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September Parent Newsletter
Preschool Two Day


"Autumn carries more gold in its pocket, than all the other seasons" -Jim Bishop.  Apple picking, a chill in the air, and the start of preschool are just a few precious things that help to kick-off the Autumn season. Our toddlers and parents enjoyed their meet and greet at our play date as well as got a chance to familiarize themselves with our classroom.  
 
Our first week was spent getting acquainted with one another. A few tears, but as the time passed there were more smiles than tears. For our first week, the children helped to paint our tree for our bulletin board and made fish out of their hand prints for their "O'fishally" a preschooler craft. We used our felt board to sing an apple song. Before dismissal, the children enjoyed painting and playing with Play Doh.
 
By our second week, our twos started to settle in and adjust to our classroom routine. We gathered on our carpet for circle time, said our morning prayer, and sang our welcome song. The children were introduced to our calendar and helped to count the numbers on the calendar. We sang our days of the week and months of the year song. The children were also introduced to the letter A and the sound it makes (A makes an "Ahh" sound as in apple).   
 
Our little preschoolers were ready to dive into their day at preschool during our third week. The children enjoyed their time playing with our many toys and manipulative during drop-off. After our morning playtime, the children helped to cleanup our toys, singing along to our cleanup song. We then moved over to our carpet for circle time. We start with our morning prayer and welcome song. We counted the numbers on our calendar and sang our days of the week and months of the year songs. We sang our weather song and discussed the weather outside. Each child got a turn shaking and passing around our weather jar. The children were introduced to the letter A again and were also introduced to our shape of the month circle, number of the month 1, and color of the month red. Singing and dancing to our color red song is one of our favorite things to do during circle time.
 
During our lesson time, the children stamped their letter A do-a-dot sheet, colored in their letter A book and their little red booklet. Each child got to glue their letter A letter sheet onto construction paper along with the correlating pictures. We then traced our letter A using our working finger (big line slants down, big line slants down, and little line goes across). The children used circle stickers to stick onto their shape worksheet. One pom pom was glued onto our number tree for our number of the month.  
 
The children are enjoying their healthy letter of week snack. Thank you parents for contributing a healthy snack to our class for our students to enjoy and share. After snack we enjoyed stamping with apples and using our sensory tubs. 

We also began chapel this month. Father Rick came to our classroom to teach the children all about God and how much he loves us.  Father Rick read  I Can Pray  by Jennifer Holder and Diane Stortz and  Some of My Best Friends Are Trees  by Joanne Marxhausen. We sang along with Father Rick to the song "Jesus Loves Me."
 
The children learned all about Johnny Appleseed this month. We read  Johnny Appleseed, My Story  by David L. Harrison. We learned how Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees everywhere he went while wearing a pot on his head. Each child assembled their very own Johnny Appleseed hat, which they got to adorn after dismissal.  
 
September was a great beginning to our preschool year, and we are looking forward to all the fun activities October has in store for us!
 
Blessings,

Ms. Michele
Ms. Carole
Preschool Three Day


We had the pleasure of welcoming twelve new students to our class this year. Our school days are filled with so much fun. We sing about everything we do - cleaning up, checking the weather, and holding our crayons. We are also learning how to use our words and share with our friends. 
Learning in our class is an extension of play. 

During September, we discussed our classroom rules and learned the letters A, B, and C. The students learn the sound of a letter each week and create a letter craft for the letter we are studying (apple, bird and car). 

In math, the students are learning to recognize the number one. The students practice counting daily and have learned one to one correspondence by completing activities such as setting the table and matching socks to shoes. 

During language and literacy, the students are working to recognize their initial letter, as well as the other letters in their name. We will spend time this year “building” our names using letter tags. The students enjoyed decorating their initial letter with stickers and paint. 

The students have had the opportunity to meet Squawker, who helps us with our vocabulary words.

Our PATHS animals,Twiggle and his friends, will help us learn about emotions and friendships. 

In preparation for writing, the students have learned a song to teach crayon grip. The students practice proper crayon grip daily. We are working to build hand strength by rolling out and manipulating Play Doh as well as other techniques.

We look forward to a year of learning, exploring, and socializing. 

Amanda Rabolli
Carole Cleary
Preschool Five Day


The PreK class is small this year, but the children have already accomplished "big" things:

We started the school year introducing the students to the many manipulative they will use during the school year - Wood Pieces, Tag Bags, Mix and Make Shapes, 4 Squares More Squares, and Touch & Flip Cards.

Word Time : Our first chapter is My Body. With the help of Squawker, the children learn the pronunciation, spelling, and definition of words.

Math: We begin with our chapter Numbers & Operation. Students learn that order and arrangement of objects do not affect totals. Children make a set of objects to match a number given. They recognize how many without counting.

Language and Literacy : Our first chapter is Phonological Awareness. Children distinguish between a variety of environmental and speech sounds. They recognize whether two spoken words sound the same or different. They listen to sounds and name objects that make the same beginning sound.

Penmanship : We start the school year practicing our posture, grip, and paper placement. We use our Wood Pieces to teach students the concepts and words to describe size and shape (big line, little line, big curve, little curve). This activity prepares children for making capital letters.

PATHS: We start by learning our "Circle Rules". The children become familiar with the PATHS animals that are used throughout the curriculum. Children learn to demonstrate responsibility as classroom helpers.

Chapel - The students look forward to Father Rick's visit on Wednesdays for bible stories, songs, and prayers.

A big hug to all the children who helped decorate our fall bulletin board with apples and pumpkins.

The new Director of Children's programs, Risa DeAngelo, from the Tuxedo Park Library will be visiting all the children once a month. She will bring favorite books to read and a seasonal crafts to do with our students.

We look forward to a spectacular school year!!

Ida Payne
Cynthia Dinan
Calendar Of Events

October 1-16 Ashley's Farm Fundraising

October 8 Columbus Day School Closed

October 12 Wright Farm Field Trip

October 15 Tuxedo Fire Department Visit

October 22 & 23 Risa visits from Library

October 31 Harvest Party & Trick or Treat at the Promenade
School Name: St. Mary's Community Preschool
Address : 10 Fox Hill Rd, Tuxedo NY 10987
Phone : 854-351-2389
Email : ipayne@stmarysintuxedo.org
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