... Preschool Lab Newsletter--page 4 PICTURE PAGES Clayton and Kai playing with ...

From the Desk of the Director by Dr. Mandy Medvin (email: [email protected])

We are planning to hold a Preschool Advisory Board meeting in No-vember; we will conduct a ‘walk through’ of our program and discuss how our class-room organization adheres to NAEYC criteria. We will let you know when the date is finalized. In the meantime, please tell your classroom representatives if there are pre-school issues you wish to discuss.

As director, I would like to remind parents that you may not park (even a little bit) in any of the areas with painted white lines. We want to prevent your receipt of a parking ticket from the Borough of New Wilmington! Thank you.

Have a wonderful November!

M/W/F Class Head Teacher's Notes by Debi Roud (email: [email protected])

We look forward to meeting with families for Parent/Teacher Conferences. We know how busy you are and appreciate the time to touch base and talk about our favorite subject—your children! You will hear us talk about developmental milestones during conferences. Skills such as naming colors, showing affection, hopping on one foot, counting and alphabet recognition are called developmental milestones. Devel-opmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age. As children grow and develop, their world begins to open up. They become more independent and begin to focus more on adults and children outside of the

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T/Th Class Teacher's Notes by Melissa Moore (email: [email protected])

Our Halloween party was a big success! Thank you to our parent party com-mittee of Sararose Lynch, Stephany Bruckner, Shelli Jackson and Shelly Miller. Your time and creative efforts were greatly appreciated! As the T/Th class moves into the month of November, we’d like to take a mo-ment to comment on how well we think your children are coping with separation. For the most part, separation from mom, dad, or grandparent has gone smoothly. Your children are adjusting to the preschool and our routine. They feel comfortable and secure and are able to easily separate from the parent/caregiver. However, some-times you may see regression in the separation process. It's as if your child finally realizes this “preschool stuff” isn’t going to go away and they’ll have to do this all year!

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N e w s l e t t e r

W E S T M I N S T E R C O L L E G E

www.westminster.edu/about/community/preschool/index.cfm

November 2016

Highlights

M/W/F will continue creative movement

classes every Wednesday at Old ‘77 Gym!

Parent Teacher

Conferences Thursday, November 3 for BOTH classes. A sign-up sheet will be

posted outside our preschool door. There will be no school that day.

November Birthdays

Eliza Hennon — Nov. 6 Annalyse Cassano - Nov. 14

Ryan Bruckner—Nov. 28 Luke DuBois—Nov. 30

Please let us know if you are planning on bringing a

birthday treat for the class!

Doreen Matune, Layout Editor

Preschool Lab Newsletter—page 2

family. Many of you often ask during conferences for suggestions on positive parenting tips to help with healthy preschool development (especially when your patience is tested to the limits!). Following are some things that you, as a parent, can do to help your preschooler during this time:

Continue to read to your child. Nurture her love for books by taking her to the library or bookstore. Let your child help with simple chores. Give your child a limited number of simple choices (for example, deciding what to wear). Encourage your child to play with other children. This helps him to learn the value of sharing and friendship. Be clear and consistent when disciplining your child. Explain and show the behavior that you expect from her. When-

ever you tell her no, follow up with what she should be doing instead. Help your child develop good language skills by speaking to him in complete sentences and using “grown up” words.

Help him to use the correct words and phrases. Help your child through the steps to solve problems when she is upset.

The M/W/F class has been finding new ways to problem solve. This is happening especially during free play when the children are developing social competence. The four and five year olds are beginning to find power in their words in choosing friends and also turning friends away. During center time play the children are encouraged to speak kindly to others. The teachers may observe your child's play and ask, "How could everyone play together? or “What kind words can you say to each other?” These types of open-ended questions challenge preschoolers to consider the words they choose and the way those words create healthy friendships. This is part of problem solving and especially important in the formative years of social development. We also offer children words to try if they need help verbalizing. “I’d like to play with the blocks.” or “Yes, you can play with us, too,” might be suggested. Please follow-up with your children at home by asking them what friends they played with at school and how they used words nicely with their friends. Halloween brought the month to a close with jack-o-lantern creations, the annual campus parade (Westminster staff and stu-dents love this!) and a terrific classroom party. Thank you to our parent volunteers Joanna McClelland (party leader), Emily Feury, Carrie McMurdy, Julie Mohr, Melissa Moore, Ashley Signer and Regina Smarrelli for sharing their time and creative talent with us!

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Regression may be in the form of temper tantrums, refusal to go to school, ‘sick’ at their stomach, crying or just being quiet and sad. Please hang in there, parents! Every child goes through some form of separation anxiety, whether it’s immediate or delayed. We would like you to know this is perfectly normal. Our Parent Library, located in the back staff room, offers additional information on this and many other subjects concerning children and their development. Please feel free to browse through and check out any of our books, tapes or pamphlets. We’d also like to mention how well your children are learning to use their words to solve problems in play. For most of the class, this is their first exposure to group play. It's very difficult for a three-year-old to explain what they need. Their first impulse is to yell and cry, or to grab and push to get what they want. We would rather they use their words to explain to their friend(s) what they want or need. We also encourage the children to talk to their friends about their feelings. When they do this, children learn how to appropri-ately express their feelings and respond to each other in a positive manner. For example, we might encourage a child to say, “I’m mad you took that car from me. I’m playing with it. Give it back to me,” or, “You can have it when I’m done.” This takes a lot of time and ef-fort for both the children and teachers! So, if your child comes home and says, " The teachers told me to use my words today”, you'll know we are trying very hard to encourage positive social play.

(T/Th continued from page 1)

My Owlet (Kiowa Indian lullaby)

Owlet my owlet is sleeping Wee stars are twinkling in the sky,

Owlet my owlet is sleeping Father is singing a lullaby.

Proud Turkeys

Turkeys stretch their necks and strut Spread their feathers wide

All they say is gobble, gobble, gobble As they wobble from side to side

Ohh Ka La Lah Native American Chant

(This is an echo song. One person sings first, then the class repeats it. The chant begins very softly, as if two Native American tribes were far away from each other,

then as they get closer it becomes louder, then quieter as they move apart.)

Ohh Ka La Lah (echo)

A par a tik a tumba (echo) A masa masa masa (echo)

Ohh ala way ala wah ala way. (echo)

Preschool Lab Newsletter—page 3

HIGHLIGHTS-M/W/F CLASS:

Shape Day

Shapes will be the topic of the day!

Field Trip

A field trip to the Neshannock Fire Department has been planned. This finishes off our fire safety unit we did in October. A sign-up sheet for field trip drivers will be posted outside our classroom door. As a reminder, all children will need car seats to travel to the fire sta-tion.

Three’s the Number!

We are highlighting numbers using some classis ctories that feature animals of three! The Three Billy Goats’ Gruff, The Three Little Pigs, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears are three stories we will focus on.

Turkeys

They are birds that we love to eat around the holidays! We will look at the differences between wild and domestic turkeys as well as feather differences between male and female birds.

Pilgrims and Native American

Indians

The children will be introduced to the story of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims’ trek to America will be discussed and we will talk about Native Americans and em-phasize the use of natural elements during earlier times.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving family celebrations will be discussed with an emphasis on things we are thankful for!

.Yellow Day

Monday, November 21st, is yellow day. Please have your child wear something yellow that day to school!

HIGHLIGHTS-T/TH CLASS:

Numbers

We will be counting, recognizing and playing with numbers on this day. Look for our “Big Number Art” display!

Turkeys

We will be learning all about this popular Thanksgiving ani-mal! We will learn what turkeys eat, where they live and what sounds they make. Turkey art, games and songs will round out our day!

Pilgrims and Native Americans

Our class looks forward to learning about Pilgrims and Native Americans during November. We will focus on the similarities and differences among these groups and how each one is important to our history.

Thanksgiving

Our class will be talking about family Thanksgiving traditions and healthy versus non-healthy food. We will discuss what “being thankful” means and each child will have a chance to say several things he or she is thankful for. (Look for our “Thankful Turkeys.” They are adorable!)

Yellow Day

Tuesday, November 22nd will be Yellow Day. Wear some-thing yellow to school and enjoy fun with the color yellow!

Recipe: Native American Fry Bread

1 cup yellow cornmeal 2 Tbsp. Butter 3/4 tsp. Salt 1/4 cup milk 2 tsp. Sugar Margarine & oil for frying 1 cup water Maple syrup

Combine cornmeal, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, bring water and two table-spoons of butter to a boil. Slowly pour hot mix-ture over dry ingredients, stirring as you pour. When liquid has been absorbed, stir in milk. Cov-er surface of hot griddle with equal parts of mar-garine and oil. Drop batter onto griddle to make 4 inch cakes. Turn when browned. Serve with margarine and syrup.

Websites for the Month: www.kidzone.ws/animals/turkey.htm

www.beyondpesticides.org www.safecosmetics.org

www.healthytoys.org www.native-languages.org/kids.htm

Preschool Lab Newsletter--page 4

PICTURE PAGES

Clayton and Kai playing with some

new toys at preschool.

Mason, Jillian, Jayne and Zoe setting up ‘house’ behind the

puppet theater.

Ty and Carter are serious about their sand box play!

Preschool Lab Newsletter--page 5

PICTURE PAGES

Dinosaurs in the carwash! Ridge, Ryan, and Zachary always have fun together.

Is there room on the broom for Luke?

Eliza and Landry are washing their pets at the

“pet wash.”