Dear Parents,
There is a lot of love and caring in the nursery class. This past week we welcomed a new friend into our classroom community. His name is Ahren and he will be joining us for two mornings. Bravo to our nursery children who are doing a great job of making our latest friends: Ayden, Ajaye and now Ahren, feel comfortable and happy at school!!!
Reading is the gateway to learning, opening doors to faraway adventures, new possibilities and promising futures. That’s why when Ryan Angell’s sister, Ally, a former Red Robin student, offered to come in and read to the nursery children on Monday morning, I jumped at the opportunity! Our class was very excited and listened attentively as Ally, a first grader, read The Little Red Hen. She was expressive, fluent, confident and clearly drew them in to the magic of reading. Thank you Ally for a job well done!!
Have your children asked you to help them plant their donut seeds yet?
My glazed ones are growing quite nicely!
As you have probably guessed, I enjoy April Fool’s Day and some good harmless fun! To start the day, I gave the children a good scare! I told them I had a little accident and showed them the “nail through finger” prank! A simple illusion that never fails. Some of them gasped in horror and others immediately came to my aid. Clara said her Daddy was a Doctor and could definitely help me out and even Ahren said that his Daddy could help. Ahren then offered to pull the nail out! I milked the sympathy for awhile, but then after pressing my brave button, I let a few of them try. Three screams later, the nail was gone! Realizing it was all just an April Fool’s joke, the children errupted in laughter. I have to say…… I NAILED IT! Before snack, we read some April Fool’s books, and told some jokes. Your children LOVE knock-knock jokes!!! We are at the beginner joke level of humor but therein lay the hilarity! Just about anything makes them laugh if they think it’s supposed to be funny. There are no rules and the jokes don’t need to make any sense but my gosh if they aren’t hilarious to the person telling the joke! Hearing them belly laugh after saying things like: Knock-knock, who’s there? Mummy….pizza! Pizza who? Pizza pie!!!!!! ……is really quite entertaining! They giggle until they fall over! As we prepared for snack, I told them I had a special treat for them and showed them a baking pan covered with foil! I asked how many of them like brownies. In unison, they all yelled “I do!” I removed the foil and gave each child a brown construction paper E. Get it? Brown E’s!? Their face said it all!!!!!!
This past week the children had some fun with the letter “Uu.” To really get them giggling we asked what everyone was wearing that started with the letter U. (underwear!) It was explained to them that “Uu” is one of those letters that sometimes has the same sound as its name. Examples were given of words that start with the “long-u” sound, such as unicorn and the United States. Examples of “short-u” were also given such as umbrella and under. To further reinforce the letter, the children stamped umbrellas onto their pre-cut U’s and water-colored some unique unicorns. We also drew with markers on paper mounted underneath the table! It was great for strengthening the large muscles of the upper arm and shoulders….essential for fine motor activities. The children loved it!!! If only Michelangelo, who spent four years on his back painting the Sistine chapel in Rome, could see some of their masterpieces!! ! There’d be some tough competition!!
What can I say about the exquisite wedding on Wednesday?! It was PRICELESS! The nursery class celebrated the marriage of letters Q & U in a service complete with the wedding march, paper bells, balloons, flowers and rose petals. Our sweet little petal throwers, Avani and Logan added romance and charm to our celebration. Our class, representing other letters of the alphabet, and students from the Toddler class and Pre-K, were guests at a marriage ceremony guaranteed to last a lifetime. The union taught the children that the letters Q & U are hardly ever separated in the English language. The girls wore veils and carried miniature bouquets. The boys wore boutonnieres. Mr. Michael and Miss Sheryl were the officiates at Q & U’s wedding and both played their part as the Rabbi and Priest flawlessly. Olivia G. representing letter Q, and Christian, representing letter U were the CUTEST! They responded to their vows and promised to work together in words. During the ceremony, Mr. Michael asked the guests… “If anyone has any just reason why Q & U shouldn’t be lawfully joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace!” Immediately Melinda and Clara’s hands went up! Mr. Michael approached them and asked the reason for their objection. Melinda giggled and Clara said she couldn’t remember!! Thankfully, our adorable ring bearer, Gavin, was able to proceed.
Keeping the ceremony diverse, the traditional Jewish custom “Breaking the Glass” was implemented and on cue, Christian crushed the wine glass with his foot! Many believe that this custom represents hope for abundant happiness, still others argue (and this is my favorite), that it’s the last time the groom gets to “put his foot down!” Following a popular African tradition called “Jumping the Broom”, the bride and groom once again obeyed and in unison quickly moved over it, symbolizing the start of their life together. After the ceremony our bubble blowers, Ryan, Advita and Zia blew wishes amid cheers of Mazel Tov and congratulations! The children then gathered for a wedding reception complete with dancing, wedding cake and champagne (sparkling apple cider that Enzo preferred to call apple wine!) It was quaint and quirky and we wished quadruple blessings on Q & U’s union. There is no question they will be happy together. Parents, because no wedding is complete without a video and some photographs, check us out on Facebook!!! A special thanks from Q & U for all your thoughtful and VERY creative gifts and good wishes!!
As part of our daily routine we have begun selecting songs for the end-of-the-year show. Hard to believe!!! The children smile and laugh as we select songs they connect and have fun with!
Our flip-chart letter “U” song was a catchy tune, and went like this:
Uu (to the tune The Itsy Bitsy Spider)
My Uncle’s ukulele
goes unka, plunka, doo.
Each night he strums it
underneath the moon.
Unka, plunka, doo,
unka, plunka plunka, doo…
I hear Uncle’s
happy tune
floating upstairs to my room.
In addition to our alphabet we are constantly reinforcing our numbers, colors and shapes, in fun ways.
This week we will begin focusing on Passover. We will introduce the children to this celebration of freedom and help them to understand some of the holiday traditions. As always, our goal is to keep it fun and developmentally appropriate. Since Passover begins on April 22nd, we will begin making our own Seder plate and learn about the special foods we eat at the Seder table. We will also introduce the valiant letter “Vv”! Any Violinists out there???? Our “Circle Time” discussions will center on volcanoes. There is nothing like an erupting volcano to get the children all charged up about science!
As the end of the year draws near, if you would like to offer your time to share a talent, career or area of expertise, we would greatly appreciate it. It would be a great opportunity for the children to show you off! During the month of May, we are asking parents to become involved as we discuss community helpers, job choices and hobbies. Please let us know if you’re interested. We love visitors! Everyone has something to offer and your children would be so proud of your support! The most important thing about this unit is the value that we place on every community helper because it takes all jobs to make a community. In previous years we have had an anesthesiologist, teacher, hotel manager, juggler, firefighter, cosmetologist, doctor, police officer, P.E. coach, greyhound rescuer, chef, scuba diver and civil engineer…..just to name a few!!! Through their brief presentations, we uncovered some very exciting information!!!
Enjoy the week!
Warmly,
Miss Joanne
Birthdays in April:
Jacob Samuel 4/6
Bilal Khader 4/14
Gavin Persaud 4/23
Dates to Remember:
April 22nd Passover Celebration
April 25th – 29th School Closed for Religious Observance
May 2nd Welcome Back!