Monica Ros School

Dress Rehearsal 11:30am
Evening Performance 5:00pm

Dress Rehearsal 11:30am
Evening Performance 5:00pm

January 5, 2010

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing winter break.  We will begin January at Monica Ros with Arts Month.  This is school wide; each class is exploring a different art medium with the Renaissance in mind.  The Red Room is going to explore stain glass, we will start with pen and paper and work our way to a beautiful show piece to be unveiled at the opening of the Monica Ros Art Gallery on January 27, 28 and 29th.

On January 12th we will host a “Day in the Life”.  This evening will give you an opportunity to visit our classroom and experience what the children experience, for approximately 25 minutes and then visit the classroom your child will be going to next year.  In a sense it is much like a structured open house.  Your child will be your guide so be sure to bring him or her along!

This month we will be learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and all of his accomplishments.  This year, as for many years past, each of our classes at Monica Ros has created a poster for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration held at Libbey Park.  This year, the celebration is on January 18.  Our Kindergarten and Gradeschool students will be singing just after 12:00.  Come listen and see the poster exhibit. 

The theme of this year’s celebration is “Now is the time to be the change”.  We will discuss changes that have occurred and changes we would like to see happen.  So…if you hear your child talking about a little girl not being able to sit where she wanted to on a bus, or certain children not being able to drink water from the same water fountain you will now have an idea what we are talking about in school and can continue the discussion at home.

January 29 is Founder’s Day: the day we celebrate Monica Ros’ 109th birthday.  Parents, family and friends are invited to enjoy this whole-school assembly which takes place on the black top. Each class presents a song or a poem in honor of Mrs. Ros and then we have some birthday cake.  It’s a great show and the only time all year you can see the whole school in action.

 January promises to be a busy and productive one. Please save the dates below.

January 12th-Tuesday 5:30 to 6:30 A Day In The Life

January 18th-Monday no school  Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 27th thru 29th  Art Gallery open

January 29th-Friday     Founder’s Day

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely, Shari Garst

March Red Room Newsletter

We have started our exploration of night and space. Daily we travel into space making our way through meteor showers, exploring the wide expanse of space and then return to earth for a hero’s welcome.

The imagination of my students is beyond belief. They travel in their space shuttle from planet to planet capturing aliens with their butterfly nets. We will be making space helmets and oxygen tanks. We have a wonderful CD, On the Move by Greg and Steve, which includes the story Adventures in Space. This story leads us through our space journey. We enjoy sitting at the controls and working together for the blast off.

This creative play provides valuable growth opportunities. Below please find a wonderful article that may broaden your thoughts about play.

Why Preschoolers Need To Pretend
by Jan Faull
Recent brain research has convinced many parents of the importance of providing dramatic play. Preschoolers who spend more time in programs promoting dramatic play are more advanced not only in general intellectual development but also in their ability to concentrate for long periods of time. Parents who provide stimulating early experiences—reading and talking to them and taking them on excursions– also contributes to and helps preschool aged children absorb those experiences and make sense of their world most effectively when engaging in imaginative play.

Could you please help us to enrich our play? I am in need of two 1 liter soda bottles per child for our oxygen tanks and baby food jars for our astronaut glow jars.

We hope you will be joining us for our Science Fair on April 1st. Your child will guide you through space, and, then, you and your child will be able to see science in action in the other classrooms as well.

Attached to this letter is homework for this month. See how many shooting stars you can find each night and make a wish.

Sincerely Mrs. Laszlo

We are well into our school year, and WOW what a year so far. I have taught at many schools, and I can assure you none compare with Monica Ros. What a whirlwind of activities, something for everyone! I have enjoyed your children so much and it has been a gift to spend five days each week with them. The children are interacting superbly and their social skills have developed quite nicely. We have had a few spats but they are learning to communicate their emotions well with each other.

Our Theme for this month is Love and Friendship. We are sharing with each other, what we like best about our classmates and have compiled our comments into a book. Each child will have a page in the book in which we describe what we like best about him/her. We wrote discussed what makes a friend and charted our answers. The children dramatized the correct and incorrect way to act in different situations in order to make a friend (your friend has a toy you’d like to play with it or you’re playing with your friend and he/she doesn’t want another friend to join in) and they are doing quite well with these scenarios.

We are singing Skinnamarink with hand motions, and during art time we created “I like you caterpillars” to hang up in the classroom. Each heart of the caterpillar contains a quote of what we like most about each child. We also created string painting hearts. During our discussions, we have shared our thoughts on what love is and what we love; and I must say we have some great quotes from the children.

Thank you to all of our parents for your support us this school year. Thank you, Ashley_Brown for putting together the art auction bench. Thank you, Kristen_Currier for your help with field trips and auction basket. Thank you, Joy_Golbere for the auction basket. You are all wonderful parents.

March will bring a new focus on science and we will study the Solar System. If any of you have a special interest this topic, we would love for you to share it with us. Just let me know.

I will be teaching several Afterschool craft classes which run from Feb 25th-April 1st after school on Wednesdays at 12:45. We will make picture frames, fancy flower pots, personal stationary, ceramic heart magnets, and decorating and filling plastic Easter eggs. Check with Isabel about class availability, I am looking forward to these opportunities; it should be a lot of fun.

Our study of the Alphabet has taken us all the way to the letter U. The students are doing very well learning the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Their writing skills have improved since the beginning of the school year. I am very proud of all of them.

Please remember to sign in and out every day on the official sign in sheet at the gate. If your child is staying for daycare, it is very helpful when you note that as well.

Sincerely,

Kristy_Laszlo

(more…)

August 29, 2008

As you can see, we had a wonderful first week of school. We decorated our cubbies, drew our self-portraits, explored our classroom and enjoyed meeting new friends. I am looking forward to having your children in the Red Room this year. They are ready and willing to learn. We want to provide them with enriching opportunities that inspire them to create, discover and enjoy their experience at Monica Ros.

Keep in mind, though, that the best schools do more than just teach children academically. We will introduce your child to the alphabet and practice his/her math skills, while doing so we will also touch your child’s heart. Enhancing Self-esteem and building effective relationships are important goals for our program.

We want to work with you this year to make a real difference in your child’s life. We want each child to feel a part of our school family, to make friends and play cooperatively with others. We will help them learn and explore such basic human emotions as happiness, sadness, anger and fear. We will encourage them to respond compassionately to others during difficult moments, treating others with respect and gentleness and to be generous and to offer help when possible.

Our first unit of learning will focus on friendships. Over the next few weeks we will discover the uniqueness and similarities we each hold as members of the class. We will create a book to take home illustrating these qualities. Next week we will be graphing family size (number of people in our homes) and also our favorite color.

To encourage the connection of home and school, we will be compiling our summer scrapbook. Please send in your summer souvenir page, if you haven’t done so already.

Our school address book will be out shortly, in the mean time, student phone numbers are attached. Please feel free to give me a call at anytime. When something occurs to you or concerns you, I would like to know.

Our bikes were opened up this week. We are aware that it can feel overwhelming to a child when a bike zooms by. Please help us as we provide a safe and secure environment for all preschoolers. Monday we will discuss the bike rules and receive a “bike license“ after a lesson on bike safety.

Pick up time at the gate is often hectic and confusing. For safety reasons we ask the children to wait at the rock bench bench until a teacher can take them to their parents waiting on the parking lot side of the gate. This way, we hope to prevent a young student from wandering out the gate behind an unsuspecting parent focused on his or her own child. I appreciate your patience as you wait for me to bring your child to you.

We need to know if your child will be staying for daycare on a regular basis. Please make a note on the sign in sheet or speak to one of us personally. Daycare is available on a drop in basis as well. If you find yourself running late, it is better to call the office so your child may go directly to daycare as opposed to waiting for you at the gate not knowing when you are going to come. We encourage play dates to be arranged in advance to avoid hurting the feelings of other friends. A note from home is always better than a last minute call to the office.

Please remember to send in an extra change of play clothes as our work is OFTEN messy. This is in addition to the change of clothes requested by the office in case of an earthquake/disaster.

I want to thank Ashley_Brown for volunteering to be our room parent. I look forward to parents helping in any way they can. Reading a story to a group of children, spending time with us in the classroom, bringing a favorite recipe and cooking with the class, there is no end to the ways in which you can help make this year more rewarding, not only for your child but for you personally as well. Please sign-up in the classroom.

In class we will honor birthdays. Please send all birthday invitations in the mail if only a few classmates are invited to a party. Little hearts are easily hurt over birthday party exclusions. Each child may bring a simple, nutritious treat to share on his or her special day. Classroom celebrations will be simple, but special. For children born in the summer months, we will celebrate in June. At Monica Ros we try to practice healthy alternatives, with special attention given to food allergies. Here are just a few suggestions: apple slices, grape clusters, orange segments, fruit kabobs, tangerines, raisins, popcorn, vegetable sticks, crackers, cheese, fruit leather, sunflower seeds (shelled), mini bagels and cream cheese, mini muffins…….and your OWN creative ideas!

Our Family Picnic and Open House is scheduled for Tuesday, September 10th. Please see the monthly calendar attached for more details about this and other upcoming events. Don’t forget to check out the website!

I care deeply about being a teacher. You and your child are important to me. I feel honored to be a part of your child’s life. I am also aware of the great responsibility I have as a partner with you in teaching and nurturing your child. I am eager to hear of your concerns as well. Let me know what is important to you.

I am excited about the coming year!

Fondly,

Kristy_Laszlo