The first month of preschool has flown by! We had a fantastic start into the preschool year. It was so nice to meet our new families at the sneak peek visit. Thank you to all families that attended our Information Night. I hope it helped you to gain a deeper insight and better understanding of our curriculum and teaching philosophy. Due to the (still ongoing) pandemic and for the benefit of our students a lot of play and learning will be happening outside.
We are blessed to be surrounded by beautiful green spaces behind our school. For the second year in a row, the park has turned into our “extended classroom”. We already see the calming effect of nature play and what an amazing impact it has on the emotional and social well being of children. We truly value the importance of play and the effect it has on a child’s development. Nature play not only shapes the brain, but also opens doors for imagination and fuels the soul of children. Our goal is to allow children to learn and play in a sensory rich and natural learning environment that helps each child to flourish and grow at their own pace.
FALL THEMES
The magic month of October is upon us. It is my favourite month of the year and even our children can’t get enough of the amazing and ever changing colours of the leaves.
As I had mentioned at the Information Night, the majority of preschool themes will evolve around the four seasons and specific holidays throughout the year.
Last week we talked about Harvest and how fruits and vegetables grow differently. We “investigated” potato plants and the inside of an apple. Naturally, the majority of children thought that potatoes grow on a tree (just like apples). You should have seen the excitement when our students pulled potatoes out of the ground. Some of the potatoes we sent home, turned into hash browns or mashed potatoes!! What a great wrap up of our “natural science project”!
This month will be filled with more Fall related activities. Please start looking for birds in the sky, leaving for warmer places. Pretty soon you will hear our little ones honking in the park!
Thanksgiving is coming up soon and we already started working on turkey crafts.
October is “pumpkin month” and children will get to explore the inside of a pumpkin and carry/roll pumpkins up and down the hill.
A lot of counting, sorting, categorizing by sizes and of course pumpkin stories and rhymes will be part of this fun “Fall Unit”.
Halloween
We will have a Halloween Party for each of our classes on Thursday, October 28th/Friday October 29th. Children are welcome to dress up for that day. I will send out more information closer to the date.
NAME RECOGNITION
Part of our daily morning routine is to find your name tag and place it in a box for “Maedchen” (girl) or “Junge” (boy). It helps students to look at the letters in their name and to identify the different “lines” and “curves” in each letter of their name.
As I had mentioned at our Information Night, we will introduce letters joyfully and letter bunny in the magic hat helps us with that. We mainly focus on letter formation (rather than printing) by using the terms “lines” and “curves”, e.g letter A has 2 “big lines” and 1 “little line”. Early Childhood research shows that hands of little children are developmentally not ready yet to write small print letters. The main reason is that fine motor muscles are not developed enough yet at that young age. We provide our children with lots of activities that help them to improve their fine motor skills. Pinching, rolling, squeezing and pressing items such as play dough is a fun way to strengthen small muscle of little hands. Tweezers, tongues, cloth pins etc. are great household tools to help with this at home.
COUNTING
Our preschoolers are counting throughout the day and as we play. This could include counting students, letters in their names, leaves, clouds, dots on lady bugs, etc. We also play “I spy” games in the hallway and outside. Numbers are everywhere!!! We usually count in English and in German.
GERMAN
We are beginning to slowly introduce basic German vocabulary such as colours and numbers to our first- year preschoolers. Returning students are starting to learn new songs and rhymes in German.
As you can imagine, teaching a different language is challenging when wearing a mask. Children have to rely on the sound of the words without seeing and “reading” lips. We might not get as much German as usual under our belt, but it is heart-warming to see all of our children singing their German songs in class. I will record some of the singing and share it with you through our what’s app group.
SICK POLICY
We will continue to follow all public health guidelines and safety protocols related to COVID 19 to ensure that our little ones are as safe as possible. Thank you for keeping your child at home when they have any cold like symptoms.
We all know that sneezes can sneak up on us sometimes. We would appreciate if you could teach your child how to cover a sneeze or cough with the elbow (elbow/sleeve pushed against the nose).
In regard to snacks: If you send pre-packaged items (cheese strings, granola bars etc.), it would be helpful to have a corner started/pre- cut so that it is easier for your child to open and doesn’t require extra handling. Thanks for your support!
We would like to also let you know that all staff members (and substitute teachers) in our preschool are double vaccinated.
TEACHER ABSENCE
As you know Larissa Lorenz was absent for the second week of school. I would like to express my deep condolences to her and her family. After a long struggle with cancer her brother passed away in September.
I will have to fly to Germany unexpectedly this weekend as my mother passed away this Tuesday. I will be gone from October 4-12. Larissa Lorenz will be lead teaching. Wendy Schneider (volunteer president of H&G Preschool) will be assisting Larissa during my absence.
Please contact Larissa Lorenz @ 306-220-4830 if you have any questions or concerns while I am gone.
MOM’S PANTRY FUNDRAISER
As you might know Hansel & Gretel Preschool is a NON -PROFIT ORGANIZATION. In order to maintain a high quality Early Learning Childhood program and to run our program smoothly we rely on extra funds from organizations as SGC (Saskatchewan German Council) and fundraisers supported by families and friends.
Brianne Semenchuck (Emily’s mom) who coordinates fundraisers for our preschool will send out more information on the MOM’s Pantry Fundraiser soon.
DATES to REMEMBER
SEPTEMBER
Thu 30: National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (no class)
OCTOBER
Monday 11 Thanksgiving Day (no class)
Thursday 28 Halloween Party
Friday 29 Halloween Party
NOVEMBER
Thursday 4 Picture Day
Friday 5 Picture Day
Monday 8 PD Day (no class)
Thursday 11 Remembrance Day (no class)
Friday 12 no class
OUTDOOR PLAY
We will continue to take our classes outside, ideally, every day. This will help our little ones to strengthen their gross motor muscles but also to build their immune system. Please ensure that your child is always dressed for the weather and wearing shoes that allow them to run and climb.
Hip Hip Hooray again for an amazing and joyful start into the preschool year!
We appreciate all your support and are looking forward to another month of FUN & LEARNING!
Warm Fall wishes,
Uli Hecker
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