Week of October 8th

This week is all about pumpkins and friendly monsters. 

We will be carving open a class pumpkin to discover all of the gooey insides.  We will be digging out the pumpkin seeds, dumping in some soil, and watching to see what grows.  We will continue our planting by working on some class terrariums. 

We will be reading Go Away Big Green Monster and creating our own version of the monster.   We will be continuing our scissor work by cutting triangles to create jack o lanterns. 

For snack we will make yummy pumpkin dip.  We will be learning about how pumpkins grow and all the things we can do with them.

The kids will have the opportunity to hammer some golf tees into a pumpkin too. I have a feeling this will be the highlight of the week for some of them!

The next several weeks will be fun and festive!  I encourage you to have fun with snack time by bringing in some seasonal foods.  We have tried apple honey butter and pumpkin cream cheese.  Preschool is a great opportunity to try some new things!

I want to send a special thank you to the families that volunteered their time to help at our Fresh N Easy night and those families that shopped!  We could not have done it without you.  Please remember we can still benefit from every receipt over $20 through the end of the year.

Kelly

Weeks of September 24th and October 1st

The theme for the next couple of weeks is Apples!.  The kids will be creating apple collages, apple prints, and apple trees!  During circle time we be talking about the different colors of apples, textures, and tastes.  We will be learning why apples are so healthy for us and our teeth! We will also be having an apple taste test (red, green, and yellow apples) and the class will be making applesauce for snack. We will find out if apples sink or float in water and discover a star in the middle.

Tuesday we will be celebrating Clifford's 50th Birthday (one day late!).  We will be tracing and cutting red dog ears and enjoying cake with the other classes.

We will be making applesauce on Friday.  If you are in class that day, I would  appreciate if you could send in a couple of apples with your child.

We picked our first name for the Book Club this week.  Nico was chosen.  Please make sure to send in Nico's favorite book to class for the week.  We will be reading it at circle time. 

Please remember there is no school this Wednesday, September 26th.   We follow the Scottsdale school calendar and are observing their teacher in-service day.

WELCOME PARENTS

Welcome to SUMC Preschool and Kindergarten. We have created a wonderful community at our small school, and we are excited to have you and your child become a part of it.

I also would like to welcome you to my class. I have a lot of new, fun and messy things planned – it is going to be a great year. As you know, I am teaching the Flex Three’s class. This means you get to choose what day your child attends my class.

A little bit about me… this is my second year teaching at SUMC, and I am very excited to be a part of this amazing program.  In addition to having my Bachelors in Sociology and Early Childhood Development, I was an active co-op parent for three years.  I plan to start out the year following a very relaxed schedule, allowing the kids (and you) to get used to coming to school, following a routine and knowing what is expected of them. I have three main goals for my students: to learn how to be a good friend, to learn how to resolve conflicts and to learn how to be self-reliant. As you know, learning these three objectives is a life-long process, but hopefully we get them off to a great start here. Each day will be full of opportunities to learn about letters, numbers, science, create new art and have lots of fun.

About you…as part of a cooperative school, you become a part of the community of parents and teachers that all work together to create a wonderful school for your children. You will help in the classroom two times per month during the school year. When you are in the classroom, expect to help facilitate an activity, help keep the classroom organized and spend quality time with your child. You also help maintain our campus by participating in two Work Parties at some point during the year (Work Parties are on the Parent Helper Calendar). You are also required to participate in a school committee. Committees are designed to help keep the school running efficiently, and each family is asked to donate a minimum of 10 hours of their time every year.

Communication is the key to success in the cooperative (or any) environment and I plan to do most of my communication through email and this blog.  Please sign up to receive the email updates on the right hand side of this blog.  It is up to you to stay informed about what is happening at our school. 
My email address is: mrssmithsthrees@gmail.com.

I am available almost all the time to talk.  Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to me.  I am looking forward to a wonderful year! 

Kelly Smith