Tuesday 3 March 2015

March Newsletter 2015


MARCH NEWSLETTER 2015

Dear Parents,
Welcome to the month of the ‘official’ beginning of spring! As you might have heard and seen, we tried really hard to scare away winter when we had our “Fasching” celebration last month. It worked only for a few days….. Hopefully by April, we won’t have to wear snow boots anymore!!
We had another month of fun and learning in February and the children had many opportunities to explore the topic of ‘sound’. We took our students on “listening walks” through the building to sharpen their awareness of sounds around them. One of the most exciting moments was, when each child used a stethoscope to listen to his/her own heartbeat. We heard comments like “I did not know my heart can talk!” etc. There is nothing more rewarding for a teacher than watching the excitement of children as they explore the world. I always call it  “connecting scientific dots”. I am a firm believer in learning through play and exploration and the importance of using all your senses.
March Theme: Opposites & Shapes                
This month we will explore opposites and shapes. Teaching children about opposites is an ideal way to improve your child’s ability to communicate. The addition of descriptive words to their vocabulary will help them to transform the level of detail in their conversations (e.g. ‘soft fur’, ‘hard rock’, ‘heavy truck’, ‘light feather’, ‘little boy’, ‘giant dinosaur’ etc.) Your child will come home with many opposite words and songs in English/ German.
We will take our students on “I spy shape” tours, sort and categorize shapes and make shape crafts. Just the other day at snack time, one of our students was so excited, telling us “ My mom packed my snack in a circle and a square container”. It is the real world connection that makes learning so much more meaningful.

LETTER RECOGNITION
Many of our students recognize the letters of their own names by now. A number of our older students are also starting to print their own names. That is a big step for preschoolers! Our children get so excited when our letter bunny, ‘Hase’, introduces our letter of the week and they recognize it in their own names. Some of them even check if the letter is in their parent’s name.

We got many laughs last week, when we replaced each of the children’s first letter of their name with our new letter “B’”. Indeed, it sounds funny when the name Gus turns into Bus or Kelly turns into BELLY, etc. 
Make-up’ day for M-W-F classes: Friday, March 27th
Last month, our staff took a school day (Friday) to attend a Professional Development Conference for Early Childhood educators. As we want to make sure that you get a full quote of school days, we are offering a ‘make-up’ day for our M-W-F class on Friday, March 27th. Feel free to send your child to preschool that day!
Folk Fest: German Cultural Center Performance, August 15th
As part of the Saskatoon annual Folk Fest, The German Cultural Center in Saskatoon has contacted me and invited our preschool to perform on Saturday, August 15th at the “German Pavilion”. This would involve performing a few songs and rhymes on the stage. It would help us to have a rough idea on how many kids will be able and willing to participate in this event. If this date works with your summer schedule, please let Frau Lorenz or Frau Hecker know. 
THANK YOU
·         Thank you to our treasurer Nicole Drobot and registrar Scott and Tammy Zdunich who had been very busy in the last month, sorting 2015-16 registration forms. 
(We have only a few spots left in the 2015/16 M-W-F p.m. class.)
·         Thank you to our president Franziska Davies, for creating a new website (hanselandgretelpreschool.blogspot.ca) for our preschool.

Mark Your Calendar
March 11th /12th         Scholastic Book Orders due
Friday, March 13th      PD Day, no class
Friday, March   27th   Optional school day (make-up day for Feb 6th)   

As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns!

Regards,

Uli Hecker, Ruth Skinner                                            Larissa Lorenz, Samina Roohi
                                                                                   

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