December Class Parties

This 

This celebration is for the 4 year old class only. 

Who:  4 yr old preschool class

What:  Pirate, Princess or Prince Party

When:  Wednesday December 13, 2017

Where:  Preschool Classroom

Why:   We have reached the letter P, we are going to celebrate with a Pirate, Princess, or Prince party.  Come in your best pirate, princess or prince attire! Some ideas; bandanna, pirate hats, stripped shirt, dresses, beads, or dress clothes.  Be creative, don’t feel the need to purchase something, look around the house! 

These classroom parties are for BOTH 3 and 4 year old preschool classes.

Polar Express Party- December 19, 2017 come dressed in your pajamas (if you’d like). We will have popcorn for snack and watch the Polar Express.  

Class Christmas Party- December 21, 2017 show your Christmas spirit. Come dressed in your favorite Christmas jammies, green or red clothing. Snack, drinks and games will be provided. 

Please email me or call if you have any questions regarding these celebrations. 

Music Concert and other news

Students in three year old and four year old will be participating in the Christmas Concert on Wednesday December 6 at Creston high school at 6:30.  Preschool concert rehearsal is on Wednesday December 6 from 12:30- 2:00. Four year old preschool students will be bussed to the high school during their class time to rehearse. Three year old preschool students are encouraged to join the four year old class from 12:15-3:15 on Wednesday.  OR provide your own transportation for your child and leave when preschool is done rehearsing. Please let me know your decision as soon as possible.

Four year old preschool, Advent angels started this week. Preschool students are paired with two older "angels," they will work together each Wednesday throughout the Advent season.

Thanksgiving Feast and more!

Our Thanksgiving feast is tomorrow during your child’s class time. 

*Three year old preschool please bring a snack  to share with 6 children.

*Four year old preschool please bring a snack to share with 20 children, as we will be joining the kindergarten class. 

We have been working very hard to make hats to wear at the class parties.

We have been learning about family Thanksgiving traditions.  We have also learned about Pilgrims and Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving.  Thank you for sharing your family traditions with the class! 

Drop off reminder: "Quick goodbyes, leave dry eyes" Preschool students will answer the daily question and then they come into the room to hang up their items and prepare for the day. 

November Things

Four year old preschool:

This week has been so fun and exciting! Check out our Veteran’s Day artwork in the hallway. We have read different stories this week about Veteran’s Day.  The Ramps and Pathways STEM kit continues to be a huge hit. During four year old preschool, it was very exciting to have Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg and other members visit our classroom to see how we used the STEM scale up at a preschool level.  There was a lot of people in the room at one time! I am beyond impressed with how well our class demonstrated their knowledge. The month of November we will focus on Thanksgiving.  

* Disguise a Turkey projects are due back on Tuesday Nov. 15.  

* We will be having a Thanksgiving Feast with kindergarten on Tuesday Nov 21. More information to follow.

Three year old preschool:

This week has been so fun and exciting! Check out our Veteran’s Day artwork in the hallway. We have read different stories this week about Veteran’s Day.  The Ramps and Pathways STEM kit has been introduced and is a HUGE hit!  We will continue to work and build with this. The month of November we will focus on Thanksgiving. Tuesday Nov 21.  we will have a Thanksgiving feast. Each student will be asked to bring a food item to share. More information to follow!

Conference sign up link

Don't forget to schedule a time for your child's preschool conference. I'm looking forward to meeting with each family to discuss their child's progress in preschool. Students are not required to attend conferences.

Schedule your child's conference time here!

Conferences and other things

    Conferences are just around the corner! Please sign up for a time that works best for you. If these times do not work for you please let me know and we can make other arrangements.  This was a very quick and busy week.  The letters E and H were introduced.

     In four year old preschool school we are working on learning the letter name, identifying upper case letters,  letter sound and how to write the letters. In three year old preschool we are working on learning the letter names and identifying upper case letters. We have been working on correct scissor hold and using glue sticks. Each student has a spot in the hallway to show off their work! I’m in the process of getting some projects up there, check them out! If you don't see your child's name, I'm waiting on a couple to return from the AEA office, where items are laminated.

*For a fun Halloween science experiment, each student needs to bring a 20 oz. plastic bottle by Thursday October 26,2017. 

Please check your child's folder. Information goes home all week. 

Thursday October 12

Today was the last day for our beginning of the year study. We read the story "Crazy Pizza Day," we made our own pizzas and relaxed in our pajamas during our reward celebration. The next three weeks we will have a small Halloween unit.  We will introduce two alphabet letters a week. This will allow for us to complete the alphabet and repeat before the end of the year. Star of the Week will officially start after conferences. Each class will be asked to schedule a conference, look for more information to come in the next few weeks.

The progress I have seen since the beginning of the school year is amazing! Keep working on recognizing names and letters in your child's name, shapes and colors.

Don't forget about the St. Malachy Spaghetti Supper on Saturday October 21.  Food donations are still needed and slots are available to work the spaghetti supper. Use the sign up genius to choose a slot! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e084aa8aa23a4fd0-spaghetti.

Pajama Day

What a great start to the school year we’ve had! Each class is settling into classroom routine very well, to celebrate we’re having a pajama party! Wear pajamas on Thursday October 12.  Slippers are allowed, please send in your child’s backpack!

Upcoming news!

It’s hard to believe that it is the end of September! I have seen so much growth in our first month of school. In celebration we will be having a pajama party on Thursday October 12.  We will be wrapping up our beginning of the year study in two weeks. We will have a mini Halloween unit before starting our next study! We will have a Halloween party, I will let you know as soon as a date has been decided.

We have been working hard on name recognition, both classes are very close on mastering this. Since we are recognizing our names, question tags will be moved to the hall way. Each student will get their tag and answer the question as they come in the door. Next they will hang up their bags and wash hands, as they have been doing. 

Week 3

The third week of preschool has gone great. We are continuing to learn center rules, classroom rules and expectations. We have mastered walking in a line and using quiet voices in the hallway.  I’m very impressed with the growth I have seen in these three weeks. We continue to add to our schedule weekly.  This week we will add more of our Religion portion to our day, alphabet letters and handwriting.

We have had our first substitute teacher.  As a class we reviewed making safe choices in the classroom and outside.

Stories we’ve read this week. The Kissing Hand, Wemberly Worried and God Bless Our Fall

*The doors will open at 7:55 for three year old preschool. Class start time is 8:00.

                                          12:10 for four year old preschool. Class start time is 12:15 .

Week 2

    It’s September already and our second week of preschool is behind us.  We are still working on learning classroom and school routine. Each class went a on a walk around the school and decided what they would like to include in their class book.  Music with Mrs. Stoner has been a hit! 

     This week at preschool we gave our selves silly special names because we are all unique and special. This is from Al’s Pals, Kids Making Healthy Choices curriculum. Al, is a puppet who helps kids understand feelings and make safe positive choices. Letters will be sent home about Al's Pals as we complete this series to inform families about what we are working on. Today, we discussed big feelings. We have a rocking chair in the classroom where students can take a break if they are having big feelings (happy, sad, excited, anger). This is a chair the child uses on their own if THEY need a break and is NOT used for time outs.

As we get our routine down we will add more curriculum content to our day.

It was great seeing preschool families at the family picnic last night! Join us for the Holy Spirit Food Festival this Sunday from 4:00-6:00, the cost is $8.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

First Week of School

The first week of school has been wonderful! Each class is adjusting well to this new preschool routine. This week we have worked on learning the rules to each center and will continue to do so next week. We have started our beginning of the year study in our Creative Curriculum. This allows for stories and discussions about; feelings, routine, rules, friendship and more.

Check purple folders daily for information from school.  Thursday is when most information is sent home from the office.

Don't forget about the all school picnic on Wednesday September 6 from 6:00-7:00. Preschool families are encouraged to bring a dessert item.

Preschool Cy-Hawk pride day is Thursday September 7 (K-8 Cy-Hawk pride day is Friday).  Wear your favorite team colors!


Please let me know if you have any questions/ concerns.

The Botanical Center

What a great experience we had at The Botanical Center. We were able to share our prior knowledge of plants during our session! We used our five senses to learn about plants! We made a plantable rainstick. The outdoor gardens were beautiful and fun to explore!!  Look at the photos tab to see pictures from the field trip and check out the preschool Facebook page for some videos!

Botanical Center Field Trip

Wednesday May 10, preschool will be ALL day from 8:15-3:15. We will be taking a field trip to the botanical center in Des Moines. The cost is $5 and a sack lunch is needed, don't forget permission slips!

May already!?

May?? Already? It can't be! This school year has gone so fast!

We continue working on our tree study. We have been learning about what kind of animals live in trees.  Bugs and insects live in trees. Which got us on the topic of butterflies. Check out the butterflies in the hallway! They are in their chrysalis!
     We have a new dramatic play center, we have a beach/swimming themed area!  It has been a huge hit so far! We even talked about what could make it better! Improvements 

Easter Celebrations

This week has flown by!! This week we have been learning about Easter.  We did science experiments using raw eggs and vinegar! Did you know vinegar will make the egg shell disintegrate? Leaving a “bouncy” but fragile egg.  We continued to check these over the week. We have discussed Jesus and the meaning of Easter. On Tuesday, we used biscuits and marshmallows to make empty tomb biscuits. The marshmallow represented Jesus being placed into the tomb and how he rose again. After, Easter we will continue with the tree study.

 

Due to the National Catholic Education Association Conference there will be no school Monday April 17- Wednesday April 19. Preschool will resume on Thursday April 20.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Catholic Schools Week

The week of January 30- February 3 was Catholic Schools week at St. Malachy.  Each day was themed and filled with many fun activities. Monday was Blue and Gold day, Show your St. Malachy support! Tuesday was Sports Day, preschool students participated in a school wide sports day! Wednesday was Red, White and Blue day. Preschool and kindergarten students were able to visit a nursing home in Greenfield where they performed a few songs and danced. Also, they colored pictures and visited with residents. Thursday was the school wide Talent Show. Preschool and kindergarten performed together. They put a lot of hard work into their rehearsals and it paid off!

Please check out the photos tab for pictures from Catholic Schools Week,

First Week Back

The first week back was a quick and exciting one!

Three and four year old preschool were introduced to Pint Size Science. The first kit, Science sprouts discusses that science is everywhere! A variety of science items were introduced; magnifying glasses, beakers, googles, lab coat, tweezers and magnets. Two experiments that were big hits were, volcanoes and coloring changing milk. Each lesson talked about solid, liquid and gas.  During the volcano lesson, we were able to discuss how adding a solid to a liquid created a gas!

Please check out the photos tab for Science pictures!

Welcome Back!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful break! I'm excited to see everyone and be back in the swing of things! We will be starting a new unit in the Creative Curriculum and continue to master our letters and numbers.