Morning and Afternoon Edition May 20, 2005

A Peek at the Week: This week we talked about Community Helpers and Transportation.
Vocabulary words included: transportation, car, taxi, airplane, train, bicycle, bus, firefighter, police officer, teacher, doctor, and mail carrier. We watched as the caterpillars transformed into their chrysalis and moved them into a bigger “home” in preparation for changing into butterflies.

Centers this week included: Dressing up as community helpers, large community helper/transportation floor puzzles, ladybug counting books, chalkboard drawing/writing, legos, and Look What I Can Do practicing tracing names.

PT Group: Renee incorporated the transportation theme by using scooter boards and playing the game “red light, green light”. The children had to pay attention to the sign, and moving their scooters when the light was green, stopping when it was red. The children also paired up, and one child pushed another child on the scooter while following the signs. Then the children switched and the other child pushed their partner on the scooter. The children really enjoyed having to “steer” their buddies on the scooter.

Looking Ahead: In May our topics will include: Insects, Nature, and numbers, Community Helpers, and Transportation. In June we’ll be learning about ordering words, Father’s Day, and summer fun.
Kindergarten Visitation: The visits occurred on May 19th and 20th and all went very well.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the bus ride and snack.

Reminders: There is a single session day on the May 26th, so no afternoon class on that day. On Friday, May 27th there is no school for am or pm due to the teacher in-service day, and no school Monday May 30 for the Memorial Day holiday.
CORRECTION: Tuesday June 21st is the last day of school for PM session.
Wednesday June 22nd is the last day of school for AM session.

A VERY HELPFUL reminder/request: We have a “no cupcake” policy in preschool. If your child will be celebrating his/her birthday in the remaining weeks of school, please do not send in cupcakes. Rice crispy treats, cookies, or animal crackers make a nice alternative. Thank you for your help with this.
Playground news: Now that the weather is nice, we will be going outside most days. Please send your child in “playground friendly” clothes that can get dirty. Also, sneakers are the best shoe choice to prevent accidents, no open toed shoes please.

Writing names: Is your child practicing writing his/her name at home? If so, remember to remind him/her to use upper case letters for the first letter, then lower case for the rest of the name. Be sure they are forming the letters according to the recommended way. This will make things easier as they enter Kindergarten.

Birthday news: We want to wish Mrs. Dumas a very Happy Birthday this weekend!

Have a nice weekend!