Weekday Preschool Newsletter April 2005

"Stranger Danger" Presentation: On Monday, April 11^th and Tuesday, April 12^th, the Lincoln Police Department will come out and talk to the children in each preschool class about strangers. I am including a copy of the brochure that Jason Hellmuth (Ryan’s dad in the MWF-am class) handed out to the parents at the parent night presentation of this subject. It will give you an idea of what will be talked about with your child that day. You are welcome to attend and listen with your child. (If you are uncomfortable with this matter, or do not want your child exposed to this information for any reason, you are welcome to keep your child home from preschool that day.) We appreciate the willingness of the Lincoln Police Department to come out and talk with each of the classes.

Kids In Color Photography: On your child’s calendar (attached to this newsletter) it is marked which day the children in their class will have their individual pictures taken by Kids In Color Photography. The whole class will also have a group picture taken that day. If you would like to have your child’s siblings’ pictures taken, they are welcome as well. There is no obligation to buy any pictures and you do not need to sign up in advance. We will simply take each child out of class, one by one, to have their individual pictures taken. The children will play in the classroom while other children’s pictures are taken. Proofs will be sent home Mon/Tues, April 25/26 for you to look at and decide IF you would like to purchase some. Proofs will be due back to preschool on Mon/Tues, May 2/3.
All children will receive a FREE class photo regardless of whether or not any individual pictures are purchased.

Summer/Fall Registrations: Just a reminder that the classes for fall are filling up. The T-Th morning class is already full with a waiting list and the MWF-am and M-F morning classes are over ½ full. The August week of summer daycamp is the only week that still has openings in it. But there is still lots of space available in the summer preschool classes. Miss Jean and Mrs. Johnson will be teaching both the morning and afternoon preschool classes in the summer. Miss Marge and Mrs. Martin will be teaching the afternoon extended care program. If you need another brochure or have any questions, please call me at 475-6702 ext. 103.

New Extended Care Staff: Kim Melichar, a Southeast Community College student, who has been shadowing me for her administration class will be working in the extended care program until the end of the schoolyear. She is in her final quarter of classes at SCC and will be working about 25 hours/week until her graduation in June. She will be working with Marge Foster on Tuesdays & Thursdays and helping Marge and Susan Martin over the lunch hours on Mon/Wed/Friday. She will also be substituting for teachers in the classrooms as needed. Please welcome Kim to our program.

Early Childhood Celebration: On Saturday, April 9^th from 10 am until 2 pm there will be an Early Childhood Celebration Event at the Nebraska State Fair Park - Ag Hall. There will be booths of activities for the children to participate in and entertainment as well as demonstrations throughout the day. All the activities are FREE. It is a great way to spend time with your child doing activities appropriate for their age. Westminster Preschool will NOT be having a booth there this year, (due to conflicts in schedule) but it is still a fun place to take your child.

TV Turnoff Week - April 25 - May 1, 2005: "Join millions of children and adults this week to break free of TV. Encourage your child to pick up books, play outdoors, try new hobbies and games. Help them discover life can be rewarding without TV!" For more info. on the TV Turnoff Celebration, check out this website:

Nebraska Early Learning Guidelines: The Nebraska Department of Education in cooperation with the NE Health and Human Services System has produced a great set of guidelines regarding early childhood education. I have gone to several meetings regarding these guidelines and think they are excellent. I brought 70+ copies of the guidelines home from a conference I attended in Kearney, NE in March. They are available for any parent who would like a copy. They deal with children’s growth and learning for ages 3 to 5 yrs in seven basic areas: Social and Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Health and Physical Development, Language and Literacy Development, Mathematics, Science, and Creative Arts. It is easy to read and understand and is written in response to President Bush’s "Good Start, Grow Smart" initiative which was begun in April, 2002. Please stop by my office to get a copy, or call me and I’ll put a copy in your child’s cubbie. If you would like more information about this document, please visit the web site at http://www.nde.state.ne.us/ECH/ECH.html.

Reminders:
1. Flip Flops and sandals are dangerous on our playground or when we take walks. Please have your child bring some type of regular shoes to wear when we go outside that protect their feet. Thank you.
2. If your child has a pillow for extended care, please take it home every couple of weeks to wash it. Thanks.

Speech Development Questions: Some parents have asked about the "average" time when certain sounds are learned by children as their language develops. Below is a table provided for me by a speech and language therapist from the Lincoln Public Schools who works with preschool children. Please keep in mind that these are the "average" times. The ending age is when "90% of all children are customarily producing the sound". If you have further questions, you can contact the Lincoln Public Schools and have your child tested free of charge. They can answer specific questions you have regarding whether your child will develop these sounds as they mature, or whether intervention speech therapy is required to correct an incorrectly learned speech sound.