Transportation

Please see Mr. Thacker's post about transportation tag pick-up.  It is my understanding that all student will get a new tag and number this year.  

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Beginning of the School Year 2012

August 2012

Dear Families,

            I hope your summer is moving along safely and happily.  Janie and I are thrilled to begin a new school year. 

            We know many of you are looking ahead to the new school year and we will be here every step of the way to make sure that it is a smooth transition for both you and your child.

            The first day of preschool is September 18^th but we hope to have contact with you prior to then.  Teachers reported back to school on August 29th for professional development.  Our days will be filled with trainings and preparation, but we will be available for any questions or concerns. 

Please bring to open house or the first day of school:

-          Please make sure you send in an extra change of clothes (including socks) in your child’s backpack.  We will store the clothes at school and return at the end of the year.

-          Diapers, wipes, pull-ups.  Please send enough for at least a week of school. (if needed)  We will notify you when our supply is getting low.

-          Family photo to post in our room

-          Clothing: Preschool can be messy at times because we participate in all types         of hands-on activities such as painting, coloring, water play, play dough etc…  Please make sure that the clothes your child comes to preschool in are play clothes.  We wear smocks during our messy activities and cannot promise stainless clothing. 

-          Shoes:  We run, jump, climb, etc… Please make sure your child wears comfortable shoes that do not slip off.  Mulch will get into open toed shoes and sandals on the playground therefore we ask that your child wear closed toe shoes such as sneakers.

-          Backpack-large enough to transport nap items and standard sized notebooks and folders.

Important Information

-          Open House Thursday September 6^th from 10-11 a.m. or 1-2 p.m.   You are invited to stop in anytime during the 2 hours. This will be a good opportunity to ask questions, see the classroom, return paperwork etc…

-          Lunch-Your child will have the opportunity to purchase or pack a lunch to eat at school. We are very excited about eating lunch at school, as it will provide even more opportunities for communicating, teach self-help skills etc…  We will be eating lunch in our classroom.  Your child may also purchase milk or “extra” items to go along with the packed lunch.  If your child buys a lunch Ms. Janie or I will pick it up from the cafeteria and bring it to the classroom.  If your child packs a lunch we cannot heat items up or keep them cool so please pack accordingly.  Please do not pack any lunch items containing Peanuts or Peanut Products.

-          Rest Time: After lunch we will have a rest period.  Each child will have a cot to rest on.  Your child may bring in a small blanket and/or small pillow for his or her cot.  We ask that you provide a large resealable plastic bag to keep the rest items in.  The items will be kept at school and returned periodically for a wash. 

-          Transportation: Please do your best to attend a meeting with Mr. Thacker.  A letter should be arriving soon regarding the meeting.

-          Communication Folder: Your child will have a communication folder provided by preschool for any important paperwork.  A communication notebook is not required this year.

-          Snack: We will provide snack daily.

-          School Supplies: There isn’t a mandatory school supply list but donations are always welcome (disinfecting wipes, tissues, paper towels, glue sticks, crayons, washable markers)

Please never hesitate to call or email with questions or concerns.

Graduation

The last day of preschool for the 2011-2012 school year was so much fun.  Whether the student was finishing his or her preschool career or successfully completed a year of preschool we celebrated.  Here are some photos to remember our special day.  I look forward to seeing all the returning preschoolers in the fall and hearing about how well the Kindergarteners are doing! 

Tie Dye Etc..

Your child will receive his or her tie dye shirt either Thursday or Friday to bring home and wear on his/her last day of school.  I have laundered them so they are ready to wear.  Make sure the first couple of times you wash them in your wash to either wash separately or with colors as the colors may bleed a little.

Walk-a-thon!  Check your child's backpack for info.  If you need more info please let me know. If your child is in the Tues/Thur class and wants to attend the walk-a-thon please don't hesitate to bring them to school and stay with them during the festivities.  If your child is in the Wed/Friday class you are welcome to join us but it is not required that you are here.  Your child will receive a lime green tee shirt to wear on Walk-a-thon day and a water bottle to bring full of water to school.

Also, it's supposed to rain on Friday so feel free to send an extra pair of shoes and clothing for your child to change into in case of too much mud or wet.

On Thursday/Friday we will be sending home all nap items and changes of clothing that we have at school. 

Here are a few photos from our tie-dye day!

Grubby Clothing

Please send your child in old clothing on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.  We will be tie-dying our shirts and the dye could get on our clothing despite smocks and gloves. 
Thank you.

Tie Dye!

We've decided to make tie-dye tee shirts to wear on our last day of preschool for our celebration.  We will be making the shirts next Tuesday and Wednesday.  It would be greatly appreciated if you could send in a plain white tee shirt for your child to tie-dye.  Once we tie-dye them I will launder them and send them home on Thursday or Friday.  Anyone who wants to donate any extra tee shirts is welcome to do so.

This tends to be our busiest time of the year as we are getting ready to transition many students to Kindergarten and wrap everything up.  We have been very busy in the classroom.  We wrapped up our insect/garden theme last week.  Our caterpillars turned into cocoons and then to butterflies.  We took them outside to let them go last week.  Our seeds that we have planted are beginning to grow (well to be honest only a few so far). 

We are finsihing up the year with an Ocean/Beach/Summer theme.  Our dramatic play is full of beach towels, sunhats, beach chairs etc... Our sensory table has water and fishing poles to catch alphabet letters.  We are reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom which is another one of my all time favorites.  We have enough copies of the book for each child to hold one during group and read along.