Willowbrook Apple Farm Fun

It is time for our Annual Field Trip to Willowbrook Apple Farm.  I hope you all are able to attend, it is my favorite trip.  The Animals are adorable, the Hay Wagon ride through the Orchard is FUN and making Apple Cider is intriguing to see how the apples are mashed so the juice comes out!
This also creates an atmosphere for some great photo ops!  
We have been learning about Our Growing Bodies by weighing and measuring the children.  Thanks everyone for bringing in your homework page and you will see the results on the bulletin board by next week.
We have also been talking about our families through songs, books and adding our family pictures to the Turtle Family Tree.  We also talked about our homes as we build with blocks during our play time.

We have also worked on vocabulary, building strong muscles in our fingers, and talk about the letters in our names, as we play in shaving foam. 

I am looking forward to the coming weeks as we delve more into FALL and Pumpkins!  

2015-16 School Year off to a great start!

I had a great time the first week of school and on the whole the children did too!  There is always a certain amount of separation anxiety and it will soon pass.  In the meantime I will strive to find the one thing that makes each child comfortable as they learn you will come back!
We started off with our theme:  "FAll About Me!"  We are learning who we are:  What do we look like? What is our favorite color? What do we like to do?

• In Science we explored colors-how can you make your favorite color using only Red, Yellow, Blue?
• In cooking we used food items to make a Rice Cake replica of our faces. 

In our Turtle class:

• We discovered how water runs through a funnel and a sieve but not through a cup. While we were doing this our shoulder muscles got stronger getting us ready to write!  
• We also explored with painting at the easel and using water color paint.  
• We have begun making pages for our "ME BOOKS" which we will add to all throughout the year.  

Next week we will explore our Senses in Science and with some MESSY PLAY in center time on WED. AND THURS.  DRESS FOR MESS!  During class we will incorporate our senses as well as learning how tall we are, how much we weigh, what is our favorite food and our favorite toy.  I will also be asking for assistance from home on some of these questions as some are not verbal and don't always answer questions yet.  We will also begin talking about FAMILIES and I will be needing a FAMILY PHOTO (no bigger than 5x7) that you can part with.  PLEASE BRING THEM IN BY FRI. 9/4.

I'm looking forward to a lot of fun in the future days!  

Fall About Me

Yes, I did type that correctly!  Our beginning of the school year will combine two themes into one,  "All About Me" and "Fall" will create "Fall About Me".
 We will begin the year embracing Fall and learning Who these children are!  They will explore:

• What they look like 
• What they like: favorite colors, animals, foods, smells etc.
• What does their house look like?
• Who is in their families?  

I will be asking everyone to bring in a family photo (a copy you don't need returned) within the first 2 weeks of school.  We will make and "About Me" board with pictures to display in the classroom. This will also help them feel better about you being gone as they can look at your picture during class.  

See you all Soon!  

Here is an article I found and have used for the beginning of school year for children that may have a hard time being left.  

What to Do if Kids Cry on the First Day of School

·         Never bribe or negotiate a “deal” (if you stop crying I’ll give you this…)

·         Never send them home- this sends the message that they can get their own way if they throw a tantrum

·         Speak positively and cheerfully

·         Reassure your child you love them and will be back

·         Stay calm

·         Once you leave, DON’T COME BACK IN.  This makes it very confusing and teaches the child that crying works to get you to come back. 

·         If other children complain about noisy crying say, “Yes, Jimmy is crying because he misses his mom. He needs some time to learn how school works. Let’s show him how much fun ____ is and maybe he will join us.” Then move along to your next activity.

·         Acknowledge the child’s feelings (I know you miss your mom, you’ll see her soon.)

·         Invite the child to join in activities but don’t force them to participate if they are overly distraught.

This was an article I found many years ago that still applies today!  Some children may have no problem being left on their first day of school, but they may have a few tears after a week or two.  Some children from the beginning may have BIG FEELINGS about being left but with care and persistence it will pass and they will get used to the transition soon. 

Please know I am very compassionate with your children and will tell them “I know you are sad/mad, but I know your mom/dad is coming back!”  “Do you need a hug?” 

Also as parent helpers you may be asked to help with these children as well.   Some things to remember:

·         Don’t tell them not to cry, they need to express their feelings and we are here to help them name their feelings and learn to communicate HOW they are feeling.

·         Sit next to them and tell them and offer support by just being there and acknowledging their feelings.

·         Try and get them interested in an activity.

Please know we will love your child and try to make their transition away from you a positive experience.  Please also know if your child is REALLY inconsolable and we have exhausted all of our strategies we will call you!  

With a little love and compassion those that may be reluctant will soon be excited to come to school and have a great time!

1st Day of School starting soon!

I really enjoyed visiting with you and the children at our meet and greet days this week.  I am very anxious to get to know you and your children better.  It is always such a pleasure to watch children as they begin the school year and see the growth throughout the year.
I will be emailing a "Welcome" letter as soon as I get a list of your email addresses to give you details of "The first day of school", what to bring, etc.  Please take a moment to sign up on this blog so that you will receive notifications when I update my blog.
I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Ms. Mari

WOW ~ End of Year is almost here!

Our chicks have hatched, our caterpillars turned into their Chrysalises and have emerged as Butterflies and the end of the year is quickly approaching and I wanted to get everyone on the same page since there are so many activities coming up!  

• First of all this Thurs/Fri 14th & 15th is the IPS TRIKE-A-THON  Bring your child's bike/trike all decorated however you would like. OUR CLASS will ride at the end of the day 11:15 

• There will be NO SCHOOL Monday May 25th for Memorial Weekend

• End of the Year Celebration will be on Mon./Tues June 1st & 2nd @ 10:15 - 10:45.  The children will sing and then there will be a short presentation by Ms. Mari.  We will then head back to class for our snack time.  

• Last days of school WATER FUN Wed/Thurs June 3rd & 4th.  We will have WATER PLAY ALL DAY.  Everyone is asked to bring 20 FiLLED WATER BALLOONS.

We are full in to our CRASH BANG BOOM ~ Study about NOISE!  It has been fun and Noisy.  We will be making instruments next week on Tues & Wed.  I would love donations of recyclables: Yogurt containers, water bottles, kleenex (and other) boxes, oatmeal containers or anything else that can CRASH, BANG OR BOOM!

Thank you for joining in on the fun!!  

Spring is a Busy Time at IPS!

Spring is such a busy time of year for everyone.  We have many events happening so we want to make sure everyone has all the information you need.  Please be sure to read emails from me as well as the Friday Blasts that go out.

We have had so much fun with our Farm Study.  We will be bringing it to a close this week with some final fun activities.  We have studied What lives on a farm, and What grows on a farm.  We have visited the Farm and then done some tasting vegetables that grow on a farm as well as Planting vegetables.  We began a "Compost Bin" during Science and will continue to save food scraps to add to our outdoor compost bin.
We will continue to incorporate SPRING throughout our classroom as we finish the year.  We have a TWO NEW ADDITIONS to our classroom:  CATERPILLARS that will change into Painted Lady Butterflies in a couple of weeks as well as CHICKEN EGGS in our incubator that should hatch the end of the week May 7th/8th.  Hopefully we will have some hatch during school (Fingers crossed!)

Happy Spring!

Spring is my favorite season and it IS a busy time!  We began our Farm Theme last week by talking/singing/playing about Animals on a farm.  This week we will turn to "What Grows on a Farm?"  We will have a sensory bin with dirt, seeds, spoons and cups to "Plant".  We will also do some planting/exploring in our Science center and Ms. Renee will have a Garden Center set up in her room.  We will also incorporate the Eric Carle theme in our artwork and stories in preparation for our "WE PLAY" event on Saturday April 11th.  I hope you can all make it, I'm sure it will be so much fun!!  
We will continue with Letter "T" for Timothy Tiger this week and then will explore "U & V" next week.  
Field Trip To Amy's Farm in Ontario Next Monday April 13th & Tuesday April 14th - Make sure you have your money in by Friday April 10th. We will meet there at 8:45 the tour lasts about 1 1/2 hours.  There is a large grass area perfect for a "Snacknic".
Parent Conferences: Parent conferences will be held beginning April 15th. I will have a sign up sheet for times after school if you would like to discuss your child's progress.
There are so many things coming soon so please check the "UPCOMING EVENTS" page.