Open House 2016

December Newsletter

December 2015 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

We are approaching the end of the year, and I cannot believe how quickly time flies. Have you realized how much all of our children have grown over the last few months? As much as we enjoy watching them grow I have moments when I wish they could just stay little forever.

Parent teacher Interviews

Thank you to all the parents who were able to come to our Parent Teacher Interviews. It was great to connect and celebrate all the wonderful things your child contributes to our class. Meeting with our parents has truly helped us to feel a stronger bond with our families. Please continue to contact us at any time if there is anything that needs to be addressed, suggested or discussed.

Our children had a blast at our hibernation day! Did you hear our little bears snoring in their caves? How can you explore “hibernation” with all your senses? You cover a gummy frog with pudding, blue jello and whipped cream. Then you take a spoon and eat the mud, the frog, the pond water and feel the snow melt in your mouth.

DECEMBER THEMES

December will be a relatively short month, and we will focus on activities that will evolve around winter and the Holiday Season. The visit of St. Nikolaus/ Nicolas will be one of the highlights of our theme for season. I am certain the children will remember him and the German tradition of filling children’s boots with fruit and chocolate. Speaking of cultural traditions, we always encourage families to share their own individual cultural traditions with us. Please feel to contact me if your family is celebrating a special holiday, that you would like to share with us. J

ST. NIKOLAUS (historical background)

Some of you might not be aware that the so well loved Santa Claus in North America was actually derived from St. Nikolaus of Myra.

(In order to avoid confusion between the two characters we have decided to not tell our little ones about the historical background of St. Nikolaus. We are just introducing the cultural tradition of filling the boots as celebrated in Germany.)

The legend goes back to the third century and took place in Myra, a small village in Turkey. A young man, named Nikolaus, who grew up in a wealthy family was famous for helping poor families and especially children. He was also concerned for the safety of sailors and ships. He became a bishop later in his life, and after his death was named a saint. Nikolaus died on December 6^th in AD 343. People in Germany (and other countries in the world) celebrate St. Nikolaus on the night of Dec 5^th/6^th. Every year, children put their boots on the front step, hoping that St. Nikolaus will come that night and fill them with fruit and treats.

We are looking forward to celebrating this cultural event with our children and families on Dec 3^rd and Dec 4^th. Please join us for traditional German “Christmas Punch”, cookies and a childrens’ performance for Nikolaus!!

Brevoort Park Winter/Christmas Concert: Thursday Dec 10^th @ 7.oo p.m.  

Drop off time: 6:30 p.m.

The concert STARTS at 7:00 p.m. We ask parents to bring their child to our classroom at 6:30 p.m. This will allow us to get them ready for the stage. There will be many families attending the concert and our little ones will be performing first, so please be on time!

Pick up

We will take the children back to the classroom after our 5 minute performance.

• If you are planning to leave after your child’s performance, please stand by the wall instead of taking seats, out of courtesy for the other audience. 
• Children can stay and play in our classroom until the end of the concert. 
• If your child has not seen the show at the rehearsal and you want him/her to watch the rest of the concert, please let us know and we will find a way to “sneak them back in”.

Dress Rehearsal: Thursday, Dec 10^th @ 9:30 a.m.

An optional dress rehearsal for the Brevoort Christmas Concert is on Thursday, Dec 10 at 9:30 a.m.

·      All T-Th students will be participating in the rehearsal as it will be during their regular class time.

·      MWF parents may bring their child (only) for the rehearsal. This is also a great opportunity for students to see the whole show. At the evening concert, children will be in the large gym (on the stage) only for their performance part and then go back to their classroom.

·         Parents are welcome to stay and watch the rehearsal.

·         If you have a M/W/F student and want him/her to participate for the rehearsal in the morning, please let us know by December 4th!

·      There is no specific dress code for our preschoolers. The rehearsal and the concert however, are a wonderful opportunity to dress up!!

REGISTRATION and OPEN HOUSE for 2016/17 School Year:

January 25^th 2016 @ 6:30 p.m. –  8:00 p.m.

Hansel & Gretel Preschool will hold its Open House on Monday, January 25^th 2016. This will also be the day when Registration for the fall will start. Last year, some of our classes filled up on the day of our Open House. We ask all current families, that want to enrol their child (or sibling), to pre-register with us, so we can  save you a spot in our 2016-17 M-W-F class.

PRE-REGISTRATION

Pre-registration for the 2016/17 School Year will begin on January 5th! As of January 25^th registration will be open to the general public and we will take registrations on a first come first served basis.

DATES to REMEMBER:

Thursday/Friday, Dec 3/4:      Scholastic Book Orders are due

                                                Picture orders due

Thursday, Dec 3^rd:                  St. Nikolaus Celebration  10:40 -11:40 a.m.

Friday, Dec 4^th:                       St. Nikolaus Celebration  10:40 - 11:40 a.m.

                                               St. Nikolaus Celebration   2:15 - 3:15 p.m.

Thursday, Dec 10^th          9:30 a.m. Dress Rehearsal 9:30 a.m. (MWF students optional)

Thursday, Dec 10^th         Christmas Concert @ 7:00 p.m. (drop off 6:30p.m.)

Friday, Dec 18^th              Last day of school before Christmas Break

Monday, January 4^th       Classes resume

Monday January 25^th 2016/17 School Year Registration and Open House for new     families 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

German Songs and Rhymes

We have learned a number of English and German songs and rhymes in the past couple months. Many of the German songs that we learn have the tune of an English nursery rhyme/song. Most of these songs are made up by us teachers,  trying  to come up with theme related lyrics that match up the familiar tune of nursery songs.

It was very rewarding to hear that many of our students sing German songs at home. Way to go!!  Here is one song that we will sing this month:

WINTER IST HIER  (tune “Frere Jacques”)

Winter ist hier! Winter ist hier!            (winter is here)

Schau dich um! Schau dich um!              (look around)

Schneeflocken fallen                             (snowflakes are falling)

Schneebaelle fliegen                             (snowballs are flying)

Eins – Zwei – Drei                                  (one-two-three)

Here are some winter words that you might want to use at home as well:

Jacke – yak’uh (jacket), Muetze-Mutzah (touque), Schal-shaal (scarf), Handschuh-hand’shoe/heh (mitten/s), Schuhe-shoe/’heh (shoe/s)

Check your indoor shoes

We noticed that some of our student’s indoor shoes are getting too small. Please check periodically if their shoes still fit their growing feet.

Frau Hecker will be gone from December 15 -23. Her last day of teaching will be Monday, Dec 14.

Frau Skinner will be filling in for Frau Hecker. The last day of school will be Friday, Dec 18^th.

If you need to contact Frau Skinner during that week, please call (306) 292-6335 or email prskinner@sasktel.net

We wish you all a happy holiday season filled with family and friends. Enjoy your kids as they grow up so fast!!!!

Merry Christmas!                        Frohe Weihnachten!

Happy New Year                          Gutes Neues Jahr!

Uli Hecker, Ruth Skinner

Susanne Pachal, Samina Roohi