Early Childhood Inclusion Class Newsletter Afternoon Edition December 2017

Dates to Remember:

Nov. 29 -Dec. 1 Preparing for the holidays

Dec. 4-8 The sights and smells of the holidays

Dec. 11-15 Celebrating the different ways people celebrate the holidays

Dec. 18-22 Celebrating the holidays and welcoming winter

Dec. 21*** Celebration of learning (each child may bring 1 volunteer-trained adult to participate in class activities from 1:30-3:45)

Dec. 23-Jan. 1 Schools closed for Winter Holiday

Jan. 2, 2018 Return to school

** Students may invite 1 adult to attend (must be volunteer trained). Please sign in and come to the room at 1:30. RSVP in the communication book to let us know who is coming. Thanks.

Reminders:

·  Be sure your child wears appropriate footwear, sneakers are best. We plan to play outside on the tot lot daily and have PE on Thursday.

·  Read all school correspondence and respond in a timely manner by placing papers in the pocket of the communication book or paper clip them to the book. Students unpack and pack as independently as possible; we do not check bookbags.

·  Be sure all clothing and materials from home are marked with your child’s name. Please send in clothing that is warmer for the extra clothes bag.

Absences

Send a note to school every time your child has missed a day of school explaining the reason for the absence (school requirement), or you may choose to call or email the school @ . Absence notes are included in your school folder. Media We love going to Media every Wednesday to see Ms. Peter. She reads a story and then we get to choose a book to bring home! Please return media books every Tuesday. If your child forgets, we will allow him/her to choose a new book; however, we will keep it in class until the previous book is returned. Thanks for supporting this process.

Green Folders

Green folders are meant to provide you with guidelines on fine motor development, allow you to support your child’s growth in this area, and to help establish homework routines. Please use the resources provided to practice the skills targeted each month. Activities have been chosen through collaboration with the occupational therapist and to promote success at the transition to kindergarten. If you have questions, please write a note in the communication book or contact me. I’m happy to help individualize activities if they are too difficult or too easy. Practice makes permanent, please, have your child practice correctly. Please return this folder Friday, December 1 for a new packet. This month the focus is on pathways.

Literacy Folder

Blue folders are due every Tuesday. We have been singing and adding songs and poems. Repetition helps in memorizing and keeps it fun! As your child learns the entry, leave off the last words for him/her to complete the rhyme. This connects to the curriculum for being able to discriminate rhymes! We are focusing on recognizing rhyme pairs (“hat & cat,” “goat & coat,” but not “girl & boy”).

Vocabulary

Your child is bringing home vocabulary pictures chosen with your input. Please review the letter and try a few activities. Thank you for your assistance in building vocabulary skills! It’s a short month, so review the words frequently and make connections to the objects and actions as you prepare for the holidays!

Letter Rings

Each week we focus on a new letter which we practice daily. At the end of the week, we apply what we have learned about the letter and sound to complete literacy activities. Your child was given a letter ring and each week a new letter will be placed in the blue folder’s front pocket. In December we will focus on the letters: Oo, Cc, Qq and Gg.

Theme

This month we will focus on the objects and actions of preparing for the holidays. We will make and decorate our classroom and tree. Our activities will include patterning, counting, sets, story sequencing, sound play and letter recognition, letters of the week, and reviewing subitizing. In addition, we’ll review shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangles and others) and learn about solids (cubes, cylinders, cones, and spheres). The children will have opportunities to create their own projects, make cards, write a letter, and use the vocabulary in meaningful ways. We will be reviewing concepts of print, discriminating words as same or different (go-go, hop-red), telling whether 2 words have the same beginning sound, blending syllables and words (cow-boy= cowboy), and identifying word pairs as rhymes or not rhymes. We will be learning about different cultures and how we celebrate in the same and different ways. Please note the date parents are invited to join us for a celebration of learning and join us. Please be sure to RSVP in the communication book.

Extensions

This month we’d like you to focus on reading each night for at least 15 minutes and completing the December calendar of activities. The activities can be switched around or changed to fit your holiday preparation and opportunities that come up. We are looking for your child to be an active participant in helping with holiday activities. Your child can help with cookie baking, decorating, wrapping, and holiday cards. Children learn best through hands-on experiences and with the model of an adult or sibling. Have fun this season and stay safe. While reading, pause and ask some “wh” questions. Who is the story about? What just happened? What will happen next? Why do you think so? At the end, talk about the story and identify the characters and setting. Have your child tell his/her favorite part and why. Make connections to personal experiences. Retell the story in order with a beginning, middle and end. Each of you can illustrate your favorite part and write about it. These are all great ways to develop literacy skills to participate in reading, listening, sharing ideas, and written expression.

DID YOU KNOW?

A sharing of developmental information and ideas to promote learning at home.

*Development of fine motor skills requires repeated practice.

*Eye-hand coordination improves steadily with practice.

*Development of mature gross motor patterns requires repeated practice.

*Most preschoolers spontaneously use large motions and involve their whole body when playing.

Have a safe and happy holiday season!