Parent Participation

Preschool

Word Wall

Fun on the Web

Check out Mr. Roger's neighborhood, Sesame Street and your favorite characters
Play kid friendly activities

Our Pledge

I promise to be on my best Red Group behavior, to use my gentle hands, my kind words, my listening ears and to worry about me all day.

Moms and Girls More...

This is a special time of year to celebrate all that our moms do for us and how wonderful all girls are! Be sure to tell your mom you love her and appreciate all that she does for you!

Music and Sounds More...

This week we will enjoy learning the many sounds that different instruments make. If you know how to play an instrument, we would love to have you as a special guest for all the children to enjoy!

Shapes More...

By now we all know our shapes pretty well. But, this week we will be having fun making pictures with shapes and learning funny names of some shapes we may have never heard of before! Spend some time this week looking around you and finding shapes where you may not expect them!

Bugs More...

Oh, what fun to talk about bugs! We will learn the special name for bugs (insects), the parts of a bug, and the parts of a spider. Did you know that spiders are not bugs? They actually have a family of their own. We may even look for some friendly bugs outside on a bug walk.

Earth and Gardens More...

This week we will be celebrating Earth Day all week. Our letter of the week is E in honor of our great planet earth. We may take a look at our earth using our big globe. We will definitely talk about ways we can help keep the earth healthy! Be sure wear green on Earth Day to help us celebrate the Earth. Also, think of ways your family can help our earth stay healthy!

Weather More...

This week our letter of the week is U for umbrella. What kind of weather do you need an umbrella for? We will learn about all kinds of different weather and which is our favorite. We will also learn about the clouds that we see in the sky and what the different clouds mean.

Neighborhood/Jobs More...

This week we will talk about what goes on in our neighborhood. We will also discuss our Mommy's and Daddy's jobs and other jobs that are important. By the end of the week, we will get to share what we would like our job to be when we grow up. Our letter of the week is J for jobs.

Zoo More...

We will be learning about all kinds of animals that live in the zoo. We will especially talk about where these animals live in nature and some fun facts about them. Our letter is K in honor of a kangaroo! What is your favorite zoo animal? Ask your child to draw a picture of his/her favorite zoo animal to share at circle time.

Spring More...

Spring is in the air!! This week's letter will be S for spring. We hope to enjoy some good outside time in nice spring weather. We will be talking about all kinds of fun things we can do in springtime!

Easter More...

Happy Easter!
This week we will have a great time discussing bunnies, eggs, and other fun Easter traditions. If you have a favorite bunny story, please bring it in to share. Our letter of the week is R in honor of our Easter Rabbit!!

Irish Celebrations More...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This week we will explore Ireland and the luck of the Irish. We will learn about Saint Patrick, four leaf clovers, and castles! Our letter of the week is I for Irish! Best of luck to you this week!

Transportation More...

Dr. Suess More...

Dr. Suess is so much fun. We will read LOTS of Dr. Suess books and learn the fun made up words he likes to use. Our letter of the week is Z. We are sure to find a bunch of fun made-up Z words- maybe we can even make up our own!

Dinosaurs More...

What fun to learn about the big reptiles that lived so long ago. We will learn all different dinosaur names, fossils and more. We will try to match our toy dinosaurs to the ones we see in our books. This week's letter is D- for dinosaur, donut, and Daddy!

Love and Valentines More...

It's Valentines Week!! What fun we will have reading stories about love- please bring in some of your favorites from home. We will also make our own valentines and have a Valentine party!

Color Me Healthy More...

This week is all about being healthy!! We will talk about the importance of healthy living. We will learn about healthy eating choices and fun physical activities. This week at the dinner table, discuss what you are eating and how good healthy food tastes. Take time this week to do some fun family activities together.

Shadows More...

February 2nd is Groundhogs Day! To celebrate, this week's theme is Shadows. We will learn about what happens on Groundhogs Day and we will talk about what makes a shadow and even play with creating our own shadows. This week's letter of the week is G. We will read about Mr. G and his gooey gum!

The Five Senses More...

This week is all about our five senses. We will read books about our senses and talk about our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and hands. We will also play fun sense games to test our sense of smell, touch, and taste!

Eric Carle More...

Eric Carle writes and illustrates many fantastic books! We will read as many as we can this week. Our letter of the week is Q. We will learn that Q and U are best friends and Q never goes anywhere without U. That is why you see them together at the beginning of words like quiet, quit, quilt, question, quick, and quarter.

Under the Sea More...

This week is all about things we find "Under the Sea". Our letter of the week is O for ocean. We will read about Ms. O and being optimistic. We will also read several ocean books, including one of Ms. Ann's famous flashlight books. We get to use a magic flashlight to find all sorts of things that live under the sea!

Mexican Fiesta More...

Hola! And welcome back to escuela! This week we will be learning fun new Spanish words and what it means to have a fiesta! We will even discuss what fun parties we may have had during our holiday break.

Holiday Celebrations More...

This week is Holiday Celebration week! We will share some of our holiday traditions and learn a neat story about a man named Nicholas. Please bring in some of you favorite holiday books to share with the class!

Winter More...

Brrr! It is getting cold outside and looking more like winter all the time. This week we will read all kinds of great books about winter fun! Our letter of the week is W for winter, of course. Maybe it will snow and we can explore some winter fun first hand!

The Body More...

There is so much to learn about the body. This week we will be focusing on bones, muscles, and organs. We will make a life size model to learn the function of each. We will also "play" with medical equipment to learn the purpose of each.

New Words
arm
leg
hand
foot
head
toe

Birds More...

This week's theme is birds. Red group will be including owls and bats to our study and will discuss the differences between birds and bats. We will be reading fun books about both. Our letter of the week is B. Be sure to look for some of our new words posted around the room.

New Words
bird
bat
baby
book
bin
blocks

Thanksgiving More...

This week the children are learning about what it means to be thankful. We will read books about being thankful and even write our own. Our letter of the week is T.

New Words
to
the
turkey
thanks
two
twin

Numbers More...

5.....4.....3.....2.....1.....Blast off!!! This week we will be focusing on numbers, counting, and telling time. We will also celebrate the Japanese holiday "Shichi-go-san" or "3-5-7 day" which celebrates children who are ages 3, 5, and 7. Our letter of the week is X. We will learn some fun words that END in X and will also learn that X stands for times (multiply) and kisses!!!

New Words
six, mix, box, fox, wax, ax

Hawaiian Luau More...

Welcome to Hawaii! We will learn many fun facts about Hawaii including Hawaiian words, customs, and the environment. Our letter of the week is L for luau and lei. Don't forget to wear your Hawaiian shirt for our luau on Wednesday!

New Words
love, like, letter, listen, lion, long

Harvest More...

Happy Harvest! This week we will be learning abaout pumpkins and even cutting open our own! We will also be studying Mr. P, since "P" is the letter of the week. Our book will tell us all about his pointy patches and his parking pandemonium.

New Words
pumpkin, park, patch, please, potty, paint, play

Home Activities

carve your own pumpkin
make a pumpkin treat
practice reading/writing our new words
check out Mr. P's video

Faces and Feelings More...

This week is all about our feelings and being aware of our friends' feelings. We will be reading several stories to help us better understand how to deal with emotions. We will mostly focus on anger. What are things that make us angry? What should we do when we are angry? What makes our friends angry? How do we know when our friends are angry? What can we do so that everyone is happy? In honor of happiness, our letter of the week is H. We will be reading about Mr. H and his helpful hats. In this story, Mr. H and all of his hats live together in harmony. After a while the hats no longer get along. They have to work together to live in harmony again. They realize that they can live in harmony if they remember to think of others and not just themselves. We will be applying this lesson to our classroom so we can all live in harmony like Mr. H's hats!

New Words
happy
hat
hi
hello
hola ('hello' in Spanish)
have
hooks

Home Activities

Find the words 'have', 'had', and other 'h' words in books
Make the 'h' sound together and point it out in familiar words
Discuss what it looks like to be happy, sad, angry, silly, etc.
Paint/carve pumpkins by first assigning them a feeling and then making the pumpkin's face match it's feeling

Mercer Mayer More...

This week we will be doing an author study on Mercer Mayer. Did you know that he writes all of the Little Critter books? We will read several of them this week. Our letter of the week is M. We will also read about Mr. M and his munching magic show at the market.

New Words
Mercer Mayer
mouth
me
my
mine
mirror
Monday

Home Activities

Ask your child about Mr. M and his munching magic show at the market on Monday morning
Read lots of Mercer Mayer books together
Have your child read/write our word wall words
Review with your child some word families that can be found in our new words (th, ch, ing)
Come to the Fall Field Day on Saturday!!!

Fire Safety Week More...

We all want our children to be safe! This week we will be going over a few basic things that every child should know in order to be as safe as possible. The children will learn about stranger danger, fire safety, 911, and the importance of following rules. Because October is National Fire Safety Month we will be having several fire drills throughout the week. We will also be making and posting our school rules!

New Words
fire
funny
feet
footwear
flower
fish
This week's letter of the week is F!

Home Activities

Review word wall words
Practice writing the letter F
Practice your phone number and dialing 911
Ask your child about our school rules
Bring in fire and safety books to share
Create a family emergency plan
Have your child recite the Red Group Pledge

OUR SCHOOL RULES

1. (Gentle) Hands on Me!
2. Walking Feet (on the Blue)
3. Listening Ears
4. Elbow Room

Down on the Farm More...

There is lots to do on a farm as we learned from Grover in the Sesame Street book, Down on the Farm With Grover. We will read all about the true and silly things that happen on a farm. We will also learn about what comes from a farm and how certain vegetables grow. Tops and Bottoms is a book we will read about a tricky rabbit who teaches a lazy bear about the parts of vegetables. We will also spend a lot of time focusing on the story of The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. You may have heard about how the wolf blows the pigs houses down. (All except for the brick house, of course) However, we will also be reading The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.

New Words
lettuce, tomato, plow, milk, pig, cow, farm

Home Activites

Discuss things that come from a farm
Ask your child what Grover have to do to care for his uncle's farm
Discuss what animals live on a farm
Have your child explain the pigs version of The Three Little Pigs
Ask what the wolf's version is in The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes More...

This week we are going to find out just how much fun Nursery Rhymes can be. On Monday, we will read Goose Feathers. This story tells about Farmer Brown's friends trying to find a gift for his birthday. Cat decides to play the fiddle, Cow decides to jump and dance (making Dog laugh), and Mother Goose decides to make blackberry cobbler. However, when the cobbler is cooling on the window, fox steals it and runs off with the dish and the spoon! So, Mother Goose decides to write a silly rhyme about the whole adventure called "Hey, Diddle Diddle".

Friday, we will read one of Ms. Ann's favorite stories, And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon. In this story Cat, Cow, Dog, Dish and Spoon all play their parts in acting out "Hey, Diddle Diddle" as it is read each night. One night they discover that Spoon is missing! They all go searching for her. When they find her, they bring her home and decide they will never let her run away again!

In addition to reading the above stories, your child will be learning fun new rhyming words and even attempting to write his/her own Nursery Rhyme. Did you know Nursery Rhymes are a collection of stories from a long time ago? Though many people say that Mother Goose wrote them, we know she is really just pretend (that's our secret) and the real author is a mystery! Please take a moment to ask your child about all of the Nursery Rhyme fun this week!

New Words
moon
spoon
wall
fall
Jill
hill
down
crown

Home Activities

Recite a favorite Nursery Rhyme
Ask your child who is the author of Nursery Rhymes
Ask your child what the secret is about Mother Goose
Find rhyming words together
Have your child tell you about the gifts in Goose Feathers
Have your child explain why the dish ran away with the spoon
Enjoy various Nursery Rhyme Activites
View Nursery Rhymes
Decorate Peter Pumpkin Eater's house
Find the Three Little Kittens' Mittens

Welcome Back to School! More...

This week we will be learning all about what we do at school, what our special jobs are, and fun school related words. Did you know that 'escuela' is Spanish for 'school'?

New Words
school
book
toy
play
friend
children
teacher

Home Activites

Ask your child to spell his/her new words
Find out who is the funniest character in Miss Nelson is Missing
Ask your child what the crayons learn in The Crayon Box That Talked
Ask your child what Miss Spider is good at in Miss Spider at Sunny Patch School

Autumn More...

This week is all about autumn and the changes that autumn brings. We will read about apples, the change in leaves, and animals that hibernate or migrate. We are hoping to observe some autumn changes first hand while spending time outside! To celebrate autumn, our letter of the week is A.

New Words
autumn
apples
a
an
and
art

Home Activities

Find the letter 'A' in your favorite books
Look for different colored leaves on a nature walk
Watch animals collecting food for winter
Rake leaves together

Here are the themes for the entire year.