Week of September

Week of September 15-18, 2014

Theme: What happens in our classroom

Dear Parents,

The first week and a half of school has gone well. All of the children are adjusting to their new routines and beginning to learn all about school.

This coming week we will be focusing on specifics within our classroom which includes the rules. We will be working as a team to develop rules for our classroom that will make it safe for everyone. I am sure that some of the rules will include: using walking feet, using an inside voice, keeping hands and feet to self and using our words.  I will share with you what we have developed in regards to the wording and the rules for the classroom. I feel it is important for the children participate in this process so that they feel ownership of the rules and that they feel they were a part of the team that developed the rules.

We will also be reading several stories including: Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School, Tom Goes to School and two shorter stories about sharing. In preschool we often use the term trading when we are talking about sharing. It is sometimes easier to trade one item to get another then to understand that you get something I have nothing concept, so often times we will try to come up with an item we can trade in order to get the item we want a turn with.  Sometimes if trading doesn't work we also use a timer so that one child knows when their turn is over and when it is another child's turn. 

We will be looking at the United States flag this week and comparing it to other flags and discuss what is the same and what is different about each flag. Then we will be following directions to make a flag.

We have begun to use some of the technology in our classroom. Last week we used the Tag Readers to listen to reading. This week we will listen to reading using recorded books and participate in some learning activities on the IPads. I will introduce these items into the classroom individually so that the children understand how to use each one (although sometimes they work them better then me) and the rules involved in using each one. 

We will get outside as often as possible so if it is a chilly day please remember to send a jacket, sweatshirt or sweater with your child. Also on Wednesdays we will have the opportunity to use the gym to work on some gross motor skills so please be sure to have your child wear tennis shoes to school on Wednesdays.