Mrs. Stortini's Preschool Class News

Hello Families!

Thank you to everyone who braved the winter weather and joined us for the 2017 Winter Parent Fair at Cotter! The fair was a great success thanks to you! I wanted to remind you that our first field trip of the year will be Tuesday, December 19th at the Henry Ford Centennial Library. The children will have a regular morning and pick-up will be in our classroom at 1:00pm. We will all drive to the library in our cars and meet together at the foot of the staircase between 1:15 and 1:30pm. Please plan to stay with your child at the library until 3:20pm. Children will be dismissed from the library at the end of the program.

Thursday, December 21st will be our last day before winter break. This will be a half day in the morning for students; drop off will be 8:40am and pick-up will be 11:30am. This will be pajama day so if your child would like they can wear their favorite comfy pajamas to school!

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you on Monday!

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

We love the snow! The children were so excited to put on their snow pants and play in the snow yesterday, we caught snow flakes and made an igloo with a parachute while singing ring around the rosie.

This week during small group time the children went on a number hunt around the school and practiced recognizing numbers using numeral dot cards.

Our letter of the week this week was S. Throughout the week we made a list of words we knew that began with the letter S, as well as focused on the sound it makes. The children then created a page for our letter S book which was added to our book area.

Have a great weekend!

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

This years parent handbook has been added to the links at the top of the webpage.

Have a great evening!

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

Don’t forget:

Tuesday, November 7th – No school, election day!

Thursday, November 9th- Half day for students in the morning. (Drop off 8:40am, pick up 11:30am) Parent-Teacher Conferences in the afternoon.

If your conference is this Thursday reminders are going home in your child’s folder today. You can also check the conference link at the top of the blog for the complete schedule.

Have a great day!

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

I have updated several pages on the blog . The lunch menu, classroom menu, district calendar, and conference schedule has been added to the tabs at top of the page, so please take a look around!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

Thank you so much for joining us at last Thursday’s parent meeting! Ms. Thabet and I enjoyed spending time with you and your children together in our classroom. Here is a short recap of the topics we covered:

Along with learning academic skills such as letters, numbers, and name writing, another important skill children learn in school is how to be independent.

We teach this important skill at school in several ways:

• Consistent routine

• Labeling with words and pictures

• Encouraging self-help skills

Some ways to help children learn a new skill:

• Teach how to do skill (hand over hand, talk them through it)
• Provide opportunities to practice
• It doesn’t have to be perfect!
• Spills happen. It’s not an emergency, we just clean it up!
• Encourage their efforts

Please enjoy these pictures from our parent meeting yesterday:

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

Next Thursday, October 19th will be our second parent meeting of the school year. This meeting is MANDATORY and will take place in our classroom (#106) at Cotter. Our meeting will begin at 9am and last for about an hour. Ms. Thabet and I will be doing a short presentation at the beginning and then you and your child will be participating in several fun and interactive activities! Yay! We are looking forward to seeing everyone all together next week!

These past two weeks we launched the Read to Self portion of Daily 5 in our classroom. We are working on building our stamina for reading individually, as well as practicing the three ways to read a book; look at the pictures, retell a familiar story, and recognizing common sight words.

Have a great weekend!

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet

Hello Families!

The first week of school flew by and we have been exploring all areas of the classroom and learning about the preschool routine. On Wednesday and Thursday children investigated the House Area and the Art Area. We talked about the many different items in each area and brainstormed some ideas for ways to use the materials. The children were then able to test out their ideas during small group time!

Here are the children hard at work in the Art and House Areas:

We also finished off the first week of Daily 5 -Listening to Reading with a dramatic reading of Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney in Arabic by Ms. Thabet!

Next week begins full days of school for the children; drop off will be 8:40am and Pick up will be 3:20pm. Please continue to talk with your child about how they will be sleeping at school, even the bravest child can become nervous and/or scared when sleeping in an unfamiliar place for the first time. Here are some ideas for things to talk about: Ms. Thabet and Mrs. Stortini will keep you safe while you’re sleeping, teachers will wake you up when nap time is over, moms and dads will pick you up at the end of the day to come home.

A few reminders for next week:

-If you have not already done so please send in a small blanket for your child to use on their cot during rest time.

-Please give yourself plenty of time to find a space in the parking lot at drop off and pick up time. Courtesy will prevent accidents!

Have a great weekend and we can’t wait to see everyone on Monday!

~Mrs. Stortini and Ms. Thabet