Week of 9/22

Dear Parents,

Happy Fall!  In our first days of Fall, we continue with our FOSS science unit on trees.  We are still studying the leaves on trees.  Last week, we collected leaves around campus, along with the leaves that the children brought in from home.  This week, we are doing leaf rubbings on Thursday.  If you have any large or interesting leaves in your yard at home, we'd love to use those for leaf rubbings. Finally, we will be talking about things that come from trees this week.  If you have a fruit or nut-bearing tree,  it would be great if your child can bring in an apple, walnut, lemon, lime, etc. from a tree that you may have.  Please send those items in tomorrow or Tuesday.  Thank you!

We are wrapping up our overview of the alphabet this week with the letters Uu-Zz.  We will begin our weekly study of the letters next week with the letter Ss. The letters do not go in alphabetical order. To help your children in learning the sounds of each letter, we will have an "Alphafriend" that goes along with each letter. Their names are all alliterative, like Sammy Seal, Larry Lion, Mimi Mouse, etc. The children will learn a song for each Alphafriend. They really enjoy these songs and have fun with them. Look forward to hearing your children singing these songs around the house!

We have begun focusing on beginning sounds in our "Daily Phonemic Awareness." We have fun activities where we jump if the two words start with the same sound, etc. You can reinforce this concept at home with similar activities. Riding in the car is a great time to play games like these. Children can respond with a silly word if the two words that you say to them start with the same sound: "Say boo if bunny & boat start the same," etc. It's a fun way to reinforce what's going on at school.

We will start a new math unit this week on decomposing numbers.  We will play some games with two-sided beans (one side is painted red and the other side is white) and we will look at combinations that make up a number.  For example, 5 can be 1 & 4, 2 & 3, 5 & 0.  Obviously, this sets them up for pre-addition skills.

This week's share is homemade item. This does not need to be hidden in a bag. The children just bring an item that they made (or mostly made) at home or at preschool or elsewhere. They should be able to tell a bit about how they made it.

We have our first Wacky Wednesday this week on the 25th.  The p.m. class runs from 10:00 to 1:20.  The p.m. class & a.m. class will have a joint walk-a-thon kickoff assembly and have some fun together during the overlap!

Remember that Friday is Picture Day.  You should have received a picture order form in last week's Wednesday envelope.  You can either order online, or send in the order form with your child any time this week.  Please make sure that you place your order by Friday, at the latest.  The kids need to have their order envelopes in-hand (or an online order place) on Friday.

Please send in your child's Blue Bag tomorrow, with the homework folder inside the bag. I go through the bags and pull out the homework, so there is no need for it to be separate. Thanks for the great job with that last week!

Please note below: we have set the dates for the Friendship Feast & the Nutcracker performance-- mark  you calendars-- you won't want to miss out :)

Upcoming Events:
9/25: First Wacky Wednesday (10:00-1:20)
9/27: Picture Day
10/19: Walk-a-thon  
10/30: October's Wacky Wednesday & Field Trip to see a play 
10/31: Halloween Parade & Celebration 
11/1:  Staff Development Day: No School
11/11: No School, Veteran's Day 
11/14-11/22: Parent-Teacher Conferences 
11/20: November's Wacky Wednesday
11/22: Kindergarten Friendship Feast @ 10:15 (a.m. class) and 1:30 (p.m. class)  
12/20: Kindergarten Nutcracker Performance @ 10:00 (a.m. class) & 1:30 (p.m. class)