Singing at The Wort

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December Newsletter

Just What HAVE we been up to?!

Counting, letter sounds, sorting, painting, exploring, laughing, crying, dancing, eating snow, pulling sleds, reading, watching, making applesauce (2 kinds), gluing, playing, molding, bending, mixing colors, freezing, playing downstairs, snow angels, name practice, reading, jumping, singing, building, birthdays, Mr. Cuddles, glitter, making cards, moving sand, family night, “Tooty Ta”, Macie’s visit, Ice cream shop, making gifts and SO much MORE!!!

Friday, December 18th

We will have a fun and simple holiday day this Friday morning from 9:30-10:45. We will read Holiday books, make hot cocoa, and make pretzels. The children are invited to bring their favorite holiday book to share with the class. All children and parents are welcome to join us!

Tuesday, December 22nd

Pajama day! Please dress your child in some warm and comfy pajamas, and bring their favorite stuffed animal. We will have a fun day of silly games and activities while we relax in our P.J.’s! (I will be leaving at 2:30 on Tuesday to attend my daughter’s holiday party at school- Miss Annessa will not be at school on Monday and Tuesday- we wish her a safe and happy holiday!)

Upcoming Events:

December 18th - Holiday Party - Making Pretzels

December 23- January 4- Winter Break

Exploring Light and Shadows:

What is a shadow?

Some of the answers-

“The thing that sticks to you.”

“That thing over there.” (points to a shadow)

“I don’t know.”

These are a few of the responses we got when we asked the children what a shadow was. Since then we have explored shadows, we’ve observed how everything has a shadow, and that you need light to make a shadow. We noticed when we move, our shadow moves with us! Very fun on a sunny, cold walk!

We also have been exploring how light bends, and reflects. We have provided the children with a variety of mediums to explore with, including tin foil!

We will continue to explore with the children’s interest.

MR CUDDLES!!!

We have all been enjoying playing with Mr. Cuddles! The children love to watch him eat, groom himself, nap, and jump around!

Next year we will have a sign up to take Mr. Cuddles home for the weekend! Detailed instructions will be provided along with the pellets and hay. If you sign up to take Mr. Cuddles, please provide his fresh foods- parsley, cilantro, etc. A list will be provided.

I am looking for an better cage for the weekends that is easier to move around. If you know anyone that has had rabbits and has a cage we can have, please let me know. THANKS!

MISC:

Thank you for all you do for your children and this preschool! We are grateful for your time, energy, and more! Also, Thank you for the healthy snacks!

• Absent Children:

Please call and leave a message if your child is not coming to school. We would love to help out the parents that would like to add on a day for their child. 733-3791 We would especially lke to know if your child is going to be gone Monday and Tuesday of next week.

• BIG 5

Please remember that all children need The Big 5:

SNOW PANTS,

SNOW BOOTS,

WARM HAT (COVERS EARS),

WARM, WATERPROOF MITTENS, and

WINTER COAT

• Extra Clothes

Please provide extra clothes for your child daily. Accidents happen. We have NO extras.

If you have any questions, please check out our Blog at willowstreetpreschoolblogspot.com (I guess you are here!) or email us at

kmccormick@learningcenterwy.org

amelnick@learningcenterwy.org

or give us at call at 733-3791.

Singing at the Wort

Willow Street Preschoolers....

Singing
"Jingle Bells"
@
The Wort Hotel
Thursday
December 17th
10:30 AM
(Leaving Willow at 10:00)

Please dress in Holiday Attire!

(If Thursday is not a regular day, we'd love to have you! You may walk with us or meet us there. We would love to have all the students there!!)

For another funny Christmas song...and some behavor modification (!), check out the Elf on the Shelf, and click on the star. (It's Angel's favorite!)

What have we been up to?

PINKALICIOUS!

Lola asked to read our new favorite book,

PINKALICIOUS to the classroom during story time!

It's been an apple month!

All of the kids take turns peeling and coring apples.

This is the greatest invention ever!!!!

Jonah and Angel

Making applesauce! YUMMY!

FOIL EXPLORATION

Eva creates a foil creation using pipe cleaners and foil.

Counting with dragon tears...

Aaron, Sarah, Becca, count dragon tears. Angel is taking "notes".

Baby it's cold outside!!!

With the weather so cold, we haven't been able to enjoy the fresh outdoors! We have been so fortunate to have the downstairs to run, jump, ride bikes, swing, play in the ball pit, and so much fun!!!!

Hayden enjoys swinging!

Lola!

Is that YOU in the ball pit?!?

Sarah and Megan can't stop laughing!!!

Jumping Jonah!

Family Night

It was a fun and wild time!! Thanks for coming!!

December Family night
Merry Piglets- back room
6:00-7:30pm
Taco bar
$7.00 per person
Please R.S.V.P. by Monday- Nov 30th.

RSVP by
email kmccormick@learningcenterwy.org
or
phone Kara @ 690-1002

Parent Night

This week's special photos:

Meet our new friend on T/Th- Acacia! Please welcome Acacia and her family!



Teamwork! - Lola, Audrey, Acacia and Paedon help wash dishes after making play-doh

Miss Annessa plays guitar for music and movement - she is working on a movement song for our classroom!




Making Indian Bread- Yummy! We notice that all of the ingredients are white! We sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on the top and YUM!!!!! So good!





Discovering shadows - we are starting to explore the shadows and light...and how to rotate a picture! :)

November Newsletter

What holiday traditions does your family share? We would love to implement your traditions, stories, food, culture, etc into the upcoming holiday time. Please write a quick email or note, so we can have time to prepare. You are always welcome to come and spend time with us, too!

What's been happening in class?

• Shaving Cream - each group experimented with shaving cream. We used liquid watercolor to make a variety of colors.
  
• Name Writing - We have been very busy this month writing our names. We will continue to practice throughout the year. Some children will still be working on capital letters and others will move on to upper and lower case letters. We will always work with your child at his/her developmental level.
• Classic Stories - The Very Hungry Caterpillar and If you give a Moose a Muffin have been really fun to build classroom connections with. We've fed the caterpillar lots of food and made muffins for hungry moose...and students! We wrote and illustrated our own version of these stories.
  
• The Doctor's Office - The children have been talking about getting their flu shots and their "piggy shots." They asked even more questions when Ms. Kara was sick and missed school. We introduced a book called Germs Make Me Sick, which gave a great explanation of how and why germs make us sick. We will continue to explore this topic and answer questions about germs, doctors, and what makes us "better."
• Young Athlete - The children had a super time downstairs training as young athletes! Dede and Pam came to work with the children on Friday, Nov 1. the rotated to different stations and the completed an obstacle course. All of the children were winners!! Contact us for more information about the Young Athletes program.

Reminders:

• Willow will be closed Wednesday, Nov 25 - Friday, Nov 27, for Thanksgiving.
• Please send in blankets for Rest Time! It makes Rest Time more comfortable!
• Please send in the BIG 5 each day. The Big 5: warm winter hat that covers ears, warm winter jacket, waterproof mittens, snow boots, and snow pants. Our playground gets very cold! We go outside as long as the temperature is not below 0 degrees.
  
• Wild Game Dinner: We had a fantastic turnout. Our hand painting earned $100 in the silent auction. It is hanging in the Cowboy Kids doctors office.
  

To Dos:

• We'd love to pilot a program supporting fresh fruits and veggies for the children's morning snack. A sign up to bring snacks will be up on the bulletin board at the sign in area. Some ideas include carrots & ranch, apples, oranges, celery, snap peas, etc.
• Our card packs are still on sale for $15.00! We have also had some requests/orders to make more. If you would like to buy packs of cards, please let us know.
• If you have information you want posted on our blog, send it to Michelle @ mrooks@teton1.k12.wy.us or call her at 733-5167.

Update for 11/16

What happens if you Give a Moose....or kids....a muffin?

They'll ask for MORE!!

The Book Fair will be this next week, Monday 16- Thursday 19, in the basement of Willow from 4:30-6:30 pm. We need volunteers to help. The shifts are 1 - 2 hours between 4:30 and 6:30. If you can help, please sign up at school or email Kara at kmccormick@learningcenterwy.org.

We are still looking for plastic bottles like water bottles. We do need the LIDS to make sensory bottles with the kiddos.

REMINDER- Bring the "BIG 5": WARM coats, mittens, hats that cover the ears, snowpants and boots. Please have inside shoes for your child- slippers, crocs, or different shoes they can put on themselves.

Proud boys:

Book Fair

Destination Book Fair....All Aboard!

You're invited to read around the world with us at our Scholastic Book Fair!

When: November 16-19th
Time: 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Where: Mercill and Willow

Watch for your Book Fair catalog.

This is a great way to build your child's library and our classroom library as well!

Reading with 5th Graders!

We will be going to Colter Elementary next Friday, November 20, to begin a book reading program with Julie D'Amours' 5th graders. We will leave around 9:30 to catch the 9:51 bus to Colter. We will be back to Willow around 11:33. If you would like your child to participate in this program, please have him/her to school no later than 9:30 next Friday. This is a great literacy opportunity for both classes!!

November Update

November Wish list:

• Bottles - plastic (Dasani, Evian, Aquafina, or other brand of water bottle) and their lids
  
• Baskets, bins, or other types of containers
• Non-smelly glass jars or vases - all sizes, shapes, and colors
• Volunteers with building skills!! We need a play fort, table and chairs, platform table for our building center, and a green house.
• Tubes used for cement footings
• A list of community members/volunteers who might be interested in sharing their time and skills or materials with us!

Missing books: Wake Up, Baby and No, No Joe are missing from our school library. Can you check your home libraries to see if they are there?! Thank you.

Reminders:

• Please send indoor shoes! (slippers, crocs, etc) They help to keep our floors clean.
• Please label all of your child's belonging.
• Please help your child check his/her and your mailbox daily.

Thank you to Ms. Heather for volunteering every Wednesday morning! The children all love you!!

Halloween Party

Five little pumpkins sitting by the gate,
the first one says, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one says, "There are witches in the air."
The third one says, "But we don't care!"
The fourth one says, "Let's run and run and run."
The fifth one says, "I'm ready for some fun."
Oooooooo went the wind.
And out went the light.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Check out our Halloween Party video created by Mindy Baker (www.redbarnphotography.com)

We had a great time. Thank you to everyone who sent in food and helped with the party.

Welcoe to Willow Street Preschool

We are off to a great start! Dragon Tears, art projects, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Philippines are just a few of the topics we've explored at Willow. Our imaginations are growing, and the learning never stops. We have written many class books, explored our artistic abilities, and created a strong community within our classroom.

If your child will be on vacation, please let us know. We would also love a postcard!
Our address:
PO Box 4100
Jackson WY 83001

We welcome your comments, questions, or concerns!
Please feel free to contact us via email.
Kara at kmccormick@learningcenterwy.org or
Annessa at amelnick@learningcenterwy.org
or call us at 307-733-3791.

Have a great day!