Monica Ros School

November 2009

Dear Little Seeds parents,

We have spent the last few weeks getting to know your children, and letting them get to know us. We have been busy exploring our class space and beautiful playground.

We are all making friends while enjoying our water play, block building, endless gluing, and eating our yummy lunches together. Already, we are learning to take turns and value other people’s space.

One of the biggest challenges for preschoolers is learning to trust adults outside the family. They learn that the caregivers whom they are with part of their day are both similar to, and distinct from, their parents. Also important during the preschool years is learning how to interact with other children and develop positive friendships.

Whether with words, movement, paint, playdough, dramatic play, or manipulation of objects such as blocks or dolls, children’s growing ability to express ideas and feelings by using symbolic representation is an important milestone of the preschool years.

We love our open-ended table. Please take a second at the end of our day to come by and look at the work your children have created together throughout their day. Remember, at this age the value of a project is more in the process than in the product.

We are all enjoying our Tuesday and Thursday mornings so much. We are looking forward to each and every day that we get to spend with your little one. Thank you for trusting us with their mental and physical well being.

House keeping:

~Please remember to dress your child in clothes that they can get dirty in.

~Check your child’s box: Keep up on their supplies of extra clothes, socks, diapers, and wipes.

~Always remember to sign your child in/out.

~Remember to always trust that your child will be safe and have lots of learning fun while with us.

Sincerely, Mrs. Peakes and Mrs. Weston

This Week’s News November 2-6, 2009

 This is Parent Conference Week. All students will be dismissed at 12:00 noon. There won’t be hot lunches this week so please bring your lunch, if you are staying in daycare.

 Thank you to all our parent drivers and chaperones that helped with our Shelf Road Hike Field Trip. We had a fantastic time! Wow…. All of our second graders are incredible hikers, artists, and photographers!

 Thank you to Mrs. Sakai and Mrs. Pope for decorating our Second Grade door and cubbies so festively for Halloween. Trick or Treating at Monica Ros Friday night. We sure appreciate all your help and time passing our candy to all the children!

 Thank you to Mrs. Speer and Mrs. Zahringer for fun=filled festive Halloween Party on Friday! We all had a terrific time and we sure appreciate the decorations, cupcakes, cookies, goodie bags, and festivities!

 The Monica Ros Thanksgiving Feast is Friday. November 20th. The cost is $5.00 per child.

 Our play is scheduled for Thursday November 19th at 11am. We will be having a potluck/cast party in our classroom for the children and their families, right after the performance.

 Homework: Please memorize all you lines and songs for “Turkeys on Strike” this week. We will not be using our scripts for play practice beginning Monday, November 9th. Consequently there are no spelling words, reading logs or homework assignments this week. If you have extra time, please read your chapter book for your next “book celebration” which is due November 30th.

 Dear Parents, October 26, 2009

 In conjunction with the study of “Our Community” in social studies, the second graders are learning about the different types of jobs/professions of adult community members. I would like to invite you to share your profession with our class (daily duties and responsibilities, professional training, etc.) If time permits in your schedule, please let me know what day and time works best for you during the months of November and December.

 Thank you to “Grandma Joyce,” Lillian’s grandmother, who was our “Mystery Reader” last week!

Our first “Book Celebration” is due on Friday, October 30th. Please be prepared to present your “Book Celebration” and bring your book on Friday. Just a reminder – Reading minutes are 20 minutes per night Monday – Thursday.

Please refer to your B.E.A.R. Binder for homework. Please practice the “Turkeys on Strike” songs with your CDs at home. Please practice your character lines as well at home and return your script to school each day. Thank you for helping conserve paper so we don’t need to make additional copies for home.

 Weekly News October 19 – 23, 2009

Thank you to all of our parent drivers that helped with our field trip to Faulkner Farms. Despite the heat and humidity, all of the children had a fantastic time! The hay ride, broom corn forest, hay pyramid, hay maze, petting zoo and learning how a pumpkin grows were fun and enriching for all the children! Thank you to Kathy_Speer who was our class “Mystery Reader”, last week!

Weekly News October 5-9, 2009

Happy Renaissance Theme Week!

Thank you to Wanda_Sakai, our “Mystery Reader”, last week.

Thank you to Alison_Curwen, our “Shining Star” parent reader last week!

Just a reminder…..please let me know if you would like extra practice or challenge work sent home in addition to regular homework.

 Weekly News September 28-October2, 2009

Stapley is our “Star of the Week” this week!

It was so nice to see everyone at Fiesta. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers that worked at Fiesta and to our Room Parents, Donna_Pope and Wanda_Sakai for all their time and hard work with Fiesta’s “El Mercado”

Thank you to everyone who donated raffle items for Fiesta. Thank you to Theresa_Vhynal, our Mystery Reader last week.

Congratulations to all the second graders for earning their ice cream party on Friday, 9/25! We all had a great time celebrating all their hard work and accomplishments!

 Weekly News September 21-25, 2009

Kiana is “star of the week” this week!

Thank you to our parents who drove to the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens last Thursday! It was a fun and educational experience for everyone. Please stop by our classroom to see the beautiful watercolor paintings that the children pained while we were there!

Please stop by the library to see our artwork from art class displayed.

Thank you to Megan_Carney, our “Mystery Reader”, what fun!

 Weekly News September 14-18, 2009

Riley is our “Star of the Week!”

Our field trip to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is this Thursday, 9/17. Please bring a sack lunch for our picnic after our tour. We need to leave at 8:30am so please arrive to school at 8:20am. We will return to Monica Ros by 1pm.

In Social Studies, we will complete our study of “Me, Myself, and I” and continue our map skills unit.

In Science, we will continue our study of plant life. Please bring a plastic 2 liter bottle to school by 9/21 for our terrariums.

 Weekly News September 7-11, 2009

Alice is our “Star of the Week!”

Monica Ros Family Picnic is on Wednesday, Sept 9 at 6pm

Teacher Read Aloud is “Autumn Leaves” and “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A Rookie Biography.”

In Science, we will continue our study of plant life.

In Social Studies, we will continue our study of map skills and “Me, Myself, and I.”

 Weekly August 31 – September 4, 2009

Rubens Burritos provides hot lunch on Tuesdays and Ojai Pizza is served on Thursdays, Hot Lunch begins this week.

Special Subject teachers begin this week.

Our teacher read aloud story is Chrysanthemum this week.

We will begin our study of plant life in science this week.

We will continue our study of “Me, Myself, and I” and begin map skills in Social Studies this week.

Thank you to all our parent volunteers that signed up to help as room parents and also with special events this year. Please see the sign-up sheet in our classroom if you would like to help out in Second Grade.

Kindergarten News
November 2009

The crisp, cool fall mornings are a gentle reminder that it is time to celebrate the warm traditions of the changing season. We have so many exciting things happening over the next few weeks. Our theme for the month of November will be fall harvest and the history of Thanksgiving. This month we remember how our nation’s forefathers, the Pilgrims, and the native American Indians joined together in thanks for the harvest and the Pilgrim’s survival of their first year in America. Our Kindergarten/Gradeschool Thanksgiving Feast will be on Friday, November 20th @12:00. We will bill each student $5.00 to offset the cost of food etc. You do not need to send a lunch to school on that day.

We’ve are looking forward to talking to each of you during our conferences this week. It’s a great opportunity for us to gain further insight into these wonderful children.

Reminder: No hot lunch this week…early dismissal 11:55.

In Language Arts the children have been working in their Get Ready for the Code books and taking great pride and pleasure doing activities in them. We’re enjoying reading pre-decodable books and the children delight in recognizing many of the high frequency words. Each day we play fun games, read stories and do activities to help the children hear the sounds in words. Each time we read in class, we are working toward these goals and behavior strategies:

Activate prior knowledge
Make connections
Apply picture clues
Visualize images
Ask questions
Predict what might happen
Think about how the story makes you feel
Sum up the story

In Math we are beginning to work on numbers and number formations. We will play with “clean” finger paints, rub over sand paper numerals, and write in the air and on our backs. We’ve had fun singing math songs by Dr. Jean Feldman, “Macarena Math” and the “Numeral Song”. We are excited to be publishing our classroom telephone books. The children will each make a page with their self portrait and write their phone number. You can look forward to receiving your copy soon!

Notes and Reminders:
No school Wednesday, November 11th — Veterans Day
Thanksgiving holiday week begins November 23rd.

The Kindergarten Team
Mrs. Krout & Mrs. Fiore