December 2016 Newsletter
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. Communication
is the key for good relationships and our preschool community truly feels like
one big family! Please continue to contact us at any time if there is anything
that needs to be addressed, suggested or discussed.
Talking about communication, I
will copy some interesting parenting/teaching articles about developing social
skills and “How to communicate with a
child”. I personally find it sometimes very helpful to look at parenting views
from different angles.
LOOKING BACK
We celebrated St.Martin last
month and the children enjoyed their lantern walk and brought light into the
dark hallways by singing the German lantern song “Ich geh mit meiner Laterne”.
Our children had a blast at
our hibernation day! This is one thing that I like about being a preschool
teacher. Show me one other work place where you are allowed to show up in PJ’s!! I am sure you heard our little bears snoring
in their caves! We ate bear crackers and even gummy frogs, covered in brown
pudding (frogs hide under mud) disappeared in our mouth! J
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
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 (Turkey).
(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 5th
and Dec 6th. Please join us for traditional German “Christmas
Punch”, cookies and a children’s’ performance for Nikolaus!!
BREVOORT PARK WINTER/CHRISTMAS CONCERT: THURSDAY DEC 15TH
@ 7.OO P.M.
This year Brevoort Park School will have an
afternoon concert and an evening concert.
Evening
Concert: 7:00 pm (Large Gym)
The
concert STARTS at 7:00 p.m. We ask parents to bring their child to our classroom at 6:40 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 after the concert
We will
take the children back to the classroom after our 5 minutes 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 afternoon concert and you want him/her to watch the evening concert, please let us know.
Afternoon Concert: 1:00 p.m. (Large Gym)
- Even though it is not a regular class day for our students, we invite MWF students to participate in the afternoon concert. 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.
- At the afternoon concert, students will be able to watch the whole concert.
- Parents/Grandparents that can’t make it to the evening concert are welcome to come to the afternoon concert.
- I will send home a note and ask parents to RSVP to let us know if their child will be able to participate in the afternoon and/or evening concert.
- There is no specific dress code for our preschoolers. The Christmas concert however, is a wonderful opportunity to dress up!!
REGISTRATION and OPEN HOUSE for 2017/18 School
Year:January 17th 2017 @ 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Hansel & Gretel Preschool
will hold its Open House and Registration Night for the 2017/18 school year on
January 17thth 2017.
PRE-REGISTRATION FOR CURRENT FAMILIES: JAN 4TH
– JANUARY 17TH
All of our current families
will have the opportunity to pre-register! However, please consider registering
for the MWF a.m. class as well as MWF p.m. class. We will have to accommodate
the requests of ALL registering families.
Pre-registration for the
2016/17 School Year will begin on January 4th ! As of January 17th,
registration will be open to the general public and we will take registrations
on a first come first served basis.
DATES to REMEMBER:
Monday,
Dec 5th St. Nikolaus Celebration (a.m. class) 10:30 -11:45 a.m.
St. Nikolaus Celebration (p.m. class) 2: 00 - 3:15 p.m.
Tuesday,
Dec 6th St. Nikolaus Celebration (T-Th class)
10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
Thursday/Friday
Dec 8/9 Scholastic Book Orders are due
Friday,
Dec 9th All (sold/unsold) raffle books need to
be returned!
Thursday,
Dec 15th Christmas Concert @ 7:00 p.m. (drop off 6:40 p.m.)
(Optional)
Afternoon concert @ 1:00 p.m. (drop off 12:30 p.m.)
Wednesday,
Dec 21st Last day of school before Christmas
Break
Monday,
January 4th Classes resume
Jan 4 –
Jan 17 Pre-Registration
for 2017/18 School Year
Tuesday Jan
17th Registration
Night for 2017/18 school year @ 6:30 – 8 p.m.
Wednesday,
Jan 18th Brevoort Park Kindergarten Information Night @
7:00 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 our teachers, trying to come up
with theme related lyrics that match up the familiar tune of nursery songs.
Many of
our parents have told us that their children sing our German songs at home. Way
to go!! Here is another 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)
We wish
you all the best during this busy time of the year. Whatever winter celebration
your family celebrates, embrace it wholeheartedly! May the peace and joy of the
season fill your hearts and homes!
Enjoy
some special and joyous time with your wonderful children!
Uli
Hecker, Larissa Lorenz
Susanne
Pachal, Samina Roohi
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