Let's Make Friends!
Ms. Ginni's Class
A NOTE FROM MS. GINNI
We had another fantastic week in PK 3.1. Children were busy outside, great eaters at snack, lively inside, and now, really joining into the group time at the end.
We are all friends in our class and we are learning how to listen to one another. When a friend wants to speak, we all say “shhh”. We use our eyes and ears to listen to Ms. Ginni and also to our friends.
This week we went over class rules:
*Indoor voices
*Walking feet
*Listening ears
*Hands to yourself.
Please practice these rules at home to reinforce a positive behavior in your child.
Shoes and Extra Clothing
We need your help. It is very important for safety reasons that children come in shoes that are securely on their feet. Tennis shoes are ideal. Children are able to be more independent if the shoes have closures they can do, such as Velcro. Please do not send your child in loose sandals, flip-flops, boots, clogs, ballet slippers, etc. They are not appropriate for the many activities we do outside. Trikes, playground, and the climbing structure are an important part of the
curriculum for children’s physical development. We want your children to participate in everything.
Also, we are keeping a change of clothes for the children. For some of you, clothes changes may occur fairly often. Please replace the clothes after they have been brought home. Thanks!
Health Heads Up
There are several children who have a fever and respiratory symptoms. Almost everyone has had congestion, coughing, and runny noses. Please help the children with a good night’s sleep and a nutritious breakfast. If they have fever let them rest at home.
Parent Coffee – Thursday, September 18th from 11:00am-12:00pm in the ES Conference Room
The topic for September’s Elementary School Principal Coffee will focus on connection with children and discipline strategies. These are two topics that can sound disconnected, however research has shown that the better connections in our relationships with our children, the easier it is to work on behavior and discipline.
Our PK teachers have begun implementing a new program this year called Conscious Discipline. This program uses what is known about how the brain works, along with adult behaviors and reactions to common child behaviors, to empower adults to change their self-discipline in order to better help children do the same. You can learn more about the program online at http://consciousdiscipline.com/Default.asp . We will be watching a training video in English during the coffee and then there will be time for discussion afterwards.
For those who do not feel comfortable watching the whole video in English, there will be another discussion group in Spanish at the same time.
We hope you will join us!
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
FRIENDSHIP WEEK!
Last week, was Friendship Week in preschool. Our goal was to help the children get to know each other - learn some names of fellow classmates, work cooperatively, introduce the idea of teamwork, encourage them to play together, share, discover things they had in common, and learn what it means to be a "good" friend.
It was important stuff for preschool where socialization and emotional growth are some of our main focuses.
So what activities did we do to encourage friendship?
Buddy Painting
Colored Friendship Necklaces & Bracelets
This was one of my favorite activities. The children worked to lace colored beads onto some pipe cleaners to create Friendship Necklaces or bracelets. Once completed, they gave the necklace or the bracelet to a friend. It was so cute to watch them exchange these necklaces.
Tracing a Friend!
Blindfolded friends
This game encourages children to learn to recognize their friend’s faces. One child is chosen to be “it.” The child who is “it” sits blindfolded in front of the other child. The child who is “it” must guess what friend is in front of him/her by touching their face.
We had a blast playing this game and our dear Sebastian was really surprised when he discovered the friends sitting in front of him.