Thursday, 31 October 2013

Friday Update Oct 28 to Nov 1

Friday, November 1, 2013
What an amazingly fun week!!!  We had lots of learning going on….and HALLOWEEN!  YAY!  The cuties looked wonderful in their costumes, and a big THANK YOU to all of the parents who helped out at our Halloween party yesterday.  The students had fun and so did I!!  The cuties also sang Happy Birthday to me today, which made my day. J  Your child is bringing home their pumpkin plant today—make sure they get a little water everyday and put them in the sun on your windowsill to see them grow. J 
This week we also…
*learned the sound, letter formation, and hand motion for the letter Hh.
*brainstormed word that started with or contained Hh and wrote them in our alphabet journals.
*added hearts to our feely letter Hh.
*observed, weighed, and carved a pumpkin, counted the seeds (175!) and voted on which face to carve into our big pumpkin!
*planted pumpkin seeds and learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin.
*painted symmetrical pumpkins and decorated them with a spooky Halloween scene.
*had a visit from Lin Loa Shi’s 8th grade Chinese students.  They shared Halloween books that they wrote and illustrated in Chinese.
*did Halloween math—counted witches, ghosts, pumpkins and bats. J
*cut out and ordered pumpkins from small to big.
*counted the correct number of spiders to put into numbered jack o’ lanterns.
*Played with bubber in our sensory table with creepy crawlies.

NEXT WEEK (well, when we return on Nov 11)
We will introduce the letter Ee. We will also learn about the holiday of Deepavali that is happening over this break. Anyone who celebrates Deepavali at home is welcome to come and teach us about this family celebration.


REMINDERS/IMPORTANT DATES
November 4 to 8:  Fall Break—NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
*Return Friday Folders and library books on Monday, Nov. 11th.
*Please be sure to check your child’s lunch menu daily.  Our lunches are pre-ordered in the cafeteria and it is helpful to have a correct lunch count.  Do remember to send the forms back each week. J
PRE-K SERVICE PROJECT: HYGIENE KITS FOR CAMBODIA (A note went home in your child’s zippy pouch today)
This week, pre-k students watched a video, about children in Cambodia, who are in need of basic hygiene necessities like toothbrushes and soap.  Over Thanksgiving Break, 25 teachers from SAS will be going to Cambodia with a goal of delivering 1,500 hygiene kits to families in Siem Reap. Your kind, caring little ones are eager to help these teachers! Please assist your child with this opportunity by donating the following items by Wednesday, 13 November.
1 bar of soap                              1 small washcloth                1 comb
1 large tube of toothpaste                4 toothbrushes
The students will assemble the kits in class and add a note (already printed in Khmer) that has directions on how to use each item or the importance of washing their hands and brushing their teeth.
Thank you in advance for your support and helping your children become compassionate, concerned world citizens.
Thank you!!!  Have a wonderful fall break!!!!  Lynsey and Aidah

Monday, 28 October 2013

Week 11 Pictures

Pumpkin Patch and all sorts of PPPPPumpkin and Halloween Activities!!!!



Thursday, 24 October 2013

Friday Update Week 11 (October 21 to 25)

Friday, October 25, 2013
It was another fun week in the Pre K yellow starfish class….lots of PPPPPPPumpkin activities!!!  Your child’s poetry and song book is coming home in their Friday Folder today—be sure to sing the songs with them this weekend, and they will use their “magic pointer” to point to the words as they sing!  (Of course they may not be pointing to the correct words—the idea is to have them know which way you read-Left to Right, and that the words they are singing are on the page. J)
This week we…
*learned the sound, letter formation, and hand motion for the letter Pp.
*brainstormed word that started with or contained Pp and wrote them in our alphabet journals.
*added purple and pink pieces of paper for our feely letter Pp.
*estimated an counted the number of pumpkin seeds in our class estimation jar.
*Painted symmetrical pumpkins and decorated them with a spooky Halloween scene.
*Created and copied patterns using Halloween characters (These are coming home in the Friday Folder—please have your child explain his/her pattern to you.)
*Read a nonfiction book about pumpkins and sequenced pictures of the lifecycle of a pumpkin.
*learned the song Pumpkin Man and decorated the song sheet.  A copy of the song will come home in the Poems and Songs book.
*Made a caterpillar out of circles, and wrote how “many circles long” their caterpillar was.
*played a listening game with jack-o-lanterns (tried to find different shapes for eyes….)
*Played a “draw a pig” game where they added different parts of the body to a pig depending on what number they rolled on the dice.
*Decorated a 5 Little Pumpkins page for our room.
* Made pumpkins to hang from the ceiling—lots of cutting involved and our cuties did a wonderful job!
* we were GOING to draw the Pigeon from Mo Willems’ books, but we ran out of time so we will do that next week!
*went to the Pumpkin Patch and picked out a baby pumpkin to take home!
*Had a visit from Mr. Pearson, the primary school counselor.  He talked to us about a way to deal with conflict… TIM (our problem solving bug)  “TELL your feelings, IGNORE, MOVE away.)

The Little Orange House
This week, I told the students the story of the LITTLE ORANGE HOUSE. They loved it so much they wanted to show you.  There is a copy in the zippy pouch—the story requires adult help---have fun!



REMINDERS/IMPORTANT DATES
Thursday, October 31:  Halloween Party (12:15-1:10)
*We wear our costumes to school (comfortable enough to wear all day J)
*We will eat lunch early (11:45) while parents set up our room and group room
*Parade around the ECC begins at 12:15 in the ABC hall—parents meet us there.
*Party starts at 12:30 (right after parade).  All parents are WELCOME to attend!!  The party will wrap up by 1:15 in order to get children on the bus and parents off to other evens.  We know many parents will be leaving directly after the party to the festivities in the Primary/Intermediate Schools.  PLEASE LET ME KNOW if you will be taking your child with you.
* A copy of the VIP calendar from January to May will be at the party for you to sign up so please bring your calendar.  The VIP calendar until then is on one of the top tabs on my blog—please let me know if you would like to be added to it.
November 4 to 8:  Fall Break—NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Thank you!!!  Have a wonderful weekend!  Lynsey and Aidah


Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Pictures from Week 10 October 16 to 18

It was a short week, but we still managed to have a great time and learn!!!!


Thursday, 17 October 2013

Friday Update October 18

Friday, October 18, 2013
Although this has been a short week, it has been a busy one!  We celebrated Ronan’s birthday—HAPPY BIRTHDAY RONAN! We have continued learning about families, where we live, the seasons, and we started talking about Halloween!
This week we also…
*reviewed the sounds, letter formation, and hand motions for the letters Ss, Aa, Tt, Ii and Nn.
*Read “Round and Round the Seasons Go” and talked about Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.
*Made a painting/craft of the four seasons.
*Listened to some really funny stories in our listening center—there was a lot of loud laughing from there during centers! J
*Were AMAZING sharing their “show and teaches” for S, A, T, I and N!  We had great fun guessing what was in the bags from the clues!!!! J
*started talking about Halloween and learned the “5 Little Pumpkins” song
*painted Halloween pictures
*spent some quality time in the block room, and there were amazing things built! The Marina Bay Sands, 2 hotels with pools and a bed in every room, a princess castle, a candy factory, among other things!


REMINDERS/IMPORTANT DATES
Monday, October 21:  ECC Parent Coffee- 8:30am
Wednesday, October 23:  ALTERNATE DRESS DAY!
Thursday, October 24: Pumpkin Patch  9:00am-9:25am
Thursday, October 31:  Halloween Party (12:15-1:10)
*We wear our costumes to school (comfortable enough to wear all day J)
*We will eat lunch early (11:45) while parents set up our room and group room
*Parade around the ECC begins at 12:15
*Party starts at 12:30 (right after parade).  All parents are WELCOME to attend!!
Thank you!!!  Have a wonderful weekend!  Lynsey and Aidah

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Week 9 pictures

Beware:  A huge amount of pictures!!!!  
Sharing family banners
Japan with Nami and her mom
Noodle necklaces
Potato head families
Block room fun....it was a busy short week!!!!



Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Friday Update Oct 7 to 10

Thursday, October 10, 2013
We are a class of 15 now!  Last week we added Akshita to our class, and this week we have Ronan!  Our cuties have been amazingly welcoming and we are happy to have an almost full class!  We were busy as usual in our classroom!
This week we…
*learned the sounds, letter formation, and hand motion for the letter Nn.
*added newspaper to our “feely letter” Nn
*brainstormed and wrote Nn words in our alphabet journals and cut out pictures.
*played with mooNNNNsand in our sensory table (the cuties love saying the N really long when they said this word!)
*were supposed to eat yummy NNNNooodles with our chopsticks but the cafeteria wasn’t ready for us today!  We will do this on Wednesday J
*learned about Japan from Nami’s mom, and I introduced Canada.
*continued sharing our beautiful family banners.
*made “Potato Head Families”  (they are SERIOUSLY the most adorable things ever!  Look for them on the wall in the classroom during conferences.)
*read books about families and how they are alike and different
*wrote and drew pictures in our Notebooks—the cuties can take them home and use them there as well.
*made Noodle Necklaces
*were introduced to using the listening center—one of their favorites now!

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
I look forward to meeting with all of you, to discuss your child’s progress, during Parent Teacher Conferences tomorrow (Oct. 11th ) and Monday (Oct. 14th.)  At this time we will discuss your child’s strengths as well as goals for the year.  Please take a few minutes to reflect on 2 or 3 strengths and goals for your child.

REMINDERS/IMPORTANT DATES
Friday/Monday October 11/14:  Parent-Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, October 15: Hari Raya- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Monday, October 21:  ECC Parent Coffee- 8:30am
Thursday, October 31:  Halloween Party (Time TBA)
 Thank you!!!  We will see your cuties back on Wednesday, October 16th! Lynsey and Aidah