November Newsletter

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents,                                                                                    

The last month seems to have flown by! Our pre-schoolers enjoyed many different fall activities. The students learned about Harvest and vegetables. Sticking their little hands in a pumpkin and scooping seeds with their fingers turned into a memorable experience for many of our children. We read the book “The Runaway pumpkin” and took pumpkins outside and watched them rolling down the hill. Did you hear our “little geese” honking on their way back to the boot room? We were pretending to fly away and migrate to warmer places.    

The highlight was our field trip to the Dutch Growers Hay maze. All of our little goblins found their way out of the maze! Way to go! Thank you to all parents/grand parents who were able to join us for that fun trip.

Hopefully we will have a few more mild days and cooperating weather temperatures that allow us to play outside and explore the season. Your child might need mittens and a hat/toque from now on. Please make sure that you label all these items in order to avoid mix-ups.  

NOVEMBER THEME: HOW DO ANIMALS PREPARE FOR THE WINTER?

As a continuation part of our Fall unit, the children will learn about how different animals prepare for the winter and adapt to the cold. We will start off by talking about what happens to animals’ bodies when they hibernate and go into this deep sleep.

Each class will study a variety of different animals (bears, birds, squirrels, frogs, etc.) and how they protect themselves from the cold. In case you wonder when your child comes home and tells you  “frogs protect themselves by covering up with pudding”; as an hands on experiment we will cover gummy frogs with chocolate pudding (symbolizing mud) as a demonstration for hibernation. Unfortunately those gummy frogs won’t survive, as they will be eaten by pre-schooler ‘predators’. J

HIBERNATION CELEBRATION DAY, NOV 25/26

We will wrap up our hibernation unit with a ‘Hibernation Day” and our classroom will turn into caves and shelter places for our stuffed animals. You might hear a lot of snoring and roaring that day.

·         Come in your PJ’s

·         Bring your teddy bear (or stuffy)

·         Bring a blanket

GERMAN St. MARTIN’S FEST  (Lantern Parade)

Every year our preschool will celebrate St. Martin’s Day. Children will learn about the St.Martin legend and we invite you to join us for a lantern parade through the hallways at the end of class that day. There will be a poster hanging in the hallway with more information about this traditional holiday that many people in Germany and other countries in Europe celebrate in November.

SHOW & TELL

Show & Tell will start this week. Every day one child will get the opportunity to share/introduce a special item to our class. It could be a toy, a nature item, a picture etc.  Please check your monthly event calendar for your child’s assigned date.

Parents from each class have volunteered to make a Show & tell “Mystery Bag”. The bag will go home with your child the day before, and they bring their item in the bag the next school day. The children will ask the show & tell student questions to try to figure out what the show & tell item is. Your child will then share about his item when it is finally revealed. In the past, students have sometimes brought a grand parent, pet or new sibling for Show & tell. Obviously they wont fit in the bag! In this case you can let us know when “Show & Tell” arrives and the classroom will take the place of your mystery bag for the ‘the big reveal’! The kids can ask questions and then …ta dah!

We will also teach the children how to ask and answer certain questions in German. This is a great opportunity to expand their German vocabulary. Show and Tell will usually take place at the end of class. As always, all parents are welcome to join us for the last 10 minutes of class time. 

NOVEMBER DATES

5/6         Scholastic book order are due                                                                       
9            St. Martin Lantern parade (MWF class)

11           Remembrance Day, no school

12           PD Day, no school

13           STA Convention, no school

19           St. Martin Lantern Parade (Tue-Thu class)

23/24       Picture Day

26/27       “Hibernation Day”, come in your PJ’s and bring your teddy bear

30            Annual General Meeting @ 7p.m. (all parents are invited!!)

DECEMBER DATES

Thu 3       Nikolaus Visit/Celebration with families 10:40 – 11:40 p.m.

Fri 4        am class: Nikolaus/Visit Celebration with families 10:40 – 11:40 a.m.

Fri 4        pm class: Nikolaus/Visit celebration with families 2:15 – 3:15 p.m.

Thu 10     Brevoort Park School Winter/Christmas Concert @ 7 p.m.

             (Our preschool classes will be performing that night.)

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

Sincerely,

Uli Hecker, Ruth Skinner       

Susanne Pachal, Samina Roohi