October 26, 2020 Parent Letter

We had a lot of fun creating colorful art and doing activities to review the colors last week. Our focus this week is on shapes as we play review games and use shape cutters with playdough in class. Please remember to check and empty your child’s folder to see what we are doing in class. In Bible story time, we will read stories about Samson and Ruth during the time of the Judges.

Our next Scholastic Books due date is November 21. The flyers were sent home, so please have a look at them as you consider Christmas gifts for your little ones! Ordering online is easy as you go to Scholastic.com and enter our classroom code listed on the back of the flyers. All orders will be sent on the due date and will ship to the school about a week later.

We are looking forward to our preschool Halloween parties! If your preschooler would like to dress up in a costume, please send them in one and don’t forget to send them with a face mask, as well. We are planning on having games and eating delicious treats! It will not be necessary to send a morning snack for your child that day since we are asking a few families to provide food and drinks for the parties. Please send in pre-packaged items. The families asked to bring contributions are:

Thursday, October 29^th (3 year old class)

Sweet Treat: Battles; Savory Snack: Benson; Drinks: Daum; Plates and Napkins: Elfen

Friday, October 30^th (4 year old class)

Sweet Treat: Farren; Savory Snack: Kusserow; Drinks: McClintock; Plates and Napkins: Perlick

Thank you in advance for your donations!

Mark your Calendars:

October 29 & 30 – Halloween Parties!

November 21 – November Scholastic book orders due

Thank you!

Jill Garcia

October 19, 2020 Parent Letter

We had a really nice time at the pumpkin patch! I hope everyone gets an opportunity to enjoy fall activities with their families. This week we are focusing on colors. There are fun activities planned to review the colors we have studied so far. I have introduced the children to some letters, and we will be learning about “m” this week. We will see what happens to M&Ms when you place them in a bowl of water! In Bible time, we will read about how the Israelites will be entering the promised land and one of their leaders, Gideon.

This Friday is the last day in October to submit Scholastic book orders either online or sent into the preschool by order form on the flyer with a check. Online orders do come quicker, and there are more selections that you can search for online. Please have a look and we will submit any orders this week.

We are looking forward to our preschool Halloween parties! If your preschooler would like to dress up in a costume, please send them in one! We are planning on having games and eating delicious treats. It will not be necessary to send a morning snack for your child that day since we are asking a few families to provide food and drinks for the parties. The families asked to bring contributions are:

Thursday, October 29^th (3 year old class)

Sweet Treat: Battles; Savory Snack: Benson; Drinks: Daum; Plates and Napkins: Elfen

Friday, October 30^th (4 year old class)

Sweet Treat: Farren; Savory Snack: Kusserow; Drinks: McClintock; Plates and Napkins: Perlick

Mark your Calendars:

October 23 – Scholastic book orders due

October 29 & 30 – Halloween Parties!

Have a great week!

Jill Garcia

October 12, 2020 Parent Letter

Fire safety is the main focus this week! We will be learning some important fire safety rules in class and making a Safety Book. We are also reading books and doing activities related to birds. Last week we worked a lot on counting and number recognition. For extra practice, try counting with your preschooler at home. This week we are starting on letters of the alphabet. We will begin learning the phonetic sound and focus on recognizing and tracing the lower case of at least one letter each week. In Bible time, we will learn how God brought the Israelites into the promised land and how their new leader, Joshua, obeyed God and conquered their enemies.

Our Janoski’s Pumpkinland Field Trip is this Friday, October 16. Both preschool classes and family members are invited to meet us at 9:50 at Janoski’s. We are unable to transport preschoolers, so we will meet you there. Our scheduled group time is from 10:00AM to 11:30AM. Please refer to your handout for the address and Covid-19 guidelines.

On Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13, a professional from Laughlin Children’s Center will be here to test the children for speech and hearing. In order to take advantage of this helpful service, please fill out the top portion of the form that was sent in your child’s folder and return it by the morning of the scheduled testing days.

Mark your Calendar:

October 12 & 13 – Laughlin Children’s Center Speech and Hearing Testing

October 16 – Janoski’s Pumpkinland Field Trip, 10:00am-11:30am

October 23 – Scholastic Book Orders due

October 29 & 30 – Halloween Parties!

Have a great week!

Jill Garcia

October 5, 2020 Parent Letter

October is here! We begin a new theme studying the seasons and fall in particular. We will be learning about leaves as well as other fun fall activities (such as counting pumpkins) and painting this week. Fall months are also a good time to learn about woodland creatures. This week we will talk about bears. Our color focus is on pink and brown, and we will learn about hearts and diamonds. We will read from our Bible Story book about how God parted the Red Sea to bring his people, the Israelites, to safety and about how God provided manna from heaven to feed them in the desert.

Make sure to mark your calendar for a trip to the pumpkin patch at Janoski’s on October 16, at 10:00 AM. We will be meeting there instead of having 4 year old preschool class that day. More information will be coming home in your child’s folder.

Preschool Halloween parties are planned for Thursday, October 29, for the 3 year old class and Friday, October 30, for the 4 year old class. The children are welcome to come dressed in costumes. Face masks will still need to be worn. More details about how parents and families can contribute to the parties will be coming home soon.

Mark your Calendar:

October 12 & 13 – Laughlin Learning Center Speech and Hearing Testing

October 16 – Janoski’s Pumpkinland Field Trip

October 23 – Scholastic Book Orders due

October 29 & 30 – Halloween Parties!

Have a great week!

Jill Garcia

September 28, 2020 Parent Letter

This past week we had a good time learning about our 5 senses and to be aware of what is around us. The children will learn more about themselves and about our different emotions this week. In small group, we will blend colors and play an emotions matching game. The education focus is purple and green, ovals and stars, and we will work on recognizing numbers. In Bible time, we are reading about Moses and how God used him to free his people from Egypt.

Thanks to the families who turned in orders for Scholastic Books! All of the orders have been sent in, and those families can expect the books to arrive in the next week or so. New flyers for October will be coming home this week.

We have a date for a field trip to Janoski’s Pumpkinland – Friday, October 16th at 10:00 AM! A flyer with more details will be coming home soon.

Mark your Calendars:

October 16 – Field Trip to Janoski’s Pumpkinland

October 23 – Scholastic Book Orders due for the month of October

Thank you and have a great week!

Jill Garcia

September 21, 2020 Parent Letter

We enjoyed talking about families last week and learning about shapes and colors. This week, we are learning about our five senses and doing activities to learn about red, orange, triangles, and rectangles. We will read about Abraham’s faith in God as he goes to a new land.

Our first monthly Scholastic orders are due this Friday, September 25. Have a look at the flyers or at clubs.scholastic.com to see the many great books they offer. Don’t forget to enter our school code: RGR4C.

Please make sure you send a folder labeled with your child’s name so that we can send home their schoolwork and communications in them.

We are still making inquiries about a possible field trip to a pumpkin patch but still have not found a place that is taking groups. Please let us know if you have any suggestions. Thank you!

Mark your Calendars:

9/25 – Scholastic book orders due for September

Have a great week!

Jill Garcia

September 14, 2020 Parent Letter

We had a good start in our first week of school! The children are adapting to the schedule, and we are learning and having fun. This week, we are going to get to know one another more and talk about our families. We will be learning about sea animals in the coral reef as well. Our education focus for this month and part of October will be on learning colors and shapes. This week we will learn about blue, yellow, squares, and triangles. Our Bible lesson will be about Noah and the ark.

The Scholastic Books flyers were sent home this past week. Please have a look at them, and if you would like to order books for your child the easiest way to do so is by going online. The orders will be processed on the monthly due date, which is September 25th for this month. Scholastic will then send all orders to the school and they will be sent home in your child’s backpack. Every dollar spent means more points for our school, and we can then use the points to order books for our classroom library.

Each child should have a folder with their name on it. Please check your child’s folder for schoolwork and communications. Also, let us know if you have any questions. You can reach me at my email address, jillgarcia613@yahoo.com, or text us through the Remind App.

Have a great week!

Jill Garcia

September 8, 2020 Welcome Letter

It has been a long time since we have had preschoolers in the classroom, and we can’t wait to get started! This first week our theme is “All About Me”. The preschoolers will get to know each other better in circle time, make some crafts, read stories, and check out the different centers that contain lots of fun toys. We will start working on fine motor skills like how to hold a pencil and scissors. For the month of September, we will also be learning about animals we find at the beach and coral reef, as well as counting and looking at colors and shapes.

If you are not able to attend orientation on August 28, you will receive the Preschool Parent Information handout in your child’s folder. Please read over the handout as it gives you a better idea of what we are planning this year. There are new protocols to follow, therefore we will have less time in-person between teachers and parents. Let us know if you have any questions by texting us through the Remind App or email me at JillGarcia613@yahoo.com. We can also set up a phone meeting if you prefer. We are always happy to help! I hope everyone enjoys the last bit of summer!

Jill Garcia

April 6, 2020 Parent Letter

We really miss our kids! I’ve heard from many co-workers, and we all miss seeing the little ones on a daily basis. I hope and pray you are all staying safe and healthy during this time of crisis.

I hope all of our preschoolers are still able to learn and grow in knowledge in their day to day life at home with family. A young mind is constantly absorbing new material, and, for now, you are the source that they observe the most. You don’t have to use workbooks, stickers, and charts to educate at home (unless you want to). Advice that I followed when I was at home with my children when they were young was “talk, talk, talk” and “read, read, read.” Talk to them while you are making dinner – “Can you find the can of Tomatoes? It starts with a T that says t, t, tomato.”  Talk to them while you set the table – “There are four of us. How many spoons should we set on the table? Let’s count them.” Using descriptive words while they learn to tie their shoe or wash their face helps give young children the verbal skills they need.

Also, read, read, read. Your resources may be limited at home, but your little one will not mind reading their favorite books again and again. You can read picture books, pointing to pictures for them to name, and you can read longer books without pictures while they sit on your lap or play on the floor or cut and paste a picture. Again, the more words a child hears the more their mind absorbs.

Another way to read, read, read and help the school is to look up Clubs.scholastic.com. Scholastic Book Club is making the option of mailing your order directly to your home now. You can still put in the preschool class code: RGR4C and that will help our class earn points for books and resources for the classroom.

Using technology wisely can also be a great educational tool. Children should not spend hours glued to a screen, but they can learn by playing games on a tablet or computer. A couple of websites I would recommend are ABCya.com (one I used for my children during the summer months). It is designed for children pre-K through 6th grade, and there are fun learning games for preschoolers. Another website is learning4kids.net which has a lot of great ideas of things to make and do at home, and you can browse by age or by categories such as alphabet, colors, fine motor, numbers, paint, science, and many more.

I do hope we will all be together soon, and that all of our families will stay safe and healthy! If you have questions about this post or would like more advice you can contact me by email: JillGarcia613@yahoo.com.

Blessings!

Jill Garcia

March 9, 2020 Parent Letter

We had a blast in Wacky Week! The kids enjoyed dressing up and reading some great Dr. Seuss books all week long. This week we continue to learn about rhyming words and looking at classic nursery rhymes such as “Humpty Dumpty” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. The animal focus this week is horses and cows. The preschoolers are already having fun playing with farm animal toys and puzzles. In Bible time, we are reading about various relationships. Jesus shows his love to little children and tells of the Good Samaritan who showed love to his enemy as a good neighbor should.

Teddy Bear Portraits will be back on March 25th. This spring, the 4 year old preschoolers will be getting their picture taken in a cap and gown. Please consider coming to view the photos that afternoon for purchase.

Mark your Calendars:

March 25 – Teddy Bear Portraits

March 27 – Scholastic Book orders due

April 8 & 9 – Easter Party for 4 year old and 3 year old classes

Thank you and have a great week!

Jill Garcia

Lilly Kuhn