Ms. Mikki's New- April 6

News from Ms. Mikki March 31, 2018
Springtime always proves to be a busy time of year!  Please make sure you are keeping up on reading both my FB page and the PAT FB page and SeeSaw for news and reminders.  Hold on tight! Please see the upcoming dates below. REMINDER:  If you have not paid your first payment of $30 for preschool enrollment next year, that needs to be turned in this week.  The final $30 payment will be due on May 3rd along with your paperwork that was sent home last week. You can send that in anytime.   TUITION:  April Tuition is due this week.  $120.00. Tuition for May is $30.   Field Trip permission slips are due along with $5.50.  You can send cash or a check made out to Clever Preschool.   Exciting news!  We are pleased to announce that Kerri Wenger will be joining our Preschool team as the 4 year old teacher next Fall.  Ms. Karen will be teaching Kindergarten next year. Ms. Kerri has been a Kindergarten teacher at Clever for the last 4 years.  Prior to teaching she taught preschool in Nixa during her student teaching. Her family has been long time residents to Clever and her children have all attended Clever Preschool.
April Learning Targets: I experiment with a variety of writing tools and material. I have started copying familiar letters. I can rotate and flip shapes such as blocks or puzzle pieces to make them fit. I can wait while another child or adult takes a turn during a structured game or activity. I can listen for a purpose.	Literacy: This week we started our Literacy series on Eric Carle books.  We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We enjoyed sharing out foods  that we like and dislike. Before we read the story the first time, we shared out food we thought he might eat in the story.  After we read it, we compared our list to the food that he did eat. Before we read the book the second time, we worked on our recall skills and made a list of things that we remembered he ate in the story.   We also made an, “I like to eat” book.  Your child should have The Very Hungry Caterpillar emergent reader book in their folder.  It was fun to observe them “reading” their book as they worked on it. I hope they share it with you at home.     READING RAINBOW Don’t forget to help us make our love for reading and our Reading Rainbow grow.  Everytime you read a book, let your child sign their name on the strips of colored paper we have been sending home.  You can send those in each daily or weekly.
Math: We continued to practice our 1:1 counting skills.  We made a “food pyramid”, with our Hungry Caterpillar foods and counted each food and matched the corresponding numeral to each level of the pyramid.	FIELD TRIP Please note:  This field trip is for children who are enrolled in preschool only.  Younger siblings are not allowed to attend this time. Thank you for your understanding.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas!  Thank you to those who sent in snacks. We would love to incorporate more fresh fruits and veggies into our snack menu.  However, with limited refrigeration space, that is hard for us to do to maintain freshness. If you would be willing to send in fresh fruits or veggies, just let me know!	Dates: April 12th:  Family Skate Night sponsored by PTA.  Skateland 6-8. April 16th:  Cox Care Mobile April 19th:  Field Trip. Please send back your child’s permission slip and $.  This field trip is for Preschool children only. Sibling have to sit this one out. April 20th & 23rd:  NO SCHOOL MAY: . May 3rd - Cruisin’ Into Spring -- more information to come later May 10th and 11th - NO PRESCHOOL May 14th-17th - PRESCHOOL IN SESSION May 17th - Playday at the City Park - Last Day of Preschool

News from Ms. Mikki

News from Ms. Mikki March 31, 2018
Thanks to all of the Dads who were able to stop in and enjoy a donut with their child this week!   Spring Pictures are Thursday April 5th.  You are welcome to bring your M/W student up to the Y gym in the morning to have their picture taken.  Just check in at the office. Field Trip Permission slips-  Please fill out and return your child’s permission slip and $5.50 to school this week.  If you need another copy, please let me know. EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!:  Tuesday is election day. We are hoping that the bond issue for the Early Childhood Center will pass.  Every vote counts! Don’t forget to stop by your polling location and cast your vote! NO TAX INCREASE! THANK YOU!  We’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to Murfin’s Market and Village Pottery for donating the ceramic eggs for the children to paint.  We did have a few “hatch” (break) before we could get them home. If your child didn’t bring one home, hold tight….it’s on it’s way.
March Learning Targets: I can cut a stationary object with scissors I have started copying familiar symbols I point to or move objects when counting out loud	Literacy: We read a variety of books about Spring and Easter.  We enjoyed hunting for eggs. Inside of the eggs were letters.  We matched the letters inside the eggs with the letters in the phrase, “Happy Easter”.  We also made a Yes/No T chart and sorted letters. READING RAINBOW Don’t forget to help us make our love for reading and our Reading Rainbow grow.  Everytime you read a book, let your child sign their name on the strips of colored paper we have been sending home.  You can send those in each daily or weekly.
Math: Sorted Easter eggs by color and size Counted Easter eggs using 1:1 by placing them into an egg carton while counting.	Preschool Enrollment Packets-  Paperwork for next year was sent home with your child this week.  Please fill it out and return it to school as soon as possible. Please note:  This field trip is for children who are enrolled in preschool only.  Younger siblings are not allowed to attend this time. Thank you for your understanding.
Our snack supply is running a little low.  If you can help us restock our supply, we would really appreciate that. Suggestions:  Goldfish crackers, animal crackers, peanut butter crackers, mini muffins, graham crackers, cheese slices, saltines, bananas, strawberries, apples, blueberries (frozen fruit is fine), applesauce, or pretzels.   Thanks so much! April Tuition is due this week.  $120.00 Tuition for May is $30.	Dates: April 5th:  Spring Pictures April 16th:  Cox Care Mobile April 19th:  Field Trip. Please send back your child’s permission slip and $.  This field trip is for Preschool children only. Sibling have to sit this one out. April 20th & 23rd:  NO SCHOOL MAY: Please make sure to read the MAY DATES flyer that came home last week.  We have extended the preschool calendar to make up a few snow days. May 14th only the Monday class will attend, however BOTH classes are welcome to attend May 15th, 16th and 17th.

Ms. Mikki's Classroom New

News from Ms. Mikki March 2, 2018
What a FUN week of celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday!  I loved seeing the wacky clothes, hair, and socks.   Spring Conferences:  You and your preschooler are invited to attend Spring Conferences on Tuesday, March 20th.  I will create a signup genius link for you to sign up for a time to attend.    I will have 5-6 learning centers and activities for your child to complete with you.  This will showcase some of the skills we have been working on throughout the year.   I hope this experience provides an opportunity for you to see your child’s learning in action.   Next week we will start our PENNY WARS!  How it Works-- Put PENNIES in your Teacher's jar for Positive Points! Put SILVER COINS or DOLLARS in another Teacher's Jar for Negative Points! The Class with the most POSITIVE POINTS wins a PARTY from PTA! MUFFINS WITH MOM-  We invite all Mom’s to stop in during drop off next Tuesday and Wednesday to enjoy a muffin with your child before you head back home.  Don’t worry Dad’s you’ll have a similar opportunity after Spring Break.   *Mom, if you aren’t available to participate, feel free to send another adult to share a muffin with your child.   Please make sure you are caught up on tuition for February and March before we leave on Spring Break. Receipts-  I’ve fallen a little behind on issuing tuition receipts for January and February.  If you wish to receive a receipt, please email me and I will send one home this week.
February/March Learning Targets: Develops and expands vocabulary Attends to the sound in language-beginning sounds Uses language to represent number of objects Tag counting up to 10 objects Recognizing some letters (upper case)	Literacy: Dr. Seuss week!  We read The Cat in the Hat and the Foot Book.  We chose a page from each book and created a list of vocabulary words.  We identified the first letter and sound of each word.  We extended this activity later in the week by pulling items out of our “Mystery Box”.  They had fun guessing what might be inside.  They came up with some pretty creative answers!  Once we pulled out an item, we named the item.  Once it was written on the chart we took turns pointing to the FIRST letter in the word (working on left to right reading progression).  We identified the letter and the sound the first letter made of each word.  We also matched uppercase and lowercase letters in the exercise.   We also practiced putting the letters in our name in order on our Cat Hat.
Math: Feet, feet, how many feet will you meet?  We practiced our tag counting as we counted how many feet were in our friendship circle.   We also practiced identifying and ordering #s 1-10.
Preschool placements for 2018-2019 Ms. Paula and I plan to let everyone know preschool placements prior to Spring Break.  Please keep in mind that we will do our best to place  you in your first choice session, but we cannot guarantee that.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Early Childhood Center- The proposed Early Childhood Center will be presented to voters again in April.  We encourage everyone to get out and vote!	Dates to remember: March 8th:  Superhero Dance from 6:00-8:00.  Sponsored by PTA March 12-16th: Spring Break March 20: Spring Conferences March 22nd:  PAT-  All Star night April 19th: Preschool Field trip-  TBA

Ms. Mikki's News- Feb. 23

News from Ms. Mikki February 23, 2018
Tuition:  If you are behind, please make sure to make payments this week.  I will be sending notes home to those who are behind.  Tuition for March is due.  $90.00.   Snow Days-  As stated in the Handbook, there is no reduction in preschool tuition for snowdays.  We are going to ride out the rest of winter and see how many total days we miss before we make a decision about preschool make up days.  We will not be able to make up all of the missed days, but we will certainly look at the possibility of making up some of them. Next week we are celebrating Dr. Seuss’s Birthday-  Our dress up days are somewhat altered from the K-4 theme days to match the stories we’ll be reading. Monday:  Cat in the Hat Day-  Wear a hat Tuesday: Sleep Book-  Wear your Pajamas (please wear tennis shoes for recess).  You can wear your favorite hat on this day too! Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday-  Wacky Clothes Day-  make sure to wear some crazy socks too.  We'll be reading the Foot Book Thursday:  Hooray for Hair-  Crazy Hair and Crazy Socks (Also reading the Foot Book)
February/March Learning Targets: Develops and expands vocabulary Attends to the sound in language-beginning sounds Uses language to represent number of objects Tag counting up to 10 objects Recognizing some letters (upper case)	Literacy: March Author Spotlight:  Laura Numeroff This week:  If You Give A Pig A Pancake We shared out what we each like to put on our pancakes We practiced listening for a purpose.  We made a list of items that Pig asked for.  We read the book multiple times this week.  Our recall list started out pretty small with only a few words.  By the end of the week it had grown significantly.  We are getting better at listening to stories. We also chose a page out of the book and created a vocabulary list by identifying things we saw on that page.
Math: Flapjack Math-  I worked one on one with each child this week as we played a pancake game.  They had to identify the # on the pancake before they could flip it over.  (P.S.  using a spatula and flipping it over is a great fine motor activity that will further support handwriting).   They also had to count the pancakes using tag counting.  Some of us still need some practice on this.  Keep working on it at home.  Start with 3 items for them to touch and count.  Increase the number of items up to 10 as they master each level.
Preschool placements for 2018-2019 Ms. Paula and I plan to let everyone know preschool placements prior to Spring Break.  Please keep in mind that we will do our best to place  you in your first choice session, but we cannot guarantee that.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Early Childhood Center- The proposed Early Childhood Center will be presented to voters again in April.  We encourage everyone to get out and vote!	Dates to remember: Feb. 28th:  Cox Care Mobile March 2nd:  Story time-  10:00 March 8th:  Superhero Dance from 6:00-8:00.  Sponsored by PTA March 12-16th: Spring Break March 20 & 22nd:  Spring Conferences March 22nd:  PAT-  All Star night April 19th: Preschool Field trip-  TBA

Ms. Mikki's Classroom News

News from Ms. Mikki February 20, 2018
I apologize for being a little slow getting last week’s newsletter out.  I wanted to send a big SHOUT OUT to our our two homeroom moms, Megan and Ashley!  They once again planned a wonderful class party.  The kids had a great time decorating their bags and passing out their Valentine’s.  Thanks to all of the parents who helped make everything possible by donating money and supplies.   “SNOW” more snow days please!.  As stated in the handbook, tuition is not adjusted for snowdays.  With that being said, we are going to ride out the rest of winter and see how many days we miss before we make a decision about preschool make up days.  We will not be able to make up all missed days, but we will certainly look at the possibility of making up some of them. Tuition:  If you are behind, please make sure to make payments this week.  I will be sending notes home to those who are behind.  Tuition for March is due this Friday.  $90.00.
February Learning Targets: Develops and expands vocabulary Attends to the sound in language-beginning sounds Uses language to represent number of objects Tag counting up to 10 objects	Literacy: Last week we read stories about friendship and Valentine's Day.  We are still working on listening for a purpose.  We are putting our focus on the purpose of learning new vocabulary words.  We made a class list of “Ways to be kind to a friend”.  Here were some of the responses: Share toys Help pick up toys Let them play with me Although our answers are usually redundant, we continue to ask those open ended questions.  It’s really a challenge for young children to use critical thinking skills as they are very concrete learners.   Ways to help at home?:  Use open ended questioning.  Here is an example of open ended vs closed ended questioning. Closed ended:  Did you have a good day at school today?  These are typically answered with “yes” or “no”.   Open ended:  How was your day?  Tell me what activity you did during center time?  What song did you sing during circle time”   Asking open ended questions leave room for making conversation with your child.  It also helps them to recall the day’s events.
Math: We are working on counting objects one at a time up to 10 objects.  We practice this on a daily basis when our helper walks around the rug, taps heads one at a time and counts.  This can be challenging for some outside of this daily activity.   Ways to help at home:   Lay out 3 objects.  Ask them to point to each object as they say the appropriate number.  If they are successful at 3, increase the number of objects.
Preschool placements for 2018-2019 Ms. Paula and I plan to let everyone know preschool placements prior to Spring Break.  Please keep in mind that we will do our best to place  you in your first choice session, but we cannot guarantee that.  Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Early Childhood Center- The proposed Early Childhood Center will be presented to voters again in April.  We encourage everyone to get out and vote!	Dates to remember: February 23rd:  Tuition due March 2nd:  Story time-  10:00 March 8th:  Superhero Dance from 6:00-8:00.  Sponsored by PTA March 12-16th: Spring Break March 20 & 22nd:  Spring Conferences March 22nd:  PAT-  All Star night April 19th: Preschool Field trip-  TBA