 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|
|
Mrs. Spurr - 4 year olds, AMemail: pspurr@sainttimothyschool.org Assistant: Mrs. Anne Patsalosavvis May NewsletterGeneral InformationPlease refer to our 2006-2007 Orientation Booklet for all general information regarding a typical preschool day, carpool information, uniforms, school supplies, preschool goals etc.. CommunicationCONTACT ME: If you need to contact me, please send an email or put a note in your child's backpack with the telephone numbers where I can reach you. Do not leave a message in the school's voice mail box. I am always at school at 7:45 a.m. Please make prior arrangements if you need to see me at that time. NEWSLETTER: I will send a monthly newsletter home each month in your child's red folder. Previous months' newsletters will be available online for your reference. EMAIL: I will send occasional emails to the class which will also be available online for your reference. Room MotherOur room mother will be contacting you regarding various events after we settle into our routine. CarpoolPlease do not drop off students before 8:00. Teachers and aides are busy preparing and setting up for the day. ActivitiesWEEKLY ALPHABET LETTER: Each Monday, beginning September 11, the students should send in a picture beginning with the letter of the week. The first week is "A" and it follows through the alphabet from there. LIBRARY: Every other week the class will visit the school library. SCIENCE LAB: Every month the class will visit the school science lab. PROJECTS
PARTIES We will organize and plan for 4 parties: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and End of Year/Graduation. Calendar of Events & ActivitiesSEPTEMBER: First full week, orientation, go over class rules, introduce teacher and assistant to students and vice versa. Get “I am special” papers from parents about their child and discuss in class during Student of the Week. Tour of the classroom (bathroom), gym library and Science Lab, prayers, pledge, weather, calendar. September 10: Grandparents’ Day: get pictures and discuss why grandparents are special. Religion lesson once a week. Throughout the year we will discuss the 5 senses with worksheets, pictures and samples; Sept. 12 from 7-8 p.m.: Back to School Night. Sept. 18 we start with letter “A”; Sept. 25 letter “B”. OCTOBER: God made my family: pictures, animals, things around the house/classroom, foods, toys, cartoons, places, religious, actions. Oct. 3: St. Francis of Assisi, read his story: protecting God's gifts, our pets and nature in all its beauty. Oct. 10: Columbus day. God gave us the gift of sight to see fall colors, apples, pumpkins, leaves, nature. October 31: Halloween. Read Johnny Appleseed.
Change of weather how it’s different with every season.
Use all classroom colors. NOVEMBER: Parent/Teacher Conference second week of November. Get ready for Thanksgiving. All Saints’ day, who’s your Patron saint? My Patron Saint is: _____ He is special because_____. Feathered hats, scarecrows, Fall animals, sunflowers, Indians. November 10: discuss veterans (Veterans’ Day Nov. 11). Thanksgiving Nov. 24- what are we thankful for? Sort fruits and vegetables, decorate small pumpkins, make headbands with feathers, turkey with feathers. National Book Week: what’s in a book? my favorite book is?why? Make turkeys with hand prints. Letters of the week: Nov. 13 “G”, Nov. 27 “H” DECEMBER: Winter begins Dec. 21. What is “hibernation”? The birth of Baby Jesus, the true meaning of Christmas. Make presents for parents, New Year’s resolutions, noise makers. Letter of the week: Dec. 4 “I”; Dec. 11 “J”. JANUARY: Care Bears go home on Fridays. January 15: Martin Luther King Jr.’s day “ I have a dream” speech, equality. Study winter animals. Epiphany (Baptism of Jesus), The Our Father, long prayer, Grace Before Meals, Bless Us O Lord. Mazes, opposites, connect the dots, patterns; matching. Letter of the week: Jan 3 “K”; Jan 8 “L”; Jan. 15 “M”; Jan. 22 “N” and Jan. 29 “O”. FEBRUARY: February 2nd: Ground Hog Day (sees his shadow winter over, doesn’t see the shadow, 6 more weeks of winter). The Story of St. Valentine, love to God and our family, make presents for parents Feb. 20 Presidents’ day (George Washington and Abraham Lincoln). Feb. 21: the meaning of Ash Wednesday after Fat Tuesday. Letters of the Week: Feb. 5 “P”; Feb. 12 “Q”; Feb. 19 “R”; Feb. 26 “S”. MARCH: March 5: Mardi Gras, Lent, what is Lent, why do we give up something we like? before Easter? Why do we celebrate Easter? Father Beres for a pre-k lecture. March 17: St. Patrick’s Day. Spring begins March 19; Letters of the week: March 5 “T”; March 12 “U”; March 19 “V”; March 26 “W” APRIL: Palm Sunday; April 6: Good Friday; April 8 Easter – Spring has sprung, baby animals, the end of hibernation.
April 22/23 earth day- be good to your earth, recycle, clean up, plant flowers etc…April 23 “X”; April 30 “Y”. April showers bring May flowers. JUNE: Let’s get ready for the beach. Father’s Day present for June 17. Graduation, diplomas given by Mrs. Kobyra. Goodbye presents (shovel and pail). Virtus TrainingThe Diocese requires Virtus training for all adults (including parents) working, volunteering or visiting in the classroom. NEWSLETTER May 2008Dear Preschool Parents: This is my last newsletter of the year for our Preschoolers since they will graduate on May 30th. We will not have class on May 16th (DFE Meeting). Enjoy the long week-end. Our month of May is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The students will learn how to pray the rosary; we will provide the students with the rosaries. We will visit the church, the science lab for the last time to say goodbye to the frogs, turtles, insects, and fish, we will also finish our religion lessons, worksheets, review what they’ve been studying and answer all of their questions. The students will take a tour of the bus with Mr. Lonesome. He will go over the rules and safety procedures; they will also visit the cafeteria to meet the “cafeteria moms” who will explain to them the process of purchasing their lunches/milks, all in preparation for next year. The students will continue to do fun art projects, memorizing and reviewing their phone numbers and addresses, mastering the manipulation of shoe laces, snaps, zippers, belt buckles and Velcro. We will reinforce the importance of washing hands, and general life skills. Our Graduation/end of the year party is scheduled May 30th at 10:30 a.m. Details will follow as we approach that date. We have class on Friday May 23rd, which is Field Day. Please note the dismissal is at 12:00 instead of 11:30 with all St. Timothy’s students. The PTO will provide lunch to all the students: hot dogs, chips, juice and popsicles. Please don’t pack a snack that day. *******************Happy Birthday Alexander ************** To all our wonderful Moms: *** Happy Mother’s Day *** Mrs. Patsalosavvis and I want to thank you for your support, and your faith in us in teaching your child. We pray and hope that you have a wonderful, relaxing, safe and fun summer. Wishing you the very best of luck in preparing for next year’s Kindergarten class. God bless you and your families. NEWSLETTER March 2008Dear Preschool Parents: March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’ birthday, we will read his books with rhyming words. This is the time where I will introduce 1, 2 and 3 letter words for them to start reading. We continue with the alphabet. The week of March 3rd is for letter “U”. We have no school Friday March 7th, Diocesan In-Service. March 10th, letter “V”, for our science project we will do the Volcano experiment. All my students write their names perfectly, they all know their shapes, colors, numbers (counting pennies and days on the calendar) and letters. They are working on “critical/ logical thinking worksheets and imagination” skills. This is a fun circle time activity where I start a story with one sentence and each student will add one or more sentences to continue and finish it. They love our Treasure Hunt and Memory games. If you have books and/or movies that your child likes to share, please send them to us, we will read them/watch the movies and return them to you that day. March 10th, the PM class will take place in the morning because of our DFE meeting, NO AM CLASS THAT DAY. For St. Patrick’s Day, Monday March 17th students are allowed to wear something green: socks, ribbons, headbands, sweaters, etc…That day we will read stories about St. Patrick. We will have our Easter party on Friday March 14th at 10:30 a.m. with an egg hunt and decorating their own hard boiled eggs. All parents who have successfully completed the VIRTUS training are welcome to attend. The AM session will have school March 20th, Easter break dismissal will be at 11:30 with the rest of the students. March 21st is Good Friday. Our Easter Break is from the 21st to the 30th. School starts Monday 31st of March. +++++++ Mrs. Pat and I wish you a Blessed Easter+++++++. Please set your clocks one hour ahead on Sunday March 9th! **************Happy Birthday to Rachel, Collin, Ethan, Chase and Michael******* Thank you for your continuous support. NEWSLETTER February 2008We continue with our letters of the week and February 4th week is for letter “Q; February 11, letter “R”; February 18 is a national Holiday, Presidents’ Day, no school; February 18, letter “S”, teachers and students will wear their silly socks that day (FUN!); February 25, letter “T” for tornado, in Science we will do the Tornado experiment. As always, please help your child cut out pictures from magazines that begin with that letter. We will have art projects related to each letter. Thursday February 14 we will read the special story of St. Valentinus and the true meaning of “love” our love to God and His love to us. That day the students will exchange small Valentine’s cards (they come in boxes from CVS). Please make sure your child has one card for each student (15 in our class). We visit the Library every other Friday and Religion Lessons every Wednesday. February 6th is Ash Wednesday, please feel free to take your child to mass that morning. Like last year, Father Weymes will bless our students with ashes on their foreheads. In the next few months, the students will be learning sorting, patterns, classifying, connect the dots, mazes, and matching. The students are also trying to memorize their birthday, phone number, and address. We will read Dr. Seuss’ books that have rhyming words; that’s one way of recognizing letters and start putting them together to make words, you can start with a word for example, sun-fun, log-dog, cat-mat, snake-cake etc…. They will learn how to tie shoes, and zip zippers, as well as snaps, Velcro, buttons and belt buckles. We would appreciate it if you could help your child reinforce what we do in the classroom (check their red folders on Fridays) and help them memorize “Our Father who art in Heaven…”, and our Catholic Grace: Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, AMEN. The best time would be in the car/van as there are no distractions. Thank you for your continuous support. *********Happy Birthday Christopher************NEWSLETTER January 2008 I hope you will all have a wonderful break and ready for the next half of our school year. In math we will count up and count down; positions, opposites, matching, sorting, sequence, patterns, connect the dots and mazes. This is all in addition to our letters, numbers, shapes and colors. Our letter of the week for January 7th is for letter M”; January 14th,, “N”; January 21st, “O” (**Jan. 21st is Martin Luther King Jr’s day – no school), and January, 28th,“P”.. We will continue with our Wednesday Religion lesson, which has a parent section on the back for you to read at home with your child. We will start with the Care Bear Project: one care bear goes home with your child on Friday and should be back in class on Monday in a big ziplock bag. Please put in that bag anything special your child did with Care Bear over the week-end, ex: went to church, visit family, read books, went to the movies, played with toys/friends, pictures, (show toys, only on their specific day!), ate pizza etc… something your child will share with his classmates. More information will be sent home as we get closer to those days. Our art projects will include hibernation, winter animals: polar bears, penguins, silver fox, deer, etc. snowflakes, snowmen, hot cocoa and marshmallows. Mrs. Patsalosavvis and I wish you Peace, Love, Joy and Good Health for the coming year. Thank you for your continuous support and cooperation in getting our students ready for next year. NEWSLETTER November 2007 Dear Preschool Parents: November 4th is the end of daylight savings time, “fall back” your clocks/watches 1 hour. From November 1st through the 9th we will review letters “A” through “G”; November 12, letter “H”; November 19th we all get ready for our Thanksgiving Break. November 26 we will continue with letter “I”. All Saints’ Day will be celebrated on November 1st.. Monday November 12th is a regular school day, dismissal 10:45 a.m. Conference days are Nov. 13 and 14, dismissal is at 11:30 a.m., THE MORNING SESSION WILL NOT MEET NOVEMBER 15th AND 16th. Have a nice long week-end. Practice letters, numbers, shapes, color, cutting pictures and read stories to your child. Our last day will be Tuesday November 20th, dismissal 11:30 a.m. The afternoon session will meet on Wednesday November 21st in the morning, Thanksgiving Holiday begins, students are dismissed at 11:30 a.m. We wish you a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving with your friends and family. School resumes on Monday November 26th. The cold weather is slowly starting, please dress your child accordingly because we take them out daily for some fresh air. All their hats, mittens/gloves, scarves, that you have LABELED, will be in their backpacks as soon as they take them off, so when it’s time for dismissal, they know where they are and not waste time looking for them. Thank you for your continuous support and cooperation. **** Happy Birthday ALLIE **** NEWSLETTER October 2007 Dear Preschool Parents: The students are doing great settling in to their new routines, we are very proud of them. I am happy to inform you that Mrs. Owens (Carissa’s Mom) volunteered to be our Room mother for this year, and Mrs. Fadoul (Sophia’s Mom) will place Scholastic Book orders. Mrs. Fadoul cannot place an order if it’s less than $30; we get points for classroom supplies/books if she places a large order. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading aloud to your child every day, it’s not only quality time that you spend with him/her, but they will exposed to sophisticated illustrations, concepts, vocabulary and the beauty of language that can build their literacy development and critical thinking skills. October is full of excitement for children to shop for their favorite Halloween costume and make-up. Please make sure that your child eats only 1 candy a day, no more, as Halloween falls on a Wednesday night, a school night! We continue with our letters: October 1, “C”; October, 9 “D”; October 15, “E”; October, 22 “F”; and October 29, “G”. Please send in pictures with those letters in the returned ziplock bags with your child’s name on it. All the students started with their “classroom jobs” and they take their responsibilities very seriously. The students are practicing writing their first names every day all in upper case letters, starting January they will learn to capitalize the first letter followed by lower case letters and their last names. October is Fire Safety Month, we will practice stop, drop and roll. The students will learn about fall colors, the change of weather, discuss apples, pumpkins, leaves and nature walks in the park with the parents. October 4th is the birthday of Saint Francis of Assisi. Your child should bring his/her favorite stuffed animal from home, only for that day, we will discuss how Saint Francis loved nature and animals. October 8th is Christopher Columbus’ day, NO SCHOOL, we will read stories about him, I will show them the globe and where he traveled to discover America, sailing 3 ships. October 26th is Diocesan Institute there will be NO SCHOOL. We will be celebrating All Saints’ Day on November 1st (instead of Halloween) read some of their stories, dedication to God and why they were ordained saints. Please practice at home “Hail Mary…” prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and our short Grace: Thank you God for the food before us, the friends beside us and the love between us, AMEN. Practice makes perfect! Mrs. Pat and I have seen a lot of improvement the first 2 weeks. Please write the date of your child’s snack daily as required by the Department of Health. The students are enjoying their snack a lot and look forward to their “social” time with their classmates. Again, do not send any peanut butter snack, or peanut products, St. Timothy’s school is a peanut free school, we have students who are highly allergic to peanuts and need epi pen shots if they are exposed to them. We have NO SCHOOL Monday October 15th, please make a note of that, only the afternoon session will attend in the morning. We will only have 2 parties: Christmas and End of year/Graduation party, parents who have successfully completed their VIRTUS training will be able to join us. Dismissal Time: For our students’ safety and protection, when you pick up your child, please do not sit on the benches or wait on the sidewalk, you have to wait next to your car/van until all the students are out on the sidewalk, then you can pick them up; we have around 50 students who are overwhelmed and scared by adults running in different directions to get their child. That would be very helpful to you, us teachers, and especially our students. We appreciate your help and cooperation. THANK YOU. If you need more information, please check our wonderful website. Also, e-mail me anytime you have questions or concerns. Enjoy the nice fall weather walking in the park or visit Cox Farm (opening Sept. 23) to pick your favorite pumpkins! Food for Thought: Your children need your presence NOT your presents! Dinner time is not only sharing a meal with your children, it’s also sharing your lives. NEWSLETTER September 2007 Dear Preschool Parents: Mrs. Anne Patsalosavvis and I want to welcome you to St. Timothy’s Preschool. We are very proud and happy to be part of your child’s growth and development. Preschool is a very special place for a child to start his academic journey. We hope your child’s first year will be a happy and successful one. Parents and teachers work together as partners, to ensure smooth “sailing for our young red sailboats”. Therefore, we need to keep our lines of communication open; my e-mail address is: pspurr@sainttimothyschool.org, which I check every day, and if there is an urgent message please let me know that morning. Do not leave messages in my school’s voice mail. If you would like to talk to me, I am always in school at 7:45 a.m. Please let me know the day before that you plan to see me the following day so I can make a note of it. Thank you. Over the summer I have planned all my lessons, art projects, religion and Bible stories and other appropriate materials for the upcoming year, so we’re going to be busy. September will be a month of orientation, giving our students enough time to feel comfortable in their surrounding, familiarizing them with school, new friends, classroom, jobs, and rules, we will visit the Gym, Science Lab and Library. September is also library month. You can take your child to your public library and get a “library card” in his/her name so they can check out books and movies, this would be an excellent start for their new school year. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading aloud to your child, you open up a new world to him/her. We will start with the letter “A” on September 17, letter “B” September 24, letter “C” October 9th, etc…. Every week from then on the students, along with your help are to cut out pictures from magazines or download them from my favorite website: www.atozkidsstuff.com that start with the letter “A”, ex: Apple, apron, astronaut, ant, etc…; the students will glue these pictures on a paper, sit on the rug and tell me what those words are, I will write them on the board spelling each word with the students. September 25, letter “B” bananas, bracelet, box, broccoli; October 2nd , letter “C” cat, caterpillar, camera, cookies, etc… please put the pictures in a ziplock bag and write your child’s name on it. I will let you know, in my monthly newsletter (which will be sent home in a red folder on Fridays) what week is for what letter ahead of time. It is very important that your child has his own pictures to work with so he/she doesn’t feel left out. Preschoolers are very visual, they have to see things to make the proper connections and understanding of our lessons. We encourage you to work with them and ensure the letters are being printed correctly, all on ONE line. In addition to the alphabet, they will also be learning numbers, from 1-31 (or 100 depending on the dynamics of the students), Pledge of Allegiance (enclosed), shapes, colors, our five senses, dancing, singing, socializing, creative art work, constructive thinking, following directions, rhyming and most importantly building their faith through prayers, by reading Bible stories and religion lessons. We will be starting with “Hail Mary…”, from September until January, (it’s a short prayer), “Our Father….” From January until June, (a longer prayer). They will also be learning Grace before snack (enclosed), a short one first, and our regular Catholic Grace starting in January. Please help them memorize these prayers, pledge and Grace at home, thank you. Pack a healthy snack and a juice, no plastic bottles as they are accidentally pushed over the table creating a big mess, no aluminum cans of soda and fruit, they’re very harmful to their fingers. The Department of Health would like all parents to write the date on every snack they pack for their children so the teachers can check them every day. (A list of snack is enclosed) We will also be having three projects, first one is (1) STUDENT OF THE WEEK: I am a special child of God, where each student brings in pictures about his family, favorite food, favorite sport, toy, past time (September until December); (2) CARE BEAR WEEK-END: a care bear goes home with your child on Friday and comes back to school on Monday with all the fun things he/she did over the week-end with your child (January til April), and the last one is (3) THE GUESSING GAME, you and your child will hide a simple yet interesting object in a paper bag and you write 6 hints/clues on the outside to help the students guess what is hidden in the bag. Details will be sent home with all the projects. If your child’s birthday is in summer, we will celebrate his/her half birthday during the school year so they all get a chance to share that special occasion. All lessons plans and dates are subject to change. Our Room Mother will be contacting you regarding various events regarding our four major parties: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and End of year/Graduation parties. Details will follow as we settle into our routine. Every student in my classroom will have a “job” that will change every week: line leader, line ender (caboose), flag holder, and mail person (taking the Brown Envelope to the office) and other correspondence to/from parents. Your child needs a change of clothes in the event he/she has an accident. If your child is on medication, please leave it at the office with Mrs. Caraciollo our school nurse, as it should be administered by her. If you have been on any interesting trips, vacation, adventures, please send pictures with your child to share with his friends, this will enable him/her to overcome shyness, talk freely and comfortably about something he/she has already experienced, a good ice breaker in preschool! I always enjoy listening to every story they have to tell! Most importantly, I would like to know of any “emotional” situations happening in your home, causing your child to misbehave in the classroom: (1) new baby; (2) move into a new home or planning to move to another home/state?; (3) a new babysitter/nanny?; (4) serious illness in the family (or a pet?); (5) divorce or separation?; last but not least (6) family (pet) death. All these situations can be very traumatic to a child. I would like to give him/her special attention and more time to be able to adjust and continue with his/her school work. We know children are very resilient, nonetheless, it is very hard for a 4-year old to understand life’s major changes. We are here to help them in every way possible. Again, with your help we will prepare our students to lead a normal and happy childhood. This is the time also to make school fun and enjoyable. Do not hesitate to plan outings, trips and vacations with your child, this is preschool not law school! Go ahead and have a great time! All the information you need is in the St. Timothy Student/Parent Handbook and the little green booklet (which you got at the Orientation). Our new website is great! Up-to-date news is always posted there. Only for the first week of school, please park your car on the side and walk your child to his/her classroom. After the first week, please follow CAREFULLY our normal carpool lines. PLEASE, PLEASE do not use your cell phone when dropping or picking up your child, all preschoolers are very excited to see their parents, grandparents, nannies or babysitters and they might try to RUN to the car. We need your complete focus and attention without distractions to insure the safety of all the children. When you pick up your child, please be on time, follow the carpool line, switch your engine off and walk to the sidewalk where we’ll be waiting. The students are not allowed to run looking for you. It takes a few seconds to have an accident, and none of us want this to happen. DO NOT READ THE NEWSPAPER, DO NOT READ A BOOK. If you need to talk to a teacher or friend, please park your car/van and walk to the sidewalk, DO NOT HOLD up the carpool line. Mrs. Pat and I will both be outside with our students. If someone else is picking up your child, please send in a handwritten note with your SIGNATURE to school, for safety purposes, the office staff needs that information to log it in their books. Anyone can e-mail me or the school we have no proof of who is sending that e-mail. So we prefer handwritten notes to make it official. If you would like to volunteer and help out with our parties, you have to successfully complete the VIRTUS training. If you need more information, please ask the office staff. We have to work together for the benefit of your child, we need your cooperation throughout the school year to make it a successful one! If you want to make a difference in your child’s life, you have to get involved and participate in their education as they learn and grow to become responsible citizens. Together, we can make a difference. I know this is a lengthy letter covering all the issues. If you have any questions, please e-mail me, see me or write me notes. I am always available to answer your questions and discuss them with you. What your child will be learning in our class are the following subjects: Cognitive development, social (playing with friends, sharing, taking turns, listening) and emotional development, fine (art projects) and large motor skills (Gym, outdoor play), mathematical (counting calendar days, sequence, categories, patterns, before and after, sort, etc…) and scientific thinking (the caterpillar turns into a butterfly), life skills (good hygiene, please, thank you, may I borrow this, respect, etc…) and most importantly start a strong foundation and understanding of our Catholic faith . Our students as well as their teachers, cannot have a successful year without your full cooperation and continuous support to make their preschool year very special. Thank you for your time in reading this letter. God Bless you always,
|
