Hablamos Espanol!

Hola!  We've had some parents request that our Spanish vocabulary be posted on our blogsite, so here are our words for the month of November.  Also, we are studying Puerto Rico this month.  Our focus will be on the culture as well as the native coqui.  A coqui is a tiny frog that has a distinct song (it sounds like "co-key").  The people of Puerto Rico love their coquies and have written songs and legends about them.  Ask your child what they have learned about Puerto Rico and the coqui!

Vocabulario (vocabulary):

• los colores (lohss co-lore-ace) the colors
• rojo  (row-hoe) red
• anaranjado (on-uh-ron-ha-dough) orange
• amarillo (om-uh-ree-yo) yellow
• verde (vair-day) green
• azul (ah-zool) blue
• morado (more-ah-dough) purple
• negro (nay-grow) black
• blanco (blahn-co) white
• marrón (mah-rone) brown
• rosado  (row-saw-doe)  pink
• gris  (grease)  grey
• grande (grahn-day) big
• pequeño (peck-kay-nyo) small
• duro (dur-oh)  hard
• suave (swah-vay) soft
• delgado (del-gah-dough) skinny
• gordo (gore-dough) fat

To help your child practice Spanish, ask them to describe everyday items.  For example, “What does your pillow look like?  What color is the pillowcase?  Is it soft and fat, or hard and skinny?”  You can play “I Spy” in the car, or even practice singing our “Canción de los Colores.”
 

“Canción de los Colores"

(to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”)

I see the color red right here, red right here, red right here,

I see the color red right here, in Spanish red is rojo.

(Substitute various colors in English and Spanish.)

Week of November 28-December 2

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a wonderful break!

Here is what we are doing this week:

Social Studies: Starting to study Our Community and Community Helpers

Science: Sense of Touch

Math: Review #1-9, patterning and addition

Literacy: Review all letters learned so far

Writing: Writing name and tracing, sending letters

Show and Tell: Free Choice!

There will be a few changes occuring this week with the change in director. As most of you know, I will be taking over for Caylee as the preschool director. I will be teaching in the morning, just as always, until about 11. After that, we will have another teacher in the classroom to help with recess, lunch, nap, and the afternoons. I am so excited to have this opportunity and to still be able to teach your children.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at any time at sschlagenhauf@tpaak.org.

Please be sure to see our notes to the right for important updates!!

Week of November 21-23

Hello Parents!

This is a short week this week. We will be in school with normal hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Please let us know if you are going to be missing one of your usual days or if you plan to attend a day that you normally would not. This helps us make sure we have enough adults and supplies for every day!

This week we will be talking about Thanksgiving, being thankful, and nutrition. We will be eating some traditional Thanksgiving foods for snacks, and talking about foods that keep us healthy. We will be doing several Thanksgiving crafts, and, in general, having fun.

Please remember to prepare for the weather! We go outside if the temperature is 20 degrees or higher. With our playground in the shade, sometimes it can get chilly. Please make sure your child has a warm coat, hat and gloves when needed for school. We will make sure they wear them when the weather turns colder.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break!!

Week of November 14-18

This week we will begin our unit on Thanksgiving, starting with a study of Native Americans. We will be talking about the clothes, food, and culture of Native Americans and will be making some Native American instruments.

Here is what the rest of our week looks like:

Social Studies: Native Americans

Science: the sense of touch

Math: #9 and patterns

Literacy: Letter Bb

Fine Motor: Cutting and tracing

Art: Native American designs

Spanish: Los colores (colors)

Show and Tell: Something you are thankful for.

Since we will be going outside on days that are 20 degrees or warmer, please make sure your child comes to school with the appropriate clothing. We are more than happy to help with gloves and hats before we go outside. Please make sure everything is labeled with your child's name or initials. We will place things in cubbies or in backpacks.

If you have any questions, you can now contact Mrs. Nye and Mrs. S via school email! Our email addresses are:

Mrs. S: sschlagenhauf@tpaak.org

Mrs. Nye: jnye@tpaak.org

Have a great week! Be sure to scroll down and read the article posted by Mrs. Nye on Thursday!!

Teaching our Children Gratitude

With the holiday seasons upon us, I found this article to be really interesting.

http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/teaching-children-to-be-grateful/ 

November 7-11

This week we will be learning about our wonderful state, Colorado! We will continue some of our Forest Animal week by talking about the animals that live in Colorado.

Themes for the week:

Social Studies: Colorado

Science: Hearing

Math: #8

Shape: Rectangle

Color: Brown

Letter: Nn

Art/Fine Motor: Tracing/Cutting

Music: Instruments and November songs

Spanish: Los Colores--Colors

Show and Tell: Something that Starts with Nn

Instead of doing all the monthly themes each week, we will be focusing on one per week. This month it will be Forest Animals, Colorado, Native Americans, and Thanksgiving.

As our weather turns colder, I am sure our students will have more and more layers to wear to school. Most days, if the temperature is above 20 degrees with the wind chill, we will go out. Exceptions include if it is raining, snowing hard, or if our playground is snowy/icy. Please make sure your child has appropriate clothing. Since we have a lot of jackets, snow pants, boots, gloves and hats that look the same, please take a moment to label your child's things with their name.

You should have gotten a survey in your child's box about our Holiday Festivities. Please take a moment to fill this out, as it will help greatly with planning.

Have a great week!!!