Preschool News Posted May 13, 2012
Rain kept us inside several days last week. Some days we went to the gym for recess- the preschoolers love running laps in the gym and playing with all the active-play toys in our preschool gym cart. Some days we switched classroom for recess- it is always fun to play with the centers in the “other” preschool. When the sun finally did shine, we played on the front and back lawns since the older children had MCAS testing.
We had another successful Kindergarten transition visit this week. Pre-K students visited Mrs. Conz and Mrs. Andersen for a kindergarten story time.
Miss Cheri from the town library came to visit us on Tuesday. The preschoolers loved the “magic” book she read to us, Press Here by Herve Tullet. We also heard Blue Sky by Audrey Wood, a book with gorgeous illustrations that is also perfect for beginning readers. Both of these would be great books to check out of the library and share with your child at home.
Both classes were busy making presents and cards for Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to all the preschool mothers and grandmothers- we hope you enjoyed your surprises!
In Miss Patti’s class, we all got a chance to crack an egg by dropping it off a “wall” (a small chair) while reciting Humpty Dumpty. The eggs crashed into a bowl waiting below. Then we had scrambled eggs for snack! In other egg news, we have been counting down the days until our chicks are ready to hatch. We put 12 chicken eggs in our incubator on May 1st- if all goes well, they will hatch on May 21st.
In Miss Randell’s class, we continued our author study on Mo Willems. We had a blast reading Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, and Pigeon Wants a Puppy. We also started exploring scales and using the vocabulary “heavier” and “lighter.” We experimented by making predictions and weighing different objects on a scale. The students love using the scales at the science table and weighing different objects they find in the classroom.
Reminders:
- This Wednesday, May 16th, is a half-day. All preschoolers dismiss at 10:45am.
- We are putting the preschool garden in THIS SATURDAY, May 19th from 2 to 5pm. Please join us as we clean up the playground and put in the preschool garden!
- The last day of preschool will be Tuesday June 12th.
- The Preschool Picnic will be Friday June 15 at 11am. Parents, grandparents, and siblings are all invited!
Preschool News May 6, 2012
This week in preschool, the students going to kindergarten in the fall started their “Kindergarten Transition” activities. The students will be visiting kindergarten once a week over the next month, during snack time and story time. They had a great time this week meeting Mrs. Conz and Mrs. Andersen and sharing snack time with the current kindergarten students!
Another exciting event was the May Day dance performance on Tuesday morning. The whole school gathered in the gym to watch May Day dancers perform. It was especially exciting for the preschool, because our own Ms. Moret was one of the dancers!
In Miss Randell’s class we finished making our bird feeders, and introduced the Enchanted Forest as our new dramatic play theme. The students are enjoying painting colorful creatures to decorate the area, dressing up, and role playing. We also learned a new song called, “If I Had a Hammer.” They did a lovely job learning the song, singing, and using hammers and bells as we sang.
In Miss Patti’s class we had fun acting out nursery rhymes like Jack Be Nimble; Little Miss Muffet: and Six in the Bed. We also planted sugar snap peas on the playground. Thank you to everyone who has brought in treasures for the science table – we have seashells, pinecones, dragonflies, turkey feathers, flowers, and more! We continue to observe our tadpoles each day- some are now froglets with front and back legs! We had a nice surprise on Friday when Grayson brought in a watermelon for us all to share- for most of us, that was the first watermelon of the season.
Reminders:
The last day of preschool will be Tuesday June 12th and the Preschool Picnic is tentatively scheduled for Friday June 15th. This date will be confirmed soon!
The Preschool Playground Springtime Spruce up will be Saturday May 19th from 2pm to 5pm. Please join us as we clean up the playground and put in the preschool garden! We also need donations of sand, seeds, flowers, seedlings, bushes, and garden art.
Preschool News Posted 4/29/2012
Last Monday, we were all excited to return to preschool and see our friends again!
In Miss Patti’s class, we had fun fingerpainting and making thumb-print pictures. We have also been working on our skipping and galloping skills. We have been practicing spelling and writing our names. We had a very special visitor on Friday when Andin’s pet guinea pig, Sweetie, spent the day with us! Singing is a fun and important part of our curriculum every day.
In Miss Randell’s class, we went on a Spring Scavenger hunt! We looked for signs of spring, such as, ants, singing birds, green leaves, flowers, etc. M/W/F students made peanut free bird feeders (T/TH students will make them this week). The students are very excited about our new dramatic play area: The Enchanted Forest!
Reminders:
- The last day of preschool will be Tuesday June 12th and the Preschool Picnic is tentatively scheduled for Friday June 15th. This date will be confirmed soon!
- The Preschool Playground Springtime Spruce up will be Saturday May 19th from 2 to 5pm. Please join us as we clean up the playground and put in the preschool garden!
Preschool News Posted 04-08-2012
This week in preschool we began our study on tadpoles and frogs! We currently have tadpoles that both classes are sharing. We can wait to see them transform into frogs! (Mrs. Wilson found these tadpoles in a small Hatfield “pond” that was created where a tree had fallen, and she brought them in along with water striders, caddis houses, and a salamander. It is really interesting to observe the different ways in which all these creatures move and behave).
In Miss Randell’s class, we said goodbye to Turty and hello to tadpoles! At the art table we made turtles out paper plates and decorated their shells – check them out on the bulletin board! We used watercolors to paint a special spring poem called “Ode to Spring.” The students are getting really good at writing their names! They are so proud of themselves, and we are too!
In Miss Patti’s class, we had a special visitor on Monday: Annabelle’s pet rabbit Mocha! We all got to watch Mocha hop around, touch her soft fur, and learn about the things she needs to stay healthy. Thursday afternoon, we attended the “Reading is Magic” assembly with Ed the Wizard. We are continuing to enjoy all our Mo Willems books, along with several springtime counting books: Counting in the Garden, Ten Hungry Rabbits, Ten Little Tadpoles, and Ten Little Chicks. We also had fun acting out the backwards-counting song Six in the Bed, using our gym mat as a bed we could safely “fall out” of. (“There were six in the bed, and the little one said “roll over, roll over,” so they all rolled over and one fell out! There were 5 in the bed, etc).
Reminders:
- There is no school during the week of Spring Break, April 16-20.
- As the weather gets warmer, please send a water bottle to school each day with your child. We will bring it out to the playground on warm days. Also, full day students need either a water bottle, or 3 separate juice boxes each day, so that they have something to drink at lunch and both snacks.
Preschool Update Posted 4/2/12
Thank you to everyone who attended our Whole School Meeting on Tuesday! The preschoolers did a wonderful job singing up on the big stage. We were proud of them, and they were proud of themselves. One preschooler summed it up this way: “I was a little bit nervous and a LOT excited!” On Friday morning, both preschool classes got together and ran through the meeting again so that our M/W/F students could see the slide show and enjoy singing together.
MCAS testing continued this week so once again we had fun on the front and back lawns of the school. It was a great opportunity to observe the arrival of springtime: we had some very windy days which were great for playing with our streamers. We searched for four-leaf clovers in the grass, got the sidewalk chalk back out, observed the trees about to blossom, and saw / heard many birds returning to Hatfield!
In Miss Patti’s class, we learned some new songs and read some springtime poems this week. We made Oobleck (cornstarch and water), glued buttons onto a Letter B, and made beautiful pictures with watercolor paints. We have begun a Mo Willems author study and have been enjoying his Elephant and Piggie books, Pigeon books, and Knuffle Bunny books. The favorite book this week, however, was The Z was Zapped by Chris VanAllsburg. We read it at least 4 times and the preschoolers kept requesting it again!
In Miss Randell’s class, we had the privilege of taking care of “Turty” Mr. April’s turtle. Thank you Mr. April! We enjoyed watching her sun herself on the rocks, swim around in her tank, and eat her food! At the art table we ripped little pieces of colourful paper to create hot air balloons – check them out on the new bulletin board!
Preschool Update Posted 03/25/2012
This week in preschool we have enjoyed a change in scenery by playing on the back and front fields due to upper grades doing MCAS testing. The preschoolers did a great job turning their voices off in the hallways and being respectful of the older students- nice job preschool! Out on the lawns, we had fun with hula hoops, frisbees, stilts, and streamers!
We continued to practice for the whole school meeting which we will be hosting on Tuesday, March 27th at 8:30am. Families are invited, so please save the date! M/W/F students are welcome to attend with a grown-up. If your M/W/F student is planning to attend, please let us know so we can plan accordingly. The preschoolers are doing a great job rehearsing, and are really excited for Tuesday!
In Miss Randell’s class we made pancakes as we studied maple syrup. Thank you to Kaitlyn and her family for bringing in homemade syrup- it was delicious! We also made play dough that we are going to use for a special project next week. We are still learning about transportation (until the end of March). This week we used different art tools (crayons, colored pencils, and markers) to color transportation coloring pages. Many of the students chose to paint at the easel this week- we have some new spring colors!
In Miss Patti’s class we had a special visitor on Tuesday. Kit Langdon, a Northampton preschool teacher who specializes in preschool music education, came to sing and play guitar for us. She taught us many songs about springtime, which we continued to sing all week. We also had another type of special visitor: Mr. April’s pet turtle came and spent the week with us! The preschoolers love to observe her and watch her swim. Also, Mrs. Wilson brought us a whole tankful of tadpoles, salamanders and water striders from a small pond in her backyard! We had a very lively science center this week!
Preschool News 3/19/12
SPRING is coming and we are all enjoying the beautiful weather on the playground. As winter draws to a close, we would like to thank Mrs. Bell, grandmother of Meghan and Madelyn Bell, who knits us a class set of “extra” mittens each year. We make use of them so often- even this past week, when the temperature dipped back down and many of us were caught unawares- there were plenty of extra mittens for whomever needed them. Thank you Mrs. Bell!!
On Tuesday we had a fire drill- the preschoolers did a GREAT job remaining calm and quiet. We reminded them to “turn off their voices” in case we needed to hear directions from a firefighter. We all walked outside and waited quietly- we are very proud of our brave and responsible preschoolers!
The town librarian, Miss Cheri, came to read to us on Tuesday. The children really enjoyed this visit and the three wonderful books Miss Cheri shared with us: Go, Dog, Go; I Can Help; and Blue Chameleon.
We have begun to practice for the Whole School Meeting which we will be hosting on Tuesday, March 27th at 8:30am. Families are invited, so please save the date! M/W/F students are welcome to attend with a grown-up. If your M/W/F student is planning to attend, please let us know so we can plan accordingly.
In Miss Patti’s class, we were all very excited when our tadpoles arrived in the mail- in a plastic bag filled with water and seaweed that was enclosed in a cardboard box. Then, we were all very sad when both tadpoles died before the end of the week! Such is life, and we will try again another time. The preschoolers accepted the situation quite philosophically. We also celebrated the coming of Spring by making beautiful pictures of hyacinth and forsythia using crayons and crumpled tissue paper. Our pictures are on the bulletin board in the hallway – please stop by and take a look.
In Miss Randell’s class we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by making shamrock hats and playing a shamrock game. Every student had a turn to choose a shamrock and identify the number on it. BUT! Some of them had a picture of a leprechaun which meant you had to do an Irish jig! The kids had a fun time dancing around the circle whenever a leprechaun appeared! Also, in Miss Randell’s class we have a new “Transportation” bulletin board that is full of students’ art work- make sure you check it out, they got very creative!
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