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 6th in AD 343. People in Germany
(and other countries in the world) celebrate St. Nikolaus on the night of Dec 5th/6th.
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 3rd and Dec 4th.
Please join us for traditional German “Christmas Punch”, cookies and a
childrens’ performance for Nikolaus!!
Brevoort Park Winter/Christmas Concert: Thursday Dec 10th
@ 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 10th
@ 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 25th 2016 @ 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Hansel & Gretel
Preschool will hold its Open House on Monday, January 25th 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 25th 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 3rd: St. Nikolaus Celebration 10:40 -11:40 a.m.
Friday, Dec 4th: St. Nikolaus Celebration 10:40 - 11:40 a.m.
St. Nikolaus Celebration 2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
Thursday, Dec 10th 9:30
a.m. Dress Rehearsal 9:30 a.m. (MWF students optional)
Thursday, Dec 10th Christmas Concert @ 7:00 p.m. (drop
off 6:30p.m.)
Friday, Dec 18th
Last day of school before Christmas Break
Monday, January 4th Classes resume
Monday January 25th
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 18th.
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
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