Announcements

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We have many fun and exciting activities planned for January in preschool.

During this month, we will be learning about winter animals and their habitats.  The children will learn about the Arctic and Antarctic regions of our world as we study polar bears and penguins.  During math time, the children will learn about measurement as they compare their footprints to that of a polar bear and their bodies to those of a penguin, arctic seal, arctic hare and polar bear.  They will measure items in "polar bear feet" throughout the classroom and they will be able to see how their bodies "measure up" to certain winter animals.

The children will focus on using descriptive language (adjectivies) as they tell about pictures they are shown of Arctic animals during our morning Circle Time.  The children will then learn how to "carry over" this descriptive detail in their "writing" (illustrations), which we will also begin to practice this month.

We will also learn how water freezes and turns to ice and then as it melts, how it changes back to water.  There will be seveal "hands on" lessons and observations regarding this throughout January.  One of Scholastic Magazines this month shows us a castle made of ice and during this lesson, we will see a video that teaches us about the various properties of water.  Also, the children will learn about their five senses and how our senses help us to "enjoy" our world around us.

The children will complete a Winter Coloring Book this month.  They will practice tracing and writing the numbers 1-10, in addition to counting and coloring the winter items in their booklets.  We will also focus on the months and seasons of the years as we begin our "brand new year" of 2020.  We will even exercise to a new song about the "Twelve Months of the Year".

In religion, the children will be reminded that Jesus was a little child at one time, just like them, and that he was part of a family, just like they are.  They will also learn a song called "I Am Special", which reminds them that God made each one of them to be special in his/her own way and that he has a "plan" for each one of them.  This will tie in nicely as we learn about and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day during the middle of this month, and we hear about the special "plan" God had for him many years ago.

Our unit 5 story in Happily Ever After readiness series is called "Jingles, Poems and Rhymes".  The children will learn about the letters Ii, Jj and Kk, the color purple and squares.  The will learn about positional terms such as in front of , next to, behind and between.  The children will learn to distinguish rhyming and non-rhyming words throughout this unit as we read other stories with rhyming patterns.

January promises to be a fun-filled month of learning, singing, sharing and enjoying our time together in preschool!  Thank you for your continued support at home and for sharing your children with Mrs. Tierney, Mrs. Petix and I this year!!!  Again, Happy New Year!