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| Frog class at the park |
I thought October was busy, but November has been crazy. We have had two students from SMSU come in and help out, finish up on assessments of the children and been getting ready for Thanksgiving.
We have had a few children out with the flu and colds. Please remember when your child has a fever of 100*, colored discharge from their nose or cannot fully participate in daily activities at school, please keep them home. They would much rather be at home than at school. However, we deal with runny noses and coughs at school. We have been practicing covering our coughs with our elbow and we are really practicing washing hands. On Monday the 8th the science lesson was on germs and how they travel with a sneeze. The kid's thought it was amazing how far the germs would go. We also use hand sanitizer after blowing noses and such.
Parent/Teacher Conferences are this week the 17th and 18th. If you haven't signed up, there are a few slots left. You can call and get in on one if needed. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you!
The November/December Book order is due on the 23rd of November. I have listed the link and Class Activation Code on the right side of this home page. There are some great books in the Holiday Book Order form. Both the Fish and Frog Class' will have their Christmas Party on the last day of class in December. It will also be Pajama Day! We have alot of fun on that day when we get to come in our jammies! We traditionally have a gift exchange and have the children give gifts to each other. We again would like the children to give a book as their present with the cost being $5 or less. We play a fun game with the presents so no one ends up with their own book.
For parents in the Frog class- I am truly sorry that our lunch program didn't work out. I wanted it to but there were many factors working against that possibility that didn't pop up before school started. On that note- Sheila and I have seen some wonderful and creative ideas brought for lunch from home! I thought I would share some ideas that might help out other parents.
We have seen is boiled eggs, celery with peanut butter, crackers and peanut butter in a small Ziploc bowl, carrots and ranch dip, corn/peas/green beans in the same type of Ziploc bowls, slices of cold pizza, etc. We have been reheating many of these items in the microwave. The Ziploc containers and other containers are the perfect serving sizes for these little ones. Peanut Butter and boiled eggs are a GREAT way to get the needed amount of daily protein into your child with out using meat. Egg salad sandwiches are also a good protein source. Today we had one child bring Campbell's Soup at Hand. It was the perfect serving for a preschooler. We warmed it up and she had brought a bowl from home and it was great with her other items. We do have bowls to use if needed. We have seen alot of string cheese which is always a hit and lots of fruit cups. Leftovers from meatloaf to hot dish are great for lunch! A child brought a sandwich bag with some Cheerios in it and a thermos of milk with some cut up strawberries for lunch one day. That was perfect! On cereal though, you have to make sure it is a whole grain cereal and not a sugary cereal. Coco Krispies and Capn' Crunch don't count. Sorry. I have to say we have been impressed with the amount that the kid's are eating now. They are more satisfied and resting better. Keep up the good work!
I have added some great links to the home page on the right hand column that are games and parenting interests. I have and always will love PBS! I have been to several classes that local PBS stations have put on and I believe the childrens programming is BY FAR superior to Disney or Nickelodeon. If your child goes to a home daycare provider, please ask what they are allowing the children to watch. I was a home provider for many years in Idaho and I know how hectic a day can be. Request that your children (if they watch TV during the day) watch PBS.
A couple of the links are for games that work on number and letter recognition. Sit down with your child and show them how to work a mouse if they can't already. Then work the game with them. While doing the assessments over the last month, I have found that we really need to work on letter and number recognition with many of the children. We want them to be successful in school and this is just one little tool to help get them where they need to be.
One last thing....please allow your children to play with Playdoh at home. I know it is messy and a pain to clean up. Trust me, we do it daily. But the benefits from playing with it far out way what has to be cleaned up. We have seen many children this year that need to increase their muscle strength in their hands and arms for coloring and writing. These are fine motor skills that are learned and without the necessary muscle control, it is very hard to control a writing utensil. We have been using crayons, pencils and colored pencils in class now for two months and I keep getting asked when I am going to let the kid's use markers. We don't use markers because they don't build the muscles like pencils and crayons can.
These are just some of the things we have been working on in our classes. We are so excited to sing at Senior Dining on the 22nd and at the bank on the 9th of December.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Shelly
