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

Ms. Mikki's Classroom News

Well we've gotten a little bit off track since the new year. Hopefully we won't see anymore bad weather and can finish the year out strong. I haven't had much to put in a newsletter, but I wanted to send some reminders.

Next Wednesday and Thursday will be our Valentine's Day parties. They will start at 10:00. Your child doesn't need to send in a decorated box. We will be making bags during the party. They will however need to bring in Valentine's Cards to pass out to their friends. The homeroom moms have sent home class lists. Please let me know if you need another one.

FBLA has extended the Crush Grams fund raiser. They will now be due on Monday. You should have received an order form. If you did not, let me know.

Tuition for February is due. If you haven't paid for January, that is due as well.

Our Match Made In Heaven Event scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled. We will not be rescheduling.

Our Spring Field trip is tentatively set for April 19th. More details will follow soon.

Have a great weekend!