November 2015 Gazette - Windmill Creek Academy

Windmill Creek Academy Gazette
Volume 8
Issue 3
November 2015
Letter from the Director
Dear Parents,
Wow – can you believe the holidays are fast approaching!?
October was a great month – we enjoyed learning about Inventors
& Inventions, Christopher Columbus, Fire Safety and, of course,
we had a great time celebrating Halloween! Our Halloween Party
and Parade were a great success! A big, “Thank you!” to all
parents and teachers for helping make this year’s festivities so
much fun!
In November we will be learning about our Five Senses, Pilgrims
and Native Americans, Harvest, the first Thanksgiving and
Manners.
Following are a few important dates to remember:
November Birthdays
Jalal N - November 1
Ms. Krystal - November 1
Lilah B - November 3
Willie H - November 5
Freya G - November 6
Douglas O - November 9
Ms. Michelle - November 12
Jacob C - November 16
Bridget P - November 17
Ronald H - November 17
Ms. Pat - November 24
Kyler L - November 25
Emilee A - November 25
Thanksgiving Feast
On Thursday, November 19th, the students will be offered a
special Thanksgiving Feast at lunch time – including turkey breast,
stuffing and pumpkin pie. We will be practicing our best manners
at this special luncheon! If you would like your child to
participate, please sign up with your child’s teacher no later than
Wednesday, November 18 and provide $5.00 to cover the food
costs (exact change or check, please. Thank you!).
Picture Day - Thursday, November 12
On Thursday, November 12th, Life Touch will be here to take the
children’s photos. Please have your child here no later than 9:00
a.m. if you would like your child’s photo to be taken.
School Closed November 26 and 27
Windmill Creek Academy will be closed on Thursday, November
26 and 27 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Holidays Around the World” Pageant
On Thursday, December 17th at 7:00 p.m., the Giraffes’ class will
perform an exciting holiday pageant, “Holidays Around the
World.” Stay tuned for more information!
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing your
wonderful children with us – we all have so much to be thankful
for. I know all the teachers here at Windmill Creek Academy join
me in wishing you and your families a safe and happy
Thanksgiving!
Warmest regards,
Janine Connell
Founder & Director
Windmill Creek Academy
Ben the “Gnome” and Owen the “Jack-oLantern” gear-up for the Halloween Parade!
Windmill Creek Gazette Page 2
Windmill Creek Academy
Classroom Updates
Bunnies
The Bunnies were busy in October! They went sailing as “Christopher
Columbus” and had a fun time wearing fire fighter hats during “Fire Safety
Week.” The Bunnies had a wonderful Halloween – dressing up as all sorts
of characters ... including a “bumble bee,” a couple of “witches,” “Pebbles”
and a tasty piece of “sushi!” The room’s decorations are filled with ghosts,
pumpkins and black cats and we topped off the month with a wonderful
Halloween Party! Lilah is walking and Laney is trying to keep up with her!
Ethan is doing the “army crawl.” Olivia loves the kitchen area and tries to
help as we prepare food. Penny is sitting on her own and trying to pull
herself up. Ronnie and Freya have moved on up to their next class and
become “Cubs!” We miss them! November is approaching and we will be
getting ready for Thanksgiving our first taste of turkey and pumpkin pie!
We also look forward to the cooler weather so we can take advantage of
playing outside under the awning and catching some lovely fresh breezes!
Ms. Diane, Ms. Lindsey and Ms. Iris
Cubs
October was a super exciting month! We welcomed two new Cubs to our
class – Ronnie and Freya! Ronnie is already talking up a storm, loves to play
ball and is already a great pal to his classmates! Freya loves stacking up all
of our toys ... she loves to organize and is making friends fast! She’s
delighted to be with her BFF, Olivia! Ben has been saying lots of words and
Owen and Patrick love exploring all the toys and playing interactively with
their classmates. Tanner is such a happy toddler and is also a team player
with his fellow Cubs! In October the Cubs enjoyed learning about different
animals around the world. We roamed the safari with lions and rhinos! We
also sailed the sea along side Christopher Columbus and discovered new
lands. We played fire fighters as we wore fire hats and climbed ladders.
Halloween was a great theme as we decorated our room with various art
projects and dressed up in various costumes. We enjoyed playing with jello
... what an interesting textural experience! Finally, we loved our Halloween
Party as our costumes included a gnome, jack-o-lantern, witch and others!
Next month we will discover all about our senses, learn some key words
with our manners and explore our thankful hearts as we learn about
Thanksgiving!
Ms. Donna, Ms. Haven & Ms. Jazmyne
Bears
The Bears’ class had a great time in October learning about inventors,
Christopher Columbus and Fire Safety. Our favorite topic was Halloween
as the Bears got into a creative groove as they made all sorts of Halloween
arts and crafts! The Bears continue to work in groups as we read stories,
play outside and develop our gross motor skills and continue to work on fine
motor skills during art projects. The Bears are “growing their vocabularies”
as we discuss various topics and read many books out loud together. We
have loved music time and our many Halloween songs ... “Five Little
Pumpkins, “Old Mrs. Witch” and “One Little Skeleton!” We look forward
to learning about the First Thanksgiving in November, discovering all about
our “Five Senses” and learning about “Manners.” We love saying, “Please”
and “Thank you!” We would like to welcome our newest Bears to our den ...
Abigail, Zachary, Daisy, Valentino and Greyson. We bid farewell and good
wishes to Carmello, Mason and Emma.
Ms. Astrid, Ms. Krystal, Ms. Liz, Ms. Massiel, Ms. Nina & Ms. Sofie
Frogs
The month of October started off with an exploration of “Inventors and
Inventions” as we discussed the Wright Brothers and their invention of the
airplane. The children made airplanes made out of clothes pins and popsicle
sticks that they painted with different colors. No doubt you saw them
hanging in our front lobby gallery for all to see! We read the book, “Flyer
the Wright Dog” which the children loved! We also learned about Thomas
Edison inventing the lightbulb and made or own light bulbs using yellow
foam paint which was an “enlightening” and fun project! Christopher
Columbus sailed across the Atlantic searching for a new world filled with
riches to bring back to Spain. The Frogs created his three ships – the Nina,
the Pinta and the Santa Maria! We made the ships out of the children’s hand
prints and attached sails and ocean waves. The Frogs enjoyed learning
about Christopher’s adventures. Fire Safety was another subject we
explored this month. The Frogs had a great time painting fire trucks using
watercolors and cutouts of flames with orange, red and yellow paints. A
vibrant project and our bulletin board came out wonderfully! The children
were taught how to “Stop-Drop-&-Roll,” sang an educational fire song and
explored a sequence worksheet which outlined the actions to take. We
wrapped up the month with fun Halloween activities including making
skeletons out of Q-tips which tested our fine motor skills. We also made a
project for the song “Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate” which is a
favorite song we love to sing at Music and Movement time with Ms. Janine.
We look forward to our Thanksgiving Feast in November and learning about
Pilgrims and American Indians. In November, we also look forward to
learning about “Manners,” and our “Five Senses.” Finally, the Frog
teachers would like to thank Emma’s parents for donating books to our
class!
Ms. Astrid, Ms. Lena, Ms. Lesley, Ms. Massiel, & Ms. Pat
Giraffes
In “Reading, Writing and Math Readiness” the Giraffes finished their quick
introduction to the alphabet. We have now started to dive deeply into each
letter of the alphabet and each number. We started bringing home weekly
letter bags so students and parents can find items that begin with each letter.
In addition, we are using some of the same mathematical concepts used in
elementary school. 10-frames help children with counting and place value;
tallies are taught for quick counting by fives; and we are using different
shapes to make a hexagon – another skill built upon until 2nd Grade. In
“Art” the students went back in time to talk about Christopher Columbus
and learned about his adventures aboard the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa
Maria. We also explored the world and different animals; elephants from
Africa, koalas from Australia, penguins from the Arctic and flamingoes
from Florida! We also learned the ins-and-outs of fire safety. We talked
about who to call in case of an emergency, what to do if your clothes catch on
fire, the WCA fire safety plan, how fire trucks work and the importance of
stranger danger. For Halloween week we got into the holiday spirit with
spooky cotton ball ghosts, painted jack-o-lanterns, “Old Mrs. Witch” and at
the end of the month topped the festivities off with a great Halloween party
and parade! November will bring us many opportunities for crafting the
five senses, learning about manners and many first Thanksgiving festivities.
In “Social Studies and Science” we talked about Christopher Columbus and
picked up an object and predicted if it would float or sink! During “Animals
Around the World Week” we played animal charades. We discussed fire
safety and practiced “Stop-Drop-and Roll.” Our housekeeping center was
turned into a pirate ship (thank you to the parents who donated items for our
class!) Coming up in November we look forward to learning about our
senses and manners ... and when and how to use them. In November we will
explore the first Thanksgiving, pilgrims, native Americans and our senses!
Ms. Ali, Ms. Arianne, Ms. Jennifer, Ms. Kristen & Ms. Michelle
Character Training
November’s Character Training Values
Thankfulness - Appreciation & Gratitude
Responsibility - Trustworthiness & Dependability
Windmill Creek Gazette Page 3
Thanksgiving Feast
Thursday, November 19th
Zachary and his mom enjoy some Halloween fun!
Ms. Lena
Windmill Creek Academy’s
“Teacher of the Month!”
Ms. Lena is Windmill
Creek Academy’s
“Teacher of the Month”
for November! Ms.
Lena recently moved
to Naples with her
husband and two
daughters from
Connecticut. In
Connecticut, Ms. Lena
worked with many
different ages of
children ... from infants
to school age! Ms. Lena shepherds Windmill
Creek Academy’s “Frog” students – she delights
in creating art projects, developing fine and
gross motor skills and getting to know each of
her students’ strengths and ... and expanding on
them! Ms. Lena is loved by her co-teachers –
as she is always ready to “pitch in” and create a
fun and positive teaching and learning
environment!
On Thursday, November 19th we will be offering the students our
annual “Thanksgiving Feast!” The spread will include sliced turkey
breast, stuffing, cranberries, green beans, mashed potatoes ... and
pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream! If you would like your
child to partake in our Thanksgiving Feast, please sign up in your
child’s classroom and provide $5.00 to help cover food costs (exact
change or check, please. Sign up on or before November 18.)
Happy Thanksgiving – Gobble, Gobble!
Mattie and Jordan lead the Halloween Parade!