Spring is here! We will continue to keep spare clothes in the classroom for accidents or spills.  Please keep in mind as the weather warms up our sneaker only policy is still in effect. It is the safest and most comfortable shoe for the students to wear to play in the mulch or run in the gym.  No Crocs please.  The students are constantly falling out of them while running, and they are constantly stopping to dump mulch build up. If your child insists on wearing the inappropriate footwear, please put a pair of sneakers in their backpack, and we will be happy to have them change their shoes at school as we understand mornings can be difficult. 

     We have been working hard on learning the capital letters of the alphabet and spelling their name out loud and writing them.  The students have been doing a wonderful job with their letter of the week homework. Just a reminder that the preschoolers should be putting their name on their homework papers before turning them in. This is a great opportunity for your preschooler to practice writing their names, and a great habit to get into at an early age.   If you notice that your child is unable to write their name on their own, you can choose to write their name in a yellow marker and have them trace their name, OR you can write their name using a dotted line and have them trace it.  Either way will work!  As they write each letter, you can have them say the letter.  This will help reinforce letter recognition. 

     Morning meeting allows us to greet one another and bond as a class.  As the students have matured, our circle time has become longer and includes meaningful conversations not just about the weather and calendar, but also our families.  Each day we discuss the days of the week and the months of the year.  Anytime you are able to reinforce these same concepts at home it benefits your preschooler.  Additionally, we strongly encourage everyone to work with their child on scissor skills.  It is difficult to allow cutting practice on a daily basis as it requires a great deal of muscle control, and most, not all, need assistance.  Don’t be scared to try this at home-just remember to set rules about scissors in the house.  Remind them to have their thumbs up and cut away from their body. 

Important Dates

April 1^st  Easter Monday – No school

April 3^rd  Spaghetti supper in the social center 4 – 6:30 PM. All are welcome and a great volunteer opportunity

April 5^th Spring Pictures

April 11^th Open House/Educational Fair – 5:30 – 7 PM – All are welcome to come and see the work that your child has been working on for the past few weeks.  If you know anyone interested in coming to preschool next year, please let them know about it!  We would love to have them come and visit us!

April 15^th – April 19^th April Vacation 

Curriculum 

April 1^st – 5th Things that Grow:  Our crafts and stories will focus on how things grow during the spring season.  We will also try and grow our own flowers.  

April 8^th – 12^th Amphibians - This theme week the preschoolers will focus on amphibians and their life cycles. 

April 22^nd – 26^th Butterflies and Insects - We will focus on butterflies and their life cycle, we will watch live caterpillars transform into butterflies, and learn about insects and their importance in our environment. 

April 29^th – May 3^rd Career week/community helpers – During this theme week, we invite parents to come into our room and talk to us about their careers.  Yes, volunteer hours – hours you prepare for it and your time here.  For example, we had a parent come in who gives estimates for sprinkler installation.  He talked about the different types, showed us blue prints and came up with a fun activity with a map to find the different sprinklers (that he had placed) throughout our hallways.  Another parent was a DEA officer and read us a book and talked about his job and brought a cruiser for the kids to turn on the siren.  It can be as simple and quick or as detailed as you would like it to be.  If you are interested, please let me know a day of this week you would like to come in. We are trying to plan on parents coming between 9 – 10:30 AM.  Mondays and Tuesdays we have to end at 10:30 due to specials, but Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we can extend the time to later if needed. Depending on how much interest we receive, we can then come up with a schedule of some kind.  Look forward to hearing from you!   

Please keep in mind…

We will be sending home all of the clothes in the closet on your child’s last day before Spring Vacation so that you can switch it to proper sized and seasonal clothing (maybe a pair of shorts and a long pair of pants). 

Lastly….GREAT JOB FAMILIES!  We appreciate all that you do, and your children are absolutely wonderful. They amaze us and make us laugh every day.  We are blessed to be their teachers.

 Should parents have any questions please email me at ckelly@materdolorosaschool.org, or message me on Bloomz.