Pre-K Corner 2009-2010

WEEKLY UPDATES

HELLO and WELCOME

We are certainly looking at a very EXCITING year for Pre-K. I will still be the lead teacher and my teaching day will remain Tuesday. My teachings are based on the Kindness Curriculum and include doing a weekly problem-solving circle.

More about what we intend to specifically teach in a later e-mail.

The other teachers will be Genevieve who will dedicate her teaching time to math and writing readiness. She will also take charge of the field trips.

Silver will be with us full time as of September and will do current events and map study.

Kelly's first time in Pre-K will put her focus on language development.

Veronica, who is a brand-new aide at our school will be "the floater" and apply herself wherever she is most needed at any given moment.

Dana Woodrow, Alexa's mom, has agreed to be our Science Teacher next year. I am thrilled with this addition and I know she will do an outstanding job for your children.

There is a $30.00 material fee for the Pre-k materials and please pay this to Karla Claeys in September. Also, your children will be going on field trips chaperoned by you, the parents.

It does look like a very exciting new year and I look forward to meeting with you all at a to-be specified evening in early September.
- Karla

GOALS FOR OUR PRE-K CHILDREN:

Personal/emotional development
Enjoys School
Is usually happy
Shows awareness of others' feelings
Willingly tries to solve problems
Makes decisions independently
Assumes responsibility
Seeks adult help when needed
Accepts changes when explained
Is willing to speak in front of a group
Handles situations without aggression
Dresses appropriately for weather/planned activity

Social Development
Follows school rules/follows directions
Shares with classmates
Takes turns
Is helpful to others
Participates in most activities and discussions
Respects others' property

Health and Safety
Independently washes hands
Uses tissue when needed
Is able to appropriately cough and sneeze
Is able to take care of bathroom needs (wiping is a MUST before Kindergarten)
Stranger awareness
Phone number and address awareness
911- awareness

Work and Play Habits
Is careful to do best work
Usually completes a task
Is able to ask for, work with and put away materials wanted
Willingly participates in most tasks
Is growing in creativity and imagination

Here in Pre-K we talk a lot about "PRACTICE".

Practice is what allows a child to ultimately own and produce a skill. Practice is what creates a brain connection to master a skill. Studies have shown that to make ONE brain connection or own one skill, the child needs about 2000 practices. Please remember this when you ask your child to follow certain rules.

ROUTINES help a child practice the sequence of events. They provide a level of consistency, which allows a child to experience things over and over in predictable ways. This predictability helps a child practice routine events and rules, feel safe, and be successful.

IN PRE-K WE ESTABLISH THE FOLLOWING ROUTINES:

• Find your name card and sit down cross-legged behind it
• Locate and bring your power voice to your mouth
• Greet your neighbor to the left of you
• Follow the directions your teacher gives you
• Recite your Pre-K pledge

AT HOME YOU COULD ESTABLISH YOUR OWN ROUTINES IN AT LEAST FOUR AREAS:

• Bedtime
• Mealtime
• Leaving the house
• Having alone time

OUR PLEDGE

Each day when we do our circle time or at times of conflict between the children we recite our pledge:
With your hand on your heart and your other hand keeping this hand warm "I pledge not to hurt anyone with my words, my hands, or my feet"

ABOUT OUR ANIMAL SELVES

We all know that children come from the stars, choose their parents and live for a long time until their job is finished and they return to the stars. What you may NOT know is that before your child got to be a boy or a girl they were related to their very special animal.

We will do a magical and imaginary forest walk and when we get very quiet our animal self comes to embrace us. We will identify our animal, write it in our name care and translate it into several languages.

Our next step is to take walks to our Library and research our animal self. We have also collected many books on many of the current animals.

OUR FOCUS

• Self-esteem, kindness and socialization
• Math development
• Language and letter recognition
• Science and curiosity

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

1. There is a $30 Pre-K fee for materials used exclusively by the Pre-K-ers
2. Please make your check out to Karla Claeys as I will be purchasing the materials and budgeting the allocation of funds
3. For all Pre-K parents to be VERY generous with donating time, effort and presence to this special program so that we may add and enhance diversity and exposure for all your children as well as the staff
4. A three-ring binder to keep and collect special art and other important contributions from your child

PRE-K WEEKLY UPDATES

Week of September 14, 2009

Karla:

Yesterday was our very first Pre-K and it was GREAT.

We formed our sacred circle for the first time and greeted each other. Then each child took a handful of rose petals and threw them in the circle with their wishes. Unlike other years we did NOT have any wishes for a “new motorcycle” or a ”trip to Disneyland” as we have had many times before. I had the teachers make their wish first and I believe that all four of us modeled what wishes to cast.

The wishes this year varied from having good friends to all getting along to good health for all and fun in our classes and most popular: Everyone play with me.

We then made our pledge and then the teachers took turns showing what “breaking the pledge” looks like.

Later we decorated our name-cards and ended up with a good run outside.

Amara and Liam took their role as “leaders” very serious and were most eager to show the “newcomers” how things are done in Pre-K!

I will count on Evajoy today to do the same.

In a brief check-in with each other(teachers) after Pre-K we commented on how we were pleasantly surprised at how well the children were able to sit in the circle and stay focused.

We all look very much forward to making this a SUPER fun year and you will see so many changes in your children. Please do not hesitate to come and talk if you have suggestions, comments or questions. All of us learn from your children and from you as parents.

Have a wonderful week and stay in touch

Karla

Week of September 24, 2009

Genevieve:

Hello to all the pre-k families. This is the first of what will be a weekly overview of our Thursday pre-k lesson in Early Literacy. I'm very excited about teaching this year and feel so fortunate to be working with such a great group of kids and fantastic teachers.

After our circle, greeting and pre-k pledge we moved to the tables to work with dry erase boards and markers. We talked about the alphabet and it's letters then about the letter "A", our first letter of the week. Modeling for them how to write it on my board then asking them to write it on theirs, help is there at the ready for those who needed it and for those who didn't it was their time to practice writing as many as they can in as many different sizes (just for fun *smile*). Next we talked about the sound of "A" and came up with as many different words as we could think of that started with "A", I wrote them on my board for a visual and we had lots of fun trying to figure out which words qualified and which did not.

For the next part of the lesson we practiced writing our names. With our name cards at the ready and teachers there to help those who needed it each of your children completed their name with pride. Some children were fast finishers and drew a beautiful picture to go along with their name. When we all finished I asked all the children to "cap your pen, place it in the green tray, put your card in the basket and come to the carpet". I was so pleased to see how well each of them was able to follow a series of directions. Good practice for Kindergarten! We ended our lesson with a story of "Bat Night at the Library".

I encourage you to point out words that start with our letter of the week at home and when your reading to them at night. Have fun and have a great week!

genevieve

Week of September 28, 2009

Karla:

Here is what your children are doing in the Friday art classes with Monique. This is really great work, very age-appropriate and enriching and a lot of FUN.

Yesterday, I talked to the Pr-K-ers about the meaning of Yom Kippur. So I asked Genevieve to write down what your children relayed would be their new ”intentions” for the coming year.

They are posted above the sign-in sheet ,please read them, they are delightful. We later did our first “mind-walk” and we posted ourselves on a warm beach to listen to the wind and the waves. This is something we will do often, in preparation for our big meeting with our animal self.

I am grateful for and delighted with your children. Treasure them as the rare and precious jewels they are.

Karla

Monique:

For our first Pre-K Art class we first practiced drawing straight lines and triangles. Then we cut out our triangles. Some of the kids were so excited with the results that they put the cut paper into their cubbies. The second thing we did was a crayon melt collage. I gave the kids different colors of crayon shavings and items such as buttons and paperclips to add to the crayons. They put their creations outside to melt in the sun. The following are some of the kid’s responses when we had a critique of the finished artwork at the next class.

• Amara said, “I like that button.”
• Sofie Grace said, “I like the one with the purple and green.”
• Kaleb noticed one of the artworks had a blade of grass in it.

All of the kids were surprised that Indigo’s large mound of crayon melted flat and Achilles’s and Jake’s had leaves and woodchips.
Everyone can see the artwork from this class hanging on the door to the snack/lunch room. 

For our second Pre-K Art class we practiced drawing lines again and spirals. They cut along one of the lines. Our project for the day was comparing different techniques of drawing with chalk. First they brushed starch onto their boards, then drew on top of the starched board with the chalk. They noticed how the chalk slipped across the starched surface.  Secondly, they dipped a new board into a container of water, then drew on the cardboard with the chalk. Thirdly, they drew on another board with chalk that had soaked in a sugary water solution.  This was their favorite because the colors were so bright. Some of the kids predicted that the sugary chalk artwork would dry shiny. Everyone can see the results of this project on the door going into the snack/lunch room.
 Monique

Week of September 28, 2009

Melissa:

This is what we did in last Tuesday's math class.

I read Wocket in My Pocket. Each child, had an opportunity to describe a picture in the book using positional words.

Our first activity, was Pin the Stem on the Pumpkin. There was a cut out of a pumpkin on the wall. Each child received a cut out pumpkin stem. We then blindfolded the children and spun them around. They then placed their cut out stem on the pumpkin. Once they placed their stem on the pumpkin, we removed the blindfold and asked them to describe where they put the stem.(under,next to, on top, in the middle,etc. of the pumpkin)

Our second activity, was Top, Middle and Bottom. The children received a sheet of paper that was folded into three sections. We encouraged them to draw three pictures. "Draw one on the top, one in the middle and one on the bottom." We then asked the children to describe and point to the pictures they drew on the top,middle and bottom.

Our third acclivity, was a Closer Look Outside. The children and I took a walk outside. I would ask the children questions such as "What are we walking on? Who is in front of you? Who is behind you? What's under the slide? etc."

Thanks again,
Melissa

Week of October 5, 2009

Karla:

I must tell you all, today was the first of this year's "magical pay-days" that us teachers encounter at DayCaring.
In Pre-k today we talked and practiced "reading faces".
And your children were SOOOO good at it.
If I ever question my decision on why I did not have any Pre-k-ers join our program who had no previous experience with "our" ways, it was thrown overboard today.
Your children are so aware of emotions and emoting that it astonishes all of us.
The teachers and I made expressions with our faces and asked the kids to "read" them. Without exception, they all knew exactly what we were wordlessly communicating.
Then I paired them off 2/2 and had them express and name what the other was feeling. It was amazing...they all "got" it.
This is a skill that is so important in their life.Many of us have or have had partners who were NOT CAPABLE, AS ADULTS, OR HIGH SCHOOLERS, TO "READ" OUR FACES. And your 4-year-olds are mastering this skill!!!!!!
Please stay on the same page with us and when there is conflict, ask your child to"read my face".......
We had fun and my heart is filled with joy.

Karla

Melissa:

A new month and a new math concept-Shapes!

We made  circle collages. The children used caps, yogurt containers, tuna cans, paper towel rolls, etc. to make there collage.

We also used water to paint circles on the side walk and on the fence.

We made circle polar bears!

At each activity, we discussed what a circle looks like-it's curved and round. Please check out our circle art when you sign in your Pre-K'er.  I will be hanging our circle art above the sign in sheets.

The children had fun and I truly enjoy teaching them math!

Thanks,

Melissa

Monique:

Hello all, for the first part of class we practiced drawing squares, then cutting them out. The kids are getting very good at controlling their scissors. Then, each child drew shapes or pictures on a white sheet and yellow sheet of cardboard with a permanent marker. I gave them step-by-step instructions on the best way to use watercolors and how to make sure the paint brush is clean before using the next color. They practiced rinsing the brush in water and blotting it on paper towels before choosing the next color. After this project, the kids covered another white cardboard with various shades of watercolors, then sprinkled salt on top. They really enjoyed the salt addition. You can see the results on the red paper covered doors at Daycaring

Thanks,
Monique

Week of October 5, 2009

Miki:

Dear Pre K Parents -

We have gotten off to a fabulous and exciting start in science this
year. Your children are inquisitive, eager, bright and engaging.
They are truly delightful!

We have science every Wednesday.

We started off with exploring magnets and what types of things they
attract and repel. We speculated then sorted and charted our findings.

The following week we explored air; how we know it's there even
though we can't see it because we can feel it on our bodies and see
it blow the leaves in a tree. We talked about air as a mixture of
gases that surrounds the earth and about who needs air and why. We
used balloons to show how air makes things (like our lungs) expand
and contract. We used straws to blow different things across the
table. We saw that even an "empty" cup has air in it - we submerged
the cup in a tub of water and watched as the air escaped in the form
of bubbles to make room for the water.

The next week we explored water - we talked about water being made up
of billions of water molecules that stick together, we talked about
the 3 forms of water (solid, liquid and gas). We talked about who
needs water and why. We talked about different bodies of water, how
important it is not to waste water and why we need to keep it clean.
We had several different objects and a tub of water and tried to
guess which things would float and not break the surface tension, and
which would sink and actually break the surface tension. We
discovered that the objects which were less dense floated and the
heavier, more dense objects, sunk. We filled little jars with water
and added different things to them to see how water reacts to
different substances. Then we filled a large jar with water, marked
the water line and waited till this week to see what happened.

This week, we explored evaporation and condensation. We put water on
our arms and saw and felt it eVAPORate (turn from a liquid into a
VAPOR, a gas). We made salt paintings with water that we added salt
to, hung half of them in the sun and half inside. We saw how the sun
and wind make water evaporate more quickly. We watched steam/vapor
rise from a pot of boiled water and then turn back to liquid in the
form of condensation on the cover of the pot. We talked about the
water cycle and how we are using the same water over and over again
when the sun makes water evaporate from lakes, rivers and the ocean,
the vapor rises into the air, gets cold, changes back into liquid in
the form of clouds, falls back to the earth as rain, hail or snow and
then collects back in the ocean, rivers and lakes. Genevieve pointed
out that Mother Nature was a fantastic recycler! We checked the jar
with the water mark from the previous week and sure enough, there was
less water in there-- water had evaporated!

You might find it fun to talk with your sophisticated pre-K'ers about
magnets, air, water, evaporation and condensation! Thanks again for
the pleasure and honor of learning and exploring with your wonderful
children!

If you have any questions, feel free to be in touch we me at
goralsky@comcast.net.

Best-
Miki Goralsky

Week of October 12, 2009

Miki:

Dear pre k parents -

This past week in science we talked about rainy weather and how it  
made each of us feel.  We talked about the rain storm of the day  
before and how the huge puddles it left had either evaporated, flowed  
into the ocean, lakes or rivers, or how they had been absorbed by the  
ground.  Then we talked about the water cycle again and we all got up  
and acted out the 4 stages of the water cycle (evaporation,  
condensation, precipitation and collection).  The pre k'ers (and the  
teachers...) seemed to have an especially good time as evaporation  
rising up to the sky!!
We talked about the fact that the storm had come all the way from  
Japan and then looked at the globe and located Japan and California.  
We talked a little bit about forecasting the weather and how the  
forecasters had predicted when this storm from Japan would reach us.  
I asked if anyone had seen a rainbow during the storm. No one had so  
we discussed what needs to happen in order for us to see a rainbow.  
Then with a mirror, a glass jar of water and a flashlight, we tried  
to create an indoor rainbow and were mildly successful.

Warmly, Miki

Monique:

Hello everyone, this past Friday in art the kids drew their own pumpkins and ghosts, then cut them out and decorated them.  We have been practicing drawing circles, triangles, rectangles and squares.  They used those shapes to create their own designs.  You can see the pumpkings and ghosts on the large bulletin board outside Karla's office.  They look great.  Thanks Monique 

Week of October 19, 2009

Genevieve:

Good evening,
I'm feeling a bit under the weather so this will be brief.
We followed our usual routine with dry erase boards, our letter of the week (E) and practicing our names. All are making great progress and getting more comfortable with this each week. Our class this week was all about rhyming. We rhymed with rhythm, with words and with picture puzzles. It was loads of fun and I asked each of them to take it home, so please talk about rhyming words at dinner at play or at bed time. Its a fun game you can play any where and its so good for their Early Literacy brains.
Have a splendid weekend! *smile*

Genevieve

Monique:

Hello all Pre-K Art Parents,
On Friday the kids were tracing, drawing and cutting circles, squares, triangles, rectangles and squares out of multi colored paper.  The kids kept asking what we were going to make.  As we starting arranging the shapes together the kids became very excited when they noticed that the shapes when put together looked like a witch flying in front of the moon.  You can see each child's arrangement on the red door going into the snack/lunch room.  Thanks Monique

Melissa:

Dear Parents,

Today, we played shape "Hokey Pokey". Each child, received a cut out of a circle,rectangle, triangle and square. They got to put "Their square in, their square out and shake it all about!"

We made "Square Puppets". The puppets were in the shape of a square. The eyes, nose and mouth of the puppet were also in the shape of a square.

We had a "Mystery Bag of Shapes". The children pulled common objects (books, balls,Lego,etc.) from a bag and matched  their shape to a picture of a triangle,square,rectangle or circle.

Our last activity was "Shape Cover-Up". The children  chose  an outline of a shape and named the shape. Then he/she glued pasta on to the shape outline.

Thanks again,
Melissa

Week of October 26, 2009

Monique:

We did not have a regular Pre-K on Friday because we were too busy doing the hokey pokey and visiting our next door neighbors. However, after lunch the Pre-Kers that were still at school worked on a tracing and cutting project with me. They traced out large bats on folded paper, then cut the folded paper together. When they unfolded their tracing it became a large bat. They then decorated their artwork with cut up paper, glitter and sequins. I will hang up the bats on Monday.

Thanks Monique

Miki:

Hello Pre K Parents -

Inspired by our trip to the pumpkin patch 2 weeks ago, this past week  
in science was dedicated to...pumpkins.  We broke into 3 groups and  
each group explored a pumpkin inside and out.  We weighed, measured,  
smelled, tasted and touched the pumpkins.  We tried to count the many  
seeds and concluded that there were a lot.  We counted the vertical  
lines on each pumpkin, talked about the shape of the pumpkin and came  
up with some creative suggestions about what to do with a pumpkin.  
Then, we talked about what it takes to grow a pumpkin and each pre  
k'er was given a cup with some potting soil and a pumpkin seed which  
they put into the soil.  We then watered the seeds and put them all  
on a sunny sill and will see what happens this coming Wednesday...  
We also took 2 of the pumpkins we explored, put one in the  
refrigerator and one in the dirt in the sunny garden.  We will  
observe what happens to each of them.

By the way, a BIG thank you to Puddle Jumper Sean's dad, Brian, who  
gave us an incredible deal on the pumpkins from his pumpkin patch at  
the Bon Air shopping center.  Thank you Brian!!

Warmly,

Miki

Week of October 26, 2009

Karla:

Last Tuesday in Pre-K with Karla
Last Tuesday was one of those magical days that your children bring on so often here at school.
Here is what led up to this “magic”:
The previous Monday, in that torrential rain we had, Ahmed Abouelsoued, Nadine’s dad decided to go and fix a few holes that were leaking from the attic and puddling on his living room floor.
Yasmine, his older child and Nadine were in the living room when Ahmed FELL through the ceiling and broke his back right in front of their eyes.
He was hauled off to Marin General by ambulance and was still there last Tuesday.
I started out by telling the story of what and how it had happened and then we formed a daisy chain to feel the vertebrae on the person sitting in front of us. Next we stood up and held hands and I guided the children trough a “mind walk”. We saw Ahmed standing in the center of our circle and he was smiling….. The sun was shining on him and he turned around for us to show us all that he was all right. We then squeezed hands to pass our healing energy around and we noticed that Ahmed was feeling it as well.
We then went to our tables to make wishing cards for Ahmed. The children decorated the outsides and we the teachers wrote their messages inside. They varied from: “I am sorry you got hurt”, to “Please get well soon”, to ” I will come and bring you my Halloween candy”.
At lunch time when Nadine Mama, Rodina, came in we gave her the cards and she said that she would take them to Ahmed that very minute and Nadine got to carry them.
Yesterday, Rodina told me that Ahmed had felt the energy coming his way and last Tuesday afternoon was the time that Ahmed was allowed to go home in a body cast….
 The orthopedists will not be able to determine until late January whether or not Ahmed needs further surgery, but he is home with his family.
I loved being part of this extra-ordinary way that your children empathize and show compassion for those who are hurt.
Have a GREAT week
Karla

Week of November 2, 2009

Genevieve:

Good morning!
In yesterdays class our letter of the week was "G". We had our traditional circle time and went to the table to work with our dry erase boards. I was expecting that we would need to practice with the letter G a bit more than with previous letters and was yet again amazed by your kids when everyone had it down within minutes. This group is really ready to be pre-k *smile*. We continue to practice our names in many ways, writing them, reading them, recognizing the letters and sharing spelling with our neighbors. We also made bookmarks with our names on one side and some super fun stickers on the other side. The children and I wanted you to see some of their work so if they didn't make it home yet be sure and check their cubbies.

After the bookmark activity we moved to the green carpet to work with some fantastic story cards. I just love these cards, they have large poster size pictures on the front and lots of thought provoking questions that relate directly to the children's lives on the back. We looked at pictures of a school lunch room and discussed what they saw, who was there and answered lots of great questions about food. We also looked at stories about playground games, weather and friends. The children loved these and I love how involved they are in figuring out what the story is and how it relates to their lives. We will certainly use these more throughout the year *smile*.

Enjoy your weekend and your children and don't forget to talk about our letter of the week at home, there are lots of words that start with "G"... have fun!

genevieve

Week of February 8, 2010

Karla:

YESTERDAY in Pre-K  I took the children on a “mind-walk” top our magical forest where we saw and recognized our animal selves.It was wonderful and here are the results:

Achilles: Sabre Tooth Tiger
Amara: Pegasus Unicorn
Asi: Jaguar
Cody: Cheetah
Cordelia: Turtle
Dane: Dog
Eva-Joy: Unicorn
Genevieve: Giraffe
George: Kitty
Hayley: Starfish
Indigo: Eagle
Jacob: Bear
Jake : Cheetah
Julian: Tiger
Karla: Mama Grizzly Bear
Liam: Tiger
Melissa: Penguin
Monique: Wolf
Nadine: Dinosaur
Sofie-Grace: a girl puppy
Stewart: Lion
Wiley: Kitty
Isabella: Panda Bear

Week of March 8, 2010

Miki:

Dear Pre K Parents,

Our little trout are getting ready to move on.  This Thursday we will  
be releasing them in Lagunitas Creek and wishing them a happy life in  
their new home.  We will be leaving Daycaring at 11am and are  
planning to picnic near the creek after the release - weather  
permitting of course.  I think we're set for drivers (Genevieve,  
Monique, Sarah, Melissa and our new PreK Parent, Heather Mckenzie)  
but if any of you would like to just join us anyway, you are more  
than welcome to do so.
So, pack a lunch, a camera and a good wish for the fish and we will  
see you Thursday at 11am!
Warmly, Miki.

PS Please remember to leave a car seat for your child.  Thanks.