Welcome to all our new and returning students, we are so excited for the beginning of the school year! We have a lot of fun activities planned for our Pre-Kindergarten class. There are several teachers that will be in and out of the classroom this year. Ms. T or Mrs. Sykes will be in our class in the early morning for free centers and calendar time. Mrs. K and myself (Ms. Scheffer) will be in the classroom for the majoridy of the day into the afternoon. Mrs. F will be in both our room and the preschool room helping out in the morning and Ms. Rees will be working in both classrooms from afternoon into evening.
Here is a tentative daily schedule for our classroom:
Morning routine upon arriving to class:
1. Hang up back pack and jacket
2. Put lunchbox into basket
3. Wash hands in class bathroom
4. Fill up waterbottle
5. Write name
6. Play at free centers
7:00-8:45 free centers after morning routine
8:45-9:00 calendar time: includes learning about the calendar, reviewing Spanish, exercising, counting, and giving helper jobs for the day
9:00-9:30 morning snack: includes fresh fruit or vegetables
9:30-10:00 recess (items available for play are: slide/jungle gym, dramatic play houses, playground balls, sensory tables- sand and/or water, and play cars to ride in)
10:00-10:25 academic learning: focusing on literacy, math, science, social studies, and Spanish
10:25-11:10 centers: these will change weekly and will incorporate the monthly themes
11:15-11:45 lunch in the cafeteria
11:45-12:15 recess
12:15-12:30 bathroom break and preparations for nap
12:30-12:45 nap story time
12:45-2:00 nap: all children lay down for 30 minutes quietly and those that do not fall asleep are able to play at quiet activities for the duration of nap time. Our nap routine is to help prepare for Kindergarten
2:00-2:30 snack
2:30-3:30 recess
3:30-4:10 free centers: art projects, music, and other activities may be done at this time as well
4:15-4:40: last snack
4:40 combine into room 124 for centers
Your child will need the following every day:
1. labeled water bottle
2. change of clothes for bathroom accidents or other mishaps (shirt, shorts or pants, socks, and 2-3 pairs of underwear)
3. backpack or bag to take home artwork and important papers.
4. nap items (crib sheet and blanket, small pillow and stuffed animal are optional)
5. personal bottle of sunscreen, sunglasses, and hat (optional)
Helpful information for parents:
We will be sending home a classroom newsletter monthly and will be updating the blog weekly. There is also a paper posted on the window outside the classroom that will tell what we are studying and the centers we are doing for the week. There is a parent bulliten board to the left as you walk into the room that will have important notices posted, extra papers that have gone home, and classroom newsletters.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail or talk to us.
Chelsea Scheffer: cscheffer@tpaak.org
Jada Kankel (Mrs. K) jkankel@tpaak.org
Shanda Schlagenhauf (preschool teacher and director of preschool) sschlagenhauf@tpaak.org
This week in our class......
We are getting to know each other and about our classroom. We are learning the classroom routines and where things are located. We will get more in depth with our academic learning in the weeks to come and will be conducting assessments with each child individually to get a sense of what they already know in order to place in the appropriate leveled learning group. A copy of the assessments will be coming home once all are completed.
School supplies: We are in need of Kleenex and baby wipes. If you are able to bring in a box of each we would greatly appreciate it.
Recycled materials: We often use recycled materials for art projects in our room. We are well stocked with egg cartons and paper towel/toilet paper tubes. We are currently looking for baby food jars and the metal lids from frozen concentrate juice containers.
Centers: This week our centers include: name and alphabet tracing, decorating a snack place mat, dress-up, and cars.
Thank you for bearing with this long blog, they will be shorter after this week!
Ms. Scheffer
