preschool news! LETTER FROM MRS. LEANY TOY DRIVE DECEMBER 2012 Dear Parents,

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1 DECEMBER 2012 preschool news! MARYWOOD- PALM VALLEY TOY DRIVE Preschool through 5th grade will be having a Toy Drive starting Dec. 10th and ending Dec. 20. Please bring LETTER FROM MRS. LEANY Dear Parents, Wow has this year gone by so fast. I can't believe that it is already December. In just a few short weeks, we will be having our winter break. We have many exciting learning experiences and fun activities planned for this month. We are so glad to be back on our own play yards. We appreciate the work that Mr. Tom and his crew did to make our yard look so beautiful. We are adding some new activities to our play yard, so be looking for them. One that was added this week is a container of different lengths of PVC pipes and connectors for the children to build with. They have been so creative with them. December is one of my favorite months because we have the theme: Family Traditions. It is a chance for us to get to know each of our families better as they share something special they do as a family. Be sure to sign up in your child's classroom. It can be as simple as a favorite book your family likes to read together or a project you do as a family. You can bring in pictures of what you do, tell about what you do or bring in the activity to actually do with the children. We have had people share their favorite family movie and hot chocolate, Santa who comes to their house the day before Christmas, Hanukkah, the Nativity, photos of a family favorite trip...whatever you do, we want to learn about what your family does for fun. Times will fill up fast so don't wait to turn in your paper. Congratulations to proud parents, Charles Lee and Nah Young, who welcomed a sweet baby boy, Ezra Jin Lee, on Nov. 14. He weighed 6 lbs.,14 oz. and was 21 inches long. His big sister Abby is helping her parents take good care of him. a new unwrapped toy to help other children enjoy the holiday season. More information will be handed out. This is a very hectic time of year. Remember to take several deep breaths, slow down, and enjoy each moment instead of hurrying through to the next event. It is the journey that is most important. As always, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, I would encourage you to contact me either in person, phone, or by at jleany@mwpv.org. I teach in the Coyote classroom each day, but I do check my messages throughout the day. If it is an emergency, please call the school office (760) and let them know you must speak with me and to put you through to the Coyote Classroom.

2 IMPORTANT DECEMBER DATES 7. Free Dress/Morning Assembly/Pizza Day/ Library Day 14. Winter Sing/Free Dress/Pizza Day/ Library Day Free Dress EVERYDAY 20. Free Dress/Small Holiday Class Parties--Parents supply lunch treat COYOTE NEWS I was so happy to meet with all of you to let you know the progress your child is making at school. We have learned letter names and sounds, recognition of numbers, and relating the quantity of each number. We even practiced listening for the sound of the letter p and n at the end of words like map and can. Learning so many things about what life was like long ago was exciting. It made us appreciate how we live today. We enjoyed making candles, learning to sew, playing marbles and dressing up in "old-fashioned" clothes. We even made a rag doll. Pioneer day sure was an adventure! It was hard to grind corn and dig for potatoes, but it was fun, too. I believe that our singing and signing of the song: You're a Grand Old Flag at our Veteran's Day program was one of the best performances ever. I was so proud of each child. It will be so interesting to learn about your family traditions during the month of December. JACKRABBIT NEWS MINIMUM DAY-- School is out at 12. Free Dress Morning Assembly NO LUNCH 22-Jan.6. Winter Holiday NO SCHOOL QUOTE The future is important but it is achieved by making the most of each today. This month we learned about life long ago. Many things were very different then. People had to make just about everything that they needed. They built their homes, sewed clothes, and grew their food. The whole family worked hard and helped each other. We also learned about the pilgrims who traveled from far away to a new life in America, and the first Thanksgiving feast they shared with the Native Americans. We talked about all the things that we are thankful for, like family, friends, and, of course toys! On Pioneer Day the Jackrabbits did so many chores that the children long ago had to do, like washing clothes and dishes, digging for potatoes, and carrying water. It was hard work, but everyone had fun! We reviewed all the letters we ve been learning since September and added m, p, and n to our knowledge. In December we look forward to learning about traditions that you and your family share.

3 QUAIL NEWS This was a great month with a lot of exciting activities. For Veteran s Day we did a great performance. We all did our best singing Our Flag. It was so exciting to learn many interesting facts about how people lived long ago with no electricity, cars, or airplanes. Filling each other s bucket was an everyday chore. Just like the little Pioneers we kept ourselves busy and worked very hard using needles in the sewing center, grinding corn, water fetching, washing clothes, harvesting potatoes, and planting seeds. Our plants are growing now! How exciting! What a wonderful experience it was to go back in time and experience what the children did a long, long time ago. Our Pioneer Day was fun. We learned a couple more letters, and reviewed others, as well as, numbers and colors. We can t wait to share our family traditions with all our friends in December. HUMMINGBIRD NEWS Our November theme We Can Travel Back in Time helped make our school experience unforgettable. We learned about children s lives without electricity, cars, or technology. This theme made us appreciate what we have today more, but sometimes made us wish we could live a long time ago when life was simple and more natural. During this month we shared what we are thankful for. We are thankful for our moms and dads, brothers and sisters, food and home, friends and toys, and our teachers too. We learned more letters, colors, shapes, different sizes, beautiful songs, and nursery rhymes. Now it is time to move on to something that can open new perspectives for us: Family Traditions. We are looking forward to learning about different cultures and family traditions. Please come and tell us more about your family. We want to understand what people do to have fun and make their children happy. BIRTHDAYS We love to share birthdays with your child. You are welcome to bring in a small cookie or cupcake to share with your child s class. Please make sure your child s teacher knows in advance what you are planning to serve. We have several c hildren with allergies and we want to make sure to include them. Children are invited to donate a new book to the classroom library. We try to have the special treat at 2:15 before we go outside for our last recess. If your child attends school part time, we will make adjustments. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Sydney Presser 12/3 Joshua Goforth 12/12 Delano Pirozzi 12/19 Ayden Rosales 12/29

4 why we do what we do BLOCKS Blocks are one of the most valuable learning materials in our classroom. Children learn about sizes, shapes, spatial relationships, math concepts, and problem solving, as well as, balance, sequence, and gravity. When playing with blocks, children acquire logical thinking skills and increase their language abilities. COMMUNITY SERVICE As you know we have been recycling water bottles at school. Some of you have even brought in some water bottles from home. Our goal for this project is to help the children learn they need to be responsible for taking care of our planet and to help them learn to serve others. The money that we make by recycling the bottles will be saved for the whole school year and then donated to a local food bank or organization that provides food for children. So far we have collected $65.00 during the months of October and November. free dress notice We have free dress almost every Friday. Please remember that even though it is free dress day, we still need to follow the rest of dress code: NO JEWELRY, NO BOOTS, and we must wear closed-toe shoes WITH SOCKS.

5 curriculum THEME DAY We will be having a small holiday party on Dec. 20. The children will play a few games in each of their classrooms and then enjoy a special treat that will be provided by the parent(s) who LITERATURE CORNER Gingerbread signed up to help for that activity. The treat will be eaten with our lunch. Because this time of year is such an exciting time for Friends a n d children, we try very hard to keep activities very low key. MUSIC AND MOVEMENT Once There Was a Snowman, Jingle Bells, Five Little Snowmen Fat, and I had a Little Snowball are all f a v o r i t e w i n t e r songs for us to learn. Gingerbread Baby w i l l b e o u r Literature books for this month. These are delightfully illustrated books with a humorous twist to the SPANISH This is the month that we will be learning words that express how we feel: good-muy bien, bad-mal, mad-enojado/enojada sadtriste, happy-feliz, and of course I love you-te quiero. We are also reviewing the Spanish words we have learned so far. traditional story. Little Jack Horner will be our nursery rhyme.