Saplings Group News

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October/November 2006

We are looking forward to an exciting and enriching few months. We have really been enjoying the beautiful weather and talking about it with the kids. We took some great nature walks to collect the many signs of the fall season. We found many leaves and acorns for gluing and comparing.

Our "Read Together, Talk Together" program has now begun. We started with Five Trucks and Fire Engines in October. The kids have enjoyed talking about and comparing all of the different trucks. We hope you are all reading your next set of books, Oonga Boonga and Good Night, Gorilla. One of our favorite projects, for the moment, is making playdoh. They love to mix all the ingredients and add different colors. We then really enjoy manipulating and creating different food items to pretend with.

A huge thanks to all the parents who came to Homestead Farms and our Halloween parade and party. We could not have done it without all your help.

            -- Arifa, Michelle & Marie-Therese

August/September 2006

We had a wonderful summer. The children really enjoyed our water days outside (especially the one when it rained-all the splashing in the mud and puddles was great) and all the fun summer themes. The end of August was a blast finding a color of clothing to coordinate with the rainbow theme. What a summer! Now we are looking ahead to fall! We are really looking forward to working with all the children this year on identifying their written names, exploring more in our science area and making art projects that are more about the process not the product. Do you know what that means? Well just ask us. We would love to tell you all about it! We are also very excited to have new friends joining the Sapling group. Welcome to all!

June/July 2006

We are so pleased it has finally heated up and we can enjoy the sunshine. We have been observing signs of summer and talking about what we have seen this month. Ask your sapling what they have seen that lets us know the weather has changed.

Our group has been working on our Good Manner Classroom Rules. Please continue to work with your child at home. We are working on simple concepts like keep your hands to yourself, inside voices and walking feet in the class. Reinforcement and consistency will help your child master these rules.  Most of these ideas come from The Good Manners Book that we have in the classroom. We also have a rules song that we sing from time to time. Ask your child to sing it with you. Our next project is to make a chart with the written word and pictures to further reinforce this activity. We are very thankful for our parent resources. We encourage you to stop by and read a story, do a craft or cook with the children. They love to see you participate and get involved. Just let one of us know and we will put it in our weekly plans. Thanks in advance.