Merry Christmas!

From all the Pre-K angels, we wish you and your families a blessed Christmas!

Enjoy the Christmas vacation and best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year!

Over the break, we hope you and your child take the time to relax together! Since we will be out of school for so long, it will also be a great time to review some skills we are working on in the classroom:

• Letter names and letter sounds
• Recognizing numbers and counting quantities for 0-20 and beyond
• Counting from 1-30 and beyond
• Putting on and zippering coats independently
• Putting on shoes independently
• Simple chores around the house
• Reading books together every night

But most of all, remember to play and have fun!

Happy Holidays! 

December 8, 2017

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Pre-K!

Most of our time this week has been spent practicing for our big debut on the HCA stage for the Christmas show next week. The boys and girls have been working hard and trying their best to sing their songs loudly and clearly on the stage. We are so excited for you to see them next week at the show!

Angels under construction 👼👼👼

Christmas Show Reminders:

• The Christmas Show will take place on Wednesday, December 13, at 6:30 pm.  Students should arrive at 6:00 pm to get in their angel costumes. Please make sure your child goes to the bathroom before he/she arrives!
• Thursday, December 14, is Grandparents' Day. Invitations were sent to all grandparents. Students should come to school at regular time and then will perform the Christmas Show for their grandparents. Students and grandparents will then share breakfast together after the show.
• The attire for both performances (to be worn under the angel costume we will provide) is: a white turtleneck, black bottoms (pants or skirts), and dress shoes. Please do not have your child wear anything over or under the turtleneck - it does get hot on the stage under the lights. Please pack sneakers for your child to change into after Grandparents' Day. 

The last day of school before Christmas break is Friday, December 15. It is a regular full-day of school for the students and there will be Kids Club. We will be having a special pizza lunch on that day. Forms were sent home yesterday in the students' folders. Half-day students are invited to stay for lunch if you wish and will then be dismissed at 12:30. Classes resume on Wednesday, January 3, 2018.




Hope to see you on Sunday for the Family Christmas Liturgy at 10:00 am! Have a great weekend!

December 1, 2017

Pre-K students love working on their Montessori lessons!

Dominic is refining his fine motor skills by
practicing buttoning - and just in time for
buttoning a winter coat, too!

Malayka is using the Pink Tower and Brown Stair to build 
complex patterns. She is developing her problem solving 
and critical thinking skills by adjusting each Brown Stair 
to carefully hold up each Pink Tower block.

Maddie is using the Movable Alphabet and Phonetic Object
Box 2 to spell words with consonant blends. 
She is then writing the words in her copybook.

Kevin is using the Teen Board to order numbers
from 11-19 and show quantities for each as
combinations of tens and units.

Pre-K students also love finding out their jobs each week - and they take their work very seriously!

Caleb is our prayer leader this week. He
leads the class in our morning prayer.

Kent and Tristan are the messengers! They are so
excited to bring the lunch order to the cafeteria.

Marianne is our calendar helper. She tells us what month
it is, counts the days, and tells us the date.

Reminders:

• Show and Tell on Wednesday, December 6, will be something that begins with F.
• Scholastic Reading Club orders are due by Tuesday, December 5.
• The last day of school before Christmas break is Friday, December 15, 2017. Classes resume on Wednesday, January 3, 2018.

We had our first practice for the Christmas
show on the stage!

Christmas Show Reminders:

• The Christmas Show will take place on Wednesday, December 13, at 6:30 pm.  Students should arrive at 6:00 pm to get in their angel costumes.
• Thursday, December 14, is Grandparents' Day. Invitations were sent to all grandparents. Students should come to school at regular time and then will perform the Christmas Show for their grandparents. Students and grandparents will then share breakfast together after the show.
• The attire for both performances (to be worn under the angel costume we will provide) is: a white turtleneck, black bottoms (pants or skirts), and dress shoes. Please pack sneakers for your child to change into after Grandparents' Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Students in Pre-K and Kindergarten celebrated Thanksgiving "Charlie Brown" style! We gathered together to watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."

In the movie, Charlie Brown knew he couldn't make a turkey, but wanted to celebrate with his friends. He made a meal with what he had - bread, pretzels, popcorn, and jelly beans. Charlie Brown and his friends learned that it's not what you have to eat, but rather who you have with you to celebrate.

After learning all about the pilgrims and Native Americans from our Weekly Reader, the students came together to celebrate our own Thanksgiving. The Pre-K students came as the pilgrims and the Kindergarten students came as the Native Americans. We shared a "Charlie Brown" feast together and made some new friends.

It was a wonderful "Friendsgiving" celebration for us all!

From all of our little Pre-K pilgrims, we wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

November 17, 2017

When we are outside for recess, the Pre-K students love to observe what is going on in the world around them - from the weather, to the leaves on the trees, to shapes and colors they may find. This week, the children were examining the tomato plants from our organic garden. They were amazed to find ladybugs and spent the whole recess observing and talking to them.

In STEAM Lab classes this week, the students listened to a fun alphabet song first. You can listen to it here.  They discussed which letters were made with straight lines and which with curved lines. Then, they used Zometools to build letters that were made with straight lines.

Kent used Zometools to spell his name!

In Art Class, the boys and girls made clay turkeys from their hands. Mrs. Mueller helped the students trace their hands on a slab of clay and connect the clay hand print to another piece of clay using "slip" (clay mixed with water). The students rolled pieces of clay to make the feet and wattle. Then, they gave the feathers texture using a popsicle stick. Finally, they painted their finished products.  Wait until you see their masterpieces!

In Gym Class, the Pre-K students play in small groups at "stations." Mrs. Mossor has been working on refining the children's fine motor and gross motor skills through games and various activities.

Toss and catch

Bouncing on the hippity-hop

Pac-Man fine motor skill practice

More fine motor skill practice - feeding the
monkey some bananas!

Working on balancing skills

Have a great weekend!

November 10, 2017

This week, we did a group lesson on the globes and the world map. The students learned that the globe is a representation of the earth where we live. The Sandpaper Globe is used to teach the children the difference between land and water. The Painted Globe introduces the concept of the seven continents. The World Map is a puzzle that focuses on the individual continents and is what the children use to study the continent names. This year, each child will make his/her own continent map where he/she will trace, punch out, assemble, and name the seven continents of the world. Stay tuned!

Marianne and the Sandpaper Globe

Cameron found North America on the
Painted Globe.

Kent is studying his continents.

Addie is punching out Africa.

Save the date - the HCA Christmas Show will be on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, at 6:30 pm!  Mrs. Clay and Ms. Brown are busy preparing the Pre-K students for the two songs they will sing in the show.

Singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star" with Ms. Brown

We discussed Election Day in school and the students had their own chance to vote! The Pre-K and Kindergarten students came together to listen to two stories, both written by Drew Daywalt.

Mrs. Barrera read The Day the Crayons Quit

Mrs. DeBardino read The Day the Crayons Came Home

After listening to the two stories, the students (and teachers) voted on their favorite.

Tatum liked The Day the Crayons Quit, while Priya preferred
The Day the Crayons Came Home

We graphed our votes on the SMART Board and counted them up to see the winner. It was a tie! The boys and girls were so excited that both books won.

Even though the weather is getting cooler, the Pre-K students still love playing outside! This week, they were excited to watch the 8th grade students paint some games on the black top for all the students to enjoy, as well as play on the field.

"The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn." 

- Maria Montessori

Nolan is spelling words with the Insta-Learn Board.

Tristan is practicing his handwriting skills.

Kevin is working with the basic set of Geometric Solids.

Show and Tell next Wednesday, November 15, will be something that begins with B.

Please send in your items for the Thanksgiving Food Drive. Each Pre-K student has been asked to bring in 1 large box/bag of stuffing and 2 cans of gravy. These items are due in school by Friday, November 17. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Just a reminder that, due to our Middle States visit, next Friday, November 17, will be a half day for all students and there will be no Kids Club. All Pre-K students, including half-day students, will be dismissed from the Penn Avenue parking lot at 11:30 am. If your child has older siblings, they may be picked up at 11:30 as well - please just let us know. 

November 3, 2017

What a week it has been! We had so much fun celebrating Halloween!

The boys and girls were excited to examine a real pumpkin. We used our five senses to investigate the pumpkin and the students described what they saw, touched, and smelled. They were amazed to watch how to carve a pumpkin.

Our Peppa Pig pumpkin!

In the STEAM Lab, the students made skeletons from K'nex. They watched a video about bones and joints and then worked together to build a skeleton with a spine, arms, legs, joints, and a head.

The Mission Party was so much fun! After the parade, the children in Pre-K through 8th grade played games together in the gym - we even made some new friends! We also shared a snack and had a great pizza lunch together. What a great day for the HCA community!

We are sensing a theme with Show and Tell and snacks 😉  George brought in raisins for Show and Tell and decided he wanted to share them at the snack table with his friends.

Miss Webb taught the class a dance to "Monster Mash." There were lots of giggles as they learned to do the robot, walk like Frankenstein, and of course, we had to incorporate some "Thriller" moves!

Some reminders:

• There is no school on Tuesday, November 7. 
• Show and Tell on Wednesday, November 8, will be "something that starts with P."

Things to work on with your child:

• Putting on a coat indepdently
• Practicing zippering/buttoning
• Getting ready in the morning - dressing, brushing teeth, putting shoes on
• Letter sounds
• Counting from 1 to 30 and beyond
• Showing number quantities from 1 to 20 and beyond
• Read together every night!

Have a great weekend!