November Newsletter

 HANSEL & GRETEL PRESCHOOL

 NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents,                                                                                    

The last month seems to have flown by! Our preschoolers enjoyed many different fall activities. The students learned about Harvest and vegetables. Sticking their little hands in a pumpkin and scooping seeds out with their fingers turned into a memorable experience for many of our children. We read the book “The Runaway pumpkin” and some of our classes took pumpkins outside and watched them roll 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 who were able to join us for the fun trip.

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 the deep sleep.

Each class will study a variety of different animals (bears, birds, squirrels, frogs, ladybugs, etc.) and how they protect themselves from the cold.

HIBERNATION CELEBRATION DAY: Monday, November 28th

We will wrap up our hibernation unit with our annual ‘Hibernation Day” and our classroom will turn into caves and shelter places for our little “bears”. You might hear a lot of snoring and roaring that day. Hibernation games like “sleeping quietly in your cave” are a perfect activity to practice lock down drills. During a School lock down drill the students are supposed to gather in the corner of our classroom and stay very quiet for about 5 minutes !

GERMAN St. MARTIN’S FEST  (Lantern Parade): Monday, November 7th

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 month. 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.

In the past, students have sometimes brought a grandparent, pet or new sibling for Show & Tell. Obviously they wont fit in our “mystery bag”.  In this case, just let us know when “Show & Tell” arrives. J We will also teach the children how to ask and answer simple questions in German. This is a great opportunity to expand their German vocabulary.

Show and Tell usually takes place at the end of class unless you wish to have your child’s show and tell at the beginning of his/her day. As always, all parents are welcome to join us for the last 10 minutes of the day.

LETTER RECOGNITION/FORMATION

We started teaching our students about letter formation last month. They love the song “Where do you start your letters” (at the top)! Our “letter bunny” has taught our kids that each letter is made of, either long lines, short lines or curves. It’s so funny to see how excited some of our children get when they discover and identify lines and curves in the letters of their names.

NOVEMBER DATES

Monday 7            Scholastic Book Orders are due                           

                      St. Martin Lantern parade (last 15 minutes of class time)

Wednesday 9        Care partners (outside play)

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

Thursday 10         PD Day (no school)

Friday 11            Remembrance Day (no school)

Monday 14           S.T.A. Convention (no school)

Monday 28           Hibernation Day (come in your PJ’s and bring a blanket)

DECEMBER DATES

Monday 5      Nikolaus Visit and Celebration with families

                 am class:  10:40 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.

                 pm class:  2:00 p.m. –  3:15 p.m.

Thursday 15   Brevoort Park School Winter/Christmas Concert @ 7 p.m.

                 ( MWF students  will be performing that night.)

Due to different commitments/appointments there will be a few days this month that some of our staff members will have to fill in for each other. We are very excited that Ruth Skinner, who is on a personal leave, will be subbing on 2 days.

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

Sincerely,

Uli Hecker