Friday, October 27, 2017

October 27, 2017

We are busy getting ready for Halloween in Pre-K!  This week, we completed our first directed drawing activity. Directed drawings are ways for students to create their own artwork by following step-by-step instructions. They help to strengthen students' confidence and listening skills while encouraging students to pay close attention to details. Check out our fantastic Frankenstein Franken-Buddies!


The Pre-K students love working on the Weekly Reader each week. This week, we learned about the parts of pumpkins and how they grow. Next week, we will be examining a real pumpkin and carving it for Halloween!





The big HCA Halloween Mission Party is on Tuesday, October 31!  Each family is asked to contribute $15 to cover the cost of the day - please send in your money by Monday if you have not already done so. The students should come to school dressed in their Halloween costumes. We will begin the day with our Halloween parade in the gym from 8:15-8:45 a.m. and we hope to see you there! After the parade, we will continue the day with games with our buddies. Please make sure your child is wearing regular play clothes and sneakers under his/her costume as we only have 15 minutes to get everyone changed before the games.

The Pre-K students continue to make great progress with their Montessori lessons! Here are some of the things that have been working on! Ask your child to tell you about the lesson they are working on in the picture.





The Scholastic Book Fair has arrived at HCA! Please refer to the letter and flyer that were sent home for details. The Pre-K class is scheduled to attend the book fair on Friday, November 3. If you would like your child to purchase books, please send in money in an envelope with your child's name and we will help them shop at the fair.





Show and Tell on Wednesday, November 1, will be "something that begins with R."

There's nothing like a nice cookie picnic after
Show and Tell "C" - thanks, Maddie!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!  Hope to see you all at the Halloween parade!

Friday, October 20, 2017

October 20, 2017

Last Friday, HCA invited families to bring their pets to school for the Blessing of the Animals.  The Pre-K students loved meeting all the furry friends!

Petting John's guinea pig

Meeting Blaine's dog, George Bailey

The Lewis family with their dogs

Art class is always fun with Mrs. Mueller!  This week, the boys and girls worked with clay and made leaf prints.  Mrs. Mueller gave each group directions on how to work with the clay. Then, she showed them how to use the rolling pin to flatten it out.  They rolled it and then imprinted the leaf on top.


Last week, we celebrated Fire Prevention Week by learning about fire safety in school and at home and practicing our fire drill. This week, on Wednesday, the Upper Darby Fire Department came to HCA to teach us about fire safety and fire trucks.  The boys and girls loved seeing the firetruck and even became junior firefighters!






In Pre-K, we have been working hard on learning to follow directions - both single step and multi-step directions. We practice this all day long in a variety of scenarios from lining up to completing work. This week, we have been working on creating "monsters" for our Halloween bulletin board. The students had to assemble their monster in order: choosing a body and head, arms/legs, ears/hair, and a face. They learned from experience that the monster would not be assembled correctly if they did not complete the directions in order. Now, the students are proud to have their monsters on display in our classroom!


Following directions is a great skill to practice at home as well! For example, ask your child to help set the table.  First, set out the plates; next, the glasses; finally, the napkins and silverware.  This also will help them develop their memory skills.

Ideas to foster your child's independence:
  • Choosing an outfit and dressing himself/herself
  • Putting on coats and shoes 
  • Packing schoolbags
  • Simple chores

Upcoming events:

  • Show and Tell on Wednesday, October 25, will be "something that begins with C."
  • The HCA Halloween Mission party will be on Tuesday, October 31. HCA asks that each family sends in $15 to cover the cost of the day (games, snack, and pizza lunch). Please refer to the email that was sent home previously. Students should come to school dressed in their Halloween costumes.  Please make sure your child wears sneakers and play clothes under his/her costume. They will be able to change out of their costumes after the festivities. Parents are invited to join us for the parade from 8:15-8:45 am in the gym. After the parade, the students will be joining the older students for games.

Caleb decided he wants to be a gym teacher
like Mrs. Mossor when he grows up.

In the STEAM Lab, the students learned about
 robots and coding. They loved watching the
Ozobot move and react to the different color
codes on the maze.




Friday, October 13, 2017

October 13, 2017

What a busy week in Pre-K!

On Tuesday, while we were outside playing, the boys and girls had a great time watching the dumpster truck across the street.  They were amazed to see the truck pick up the dumpster. They waved to the driver (Truck Driver Mike!) and laughed as he pulled the horn.



On Wednesday, we joined students in Kindergarten through Third Grade for "Tooth Buddy Tales!"  The puppet show taught the children about dental hygiene and the importance of choosing healthy snacks.  You may have heard your child singing the "Tooth Buddy" song: "If it's sticky and sweet, it's a yucky treat, but healthy food is a power treat!"


Show and Tell was a success again!  We had so many different things that began with the /m/ sound.  The boys and girls are getting more excited to guess each other's objects.  They are retaining the sounds we are focusing on each week and naming other objects that begin with those sounds as well.  Everyone especially enjoyed Nolan's show and tell- he brought in munchkins to share with his classmates!


The Pre-K students are working so hard on their Montessori lessons! We begin our work period each day with the students finding the work we have selected for them to start with and then they select the next lessons they would like to practice or learn.  Some topics we have been focusing on are: letter sounds, pre-reading skills, numerals, number quantities, size relationships, shapes, colors, and practical life activities to strengthen our fine motor skills.

Caleb is working with the Sandpaper Letters to practice
the letter sounds.

Kent completed the Hundred Board!  He ordered numbers
from 1 to 100 and is now practicing writing the numerals.

Tristan is practicing cutting to strengthen his fine motor skills.

Priya is working with Color Box 3 to grade 
colors from darkest to lightest.

Since the first day, we have been counting the days of school! Can you believe it's day 27 already? We are using the Golden Bead Material to show the number quantities and the children are learning to name numbers as combinations of tens and units (ex.: 27 has 2 tens and 7 units).

Some reminders:
  • Scholastic Book Club orders are due on Tuesday, October 17.
  • Class pictures are on Tuesday, October 17.
  • Show and Tell for Wednesday, October 18, will be "something that begins with T."
  • We are still collecting large Tropicana brand orange juice lids and milk jug lids for our alphabet game.  Thanks in advance!
Things to do at home:
  • Practicing letter sounds
  • Writing first names - first letter is capital, rest are lowercase
  • Counting from 1 to 20
Have a great weekend!

Friday, October 6, 2017

October 6, 2017

Happy October!

It was so nice to see so many families at Linvilla Orchards last weekend! Hope you all enjoyed the day!

We are working on "throwing kindness like confetti" in Pre-K! The boys and girls are learning to treat others how they want to be treated, be inclusive of everyone, use good manners, and be a good friend. They had a lot of fun helping us complete our bulletin board.


This week we have been talking more about fall and the seasons.  The children love discussing the weather changes throughout the day.  They enjoy searching for leaves of different colors and shapes when we are outside on the playground and the field.  With our Weekly Reader, the students learned more about their five senses and autumn leaves.


In gym class, the students have been working hard on their balancing skills!





Show and Tell was so much fun! So many children came prepared with three clues to help their classmates guess what object they chose to share. The students had fun guessing the objects from the clues! Here are some pictures of some great things that begin with the /s/ sound:

Tatum and her stethoscope, Marianne and her sticker book,
Malayka and her Shopkins, Jonathan and his sunglasses

Next Wednesday, October 11, will be the Early Childhood Class Coffee. This event will take place at 480 Penn Avenue and will begin at 6:30 pm. It will be a great opportunity to learn more about HCA and socialize with other parents. The Early Childhood teachers will be there as well. We are looking forward to a great night!

  Upcoming Events:
  • Reminder: there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 9.
  • Show and Tell on Wednesday, October 11, will be "Something that starts with M."  We will follow the same procedure as last week.  Please help your child prepare three clues to help their classmates guess what object they chose to share and please practice with him/her at home. Show and Tell is a great way for the children to develop their public speaking skills!
  • Individual pictures will be taken on Thursday, October 12. If you would like your child's picture taken, please return the form that was sent home with your choice of package on or before the 12th. The children's pictures are only taken from the waist up, so please have your child wear sneakers to school that day.  Weather permitting, we will still go outside and they do have gym class.
Enjoy the long weekend!