On Wednesday May 19th, the school is providing a Kona ice truck here at the preschool (see times and info below). We decided to release our butterflies on that day as well! If you decide to come, get your free Kiddie cup of Ice from Kona, know that at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, May 19th Mrs. Schmidt and I will be outside with Banjo and Squirt ( our class butterflies) to release them out into the wild!!
Kona Ice truck: ( The PTO is paying for each student at the Preschool to have one kiddie cup that day. We’re sorry, but the free kiddie cup is only for Hilliard Preschool students and does not include any siblings or parents.) Wednesday, May 19th Morning from 9:30-11:00 am Afternoon from 1:30-3:00pm Banjo/ Squirt release 2:30pm!
0 Comments
Check out our new posts to see the new classroom caterpillars!Hey All!! I wanted to give everyone an update about the future and final packet pick up dates! We only have 2 left!!
Final pick up dates:
Good Morning everyone! Here is the Zoom link we will be using from now on for all our Zoom's, I Can't wait to meet everyone and get to know you!
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/4530580143 Meeting ID: 453 058 0143 Password: Veggies *If your child is Zooming with a therapist and Mr. Miller, please use the therapist's meeting information* VALENTINES
We have received many valentine cards from everyone and look forward to delivering those later this week! Mrs. Schmidt and I will make the rounds on either Wednesday or Thursday to do so. I will send out an email to everyone once they have all been delivered. So fun! :) PICTURE DAYS Reminder that HR Imaging will be at the Preschool to take individual student pictures on Wednesday, February 10th and Thursday, February 11th. A picture order form should have been included in your most recent packet pickup. If you are comfortable and would like to bring your child to school to get his/her picture taken you can bring them on those days between 9:15-11:00AM or 1:15-2:00. Their photo slip for the photographers will be in the office and I have been told that we can just slip our students in quickly to get you in and out. If you choose to bring your child in for a photo, then that will be the photo that is used in this year's yearbook. If you are not comfortable bringing your child in for pictures, but would like for his/her photo to be in our yearbook, you can send a picture of your choice (chest/shoulders and up and of only your child please) to me and I will submit it to HR Imaging. Please let me know if you have any questions. FLIPGRID VALENTINE BOARD - TUTORIAL BELOW This Friday we will NOT have a large group Zoom as we do not have school on Friday. However, if your child would like to share a response via Flipgrid (an app on his/her iPad), I have included a tutorial (linked below) on how to do that. I added a topic about Valentine's day to our Flipgrid class and students are welcome to respond to each other about receiving their valentines or anything else they would like to share. :) youtu.be/X19RSkBRSy4 CONFERENCES
Conferences will be on Monday, February 8th. All those that requested a conference have been scheduled. You can view that by your child's birthday on our conferences page. If you would like to request a conference, please contact me ASAP. PICTURE DAY I inquired about picture order forms after not seeing any last week. I am told that they have been shipped to our school, but have not yet arrived. I will take a picture of the order form once it arrives and send it via email so everyone interested can view. They should be available in the office on picture day(s) if you would like to fill one out to make a purchase. HR Imaging will be at the Preschool to take individual student pictures on Wednesday, February 10th and Thursday, February 11th. If you are comfortable and would like to bring your child to school to get his/her picture taken you can bring them on those days between 9:15-11:00AM or 1:15-2:00. Their photo slip for the photographers will be in the office and I have been told that we can just slip our students in quickly to get you in and out. If you choose to bring your child in for a photo, then that will be the photo that is used in this year's yearbook. If you are not comfortable bringing your child in for pictures, but would like for his/her photo to be in our yearbook, you can send a picture of your choice (chest/shoulders and up and of only your choice please) to me and I will submit it to HR Imaging. Please let me know if you have any questions. VALENTINE'S EXCHANGE We forgot to include the white bag in your child's pickup from this week! So, instead your child should be receiving it in the mail soon! :) If your child would like to share and/or receive valentines, please have him/her decorate the bag and return it during our February 8th packet pickup. If they will be sharing valentines with friends you can also pop those into the decorated white bag. Mrs. Schmidt and I will then work to distribute the valentines appropriately and deliver the decorated bag back to your home on Wednesday or Thursday of that week. RECORDING ZOOMS Within the next few weeks I would like to ask permission from all of our families to record a few of our Zoom sessions. The purpose of this is to help my maternity leave substitute understand more about how our Zoom meetings are typically ran. I am hoping it may provide a smoother transition if he or she can view what a typical session might be like. The recordings will not be published anywhere other than a privately shared drive between our Veggie team staff. PLEASE let me know if you are not comfortable with your child being recorded. I will completely understand and accommodate accordingly. TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION FOR 2021-2022 In trying to prepare for my maternity leave, I am working ahead on paperwork that would be done towards the end of the year. One of those forms is for our transportation department. I would like to ask for your help in completing the form by filling out the survey linked below. This should give me all of the information I need to fill out the form. Thank you!! forms.gle/VWBfwWayhcx784nX6 KINDERGARTEN SCREENING Finally, just a reminder that if you plan to send your child to Kindergarten next year to please contact the Welcome Center and schedule a screening. You do not need to register for Kindergarten as your child is already in the school's system. Here is a link to the flyer: preschool_flyer_for_kg_2021.pdf FLYER'S PTO SPIRIT NIGHT This Thursday, January 28th, our PTO will be having a Spirit Night at Flyers Pizza on Roberts Rd. It will last from 11:00AM to 10:00PM. Please see the flyer below for more information! Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe, and restful break!
FRIDAY CENTER ACTIVITY (SENSORY BOTTLE) For one of our centers this week (on Friday) I will be inviting students to create a sensory bottle. This can be very open-ended as to what items you have available and/or prefer to use. Specific items have not been sent home for this in our packets so I wanted to give you a heads up that it would be an upcoming activity. You can use any type of plastic bottle with a securable lid. Items you can use to fill it could be: sand, rice, beans, water, beads, small toys, pebbles, things from a nature walk, etc. Here is also a blog post about sensory bottles that has a bun of fun ideas for different types of sensory bottles: littlebinsforlittlehands.com/recycled-sensory-bottles-common-household-bottles/ CONFERENCES We will have our spring parent-teacher conferences on Monday, February 8th via Zoom. Just as in the fall, this is not at all required, but will be available if you would like to take advantage of it. I will not be preparing anything special to show at conferences, but it could be a time for us to discuss any questions you may have about: transitions to kindergarten, evaluation processes, future IEP meetings, brainstorm solutions for any issues you are encountering with your child (school related or not), etc. Each conference will be no longer than 20 minutes. Please let me know whether or not you would like to have a conference by filling out the following form: forms.gle/EVTpToKURpogQ4px7 SCHOOL PICTURE DAYS I have inquired about picture days for our class since that will look different for us this year. HR Imaging will be at the Preschool to take individual student pictures on Wednesday, February 10th and Thursday, February 11th. If you are comfortable and would like to bring your child to school to get his/her picture taken you can bring them on those days between 9:15-11:00AM or 1:15-2:00. Their photo slip for the photographers will be in the office and I have been told that we can just slip our students in quickly to get you in and out. If you choose to bring your child in for a photo, then that will be the photo that is used in this year's yearbook. If you are not comfortable bringing your child in for pictures, but would like for his/her photo to be in our yearbook, you can send a picture of your choice (chest/shoulders and up and of only your choice please) to me and I will submit it to HR Imaging. Please let me know if you have any questions. VALENTINE'S DAY EXCHANGE As mentioned in our last news update, I would like to still offer a valentine exchange for our students. In our January 25th packet pickup we send home a white paper lunch bag along with a list of student names. If your child would like to share and/or receive valentines, please have him/her decorate the bag and return it during our February 8th packet pickup. If they will be sharing valentines with friends you can also pop those into the decorated white bag. Mrs. Schmidt and I will then work to distribute the valentines appropriately and deliver the decorated bag back to your home on Wednesday or Thursday of that week. KINDERGARTEN SCREENING If you plan to send your child to Kindergarten next year, please view the linked flyer below. Current preschool students do not need to register for Kindergarten as they are already in the Hilliard City Schools system. The only thing they you will need to do is provide the preschool with updated immunizations and contact the Welcome Center beginning on January 11 – 29th to schedule a kindergarten screening appointment. Here is a link to the flyer: preschool_flyer_for_kg_2021.pdf PACKET PICK-UP SCHEDULE Our pick-up dates for the remainder of the year will be: January: 1/11 &. 1/25 February: 2/8 & 2/22 March: 3/8 & 3/22 April: 4/12 & 4/26 May: 5/10 We will also have another scheduled time during the last week in May (5/24-5/28) where I will ask for families to return their school iPads and any other school-owned items. That date and time is currently to be determined. LARGE GROUP THIS WEEK
As stated in our weekly email, your child is invited to wear his/her pajamas to our large group meeting this week! We will also be inviting children to enjoy some hot chocolate with us and make a jingle bell necklace. Our plan for activities during the meeting will be: 1) Make a jingle bell necklace (simply stringing beads and jingle bell onto string) 2) Listen to read aloud of The Polar Express while enjoying hot chocolate FUTURE PACKET PICKUPS Our schedule for upcoming pickups will be: Jan. 11th Jan. 25th Feb. 8th Feb. 22nd SCHOOL SUPPLIES If there is something that was included in your original supply kit and you are running low on it (glue stick, crayons, paint, etc.), please let either Mrs. Schmidt or I know via email and we can include an extra in your child's next pickup. ZOOM TIMES 2nd SEMESTER A parent asked today if I planned to change any Zoom schedules or times with the new semester. I thought this was a great question that might be on the minds of others as well. I do not plan to change any times unless there is an unexpected need to, in which case I will be in contact with your family to work out another time. THINKING AND PLANNING AHEAD For Valentine's Day this year, my thought is that we will send a paper bag home for your child to decorate and a list of student names with his/her Jan. 25th pickup. Decorating the valentine bag will not be a part of the daily lesson activities and participation in exchanging valentine cards will be completely optional. If you would like for your child to participate, I will ask that you have your child decorate the bag sent home and return the bag to school with his/her valentine cards included in the bag when you come to get their Feb. 8th packet pickup. The plan will then be that Mrs. Schmidt and I will take the sent in valentines and distribute them appropriately to each child's bag. Then, we will deliver your child's valentine bag back to your home during the week (most likely Wednesday or Thursday). We will NOT have a large group that week as we do not have school on that Friday, but I will be later letting you know of a way your children can interact virtually with each other in response to receiving their valentines. In case I have made this as clear as mud... Jan. 25th - Child will receive student name list and blank valentine bag in packet pickup Feb. 8th - Return decorated bag with valentines filled out and ready to distribute inside of bag Feb. 9th-Feb 11th - Teachers will distribute valentine cards as appropriate and deliver to student homes Again, this will be optional if your family would like to participate. HAPPY WINTER BREAK I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful winter break! I look forward to seeing everyone back and healthy in 2021! NEXT WEEK
With our only day of school next week being Tuesday, I would like to hold just one large group meeting this coming Tuesday, November 24th, at 10:00AM. We will do this in place of our daily lesson. We will also not be having any other small groups or individual Zooms next week. My plan for our large group meeting would be to: -make a special snack together AND -do a few DrumFit songs together I will be supplying all that you need for the special snack and (once I get it filmed) will send you a video ahead of time of what we will be making/how we will be making it. For our DrumFit activities, your child will need something to use to drum with and something to drum onto. For drumsticks, students could use just their hands, some sticks, or long handled spoons. For a drum, ideas to use could be a pillow, a bucket, or plastic bowl. I will also plan to send home the videos early for the DrumFit songs we will be doing. My hope is that by sending home videos for each activity that your child will still be able to participate in the activities even if you are not able to join us via Zoom. PACKET PICKUPS Our next packet pickup will be this coming Monday, November 23rd. After that, the next pickup will be on Monday, December 7th. Following our winter break, I will plan for our next pickup to be on Monday, January 11th. My goal is to not have a pickup following a holiday weekend. It is just too crazy! :) FLOWER SALE VOLUNTEERS Our PTO has created a sign-up sheet for anyone who would like to help with our flower sale pickup. If you would like to sign-up, please visit this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0949A4A62FA1FA7-winter1 SUPPLY PICK-UP
We will have our next pick-up this coming Monday, October 26th. I will again place our bin outside the preschool front doors and will also include a bag if there is anything you would like to have laminated. HALLOWEEN/SPECIAL ACTIVITIES This week I would like to try and make our Zoom group meetings a bit more special. For our small group meetings this week, I would like to ask that your child bring the bin labeled "writing tray" (that was in the original supply box) and fill it with the bag of beans. I will be including some icons with our next supply pick-up that can then be hidden in the tray of beans. I am also asking that your child bring a bowl and a spoon that will be his/her "cauldron" as we will be creating a pretend "brew" with the items as we discover them amongst the beans. For large group, I would like to invite for children to wear a costume to our large group Zoom if they desire to do so. We will be having a little bit of a different group and the planned activities will be: 1) Make a ghost craft 2) Watch quick video 3) Listen to story read by Mrs. Voigt If your child would like to have a small snack during activities #2  then they may also bring that to our Zoom time as well! CONFERENCES Please make sure to fill out our conference form if you have not yet already (even if you do not wish to have a conference). Parent-Teacher conferences will be on Monday, November 2nd. I will begin posting scheduled conference times this coming Monday, October 26th. Here is a link to the conference form: forms.gle/quKSWb8L5Fgo3iQJ6 VETERAN'S DAY In recent years I have led a school project to say "thank you" to our Veteran's for their brave service. Although the project may look different this year, I would like to invite your child to participate in an OPTIONAL activity included in his/her next supply packet. Each child will be given a Veteran's Day coloring sheet with instructions for (again, OPTIONAL) extension activities. These extension activities will be an opportunity to share your child's completed coloring page either to our classroom community or to share via Facebook to our building community. If you choose to participate in the extension activities that would be wonderful, but it is not at all necessary. By supplying the simple coloring activity it is my hope we will provide a springboard for communication with your child about who our service members are and what they do to keep us safe. Through this communication we can teach the children in our care to honor and respect those who have served our country. As a military spouse, this project has been close to my heart over the years and I appreciate any and all involvement in it. Thank you! "CURRICULUM NIGHT" This year, our staff was asked to provide curriculum night information for our families in a virtual manner. A typical curriculum night in my classroom would include information about our daily schedule, my classroom behavior management strategies, and some information pertaining to the different pieces that make up our curriculum. Since this year is different, and the way our class operates is also different that those in the rest of the preschool, I would like to personalize this information so that it is more purposeful. I have created a video with several bits of information that, I hope, will add a few more tools to your toolbox. If you would like to learn more about any of the topics I present, please let me know and I would be happy to help! Here is the link to the video: youtu.be/tBVKv_p6l2g *Please note that I begin with saying "the 2nd part I like to share...". I did intend to create 2 videos (one about curriculum information and one that was a "tools for your box" video). After filming this one I realized I had already given 20+ minutes of information and that's about enough of me at that point. :) If you would like to learn about the curriculum pieces we use, please check out the curriculum section of our website. There is a lot of information there pertaining to our Get Set for School curriculum, the main piece of our curriculum. We also supplement the Get Set for School curriculum with: -Heggerty (a phonological awareness curriculum) -The Zones of Regulation -R-Factor from Focus-3 ("Press Pause", "Get Your Mind Right") If you are interested in learning more about any of these pieces I am again happy to help with this. |