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