Today is Earth Day. Every year I read a book called “I Can Save The Earth” by Alison Inches. You can find the book on You Tube.
Usually, I also have the children take bags to the playground to pick up garbage. If you are uncomfortable walking around your neighborhood with gloves to do this, you can have your child clean your own yard. You also may want your child to assist you in getting flower or vegetable beds ready.
Another idea is to talk about not wasting water. When washing hands or brushing teeth, there is no need to have the water on at full blast.
The children recycle all the time at school, so hopefully they are doing it at home as well.
There are so many things we can teach children to take care of the earth.
I have attached coloring sheets for your child to do!
Go to Handwriting Heroes and practice “Skiers”. We will go back to individual letters to work on in May.
We also had a staff meeting today. Apparently the district no longer wants us to use Zoom. There are too many security risks on the app. The next time we do it we will be using Google Hang-Outs. Administration is still working on things to make it a great experience. We will not be doing one next week, but will let you know when everything is ready.
Just a reminder about Zoom tomorrow morning at 11 AM. We are so excited to see everyone. Can’t believe it’s been a month! Please remember to have your child bring a show and tell or a story for sharing. Hopefully, after the initial excitement, we can mute our speakers, so one child can share at a time. I think muting also alleviates background noises as well. I also thought I saw a raise hand button too. So maybe that will help. Regardless, it should be fun!
I hope this past week has given everyone a chance to regroup during this trying time. I am also hoping that all of you are still doing well. Stephanie and I tend to worry when we don’t hear feedback, so please make sure you check in with one of us.
Monday’s lesson will be another Practical Life lesson. I know quite a few of you have expressed how much your child has liked the cutting lesson and helping in the kitchen. Now let’s have them clean up! Have them wipe counters and eating areas. They can work on sweeping, using a dustpan, and disposing what they swept up. Furniture dusting is also an option! You may be surprised at how much they enjoy doing what we think are chores.
Since we got the sad news that school is cancelled for the rest of the year, Stephanie and I have decided that we would like to Zoom with the class, on occasion. I always wish we had known that Thursday was going to be our last day together as a class. We truly miss all their sweet little faces, and we miss you the parents too. This wasn’t like we were going on break and would see everyone in a week or two. Not even like the end of the year, with picnics and fun activities planned for a proper year end closure.
I Zoom with my whole family all the time. We even got my parents doing it so they could see their kids, grands, and great grands. So that being said, if you haven’t done it, it’s very easy. You can find the app on your android or Iphone. I will email invitations to join the meeting. We were thinking this Wednesday at 11 AM to start. I thought it would be nice if the kids could pick something to share with us, maybe a picture they made, a favorite toy, or simply sharing what they have been doing since we last saw each other. It is recommended that our Zoom sessions be only 15-20 minutes tops. From talking to other Early Childhood teachers that have done this, the first time may be a little hectic. The kids will all be excited to see us and each other. ( I don’t blame them, I’m excited too!) That is why I am thinking of having them share.That way they can talk one at a time, but they will have to listen too. Please talk to your child and let them know they will all get a turn. I think it should be fun.
If you have any problems with the app or day and time, please let me know.
Hi All! I just received this from Early Childhood Billing this evening:
After Spring Break we will begin working with the district to process refunds. If you are returning next year and would like your credit to remain on your ledger for your 2020-2022 school year please contact our billing secretary Laura at billingech@dearbornschools.org
If you are not returning or unsure we can process refunds at any time. Please be patient as there are many refunds to process and we are still working on the logistics.
If you still owe for part of March you will be invoiced again.
I am sure you are all aware by now of the governor’s decision to close down schools for the remainder of the year. This is very sad news for all of us. Remote learning will continue however. We will continue to update you with information as we get it. Also, remember you can go to Dr. Maleyko’s blog, Facebook, etc.
Early Childhood had a remote staff meeting today. Our administrators throughout the district have been working very hard to figure things out during this crisis. This came from The Early Childhood Programs Billing Department:
Now that Governor Whitmer has ended the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, we will begin working on refunds for those who paid all of March or the entire 2019-2020 tuition. Please be patient as we work with the school district and our software provider to begin this process.
I have also been in contact with the other teachers in our building. Mrs. Angela, our K teacher, would like to share this information with you :If your child will be entering K in our building next year. You may fill out our enrollment forms online or email the packet to our principal Mrs. Fournier for the packet. Her email is fournit@dearbornschools.org.
I am also aware that some of you have paid for the field trip to Real Life Farm. Unfortunately, the money is locked up at school, and we can not get it to you at this time. We will be issuing your refunds as soon as we can get back into the building. I am very sorry for this.
The lesson for Stephanie and I for Friday is Handwriting Heroes. Please do “Cannon Pops”. Another thing that was brought up by Mrs. Medica in our meeting was that at the Kindergarten level, children should only be doing remote learning for 30 minutes a day. Please make sure your child or yourself are not being overwhelmed with too much remote learning. We also realize that many of you not only have to help them with school work but you are working at home yourselves. Always remember that these are only suggestions. Please make sure your child is getting enough play time and outside time. Children at this age mostly learn through play.
I sent out virtual cards with notes to all of your children yesterday. Some of them got them and some did not. Please check your spam folders. If you still don’t see it, please let me know and I will resend it to your child. I thought they would get a kick out of it!
Lastly, next week is Spring Break. There will be NO online lessons during this time. Everyone can take a little breather from school work. Mrs. Stephanie and I will be back at it on Monday, April 13. Spring Break in my backyard? Who would have thought, right?
I’m sure by now, you have all heard about a possible school closure for the rest of the year. Dr. Maleyko has made a very positive post on his blog, this morning. Administration is working very hard to make decisions regarding this ever changing crisis. I encourage everyone to go to the district main page, scroll down the menu and click on superintendent profile, to read his blog.
Early Childhood Staff will be meeting with Mrs. Stover, and Mrs. Modica this coming Thursday. I will keep you informed if I find out any new developments.
I hope this finds all of you healthy and staying safe.
I have been thinking that it has been a couple of weeks since we have been in school, and the children are missing out on the Practical Life area of our classroom. Simply put, practical life is just everyday living skills. There are many purposes to a practical life activity. The child will have a high level of concentration, they put items back where they belong so they have a sense of order, sense of pride, the child feels independent and responsible, and they develop fine motor skills.
This year your child has learned how to pour,(dry and liquid from a glass container), spoon, string, tong,and baste. We have also introduced them to velcro and snap dressing frames.
This week have your child do some food prep activities. Children can learn slicing with a blunt but not sharp knife. Have them slice bananas (some of them we have noticed need to work on peeling a banana as well). They can also slice strawberries, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, and peel and slice carrots, etc. Whatever, you have for snack or meals that needs to be sliced, let them try it. You may be surprised at how well they do it, and the sense of pride they get from slicing and peeling. Also please have your child pour their own juice or milk. You may want to put beverages in a smaller pitcher, so they don’t struggle with a larger container. Be prepared for an occasional accident, but let them know they have still done a good job.
We are nearing the end of March is Reading Month, however I hope the habit of reading to your child for 20 minutes will continue.
So nice to hear from a couple more people today. Please check in with one of us if you can, so we know you are healthy and doing well. We are school family, and we miss you and your kids more than you know.
Read 20 minutes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Along with practicing writing their names, have your child do Handwriting Heroes “Bouncers”.
