Lynn Lafferty / Pre- School

We're springing forward!

Hello all!  It is hard to believe that Spring is almost here!  Everyone has been blossoming beautifully in their own ways recently.  All of my little ones have made me so proud this year!  We are also going to be getting some new friends soon.  One friend, Martinez, will be joining us on March 17th!  We're so happy to have new friends come join our class.  That will put our total class size to 7 students. 

This blog is to let everyone know what is going on in the month of April.  Spring Break will be April 7-11.  That means that there will be NO school during that week.  Take yourself a break and get ready for the last few weeks of school!  It won't be long until we are saying good-bye to our 3 rising Kindergarteners. 

The themes for the month of April are:

• March 31-April 4: Concepts/Opposites
• April 7-11: NO SCHOOL, Spring Break
• April 14-18: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• April 21-25: Butterflies
• April 28-May 2: Frogs/Fish

Don't forget that Monday, March 17th, we will be taking school pictures!!! 

February and March

First, I want to apologize for not posting any blogs recently. Several times, I have logged on to update, but the Internet connection will not allow me to post it. Hopefully, I can get through it this time and give you all of the updates that you need to have!

Can you believe we're in mid-February already!?! Its hard to believe! The time is just flying by.  You know what that means -- we MUST be having fun, right?  We have been teaching the students that in January and February, we wear our jackets because it is COLD! Be sure to ask your child "Why do we wear jackets?" so they can tell you "Because its cold!"  And boy was it ever cold last month when we actually got to see snow!  I really wish I could have been with each and every one of my students when it was snowing because we talked about snow during the month of January. 

For Valentine's Day, we will be having a sugar cookie and juice snack courtesy of William's mom, Mrs. Lackey.  Thank you!  We have also watched a Valentine's Day movie.  This week, our theme has been Shapes and Valentine's Day.  We are learning all about circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, diamonds, and hearts.  At home, what I would like for you to do is go around your house and find these shapes in your home!  Keep the learning going!

There will be NO SCHOOL on February 18 and 19!  February 18th is President's Day and the schools are closed.  On February 19th, teachers have a professional workday, so school will NOT be in session on that day either.  We will see your little ones again on February 20th!  During the rest of that week, we will be reading the book, "How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?"  It is an appropriate book for this time of the year because we all seem to have the sniffles.  It also prepares us for the following week, Feb. 25-29, which is our Community Helpers week.

For the month of March, these are the upcoming themes:

• March 3-7: Farm and Farm Animals
• March 10-14: Zoo
• March 17-21: Pets
• March 24-28: Transportation

As you can see, most of our focus in March will be animals. Hopefully by the end of the month, we will be able to classify types of animals.  Once March is finished, we will be on to learning about the things that we see in the spring!  By that time, hopefully the weather will have warmed up!

Reminders:  Please check your child's Communication Notebook daily. Don't hesitate to write a note to ask a question or offer a comment.  Also, make sure that you are cleaning out the notebook pockets when you receive them in the evening.  Give me a call if you have a question that absolutely cannot wait.  Thank you all for being as flexible as you have been!  I appreciate all of you!

Brrr!

We have made it to December!  I'm amazed by all of the progress that the children are making. They are learning so much and they make me so proud!  November was a wonderful learning-filled month.  We learned about the foods that we eat and all about Thanksgiving.  We are now moving on to holiday related themes for the remainder of December. 

These are the books that we will be working on though January:

• Dec. 10-14: "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies"
• Dec. 17-21: Holiday books
• Jan. 8-11: "The Jacket I Wear in the Snow"
• Jan. 14-18: "How to Build a Snowman"
• Jan. 22-25: "The Mitten"
• Jan. 28- Feb. 1: TBA

Thank you to all of you parents who send your children to school dressed for Spirit Day.  Spirit Days are every Friday and children are asked to wear a PSE shirt or blue and/or yellow.  We are so grateful to the PTA for donating shirts to our class!  THANK YOU!  Also, thank you to those who donated cans to the Can-a-thon!  We greatly appreciate everyone who sent in cans!

Here are some important date reminders:

• Dec. 14: PSE Holiday Party, 7-9:00 pm in the school gym
• Dec. 17-21: Holiday Shop in the Media Center each day from 8:45-2:00
• Dec. 21: Last day of school before break
• Dec. 24-Jan 7: No School - Enjoy your break!!! 
• Jan. 8: Students return to school
• Jan. 10: PTA meeting at 6:30
• Jan. 21: No school - MLK holiday

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!  We will have lots of great stuff to learn, so get your little ones ready to get back into learning when they come back in 2008!

~Lynn Lafferty

October and November Happenings

We are wrapping up the month of October within the next week! Tomorrow, we will finish our book "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything".  The children have really enjoyed reading the book and learning about the clothing that the old lady finds on her walk.  We have a change in next week's book. Instead of reading "Corduroy's Halloween", we will be reading "Skeleton Hiccups".  On October 31st, we will be providing a special treat for Halloween. Thank you to everyone for donating treats to the class to put in the kids' treat bags!  We will also be carving a pumpkin, so we'll enjoy getting all messy in the gooey pumpkin seeds!

Here are some important upcoming dates to remember:

• October 27th - Fall Festival at PSE from 12:00-4:00
• October 31st - SNP Pajama Day
• November 5-6 - No School, Student Holidays
• November 7 - Progress Reports go home
• November 21-23 - No School, Thanksgiving Break

These are the books and themes for the month of November:

• November 5-9 - Mouse Mess (foods)
• November 12-16 - I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie (foods)
• November 19-20 - Thanksgiving books
• November 26-30 - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (function of household objects)

Please remember to check your child's Communication Notebook daily!  And review vocabulary words at least 10-15 minutes per night. Thank you all for everything you do!

~Lynn Lafferty

Plans for the month of October

The weather is cooling down and Fall is almost here!  We are doing great things in Preschool and I'm so proud of our little ones.  We have settled into our new classroom and our daily routine is running smoothly.  We have been learning all about school and ourselves since the beginning of school.  For the past two weeks, we have been learning about body parts and the different things we can do with our body parts.  A favorite song of ours has been a Simon Says song where the students have to "listen and do what Simon says".  You may also want to know that we LOVE the Months of the Year song that we sing every day during Circle Time!  See if you are able to get your child to sing you the months of the year! You'll be impressed!

An important note for parents who bring children to school in the morning prior to 7:40 am: Students are now arriving at school and are being brought into the Media Center in the mornings!  This change was made recently, so if your child misses the bus or you are just bringing them to school, you can meet us at the tables in the back of the Media Center.

We celebrated Nicholas' 5th birthday on Friday, September 7th!  A special thank you to Mrs. Bryant for bringing in cupcakes for the class to enjoy!  YUM!  Nicholas was very excited to turn 5 years old....

We are beginning to prepare a fun-filled month of activities for October.  This is a list of the themes and books through the end of October.

• Sept. 24-28: What Do We See in Fall?, Book: Fall Leaves Fall, We're Going on a Leaf Hunt, and several adapted books.
• Oct. 1-5: Fall, Book: Apples & Pumpkins
• Oct. 8-12: Feelings, Book: Glad Monster, Sad Monster
• Oct. 15-19: Colors/Concepts, Book: Go Away, Big Green Monster
• Oct. 22-26: Scarecrows, Book:The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
• Oct. 29-Nov. 2: Halloween, Book: Corduroy's Halloween and other Halloween books

October 17th will also be an Early Release Day. Half-Day students leave school 1 hour early, while Full-Day students leave school 2 hours early.  Remember that Half-Day students do NOT eat lunch on Early Release days.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!  Give me a call if you need to reach me!

~Lynn Lafferty

August is almost behind us!

We have been back in the classroom for close to 3 weeks now and I can already see your little ones making so much progress!  It's wonderful to have the same class that we had last year, minus two who moved on to Kindergarten.  We are getting back into our routines and things are going rather smoothly in the classroom.  Its good to be back!

For our first week of school, we were busy welcoming the preschoolers back with a Back to Preschool themed week.  Last week, we learned about the "Wheels on the Bus".  This week, we are doing an "All By Myself" theme.  There are many things that we can do by ourselves, like putting on our shirts, brushing our hair, brushing our teeth, and putting our socks and shoes on.  These are only some of the things that we are practicing this week.  Some things that you can be working on at home include pulling pants up/down, snapping/unsnapping pants, putting backpacks on independently, zipping zippers, or pouring a cup of milk/juice.  It is important that we are helping the little ones become as independent as possible.  You never know what they're capable of doing until you let them try! 

Here are some important dates:

• Aug. 30 - Open House @ PSE
• Sept. 8 - Nick's 5th Birthday!
• Sept. 19 - Early Release

These are our upcoming weekly themes:

• Sept. 3-7: Here Are My Hands - Body Parts/Functions
• Sept. 10-14: My 5 Senses - Sight, Touch, Smell, Taste, Hear
• Sept. 17-21: From Head to Toe - Following Directions

Remember, if you have questions or comments for me, please give me a call! 

~Lynn Lafferty

3 more weeks!

Hello Again!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!  There are only 3 more weeks before we get back in the classroom.  I have been working on gathering information to prepare for upcoming lessons.  I wanted to take this time to give you a list of school supplies that I will be asking for when we get back to school. 

• Rest Mat (for full-day students, or 4 year olds)
• 1 bottle of hand sanitizer (Germ-X or Purell)
• 1 box of tissues
• 2 containers of baby wipes (1 for toileting needs, 1 for mealtime cleanup)
• 1 full package of pull-ups or diapers to keep at school.
• 1 zipper pencil case with 3 holes to put in the communication notebook.
• Backpack large enough to hold the Communication Notebook and a change of clothing.
• You may also send in a small blanket for Rest Time. (Full day students only)

All other information will be included in your Back to School packet.  You do not need to supply the classroom with crayons, pencils, markers, etc... The class is already stocked with these items. However, you may make a donation of these items if you wish.  I will be giving each of you a call prior to the beginning of the school year! 

Enjoy the rest of your summer and I'll see your little ones soon! ~Lynn Lafferty

Some pictures

Have a look at a few of our pictures!

Our friends love their books!

Rebecca and Nicholas are reading their books!

Jeramiah is ready for the beach!

Doing our morning exercises. Touch your toes and count to 10!

Feel the burn!

And now Rebecca and William are ready for Circle Time!

End of the Year

Eight more school days left!  We had a lot of fun learning all about the beach and summertime!  Now, we are preparing our 4 year olds for their voyage to Kindergarten.  This week, we are learning the alphabet letters.  For the last week of school, we are learning about going to Kindergarten.  Our book that we will be reading is "Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come." 

Last week, I sent home a note regarding our last week of school celebration.  We would like to prepare the little ones for the lazy days of summer by having a "theme week" of activities. 

On Monday, we will be having Pajama Day. Have your children wear their favorite pajamas to school.  Tuesday, is our Picnic Day.  Send in a bagged lunch for your child so we can eat outside!  On Wednesday, we're having a Beach Party!  Send your child's bathing suit to school, so we can have our Beach Party outside on the preschool playground.  We will provide sunglasses, sunscreen, and popsicles!  Thursday, we will have our 'End of the Year Celebration'.  Together, with Mrs. Maryn's class, students will rotate beach/summer related centers and have a special snack!  On the last day of school, we will be having a Movie Day.  Send in your child's favorite children's movie (we can play both dvd and vhs tapes) so we can watch. 

I hope these last few days of school are special for your children!  It has been a wonderful experience having each and every child in my class this year.  Thank you, the parents, for allowing me to spend each day helping and teaching them.  Not only did the children learn this year, but they taught me a few things along the way as well! I want to especially thank Mrs. Lackey, William's mother, for supplying us with so many things this year!  You have been a wonderful home-room mother.  Also, I would like to thank each of the parents for being so cooperative with us this year.  Thank you for everything!

Only 4 weeks left!

May is upon us and there are only 4 weeks left in the school year!  There is still a lot of learning going on, so these 4 weeks are still important for your children to attend school. 

The themes for the next 4 weeks are:

• April 30 - May4: Ocean Animals: Book, "Commotion in the Ocean"
• May 7-11: The Beach: Book, "Corduroy Goes to the Beach"
• May 14-18: The Alphabet: Book, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"
• May 20-25: Going to Kindergarten: Book, To Be Determined

Vocabulary for each of these weeks will be in your child's Communication Notebook.  Please keep checking these notebooks each day. 

Please remember that if you are buying school pictures, the last day to send in money or pictures you will not be purchasing is Tuesday, May 1st. 

I want to wish Rebecca and William a very Happy Birthday!  They share the same birthday on May 2nd! Rebecca will be turning 5 years old and William will be 4 years old.  We will be celebrating their day on Wednesday, May 2nd with a pizza party. YUM!

For those returning preschool students for the 2007-08 school year, our classroom will more than likely be moved to another room.  I will give you the final details prior to returning to school in the fall.  We want to wish Miss Sandra Murray, PSE's Special Needs Kindergarten teacher, a big Congratulations on her new position as the Severe/Profound Disabilities teacher at Varner Elem.! Also, we want to wish Mrs. Maryn Cox, the other Special Needs Preschool teacher at PSE, a big Congratulations on her move to Mt. View Elem. She will continue to teach SNP there.  We will miss both of you tremendously! Good luck to you both!

I plan on taking more pictures as the school year comes to a close, so please keep coming back to see what we're up to! 

~Mrs. Lynn Lafferty