Hello everyone!
The January winter theme has been about snowmen and mittens. Books during circle time that are being read aloud are Snowmen at Night, The Snowmen, The Mitten, and Three Little Kittens. Some art projects have involved rolling marbles in paint to create a snowman in a snow globe, we have made two different melted snowmen, one involved working on our scissor fine motor skills and with strips of white paper created a melted snowmen and with a paint brush and brushing the paper to create the snowman. We also used the easel and with a snowman stencil and a water bottle created a snowmen and snowflakes. The mornings have been chilly which has allowed for a perfect naturally occurring opportunities to consistently work on donning our coats. :) Students are working on putting on their coats with minimal help, a staff member then helps to start their jacket zipper, and then your child works on zipping up their jacket the rest of the way. Once we come back inside from playground time we also work on taking our jackets off independently and putting them either inside the box or on our backpack hooks. I think January just zipped by and tomorrow is February! The February math focus will be on the colors pink and red and heart shapes. Students are starting to show an interest in one another and a desire to be social and playful. Next month we will be facilitating some social interaction play opportunities throughout our day. During the morning facilitated play to develop turn taking skills, waiting for your turn with a classmate, expanding on turn taking and working and playing together in a facilitated play scenario. An example could be making a pizza together in the dramatic play area, or putting together a large puzzle. During our bathroom routine we are working on recognizing our peers and letting them know it is their turn for “potty time” and handing them a transition picture card. On the playground we are also developing social skills and how to play with the entire playground, expanding on preferred activities outside. As always please do not hesitate to e-mail myself or the team with any questions or comments you might have about your child. I appreciate your e-mails letting me know when your child is sick and or isn’t feeling well. It is helpful to both myself and the rest of the team to know what kind of supports your child might need that day.
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Happy New Year, I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! I spent one week in Southern California and one week relaxing in the area. How did you guys spend the break? With the rain we haven't been able to go outside much this week. Today was the first day we were able to run around in the chilly weather. This weather is helping everyone work on their self-help skills to put on and take off their jackets themselves. We have been practicing all year zipping and unzipping our backpacks, the concept is now being generalized! The them this month is snowmen. This week we are also focusing on math with many activities involving shapes and colors, especially the colors white and blue. I took a few pictures of artwork that is up on the walls, look out for anew Instagram post! The new sensory bin is full of goodies that can all be found at the Dollar Tree. There is crinkled paper, plastic gold balls, wooden sticks, two Olaf cups, and white stones. If so destined you could make your own sensory bin for under $10, including your own bin! Books: The Snowman Snow Friends Upcoming Important Dates: January 15-No school MLK Holiday January 16-No school Staff Development Day
Just hours away from winter break and 2 weeks of quality family time! The stomach bug that was going around hopefully, is now all gone at home and you will have a sick free holiday!
I have truly enjoyed working with you and your family this first half of the year. Everyone has shown such tremendous growth in so many areas, it has been a real treat to be a small sliver of your child’s day. Over the winter break, continue all your hard work at home that is helping your child develop! Typical routines over the next two weeks might be different, and that is ok. Your child might find it helpful to let them know beforehand if possible, but if not they will recover! Wishing you all a fun and stress free break! See you in the New Year! The cold that is going around has hit our class. Many kids have been out sick, thank you to the families that let me know when your child will be sick. Please continue to call the attendance hotline and transportation when your child is sick. Hopefully, everyone will be feeling better for winter break!
During a collaboration meeting yesterday, the occupational therapist, Linda presented wonderful information about heavy work activities and exercises. Heavy work helps regulate, organize, calm, and alert our bodies. Heavy work can help improve attention to a task at hand. It can also be a movement break that can act as a reset button when our bodies are feeling disorganized. I am attaching the handout with heavy work activities and exercises. Please do not hesitate to email me or Linda if you have any questions about heavy work! Remember! There is no school December 22-January 5 Some parents have asked about the number of teachers in the classroom, there are 5 teachers, 2 speech team members, 1 occupational therapist, 1 physical therapist. There are 8 members on the CEIA team. Thank you! It’s that time of year again! That’s right, cold season has returned!! There is a bug going around campus, with runny noses, sneezing, being lethargic, stomach pains, and fevers. Please remember the school policy regarding having a cold or flu like systems. Children should not be sent to school with cold or flu like symptoms. If your child has a fever, diarrhea, or vomiting while at school we will need to contact you immediately for your child to be taken home. If your child has a fever and/or diarrhea they need to remain at home until they are fever and/or diarrhea free for 24 hours, without medication. Then of course also remember to call the attendance hotline (925-803-3199) and transportation (925-824-1822) to clear an absence.
When we aren’t busy washing hands and trying to keep hydrated, we have been enjoying our gingerbread and candy cane theme. :) You might have seen the instagram picture, developing our fine motor skills, we have been completing many counting activities, we have finger painted, stamped with gingerbread men, bells, and stars cookie cutters. The sensory bean tub is a class favorite relaxing spot. I’m sure you find little beans in pants and shoes at the end of the day. Over the break, I’m going to think of another sensory tub addition to add to the sensory area. What do you think might help your child self-regulate? If you get any extra large boxes over the break they might be able to transform into an excellent sensory experience. Have a nice afternoon, I’ll see you tomorrow! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! I brought some desserts to my Thanksgiving feast, they were a hit and were all gobbled up.
It has been a phenomenal first week back from a week off. In the morning students are greeting the staff with big smiles! :) Our center times have been lots of fun with shape and color sorting, fine motor tasks, big brush easel painting, and today’s sensory experience was shaving cream and cornstarch mixed together. During our morning facilitated play time students have started branching out and exploring new toys. Students are starting to build with foam blocks, complete gross motor courses (climbing over chairs, crawling through a tunnel, and crossing the stepping stones) and dive into the sensory bean tub. During circle time we have been listening to some Barefoot Books songs and videos We All Go Traveling By The Animal Boogie Pete the Cat remains a class favorite recently we have been reading Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes. It’s a mystery! Who is eating the missing cupcakes? In the end it’s all good. Few more days until Thanksgiving break! What are everyone’s Thanksgiving plans? I am planning on staying in the area next week.
In your child’s backpack is some fun artwork we have been working on these past few weeks. There are two laminated pieces of work. One is three turkey handprints that could be used as a placemat. As you can see from the artwork sent home we have been doing a lot of hand painting these past few weeks. Some kiddos really enjoy the paint on their hands, for other friends it is quite a sensory experience are we are utilizing strategies from our self-calming toolbelt. The other piece of artwork is a leaf with holes around the edges and a string on the back. It is a great fine motor activity that you can work on at home to push the string through one side, pull it out the other, then push it through another hole. Progress reports will be sent home on Friday. Please read the previous post regarding progress reports. I have truly enjoyed this first trimester and being a small part of your child’s growth these past few months. Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving break. See you Monday November 27th! When I think of November I think of spending a lot of time with my family. With all the school holidays and a week for Thanksgiving, November was always my favorite month when I went to school. Now as a teacher, there are so many themes and ideas but so few days! This year, the activities have been centered around turkeys. Today we made turkey tracks with pipe cleaners, that will be the yellow paper with the brown paint, definitely more of a art is a process than a product type activities. We colored a turkey with wet chalk, what a new sensory experience that some friends enjoyed! This week we also made new placemats for our snack time, this time we made hand print turkeys. I will send those home by the end of next week for you to enjoy during the break.
Our sensory bin has been updated with popcorn kernels, leaves, and play food that might be enjoyed during the Thanksgiving season. I also added an ABC book all about food to the bin. I will post a picture to Instagram soon! Progress Reports: Progress reports will be sent home in your child’s backpack by Friday November 17th. Your child has been hard growing and thriving these past few months! Please remember that this is progress towards their annual goals. The hope is have met the goal by the annual date. Each student has made wonderful progress in so many areas over this first trimester. Some areas of outstanding improvement are: transitioning, routines, expectations during circle time and center time, waiting, making requests, and following directions to name a few. I hope you are seeing growth at home as well. Reminder: No school Friday November 11th How was everyone’s Halloween? I hope you all had a great night either staying in or going out trick-or-treating. I loved everyone’s costume. The preschool team dressed up as the food items from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I was the little egg who laid on a leaf. :)
The parade was a success! At the last minute we went out a different door and up to the playground a different way then what we had been practicing all month long...and you know what? It was all good! (*said in a Pete the Cat voice*) The route change was not a problem, everyone held onto the walking rope while we walked around the playground with parents watching and waving. FYI
Did you all see the instagram post about our sensory walk? It was a fabulous motor group morning. Each student took turns experiencing different sensory textures on their feet! Kids stepped in: crunchy fruit loops, slimy jello, damp grass, popped popcorn, big pumpkin, shaving cream, dry oatmeal and ending with a water foot bath. Today the sensory fun continued with spaghetti a-la plenty with brightly colored spaghetti and with seek and find items. Halloween is Tuesday!! What is everybody’s costumes? Will you be trick-or-treating? I think I am going to miss our parade practice walks! The school parade starts at 8:15, our school day will still start at 8:30 once everyone has arrived and has settled in we will join the parade that has begun on the upper playground. We will do one lap around the playground walking on the road outline on the pavement. After completing our lap we will come back into the classroom and continue our facilitated play time. Parking will probably be challenging on Tuesday since other families will be watching the parade. If you would like to stay and watch the parade you can join the other viewers on the upper playground. The entire walk from door-to-door is about 25 minutes.
Halloween/Pumpkin BooksIt’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse! Pete the Cat Trick-or-Treating (lift and flap book) Reminder: No school Wednesday November 1st Professional Development Day |
ThemesLearn with your child about the theme of the week and what you might be able to do at home. Archives
February 2019
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