Acorns and Leaves

Important Dates

·          Tuesday, October 21st – Individual Photos (we will not have messy activities that day)

·          Thursday, October 23rd – Please bring in one small pumpkin for your child by this date.  We will be doing an art activity with the pumpkin.

·          Thursday, October 30th - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village.  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at our usual 9:00 a.m.  The Blue Whales will meet families outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Yellow Ducks class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.  Our room parent, Annie, will be in touch with you about a classroom Halloween party that day.

·          Monday, November 3rd:  FIRE TRUCK - The Chapel Hill Fire Dept will bring their truck for a visit.  Usually the fire fighters show us how they look & sound when wearing all their gear. Then they take us, class by class, to look at the truck!

Quote of the Week

“Oh boy the witch is coming for you!” – We are all excited about Halloween.

I really enjoyed parent conferences this week. I appreciate all of you that took the time to meet with me and strengthen our home and school partnership. We have a wonderful class.

Hannah and Lena, a former Blue Whale, joined us on Monday to do a Tae Kwon Do demonstration and to teach the class some moves.  Hannah and Lena are the daughters of Ms. Jen, in the Ladybug classroom. They did an amazing job, and it was so exciting to watch and participate in the demonstration.  It was a great way to start our week.

While I was meeting with parents, Ms. Kelsi enjoyed being in the classroom with Ms. Beth and seeing all her former Ladybug friends.  Ms. Kelsi did a fun art project with air dry clay that will go home next week.

We read some fun books about acorns and leaves and used these items in a variety of ways to create art. It led to discussions about fall and added chlorophyll and photosynthesis to our vocabularies.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Lydia did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Lydia’s item because of her great clues. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Apples and Mat Man

Important Dates

·          Tuesday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 15th: Parent/Teacher Fall Conferences

·          Tuesday, October 21st – Individual Photos (we will not have messy activities that day)

·          Tuesday, October 23rd – Please bring in one small pumpkin for your child by this date.  We will be doing an art activity with the pumpkin.

·          Thursday, October 30th - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village.  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at our usual 9:00 a.m.  The Blue Whales will meet families outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Yellow Ducks class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.  Our room parent, Annie, will be in touch with you about a classroom Halloween party that day.

Quote of the Week

“We got a toolbox for your tools.  Oh thank you for buying that.” – Even in their imaginary play on the playground this class is so kind and polite to each other.

The past two weeks have been very busy in the Blue Whale’s class with lots of activities and visitors.

Faye’s mom, Heather, led a music class for us in the classroom.  We had so much fun singing, dancing, listening and playing instruments.  And we had a special live performance of Heather playing the violin.  This is a passion and business for Heather so feel free to reach out to her in the hall if you are interested in her music classes.

The Blue Whales met Mat Man this week.  Mat Man is a song with pieces that help children learn how to draw a person using shapes.  The Blue Whales built Mat Man as they listened to the song.  After they each drew themselves for their first journal page. The Blue Whales will bring home their journals at the end of the year.

We had our first practice fire drill this week.  Last week we read our book about what to expect in a fire drill and the Blue Whales had great questions and discussions and were prepared for our drill. 

This week the Blue Whales were food critics.  We had an apple tasting with four different varieties of apples (Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp).  The Blue Whales tried every variety and rated them with a happy face or sad face and then picked their favorite apple variety.

We read Ten Apples Up on Top and painted with real apples.  They explored all the parts of an apple with real apples. 

To continue with the apple fun, we made applesauce.  The Blue Whales helped peel, slice and core all the apples.  We added lemon juice, water and cinnamon to the apples and cooked them in an Instant Pot.  We enjoyed our homemade applesauce with lunch.   

The Blue Whales enjoyed listening to The Leaf Thief and talking about wind. They created some silly leaf people.

Palmer B.’s family read a fun Puffin book to the class to celebrate her birthday.  Palmer B. treated her friends to ice cream sandwiches.  The Blue Whales enjoyed our first birthday celebration. 

We had Guess-n-Tell and Palmer B. did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were not able to guess Palmer B.’s item.  We were lucky enough to have a tap dance demo by Palmer B. in her tap shoes that we didn’t guess. 

Lydia’s big brothers, Eric and Everett, joined us one morning to read books to the class.  Eric is a former Blue Whale, and it was wonderful to have him and his brother in the classroom.  The Blue Whales really enjoyed listening to them both read.

In Chapel this week we were joined by Pastor Kristin and learned all about Noah’s Ark through song. The teachers and children participated joyfully with beautiful singing voices.

I’m looking forward to meeting for Fall Conferences next week on Tuesday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 15th. The conferences will meet in Building 105, Room 1 which is across the street from Preschool. There will be signs in the hall to help direct everyone.  Ms. Kelsi will be joining Ms. Beth in the classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday while I meet with parents. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Colors & Symmetry

Important Dates

Thursday, October 2nd: CCP Closed for Fall Break

Tuesday, October 14th & Wednesday, October 15th: Fall Conferences (preschool open)

Tuesday, October 21st:  Fall Photos for Whales

Quote of the Week

“Watch out for the Monster Giants.  I will save you.  So you be right there and I will be there and I can see you from the ship.”  - We have the best safekeepers saving us from the imaginary dangers on the playground.

What a busy week of school.  This was our first week of Lunch Bunch on Monday and Wednesday.  The children were so excited to have lunch with their Blue Whale friends and teachers.

Primary colors and secondary colors, we talked about them all this week.  The Blue Whales had many opportunities throughout the classroom to further their color exploration through playdough, paint and watercolors.  There were lots of opportunities to work on and strengthen their fine motor skills.

Our friend Cora helped us change our season this week from summer to autumn.  It was very exciting because her sister’s name is Autumn! We talked about what to expect in autumn and we even saw a few leaves falling on the playground. 

Lillian, Eleanor and Emma, former Blue Whales and older sisters to Barrett, joined us during center time to teach the Blue Whales about symmetry using a butterfly print out and glitter glue.  We all enjoyed having them in the classroom and their artistic lesson and knowledge of symmetry.  I am so proud of them and love to have visits from former Blue Whales.

We watched our hands conduct electricity with our energy stick and make a human connection.  The only way to complete the circuit and make the energy stick light up and beep is if we worked together.  If someone didn’t hold hands it would not work and it would break the connection.  It was a great experiment and deepened our school family bond. 

The Blue Whales have discovered the joy of glitter glue. During all the fun using many different glittering colors, they had no idea how hard they were working on using those busy fingers and strengthening their fine motor skills. We are going through a lot of glitter glue and I have added it and a few other things to The Blue Whales Wish List, if anyone would like to contribute to our supply.  The QR code is hanging up outside our classroom door.

If anyone has any old phones, walkie talkies and remotes they would like to part with, we would be happy to add them to our classroom.  We always welcome household items that the children can use in their play.

We had Guess & Tell and Palmer N. did a great job with three clues about her photo of an item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Palmer’s item because of her great clues.  Palmer and her Mimi surprised the Blue Whales by bringing in Palmer’s actual dog.  Palmer told us all about her dog, Winston, and let everyone have a turn to pet Winston.  It was wonderful to see how excited Winston was to see Palmer. 

Fall Conferences are on Tuesday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 15th.  In the next few days, I will be sending out an email with more information and a Sign Up Genius link to sign up for a conference.  Preschool is open on those days and a substitute will be in the classroom with Ms. Beth, while I meet with parents to talk about your amazing children.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Busy Fingers, Sleeping Fingers

Important Dates

Monday, September 22nd: First Lunch Bunch and a 1:00 pick up in the classroom

Quote of the Week

“I’ve been waiting for this guy!”  -- Overheard from an enthusiastic and supportive Blue Whale referring to another Blue Whale about to tell us about his Tell Us Tuesday interesting item

What a busy week of school.  It has been a joy building our school family and continuing to get to know each of our Blue Whales.  The Blue Whales are kind caring friends and developing wonderful friendships.  I hear a lot of talk around the snack tables about making plans for playdates and moms calling each other.  Your children are excited about their new friendships too. 

We sang Where is Thumbkin and practiced finger isolation.  And that led us to our discussion about busy fingers and sleeping fingers.  Thumb, pointer and tall man are the busy fingers and ring man and pinky are the sleeping fingers.  Each child received a cotton ball for ring man and pinky to sleep on while the rest of their fingers stay busy.   This is helping your child develop a tripod grasp which will help them manipulate many things including toys, tweezers, glue and writing utensils.  We read books about a mouse and a squirrel that we had to take through an adventure in each book using our busy fingers. 

Our friends worked on prewriting activities by tearing paper and making paper plate self-portraits.  Each Blue Whale looked in the mirror trying to match paper strips to their skin color, eye color, lip color, hair color and any other important attributes.  They are hanging up in the hall and each one is so unique with added details that were important to each child.     

One of the most important jobs in the Blue Whale classroom is to keep you and your friends safe, we are all Safekeepers.  Each Blue Whale told their friends and teachers they would keep them safe and added their names to the Safekeeper Box.  They were so supportive of each other and clapping for each of their friends as they added their names to our box.

We had our first Music & Movement class with Ms. Vicki on Wednesday.  The Blue Whales sang, danced and played musical instruments. The first Chapel was on Thursday with Pastor Lee.  The children really enjoyed listening to a story in the beautiful Sanctuary and getting the opportunity to ask Pastor Lee individual questions after Chapel. 

We had Guess & Tell and Sienna did a great job with three clues about her photo of an item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Sienna’s item because of her great clues.  Sienna and her family surprised the Blue Whales by bringing in Sienna’s actual pet snake.  Sienna told us all about her snake, Flower, and let everyone have a turn to pet the snake.  There were lots of proud Blue Whales who were near the snake and who touched the snake.  One of our affirmations is I am Brave and we sure were that day.  It was wonderful to see how much the snake and Sienna love each other. 

On Monday we will have our first Lunch Bunch.  Please label your child’s snack separate from their lunch.  Please remember to pack a nut and sesame free lunch and snack. Please include any needed utensils, napkin and water bottle.

Lunch will be every Monday and Wednesday and pick up will be in the classroom at 1:00 pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will continue with pick up on the playground at 12:00 pm. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

School Family

Important Information

Wednesday, September 17th: First Music Class with Ms. Vicki Thursday, September 18th: First Chapel with Pastor Lee Monday, September 22nd: First Lunch Bunch and a 1:00 pick up

Quote of the Week

“If he is nice to me, I will let him be my security guard.” — The challenge was accepted and he was a kind and stellar security guard.

Classroom News

We had another successful week of school.  We have quickly become a school family.  Ms. Beth and I are enjoying building relationships with each of your children and learning about all our wonderful students.  The Blue Whales are kind friends and enjoy playing with each other and are developing lovely friendships.  The Blue Whales are working hard on using their words, listening to their friend’s words and keeping their hands and feet to themselves. We have such lovely and happy children that we will be in a harmonious classroom routine in no time. 

Each Blue Whale had their first job this week and they did a great job.  When they arrive on Monday they can check out their new job for the week. 

Our first Tell Us Tuesday was a success. The Blue Whales were so excited to share about their item or tell the class something important to them.

We had our first Guess & Tell and Wren did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Wren’s item because of her great clues.

We read some engaging books this week. We talked about our emotions and what it is like to feel more than one emotion at a time. Everyone contributed to our discussions.  We also read a book about scribbles and a flamingo who ate some colorful food.

The Blue Whales helped decorate the classroom with hand made sparkly whales and brought home their own color emotions monsters and pet rocks.

We will always have play dough out for the children. This simple activity helps build their fine motor skills and sparks their creativity. Another activity we have in the classroom this week is Magna Tiles on the light table. The Magna Tiles encourage teamwork, improve focus, boost motor skills and teach shapes.

Ms. Beth and I are so appreciative of our supportive parents with your kind words and items for our classroom. Thanks so much for being a part of our school family.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Thankful for a Wonderful Week!

Our visitation days and first day of school went so well!  We enjoyed getting to know your sweet Blue Whales.  They were so excited to see old friends and welcoming to new friends.  We heard kind words and saw lots of sharing and cooperative play among friends.  It has been a wonderful start to a new school year.  Next week we will continue to discuss classroom routines, emotions, rules, our schedule, prayers and singing classroom songs.  Classroom jobs will start on Monday and your child will have a new job each week. 

Ms. Beth and I have chosen some wonderful books to read and discuss with the children during story time.  We feel truly blessed to be able to spend our days with such a wonderful group of children.  And thank you to all our amazing families for your support, kind words and fulfilling some of our classroom needs so quickly. 

Thank you for signing up to provide play dough for the class.  I was amazed how quickly the slots were filled. I appreciate your support. We need enough play dough, either homemade or store bought, for 15 children. 

I have included the QR Code for our Blue Whale Wish List.  This QR Code will also be hung up outside the classroom.  I will keep it updated throughout the year with needs and wants for the Blue Whale class.  Thank you for your consideration.

I have updated the class photo album link with photos from both visitation days and our first day of school. 

We are looking forward to creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing together.  Have a great weekend!