Fall is in the air and we are so grateful for each and every day we have at school. Your children are flourishing in making new friends and learning new skills. There are many lessons to be learned this year and it is pure joy to watch your child grow and develop every step of the way.
We welcome the arrival of the Pumpkin Patch this year as a way to celebrate a community tradition. The children love a walk through the orange sea and experiencing the sights of fall. As we celebrate traditions at school, take some time to enjoy traditions at home. They can be big or small and just require a little thought and intentionality that can lift the spirits. Establishing family traditions are an important part of early childhood as they provide a sense of identity, strengthen the family bond, offer comfort and security, teach values, and add to the rhythms and seasons of life. They can also connect generations, pass on cultural and religious heritage, and create lasting memories.
Thank you for a great turnout at our virtual Parent Night! It was so wonderful to see your smiling faces. Your support and attendance are appreciated. Thank you for making our annual Charleston Gift Wrap Fundraiser a success. We owe it all to our wonderful families and community. We truly have the best parents in town!
You and your child are so precious to me. If there is anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask! My door is always open and I welcome every chance to get to know you and your family.
Blessings and joy,
Allison Lee
Classroom News
Ms. Fenstermaker and Ms. Baker Two Year Olds
Happy October! We are so excited for pumpkins, colorful leaves, and all things fall!
We had a great September in this class as we learned about transportation and our five senses.
The book Little Blue Truck was a big hit! For our Five Senses unit each child got to make a little book with each page being dedicated to one sense. Be sure to let them show you their hard work and what they learned.
As we move onto October, we are now in our Farm unit. We’ll be singing Old Macdonald with puppets, creating a barn in art, and playing with all the farm animals on the rug each day. Our second unit will be focused on Halloween and adding themed art to our décor. We are also super excited about heading to the pumpkin patch as a class next week!
We have an exciting month ahead enjoying fall and celebrating Halloween!
Dates to remember:
Pumpkin patch October 11th
Pink Day October 13th
Costume Parade October 29th
Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Roberts Two Year Olds
I would first like to thank all my parents for the flowers, cards, and treats for my birthday! It made for a fun and special celebration, both in the classroom and out.
We closed out September learning all about the animals on the farm. We talked about the feel and colors of different animals, where they live and what they eat. They also had fun with Mrs. Roberts tasting the different kinds of apples and telling her which one was their favorite kind.
October starts with our Nocturnal Animal unit, combined with Halloween and shapes. We will get to scoop “spooky rice”, play with pumpkin play dough, and maybe even carve a jack-o-lantern! We will visit the pumpkin patch on October 15th from 11:30-12, and parents are encouraged to join in the fun. Please send in $1 so your child can bring home their very own small pumpkin.
We also have our costume parade on October 29th at 9:00. Parents are encouraged to come watch. We kindly ask that you do wear a mask.
Mrs. Larkin and Ms. Fannin Three Year olds
October is here and we are enjoying the cooler mornings of Fall! This month brings a flurry of activities around our units of fall, nature, apples, pumpkins and Halloween.
Our fun experiences will include a nature walk, apple graphing and tasting, pumpkin seed planting, pumpkin carving, cooking and a visit to the pumpkin patch. The children always enjoy the pumpkin patch fun and we will be visiting the patch on October 11th from 9:30 to 10am ($1.00 per child for a small pumpkin).
We will also, be focusing on the colors orange (anaranjado) and black(negro) the number 3 (tres) and the shape triangle. Which should be easy to spot all around us this month.
Many thanks to our volunteers who made September extra special and we look forward to our first online reading buddy story from Asha’s mom this month. We would especially, like to thank all our families for joining us on our “Zoom Parent Night” to share your child’s school experiences and the joy of having your children in our class. Your support is invaluable!
Be on the lookout for details on our annual Costume Parade and Halloween Party on October 29th to celebrate a little fall fun.
We are looking forward to a fabulous month!
Mrs. Marsh and Mrs. Rowan Three Year Olds
September was a very busy month in our classroom! We learned all about ourselves with our “All About Me” unit. The kids really enjoyed making their “All About Me” books and we hope you enjoyed them. We had fun exploring our 5 senses with experiences such as “smelling jars” and the different sounds of instruments.
In addition to ourselves, we learned about the shape of a circle and the color red. We focused lessons on foods that are red and round – pizza and apples! The kids created “pizzas” in our classroom pizzeria and during art time. During apple week we learned about the science of this fruit and tasted the different types of apples – yellow was the class favorite!
We had two apple cooking experiments – homemade applesauce and Mrs. Rowan’s delicious apple rolls! With October, we will begin to learn about the Fall season, including leaves, pumpkins, and Halloween!
October is going to be another busy month with several important dates to remember:
• October 6th – School Picture Day
• October 13th – Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
• October 20th – Our class trip to the Faith Pumpkin Patch (details to come)
• October 29th – Costume Parade (details to come)
Mrs. Bearss and Mrs. Jacobs Four Year olds
In September, we spent time talking about Farms, Apples, and Leaves and Trees. We cut open our apples and got a chance to really look at all the different parts (while sampling delicious class made apple sauce!) This past week, we went on our first Nature Walk and found all kinds of life in our garden and surrounding areas. Then, we made Leaf Men and Leaf Ladies (a term one of our students came up with! :) out of some of our leaf and nature findings. Check the classroom windows on Monday to see their hard work and creativity!
Moving into October, we continue learning about God's Fall Gifts. This month we will delve into Nocturnal Animals, Our Bodies, Pumpkins, and Halloween. The letters this month match up very nicely with these themes: N, B, P, and H. :o) We have a Pumpkin Patch Field Trip scheduled, as well as a Costume Parade and a Halloween Pumpkin Party and several smaller events as well like Orange Day, Cooking Day, and Picture Day. Check the calendar in your child's folder (and posted on our Sharesite) for specific dates and times.
Our Devotion focus this month is "Fear, get out of here!" This is based on scripture: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid... for the Lord your God goes with you.” -- Deuteronomy 31:6 While we strive to keep our Halloween celebration not too spooky, we know that fear can often be a topic of conversation, especially with young children. In addition to focusing on identifying real versus make believe stories and traditions, we stress that we do not have to be afraid in this life because God is always with us!
As always, please reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns!
Happy Fall, Y'all!
Mrs. Cherry and Mrs Poucher Four Year Olds
September was such a great month of transition in our class. Friends have been made, routines have fallen into place and lots of learning and fun has been had. It was wonderful to have so many parents join us on our Zoom Parent Night. You all are so supportive and we really appreciate you.
We just wrapped up our units on our 5 Senses, our Body/Nutrition and Apples. We have been focusing on a new letter per week as we work through our units. We ended the month making applesauce together- yummy! Thank you Megan Dortch for donating the cooking supplies, as well as, the parents for sending in your apples.
Now we are ready for lots of Fall Fun as October is here! We will be learning about Farms in the Fall, Pumpkins, Bats, Spiders and the letters D, E, F, G. The cooler weather will lend itself nicely to learning in nature outside of our classroom walls and visiting The Pumpkin Patch. This is going to be a fun filled month in VPK.
Mrs. Roberts and Ms. Arthur Four Year Olds
Happy Fall! We have been on the lookout for the changes outside that fall brings, and look forward to some cooler temperatures. October will be a fun and very busy month. Our themes will include Dads, Community Helpers, and of course Halloween!
Our class is scheduled to visit the pumpkin patch on October 20th at 9:30. Be on the lookout for more information.
We will continue our letters with D, E, F, and G. Letter sharing has been fun on Fridays. The children have done a fantastic job bringing in items to share that begin with the letter of the week and we write a big list on our whiteboard.
Cooking day was a success with "Ants on a Log". Thank you to the Jarrard family (Henry) for sending in our cooking supplies.
Be on the lookout for interesting specimens for our science discovery shelf. Feel free to add items at any time that you may find on a nature walk, the beach or in the backyard. The children love to inspect things with our magnifying glasses!
This is a group of happy children eager to learn and be at school. Thank you for sharing your children with us every day!
Mrs. Hamrick and Mrs. McConnaughhay Kindergarten
We have had so much fun learning all about the Rainforest and making many of the Rainforest animals to hang in our classroom! We made jaguars, toucans, sloths, blue-morpho butterflies, and even red-eyed tree frogs! We learned some new sight words and all about the numbers 1-10. In October, we will be learning about Fall, pumpkins, and community helpers. We will pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, bring it back to the classroom, then carve, investigate and learn all about the parts of a pumpkin. With the start of the cooler weather, we will go on nature walks to find items we can use to learn about patterns found in nature. We will also learn ways to make patterns in Math.
The children continue to do well with our Kindergarten rules and routines. They are doing such a great job wearing their masks and washing their hands often. We are very proud of how hard they are working and look forward to watching them continue to grow throughout this school year. Thank you for sharing them with us!
Music with Mrs. Cooke
Hello Faith Parents!
With October comes all of the excitement of fall festivities everywhere you look! Music is no exception as we begin singing and moving to all kinds of songs about pumpkins, the changing of the leaves, and of course Halloween right around the corner. I love seeing everyone use their imaginations as we make believe together.
We're also hard at work mastering rhythmic patterns that keep us counting on the beat, mapping out new patterns of sounds and rests, and participating in various call and response exercises.
I've gotten to channel the beloved Julie Andrews as our older classes have been learning Do-Re-Mi forwards and backwards to help us with our musical scale and creating new melodies.
They are greatly enjoying working with the xylophones, boomwhackers, and bells to match the notes we hear and to attempt simple songs.
With each new music term comes a simple song that helps us remember what they are. If you think about it, give them a quick quiz to see all they remember!
Happy Fall to all!
