Happy Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks
On these days of giving thanks we want to thank Leo's dad, Mr. Radosevich, for making crepes today for the children. The children enjoyed his company and the delicious crepes. Each child participated by helping mix the batter and pouring the mixture on the griddle. The children anticipated their turn to cook. They couldn't wait to eat the crepes. At the snack table we heard the children's positive critique. "Mmm...this is delicious! This is so good! I want some more! They look like pancakes."

Following recipes and cooking has been an interest the children have had since the beginning of the school year. We want to continue to extend an invitation to all parents to join us for any part of our classroom routine. We value parent involvement and know how beneficial it is for the children to get to know their classmates families.

 Upcoming Blog Posts
There are three weeks left before our holiday break. This will be our last blog post for now until we come back from our holiday break. Conferences and Curriculum night are coming up and we would like to celebrate everything the children have been doing during those events.

 Parent-Teacher conferences

Don't forget to sign-up for parent teacher conferences. If there are conflicting schedules, please let us know. 

Winter Clothes

We had our first snow fall this week. Your child should come to school with appropriate clothing items to stay warm for our outdoor play. This includes hats, gloves, a warm coat, and snow pants and boots if it has snowed or will snow. We have designated an area in our classroom for boots and snow pants. There is a rack and boot tray in our dramatic play area where boots can be placed and snow pants can be hung. 

Important Dates  

11/26-27– No school: Thanksgiving Break! 
12/2-Curriculum Night 5- 6:30pm 
12/11-Last Day Before Break 
12/14-Optional Care Tuition Due 
12/14-18-Break (Optional Care) 

Ms. Hamadi's Blog post

I am enjoying working with the children this semester. We have different investigations going on in our classroom. The children have been exploring open ended material such as City blocks and small bricks to extend their thinking of what can be done and how we can explore them. The City blocks with the small bricks were once a garage, an animal house and even a big house and garage combined. Our next step was for this exploration to build a wealth of skills such as fine motor skills, language and communication, thinking, reasoning and problem solving skills.

They have been developing these skills by communicating their plan to each other, trying to find ways to build up without having the small bricks to fall, thinking of where to place the chimney or the door. Our next steps will be to use wood sticks with Velcro and continue building with a solid foundation.

We have also been doing shadow exploration in various ways. We started with our understanding of what a shadow was, identifying where the shadow was coming from and how important the light is to be able to see the shadow. We then explored shadows using an overhead projector and traced the animal from the overhead reflecting on the wall. The children discovered placement was very important for them to be able to trace properly. They moved their bodies around and then realized that to be able to see the animal, they have to let the light reach. They noticed they were blocking the way by being in front of the light. They grasped the importance of the light for the shadow to appear. The children enjoyed exploring shadows and had various comments such as “My shadow is black but my shirt is pink, I don't see the colors.” We then developed our investigation with shadows and colors. We used colored shapes and light to see if we were able to see colors and understand why we couldn't. The more we explore, the more we will get to understand the children's thinking and provide questions in line with their interests. The exploration of shadows supported all types of learning: literacy, math, arts, social studies and dramatic play. Parents are welcome to explore shadows at home using a flashlight.  

The children know that I was born and raised in France. They know I speak French and have been curious to hear more. I am pleased to incorporate my French culture into our group time. The children have enjoyed singing the alphabet in French, singing songs like “Frere Jacques” in French and some already know the song. They enjoy listening to someone speaking another language. We have been reading Dr. Seuss in French, the version of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and Green Eggs and Ham. They have also been learning colors in French. I could see their focus when repeating the word carefully.          

I would like to invite you to participate in our French sessions. I always add some french aspect (singing, counting or reading) in our group time every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:20am. You can come and listen to what we do, or share anything in another language you’ve learned at school or speak at home.  I look forward to seeing you and see how we can participate together.

Educationally yours,

Hadidja Hamadi

Parent-Teacher conferences

We will have the times and dates posted Monday for parent-teacher conferences. Please pick a time and date by writing your child's name on a block. Conferences will be 20 minutes long. It is important to us to respect the time you have chosen to celebrate your child, please plan to arrive on time as there will be conferences before and after the block you choose. Thank you!

Important Dates  

11/26-27– No school: Thanksgiving Break! 
12/2-Curriculum Night 5- 6:30pm 
12/11-Last Day Before Break 
12/14-Optional Care Tuition Due 
12/14-18-Break (Optional Care) 

  

Ms. Paek's Blog Post

Dear Families,

        During the past two months, your children have learned all about their new school and making new friends. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know each of your children. As a teaching team member, I have focused on teaching the children how to cooperate and get along with others as the class was introduced to the routines and expectations of school. The teachers have provided each child with a safe and loving learning environment; each day has been filled with fun and exciting explorations to help your child develop cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional skills.

 

   I strongly believe that exploration of various open-ended materials is one of the effective ways for children to express ideas. The children observe, listen, feel, and take apart open-ended materials while exploring every given aspect of them.  Thro ugh exploration of different materials, the prior knowledge and experience of the children will become evident in their words, their actions, and the various art forms they create. Whenever I implemented a new lesson, I noticed that each child had different prior knowledge and experiences that affected the exploration process itself. As the children had sessions of exploration of open-ended materials including clay, flowers, natural materials, play dough, water, sponges, and kinetic sand, they became more engaged in the activities.  Most importantly, the children developed positive attitudes and gained knowledge about science through observation and active play. The children also expressed how they felt, what they thought, and what they were learning through experiences in the visual arts. In addition, the children began expressing their own ideas using their bodies and various tools/devices.

    A couple weeks ago, I set up two lessons that allowed the children to explore natural resources. Natural resources encourage children to observe closely and use all their senses. In this lesson, the children made a flower arrangement using chrysanthemums, autumn leaves, and garden branches. The children were also introduced to a new material: a wet floral foam brick. It is green and made of light weight foam. It is designed to pull water through the foam via capillary action.  It makes the fresh flowers live longer. While investigating the foam, the children made good connections between the foam and different materials that they experienced before like play dough and even watermelon. The children also practiced cutting the f lower stems and garden branches using a pair of floral scissors, which have a spring inside its handle (they discovered themselves that the floral scissors were easy to  use.) while e enjoying the pleas ant aroma of chrysanthemums and other flowers.  As an ongoing exploration of natural materials and art techniques, I will further develop sophisticated exploration plans by following the children’s interests and encouraging them to make good connections between their prior knowledge and new learning.

                    Anne "I am making a flower bouquet!"

        I have been noticing the children are naturally curious about the world and enjoyed exploring their surroundings. The children were eager to know why things are the way they are and asked many questions about their immediate and natural environment. Please take the children outside and encourage them to explore their natural surroundings and look for answers to their own questions. I will also help the children find answers to their many questions and inquiries by incorporating education about nature into my lesson plans. 

   Thank you.

Sincerely, Ms. Paek

What to Wear for the Weather
The weather is getting cold. As a reminder, please have your child bring appropriate warm clothes to school. Every child should have warm hats, gloves, and shoes to wear when we go outside. Here is our chart to show what your child should wear.

Parent-Teacher conferences

We will have the times and dates posted Monday for parent-teacher conferences. Please pick a time and date by writing your child's name on a block. Conferences will be 20 minutes long. It is important to us to respect the time you have chosen to celebrate your child, please plan to arrive on time as there will be conferences before and after the block you choose. Thank you!

Important Dates 

11/19-Meet & Greet 8am, Parent Association Meeting 9am 
11/26-27– No school: Thanksgiving Break! 
12/2-Curriculum Night 5- 6:30pm 
12/11-Last Day Before Break 
12/14-Optional Care Tuition Due 
12/14-18-Break (Optional Care) 

Journals

Journals
This week, each child participated in sharing their journal. Journal writing has become an essential part of assessing the children with writing, fine motor, and language & communication. To promote love for writing, we encourage the children to use their imagination and draw what came to mind.  In the first week of school, we noticed the children making unintentional marks in their journal with little attention to detail. Ms. Smith and I had a discussion about how we could  help the children think about writing thoughtful ideas. We asked the children what it means to "Do your best work." The children responded by saying "no scribbling" and "try your best." This is now the common language we use with all aspects of learning. The children know that "best work" is when they try their best, and trying your best is always true. We invite you to check out your child's "best work" in their journal at anytime. They are located in our library area next to our wicker chair.



Thank You
We would like to thank Khirstos' mom, Mrs. Karagatsoulis for being a guest reader in our classroom. We would like to invite all parents to be a guest reader, share a talent, or cook a dish with us. We would love your presence!

Conferences
As of now, we would like to schedule conferences for December 17th, & 18th. Once confirmed, the conference sign-up sheet will be posted.


Important Dates 
11/6- optional Care Requests Due 
11/11-Sensory Needs Presentation  5-6pm 
11/19-Meet & Greet 8am, Parent Association Meeting 9am 
11/26-27– No school: Thanksgiving Break! 
12/2-Curriculum Night 5- 6:30pm 
12/11-Last Day Before Break 
12/14-Optional Care Tuition Due 
12/14-18-Break (Optional Care) 

More Pumpkin Fun!

Voting

This week we finished up with our pumpkin exploration. Last week, we gave you a glimpse of the plans the children had for the pumpkins. The children finished their Jack-o-lantern plans and voted on two they thought should be carved on the pumpkins. This week was the first time we had the children involved in a democratic act such as voting. We thought the fairest way to decide whose jack-o-lantern design would be carved on the pumpkin was to provide the children with an experience that would construct the idea of equality. It was explained to children that voting is "fair" because it allows each person to express an opinion. Each child was given the chance to pick the drawing they liked best. In the process of voting, the children came to terms with the idea of majority rule yet developed  sensitivity to minority positions.

Carraig and Nemer were nominated and won the votes.

Pumpkin Seed Recipe
Ms. Finkelstein and Ms. Masserant's classroom joined our classroom to clean out the pumpkins. The children enjoyed taking the seeds out and anticipated cooking them and eating them. The next day, some of the children went to Ms. Finkelstein and Ms. Masserant's classroom to prepare the seeds and cook them in the oven. Here is the recipe in case you would like to make some with your children this weekend.

1. Cut open the pumpkin and take out the seeds.
   

2. Stop and smell the pumpkin!













3. Place seeds in salted water to soak over night.












4. The next day, pat dry seeds with paper towel.

5. Cover a pan with aluminum foil and rub oil all around with paper towel.

6. Place dry seeds on pan with oil. Spread them around so they get coated with oil.

7. Sprinkle pinches of salt or garlic salt all over seeds.

9. We walked over to the kitchen.

10. We watched Ms. Rose put the seeds in the oven.

11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.

12. Taste Test!  Survey said- 8 children like the seeds, 4-children didn't.

"Look at this big pumpkin!"

Pumpkin Interest
The pumpkin in the classroom has been a part of our curriculum for most of this week. Upon the children’s arrival last Friday, the children noticed the pumpkin on the table. Many children immediately described the size of the pumpkin. “Look at this big pumpkin!” One child noticed how dirty the pumpkin was and wanted to clean it, the children who were around agreed and began to work together on cleaning the pumpkin with soap and water. Conversations about what to do with the pumpkin began to emerge.

Emily-“Look at this big pumpkin!”

Khristos-“Are we going to eat the pumpkin?”

Emily-“It is dirty. We need to clean it!” (Emily uses a spray bottle and paper towel to clean pumpkin. Children gather near her and begin to help.)

Khristos-“What is that?” (Pointing to gooey stuff on pumpkin) “Is that blood?”

Emma- (Spraying the pumpkin with water.) “We are helping it grow!”

Owen-“We should make a Jack-o-lantern. We need a nose and eyes and a mouth!”

Jad- “We have to cut it open, get out the seeds, carve it and then put a candle in it.”

Alexa-“Then it will light up!”

Khristos-“We need to carve a scary mouth with sharp teeth.”

The exchange in dialogue between the children was insightful to hear. They all had ideas to share and respected each other by listening. We want to support the children’s thoughts about carving the pumpkin. The children have been working on mixing colors to make orange and making a plan to carve out the details on the pumpkin.

In addition, other developmental domains have been explored with the pumpkin. The children used measuring tools to measure the pumpkin. Some children used the unifix cubes or ruler to record the pumpkins height and the measuring tape to measure circumference. Next week, we will work with Ms. Finkelstein and Ms. Masserant's classroom on dissecting the pumpkin and cooking the pumpkin seeds.
 







Halloween Walk

The Halloween walk will take place on October 29th at 4pm. If your child does not come to school Thursday afternoon, we encourage you to bring child to the Halloween walk. If your planning on attending the Halloween walk, please make sure to sign your child out before going on the walk. Children who attend school all day, we ask that they do not wear their costumes to school. You can place their costume in their backpacks or a tote. Teachers will help children change into their costumes. Please keep all weapons and masks at home. Many children do not understand that there is a person behind the mask, and often get frightened. 


Fall Weather

The weather is getting cooler. Please send your child to school with warm clothes. Here is a what your child should wear to school. Also, each child should have a spare change of clothes for accidents.

Upcoming Events

October 29– Halloween walk at 4pm

November 6th– Optional Care request forms due

November 26-27-Thanksgiving break

Photos From Fire Truck & Firefighter Visit