Dates to Remember: Fairfax Presbyterian Preschool /7 Holiday Shop Orders Due. 12/9 Polar Express & Pajama Day

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1 Fairfax Presbyterian Preschool Ho, Ho, Ho!! Merry Christmas!! The holidays are fast approaching, and along with them, all the craziness of the season! For those of you planning to visit Santa with your children this year, I urge you to consider this: as parents, we try to teach our children stranger awareness, and then ask them to sit on the lap of a strange man in a funny looking red suit! This could send mixed messages to our children and can be very confusing to them. So, please don t make your child sit on Santa s lap if he/she appears fearful. We will be having our wonderful Santa visit with each classroom for a brief ho-ho-ho with the children. This will hopefully take place the day of the Holiday Sing-along on the 18 th. We are currently working out the details. Whenever he visits, your child will be surrounded by people he/she knows and in an environment that is familiar so we don t anticipate any fears. December brings not just Christmas but many other celebrations from various ethnic and religious traditions. We encourage all families to share their holiday traditions with their child s class. This is a great way for children to learn firsthand about diversity. Diversity comes in many forms, not just cultural, ethnic, or religious. It also encompasses learning styles and handicapping conditions. Our children look to us to see how to treat others who are different. When we show compassion, our children will be more inclined to tolerate differences in others. When we show a lack of compassion for those with special needs, our children pick up on this, too. We have the opportunity, especially at this giving time of year, to lead our children by example in how we accept these students who may not conform to the norm. Dates to Remember: 12/7 Holiday Shop Orders Due 12/9 Polar Express & Pajama Day 12/14 Holiday Shop 3 Day Classes 12/16 Holiday Sing Along 12/17 Holiday Shop 4 & 5 Day Classes 12/21-1/1 Winter Break 1/4 Classes Resume Every year the FPP family adopts a family in need for our Giving Tree. The tree is always located in the preschool hallway. This year we are asking our families to donate to our family with food or grocery cards, items the children asked for specifically and perhaps a little something special for the parents. We are currently waiting for the specifics from Our Daily Bread, the organization that is pairing us with a family in need. As soon as the information is relayed to me, we will place the ornaments on the tree. All the items will be given to the family the week of the 21st of December. Donated items should be wrapped, with the tag on it, and placed back under the tree. Thank you for sharing your blessings with others this holiday season. I send these thoughts along with my wishes for a joyous season, and for peace among all people of the earth. Nini Johnson

2 Pre-K December News This month, we will be focusing on Christmas! Our children are thinking constantly of how much longer we have to wait, so we will spend a lot of time counting the days until Santa s visit. We will discuss the things we want most this holiday season, how our homes look (same or different?), who Santa and Rudolph are, and why we celebrate Christmas. We will make holiday decorations and read a lot of Christmas stories. My favorites are the Jan Brett books, The Polar Express, and Santa s Favorite story, in which Santa tells the story of the birth of Jesus to the forest animals. We have talked a lot about the Elf on the Shelf that many friends have at home, and we have a special baby reindeer in our room, sent straight from Santa! He is watching and listening as we get ready for Christmas! Wednesday, December 9, is our Third Annual Polar Express Day. We will all wear our jammies and bring blankets to school. We will ride the rails to the North Pole to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, sit on our blankets, and have a special snack. Please dress your children in regular shoes, not slippers, though robes are fine. Nightgowns should have leggings or shorts underneath. We do plan to play outside, if we have time. The last school week of the year will be fun-filled! We are starting a new tradition this year, by having an Ugly Sweater Day, on Tuesday the 15 th! Wear them ugly or crazy, homemade or store-bought! There are some fun ugly sweater buttons at ACMoore! FPP has a long-standing tradition of presenting a Sing-a-Long program each year. The Pre-K class performs a Nativity play, in which we tell the story of the birth of Jesus. This is a simple retelling of the Christmas story, and it presents the idea that Christmas is a birthday celebration for Jesus, which is why we give gifts at Christmas. Parents and other family members are encouraged to come, watch, and sing with us, and the children will be very excited to see you all there! The children will all be in costume, most with head-coverings, so please keep hairstyles and dress simple. It is important for me to know as soon as possible if your child will be out of school on Wednesday, December 16, so I can assign parts to accommodate an absence. We will begin at 10:30. Thursday, December 17, will be a very relaxed and fun time. We will get together with Mrs Nalls and Mrs Taylor s classes to watch Christmas movies, visit the Holiday Shop, and wrap gifts. We will be having our class Christmas party on Friday, December 18. A sign-up sheet will be posted this week. We will be preparing a Christmas snack treat and playing games. This is a great day for the children to wear their fun or fancy holiday outfits, if they wish to. I wish you and your family a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season, and a Happy New Year. Mrs. Taylor s Magnificent MonSTARS What a busy time of the year it is now and the kids are all feeling the excitement in the air! It was great to be back in the classroom today after an extended weekend. I hope you were all able to enjoy Thanksgiving with family and loved ones. We started our seasonal celebration off with a field trip to the Tiny Tots Concert, presented by Woodson High School. This was a phenomenal concert and show by local high school students. The kids and parents alike enjoyed it. It was so much fun to sit in the audience with your children and see the awe and excitement in their faces as various holiday characters made their appearance! Thank you to all parents who chaperoned. I greatly appreciate it.

3 The children have already been busy making decorations to put us all in the holiday spirit. As busy as the month is, we will still have time to learn about a couple of letters -- R and C. During our exploration of these letters we will discuss reindeer, Rudolph, and red as well as Christmas and colorful colors. We will be doing this while continuing to learn important preschool skills such as writing names in upper and lower case letters, cutting on the lines, and following directions. The Polar Express is coming to Fairfax Presbyterian Preschool!!!!!!! On Wednesday, December 9th, we will have a Polar Express Day in preschool. The children are encouraged to come to school in their pajamas and bring a cuddly item if they would like. We will have a whole day of Polar Express activities, ending the day with a ride on the train to watch the classic movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas complete with chocolate milk and cookies. Mark your calendars!!!!!!! Wednesday, December 16th will be our annual Sing-Along at 10:30. This is an event for the whole family and is a perfect opportunity for photos and videos. Sssshhhhh, we are hoping we have a special visitor fly in that day :-) We will be having our class Christmas party on Friday, December 18th. Please look for information to come home for signups for food, paper goods, and volunteering to lead games in the classroom that day! If you have any wonderfully fun Christmas game ideas, please let me! FPP will be closed for break Monday, December 21st - Friday, January 1st. Please take this time to enjoy the holidays with your family. We will see you all back in school on Monday, January 4th. Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! News from Mrs. Nalls Brown Bear Four-Day 4 s December promises to be a month of surprises. Although it is a short month, as far as classroom time, it is a busy and festive month for the children, filled with much anticipation and excitement. The children began getting into the holiday experience by attending the Tiny Tots Concert on Thursday, December 3rd. The Christmas spirit will continue to be present in the classroom as the children learn holiday songs and poems of the season. Among the many activities the children will participate in are decorating the room by giving Brown Bear some angel friends, decorating the hallway and making gifts for their moms and dads. While the children are having fun this month making gifts, singing songs, and reciting poems they are continuing to learn the important preschool skills of cutting on the lines, coloring within the lines, writing their names in upper and lower case letters, following directions and participating appropriately within a group setting. The letters for the month are R and D. Our classroom holiday party is scheduled on Friday, December 18th. More information from the room parent will follow as the event nears.

4 Classroom Activities: December 16 th - Sing-Along (parents and families invited) December 18 th -Classroom Party (Last day of School) January 5th -First Day of School in 2016 Mrs. Ashford s 3 Day 4s How can it be December? My goodness time does fly when you are having fun. And, we certainly are having fun in our class. Thank you to all the parents (9!) who joined us for the festive and fun field trip to Woodson HS for the Tiny Tots show. It was great fun to watch the kids eyes light up at the songs and the characters that made an appearance. Perhaps we inspired some budding musicians from the trip and exposure to all the instruments and singing. For December we will continue on our Letters of the Week with the letters D and R (decorations and Reindeer). The month will be spent celebrating the holiday season and working on cutting, writing our names and some fun science experiments. As always, thank you for sharing your child with me and for being such fantastic parent helpers! I m looking forward to another great month with all of you and your precious kiddos. Mrs.Shockey's Sunshine Room Happy happy holidays from the Sunshine room! Our Thanksgiving feast with Mrs. Lao's room was fantastic! Thank you so much for everyone's contributions! We all have so much to be thankful for! We are looking forward to all of the celebrations and special events this month: *movie in our pjs on the 9th! *a visit to the Holiday Shop on Monday the 14th! *our class holiday party will be the next day on the 15th at 11- parents are invited and a sign up sheet will be sent out for contributions. * our annual Holiday Sing-a-long will be on the 16th starting at 10:30- families are welcome to come sing with us!!

5 As we celebrate this special time of year, I feel truly blessed for your friendship and your little one's presence in my life! My hope is that you end this year with love & laughter, surrounded by family and friends!! Mrs. Lao s 3 Day 3s Dear Parents, Our Thanksgiving Feast was memorable and lots of fun for all our families. Our class was very excited to have Mrs. Shockey s three-year old class join with us in the celebration. We wore Pilgrim and Indian hats, shared a story about the First Thanksgiving, decorated Indian art, played in an Indian teepee and Pilgrim house in our classroom and savored a delicious holiday feast together as the Indians and Pilgrims did many years ago. A warm thank you to my dedicated room mom, who helped to organize the celebration and to all the parents who helped in numerous ways such as setting up, taking photos and supplying the delicious food for the celebration to ensure it would be a memorable time for our children. In December we will make Advent Calendars, Christmas gifts for our families, enjoy seasonal music and share stories and activities to enlighten the children on the real magic of this special time of year. Thank you, parents, for your cooperation with returning Progress Reports each week, for all your support and patience when helping in the classroom and especially for your warm smiles each day. Merry Christmas! Spanish with Seńora Murphy In Spanish, our amigos will be learning about "las posadas" as well as the history of the poinsettia. We will also be making piñata ornaments to take home! We will continue to review our basic vocabulary through December and begin new material in January.

6 Registration for Registration for the school year will begin in January. On January 27th, there will be an Open House for families interested in learning about FPP. If you have any friends or neighbors who are looking for a preschool for next year, please let them know about this event. Registration for FPC church members will be held on January 13th. Current students and alumni may register on January 20th. Open registration begins on January 27 th, the day of the Open House. If any of the registration dates have to be cancelled due inclement weather, the other dates will be moved back accordingly. Fundraising FPP is happy to announce that we are now using the Amazon Affiliates Program to help with fundraising efforts. When you shop Amazon using the link below, FPP earns a percentage of the sale. The best part this program doesn t cost you anything! Please add the FPP Amazon Link to your browser s Favorites Bar so that all your Amazon purchases will help support Fairfax Presbyterian Preschool. Thanks! FPP Amazon Fundraising Link

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