Wishing you a Happy and Blessed New Year

Preschool Two Day

We trust everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We started our year welcoming two new students into our classroom.

We had two snow days this month, but that did not stop our toddlers from being eager to learn. It was a pleasure to see them so excited to get back to school. The children were introduced to the letters K, L and M this month and the sounds they make. The children were also introduced to the number 5 and colors black and white. Our shape of the month is triangle. A triangle has three sides and three corners too.

The children are learning to use their working finger to trace the capital letters by first starting at the top. We read the The Three Little Kittens ,by Paul Galadone, If You Give A Mouse a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff, and Groundhog Day. The children created their own little lambs, three little kittens, a mouse, and a groundhog to display on our bulletin board. We are working hard on letter, number and shape recognition this month. Before dismissal, the children are asked to select specific capital letter to help build our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree. Playing our shape game and color matching game also help the children to recognize their colors and shapes.

During chapel, Father Rick read No, No Noah by Dandi Daley Mackall and Samuel and the Voice in the Night by John and Kim Walto . The children learned God helps to keep us safe, and we can obey God by obeying our Mommies and Daddies. The children sang along to the songs "Be Careful" and "Wide, Wide as the Ocean".

We finished all our assessments this month. The children did a great job!

Michele Kayser

Carole Cleary

Preschool Three Day

A new year has begun with lots of fun things to do in the three year old program.

During Language and Literacy, we continued learning about books and how letters together make words and words together make sentences. We are constantly working to expand the students’ vocabulary during Word Time. We also play “What’s the Word?" which is fun and challenging.

We played a game of “manners relay” where we took turns being the host and serving our guests. The guests asked to practice their manners as they were given yummy food at snack time.

We read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett and made mittens for our bulletin board. We also read "Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Buehner and made snowmen with each students' name. We also painted polar bears with puffy paint. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is another book we read. We used this book to compare size and one to one correspondence. We completed a math activity where we matched up the appropriate size bowl, chair and bed to the correct bear.

In Math, the class continued to explore heavy and light objects and began working on identifying the number of objects there were in a set. As we finished up this unit on weight, we began to explore volume, deciding which object might hold more. The students had a blast guessing which objects hold more and which would hold less. We also explored narrow and wide and built different sized roads as we talked about these new concepts. We used 4 Squares More Squares to cover the bigger shapes with small squares and counted to see how many it took. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is another book we read. We used this book to compare size and one to one correspondence. We matched the appropriate size bowl, chair, and bed to the correct bear.

This past month, the children have been busy learning to trace the number 6. We learned about the shape diamond. The students used their green books to trace letters B, R, K, and A.

The students were introduced to the letters K, L, M, and N this month. They created the corresponding letter crafts: K is for King, L is for Lizard, M is for Moose and N is for Nighttime.

Our friend Twiggle and his friends come to visit to help us learn to "Do the Turtle" when we are upset. We stop, take a deep breath, say what the problem is, and discuss how we feel. We have been encouraging the students to follow in Twiggle’s footsteps. The students also had opportunities to distinguish when is a good time to "Do the Turtle" and when it is not needed.

Amanda Rabolli

Carole Cleary

Preschool Five Day

Along with a new year comes new challenges, friendships, and dreams.

The PreK students accomplished a lot in January.

Word Time: We finished our chapter on Health and started the chapter Earth. Along with Squawker, the students had fun learning the pronunciation, spelling, and definition of words.

Penmanship: The students used their slates and the Wet Dry Try method to practice forming the letters and their Letters and Numbers for Me books to finish writing the Center Starting Capitals. They begin writing Words for Me in their books.

Math: We continue our chapter - Geometry. Using objects, children learn to identify position using top, middle and bottom. They also describe position using above, below, over and under. The students distinguish between left and right. We teach them to always shake hands with the right hand. They used their Mix and Make Shapes to sort shapes by sides and corners. The children completed their I Know My Numbers - #5 and #6 booklets.

Language and Literacy: We finished our chapter - Concepts About Print. Students learn to recognize letters, words, and sentences by observing their different characteristics. They learn to recognize their names and their friends' names. Children learn to recognize important signs in our world by sight. We started our chapter - Comprehension. Students make predictions about a book by looking at pictures and illustrations on the front cover. Using the Line It Up Story Cards, they learn to identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

PATHS: Twiggle, Henrietta, Daphne, and Duke help the students learn that sharing is caring. We discuss and demonstrate the importance of these gestures.

Chapel: The children always enjoy the visits by Father Rick on Wednesday. He reads us a bible story, we sing songs, and pray.

All the students at St. Mary's celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday with their "dreams" for the world displayed on cut-outs of their hands joined together.

God Bless everyone as we welcome 2018!!

Ida Payne

Cynthia Dinan

Calendar Of Events

February 5th, 6th, 8th, 15th: Parent Teacher Conferences

February 14th: Happy Valentine's Day

February 16- February 19 President's Day Weekend

No School

February 26th: Visit From Alpha & Omega Dentist

February: Black History Month

ST. MARY'S COMMUNITY PRESCHOOL

PHONE NUMBER: 845-351-2389

EMAIL ADDRESS: IPAYNE@STMARYSINTUXEDO.ORG