St. Luke’s Preschool Newsletter November 25, 2015

Fall has also been filled with lots of special events at St. Luke’s School! The first week of preschool we got to meet our 8th grade buddies and attend the 40th anniversary of Father Bob becoming a priest. The Mass was beautiful and the party afterwards was really fun! It was a week filled with firsts for our preschoolers!

It’s been a beautiful fall and the children have been able to play outside nearly everyday! As the leaves fell from our wonderful old maple tree the fun outside included making piles of crunchy leaves to toss, jump in and examine. God’s gifts abound!

Over the next weeks the children eased into routines of lunch time and rest time with our noon time helpers Mrs. DeLisi and, on Mondays –Mrs. Walmsley. Señora Keenan began Spanish lessons on Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. And Mrs. Lico offered to have Library Time for the children on Thursday afternoons with her super volunteer, Mrs. Languirand, a past preschool parent. These events round out our week at preschool. Some children also add before school CAMP with Mrs. Deschenes and/or afterschool CAMP with Ms Tina (Anderson) & Miss Mary (Primiano).

Thank you to Beatrice’s family for the beautiful

book Owl Moon, by Jane Yolan!

We had school pictures, SLS Meet the Teachers Night and a few days with 2 of our favorite substitutes- Sara Morgan & Guylaine Leonard and preschool parent volunteer- Leda SaoBento. THANK YOU!

The children learned about the Circle of Grace that surrounds them with God’s love. They discussed how they could be respectful of others and their personal space. They made a chart of what things they want or do not want to enter their Circle of Grace.

The children continue our mission of providing snacks for the Loaves and Fishes Truck for a second year. This very tangible way of providing for others in need is a perfect way for the children to make a difference.

The Barrington Firefighters came to visit one Friday and talked to the children about fire safety. They showed them their fire protective suit and their fire truck and rescue van. Each child received a fire hat from them!

Family Night was so much fun for all of us! The children were wonderful tour guides as they showed their families around their preschool, pointing out their favorite places and the work they’ve done.

Our Pond Study captured the interest of the children in many ways. Besides painting Monet-like water lily paintings, observing and drawing the frog and the tadpoles, reading and singing about frogs, the children took a closer look at the other animals and plants that live in the pond. They were also fascinated with the water itself and the way light shines on the water. We hope to investigate these aspects further throughout the year.

When mixing the shades of blue water color Talia noticed, “When you mix something it swirls!”

The tadpoles have tails!

Mr. Monet’s Garden

FROG

Life Cycles

X-ray of frog

Painting the pond mural

Froggy

The book Hop, Jump, by Ellen Stoll Walsh is about each of us having different gifts and respecting those gifts. The children easily related to the feelings of the characters. They made frogs painted like the book and hopped, jumped, and danced like the frogs . Each child chose a position for their frog and arranged the frogs arms and legs like on their own moving body.

Research

Match…Hop…

Jump!

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” -Mother Theresa

As the children played with the water beads in early September they noticed the “round, smooth, marble-like, slippery, squishy, bouncy, sparkly, glowy” look and texture of the beads and the way they behaved when dropped into a bowl of water. This became a new study- Ripples. Khaterina- It made a circle when it hit the water. It made a drop. The question of what is a ripple came up over and over again. Gavin- Ripples are circles. Nora- They’re like when you jump in the water and a wave like a circle gets bigger and bigger. Nico- When you drop something in the water it makes a ripple and it spreads.

Marisa

Drop a pebble in the water, just a splash, and it's gone; But there's half a hundred ripples circling on and on and on, Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to sea. And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be. -James W. Foley

Violette- You have to make good ripples so you can all be nice and all your brothers and sisters share and be nice too. Kaleb- Sometimes I need help to fix something. Gabriel helps me and it makes me feel happy. We took these thoughts to Annawamscutt Creek with our Buddies and tried some ripple making there. Khaterina- It (acorn) made a little ripple and a drip and it went down to the bottom (of the creek).

Sink & Float & Ripple Making ~Seining for micro & macro animals ~Nature Hiking, Collecting & a Snake!

We saw neat animals at the creek. Back at school we drew what we saw.

Crayfish

Eel

We reviewed the sink and float items and made more ripples. The children discussed their findings.

Spider drawings and Marble Art Webs

Nora

Halloween Fun

!

For the first time ever the preschool participated in a Field Day. It was great fun! Games included a trip through the seasons- “Snowballs”, Egg Hunt, Shell Critters, and a game we continue to play- What Time is it Mr. Wolf. Thank you to Miss Williams, Mrs. Croce, and the 8th graders!

The October Dramatic Play Area became a Vegetable Stand. The children have had lots of fun buying and selling vegetables, writing lists and receipts, and pretending to cook nourishing meals. Mrs. Morgan has made some real food with them, too! They made Vegetable Salad, Vegetable Soup, and Corn and Pumpkin Muffins. The Vegetable Man, Aiken Drum, has been fun to sing and familiarizes the children with several vegetables. They also made Aiken Drum pictures. Mr. Silva put the garden in the play yard “to bed” for the winter, giving the children experience with a real garden.

We also learned about the early settlers and how they learned to plant corn and beans and squash to sustain them through the winter long ago. Corn and pumpkin paintings and corny Math games added to the fun. Candle holders designed with beans were made to share some light and love for Thanksgiving.

Buddy Math Games

Hurray for Pre K!, Ellen Senisi My First Day at Nursery School, Becky Edwards Who’s Making that Noise?, Phillip Hawthorn In the Small, Small Pond, Denise Fleming Frog’s Lunch, Dee Lillegard Good Morning Pond, Alyssa Capucilli Jump, Frog, Jump, Robert Kalan Hop, Jump, Ellen Stoll Walsh It’s Mine, Leo Lionni Pond Year, Kathryn Lasky Around The Pond: Who’s Been Here?, Lindsay George Five Green and Speckled Frogs, illus. by Constanza Basaluzzo Five Little Speckled Frogs, Kath Mellentin Ten Little Speckled Frogs, Jesse Stockham The Teeny Weeny Tadpole, Sheridan Cain Ten Tiny Tadpoles, Debbie Tarbett Scoot!, Cathryn Falwell At the Pond, David Schwartz Hands Are Not for Hitting, Martine Agassi Froggy Learns to Swim, Jonathan London Pond Walk, Nancy Wallace Frogs, Susan Canizares How a House is Built, Gail Gibbons The Snail’s Spell, Joanne Rider Snail Trail, Ruth Brown Friends, Helme Heine How Are You Peeling?, Saxton Freymann Tops and Bottoms, Janet Stevens Rah, Rah, Radishes!, Eating the Alphabet, Lois Ehlert Growing Vegetable Soup, Lois Ehlert Mousekin’s Golden House, Edna Miller Thanks for Thanksgiving, Julie Markes Sarah Morton’s Day, Kate Waters On the Mayflower, Kate Waters Samual Eaton’s Day, Kate Waters The Pilgrims, Kate Waters Tapenum’s Day, Kate Waters The Very First Thanksgiving Day, Rhoda Greene Pilgrims of Plymouth, Susan Goodman One Duck Stuck, Phyllis Root Quack Count, Keith Baker Counting on Fall, Lizann Flatt Five Silly Turkeys, Salina Yoon When Autumn Comes, Maass Frederick, Leo Lionni Mouse Mess, Linnea Riley I am Thankful Each Day, P.K. Halliman Giving Thanks, KateWaters The Littlest Pilgrim, Brandi Dougherty Strega Nona’s Harvest, Tomie de Paola

Some of the Books Read this Fall:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gavin