Preschool News

  April 6, 2008

Dear Parents,

          I hope you were able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!

          Early last week some children in the afternoon class asked that I take down a large container of stuffed animals and puppets. Within minutes the entire class was playing with these animals creating a pet store.  So…our housekeeping area has been transformed into pet store/veterinarians.  This week we’ll talk about pets and do some sorting/classifying activities around pets/zoo animals and farm animals.  We’ll play Duck, Duck, Cat in the gym, create some matching games with pets and their homes and foods, create a graph showing the types of pets people have, practice picking up pieces of dog food with tweezers, as well as other activities.  We will also invite Mrs. Clemons, a third and fourth grade teacher, and her dog Bird, a golden retriever therapy dog that comes to school with her most days to visit our classroom.  We’ll also ask Ms. Hartshorn, a first-second grade teacher, if we may borrow her classroom Zebra Finches for a day. 

          Children, like grown scientist, find joy in playing with magnets and that’s just what we did last week.  We began playing with a variety of magnets, watching and learning how they attract and repel.  Next we spent time exploring many different objects to see if they were attracted to the magnet or not.  On Wednesday and Thursday we spent time exploring our classroom with a magnet, observing where it would stick.  Many children observed that the magnets were only attracted to things made of metal.  We’ll continue exploring with magnets this week including painting with them! 

          Next Tuesday, April 15^th Mrs. Bentley, our town librarian, has invited us to visit the Memorial Library (which is located across the street from our school).  Mrs. Allison, our school librarian, will be taking us to the Memorial Library during our regularly scheduled library time.  At least three adults will walk with each class across the road to hear a story and borrow a book. At the beginning of the school year most parents signed a permission slip allowing walking fieldtrips in the village.  Please let me know if you do not want your child to participate in this fieldtrip.  Thanks!

Save the dates:

I wanted to give you a heads up about a few important dates near the end of the school year.  On Wednesday, June 11^th at 6:00 p.m. the preschoolers will be hosting a short evening of songs and a slideshow for you.  It will be a dessert potluck and should last about an hour. 

On Monday, June 16^th and Tuesday, June 17th we will be going to Shelburne Farms.  We will be riding in cars and if possible, it would be great if each child had one parent attending this trip with them. We will plan on leaving the school by 8:15 and will return around 2:00 .  If more convenient, parents may meet us at Shelburne Farms by 9:15 with their child.  If you’ve never had the opportunity to go to Shelburne Farms, you’ll be in for a real treat.  The fieldtrip begins with a tractor & wagon ride from the parking lot to the barn.  Once at the barn, your child will have the opportunity to see and interact with a variety of farm animals.  Some of the highlights include watching the chicken parade, collecting eggs from the chicken coop, feeding kid goats, and milking a cow.  Because parents will be driving their own children, siblings are welcome to attend this trip. I will confirm the admission price in a future newsletter.  We will need many adult chaperones to make this trip safe and successful.  I hope you’ll be able to join us! 

Dates to remember:

PTN MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT (MONDAY, APRIL 7^th) at 6:30 p.m. in school library.  Please join us!  PTN is our school’s Parent-Teacher-Neighbor group and is a great way for parents to get involved and help out their child’s school.  This group is currently planning and fundraising to upgrade both playgrounds and regularly supports other school activities such as concerts, artist-in-residence programs, our cross-country skiing/snowshoeing program, etc. 

Wednesday, April 9^th- Early dismissal (No afternoon preschool)

Tuesday, April 14^th- Walking fieldtrip to Moretown Memorial Library

April 21-25- April Vacation       No School

Wednesday, June 11^th- Preschool Performance

Monday, June 16^th- Morning class to Shelburne Farms

No afternoon preschool

Tuesday, June 17^th- Afternoon class to Shelburne Farms

                                      No morning preschool

Pam