By The Bay Preschool

Welcome to the end of a very short week!

Next week we take a look at wind and weather! The books we will be reading will include:

“What Will the Weather Be?” by Lynda DeWitt and Carolyn Croll

“Rain” by Manya Stojiv

“The Wind Blew” byPat Hutchins

“Rain Rain Rivers” by Uri Shulevitz

“Down Comes the Rain” by Franklyn M. Branley and Graham Hale

There are two amazing opportunities coming up that you may want to take advantage of:

Finished with your quilt square? Send it in! We’re starting to gather them. As soon as they are all in, I’ll put our quilt together!

The week of March 5th-9th we will celebrate our annual World Cultures Week. This year, along with Lower and Middle Schools, we will take an in-depth look at The Philippines!

RHS will be closed for Spring Break from Monday, March 11th- Monday, March 26th.

Don’t forget to check he blog! http://blogs.rockyhill.org/bythebaypreschool/

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you Monday!

🙂

Next week we’ll be getting ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day and our friendship. Our books will include:

“Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram

“Hearty Har Har” by Katy Hall, Lisa Eisenberg and R.W. Alley

“Funny Valentine” by Stan and Jan Berenstain

“The Night Before Valentine’s Day” by Natasha Wing and Heidi Petach

“Friends” by Helme Heine

Thanks to all who signed and returned Progress Reports. If you haven’t had a chance to do that, please get it back to us ASAP.

Book orders are due today. I will hold the order until Sunday. If you’d like to place an order online, go to www.scholastic.com. Our classroom code is KP44F. Remember, every book you buy earns freebies for our class!!!

We will celebrate Valentine’s Day with the exchange of Valentines and treats in the morning. If you would like to contribute to our celebration, there is a sign up sheet on the parent board. We would like to avoid lots of sugar. How about everything is either, pink, red, purple or heart shaped? (red peppers with pink ranch, beet tortilla chips and salsa, etc.)

Quilt squares are in your cubbies! Please decorate and return at your earliest convenience. This is a family project, designed to bring you all together and perfection is NOT what we’re going for. Please don’t stress over it and let us know if you need anything.

Next Friday, February 16th, we will be making Friendship Mix. Have your child choose a snack that they’d like to contribute and send in a baggie full. Pretzels, cereal, raisins, etc. We’ll mix it all together and everyone will get a baggie to take home! Remember please, no nuts.

There will be no school Monday-Wednesday, February 19-21. Enjoy the long weekend!

Don’t forget to check out our blog! http://blogs.rockyhill.org/bythebaypreschool/

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you Monday!

🙂

The February Calendar is posted on the blog. We will look at Friendship, Kindness and Love as we get ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The books we will be reading will include:

“Won’t You Be My Kissaroo?” by Joanne Ryder and Melissa Sweet

“Valentine Friends” by April Price Jones and Elisabeth Schlossberg

“Is It Right To Fight?” by Pat Thomas

“Love IS” by Diane Adams and Claire Keane

“Love” by Matt De La Peña and Loren Long

Thank you to all who came to our 5th Annual Preschool Parent Dinner & Movie Night! What great conversation…and what good cooks you are!!!

Our holiday party will be on February 14th. We will exchange Valentines with all our classmates and enjoy a festive snack together. If you are sending in treats for the big day, please keep in mind that EVERYTHING must be completely nut free. We have in a student with a severe nut allergy. We also have another student who eats no cane sugar. So if you are sending in a sugary snack, please plan on an alternative for one child. Thank you so much!

Please only park in designated areas at drop-off. If the space you are in does not say “Short Term Parking“, then you are in someone’s assigned spot. That can make for a very chaotic start to the day.

Our family project for February is a classroom quilt. Next week you will find a fabric square in your child’s cubby. Please decorate, as a family, your square and send it back in. When all squares have been returned, I will make them into a quilt to hang in our classroom and then be raffled off at the end of the year.  You may decorate your quilt square any way you like, as long as it is washable (no paper please). You can use fabric markers and paint, felt, buttons, fabric, washable glitter glue, etc. We have fabric markers here. You are more than welcome to borrow them. We also ask that you decorate inside the pencil marks, leaving us enough room to stitch the quilt together! Have fun!

Book orders for February went home this week and are due back by next Friday, February 9th. If you would prefer to order online, go to www.scholastic.com. Our classroom code is KP44F.

We have completed our Penguin Project and had a wonderful time doing it! I have attached a short video that wraps it all up! I’m having a hard time loading it into our blog because of its size. Please feel free to share it with friends and family. We are SO proud of them!

What a fun couple of weeks of Penguins! We’ve been learning so much and will be wrapping up our penguin projects next week. We will also be making a short video to share with you all.

Please do not put anything but plain water in your child’s water bottle. Please do not add juice or fruit. We have battled ants and mold!

Just a recap on our illness policy. A student needs to be fever, vomiting and diarrhea free for a full 24 hours before returning to school. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Rocky Hill’s school nurse Rebecca Rabidoux:

401-884-9070 ext 112
rrabidoux@rockyhill.org

We hope you will all join us on Wednesday evening, January 31st, for our annual dinner and movie night. Children will gather in the preschool in their PJs. They will enjoy dinner and a fun movie. Siblings are welcome! Grown ups will meet in Campbell for a yummy pot luck dinner and adult conversation. Have a dish you make well? Bring it along to share! You are welcome to bring an adult beverage if you choose.

Oh dear! We are having a hard time with behavior in preschool this week. Our struggles have included kindness, bossiness, listening, truthfulness and expected behavior. Please talk with your child this weekend about what is expected of them, both inside and outside of school. Let’s get this turned around…together.

Please, please, please read all labels. We have a significant nut allergy in our classroom. “May contain traces” is now a no-no for school.

Next time you are shopping, please pick up an extra box of tissues for the classroom. We have LOTS of runny noses.

Our Virtuoso schedule next week is

Tuesday: Science with Mr. Wyzga and Spanish with Senora Rambo

Wednesday: Music with Ms. Emily

Thursday: P.E. with Mrs. Wood – bring your sneakers!

Friday: Library with Mrs. Silva – don’t forget your Library book!

Don’t forget to check out our blog:

http://blogs.rockyhill.org/bythebaypreschool/

You’ll find our Valentine list there as well as lots of other great things!

Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you next week!

🙂

Our Penguin Project has taken off and we are learning so much! Did you know there are 17 different kinds of penguins? We will continue with our study next week. The books we will be reading will include:

“National Geographic Kids; Penguins!” by Anne Schreiber

“Little Penguin” by Patrick Benson

“Antarctica” by Helen Cowcher

“The Emperor’s Egg” by Martin Jenkins and Jane Chapman

“Eyes on Nature; Penguins” by Jane P. Resnick

Clue Bags have started. We respectfully ask that your child uses the Clue Bag to bring in toys from home to share. Other than that, the only toys that should be coming to school are lovies for rest time.

Our cubby room is SO full! With all the winter gear, please do your part to keep things tidy by emptying your child’s cubby each day.

Admissions Open House! Is your child transitioning to Kindergarten? Come in for a visit this Sunday, from noon till 2:00 p.m. You’ll be home in time for the game!

Annual Preschool Parent Dinner/PJ and Movie Night! On Wednesday, January 31st, you are invited to come and share in a pot luck dinner with the grown-ups while your child enjoys pizza and a movie in their PJs in the preschool! Siblings are welcome! There will be a sign up sheet on the parent board for dinner items and pizza. Considering what we’ve been studying, we are thinking that maybe “Happy Feet” might be the right movie?

Benchmarks are on their way home. Please sign them and return them to school at your earliest convenience.

Our Virtuoso schedule next week is:

Tuesday: Science with Mr. Wyzga and Spanish with Senora

Wednesday: Music with Ms. Emily

Thursday: P.E. with Mrs. Wood (don’t forget your sneakers)

Friday: Library with Mrs. Silva (please don’t forget your library books)

Don’t forget to check out our blog! http://blogs.rockyhill.org/bythebaypreschool/

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you on Monday!

🙂

In the coming month we will be looking at all things cold and learning about penguins! We need shoeboxes please, one per child.

Wednesday is PAJAMA DAY! We’d love it if everyone could wear their new PJs to school. Miss Amanda and I will be wearing our PJs too!

Clue Bags start this week! Our Clue Bags are your child’s opportunity to have a “show-n-tell”. When it is your child’s turn, please help them put an object into the bag and write 3 clues to help their classmates try and figure out what’s in the bag. Clue Bags go home on a rotating schedule. Please send them back promptly so everybody gets lots of turns.

Baby, it’s cold outside! It’s time for full winter gear; snow pants, boots, hats, mittens (not gloves) and a warm coat. Even if it’s not snowy, we need these things each day to combat the wind and keep us warm and toasty.

Make sure your child has a warm change of clothes, just in case. Nobody wants to wear shorts home when the weather is this cold.

All students are encouraged to keep slippers in their cubbies and wear them while inside. This helps cut down on the salt on the floor.

Our Virtuoso Schedule this week:

Wednesday: Music with Miss Emily

Thursday: PE with Mrs. Wood – everybody needs sneakers!

Friday – Library with Mrs. Silva

Don’t forget to check the blog: http://blogs.rockyhill.org/bythebaypreschool/

You’ll find all our newsletters, pictures, recipes and calendars there!

Enjoy your last bit of vacation and I’ll see you soon!!!!

🙂

We are SO excited for the snow to come! What a wonderful way to kick off our last week before the holidays.

As we call out “All Aboard for the Holidays!”, the books we will be reading will include:

“The Littlest Christmas Tree”by R.A. Herman and Jacqueline Rogers

“An Otis Christmas” by Loren Long

“One Christmas Night” by M. Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

“A Magical Christmas Eve” by Dyan Sheldon and Rosie Reeve

“Is it Christmas Yet?” by Jane Chapman

“The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore and Bruce Whatley

Our Virtuoso schedule next week will remain the same:

Tuesday – Science with Mr. Wyzga and Spanish with Senora

Wednesday – Music with Miss Emily

Thursday – P.E. with Mrs. Wood (please please don’t forget your sneakers!)

Friday – Library with Mrs. Silva

HELP! Today in Library, Mrs. Silva read us the story of The Gingerbread Baby. Then we made some gingerbread men of our own with Chef Jay in the kitchen. But wouldn’t you know it? They ran away! Please ask all of your friends and family if they have seen our gingerbread boys. If they see them, please ask them to send us a postcard or letter telling us where our dear little treats have traveled. There is lots of peculation as to where they could have gone! We will be mapping their travels over the next few weeks!

Friday, December 15th is our last day of school before Winter Break. Wear your most festive holiday sweater! We will begin the morning at the Library for a story and then back to class for our Secret Santa gift exchange. You should have all gotten the name of a child. If you didn’t, please let me know ASAP. at 11:00 we will head over to Campbell for Rocky Hill’s annual Winter Solstice Celebration. Pick up is in the preschool at noon. There is no lunch or extended care on this day. ALL of our students are invited to attend on Friday!

A big “thank you” to all who sent in donations for The Potter League!

Time for winter clothes! Please send in a complete set of outerwear! It’s only fun to play outside if we’re not chilly!

Have a wonderful, peaceful weekend. Enjoy the snow and I’ll see you Monday!

🙂

Next week we will be learning about Hanukkah and Hibernation. The books we will be reading will include:

“The Night Before Hanukkah” by Natasha Wing and Amy Wummer

“Simon and the Bear; a Hannukah Tale” by Eric A Kimmel and Matthew Truman

“Hibernation Station” by Michelle Meadows and Kurt Cyrus

“Time to Sleep” by Denise Fleming

“Hibernation” by Margaret Hall

Please check and make sure that hanging from your child’s hook is their RHS shoe bag with seasonally appropriate change of clothing. This includes long pants and a long sleeved shirt, socks underclothes and a change of shoes.

Also, please make sure that each day your child has a warm coat, hat and mittens (NOT gloves).

On Tuesday, we will swap names for a holiday gift exchange. On Friday, December 15th, please bring in a wrapped gift for the friend whose name your child draws. Please keep the value of the gift under $10. On the card your child chooses, there will be some basic information about the Christmas wishes of their classmate. If you have any questions at all, just let me know!

Next Friday, December 8th, we will be working with Mrs. Silva and Chef Jay on our first preschool project. We will be reading and baking The Gingerbread Man! Even though we are planning to be very careful, I have a sneaking suspicion that he may jump out of the oven and run away. Where will he go? That’s what we will be trying to figure out! When your child comes home and tells you that the Gingerbread Man has run away, please help by contacting all of your friends and family and social media contacts . Ask them to send us a letter or postcard telling us how they spotted our Gingerbread Man in their area. We will then begin to map the travels of our little man and see where his adventures take him!

Thank you for all of your support for the Potter League this year. Each year we “adopt” this wonderful shelter. Check out our tree. Pick a candy cane (or several). Purchase the items and bring them in. Enjoy the candy! Visit The Potter League at http://www.potterleague.org/.

Next week you we will be writing our letters to Santa. These letters will be addressed and mailed home. Be on the look out!

Do you have a special family holiday tradition that you would like to share? Let me know. We’d love to welcome you into our classroom.

Don’t forget to check out our blog: http://blogs.rockyhill.org/bythebaypreschool/

Our Winter Break will begin immediately following Winter Solstice on Friday, December 15th just before lunch time.

Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you on Monday!

🙂