Duchesne Preschool Update

Nov. 9, 2007

Candy Houses:  We will be collecting materials for our candy house project as we begin to make plans for Grandparents Day. If you would like to donate any of the following items, please send them to school in your child’s backpack by Mon. Nov. 26th.

-  graham crackers                       -  curly pretzels

-  Teddy Grahams                       -  small candy canes

-  colored marshmallows           -  tiny Christmas candy

-  cereal:  Frosted Mini Wheats, Fruit Loops, Chex, Life

-  candy:  Life Savers, Skittles, M&M’s (anything small and colorful)

Names, Names, Names:  We have hit the season of coats, mittens, hats, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc.  It is so important to label each and every item with your child’s name in order to assure that it all goes home with the correct child.  In the Nursery, one teacher sets the backpacks out on the tables at the end of the day, and puts each child’s coat, etc. on top of the backpack to prepare for dismissal, while the children are at another activity.  It makes the dismissal routine so much smoother if she does not have to wait until the children return and then try to sort out all the clothing.  In addition, some children do not recognize their items.

Colds:  Thank you for calling to let us know that you are keeping your child home if he/she is under the weather.  Please remember that a child must be fever free for 24 hours in order to return to school.  Some other guidelines would be to wait until the child is not coughing all the time, and the nose is not running frequently.  Because of their age, they are less able to take care of their coughs and runny noses, and we do our best to control the spread of illness when we can.

Philippine Duchesne:  The feast of St. Philippine Duchesne, the religious of the Sacred Heart who brought the order of nuns to America in 1818, is celebrated on November 18th.  Her life long dream was to work with the Pottawatomi tribe, and although she could not speak their language, she spent days and nights on her knees in prayer among the people of this tribe.  The children would lay acorns and leaves on the hem of her habit, and come back hours later to see if they had moved.  They would find them in the exact same place, and so they gave her an Indian name that meant “Woman who prays always”.

Hop-A-Thon:  This week, members of MDA came to preschool to teach the children about disabilities.  The children had a turn to ride in a child-sized wheel chair and try on leg braces.  We have story books and activities to follow up on what the learned.  Your child brought home a packet of information and a pledge sheet from MDA.  The goal is to raise awareness and money for children who cannot walk.  Sponsors pledge a flat amount, not per hop.

              On Mon. 11/19 and Tues. 11/20 the children will do their Hop-A-Thon in the small gym at 11:45.  Please invite family and friends to come and watch them attempt to hop for two minutes straight!  You may enter just as you did for the Halloween Parade, though the little door off the visitor lot, or at the circle drive.  The children will be dismissed directly from the HOP for Thanksgiving Vacation.  Parents who have children in the EC program those two days are welcome to use the EC or take their child home after the HOP.

News from the  Pre-K:  Gobble, Gobble, Gobble   Turkeys are everywhere in the pre-k class.  This week we have been focusing on turkeys.  We have learned many interesting facts about wild turkeys and domestic turkeys. We learned that baby turkeys are called pullets, and wild turkeys like to eat acorns, seeds and berries.  Did you know wild turkeys can fly but domestic turkeys can’t?  Wild turkeys have dark feathers so they can hide and domestic turkeys have white feathers. The children were fascinated with all this turkey information and they enjoyed looking at all the information books. The class made our version of wild turkeys using one half of a paper plate.  The children painted a paper plate brown then added dark feathers and a turkey head. They had fun using the feathers and they were very proud of the finished product.

      We also made some colorful turkeys as we matched capital and lower case letters. The children cut out construction paper in the shape of a featherless turkey. This “ fella” had lower case letters written on his body.  The children then matched the feathers with capital letters, to its letter partner on the turkey’s body. The class did a great job!

     The children are continuing to practice using the correct pencil grip while perfecting their names. We have seen a lot of improvement with this skill in the last week.  

     We also painted some fun “pretend” turkeys.  The children used tempera paint to create these fun feathery works of art. These paintings will hang in our little gym as decorations for the hop a thon.

     The class was very attentive when the representatives of the Muscular Dystrophy Association came to our classroom.  These ladies explained how muscular dystrophy changes the lives of children with this disease. They brought some leg braces and a wheelchair for our children to see and touch.  They also explained how we can help the children affected by this disease while hopping.  Everyone is looking forward to the Hop a Thon.

     Next week we will talk about pilgrims and Native Americans as we prepare for Thanksgiving.

Mrs. Christiani     Mrs. Reynolds     Mrs. Bilunas

Highlight on Art:  In Art class the children experimented with water resist painting.  This is a technique where the children draw with a candle, and then use very watery paint to paint over their drawings.  They were thrilled by the “magic” when their picture appeared through the paint!  We continue to discuss some of the masters and imitate their techniques.  It is great fun to see how much better the children are listening and following more complex directions as the year progresses.  Remember, Art is a process, not just an end product!

Mrs. Reagan