Dayspring nl October 2011 (p)

Dayspring Preschool Newsletter
October
2011
Greetings from the Director
Welcome to our Dayspring families!
Fall has arrived, and with it cooler weather. The children are observing the changing colors
of the leaves and the wind patterns as leaves blow around the backyard walkways! The
September theme, “Sensational Senses” and character trait of “I Do My Best”, provided fun
activities for the children including: various taste tasting, nature walks, tactile exploration
and learning about their sense of smell and sight. The children watched as construction
workers installed three framing poles for the new backyard shade sail. The shade sail will
cover the backyard climbing structure and final installation of the sail is scheduled for early
October. During September the letter sounds for the letter “Aa” and “Bb” were introduced.
Our recent Scholastic Book Fair was a great success, thanks to the support of our families
and the members of Danville Congregational Church. Dayspring has earned $840 credit
towards Scholastic literacy learning materials for the classrooms! Thank you. Over fifty
parents attended the recent Dayspring Preschool Back-to-School Night. In addition to
hearing about the classroom daily activities and routines, Dayspring Preschool and Pre-K
Learning Objective Highlights were shared. Parents can find a copy of these objective
highlights in their parent files. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to talk with
me.
Last month, Dayspring children were issued a Dayspring Preschool Tote bag. The tote bag
is an important school item that is to be brought to school each day your child attends, and
taken home at the end of the school day. Your child’s personal items, daily school work,
creative art, etc., will be placed in the tote bag. Please empty your child’s tote bag at home
each evening, and use it as an opportunity to discuss with your child the happenings of their
day.
In October, the letters of focus will be “Cc” and “Dd”. The monthly theme will be
“Imagination”, the character trait will be “I Can Cooperate”. We will focus on the color
orange, and the geometric shape will be the square. The children will enjoy “Pet Day” on
October 14th, “Pumpkin Patch” on October 26th, and the 2nd Annual “Imagination Parade”
on October 31st.
Happy Fall Blessings to you!
~ Janice
Summary of upcoming events:
Monday,
October 10:
Tuesday,
October 11:
Thursday,
October 13:
Friday,
October 14:
School Picture Day: starting at 8:30am in the Agape Lounge (next to Dayspring front
entrance)
Iron Horse Mother’s Club Preschool Fair; 7-9 pm
San Ramon Community Center: 12501 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon
“Sacred Story” Time with Pastor Alan. Preschool; 10:15-10:45am/ Pre-K; 10:50-11:20 am
“Pet Day” at Dayspring Preschool
Thursday,
October 20:
Oct. 24-28:
Monday,
October 31
Monday,
October 10th
Tuesday,
October 11th
Thursday,
October 13th
Friday,
October 14th
Thursday,
October 20th
Week of:
October 24-28
Parent Volunteer Training Meeting: 8:45am-10:00am in the Agape Lounge
Pumpkin Patch in Dayspring Preschool back yard area
Imagination Parade: 10:15 am-11:00 am. Families Invited
UPCOMING EVENT DETAILS:
School Picture Day at Dayspring:
On Monday, October 10th, professional photographers, Carney & Co., will be taking
individual and class group photos beginning at 8:30am. Every child will be photographed
with their classmates for the class group photo. Parents who wish to purchase individual or
class portraits of their child, are to return their order and payment in the Photo Day prepay
envelope. Checks are to be made out to Carney and Company. Satisfaction is guaranteed.
Iron Horse Mother’s Club Preschool Night Event:
Dayspring Preschool will be participating in the upcoming Iron Horse Mother’s Club
Preschool Information Night event. The event will be held at the San Ramon Community
Center , located at 12501 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon on Tuesday, October 11th from 7:00pm
to 9:00 pm. Along with a number of other local preschools, Dayspring will have an
opportunity to set up a display, distribute school information, and talk with prospective
parents about our exciting curriculum and program. This event will provide wonderful
community exposure for Dayspring Preschool! We would love to include comments from
our parents. If you would be interested in sharing a statement or two regarding your
experience at Dayspring Preschool, please email comments to Janice at
info@dayspringpreschool.org. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sacred Story Time:
Pastor Alan will join us this month on Thursday, October 13th to share a “Sacred Story”
with the children. Dayspring Preschool honors the wonder of childhood, respects the
natural curiosity of children, and acknowledges the natural connection that children have to
things “sacred”. Sacred Story Circle Time is a time for the sharing of stories that are
common among different “sacred”/ faith traditions. The stories offer open-ended questions
to help children formulate their own thoughts about the topic.
“Pet Day” at Dayspring Preschool:
On Friday, October 14th, your child is invited to bring to school a photo of their pet. Please
note that the pet photo will be used for an art activity that day. If your child does not have a
pet animal, they may bring a photo of their favorite stuffed animal toy. Please write the
name of the pet, and your child's name on the back of the photo. Thank you. Fun activities
will be planned that day that focus on children and their pets.
Parent Volunteer Training Meeting:
Parents interested in assisting in the classroom as a parent volunteer, are asked to attend the
upcoming Parent Volunteer Training Meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 20th from
8:45 am to 10:00 am. We will discuss the role and duties of parent volunteers at Dayspring
Preschool. A TB test is required for family members interested in volunteering in the
classroom. A sign up form will be available at the front desk beginning on Monday,
October 10th . For more information please contact Janice.
Pumpkin Patch in the Dayspring Preschool yard:
During the week of October 24th, Dayspring Preschool will be setting up its very own
pumpkin patch in the school’s backyard. Pumpkins, corn stalks, and hay will decorate the
backyard area. The children will be able to enjoy the festive environment as part of our
Imagination theme activities. On Friday, October 28th, children will receive their own
pumpkin to take home from the Dayspring Preschool pumpkin patch!
Monday,
October 31st
Dayspring Preschool 2nd annual “Imagination Parade”:
Join us on Monday, October 31st for the Dayspring Preschool Imagination Parade The
teachers and children will be busy this month creating costumes for the parade. The
children will wear parade costumes that are representative of a children’s book selected by
their classroom. The Imagination Parade is a wonderful way to celebrate the festivities of
October, and will conclude our monthly learning theme that celebrates the imagination of
children. Families are invited to join us. The parade and activities will begin at 10:15am ,
and conclude with classroom treats at 11:00am. Please bring your cameras to capture the
fun!
Preschool: “The Duckies Room”
September was a fun month in the Duckies Room! The children are getting to know one
another, and learning about our classroom, the teachers, and their friends. During
September the children were introduced to the alphabet puppets and the stories of Apple
Auntie and B.B. Bunny. They enjoyed games, songs, and practicing the starting letter
sounds of the week’s letter as well as the letters of their own name. They have made
wonderful discoveries, and are looking forward to the coming events of October. In
October, the children are going on a wonderful “Imagination” journey as they explore
exciting new stories and books. These stories will enhance our classroom play, art, and
music activities. At the end of the month, the Imagination Parade will help to bring our
class story to “life”. During October the children will also explore the change of season and
discover how a pumpkin grows. Dinosaurs will be stomping in our room, as the children
explore dinosaur science and art projects. The children will also be baking letter cookies to
help them learn the alphabet. Share time will began in the Duckie Room at the end of
October. Additional information about share days will be sent home during the month.
Preschool: “The Froggie Room”
How quickly September passed. We welcome Fall! October will be full of fun learning
experiences for your child. We are continuing our exploration through the alphabet, and
will be focusing on the letters “Cc and Dd”. The Froggie friends enjoyed making pages for
their alphabet books, and are doing well in recognizing the letters of their name. We have
also started our sharing days. We ask that your child bring something beginning with the
letters “Cc and Dd” on their share day. Feel free to ask us any questions.
During circle time, we will be reading books related to the letters of the week. Some of the
October art projects planned are: corn on the cob, cereal collages, and making cupcakes.
The children will also design their own puzzle. The Froggies will have cooking projects
related to the month’s letters (cornbread muffins, Jell – O). The theme for October is
“Imagination”. We will be having a pumpkin patch on October 24th. On October 31st, the
Froggies will participate in the Dayspring Imagination Parade – this month, the children
will be making costumes related to a child’s story. It will be a lot of fun! Please come join
us, and see your child in the parade.
Pre-Kindergarten: “The Crawdad Room”
September in the Crawdad Room was filled with exploring the five senses. The children
identified scents in various bottles using their noses. They looked at salt and sugar and were
unable to tell the difference, until after tasting both items. They tasted sweet, salty, sour,
and bitter foods using the different parts of their tongue, they felt inside a box and tried to
figure out the item inside. The children went on a touching tour of the school; exploring
through touch the varying textures in nature. The children listened as teachers disguising
their voices and then guessed which teacher was speaking. The 5 sense unit ended with a
“What do you see? smell? hear? and feel? nature walk. The favorite letter “Aa” activity
involved an experiment about ants. The children learned what ants like to eat and how they
scout for food using scent. Letter “Bb” brought bubbles and bubble prints, bread and butter
making, painting our life size bodies, butterfly life cycle, and symmetrical butterfly
painting, balloons (static electricity), and book making “Crawdads, Crawdads, What Do
You See?” based on Bill Martin Jr.’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The
children also have been working on writing these letters using uppercase and lowercase.
In October we will explore the letters “Cc” and “Dd” through imagination and creativity by
creating colorful castles; collages, caterpillars; cloud watching and painting; counting cups,
clocks, crayons; coins; corn on the cob roll painting; camouflage; cavities; and cornbread.
The letter “Dd” dares to bring us a “Dining Out” Drama in our Dramatic Play Center;
dinosaurs: eggs, digging for fossils, measuring dinosaurs; dancing; and dragons. In the
afternoon, the Pre-K classes will be planting a Fall garden and learning about blending
colors. The children will put on scientist jackets and answer questions about dinosaurs,
what do crawdads prefer to eat, and does water and oil mix? At the end of the month we
will celebrate with the Imagination Parade, dressing up in costumes that the children have
worked on throughout the month.
Pre-Kindergarten: “The Butterfly Room”
We are getting to know each other in class, and have been enjoying our time building
relationships with friends and teachers. In September, we focused on the 5 senses. The
children discussed different ways to explore the world around them by using their five
senses. They explored the outdoors using “handmade” binoculars, challenged their various
senses by: listening to and identifying various sounds, smelling different herbal and food
scents, and feeling textures using our classroom sensory gloves. For “Aa” week, the
children enjoyed baked and eating yummy apple crescents! During “Bb” week, they made
banana smoothies. They also learned to identify, sound out, and write the letters “Aa” and
“Bb”. This activity was extended to include sounding out and writing simple words that
begin with each of the letters.
“Imagination” is our theme for October. Our lessons will focus on the change of seasons,
colors, shapes, and letters “Cc” and “Dd” using the words cat, can, cake, cold, cook,
character (in a story), dragon, dance, dinosaur, dominoes etc. We will also read and
dramatize the children stories; Little Blue and Little Yellow, The Little Old Lady Who
Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, and Puff the Magic Dragon. Our classroom activities will
culminate with an Imagination Parade on Monday, October 31, 2011 where we will
show off our “hand-made“ costumes based on Maurice Sendak’s book, Where The Wild
Things Are . The children are excited to be designing and making their own costume for the
event.
We are happy to have your child in the Butterfly Class. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Parent Information Corner:
The Value of Developing Friendships
"The favorite childhood memories of many adults involve friends — in a sense, friendship is what childhood is
all about," writes Eileen Kennedy-Moore in Work & Family Life (October 2011). She continues to describe
the importance of helping children develop friendships...
"Friendships are not only a source of fun, they help kids grow in meaningful ways. They create a sense of
belonging through shared interests: 'my friends and I like this kind of music…' or 'we play soccer.' Friendships
can provide acceptance and help children feel good about themselves: 'Michelle is my friend and she wants to
play with me.' Having friends also makes it easier for kids to tolerate stress, rebuffs, or aggravation. And
friendship encourages children to go beyond their own self-interest. Caring about a friend, or just wanting to
play with that friend, can temper selfish urges and open the way for negotiation, compromise, and even
generosity."
Special Reminders:
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Parents must sign-in and sign-out their child each day using their full legal name.
This is a licensing requirement and very important. Thank you. For your
convenience, there are two clipboards are on either side of the parent files in
alphabetic order.
Please remember to have your child bring their tote bag to school with them each
day. Please use the tote bag rather then a back pack. Our cubbies space is limited,
and better accommodates the new tote bags. Thank you for your support.
Please LABEL all of your child’s personal items: especially sweaters, jackets,
lovies, and lunchboxes.
Thank you parents for supporting the Dayspring Preschool nut-aware policy. Please
note that this policy includes all types of nuts including: peanuts, almonds,
walnuts, tree nuts, and nut products. I would be happy to answer any questions you
may have regarding this policy or nut substitute products. Thank you.
When entering Dayspring’s front door, gently lift the door handle up (not out) and
pull to open with a smooth motion.
Please remember to hold your child’s hand as you are walking to and from your
car. Thank you.