The October fun continues!

Last week we talked all about Fire Safety! It was quite exciting.  Mr. C made a big loud impression on our class.  He talked about the importance of not being afraid of fire fighters who are there to help. He had all his gear and made an awful lot of noise to prove his point.  He was nice enough to bring hats and SMOKE detectors for each child.  THANKS FIREMAN MARK!
(If you have a talent you would like to share throughout the year, let me know what it is because the children love guests!)

For the last 2 weeks of October, we will be exploring NOCTURNAL animals and Spiders. I know, I know! You are all dying to come in and see what creepy stuff we will be doing,but I promise nothing will be too scary! Ask your child about the word Nocturnal and hopefully by Friday,they will be able to list a few types of nocturnal animals.

We had Science with DF and his assistant Mrs. F.  I missed it, but I hear that it was great fun.  They made bubble art.  It was actually so neat, it is hanging in the hall.  This week,we have Science with JA.

This week in religion, we switch from Moses to Jonah and the whale.  The children will be learning about how even though some people are not the nicest,God reminds us we are all His children and we should do our very best to help, even when it is hard.

I am sure your child has mentioned wearing pjs to school.  Those that brought in pennies for pies by Oct. 26th will get a note with jammie plans for Halloween.  Thanks for helping!

Finally, last week, we decorated our annual ornaments that will be hung up at the HIP! They are penguins and will go up Nov. 17.  I will let you know our approximate location when I know. This week for our artist, we will be talking about Toulouse-Lautree.  He was famous for large event posters.    I can't wait to see what prek comes up with for their signage! 

Until next week, stay warm and check in with your child about their day!
Tanya Boyle

Want to help but don't know how?

Adopt a Classroom is a way for parents,grandparents, businesses etc to help out 

local schools. I would like to add another Ipad for the classroom as well as 

add some apps that are not free to add to the already awesome technology 

that is the interactive board and current Ipad.  We are also looking for good 

headphones as ours are not very reliable. Please pass along this link to 

anyone thatmight be interested in helping us out.  We would even take Itunes 

cards for the apps. 

Now on to the classroom! Speaking of Ipads...I downloaded the CD's for 

books on tape and cd onto the Ipadso the children can read along 

without the messing up the buttons on the cd player.  They LOVE it.

We have started La Tortuga, a Mexican fairy tale.  The children are beginning 

to learn basic Spanish words and this will continue all year long.  So far we 

have learned La Tortuga: the turtle, Hola: hello and Adios: good bye.

They enjoy using their new words! Yellow is our new color and we are starting 

the concept of circling answers.It seems so basic and yet it is such an 

interesting concept to learn for a young one. Ee is our letter of the week,

so start pointing it out during reading time or while looking at tv etc. I am 

sending home a note tomorrow with some cool technology ideas that will 

help you help your child practice at home without even realizing they are

practicing school work!

This week is fire safety week.  We did have a fire truck stop by last week, 

but this week, we will be able to get upclose with a real fire fighter.  Mr. C 

will be showing us his equipment and explaining all about his job 

and how we can be as safe as possible. 

In Religion, we finished talking about forgiveness and what it actually means.   

Talk to your child about this. We learned how Joseph was able to forgive his 

brothers, because God is able to forgive us for all we do.  This week, we are 

talking about Moses and how he was one of God's most important helpers.   

Finally, housekeeping: 

1. FIELD TRIP MONEY AND SLIPS DUE THIS WEDNESDAY OR BEFORE.

 Part time and half days are encouraged to come! 

2. Dress for the weather. 

3. If your child brings pennies for pies this week, they will be able to have a 

jammie day on Halloween.We don't' do costumes at LUSA, so the kids 

love that they get to do this special treat.  

4. PLEASE clean folders daily. You will have something to take out daily.   

Until next week, God's blessings on your family and stay warm! 

October is flying by....

I know I say it often, but WOW, time is flying by.  As you can see from our photos, we have been experimenting with a lot of different things.  This time of year provides many wondrous things to explore.  We are taking full advantage of them. We have gone on walks discussing the changing colors, started collecting new leaves, pine cones, acorn tops etc for our science table.  We put magnifying glasses in there for them to take a minute to see the changes. The sunflower got yucky, but we kept a bunch of seeds for the table.

They LOVE the science table.  This is a great thing to do at home! Get a little rubbermaid tub  with a top and change it every other week.  You can go by season or let them choose.  We put rice, corn, pom poms, beads, clothes pins, small boxes, leafs, seeds and so much more in there.  We even put snow.  It might sound messy, but it is sooooo fun and it really gives them a chance to play without their gloves on.

We continue to work on The 3 Bears.  They heard 4 different versions and we compared and contrasted them.  We looked at the pictures but also the stories themselves.  This unit focused on the color blue and the concepts of over vs. under as well as left to right. We incorporated this unit right into our ongoing theme of Fall/Autum.  We discussed hibernation and what it means.  Don't forget to ask them about that word and others you see on this blog.  We want to encourage regular vocabulary at all ages.  They LOVE "big" words.  Later this week we begin La Tortuga, A personal favorite.

In Religion, we finished talking about families.  I love the collages and I thank you for taking the time to do them.  We will have them hanging for a while.  We have been learning some new songs and we continue talking about Joseph.  He is an important part of the Old Testament stories, so we are spending this next week finishing him up.  They are going to learn about forgiveness this week. 

Some housekeeping:
PLEASE turn in your permission slips by the 16th latest.  ALL children are encouraged to come to the performance, even part time children. 

PLEASE remember if it is cold, dress appropriately.  We go out 2 times a day and it is often cooler in the morning.

If your child has an accident, replace the clothing with new warmer clothes and place in a ziplock bag.

We will start collecting Pennies for Pies this week.  Every child that participates will get to wear pajamas on Halloween. (we don't do costumes)

Finally, Fridays are SPIRIT DAYS! School tshirts or blue and gold are encouraged. 

As always, I thank you for sharing your child with me.
Blessings on your week!
Tanya Boyle

Fall Photos Thus Far....

Concentric Circles by Kandinsky

Center Time

Working on Left to Right print concepts

Hullabaloo!!!!

Picasso's Blue Period

VZ Friend of the week and First Scientist of the Year!

Under Water Volcano with his assistant

Goldilock's puppets

Ending our Corn unit by painting with Corn Syrup and food coloring. It's sticky fun. It dries shiny and EXACTLY how it was painted, drips and all.

Reading/ following along with their own copies of The 3 Bears.