Early Learning Preschool Newsletter

Early Learning Preschool will provide the foundation for

education, through exploration, home to school connections,

and a positive, nurturing environment to promote critical

thinking skills, resiliency and a love of learning.

Early Learning Preschool students will follow a slightly different registration process for Kindergarten. Since your child is already in the county system, there’s no need for you to complete an online enrollment form. On March 24, you can begin calling your child’s elementary school (the one your address is zoned for) to schedule an appointment. Let the school know your child is currently enrolled in Henrico County Public Schools for preschool. The registrar will schedule an appointment for you to submit all of your required documents in person.

Do you know a child who will turn 4 by September 30, 2025?

Spread the word about our Preschool Program! The online pre-screening is now open.

To complete the form, families should visit our website:

https://www.henricoschools.us/page/preschool

Max and Ruby are making special cakes for their grandmother’s

birthday. Max needs Red-Hot Marshmallow Squirters for his

earthworm cake but the grocer can’t seem to read Max’s writing.

Will Max be able to finish his cake by the time his grandmother

arrives? Let’s find out!

Musical Letters

Who doesn’t love a game of Musical Chairs? This is a version of the

classic game but with a Pre-K twist!

What you’ll need:

· 8 pieces of paper (or at least one for each player)

· Any writing tool: marker, pencil, crayon, etc.

· Music! Any songs your family enjoys

Directions

1. Write one letter on each piece of paper.

2. Spread the papers out on the floor as if they were the chairs in

Musical Chairs.

3. Start the music! Dance around the papers until the music stops.

When the music stops, copy the letter that is on the piece of paper

where you stopped.

4. Start the music and play again and again J

(No “chairs” are removed in this version of the game.)

Want to make it more challenging? Write words instead of letters on

each paper.

Want to make it a little easier? Start with drawing simple shapes like

circles and squares on each paper.

Instructional Corner:Instructional Corner

Students will celebrate Read Across America on Monday, March 3. Each classroom in Pre K will have a guest reader from HCPS. Each child in Early Learning Preschool will receive the book The Kindest Red to take home and add to their personal library. Teachers will send the book home with each student along with this family letter.

Check out this article with additional ideas from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) with 10 Simple Ways to Promote Reading at Home.

As classrooms study balls this month, the children will learn concepts and skills in literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology. Students will also be using thinking skills to investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test our ideas.

Here are some ideas for how you can support learning as you spend time with your child at home:

• Play with balls of all shapes, types, and sizes, such as playground balls, tennis balls, ping-pong balls, squish balls, volleyballs, baseballs, footballs, or marbles.
• Talk about what the balls are made of, whether they are heavy or light, and whether they are big or little.
• Wonder aloud with your child to encourage his or her thinking about balls. For example, you might ask, “I wonder what’s inside a tennis ball. I wonder how far you can throw a foil ball, a beach ball, or a tennis ball. How can we find out?”
• Help your child use all of his or her senses when playing with balls. You might ask, “What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like? Smell like?”
• See how many types of balls you can find around the house and in your neighborhood.
• Play a game while riding in the car or bus. Think of all the words that contain the word ball in them. Look for examples of balls around you.

At home, you can continue to reinforce concepts being taught in school by utilizing the Home Activity Guides connected to each Creative Curriculum study. Use the links in the chart below to access these boards that are available in English, Arabic, and Spanish.

Importance of Dental Visits

The American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics say that every child should visit a dentist by age 1 – or as soon as the first tooth appears. This “well baby visit” teaches parents and caregivers how to care for their children’s teeth and help them remain cavity-free.

For example, pediatric dentists see many young patients with cavities that came from falling asleep with a bottle of milk or juice. The dentist can tell the parent or caregiver:

• Why this causes decay
• The importance of encouraging children to drink milk, water and juice from a cup as they approach their first birthday
• How to brush young teeth.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than 40 percent of children have decay by the time they reach kindergarten.

Early Learning Preschool has three clinical service providers, Stephanie H. Baker, LCSW-S, RPT, NCSSW, Margaret Savory, LCSW, and Michelle Thompson, MSW, CTS-TRE.

They are available to provide social and emotional assistance to your families. Each month they will share a healthy tip for your family.

Linked below is the March Newsletter

March

Bullying

Watch together as Big Bird is bullied by a group of birds that excluded him from their club (saying he’s too yellow, too tall, and too big-footed) and help children notice how he and his friends handle it.

Ask:

How did Elmo and Abby help Big Bird? (by finding a grown-up to help)

When talking about bullying, you can also introduce the idea of “oops or ouch.” Accidentally bumping into someone is a mistake—an “oops.” But pushing someone on purpose is an “ouch.” If we do either an oops or an ouch, it’s important to apologize. But if a person keeps doing “ouches,” that’s called bullying.

For more information please visit https://sesameworkshop.org/topics/mentalhealth/

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cucumber
• ¼ yellow bell pepper
• 4 ounces low-fat cheese (such as mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, or Monterey Jack)

Directions

• Cut ½ of the cucumber crosswise into three 1-inch sections.
• Stand the cucumber sections up, and cut each section in half to make the top of the hat.
• Cut the other ½ cucumber into thin strips that are a little longer than the cucumber sections to make the brim of the hat.
• Cut the pepper into 6 small squares.
• Cut the cheese into 6 thin strips.6.
• Take one cucumber section, one strip of cheese, one cucumber strip, and one pepper square to form a hat.

Makes 6 servings

**peeling and cutting will need to be completed by an adult**

Our next Early Learning Preschool Family Committee Meeting will take place virtually on:

Friday, March 21st at 1:00 PM.

A link to join the meeting will be sent through email as the date gets closer. We hope you’ll be able to join us!

With the temperature rising, the birds chirping, and the flowers blooming, let’s celebrate spring! We will have family fun, crafts and lawn games. Concessions available for purchase. Information: roc35@henrico.gov

Belmont Rec Center is hosting a carnival! There will be face painting, balloons, a rock wall, and a bounce house. We will have lots of games outside and the game.

Enjoy a movie in the park! The movie will begin at sunset, approximately 7:30pm. Bring your lawn chair or blanket and a flashlight

Residency Information

• Henrico County Multicultural Community Engagement Bulletin Board
• Science Museum of Virginia: Museum for All Information
• HCPS 24-25 School Calendar
• Henrico County Public Library Storyline 804-501-1946

March 2025

March 21: End of quarter/Student half day/Flexible staff clerical day

March 31: Student and teacher holiday - Eid al-Fitr

April 2025

April 1-4: Schools closed - Spring Break

April 21: Schools closed – Student and staff holiday

For more information about the 2024-2025 school year please visit:

https://www.henricoschools.us/page/2024-25-school-calendar

For more information about Early Learning Preschool call:

804-328-8104 or visit https://henricoschools.us/preschool/