A Note From Our Principal
Our students and staff are gearing up to welcome in some cooler weather and participate in fun, seasonal activities. Mark your calendars! Our Fall Festival event is on Saturday, October 22 and we hope to see all of you there with your children. We’ll have a bubble foam party, refreshments, and fun fall activities.
We look forward to another month full of learning, fun, and play!
Sincerely,
Ms. Vici
Join us for our Virtual Potty Training Workshop on October 6 at 12PM PDT / 3PM EST
Are you ready to take that next step? Do you need ideas or support to make your child’s potty training a success? Learn tips and techniques to ensure a successful, positive experience. Sign-up at https://conta.cc/3QFr2uI.
Halloween Events
Our classrooms will be celebrating Halloween by doing crafts, playing games with their classmates, and celebrating in costume on October 31! We are excited to have our Annual Costume Parade along with our Storybook Pumpkins on display and a Pumpkin Patch. Classroom party information will be communicated through your classroom teacher or room parent(s). We will send more information via Links 2 Home soon.
Important Dates
October 3-7 – ABC Speech Screenings
October 12 – National Bring Your Teddy Bear to School/Work Day
October 14 – Make-Up Picture Day
October 17 – Preschool Parent Reports sent home this week
October 20 – No After Care – Staff Meeting during this time
October 22 – Fall Festival/Open House 10:00-1:00
October 25 – Pencil Grip Assessment with Scribble 2 Script
October 28 – Storybook Pumpkins Due
October 28 – Spirit Day – Wear Black & Orange or your favorite festive Halloween gear
October 31 – Halloween Costume Parade
October 31- End of Month Folders go home
New On Our Education Blog
Social-Emotional Learning from Infancy through Pre-K
Social-emotional skills acquired in the preschool years pave the way for children to form lasting friendships, develop empathy, and understand different situations. Our teachers encourage social-emotional development, first and foremost, by creating a safe and supportive environment where every child feels good about coming to school.
Below are specific examples on how we facilitate this learning in each of our classrooms.
Infants (0-1 year)
Positive verbal, nonverbal, and physical interactions provide infants with a sense of safety, confidence, and self-worth. Our teachers design activities that allow infants to look to them for support and encouragement when exploring new materials. For example, if an infant is struggling to fit a shape into the shape sorter, our teachers assist and prompt the infant by saying, “Let us try and turn the piece this way” or “I don’t think that shape fits. Should we see if it fits in another spot?”
Toddlers (1-2 years)
In our toddler classroom, students take an active part in dressing themselves. For example, teachers may ask, “Can you pull your arm through the sleeve,” or “Please take your socks off for our sensory walk.” Teachers also expose toddlers to a variety of emotions in developmentally appropriate ways. They may show pictures of children making various facial expressions and encourage the toddlers to practice identifying the emotions and mimicking the expressions in a mirror.
Beginners (2-3 years)
Our Beginner teachers support sharing and taking turns by providing students with visual prompts and auditory cues. For example, if they notice a student has been waiting to play with maracas, they may say, “Sophie, what special words could you use to have a turn with the maracas?” To make children feel safe and welcome when entering the classroom, teachers include the individual student’s name in the greeting and demonstrate gratitude when they return the greeting. Sometimes they may even greet students with a high-five, fist bump, or happy dance.
Intermediates (3-4 years)
Intermediate teachers encourage students to generate some of their own rules and routines, even silly ones! This promotes ownership over their own behaviors and allows students to feel respected within the classroom community. Teachers also provide students with words to describe why they feel a particular way if they can’t express it themselves. They may say, “I think you’re angry because your face is red and you yelled. I would be angry too if someone took my toy.” They then guide students through brief exercises to help self-calm and reduce stress, such as taking slow, deep breaths.
Pre-K (4-5 years)
Teachers in our Pre-K classroom inspire students to plan and engage in challenging tasks by modeling correct methods, techniques, and goals. Examples of this include using blocks to create a ramp for cars or assisting in searching for letters in a sensory bin to spell sight words. Our teachers always praise students for their effort with specific feedback. During centers, students direct their learning with supervision from their teachers, which creates opportunities to initiate and solve their own problems.
October Newsletter
A Note From Our Principal
Our students and staff are gearing up to welcome in some cooler weather and participate in fun, seasonal activities. Mark your calendars! Our Fall Festival event is on Saturday, October 22 and we hope to see all of you there with your children. We’ll have a bubble foam party, refreshments, and fun fall activities.
We look forward to another month full of learning, fun, and play!
Sincerely,
Ms. Vici
Join us for our Virtual Potty Training Workshop on October 6 at 12PM PDT / 3PM EST
Are you ready to take that next step? Do you need ideas or support to make your child’s potty training a success? Learn tips and techniques to ensure a successful, positive experience. Sign-up at https://conta.cc/3QFr2uI.
Halloween Events
Our classrooms will be celebrating Halloween by doing crafts, playing games with their classmates, and celebrating in costume on October 31! We are excited to have our Annual Costume Parade along with our Storybook Pumpkins on display and a Pumpkin Patch. Classroom party information will be communicated through your classroom teacher or room parent(s). We will send more information via Links 2 Home soon.
Important Dates
October 3-7 – ABC Speech Screenings
October 12 – National Bring Your Teddy Bear to School/Work Day
October 14 – Make-Up Picture Day
October 17 – Preschool Parent Reports sent home this week
October 20 – No After Care – Staff Meeting during this time
October 22 – Fall Festival/Open House 10:00-1:00
October 25 – Pencil Grip Assessment with Scribble 2 Script
October 28 – Storybook Pumpkins Due
October 28 – Spirit Day – Wear Black & Orange or your favorite festive Halloween gear
October 31 – Halloween Costume Parade
October 31- End of Month Folders go home
New On Our Education Blog
Social-Emotional Learning from Infancy through Pre-K
Social-emotional skills acquired in the preschool years pave the way for children to form lasting friendships, develop empathy, and understand different situations. Our teachers encourage social-emotional development, first and foremost, by creating a safe and supportive environment where every child feels good about coming to school.
Below are specific examples on how we facilitate this learning in each of our classrooms.
Infants (0-1 year)
Positive verbal, nonverbal, and physical interactions provide infants with a sense of safety, confidence, and self-worth. Our teachers design activities that allow infants to look to them for support and encouragement when exploring new materials. For example, if an infant is struggling to fit a shape into the shape sorter, our teachers assist and prompt the infant by saying, “Let us try and turn the piece this way” or “I don’t think that shape fits. Should we see if it fits in another spot?”
Toddlers (1-2 years)
In our toddler classroom, students take an active part in dressing themselves. For example, teachers may ask, “Can you pull your arm through the sleeve,” or “Please take your socks off for our sensory walk.” Teachers also expose toddlers to a variety of emotions in developmentally appropriate ways. They may show pictures of children making various facial expressions and encourage the toddlers to practice identifying the emotions and mimicking the expressions in a mirror.
Beginners (2-3 years)
Our Beginner teachers support sharing and taking turns by providing students with visual prompts and auditory cues. For example, if they notice a student has been waiting to play with maracas, they may say, “Sophie, what special words could you use to have a turn with the maracas?” To make children feel safe and welcome when entering the classroom, teachers include the individual student’s name in the greeting and demonstrate gratitude when they return the greeting. Sometimes they may even greet students with a high-five, fist bump, or happy dance.
Intermediates (3-4 years)
Intermediate teachers encourage students to generate some of their own rules and routines, even silly ones! This promotes ownership over their own behaviors and allows students to feel respected within the classroom community. Teachers also provide students with words to describe why they feel a particular way if they can’t express it themselves. They may say, “I think you’re angry because your face is red and you yelled. I would be angry too if someone took my toy.” They then guide students through brief exercises to help self-calm and reduce stress, such as taking slow, deep breaths.
Pre-K (4-5 years)
Teachers in our Pre-K classroom inspire students to plan and engage in challenging tasks by modeling correct methods, techniques, and goals. Examples of this include using blocks to create a ramp for cars or assisting in searching for letters in a sensory bin to spell sight words. Our teachers always praise students for their effort with specific feedback. During centers, students direct their learning with supervision from their teachers, which creates opportunities to initiate and solve their own problems.