September 27, 2020

Hello PreK Families, 

We are now entering the 4th week of school and our students have learned so many school routines. Our classroom schedule is the same every day. We have a picture schedule posted for the students to refer to throughout the day. As you know we start off with 30 minutes on the playground. Families are doing such a great job at drop off, sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye, but know that all of your children enjoy the playground time and are having fun with their classmates.  

Then we enter the classroom and use the bathroom and prepare for snack. After snack, students can do puzzles or read books until we have our first circle time. At the morning circle we review the schedule, look at the calendar, count the kids and review the lesson/project of the day. After the project is completed centers are open. Each day we have a different shelf and large play activity area open. We clean all materials that are used daily and sanitize areas that are used each day when the students leave. We have 3 main activity shelves that we rotate through every 3 days, that contain an assortment of activities, such as magnatiles, people, animals, blocks, legos, games, and puzzles. We also have 3 sets of books that we rotate for the students to read throughout the week. We have also introduced individual watercolor paints, playdough, small chalkboards, and individual pencil boxes into daily use.  After centers, we meet for the second circle, where we sing songs or do literacy activities. Then we use the bathroom again and have lunch. We are practicing good manners at meal times, such as sitting in our chairs, raising hands to ask for help and asking to be excused from lunch. After lunch it's story time, followed by yoga, math materials, bathroom and our second recess.    

The Prek Class started practicing Yoga at circle time several years ago. We will continue this activity. Yoga and mindfulness have been shown to produce positive changes in the brain in people.  There have been changes in self-awareness, communication, and overall self-regulation after beginning regular yoga practice.  Implementing a yoga practice in the classroom will help the students to pay more attention, regulate their emotions, get physical exercise and have fun. I aim to incorporate a few minutes of yoga practice into circle time.

We have finished our All About Me books, and the students have brought them home. This week we started a unit about apples and how they grow. 

If your child will be absent from school, please call the office to let us know, the number is 295-8650. Otherwise, the school secretary will give you a call to see why your child is not at school. 

This week, the school nurse, Mrs. Hutchings will be doing vision screenings. She will let you know if she finds any issues with your child's vision. 

Thank you, 

Mrs. Zayas & Ms. Leavitt