Registration information for 2021-2022

 

Dear Parents,

Registration information for the next school year will be available in early January!

However, here are some dates to keep in mind:

January 4: Preregistration for currently enrolled families

January 19: Online  for school year 2021-2022

Open Spots!

 

We have 4 open spots in our current Tuesday -Thursday class. (3 /4 year old class)

For more information please call Uli Hecker at (306) 281-4428!

November 2020

 

HANSEL & GRETEL PRESCHOOL

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

 

Winter has officially arrived! I hope everyone made it sound and safe through the first blizzard of the year! At least we now have enough snow to make snow angels, snowmen, build pretend caves for animals etc. We will continue to go on (short) nature walks in the morning and play in the snow as our students come dressed for the weather anyways. Our “magic forest” will provide shelter for us while we are fueling up with oxygen and strengthen our immune system. We haven’t had any kids sick for quite a while and being out in nature might have played a part in this.

Thank you so much parents for dressing your child warm enough that he/she can fully enjoy our daily part of outdoor learning!! Once the wind chill makes it difficult to “move” our little bodies, we will of course spend most of our teaching days inside! For now, we will play it by ear and just try to keep outside time fun, for as long as we can.

 

NOVEMBER THEMES

WINTER WONDERLAND

This month most activities will evolve around “WINTER”. We will provide our children with fun activities such as:

·         Snow experiments

·         snowflake counting activities

·         Winter crafts

·         Printing with snow and ice

·         Winter sensory activities (colouring snow, finding letters etc.)

·         Winter themed literacy

GERMAN CULTURAL EVENT: ST. MARTIN (LANTERN FESTIVAL)

 

Your child might have already told you about the legend of St. Martin, that we had introduced to our classes last week. The children were quite fascinated by the story of Martin, a soldier that shared his red cape with an old poor man who was lost in the dark and freezing in the snow. In this context, we talked to our preschoolers about the importance of caring for others and how we can “fill buckets” in our everyday life by sharing and being kind to each other. Your child will bring home a little lantern that he/she has made. We hope it will bring light into your homes as well! All across Germany, children celebrate St.Martin  by joining lantern parades at night, singing Martin songs and warming up around a big bon fire at the end of the night. If you would like to know more about this cultural event you can find many links on You Tube.

In this context, we wish all students that will be celebrating “Diwali” (a different festival of lights) this weekend, a wonderful time with their family!

FUNDRAISER:  MOM’S PANTRY (orders are due Nov 23)

If you are interested in supporting our program and to raise funds for Hansel & Gretel Preschool, MOM’S PANTRY is a great opportunity to purchase high quality food and baking products for yourself, friends or family. We have more order forms and catalogues at the school if you would like to give some to friends or family.   If you are considering/preferring a monetary donation instead, feel free to contact us and we will give you more information.

Thank you very much to Brianne Semenchuk (fundraiser committee) for helping our preschool to find ways to maintain a high-quality Early Learning Program! If you have any questions regarding fundraising, please email Brianne: brisemenchuk@gmail.com

 

PICTURE DAY: Nov 12/13

This week a photographer will come into our classroom and take individual pictures of each preschooler.

The estimated gallery days for parents to look at the pictures will be Nov 22 - Nov 30.

Orders will be due Nov 30^th. 

 

SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS

Thank you, Miranda Lettrari for taking over the Scholastic Book orders. This is another unique way to support literacy skills and to foster your child’s love for reading!

A big THANK YOU goes out to Frau Schneider who has offered to help and volunteer her time in our T-Th class for the upcoming weeks.

Thank you, parents for helping us by supporting your child to become more independent and put on jackets, shoes etc. by themselves or only with little help!

 

DRESS FOR THE WEATHER

A friendly reminder to from now on wear:

·         warm snow pants or snow suit

·         warm and water repellent mittens (long enough to cover wrist)

·         warm winter jacket, toque, (if necessary, face cover)

·         warm snow boots

DATES TO REMEMBER

NOVEMBER

Nov 9    PD Day, no school

Nov 11   Remembrance Day, no school

Nov 12   Picture Day (no outside play that day)

Nov 13   Picture Day (no outside play that day)

Nov 26   MOM’S PANTRY order forms are due

Nov 30   Picture orders are due

 

DECEMBER

Dec 21 – Jan 3        Christmas Break, no school

Jan 4/5                   First day of school after the break

 

Winter Words German

Schnee (snow)

Schneemann (snowman)

Schneeflocke (snowflake)

Schnee Engel (snow angel)

Jacke (jacket)

Schneehose (snowpants)

Muetze (toque)

Handschuhe (mitts)

Schal (scarf)

Stiefel (boots)

 

We will continue to provide you with pictures of our  activities at preschool and hope that being part of the What’s App group helps you to get an idea of what we are doing and how much fun your child is having in preschool!

If you should ever have any questions or concerns, please email or text me!

We are looking forward to our first winter fun month!

Stay safe! Stay warm! Stay happy!

 

Kind Regards,

Uli Hecker & Larissa Lorenz

October 2020

 

HANSEL & GRETEL PRESCHOOL

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

 

Dear Parents,

We had a great start into the preschool year! Thanks so much to all the parents who joined us for the staggered beginning day. It will be a different school year for all of us, and I am glad that we had a chance to meet you in person and introduce our program.

After many months of social isolation, it is heartwarming to see children playing together again and making new friends.  Our main goal for the upcoming weeks is to focus on social skills and providing a warm and caring environment for all our children.  

Thank you to Wendy Schneider, the president of the preschool board, who volunteered for the last 2 weeks and helped us with the transitioning process.  

OUTDOOR LEARNING & EXPLORATION

We will continue to spend a big part of our day outside. Our students love to run and roll up and down the big hill in the park. You might have noticed that your child is a bit tired by the end of the preschool day. That is completely normal, especially at the beginning of the year.  Getting lots of fresh air and outside play will help your child to strengthen their immune system but also to develop important gross motor skills. We do a lot of balance walks on logs and natural balance beams. Even we as teachers get a personal workout every time when the children chase us up and down the big hill! J 

LEARNING WITH ALL YOUR SENSES

Children learn best when we allow them to use all their senses. Nature is the biggest classroom and children learn through touching, hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing. We take them on “listening walks” through the little forest by the school. Today one the students asked “Are we going to the wonderland forest”?  We often stop on our walk, and just listen to the sound of the woods, watch leaves dancing in the wind, smell the wet gras, touch rough and smooth barks of trees and of course sing our fall songs.  I heard that many kids ate their potatoe at home that we had pulled out of the school garden last week. That's how you “taste” fall! J

NUMBERS & LETTERS are FUN!

Just in case you were wondering why your child brought home a little stick the other day:  We introduced the letter “A” this week. We asked each child to find some sticks and form the letter “A”.  For as long as we can be outside, nature will be our classroom. Many schools are switching to more paperless teaching. Early Childhood research shows that children learn best through hands- on activities and less through work sheets. Rather than only tracing on paper, we encourage our students to form and trace letters with materials like sticks, chalk, spray bottles etc. We build letters out of playdough by rolling big lines, little lines and big curves and little curves. You should have seen how proud they all were when they showed us their playdough letter “A” this week.

One little boy looked at his playdough “A”, realizing that his name starts with an “A”. He was so excited that he screamed: “This is Aaaaaamazing”! Hurray for “A”! J

Counting happens throughout the day, when we count and sort items by size, colour, shape etc. Many of our children are already counting along in German and using colour words like “gruen” (green), “rot” (red), “gelb” and “brown” when we sort “Blaetter” (leaves).

WHATS APP as PRESCHOOL PICTURE and COMMUNICATION APP

Many of our preschool families have agreed to be part of a preschool class group app.  This will allow us to share pictures of our learning and play activities. Pictures speak more than words and are a great tool to capture and share these precious moments.  We kindly ask parents to NOT share or re-post any of the pictures on Social Media as we respect the privacy of our children and their families! Thank you for your consideration!

FRIENDLY REMINDER

·    The days can be a bit chilly as fall is in the air. Please dress your child accordingly and in layers.

·    Please continue to teach your child (and allow them the time) to dress and putting on shoes, all by themselves. There are little funny videos on you tube on how to teach and help your child with this.

·    If your child is absent, please text or call Frau Hecker (306) 281-4428 with a reason for absence.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

OCTOBER

·         Monday, Oct 12               Thanksgiving Holiday (no school)

·         Monday, Oct 26^th             PD day, no class

·         Thursday 29/Friday 30:     Halloween Fun Day

Children are welcome to wear a costume and bring their own special creative snack for that day. Due to COVID19 safety protocol we can’t provide or share food with the class. However, your child is welcome to bring his/her own special snack and treat to eat that day (nut free please).

 

NOVEMBER

·         Monday, Nov 9               PD day, no class

·         Wednesday, Nov 11          Remembrance Day, no school

·         Thursday 12                    Picture day (class photos)

·         Friday 13                         Picture day (class photos)

 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your family!  

Kind Regards,

Uli Hecker & Larissa Lorenz