Reading with Mrs. Carpenter's 3rd grade

 Here are some pictures of the preschoolers with their third grade reading buddies. 

East Montpelier firemen visit

Lyric trying on boots

Ava trying on helmet

Learning how to be safe in the kitchen

First week 3 year olds

August 5, 2013

Summer is in full swing but I am starting to plan for the school year.

Wednesday, August 28 9:00 - 10:30 AM – The first day is a shortened day for all Calais three year old children accompanied by parent(s). This is a time for students to see the classroom and meet other students. It is also a time for parents to ask questions and meet other parents. Please let us know if your child has difficulty separating so we can offer suggestions and plan ahead for the first day your child attends preschool without a parent.

** All registration paperwork, birth certificate, immunization forms and proof of residency need to be at school before you child can begin to comply with our licensing regulations.

The regular preschool schedule will begin Friday, August 30.

Please Note: Drop off time for the morning preschool session is 8:40-9:00 AM for the morning sessions. If you are dropping off your child, please wait outside the class until the door is opened. We are asking parents to stay no more than 10 minutes - help your child wash hands, start a table activity and then say goodbye and leave. Our morning meeting will start at 9:00 AM (W/F) and it is important that your child is ready to begin at that time. If your child needs time to explore or adjust in the morning, please come at 8:40 AM. Pick up is 11:45- 12:00. We do have children that stay for Aftercare so please be prompt picking up.

This year we will have Music and Library.

Music CES 3’s Friday 9:30-10 am

Library CES 3’s 9:15-9:30 am

At Library, Children will hear a story and have the opportunity to choose a book to borrow from the library. The book needs to be returned before another one can be borrowed. Parents are welcome to take out books too.

Extra Information

Children should have extra underwear and socks in his/her backpack.  We have extra pants, shirts and sweaters. If your child does not like to borrow clothes, then an extra set of clothes should be in his/her backpack. There is no room in the classroom to keep your child’s extra clothes. Backpacks should be big enough for extra clothes, snow clothes, library books, artwork and papers being 

First week 4 year olds

August 5, 2013

Summer is in full swing but I am starting to plan for the school year.

Tuesday, August 27 9:00 - 10:30 AM – The first day is a shortened day for all four year old children accompanied by parent(s). This is a time for students to see the classroom and meet other students. It is also a time for parents to ask questions and meet other parents. Please let us know if your child has difficulty separating so we can offer suggestions and plan ahead for the first full day your child attends preschool without a parent.

** All registration paperwork, birth certificate, immunization forms and proof of residency need to be at school before your child can begin to comply with our licensing regulations.

The regular preschool schedule will begin Thursday, August 29

Please Note: Drop off time for the morning preschool session is 8:40-9:00 AM for the morning sessions. If you are dropping off your child, please wait outside the class until the door is opened. We are asking parents to stay no more than 10 minutes - help your child wash hands, start a table activity and then say goodbye and leave. Our morning meeting will start at 9:10 AM and it is important that your child is ready to begin at that time. If your child needs time to explore or adjust in the morning, please come at 8:40 AM. Pick up is 11:45- 12:00. We do have children that stay for Aftercare so please be prompt picking up.

This year we will have Music and Library.

Music 4’s Tuesday 9:30-10 am

Library 4’s Monday 9:30-9:45 am

At Library, Children will hear a story and have the opportunity to choose a book to borrow from the library. The book needs to be returned before another one can be borrowed. Parents are welcome to take out books too.

Extra Information

• Children should have extra underwear and socks in his/her backpack.  We have extra pants, shirts and sweaters. If your child does not like to borrow clothes, then an extra set of clothes should be in his/her backpack. There is no room in the classroom to keep your child’s extra clothes. Backpacks should be big enough for extra clothes, snow clothes, library books, artwork and papers being sent home.
• PLEASE LABEL ALL CLOTHES. There are many coats and boots that are the same.
• Please make sure your child has shoes that stay on their feet to climb and run. The soles should be rubber so they are not slippery. No Flip-flops or Clogs.  Crocs are okay if there is strap around the back of the foot so it will stay on.
• Dress your child in layers. The air is much cooler in the morning than when we go outside at the end of the morning when it is hot!
• You will receive a Preschool Handbook at the beginning of the school year.

See you Tuesday, August 27, 2013. My email is: edowning@u32.org.

Sincerely,

Beth Downing

May/June News

Calais May 2013

It is hard to believe the school year is coming to an end in one month. I have really enjoyed all the students and families. We have had fun learning and it will be hard to say goodbye to the children moving on to other classes.

We will learn about different types of farms, farm animals and then farm tools and machines. We will do experiments with eggs and milk, and explore wool and feathers.  We will also act out the story of The Little Red Hen. Some of the other books we will use are And the Cow Said Moo; The Cow that went Oink; Cock-a-doodle Hoooooo!; Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type; Let’s Go Visiting.

The weather is finally starting to turn around. Please make sure your child is prepared to be outside. For protection from the sun, sunscreen should be put on before coming to school and your child might want a hat and/or sunglasses. Please no flip flops or crocs. They are not safe for climbing outdoor structures or for running. When the heat is turned off, our room is cool even when it is hot outside. Please send a sweater in your child’s backpack.   

There are some important dates:

May 8,9 – Show and Tell.

May 22 – Kindergarten Parent Information Night 6-7 PM

May 22 – All Library books need to be returned

May 27 – No School – Memorial Day

June 6 – Preschool Picnic/Potluck 5:30 in the gym. Details will be sent home soon.

June 12 –Anticipated Last Day of Preschool for M/W group.

June14– Anticipated Last day of Preschool for T/TH/F group.

Thank you for all your support this year!

Beth Downing 

Calais April 2013

April 1-5 Sugaring

Books: Spring is Here, Spring Changes, Bear Party, Ice Cream Bear, Ira Sleeps Over

Activities: Games about trees and sap, cooking with maple syrup, story writing, teddy bear party (Wed), pj party (Fri)

April 9-18 Seeds and Plants

Books: The Tiny Seed, The Carrot Seed, Flower Garden, One Little Seed, Plantpet, Barney Bipple’s Magic Dandelions

Activities: Planting seeds, plant experiments (What does a plant need to grow? What will grow? Parts of a plant discovery)

Dates to remember:

Wed. 4/3 Teddy bear party – Bring a teddy bear to school

Fri. 4/5 PJ party – Wear pj’s to school. Have other clothes available too

Mon. 4/8 No school – Conferences

Wed. 4/10 and Th. 4/11 – Book orders due

April 22-26 Spring Break

Dissecting owl pellets 1/31/13

Thursday we read White Owl, Barn Owl by Nicola Davies. Then we dissected owl pellets. Owls eat their food, such as a mouse, whole and then spit out the bones and fur in a pellet.

 We used toothpicks to pick out bones and used magnifying glasses to see the small bones easier.

The pellets looked like hard poop.The children found skulls, leg bones, teeth, foot bones, toes, ribs, fur and feathers.

Winter Fun

January newsletter

January 2013

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. Thank you to all the parents who came to see the children perform songs and their play. The children worked very hard to learn the songs and were very excited to show you what they had been working on at school.

We will begin the new year with a theme about winter. We will learn how snow is formed and then melt snow to see what is in it. We will use snow and ice in our sensory table and for other experiments. We will use books by Jan Brett during our winter theme since many of her books take place in winter. We will also read different versions of her book The Mitten and learn about the winter behaviors of the animals in the books.

We will continue letter recognition using the Handwriting Without Tears program. We are only using capital letter for writing but the children will see how there are different ways to write letters. Capital letters are easier to write, they are all the same height and they all start at the same place (the TOP). The words we will use for describing the letters are big line, little line, big curve and little curve.

If your child is staying for aftercare, they should bring an extra pair of socks and mittens for the afternoon. Also don’t forget shoes.

Dates to remember:

1/9 (Wed) and 1/10 (Thurs) - Show and Tell, Book orders

1/21 No School - Martin Luther King Day

1/22 No School- Teacher Inservice

2/13(Wed) and 2/14 (Thurs) -  Valentine’s Day party – We will exchange valentines with classmates. Please do not bring candy. We will have some fun activities during the day and have a special snack. If you are interested in bringing a special snack, please let me know. Please do not have you child write their friends’ names on Valentine cards, just sign your child’s own name. This helps us cut down on the time it takes to pass out cards. M/W class has 8 children, T/Th/F has 13 children.

2/23-3/5 – Winter Break. School resumes on Wednesday, 3/6.