Welcome families and friends to our Pre-1 classroom! We are excited to start this school year as we get to know you and your family. The children have completed their first week of school as we have had many accomplishments. Children in our classroom are building relationships with their new teachers and peers as well as establishing our daily routine, and learning new classroom rules. We have been busy and enjoying each other’s company during the day! Our monthly newsletter is one of the many forms of communication that our classroom provides to help make a connection to what the children are learning at school to engage with at home. Please join us monthly to review this newsletter to know more about what your child is doing during their school day!
Morning Meeting
During our morning routine, the children engage in our “morning meeting” time together as a large group. While engaged on our carpet the children sing our daily “good morning” song, as well as take attendance using our We, Wish you well attendance board. Each child is provided a laminated magnetic picture of themselves and as I hold each up, I ask the children if they know who that child is. Each child takes a turn placing their picture on our here magnetic board. Children that absent for the day have their picture placed on our absent magnetic board. We use our attendance board to count the number of children in attendance as well as absent and compare which group has more and less. This introduces math into everyday routines as children can be introduced to new math concepts as well as counting. The children have shown great enthusiasm as they are excited to add their pictures to our board!
Small Groups
Every morning we spend time engaged in small group learning activities. These activities are completed with small groups of children at each table with a teacher engaging children while asking open-ended questions. We have explored all of our content areas in our classroom such as art, blocks, dramatic play, science, and the writing center. We have explored materials that are found in each area as we talk about the appropriate use of items, and how we can engage with such materials in each area. We have spent time building with table blocks as well as exploring how to use a variety of art materials. Giving children the tools to know how to use our materials will aid in the success of learning as children engage with our learning materials.
Read-Alouds
During our afternoon we engage as a large group in our read-aloud activity. During this time we focus on two books each week, allowing us to deeper our understanding of various concepts, characters, and vocabulary words in each book. Teachers engage with our large group as we ask open-ended questions pertaining to each book.
What’s Next
As the semester continues we will build relationships with each of you and your children. We are excited to build a relationship with you as we are here to support you and your family. The children will grow as they develop relationships with their peers. Our classroom is working hard on building our daily routine and expectations with all of our children and teachers. We are laying the foundation for our school year in these first few weeks. In the next few weeks, we will begin to work further on each child’s social and emotional skills as they are essential for children as they enter Kindergarten. We will keep you informed on problem-solving tools that we will work with children on when problems arise. We are excited to watch your child learn and grow with us this year!
As always please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Jen and Nadine
