Greetings PK Families,

We are officially past the 6 weeks of school mark! It is amazing to see how much growth has been made in such a short amount of time. There are less tears at drop off, increased stamina during play, and so many friendships established!

Starting on Monday October 16th ECDC's hours are changing from 6:30AM-5:30PM to 8:00AM-5:00PM. This will impact our parking lots during drop off to school for Enfield Head Start, Integrated Pre-K, and the PK STEAM Academy as more families will be seeking parking to drop off in all areas of the building. I know mornings are busy, but I thank you in advance for your attention to patience and safety!

A few reminders:

• Payment for iPad insurance is due by 10/15/23. You can send a check payable to Enfield Public Schools, cash handed to a classroom staff so they can document accordingly, or on MySchoolBucks (See DIRECTIONS BELOW).
  

• If your child outgrows their clothing (especially pants) Nurse Jen will take them! Accidents happen and we run out of extra clothing quickly!

• Health and safety are top priorities and I thank you for doing your part! Nurse Jen and I are overwhelmed with how incredibly diligent all of you have been in regards to monitoring your child for illness and asking questions as they arise!

• Remain vigilant of your surroundings when driving through our parking lots. Our clientele are nearly 100% under or around 3 feet tall and it can be hard to see them!

• Nurse Jen will need proof of flu vaccination by December 22, 2023. You can email it to her jmaier@enfieldschools.org, send in a hard copy, or fax it (860) 253-0096!

As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering innovation and interactive learning experiences, we will be sending a weekly iPad activity designed to combine technology with family bonding.

DUE TO STAFF AND FAMILY FEEDBACK, WE ARE GOING TO EXTEND THE TIME BETWEEN iPad Explorer challenges to allow more time to engage with it and also more opportunities for practice. We will share the next activity in November.

For those of you looking to do more with camera and markup:

• let your child be a photographer and then mark up as they wish
• look for leaves changing color and mark them up or change the filters
• look for things in groups (i.e. socks, spoons, pictures on the fridge, etc.), have them take a picture and then count how many are in the set

Description:

Question the day is a daily practice activity, where children are actively engaged in answering a question based on previously learned content with picture cues to help. Children may answer the question independently, or with peers and the teacher will review the question as a large group. Children practice name recognition and self-regulation skills, as well as develop print awareness. Questions can support concepts learned in any domain/standard.

How we do it…

• As the children enter the classroom they…

• Pick up their name tag

• Read the question or listen to the teacher/friend read it

• Answer yes or no by placing their name tag in the appropriate column.

What are children learning?

*how to make choices

*Literacy skill (recognizing your name, concepts of print)

*Oral language skills and concepts

Some example questions are…

“Are you wearing a red shirt today?” “Does cat rhyme with bird?”

“What comes next: RED YELLOW RED YELLOW ________

This activity focuses on the following Executive Function skills:

• Inhibitory control of actions and attention by being able to take the time to answer the question

• Working Memory by remembering the question, the answer choices, and following the steps of the strategy within the routine of the day

Cognitive Flexibility by recognizing that the items used in pictures might not be exactly like the real item

• SELC=Stowe Early Learning Center
• SELC=our mascot (the eaglet featured above)
• FEO=Family Educator Organization
• ECDC=Enfield Child Development Center
• EPS=Enfield Public Schools
• FRC=Family Resource Center
• IPS=Integrated Pre-K
• HS=Head Start
• KITE=Key Initiatives to Early Education
• PKS=PK STEAM Academy
• Eaglets=all children taking part in any program at SELC

IMPORTANT NUMBERS:

• Main Office=860-253-4741
• Head Start Family Support=860-253-4717
• Nurse=860-763-8858
• FRC=860-253-6580
• KITE=860-253-6502

Our building is quite unique in that we house 4 PK programs, a Family Resource Center, and KITE.

Enfield Head Start, Integrated Pre-K, PK STEAM Academy

Email: jvalley@enfieldschools.org
Website: www.enfieldschools.org
Location: 117 Post Office Road, Enfield, CT, USA
Phone: 860-253-4741
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/424681288154509/
Twitter: @EnfieldEPS