It's a Good Day in Pre-K

I hope you all had a great Halloween and are ready for the holiday season. In our Pre-K classrooms we love to celebrate each other and also traditions. In November there is a lot to celebrate, be it our Veterans or Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a celebration of sharing, gratitude and abundance. There is a power in gratitude that research shows leads to positive health outcomes for our children. Encourage your children to show their gratitude by doing something kind such as a special drawing for a teacher or even just getting in the habit of saying thank you. And with that, I want to thank all of you. Thanks for supporting our Pre-K program and all of our teachers. We are grateful for you!

Students in Mrs. Ferretti's classroom in Catskill were learning about leaves. They went on a leaf hunt and then attached the leaves to make a poster about what they found. After they used magnifying glasses to investigate to see the different colors, sizes and shapes. They even made leaf hats. These are great activities as they engage students in exploring nature, develop fine motor skills and encourage language development through observation and discussion.

In our Pre-K classrooms we spend a lot of time talking about and inviting in community helpers. This shows that our preschoolers belong to a greater community and teach that grown-ups can help in multiple situations. Here is a picture of SRO DaLessio at Berlin and members of the fire department. Across all of our sites, community helpers have been visiting and talking to our students about what they do and how they help the greater community. Thank you to all of our community helpers!

Fire safety is observed every October. Our preschool programs invite local fire departments in and also create theme based activities in their classrooms around the theme. Instilling fire safety practices establishes a foundation of awareness and preparedness. Below are some photos of our classroom in Green Meadow.

All of our sites celebrated the the spooky month of October with themed activities, costumes, spirit weeks and fun! Here are some pictures from our various pre-k classrooms!

What a beautiful month for some field trips. Many of our sites have taken advantage of the fall weather to get out and visit local farms. Below are some pictures of our students at Genet enjoying Kristy's Barn in East Greenbush.

The students at all of our sites received a visit from our Model Schools specialist Ms. Kasey as she introduced the students to a STEAM learning robot named Indi. Even in Pre-K we want to expose our students to engineering and robotics. Indi is a car shaped learning robot that teaches the fundamentals of computer science and computational thinking. The lessons taught this month were coding! The students learned the basics of coding through screenless programming using a variety of color sensor cards. Indi was a big hit!

Each week, they’ve been experimenting with different color tiles to guide Indi along paths and through exciting challenges. By arranging the colors, students are learning how Indi “reads” and responds to each one, discovering foundational coding concepts along the way. This hands-on exploration of color coding strengthens their problem-solving skills, sparks creativity, and builds confidence in thinking through solutions. Indi has truly brought innovation to life in our classrooms!

Below are some resources on screen time, toilet training, and articles for you to use as you wish!

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages media use but if you do they recommend that children ages 2-5 be limited to one hour a day of high-quality programming. Those that have too much screen time could have inadequate sleep schedules, behavior problems, delays in language and social skills, and attention problems to name a few. One of the first things I ask parents if they call with concerns about their child is "how much screen time do they have?" Often, not always, there is a correlation between too much screen time at home. If this is the case, develop some screen time rules, and set limits. To read more please check out the attached article from the Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/screen-time/art-20047952

Hopefully by now your child is acclimated to the Pre-K classroom and is toilet trained. If not, it is ok, but it is something that should be worked on at home as well as school. If your child sees the connection between the two, it will make things go much quicker. Here is some toilet training advice from John Hopkins Medicine. If you feel your child is still struggling with toilet training, please reach out to your classroom teacher, or myself and we can help by giving strategies and/or creating a plan. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/toilettraining

Phonological awareness skills help students break the reading code. To decode words, students must be able to hear and manipulate sounds within words so they can connect those sounds with the letters that represent them. We do this daily in Pre-K. Attached are some rhyming books that help teach these skills.

https://resources.waterford.org/books-prek-2-/86/86.pdf

https://resources.waterford.org/books-prek-2-/83/83.pdf

https://resources.waterford.org/books-prek-2-/77/77.pdf

Have a question? Need to connect? Feel free to reach me at my contacts below. I'll even meet you for a coffee! Just reach out! Thanks for your continued support.

Email: michael.burns@questar.org
Website: www.questar.org

Phone: (518) 479-6898