APRIL NEWSLETTER
2015
Dear Parents,
April is here and we
are keeping our eyes and ears open for signs of spring. It feels good to see
the grass again! We will start taking our kids outside daily (weather
permitting) after the Easter Break. We can’t wait to see them playing in the
trees and rolling down the hill again.
Last month our children
enjoyed the shapes and opposites activities. We hope you took a look at their amazing
pieces of “shape art”. They are hanging in the hallway and in the classroom. Here
are some “educational comments” that we overheard during snack time. “Look, I
have a shape snack! My cucumber is a circle, my sandwich is a square and the
lunch box is a rectangle!” As one of our students looked into a mirror and
looked at her own eyes, she said: “My
Auge (eye) is oval and has a Kreis (circle) in the middle. I did not know that!”
As part of the
opposite unit, we also taught our students how to clean dishes. They were so
excited when they cleaned and dried their little plates and cups. We hope for
your sake that this excitement lasts for years!
April
Theme: UNDER THE SEA
Put on your goggles!
We will take our students to the bottom of the ocean this month. Our students
will discover some of the wonders beneath the waves.
Literacy such as the
book “The Rainbow Fish” (by Roland Pfister) will be an important part of the
Ocean unit. The book talks about friendship and the importance of sharing. It
is one of my favourite books. Another book that emphasizes on social skills is
“Swimmy” (by Leo Leonni). It is the story of a lonely little fish that makes
new friends. They share the great fear of a giant fish, which
lives in the ocean. In a team effort,
all the little fish form one big fish. The plan works out and together they
scare the giant fish away!
EASTER ACTIVITIES
During the first
week of April we will provide students with some Easter activities.
Did you know, that
it was the German Settlers (early 18th century) who brought the idea
of the Easter Bunny to North America?
The Easter Bunny
will swing by and visit our classroom on Wednesday, April 1st and
Thursday, April 2nd. The children will also learn an Easter Rhyme in
German.
Mark Your Calendar
March 31st /April
1st Scholastic Book Orders due
April 3 – April
12: Easter Break / no
school
YEAR END CELEBRATION: June 24/25 (not June 19th)
We had originally planned
to have a family potluck with ALL our families on June 19th in the
afternoon. We realized, however that with our newly added afternoon class this
year, we would have an estimated number of 160 people.
In order to have a
more intimate and personal year end celebration, we decided to change the
format and each class will have their own individual
celebration on their last day of school. This will happen during the last
half of class time and all parents / family are invited to join us. The children will perform a number of their
favourite rhymes and songs and we will have a potluck in our classroom.
We will extend our regular hours on those days! Please
mark your calendar for the following dates:
M-W-F a.m.: Wednesday, June 24th
Class time: 9:00
a.m. – 11: 00 a.m.
Performance: 11:00
a.m.- 11:30 a.m.
Lunch potluck with
family: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
M-W-F p.m.: Wednesday, June 24th
Class time: 1:00p.m.
– 3:00 p.m. (different
start time than usual!!)
Performance: 3:00
p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Coffee /Cake potluck
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
T/Th class: Thursday, June 25th
class time: 9:00-
11:00 a.m.
performance:
11:00a.m. – 11:30p.m.
Lunch potluck with
family: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
We are giving you
lots of advance notice in order to give you enough time to juggle work
schedules so that you can join us for this special “preschool wind up” day.
As always, feel free
to contact us if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns!
Regards,
Uli Hecker, Ruth
Skinner Larissa Lorenz,
Samina Roohi
