NURSERY RHYMES - NOV 2010 - UPK PM

Welcome to the PM Universal Pre-kindergarten 2010-2011 school year! It has been a pleasure getting to know your children in these recent weeks. We have a large group of friends this year, which makes for a busy and exciting atmosphere in the classroom. The children were all very excited about starting school, and they brought their enthusiasm into the classroom with them. After only a few short days we began to see new friendships being formed. Although many of the children are new to the school and new to each other, the group has settled down into a regular routine in a relatively short period of time. As the school year has progressed, everyone has become comfortable in the classroom. Our group of strangers is now a community of friends working together and learning about one another. We are a fun bunch of students and that makes school an enjoyable place to be.Since school is a new experience for many of us, we are still learning about the fundamentals of being in a classroom together. We are learning about the routine and the flow of the day. We are learning to play cooperatively with one another, and that includes sharing and taking turns. We are also working on the communication skills that are vitally important to develop at this time.

Our school day keeps us very busy. It includes art, music, dramatic play, literacy experiences on a daily basis, and can also include dance and cooking activities on a weekly basis. Cooking is an integral part of the school curriculum. The best part of cooking is that we get to eat what we’ve created for snack!

It’s important to involve the children in the cooking process, so they can see how the ingredients change when we mix them together or cook them. Cooking incorporates many different lessons throughout the procedure. Math is needed to read a recipe and measure ingredients. Science comes into play as we see how combining and cookingchanges the ingredients. We also have a wonderful opportunity to socialize while we are cooking, to discuss what is going on and make predictions about what is going to happen next. Cooking activities always end with a chart showing who liked what we made and who didn’t. That way we can judge if our cooking experience was a success.

We are always busy in the classroom. It might seem as though we are just playing, but imbedded in that play are lessons that will lay the groundwork for future learning. As the fall progresses, we will begin to involve the children more in the management of the classroom. On a rotating basis, the children will have jobs that have to be done every day. It may be helping to set up the snack tables, or making sure things are put back properly after playtime. The jobs may seem small to you, but to a child they are a tremendous responsibility. Simple tasks go a long way towards fostering a child’s independence, which is crucial to their development, especially at this age. It is also a good opportunity for the children to work on their name recognition skills, as they will have to “read” the job board to see if they have something to do. Not everyone gets a job every day, but if you don’t have one today, you’ll surely have one tomorrow.

As the weather gets colder, please remember to dress your child appropriately. We go outside as often as we can, so make sure your child comes to school dressed warmly. This is a good time to check you child’s extra clothes to make sure they are appropriate for the season and there is nothing missing. Also, please make sure your child has gone to the bathroom BEFORE they come into the room. We try to go outside first most days and taking kids to the bathroom after we have arrived at the playground leaves us short-handed.

Thank you for the pleasure of your children’s company. It is a joy to work with them every day.

More fun to come in the winter! Stay tuned!

Andrea, Alma, and Yasmin