Apples

Next week we will be exploring apples.We ask that each child bring in one or two (of possible) on Monday or Tuesday. We will be sorting them, tasting them, painting with them and finally making applesauce with them. 

We are also wondering if anyone has either of the following books for us to borrow. Thanks in advance for your contributions and participation. 

Save the Date ~ Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Friday October 19th 9:00 am  

The Great Peter Pumpkin Patch at Spring Hill Cheese Company in Petaluma

http://www.springhillcheese.com/

$10 per child and includes: 

• Milking a cow
• Farm tour
• Digging for potatoes
• A Hay ride
• Fresh organic home-made pumpkin ice cream 
• A petting zoo  
• And the most important part..... picking a pumpkin from the vine

Please plan on attending with us! Please note there will be NO transportation available or child care that day. 

Wipes Please

Runny nose season is upon us! Please bring in a pack or two of unscented wipes. They are used for noses, fingers and bottoms!

Congratulations Brown Family

Kevin welcomed home a baby brother! 

Elliott Brendan Brown

Born Sep 13 10:30 am 

9lbs2oz 21.5" long

Buddy Bag ~ Pete the Cat

While at Early Head Start Kathy and the other teachers administered a program called Raising a Reader. Each week a child took home a bag that contained books and encouraged the parents to read to their kids ... extending the home / school relationship. 

We thought it might be fun to begin a similar program with our kids! Since Pete the Cat has become our unofficial mascot we thought it might be fun to start with him and one of his books. 

Each child will have the opportunity to take Pete home for a weekend to share their experiences with him.  The children will then be encouraged to draw a picture  and with their parents help to write in the journal, telling about their adventures.  Also included in the bag is a photo album for a picture of the child and Pete. We encourage the kids to take him out and show him their world (I don't think he has been to the beach or the grocery store before!). He also loves to take a spin in the washing machine with a mom or dad's help!

The children will then be provided the opportunity to share with the class what they drew and wrote in the journal and discuss their special time spent with Pete.

Your time with Pete will be listed on the blog and will be done in reverse alphabetical order beginning with Ruby and ending with Adam. 

Kathy and I hope you have fun with this and we hope to continue with other books and themes later in the year. 

Snack

With a new school year upon us and several new families I wanted to post a few reminders about snack.

The calendar is posted on the blog by the beginning of each month. Your scheduled day is noted by a sticker next to the date on your child's sign in sheet. It is your responsibility to check and note the appropriate date. I do try to have it be around the same time each month.

Suggested snack ideas are posted on the left hand side of the blog. Please bring enough for 12 hungry kids. Check serving sizes and amounts if bringing pre-packaged items. IE yogurt / applesauce should be individual containers (preferred for easier serving) or two large ones.

We also ask that it be brought ready to serve (if at all possible).

Birthday's are celebrated and on those months you will be asked to bring a snack in addition to your child's Birthday treat. Treats can be fun and may include cupcakes, pudding, jello etc... we do ask that you also bring a fruit or protein as this will be the snack for the day.

Letter of the Week

This year the Red Birds are doing the handwriting without tears program. I hope that by using this type of a guide 

it will help the kids learn to form their letters correctly. The HWT tears program follows a specific order and way to help the kids learn to form each letter as they go. Below is an excerpt from their website. In addition we will be using the letter wall chart, magnetic teaching tiles and a iPad programs. We began this week with the letter F. The kids are learning the visual and sound at the same time and I encourage you to play along at home

(tune of 3 blind mice)
/f/ /f/ /f/
what begins with F? 

This week we came up with lots of words. Most of the kids can write the capital F, tell you how it's formed and say the sound.

http://www.hwtears.com/files/HWT%20Print%20Teaching%20Order.pdf

The Handwriting Without Tears developmental teaching order is planned to help children learn handwriting skills in the easiest, most efficient way. As a result, children can transition quickly from learning the mechanics of handwriting to focusing on content and meaning—in all subjects. We teach printing first. After printing is mastered, we add the cursive connections.

Capitals to Lowercase

Developmentally, capitals are easier so we teach them first. The capital teaching order helps teach correct formation and orientation while eliminating reversals.

Learning capitals first makes learning lowercase letters easy. We teach lowercase c o s v w first because they are exactly the same as their capital partners, only smaller. By teaching capitals first, we have prepared children for nearly half of the lowercase letters that are similar in formation.

Preschool Book Club

This year we are going to have a featured author each month. If you have a book written by one or would like to go to the library for us we will be doing lots of fun correlating activities each month. This list will stay on the blog page for you to follow along with us.

September- Lois Ehlert
October- Amy Krouse Rosenthal
November- Tomie de Paola
December- Jan Brett
January- David McPhail
February- Dr. Seuss
March- Julia Donaldson
April- David Shannon
May- Leo Lionni
June- Gail Gibbons

Welcome Addison

We would like to welcome a new friend

Addison *Addie* will be here on Tues / Th