We would love to put coffee grinds in our sensory table in January! Would you help us collect them? The next time you are in Starbucks just ask if you can have any used coffee grinds they still have. You can let them know they are for your child's preschool class. If they have them, they'll give them to you for free. They might even save them for you if you ask them to and then you can pick them up later.
Thanks for your help!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Christmas Week - Photos
Ok, I've finally done it! :-) The pictures are up and ready for your viewing. I hope you had a lot of fun at our Christmas party on Thursday and Friday. It's always nice to spend a little time with you.
The new album is: Christmas Week
www.apriln.shutterfly.com
Have a wonderful Christmas!
The new album is: Christmas Week
www.apriln.shutterfly.com
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Christmas Week - Newsletter
Well, can you tell that my brain is on holiday already? Here it is Tuesday evening and I'm just getting our newsletter up! I'm guessing most of you have read it by now, but just in case, I'll post it. :-)
A Letter From the Teacher
Our feasts are looking very yummy! Thank you so much for signing up to make our holiday parties very special and filled with yummy treats! Families are invited to join us for the event. We have been working on gifts for you and we have little gifts for the kids too. It will be a great celebration!
I hope you all are looking forward to spending some special time with you little ones during the next two weeks off. I know it can get a little crazy during the holidays so I wanted to pass on some advice. I know the weather is rather unpleasant this time of year, but the kids really need to get out and get some exercise. Take a walk or take a trip to the park. Don’t worry, cold weather doesn’t cause colds, viruses do. So feel free to bundle up and brave the cold. You’ll be glad you did! :-) And if the weather is really nasty, drop in an exercise video and have a blast! Imagine the silliness! And when we gather again in January, keep going out and enjoying the great outdoors and you’ll be playing a huge part in helping lower our classroom behavior problems.
It’s hard to believe the first half of our year is coming to an end! We’ve been blessed with wonderful families this year! Thank you so much for all the ways you have helped the Sunshine class! Thank you for cutting crafts, washing clothes, donating supplies, making play dough and so much more!
Oh, don’t forget our book exchange at the party!
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
-Teacher April
This Week in the Sunshine Class
A Letter From the Teacher
Our feasts are looking very yummy! Thank you so much for signing up to make our holiday parties very special and filled with yummy treats! Families are invited to join us for the event. We have been working on gifts for you and we have little gifts for the kids too. It will be a great celebration!
I hope you all are looking forward to spending some special time with you little ones during the next two weeks off. I know it can get a little crazy during the holidays so I wanted to pass on some advice. I know the weather is rather unpleasant this time of year, but the kids really need to get out and get some exercise. Take a walk or take a trip to the park. Don’t worry, cold weather doesn’t cause colds, viruses do. So feel free to bundle up and brave the cold. You’ll be glad you did! :-) And if the weather is really nasty, drop in an exercise video and have a blast! Imagine the silliness! And when we gather again in January, keep going out and enjoying the great outdoors and you’ll be playing a huge part in helping lower our classroom behavior problems.
It’s hard to believe the first half of our year is coming to an end! We’ve been blessed with wonderful families this year! Thank you so much for all the ways you have helped the Sunshine class! Thank you for cutting crafts, washing clothes, donating supplies, making play dough and so much more!
Oh, don’t forget our book exchange at the party!
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
-Teacher April
This Week in the Sunshine Class
And now on to the holiday I actually know something about! We did have a lot of fun learning about Chanukah and Kwanzaa though. :-)
This week we’ll be doing some cute Christmas projects like a Christmas tree made of hands!
My most favorite Christmas book is, “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree.” I’ve read it to my classes each year and they always enjoy it and I’m looking forward to sharing it again this year.
We have a very special guest joining us at the end of the week to read “The Night Before Christmas.” It’ll be a very special treat!
To work on some fine motor skills we’ll have blocks, wrapping paper, scissors and tape. The kids will be able to wrap and unwrap the blocks for fun.
I also have a mitten game that involves matching letters. The kids loved hanging bats with clothespins so I created this game which is very similar. They’ll hang matching mittens side by side.
Who doesn’t love chocolate! We’re playing a game where the kids try and smell what’s in a wrapped present and hopefully they’ll guess it’s chocolate! It’ll be a great sensory experience for the nose, the hands (unwrapping the box) and the tongue...yum yum!
We’ll be visiting the grandmas and grandpas at Vencore this week to bring them some Christmas joy!
Friday, December 14, 2007
End of Week - Kwanzaa
Just wanted to let you know that I didn't get any photos this week. We've been so busy getting our holiday projects done that I just didn't get any time! :-) But the kids have created some really cute holiday gifts for you! They are looking forward to giving them to you at our holiday parties next week. We hope to see you there!
Don't forget the book exchange!
Don't forget the book exchange!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Kwanzaa Week - Newsletter
A Letter from the Teacher
What a great job the kids did at the Christmas program last Monday! I hope you all enjoyed the show as much as I did! We also enjoyed seeing the program on DVD during class. The kids sang along with the DVD and clapped after each song. It was very cute. :-) If you’d like a copy of the DVD, see Maria as soon as possible.
Our Holiday parties are happening next week. I’m excited that we were able to reserve Hesseltine Room for both days. I’m hoping we’ll find time in our day to have the kids help us decorate for the parties. We’ll be having a special guest coming to read “The Night Before Christmas” for us so it will be a full day...full of fun. :-)
Many of you have already signed up to bring something. Thanks! It’d be great if someone would sign up to bring Christmas plates/napkins/cups for each day. It’s looking like we’ll have a yummy variety of food.
Hopefully you’ve already noticed that we’re having a book exchange at the parties. Just a reminder, please bring a wrapped book that is not gender specific. Questions? Just let me know.
Thank you so much to everyone who donated to the “loose change drive.” The Sunshine Class did a great job bringing in lots of change! I’m sure we’ll hear the total at some point. If you are looking for more ways to help demonstrate compassion for your children, you can bring in canned food (large wrapped box upstairs) or you can check out the giving tree upstairs. Maria can answer any questions you might have about either of those things. It’s always good to think about giving during this busy, “getting” season.
Thanks!
-Teacher April
This Week in the Sunshine Class
This week we’ll be honoring the holiday: Kwanzaa. It’s always good to honor cultures that are not our own and here at Little Acorn we value multiculturalism. So these few weeks of holiday celebrations are part of our attempt at that.
We’ve got a couple of books to read to help us have a little bit of an understanding about Kwanzaa. We’ll also be doing some art that are similar to things that are created by families who celebrate Kwanzaa. We’ll be making “Mkeka’s” that are basically quilts made out of a variety of natural materials. I believe they are used to set things on during Kwanzaa. We’ll be making ours out of contact paper but we will be using them to decorate our tables at our holiday parties. If you have any natural-type materials (burlap, dried flowers, etc…), we’d love to use them for our projects.
Creating jewelry with beads is a popular African art form so we’re going to be painting big noodles and using them later to create our own jewelry. In African countries beads decorate everything from clothes and headbands to baskets and drums. Some people use beads as money. Beads can also tell others what job a person has in the community.
Next week we’ll be making a yummy punch for our parties that is often made and shared during Kwanzaa celebrations.
What a great job the kids did at the Christmas program last Monday! I hope you all enjoyed the show as much as I did! We also enjoyed seeing the program on DVD during class. The kids sang along with the DVD and clapped after each song. It was very cute. :-) If you’d like a copy of the DVD, see Maria as soon as possible.
Our Holiday parties are happening next week. I’m excited that we were able to reserve Hesseltine Room for both days. I’m hoping we’ll find time in our day to have the kids help us decorate for the parties. We’ll be having a special guest coming to read “The Night Before Christmas” for us so it will be a full day...full of fun. :-)
Many of you have already signed up to bring something. Thanks! It’d be great if someone would sign up to bring Christmas plates/napkins/cups for each day. It’s looking like we’ll have a yummy variety of food.
Hopefully you’ve already noticed that we’re having a book exchange at the parties. Just a reminder, please bring a wrapped book that is not gender specific. Questions? Just let me know.
Thank you so much to everyone who donated to the “loose change drive.” The Sunshine Class did a great job bringing in lots of change! I’m sure we’ll hear the total at some point. If you are looking for more ways to help demonstrate compassion for your children, you can bring in canned food (large wrapped box upstairs) or you can check out the giving tree upstairs. Maria can answer any questions you might have about either of those things. It’s always good to think about giving during this busy, “getting” season.
Thanks!
-Teacher April
This Week in the Sunshine Class
This week we’ll be honoring the holiday: Kwanzaa. It’s always good to honor cultures that are not our own and here at Little Acorn we value multiculturalism. So these few weeks of holiday celebrations are part of our attempt at that.
We’ve got a couple of books to read to help us have a little bit of an understanding about Kwanzaa. We’ll also be doing some art that are similar to things that are created by families who celebrate Kwanzaa. We’ll be making “Mkeka’s” that are basically quilts made out of a variety of natural materials. I believe they are used to set things on during Kwanzaa. We’ll be making ours out of contact paper but we will be using them to decorate our tables at our holiday parties. If you have any natural-type materials (burlap, dried flowers, etc…), we’d love to use them for our projects.
Creating jewelry with beads is a popular African art form so we’re going to be painting big noodles and using them later to create our own jewelry. In African countries beads decorate everything from clothes and headbands to baskets and drums. Some people use beads as money. Beads can also tell others what job a person has in the community.
Next week we’ll be making a yummy punch for our parties that is often made and shared during Kwanzaa celebrations.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Chanukah Week - Photos
Sorry it took me so long to post the pics of this week. My computer has been a little out of control these days. I am patiently (well sort of patiently) awaiting the day in which I will be purchasing a mac. :-)
Anyway, we enjoyed learning about Chanukah this week. I especially enjoyed Michelle coming in to teach us a few things. If you would like to play the dreidel game with your kids at home, Target has them in their holiday section right now. It was a big hit at school. You can play with nuts or raisins or chocolate coins, etc....
A new album has been posted to www.apriln.shutterfly.com.
Title: Chanukah Week
Anyway, we enjoyed learning about Chanukah this week. I especially enjoyed Michelle coming in to teach us a few things. If you would like to play the dreidel game with your kids at home, Target has them in their holiday section right now. It was a big hit at school. You can play with nuts or raisins or chocolate coins, etc....
A new album has been posted to www.apriln.shutterfly.com.
Title: Chanukah Week
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Chanukah Week - Newsletter
A Note From the Teacher
We had a great time with the silly opposite dress up days last week! The kids were very creative with their outfits! :-)
This week we start our holiday celebrations. Our final celebrations will be on Thursday and Friday, December 20th and 21st at 10:45 am for the morning classes and 2:00 pm for our afternoon class. We will sign up sheets out in the next week so that you can sign up to bring something to our parties. It’d be great if you would ask your child what they would really like to bring to the party to share and then you can sign up to bring that, so that they feel like they are involved in the process. You are all invited to join us! :-) Also, we’ll be doing a book exchange during the party. Please bring a book that could be a gift for a girl or a boy, wrapped. A great place to pick up a book would be the book fair!
Speaking of our book fair...It will be open during school hours and during the Christmas programs. The proceeds help us buy new things for our classrooms. Along with the book fair, we are still collecting loose change to purchase books for children in Nicaragua who don’t have any books. Our class has been doing a GREAT job bringing in our change...keep up the good work! The last day to donate is this Friday, December 7th.
-Teacher April
This Week in the Sunshine Class
I was thrilled to find out that we have at least one Jewish family in our class. They have been helping me come up with some culturally accurate activities to help us celebrate Chanukah. For instance, I learned that most foods served at Chanukah celebrations are fried. Yum! One treat often enjoyed is donuts so we’ll be enjoying some. They also shared with us a great Blue’s Clues book that’s all about Chanukah.
For fun, we’ll be playing with dreidels and I have a math game that involves rolling dice and adding candles to a menorah.
We’ve got some projects planned such as dreidel magnets and star magnets. We’ll also be using our hand shapes to create our very own menorahs. We’re hoping to make candle prints by rolling candles in paint but we need to collect some used candles first. If you have any around your house, we’d love to use them!
We’re also throwing in a craft that will help us honor Las Posadas, a Mexican holiday that occurs just before Christmas. We’re going to be using our art to decorate for our holiday parties.
If your family has any special holiday traditions that you would like to share with our class, please let us know! :-)
Oh yeah, we’re working on a secret Christmas project just for you! :-)
We had a great time with the silly opposite dress up days last week! The kids were very creative with their outfits! :-)
This week we start our holiday celebrations. Our final celebrations will be on Thursday and Friday, December 20th and 21st at 10:45 am for the morning classes and 2:00 pm for our afternoon class. We will sign up sheets out in the next week so that you can sign up to bring something to our parties. It’d be great if you would ask your child what they would really like to bring to the party to share and then you can sign up to bring that, so that they feel like they are involved in the process. You are all invited to join us! :-) Also, we’ll be doing a book exchange during the party. Please bring a book that could be a gift for a girl or a boy, wrapped. A great place to pick up a book would be the book fair!
Speaking of our book fair...It will be open during school hours and during the Christmas programs. The proceeds help us buy new things for our classrooms. Along with the book fair, we are still collecting loose change to purchase books for children in Nicaragua who don’t have any books. Our class has been doing a GREAT job bringing in our change...keep up the good work! The last day to donate is this Friday, December 7th.
-Teacher April
This Week in the Sunshine Class
I was thrilled to find out that we have at least one Jewish family in our class. They have been helping me come up with some culturally accurate activities to help us celebrate Chanukah. For instance, I learned that most foods served at Chanukah celebrations are fried. Yum! One treat often enjoyed is donuts so we’ll be enjoying some. They also shared with us a great Blue’s Clues book that’s all about Chanukah.
For fun, we’ll be playing with dreidels and I have a math game that involves rolling dice and adding candles to a menorah.
We’ve got some projects planned such as dreidel magnets and star magnets. We’ll also be using our hand shapes to create our very own menorahs. We’re hoping to make candle prints by rolling candles in paint but we need to collect some used candles first. If you have any around your house, we’d love to use them!
We’re also throwing in a craft that will help us honor Las Posadas, a Mexican holiday that occurs just before Christmas. We’re going to be using our art to decorate for our holiday parties.
If your family has any special holiday traditions that you would like to share with our class, please let us know! :-)
Oh yeah, we’re working on a secret Christmas project just for you! :-)
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