As we begin the holiday season, we must take a moment to give thanks for all our blessings. We pray for those less fortunate and that they may find comfort in God's love.
The teachers at St. Mary's are thankful for the families and students that make our preschool so special.
Preschool Two Day


"Leaves are falling, winter's calling. We are thankful for our friends, No-vem-ber. It's November again!" (Tune: clementine) by Kathleen Pederson
 
In our two year old program, we reflected on what we are thankful for. We are thankful for our toys, our mommies and daddies, and our time at school. We kicked-off November with our annual Grandparents Day Event. The children honored their grandparents by performing several songs, making a special craft for them, and spending time feasting on some yummy food. We are so thankful for our grandparents, our grandparents at heart, and our grand-friends.  
 
November was also a busy time for our 2's. The children were introduced to the letters E, F, and G this week and the sounds they make. We used our letter worksheets to trace our letters, our letter do-a-dot sheets to work on our fine motor skills, and our letter books to help with our crayon grip.  The children created an Elmo, a Fox and a Giraffe for their letter crafts. The children were also introduced to the color brown, shape square, and number 3. We looked around our room for the color brown and discovered that Mat Man is brown. We sang our square song to help remind us a square has four sides all the same and four corners too. The children also glued squares to their shape worksheet and 3 buttons to their number worksheet. Each child is encouraged to point and count to each button on their number worksheet. 
 
As we approach the middle of our school year, we are working more on letter, number, color, and shape recognition. This month we used our sound-around-box to pick out the letters A, B and C. We first formed a letter in the front of our sound-around-box. Next, each child got a turn to pick a block with a letter on it. Last, the child showed the letter to the class and the class told the teacher whether it matched with the letter on front of our surround-around-box. The children also got a chance to paint a leaf using the colors, red, orange, and brown. Each child stamped their leaf onto white paper. We continue to use our number cards to count the pictures on them and use our fingers to show what the number is.
 
During chapel this month, Father Rick read the children " Lunch for a Bunch " by Howard Goldthwaite, " May I See The King? " by Vince and Julie Daubenspeck and " No, No, Noah"  by Dandi Daley Mackall. Father Rick taught the children that nothing is impossible with God, and we are so thankful for his promises. The children sang along with Father Rick to the songs "Always Say Thank You" and "Praise Him, Praise Him." 
 
To help conclude the month, we read  Ten Fat Turkeys  by Tony Johnston. Each child went home with their very own handmade turkey hats. We hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and look forward to all the blessings December has to bring.
 
Miss Michele
Miss Carole
Preschool Three Day

During the month of November, the three year old students learned the letters G, H, and I. They created letter crafts for each letter - goose, hippo and iguana. The students love building the letter crafts in the same way we form our letters - with lines and curves.

We practiced tracing a cross, and rectangle, the number 1, and letters L and F in our writing workbooks. 

In math, we have been counting up a storm. We are working on one-to-one correspondence as we count – counting each object only once. The students either move the objects as they count or point to the objects as they count. We’ve also introduced the concept that you can count objects in a tower from the bottom to the top or the top to the bottom and will still get the same amount.  We have been using various manipulative to help us explore counting. 

We began a science unit on germs this past month where we read various picture books and gave examples to help the students grasp the idea of germs.  The students got to experience how germs spread after Ms. Amanda “sneezed” on her hand and spread the germs (lotion and green glitter) by shaking Ms. Carole’s hand and the students’ hands. We discovered germs are spread easily, but we can stop the spread by washing our hands well. We demonstrated how to properly wash hands and had the students practice in the bathroom to get all the green glittery germs off. Another fun activity we did was to show how a sneeze can spread germs if not covered up properly. We crafted a spray bottle full of water and affixed a print out of a face to the bottle. Every time the kid in our story sneezed the kids were misted with “germs”. What a fun activity!! After getting misted a few times we discovered that if the kid just covered the sneeze with a tissue or his elbow the class wouldn’t get wet! 

We also took time this past month to build our names with letter tags and the help of our nameplates. We’ll continue to work on this skill throughout the year.  

We celebrated our grandparents with our Grand Event. Thank you to all the parents who helped out and the grandparents who came to make the day so special. We love all the grandparents and are so thankful they are apart of our students’ lives. 

We pray everyone had a healthy and happy Thanksgiving. We look forward to the fun and learning that will take place in December. 

Miss Amanda
Miss Carole
Preschool Five Day

There was a lot to be thankful for in November. One of the things we are grateful for is our Grandparents, and we expressed our love for them during our Grand Event. We also took a moment to be thankful for the opportunity to go to school and learn a great many things:

Word Time: We finished our chapter - Sky and started the chapter - Work. With the help of Squawker, the children learn the pronunciation, spelling, and definition of words.

Penmanship: The students used their Letters and Numbers for Me books to practice writing the Frog Jump Capital letters (F, E, D, P B, R, N and M) and started the Starting Corner Capital letters (H, K, L, U, V, W and X).

Language and Literacy: We finished our chapter - Phonological Awareness. Students learn to clap and count syllables in a word. They learn to group words into word families by the onset (what comes before the vowel) and rime (anything that follows). They identify the beginning and ending sounds in words.

Math: We finished our chapter - Numbers and Operations. Students learn to count and label sets up to 10. They combine sets of objects to find out the totals (addition) and take objects away from a set and count to find out how many are left (subtraction). They also share a set of objects evenly with a partner (division). We also finished our I Know My Numbers #3 booklets.

PATHS: We reviewed the four basic feelings - Happy, Sad, Angry, and Scared. Children learn to recognize the facial expressions and body postures associated with different feelings. They provide examples of different reasons for their feelings. We discuss ways to develop skills for coping with emotions and to understand other people's feelings. We help children realize all emotions should be valued and are Ok.

Chapel: The students look forward to visiting with Father Rick on Wednesdays for a bible story, songs, and special prayers.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, please "remember the reason" - the birth of our Lord - Jesus Christ.

Miss Ida
Miss Cindy
Calendar Of Events

December 1-14: Pajama Drive

December 7: Making Gingerbread Houses 2y old program

December 11: Making Gingerbread Houses 3y old program

December 13: Making Gingerbread Houses 4y old program

December 14: Caroling at the Promenade

December 17-18 Visit from Risa, the librarian

December 24 - January 1
School Closed