Weekday Preschool Newsletter March 2004

Roller Skating Party: We will have a family roller skating party on Sunday, March 7th from 4 pm until 6 pm at Skate Zone (300 N. 48th - across from Target). We will use some of our fundraising money to rent the roller skating rink so that everyone can skate free of charge. You are welcome to invite grandparents, cousins, or a favorite neighbor to attend with your preschool child. We look forward to having lots of parents, and siblings there. An adult must remain at the rink with your preschool child during the entire skating party time. (This is not a "drop your child off" type of event). It is a fun evening and they have skates available free of charge for everyone to use. You may also bring your child’s roller skates (like Fisher Price) and they may use them if they are approved by the rink staff.

North Driveway Reminder: Please do not park in the north driveway from 8:55 - 9:05 am or from 12:25 - 12:35 pm. This is when we provide the "drop-off" service for our families; and when a vehicle is parked there, it backs up the traffic using the drop-off service. If you want to come inside the classroom, please park in the parking lot or along the edge of the circle drive, so that you are not blocking our traffic flow. Thanks!!

Adventure Camp Dates: There is no preschool during the week of March 22 - March 26. We will be offering Adventure Camp during those days. You may sign up for all five days, or pick and choose the days you would like to have your child attend. You may also choose 1/2 or full days. The fee is $12.00 for less than 5 hours and $22.00 for 5 hours or more. There will be a separate flier with a form to return if you plan to have your child attend any or all of the days. Please fill the form out so we know how many teachers we need to have work each day. Thanks!!

Pizza Hut "Book It" Program: We will again be participating in the Pizza Hut "Book It" Program. We will be reading and recording the books we have read to the children. At the end of March and April, we will send home a coupon good for a free Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut for each preschool child. We would encourage you to continue reading to your child at home, and if you would like to send in a note with the name of the book or books that you have read and we can include them in our list. Reading is still the best thing you can do to prepare your child for going to Kindergarten!!

Registration Update: For next fall, here are the openings still available in the preschool classes:

T-Th morning - 10 openings	T-Th afternoon - 19 openings
MWF morning - FULL	MWF afternoon - 13 openings
MTWThF morning - 13 openings

We still have lots of openings available for our summer preschool program. The only daycamp that still has openings is the July 19 - 23 and there are 8 openings left. The other two weeks of daycamp are already full. We have just begun to advertise to the general public at the end of February.

Vacation Church School: Susan Mayer (who leads our Chapel Chat times) has asked me to invite all of the preschool children and their siblings to Westminster’s Vacation Church School. It will be held from in the evenings on June 20 -24 from 6 to 8 pm. The theme is about the "Son’s Games" and is similar to an Olympic type of theme. We will send home registration forms later, but wanted you to mark your calendars now with the dates and times.

NAEYC Accreditation: Included with this newsletter is a Family Questionnaire that is a part of the self-study that we are currently doing as part of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Accreditation Program. This is a process of self-study, evaluation, and program assessment that includes a visit from a nationally accredited validator who observes the preschool classes, makes recommendations (as needed) for changes or improvements and then returns to do a second validation visit after the program has had a chance to make the recommended changes or improvements.
The accreditation is valid for five years and is a higher level of standards than the state licensing and health requirements that all preschools must meet. It is a voluntary process, and we are choosing to participate because we believe it will improve our preschool and make it even better. Your input through the attached survey is an important part of the self-study. The Director and all teachers are also completing surveys and questionnaires about themselves and their classes as well as about the curriculum. Your answers and your survey will be anonymous and the results compiled to get an overall evaluation of how parents feel about our program and the staff. If you have any questions, please contact Jo Beil. There will be boxes in the classroom where you can leave your completed surveys. We appreciate your time and interest in completing the survey. We will keep you informed about this accreditation process as it proceeds. It is an 1 to 2 year process from beginning to end.

Kids in Color Photography - We will have Jeanine Weiner from Kids in Color Photography here on April 6th (T-Th classes), 7th (MWF classes) and 8th (MTWThF class) to take individual pictures of each child and also a group photo of the entire class. You are not obligated to buy any photos, but siblings are welcome to come and have their pictures taken also. You will receive proofs to look at, and may choose whether you want to buy any or not. Each child receives a FREE class photo, regardless of whether any individual photos are purchased or not. Photos will be taken during their regular preschool class time on that day.

Here is some information I received at a training recently.

Activities which promote development in children Three Year Olds:
* Help your child put their toys away
* Play imitation action games like "Simon Says"
* Let your child help with simple chores so they feel like a "big girl or boy" I~5
* Model when to use please, thank you and sorry
* Show your child how to take off shoes, socks, and pants
* Talk to your child about the things you are going to do or what you have done during the day
* Read to your child every day. Spend time on the floor playing with your child every day
* Catch your child being good, encourage them frequently throughout the day
* Talk about things that are "in, out, on, under and behind"
* Encourage your child to "read" books, to sing songs and play games themselves by filling in key words and phrases they remember in familiar books, songs/games. Leave the last word or two out of familiar ones and let them fill in the blanks.
* Repeated exposure to certain books, songs, or games helps children develop memory, attention span and vocabulary

Four and Five Year Olds:
* Pay attention to your child when they talk and add a little "new" information to their sentences
* Let your child dress themselves, helping with buttons and zippers as needed
* Understand that your child may still have nighttime "accidents"
* Give your child opportunities to play with other children their age
* Help your child understand about how others have "feelings"
* Read with your child everyday. Frequently read rhymes and poems
* Let your child help you with things that grown up people do
* Give your child crayons, markers, and other writing utensils so they can practice "drawing"
* Point out words and familiar symbols for your child to name
* Sort and count all kinds of household things with your child
* Let your child help plan activities and events
* Catch your child being good and encourage all the good things your child does
* Count thing you see (Cheerios on a plate, books on a shelf,...) Point out when quantities change, compare sizes - use words like bigger, longer, shorter etc.
* Read books and talk about what you see in the pictures, asking pertinent questions and encouraging your child to talk about what they see and the characters and the plot
* Let your child help you sort laundry, set the table, cook, bake, put away groceries, and organize his or her books and toys. By doing this they can learn to classify objects, identify colors, and count meaningfully. For example, have them get two forks from the drawer. Start with a number they understand and gradually increase to higher numbers. Help them count by touching each object as you say the number.
* Expect your child to do simple tasks at home. For example, hanging up their coat, making their bed, picking up their toys. Let your child help you vacuum, dust, sweep and wash sinks and bathtubs. These jobs develop physical coordination.
* Ask your child to tell others about thing you have done ... trips to the store, church, playing outside. If your child has difficulty retelling the event, help them so that they story can be retold, This skill is called recasting and is closely related to reading comprehension.
* Place your child in situations where he or she needs to follow directions, one step at first, then two, then three. Teach your child to rehearse directions in order to remember them.
* Put your child in some situations where they cannot do the expected task and must ask for help. If they are unsure how to ask for help, demonstrate polite asking and then wait for your child to imitate before assisting. Do this in a kind/gentle way.
* When your child is interested, start pointing out letters and words and numbers in the world around them (i.e. McDonald’s, the house number, names of family members on letters, the number of stories in a book, the name on a box of cereal, stop signs ...) This will provide a foundation for learning symbols for reading and math skills.
* Put magnetic letters on your refrigerator for them to play with and spell their name.

Jo Biel