Tuesday 2 April 2019

April 2019

Hello Parents,

Is it safe to finally say: “Spring is here”? Our pre-schoolers are convinced that it has arrived!  On our first nature walk last week we heard birds and we looked at snow that was quickly melting away.  You should have seen our little nature explorers collecting rocks and sticks in the  “little forest” beside the school.  It made my day to see them making pretend fires out of sticks and looking for animal footprints.  Another fun activity was exploring the  “wonders of mud” by using toy trucks to move around dirt and delivering rocks. 

Some of our children were so excited that they wanted to stay in the forest all day!!
It has always been my dream to open an “Outdoor Preschool” like they have in many places of Europe.  I guess, living in Saskatchewan where winters can last 6 months, I will have to put that dream “on hold”.

APRIL THEME
WHAT is GROWING in SPRING?

In honour of springtime, and fueled by our interest in exploring nature we are going to be learning all about GROWING. This is a topic that has all the children buzzing! They are increasingly aware that they are growing bigger and bigger each day and we will embrace their growth by looking at baby pictures.  (We ask you to please bring a baby picture of your child).
We are going to look into different life cycles of plants in our science area, including sprouting bean seeds in the windows and planting grass on a “dirt head”.
As part of this Spring unit, we will also talk about baby animals being born in Spring.

EASTER TRADITION IN GERMANY
I would like to introduce some of the cultural traditions of how people in Germany and many other countries in the world embrace spring and Easter.
One tradition is to paint and decorate raw eggs (blow out the yolk first) and hang the eggs on willow branches.  Our children will decorate craft eggs that are representing the symbol for new life.  You will be able to see the eggs hanging  in our classroom.
I will also be doing some traditional Easter baking (yeast dough nests) and share them with our students. Of course we will have some extra samples for parents to taste!

Thank Yous
·         A HUGE Thank You goes to our community helpers Mr. Semenchuk, Mr. Perrin, Mr. Fedorchuk, Mr. Cherneski and Mrs. Cherwoniak for being our special guests last month. We truly appreciate your willingness to volunteer your time and teach our little ones about your profession with so much passion!
·         Thank you to all parents that have participated in the SPF raffle ticket fundraiser.
With your support this combined fundraiser raised  $ 768.00!!
Hansel & Gretel Preschool will get to keep $ 384.00 and the proceeds will be spent on the purchase of new gym equipment and educational toys.

Mark your Calendar
APRIL
 4/5            Scholastic Book Order due.
19              Good Friday (no school)
22-26         Easter Break (no school)
MAY
17             PD Day (no school)
20             Victoria Day (no school)
22             Sneak Peek Afternoon (for 2019/20 NEW students)
JUNE
4                Combined Field Trip with both classes (MWF&Tue/Thu) to Mother Earth Greenhouse
13              Year End Celebration and Potluck with all families 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (last day for T-Th class))
14              Year End Celebration and Potluck with all families 11 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  (last day for MWF class)

We hope that many of our families will be able to join us for the year-end celebration. Please mark your calendar!
Please don’t forget to check out the picture gallery on facebook!

HAPPY SPRING!
Uli Hecker & Larissa Lorenz