December Newsletter

December 2017 Newsletter                             

Dear Parents,

We are quickly approaching the end of the year, and it shows how time has flown by! It seems like yesterday that we had started our school year in September. At the same time we have seen so much growth and exciting changes in all of our children. Not only their little feet have grown, their interest about the world around them has expanded so much. Your children are filling our “buckets” with their unconditional love, trust in the world and the many hugs we are getting from them on a daily basis. This is the most rewarding (and priceless) part of being a preschool teacher!

LOOKING BACK

We celebrated St. Martin last month and both the children and visiting parents enjoyed the little lantern parade that we had at the end of class time that day.

Hibernation Celebration Day was a blast and most of our activities took place in the many caves that we had set up around the classroom.

The highlight was a visit from Nikolaus. He was very impressed by how many songs and rhymes the students had learned. In return, our preschoolers were very excited to get their boots filled with some special treats. Thank you to all the parents and family members that had joined us for this very special event! Another big Thank You goes out to all families that have brought cookies to share with us!

DECEMBER ACTIVITIES

This month will be full of fun, learning and enjoying the special season.

December will be a relatively short month, and we will focus on activities that revolve around winter and the Holiday Season.

Speaking of Holiday Season and cultural traditions, we always encourage families to share their cultural traditions with us. Whenever your family is celebrating a special holiday or season, please let us know. Our children love to hear and learn about their friend’s heritage and special traditions.

Children in Need: Collection  of Winter Clothes

For many people December is a special month of giving and helping people that are in need. Brevoort Park School is collecting gently used warm winter clothing such as jackets, ski pants, boots, mitts, toques, and scarf donations which will be delivered to children in other schools who are in need as well as like-new-books. Please consider sending any of these items to school with your child to support this cause. The donation box is located in the front of the school.

PRE - REGISTER  for 2018/19  SCHOOL YEAR  (December 10^th  – January 15^th)

We ask all of our families to let us know if your child will be returning next school year. Students, currently enrolled in our program have the opportunity to pre-register until January 15^th.

As of Monday Night, January 15^th 2018, registration will be open to the general public and we will take registrations at our Open House & Registration Night on a first come first served basis.

Please contact us, either via email or in person if your child will be returning for the

2018-19 school year.

I will also hang a list in the hallway where you can sign up for the upcoming school year.

DATES to REMEMBER:

December 20: Winter Carnival 6:30 – 8 p.m.

This year, Brevoort Park School will be hosting a winter carnival (instead of a Christmas Concert). Families will be able to participate in a variety of activities both inside the school (crafts, bingo, carolling, photo booth, hot chocolate and a book and outside activities (sledding, skating, smooshing).

Wednesday, Dec 21/22            Last day of school before Christmas Break

Monday, Jan 8                          Classes resume

Monday, Jan 15                       Deadline for Pre-Registration for 2018/19 School Year

Monday, Jan 15                        Registration Night for 2018/19 school year @ 6:30 – 8 p.m.  

                                                (pre-registered  families will not have to attend)   

Wednesday, Jan 17                  Brevoort Park Kindergarten Information Night @ 7:00 p.m.

We wish you all the best during this busy time of the year.

Whatever winter celebration your family celebrates, embrace it wholeheartedly!

Thank you for the gift of working and learning with your precious children!

Merry Christmas, “Frohe Weihnachten”  & Best of Wishes for 2018!

Uli Hecker & Larissa Lorenz

Story time on December 2!

November Newsletter

HANSEL & GRETEL PRESCHOOL

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents,                                                                                    

The last month seems to have flown by! Our pre-schoolers enjoyed many different fall activities. Sticking their little hands in a pumpkin and scooping seeds out with their fingers turned into a memorable experience for many of the children. We read the book “The Runaway pumpkin” and learned many new Fall related rhymes and songs.  Our students took pumpkins outside and watched them roll down the hill. We also pretended to be a flock of geese, honking and “flying” through the park in a shape of a “V”.

The highlight was our field trip to Dutch Growers Hay maze. All of our little ones found their way out of the maze! Way to go! Thank you to all parents and grand parents who were able to join us for this fun trip. Your help was greatly appreciated!

NOVEMBER THEME: HOW DO ANIMALS PREPARE FOR THE WINTER?

As a continuation of our Fall unit, the children will learn about how different animals prepare for  winter and adapt to the cold. We will start off by talking about what happens to animals’ bodies when they hibernate and go into deep sleep. We will study a variety of different animals (bears, birds, squirrels, frogs, ladybugs, etc.) and learn about how they protect themselves from the cold.

GERMAN St. MARTIN’S FEST  (Lantern Parade): TUE-THU CLASS NOV 16

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

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: MONDAY, NOV 20 @ 7P.M.

Hansel & Gretel Preschool will hold their AGM on Monday, Nov 20st @ 7p.m. In order for our preschool to run smoothly and to develop goals  we rely on the support of our families. Please consider attending this meeting! The AGM is another unique chance to meet parents and board members from our preschool.

HIBERNATION CELEBRATION DAY: TUE-THU CLASS NOV 21 (M-W-F CLASS NOV 22)

(Children are welcome to wear their Pj’s and bring their favourite stuffy or Teddy)

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!

NOVEMBER DATES

Monday 6/7	Scholastic Book Orders are due; Care Partner activities
Thursday 9	PD day, no school
Friday 10	S.T.A. Convention, no school
Monday 13	Stat. Holiday (Remembrance Day), no school
Tuesday 14	Picture Day Tue-Thu class
Wed 15, Thur 16	St. Martin Lantern parade (last 15 minutes of class time, please join us)
Monday 20	Annual General Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
Tue 21, Wed 22	Hibernation Day (come in your PJ’s and bring your teddy or favourite stuffy)

DECEMBER DATES

Tue 5, Wed 6     Nikolaus Visit and Celebration

(All families are invited to celebrate with us from 10:00 -11:45 a.m.) We would greatly appreciate if you could bring some Christmas baking/cookies on that day. We will provide coffee, tea, hot chocolate and traditional German mulled fruit punch.

Dec 21/22         Last Day before Christmas break. School will resume January 8, 2018

Frau Lorenz will be filling in for Frau Hecker and lead teaching from November 23 – Nov 29.

If you need to contact her during this time, please call her at: 306 220-4830 or email riss@sasktel.net

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

Sincerely,

Uli Hecker    

                                                                                                           

Open House 2018/2019

Story time on October 7th

October Newsletter

What a great first month of preschool we have had! We were lucky enough to play outside most days, and explore the changing of the season. We gathered leaves, listened to the wind, crows and crunching leaves. Our children experienced this by using their senses, allowing them to see, feel, hear and even smell fall. Some of you might have heard your child singing our German song “Herbst ist hier”. We will now start, keeping an eye out for geese flying in a V shape, and leaving for warmer places.

HOW DO YOU FILL A BUCKET?

This month we will read a variety of books that talk about  “How To Fill a Bucket”.  We already see many of our children  “filling buckets” every day by using their gentle hands, using kind words, sharing and taking turns. If we catch them “scooping” instead of filling their friend's buckets, we provide them with tools and teach them how to “refill a bucket”.  Reflecting on our own behaviour or choices, and saying  “sorry” can sometimes go a long way! J

Over the last few weeks, we took pictures of our students during playtime as they were sharing, taking turns, picking up toys, inviting each other to play and having fun together. Please come and take a look at our “bucket fillers”! Their pictures are hanging  on our bulletin board in the hallway!

OCTOBER THEME: FALL and THANKSGIVING,

Many of our October activities will revolve around “FALL” and “FRIENDSHIP”. Our students will learn about the changes in season. We will cut open pumpkins and apples to explore the inside. Often times our fall activities will include counting, sorting and classifying different nature items such as pine cones, sticks, leaves etc.

The kids really enjoy our “nature sensory bin” and like to cover up (pretend) ladybugs with leaves.

Thanksgiving Holiday is coming up next weekend and we will take the opportunity to think about what we are thankful for. Our care partners from grade 3/4 will visit us and make a little “friendship” craft with our pre-schoolers.

FIELD TRIP to DUTCH GROWERS HAY MAZE: OCTOBER 27th

All of our classes will be going on a chartered field trip to Dutch Growers Greenhouse Hay Maze.

We will need helping hands for this day. If you can join us, please let us know. There will be a sign up list hanging in the hallway. Thank you in advance for volunteering your time!

FIELD TRIP SCHEDULE

Our bus will be leaving at 9:10 a.m. and we will be back at the school by 11:00 a.m.

·      Children will be dismissed at their regular end of class time. Please inform your teacher if you are taking/picking up your child earlier (e.g. after the actual field trip) that day.

·      Snacks will be provided on our field trip day. However, if you would like to bring a special snack to share with our class, please let us know.

Costumes

      -  M-W-F students are welcome to wear a costume on the day of their field trip (Oct 27^th).

      -  T-Th students will have a chance to dress up on:

           Tuesday, Oct 31^st: We will have a little Halloween Party.

           (On either day costumes are optional but not required.)

LETTER RECOGNITION

We will be introducing our students to the letters of the alphabet throughout the year. The most exciting activity for each child is to identify the letters in their own name. Many of the children already recognize some letters in their name.

LINES and CURVES

We have introduced all of our children to the terms “lines” and “curves” and played around with wooden lines and curves. All letters of the alphabet are made of curves and lines! Here is one way to get excited about letters. Have your child look at his name and spy for letters that have long lines, short lines, big curves and little curves.

“Hase” our bunny in the magic hat, will pull wooden lines and curves out of his magic hat every week.  He shows the children how to form the letter of the week and also introduces the sound of it. Don’t be surprised if your child is having snack at home and starts to stutter  “b-b-b anana”! Banana starts with a “B”. Yippie!

BATHROOM

Thank you for taking your child to the bathroom before class starts. We have had way more playtime and less bathroom traffic lately. Please remind your child to let us know if he/she needs to go the bathroom.

CARE PARTNERS

We are very fortunate to provide care partners for our little ones. Each of our pre-schoolers will have his/her own care partner. These are Brevoort Park School students from grade 3/4. Usually, our care partner friends will come and visit us once a month. Sometimes they will help with a special craft, read a book or simply play with their assigned pre-schooler.

SHOW & TELL: 11:30 – 11:40 a.m.

We will start with Show & Tell this month. Each day one designated student will get to bring one item from home. It could be a special toy, a picture, a souvenir or simply something from nature. You can support your child by preparing him/her to say a few sentences about their “special item”.

If you (or someone else from your family/day care staff member) would like to watch your child for the 10 minutes of sharing, please join us at the end of the day.

Sharing will usually be at the end of class. However, if 9:00 a.m. works better for you as a parent to join us, we are happy to accommodate you.

LAST CIRCLE TIME: 11:40 A.M. – 11.45 A.M.

After show & Tell is done, ALL parents/care givers are invited to come into the classroom and join us!

We will provide you with information about your child’s day and upcoming events and activities for the week.

THANK YOU’s

·           Thank you for teaching your child how to get dressed for outside. We see many of your children trying really hard to do it “all by myself”. 

·           Thank you for teaching your child how to cover their sneeze and coughs with their sleeve (not with their hands).

·           Thank you for always checking your mailbox after class.

·           Thank you for taking off your (and your child’s) wet footwear when you walk inside the building.

·           Thank you to Mrs. Masiowski for taking care of our monthly book orders from Scholastic.

DATES TO REMEMBER (please mark your calendar!)

Our school follows the Public School calendar. All statutory holidays, professional Development Days (PD days) and breaks are observed.

October

Mon/Tue Oct 2/3           Scholastic book orders are due

Wed, Oct 4                    Picture Day M-W-F class

Fri, Oct 6                       PD - no school

Sat, Oct 7                      German-English Family Story Time

                                      with Frau Hecker @ Mayfair Library from 2-2:30 p.m.

Mo Oct 9                       Thanksgiving Day Holiday (no class)

Thu Oct 26                   T-Th class Field Trip to Dutch Growers Hay Maze*

Fri Oct 27                      M-W-F class Field Trip to Dutch Growers Hay Maze*

(*We will need 6 parent helpers/chaperones for each class!! There is a sign up list hanging in the hallway.)

Mon, Oct 30                  Picture re-take day

November

Thu, Nov 9                       PD - no school                 

Fri, Nov 10                       STA Convention – no school

Mon, Nov 13                    Stat. Holiday Remembrance Day – no school

Fri, Nov 24                       Regular class for MWF class!

December

Nikolaus Celebration  (mark your calendar!)

Nikolaus will visit our class. All families are invited to join us for a traditional Nikolaus celebration and a special children’s performance

Tue, Dec  5   (T-Th class)                 Nikolaus Celebration from 10:00 -11:45 a.m.

Wed, Dec 6  (M-W-F class)              Nikolaus Celebration from 10:00 -11:45 a.m.

                      

OKTOBER “GERMAN HERITAGE MONTH”

In December 2016, the Canadian Parliament officially declared October “German heritage Month in order to “recognize the contributions that German-Canadians have made to Canadian Society.

There will be a variety of events happening in the Province during this month. Please find the poster hanging in the hallway or go on the SGC website www.saskgermancouncil.org

On this website you will find many important dates and special events that are happening within the German-Canadian Community. You can also sign up to receive the SGC monthly newsletter.

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

Sincerely,

Uli Hecker, Larissa Lorenz