There are still openings in the current preschool classes!
However, if you are looking to register your child for the 2022/2023 school year, the registration is on January 20, 2022 at 7pm. The registration will be online only!
If you'd like a tour prior to registration, please contact Uli at 306-281-4428
Winter has officially arrived! Pretty soon we will have enough snow to make snow angels, build snowmen, turn bushes into ‘caves’ etc. We will continue to go on (short) nature walks at the end of the day. Our ‘magic forest’ will provide shelter for us while we are fuelling up with oxygen and strengthen our immune system.
Thank you, parents for dressing your child warm enough that he/she can fully enjoy our daily part of outdoor learning!! Once the wind chill makes it difficult to play and explore outside, we will of course spend most of our teaching days inside! For now, we will play it by ear and just try to keep outside time fun, for as long as we can.
NOVEMBER
ANIMAL “WINTER HEROES”
This month most activities will evolve around different animals and how they use their amazing powers for winter survival. We will provide our children with lots of ‘hands on’ activities to grasp weather protection strategies of our ‘animal heroes’. We will be looking for footprints in the snow outside and pretend to be bears that are looking for caves to hibernate. Inside the classroom children will be counting and sorting nuts for squirrels, berries for bears and rocks for penguins to make their nest. Can’t wait to see our students, tracing letters and names in shaving cream and creating their little ‘winter scenarios’ at the literacy table.
HIBERNATION DAY NOV 22/23 (wear your Pj’s)
The highlight of this winter unit will be “HIBERNATION DAY” when our classroom will turn into an animal shelter place. Tables will turn into caves and card boxes into burrows for our little ones.
In order to add some coziness, we invite all children to come in their PJ’s. I am sure there will be loud snoring going on that day! I will bring lots of blankets to keep our little bears warm and toasty.
Part of this umbrella theme will be winter crafts and science experiments with ice and snow. Paint brushes will transform snow into winter art and ice into ‘magic paint’.
FUNDRAISER: MOM’S PANTRY (orders are due Nov 19)
Thank you for considering, to support our annual fundraiser to raise funds for our Non-Profit preschool. MOM’S PANTRY is a great opportunity to purchase high quality food and baking products for yourself, friends or family.
Thank you very much to Brianne Semenchuk (fundraiser committee) for helping our preschool to find ways to maintain a high-quality Early Childhood Learning Program!
SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS
Thank you, Miranda Lettrari for taking care of the monthly Scholastic Book orders. This is another unique way to support literacy skills and to foster your child’s love for reading!
DRESS FOR THE WEATHER
A friendly reminder to from now on wear: (please label all winter clothes items, big & small)
· warm snow pants or snow suit
· warm and water repellent mittens (long enough to cover wrist)
· warm winter jacket, toque, (if necessary, face cover)
· warm snow boots
Our little ones are getting so good at dressing themselves! Thank you so parents for teaching them how to. It truly does save us precious play time!
DATES TO REMEMBER
NOVEMBER
Nov 18: Annual General Meeting @ 8 p.m. (zoom meeting)
Nov 19: Mom’s Pantry Fundraiser order are due
Nov 22/23: Hibernation Day (wear your PJ’s)
DECEMBER
Dec 6/7: Visit from Nikolaus (I will send out a separate note about this special event)
We are excited that this year we will be able to have Nikolaus visit our children in person. We will send out a little video to all parents after his visit.
Dec 16/17: Last day of school
Dec 21 – Jan 3: Christmas Break no school
JANUARY
Jan 4/5: School resumes
Jan 4-19: Currently enrolled families can pre- register for the 2022/23 Preschool Year
Jan 17: PD Day (no school)
Jan 20: Registration for 2022/23 will be open to the public, starting at 7:00 p.m.
Winter Words in German
Schnee (snow)
Schneemann (snowman)
Schneeflocke (snowflake)
Schnee Engel (snow angel)
Jacke (jacket)
Schneehose (snowpants)
Muetze (touque)
Handschuhe (mitts)
Schal (scarf)
Stiefel (boots)
Nikolaus (Nicholas)
We will continue to provide you with pictures of our fun activities at preschool and hope that being part of the What’s App group helps you to get an idea of what we are doing. (I am looking forward to the days that we will be able again to invite parents for our last circle time in class)
Uli Hecker will be gone for the last week of school in December and the first week after the break. Larissa Lorenz (306 220-4830) will be lead teaching and assisted by Ruth Skinner and Jocelyne Gareau.
Please spread the word about the registration night for the 2022/23 school year on your social media!!!
As always, if you should ever have any questions or concerns, please contact us!
Stay safe! Stay warm! Stay happy!
Uli Hecker & Larissa Lorenz
The first month of preschool has flown by! We had a fantastic start into the preschool year. It was so nice to meet our new families at the sneak peek visit. Thank you to all families that attended our Information Night. I hope it helped you to gain a deeper insight and better understanding of our curriculum and teaching philosophy. Due to the (still ongoing) pandemic and for the benefit of our students a lot of play and learning will be happening outside.
We are blessed to be surrounded by beautiful green spaces behind our school. For the second year in a row, the park has turned into our “extended classroom”. We already see the calming effect of nature play and what an amazing impact it has on the emotional and social well being of children. We truly value the importance of play and the effect it has on a child’s development. Nature play not only shapes the brain, but also opens doors for imagination and fuels the soul of children. Our goal is to allow children to learn and play in a sensory rich and natural learning environment that helps each child to flourish and grow at their own pace.
The magic month of October is upon us. It is my favourite month of the year and even our children can’t get enough of the amazing and ever changing colours of the leaves.
As I had mentioned at the Information Night, the majority of preschool themes will evolve around the four seasons and specific holidays throughout the year.
Last week we talked about Harvest and how fruits and vegetables grow differently. We “investigated” potato plants and the inside of an apple. Naturally, the majority of children thought that potatoes grow on a tree (just like apples). You should have seen the excitement when our students pulled potatoes out of the ground. Some of the potatoes we sent home, turned into hash browns or mashed potatoes!! What a great wrap up of our “natural science project”!
This month will be filled with more Fall related activities. Please start looking for birds in the sky, leaving for warmer places. Pretty soon you will hear our little ones honking in the park!
Thanksgiving is coming up soon and we already started working on turkey crafts.
October is “pumpkin month” and children will get to explore the inside of a pumpkin and carry/roll pumpkins up and down the hill.
A lot of counting, sorting, categorizing by sizes and of course pumpkin stories and rhymes will be part of this fun “Fall Unit”.
We will have a Halloween Party for each of our classes on Thursday, October 28th/Friday October 29th. Children are welcome to dress up for that day. I will send out more information closer to the date.
Part of our daily morning routine is to find your name tag and place it in a box for “Maedchen” (girl) or “Junge” (boy). It helps students to look at the letters in their name and to identify the different “lines” and “curves” in each letter of their name.
As I had mentioned at our Information Night, we will introduce letters joyfully and letter bunny in the magic hat helps us with that. We mainly focus on letter formation (rather than printing) by using the terms “lines” and “curves”, e.g letter A has 2 “big lines” and 1 “little line”. Early Childhood research shows that hands of little children are developmentally not ready yet to write small print letters. The main reason is that fine motor muscles are not developed enough yet at that young age. We provide our children with lots of activities that help them to improve their fine motor skills. Pinching, rolling, squeezing and pressing items such as play dough is a fun way to strengthen small muscle of little hands. Tweezers, tongues, cloth pins etc. are great household tools to help with this at home.
Our preschoolers are counting throughout the day and as we play. This could include counting students, letters in their names, leaves, clouds, dots on lady bugs, etc. We also play “I spy” games in the hallway and outside. Numbers are everywhere!!! We usually count in English and in German.
We are beginning to slowly introduce basic German vocabulary such as colours and numbers to our first- year preschoolers. Returning students are starting to learn new songs and rhymes in German.
As you can imagine, teaching a different language is challenging when wearing a mask. Children have to rely on the sound of the words without seeing and “reading” lips. We might not get as much German as usual under our belt, but it is heart-warming to see all of our children singing their German songs in class. I will record some of the singing and share it with you through our what’s app group.
We will continue to follow all public health guidelines and safety protocols related to COVID 19 to ensure that our little ones are as safe as possible. Thank you for keeping your child at home when they have any cold like symptoms.
We all know that sneezes can sneak up on us sometimes. We would appreciate if you could teach your child how to cover a sneeze or cough with the elbow (elbow/sleeve pushed against the nose).
In regard to snacks: If you send pre-packaged items (cheese strings, granola bars etc.), it would be helpful to have a corner started/pre- cut so that it is easier for your child to open and doesn’t require extra handling. Thanks for your support!
We would like to also let you know that all staff members (and substitute teachers) in our preschool are double vaccinated.
As you know Larissa Lorenz was absent for the second week of school. I would like to express my deep condolences to her and her family. After a long struggle with cancer her brother passed away in September.
I will have to fly to Germany unexpectedly this weekend as my mother passed away this Tuesday. I will be gone from October 4-12. Larissa Lorenz will be lead teaching. Wendy Schneider (volunteer president of H&G Preschool) will be assisting Larissa during my absence.
Please contact Larissa Lorenz @ 306-220-4830 if you have any questions or concerns while I am gone.
As you might know Hansel & Gretel Preschool is a NON -PROFIT ORGANIZATION. In order to maintain a high quality Early Learning Childhood program and to run our program smoothly we rely on extra funds from organizations as SGC (Saskatchewan German Council) and fundraisers supported by families and friends.
Brianne Semenchuck (Emily’s mom) who coordinates fundraisers for our preschool will send out more information on the MOM’s Pantry Fundraiser soon.
Thu 30: National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (no class)
Monday 11 Thanksgiving Day (no class)
Thursday 28 Halloween Party
Friday 29 Halloween Party
Thursday 4 Picture Day
Friday 5 Picture Day
Monday 8 PD Day (no class)
Thursday 11 Remembrance Day (no class)
Friday 12 no class
We will continue to take our classes outside, ideally, every day. This will help our little ones to strengthen their gross motor muscles but also to build their immune system. Please ensure that your child is always dressed for the weather and wearing shoes that allow them to run and climb.
Hip Hip Hooray again for an amazing and joyful start into the preschool year!
We appreciate all your support and are looking forward to another month of FUN & LEARNING!
Warm Fall wishes,
Uli Hecker
Hello Parents,
With the start of our preschool year just a few weeks
away, we are preparing for the upcoming school year . As I was
sorting toys today I got very excited about seeing all of our little ones
soon!!!
As you may have heard in the news, Saskatoon Public Schools Division announced their Back -to-School Plan this past Monday (Elementary Back-To-School Handbook).
Currently, all Elementary students (and preschool students within a school), staff members and visitors are required to wear a mask INSIDE the school building. (We are looking at similar safety procedures as last year. )
The good news is, that we DON”T HAVE TO to wear a mask outside. This will allow us to have even more more fun than last year, exploring nature and playing in the park behind the school.
I assure you that we will do our very BEST to keep all of our children safe while having fun. I assume that the majority of your children is already familiar with how to put on and take off their mask.
SNEAK PEEK VISITS for newly joining students (scheduled)
Monday August 30
Tuesday August 31
Wednesday Sept 1
INFORMATION NIGHT: Thursday, Sept 2nd 7:00 -8:30 p.m. (School Library)
We strongly encourage at least one parent/guardian from each family to attend this meeting!
Our team will share important information on
Parents are invited to ask any questions they have and will have the opportunity to meet and talk to other parents from their child’s class.
This meeting is for parent/s guardian/s only. We kindly ask no children attend that night.
Masks will be required.
START of PRESCHOOL SCHOOL
The School Division Plan will be reviewed and updated in October, following the direction of local public health officials.
We will continue to update you on any changes throughout the year and are very excited to meet you all soon!
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Warmly,
Uli Hecker
Dear Parents,
The current handbook is from the 2020-2021 school year. We will update the Covid Policy when we know more from the school division. We do not expect updates until closer to the beginning of school.
Thank you for your patience!
Dear Parents,
I can’t believe that it’s the end of our preschool year! It seems like only yesterday when you entrusted your precious children into our care.
Regardless of all pandemic related restrictions and regulations that we had to implement this year, we made it safely to the end of the school year! Hip Hip Hooray!
I feel forever grateful that despite all challenges (and a few extra breaks) we were able to hold classes in person. The most rewarding and important experience for me was, to see your children happy, playing with other children, making new friends, and bonding with nature.
We have learned so much from our children this year and they have taught us all valuable lessons. It is amazing to watch how resilient children are and how unrestrained movement and outdoor exploration plays an important part in the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development of a child. We witnessed the healing and calming effect that outdoor play and learning had on our children. When asked what they liked most about preschool this year. Most children answered, “Nature play” and “friends”. This is what preschool should be all about! Nature taught us lessons that no flashcard can ever replace. I will never forget when a group of children played in the bushes, covering ladybugs with leaves. Shortly after the same kids turned around to find sticks and form the letters of their name.
I remember listening to many of the conversations that children had while playing. Imaginary play took the lead this year! Due to Covid restrictions and cleaning protocol we had a limited variety of toys that students could use. It was heart-warming, fascinating (and quite funny at times) to see how creatively the children interact when imagination becomes the base of their play. Wooden blocks turned into cities, shelter for animals and even “sandwiches” for the teachers. Do you know how special it is to get a full meal served, made from colourful marbles and Legos on a plate?
Our children have created so many “happy memories” for us teachers and we hope that playing, laughing with them, and growing together has created a lasting bond for them.
I would like to take the opportunity and express my appreciation for the many people that helped us to run the preschool smoothly.
THANK YOU’s
· Thank you to Wendy Schneider, the president of the volunteer board of directors for volunteering your time and helping us to navigate through this challenging year! Thank you to Shannon Mclean, Dana Giesbrecht, Brianne Semenchuk, Miranda Lettrari and Becky Bradley for volunteering your time on the board. It was greatly appreciated!
· Thank you to all PCDC staff members for dropping off and picking up daycare students every day!
· We are grateful for the financial support that we have received from SGC and Sask Lotteries.
· Thank you to the administrative team of Brevoort Park School. We feel very blessed to be part of the Brevoort Park School Community.
· A big Thank You goes to Larissa Lorenz, the best team teacher I can wish for! Congratulations to Frau Lorenz. She just received the 2021 SGC Volunteer Award for her excellent work as an assistant teacher and her dedication to our children.
Thank you, parents, for sharing your precious children with us. They have filled our buckets with their gentle hands, kind hearts, their wiggles, and their giggles.
Even though we couldn’t hug them tight this year, we will hold each of them very close to our hearts!
Promise us to keep in touch with us over the next few months and throughout the years to come!
We wish all our families a beautiful and relaxing summer!
Stay safe & happy!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Uli Hecker
