eat the breakfast at school, we just want to make sure your child isn’t hungry!)

As always, please let us know if you have any questions!

Hello families,

Our first field trip of the year is on Wednesday, January 18!  We are going to the DNR Outdoor Adventure Center!  We will leave the school at 9:30 AM and will return to school at 1:30 PM.  

The permission slip will be available to sign at the Parent Meeting tomorrow.  We are also looking for and encouraging chaperones to attend the field trip!

Please pack a healthy lunch for your child and yourself (if you choose to attend the field trip).

More detailed information will be available at the Parent Meeting tomorrow. Let us know if you have any questions!

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and relaxing break! I’ve missed you all and I am very excited to start school back up again! I’m not going to lie, being out for a while is making me feel out of routine. To help, here is what our week is going to look like:

• Monday, January 9: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Tuesday, January 10: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Wednesday, January 11: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Thursday, January 12: NO SCHOOL – Parent Meeting ONLY

Parent Meeting – Thursday, January 12

There is no school for preschool on Thursday, January 12 due to our monthly Parent Meeting. There will be two times to pick from: 8:30 AM and 9:45 AM. A sign up sheet will be available on Monday, January 9. Please bring your child with you to the meeting.

I’ll see everyone on Monday, January 9!

Hello Room 108 Families,

Can you believe this is the last week of school before winter break? We have an exciting week ahead! I hope that you will be able to join us on Wednesday, December 21 for our Winter Fair at Cotter.

LAHC!

Living Healthy came to our classroom this week. They will be coming in once a week to learn for the next six weeks. This program teaches the students various ways that they can become healthy. They will learn about foods that are good to eat and about the importance of eating many different colors of fresh fruits and vegetables. Each week the students will be making and eating a healthy snack. Please ask your child what they learned about staying healthy.

What Did We Learn About This Week?

This week the students learned about the letter g and the letter s.  We sang the Gertie Goose Alphafriends song, read a book with the letter g and drew pictures of words that begin with g.

Some words that start with G are:

• Garden
• Goose
• Grass
• Green
• Gate

We sang the Sammy Seal Alphafriends song, read a book with the letter s and drew pictures of words that start with the letter s. During Greeting Time the students used their name plate and  looked for the letter s in their first and last name.

Here are some words that start with S:

• Seal
• Snake
• Sun
• Sunglasses
• Skateboard

We read, “The Gingerbread Man,” this week! The students practiced their reading comprehension skills by making predictions about what the book would be about. Here were some of the predictions made:

• “I think the gingerbread man is going to run to the porch and play.”
• “I think that the family is going to eat cookies.”
• “I think that the gingerbread man will make friends.”

We read the book again but had a different focus. This time, the students recalled important events that happened in the story. This is what they said:

• “The gingerbread man ran away and no one could catch him!”
• “The fox ate him!”
• “The gingerbread man couldn’t go in the water or else he would sink.”

The students pretended to chase the Gingerbread Man by moving to a Gingerbread Chase! Check it out:

Next Week at Salina…

• Monday, December 19: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Tuesday, December 20: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Wednesday, December 21: NO SCHOOL – Winter Fair at Cotter (See announcement below)
• Thursday, December 22: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM & Pajama Day (See announcement below)

Winter Fair at Cotter – Wednesday, December 21

Parents and their preschool children are welcome to attend the Winter Fair at Cotter. You and your preschool child can ride the bus from Salina Elementary School to Cotter. If you are planning to ride on the bus, please be at Salina by 9:15. The bus will be returning back to Salina by 11:00. If you plan to drive to Cotter with your child, you can come at 8:45-11:00 or 12:30-3:00.

Pajama Day – Thursday, December 22

Pajama Day is always my favorite day at school! Your child can wear their pajamas to school on Thursday, December 22!

Fun Weekend Activity

LAHC talked to us about all the amazing ways we can stay healthy! Staying healthy is extremely important, especially during these cold/flu/allergy months. One tip LAHC talked about was washing our hands. Ms. Bri from LAHC showed us all the germs on her hands using a special lotion and blue light (eww). BUT, she showed us how to properly wash our hands with soap and water for 20 seconds and how that it would get rid of all the germs. She showed us her hands again with the lotion and blue light and all the germs were gone!

This weekend, help your child continue to wash their hands for 20 seconds. You can sing the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or any nursery rhyme for 20 seconds to keep the learning fun! I also encourage you to talk to your child about why it’s important to stay healthy and wash our hands.

Hello Room 108 Families,

Do you have a head rush from how fast this school year is going? I know I am, haha! Thank you for a wonderful week of school! As I said in my previous blog post, Winter Break is quickly approaching and we don’t have much time left before the break. There is still so much learning to be done!

A friendly reminder – if your child is going to be late or absent from school, please call the classroom (313) 827-6575 or text me on Remind as soon as possible to let me know what’s going on. This information lets me know if you and your child are safe. If I do not hear from you, your child is marked as an unexcused absence. I know mornings can be crazy, especially if there is an emergency, but please try your best to let me know the status of your child’s attendance if they are going to be absent. Thank you!

Winter Fair – Wednesday, December 21

Picture Re-Take Day – Thursday, December 15

Picture Re-Take Day is Thursday, December 15! If you would like for your child’s picture to be re-taken, please let me know ahead of time so we can take the children to get their pictures retaken. This is OPTIONAL!

YEARBOOK ORDER FORMS – DUE APRIL 21, 2023

Yearbook order forms have been sent home! If you are interested in ordering a yearbook, please put the money in the form and turn it in to me. I will turn the money envelopes into the office every day before 10 AM. They are not due until April 21, so there is time!

What Did We Learn About This Week?

We learned about letters O and Q this week! Our Alphafriends, Ozzie Octopus and Queenie Queen helped us learn letters O and Q. The students practiced writing the letters, as well as cutting them out to feed Hungry Mungry!

We’ve been working hard on adding details to our writing. The children have been talking about what details are. We define it as, “The extra stuff in our drawings and writings.” We brought out our old friend, Mat Man! We built Mat Man together and took a good look at him. We realized he was kind of dull and we needed to add details. Some of the details we talked about were:

• Hair
• Eye lashes
• Eye brows
• A baby (because he’s a dad)
• A book to read for the baby
• Food because he’s hungry

The students also practiced drawing pictures of Mat Man with details of their own:

Next Week at Salina…

• Monday, December 12: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Tuesday, December 13: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Wednesday, December 14: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM
• Thursday, December 15: School 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM & PICTURE RE-TAKE DAY!

Fun Weekend Activity Idea!

I bet you have a ton of junk mail you don’t want anymore. Here is a fun idea to get rid of all that mail!

Have your child search for the letters we’ve been learning about so far this year. When they find a letter, have them cut it out with scissors OR rip it out with their fingers. Ask them to tell you what letter it is, as well as the sound it makes. Below is a list of letters we have learned:

• L
• F
• E
• H
• T
• I
• U
• C
• O
• Q

Hello Room 108 Families,

Happy December and welcome back to school! I hope you all had a relaxing time off from school and were able to spend your time with family and friends. I traveled up north to Harbor Springs to visit some family! It was such a fun time, but I was ready to see the students again on Monday!

I must admit that we had a fantastic week back at school! Before we know it, the holiday break will be here. We have about 16 school days (including today) until we are off for the holiday break. There is still SO MUCH learning to be done before then, but we got this!

Preschool Winter Fair at Cotter – Wednesday, December 21, 2022

The Preschool Winter Fair will be held at Cotter on Wednesday, December 21! We will be given a specific time to attend the fair. Times and schedules are TBD, as the schedule is in the process of being finalized. Transportation will be provided by the Dearborn Public Schools if needed.

There will be no school in our classrooms on this day, we will all be at Cotter for the fair at our scheduled time. Please keep in mind that this is considered a school day for preschool.

More information about the fair is to come!

Cotter Early Childhood Center
13020 Osborne St.
Dearborn, MI 48126

Yearbook Order Forms – Due April 21, 2023

Yearbook order forms have been sent home! If you are interested in ordering a yearbook, please put the money in the form and turn it in to me. I will turn the money envelopes into the office every day before 10 AM. They are not due until April 21, so there is time!

What Did We Learn About This Week?

Shapes, shapes, and more shapes! We started learning about two-dimensional shapes this week! The shapes we focused on were:

• Circle
• Square
• Triangle
• Diamond
• Oval
• Rectangle

We first practiced identifying the names of the shapes. We also talked the characteristics of the shapes and how we know what shape it is. For example, a triangle has three straight sides; a square has four straight sides that are all the same.

We then talked about how we see shapes all around us, specifically with signs. We read, “I Read Signs,” by Tana Hoban.

This book shows images of various signs of all shapes. We made connections of the shapes we were learning to the signs in the book. We also took a walk in the hallway and pointed out different signs and their shapes.

The two letters we learned about this week were U and C. Umbrie Umbrella and Callie Cat helped us out this week, as we talked about what these letters look like and what sounds they make. The students practiced writing these letters during Writing Time, and talked about what words start with these letters.

Letter U Words:

• Umbrella
• Under
• Up

Letter C Words:

• Cat
• Cookie
• Car
• Candy

Next Week at Salina…

• Monday, December 5: School 8:15 AM-3:00 PM
• Tuesday, December 6: School 8:15 AM-3:00 PM
• Wednesday, December 7: LATE START 9:15 AM-3:00 PM
• Thursday, December 8: School 8:15 AM-3:00 PM

Fun Weekend Activity!

This weekend, I encourage you to go for a shape hunt! This can be done in your house OR outside, whichever you prefer. Talk to your child about the shapes we learned about in school (refer to the pictures below). Ask them what the shape’s name is, how many sides the shape has, how many corners the shape has, etc. After talking about the shapes, go for a walk in your house or outside and find items that are made of shapes (example, books can be rectangles, tables can be circles, etc.). How many shapes can your child find?

Hello Room 108 Families!

Welcome to the new blog!  I apologize, because I got a new email I got locked out of my old blog.  Moving forward, this will be the new blog I will be sending out. 

Thank you for your patience and I apologize for the inconvenience.

-Mrs. Paulisin