Parade and Multi-cultural week

We are continuing our unit on Gingerbread and learning to run as fast as we can.  We are also learning to follow a direction and fill in the remaining lines in the story.  Ask your child if they can tell you what happens at the end of the book. 

In our math unit we are working on sorting and matching.  Please try to continue using this language at home every day with your little ones.  You can match and sort lots of different items.  Socks, shirts, toys, plates, cups, etc.  This will only reinforce what we are learning at school.  These are foundational skills when learning in math and a prerequisite to graphing.  At the end of the week we graphed which portion of the Gingerbread cookie everyone ate.  It was a great way to end the week with a yummy treat.

Our parade was a big success!  All the kids loved showing off their puppets and walking in the parade!  We had a fun time talking about our cultures and sharing our flags too!

ECS Multi-Cultural Night was so much fun with lots of good food!  It was great seeing everyone and learning about different places and cultures of our friends.   What a yummy time to get together, with lots of treats!

Please remember we have our winter parties next week! 

AM time is 9:40

PM time is 1:40

Please remember with the weather getting colder we go outside nearly every day.  According to FISD we will be outside, weather permitting when it is 32 degrees.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately and in layers they can take off and put on themselves with minimal assistance independently.  Also, please keep all belongings labeled so they do not get lost at school.

Gingerbread Man You can't Catch Me

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week off!  Over the next week we will be learning about the Gingerbread Man and what happens.  This week we made Gingerbread cookies and acted out the story “Run, Run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man” The students were the fox and we all took a big bite of cookie!  It was a yummy treat for the end of the week.

In our math unit we finished working on big and small and long and short.  Please try to continue and encourage the use of saying “big and little” and “long and short” in your everyday talks with your little ones.  This will only reinforce what we are learning at school.  Next we will cover matching and sorting items as this is a foundational skill when using our math skills to graph.  At the end of the week we will graph which portion of the Gingerbread cookie everyone will eat.

Over Thanksgiving Break you were encouraged to please help your child decorate a flag and puppet to be symbolic of your culture and heritage for our upcoming Multicultural Week (12/5 -12/9/16).  This is a great opportunity to share your family’s culture, customs, and traditions with your child.  Thank you to those parents and students that have already turned theirs in, they are displayed on the students lockers.

Please remember:   IMPORTANT

Please do not use edibles on the flag or puppet.  The flag will be displayed on your child’s locker and the puppet will be carried by your child in our Diversity Parade on Friday, December 9th.    

Please write your child’s name on the back of each item and return them to the teacher no later than Friday, Dec. 2nd.  Parade times for the morning & afternoon sessions are 9:15 am and 1:15 pm.

ECS Multi-Cultural Night is next week!!!!  December 6, please mark your calendar!  This is a great way to learn about other cultures!  Some of the countries are Mexico, Japan, China and India!  What a yummy time to get together, we will enjoy lots of treats!

Please remember with the weather getting colder we go outside nearly every day.  According to FISD we will be outside, weather permitting when it is 32 degrees.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately and in layers they can take off and put on themselves with minimal assistance independently.  Also, please keep all belongings labeled so they do not get lost at school.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have finished our Thanksgiving unit!  I hope everyone has a wonderful time with family and friends while we are off next week.  Please take the time to discuss with our little ones being thankful for everything.  I am thankful for trees, leaves, food, and fun with my family, my sisters and brothers, etc.  This is just an idea to keep the thankful thoughts moving forward.  Our next unit is on Gingerbread, yummy!

In our math unit we are still working on the differences between big and small.  Please try to encourage the use of saying “big and small” in your everyday talks with your little ones.  This will only reinforce what we are learning at school.  See if your child can follow your directions and understand the differences of size.  Remember that our Ready Rosie is a great way to access information regarding our curriculum and that you can focus on these same skills at home!  Big and Small.

ECS Multi-Cultural Night is December 6, please mark your calendar!  This is a fun way to get to learn about other cultures!  Some people come dressed in decorative clothing and others share their culture and food.  What a yummy time to get together, we will enjoy lots of treats I am sure!

In motorlab we are learning to use our gross motor skills to hit a ball with a foam paddle; and we are working on running and putting together a big gingerbread house.  We are learning to stomp and jump with two feet together and we are learning how to use a scooter board and scoot with our legs forwards and backwards. 

In music we learned a song about a Turkey and got to listen to how a turkey sounds by playing a funny instrument that Ms. Erin brought to class.  It was very loud, but we all enjoyed playing with the instrument!

Please remember with the weather getting colder we go outside nearly every day.  According to FISD we will be outside, weather permitting when it is 32 degrees.  Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately and in layers they can take off and put on themselves with minimal assistance.  Also, please keep all belongings labeled so they do not get lost at school.

Hope everyone has a very restful Thanksgiving and wonderful time with their families and friends.

Fall and Thanksgiving are in the air

We have finished our fall unit and are now focusing on Thanksgiving.  This is a time where we learn to be thankful for what is around us.  Our families, grandma and grandpa, our sisters and brothers and all the yummy food at Thanksgiving we will eat.

In our math unit we have finished our unit on location words!  Our study is now learning the differences regarding measurement.  Specifically we will learn about height, length and width.  We will focus our study on big and small and short and tall.  See if your child can follow your directions and understand the differences of size.  Remember that our Ready Rosie is a great way to access information regarding our curriculum and that you can focus on these same skills at home!

Picture retakes is right around the corner.  If for some reason you do not like the photo a new one can be taken on Tuesday November 15, 2016.

ECS Multi-Cultural Night is coming soon!  This is a fun way to get to learn about other cultures!  Some people come dressed in decorate clothing and others share their culture and food.  What a yummy time to get together.

In motorlab we are now working on our new stations.  We are learning to use our gross motor skills to hit a ball with a foam paddle; and we are working on running and putting together a big gingerbread house.  We are learning to stomp and jump with two feet together and we are learning how to use a scooter board and scoot with our legs forwards and backwards.  We are also working on fine motor skills and using our pincer grasp to put things “on, in and under” using our location words from math that we just learned.

November is here!

I cannot believe it is already November!!  Time is flying by too fast.  

Our focus for this week in Literacy has been fall and the many colors we see around us.  Brown is our main color for the month of November, but we also see red, yellow, orange and some green leaves too!  We will look at how the leaves start green and change colors over the season of autumn (fall).  We will spend next week also learning about fall.

In our math unit we are learning about location words!  Our study is learning the follow the directions.  Put the cup on the table, put the folder in the backpack, put your shoes under the bed.  See if your child can follow your directions and understanding of the location words “in, on, and under”.  Below is a link to a cute video we show the students to prepare them for the task of learning the skill of a new activity.  They love the tune and most can sing the song too!

IN, ON, and UNDER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F0NYBBKczM

Our running in motorlab is now complete and everyone had a great time at the ECS Fun Run with Mr. Turkey.  We are now working in motorlab on our gross motor skills and following directions as we listen and learn some new songs and coordinate our movement at the same time.  It is quite a task to learn!  Below are some of the songs we are listening to and working on, see if you can keep up with your child.

Gummy Bears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seUzASB8sxU

I’m Gonna Catch You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6tnKD1pem4

5 Little Monkeys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAky0T4bFJg

October News

Please also note that it is book fair week.  Please come visit and share the love of reading with your little one.  The website is below if you would like to purchase books as well.

                http://www.scholastic.com/bf/earlychildhoodschool1

This week is Red Ribbon Week!  Please make sure your child has the opportunity to dress up!  A flyer was sent home last week with all the fun details!

ECS FAMILY FUN RUN:
October 25
5:30-6:30 PM

 

Community Helpers-Police

We talked about the police officer and how they help us. What is the role of a police officer? How does the police officer help us? He makes us feel safe and protects us.  He helps direct traffic and stop at the stop light.  We read our book about “Jobs”.  We made a “stop sign” and a “traffic light” for the police officer to hold and pretend that we are the police officers.

Community Helpers-The Doctor and Nurse

We talked about the doctor and the nurse and how they help us. What is the role of a doctor and nurse? How does the doctor help us? He makes us feel better when we have a boo-boo.  We read our book about “Community Helpers”. We visited nurse Mary Jo our RN on staff and have a great time visiting her office.  We created doctor bags with our names, and boo-boo bags.

Community Helpers-The Fire Fighter

We will introduce the Fire Fighter as a community helper. This person is in charge of putting out fires and helping when we are in danger.  We learned how to “Stop, Drop and Roll” We also created a fire truck made out of cookies and graham crackers!   We learned how to create and get a little messy with making a fire truck. We ended our Fire Fighter Community helper with a visit from The Frisco Fire Fighters and learned about their uniforms, equipment, and got to see the big red fire truck. We will read the book "When I Grow Up"

READY ROSIE VIDEOS:
Your family should be receiving weekly videos that will help with building vocabulary building, math activities (sorting, counting and shapes) and they can be utilized at home or in the community!  We love our Ready Rosie videos.

October Update

Can you believe it is already October?  It certainly does not seem like it with the hot weather still around.  As we enter fall we will be wearing coats and jackets outside.  Please remember to label everything your child has so it does not get lost.

We are now finishing up our family unit and all of the students really liked the pictures you sent in to share.  Thank you so much for your participation with this unity of study.  Our next unit of study is community helpers.  We will devote a whole three weeks to this unit and spend one week just talking about the fire fighters in our community.  We will also have the opportunity to meet the fire fighters and see fire trucks next week during our class time.   We will read a book about fire safety and learn to STOP, DROP and ROLL.

We are just beginning our math unit and learning to SORT items, colors and objects.  This is a beginning math concept as we learn to look at things that are “alike” and things that are “different”.  Your child can sort anything at home by color.  As an activity at home, you can have your child sort socks by color.  Black, red, blue, white, etc.  They could also sort toys by shapes starting with finding items that look like circles, squares, triangles and rectangles.  This is a great way to foster learning at home. 

As a reminder, please keep up with the Ready Rosie as this is also a great way to reinforce learning at home and in the community. 

As a reminder there is no school Friday October 7 and Monday October 10.

School reminders:

Send all absence notices to: earlychildhood@friscoisd.org

· If your child accrues a combined total of 10 unexcused absence, tardy, or leave early, you will be in violation of the State of Texas Truancy Laws (Texas Education Code 25,093).

· Absences due to extended trips or vacations will always be unexcused. If traveling for more than 5 consecutive days, an extended absence form must be completed.

· A written note or email from a parent may excuse an absence due to illness for up to 4 days, after the 4th day, the parent shall provide a note from a physician.

· Calling in to let us know your child will be absent does not excuse the absence.

· We must receive all excuses within 3 days of the student returning to school.

· State law requires school children to attend school each day that instruction is provided. The law applies to children 6-18. If you voluntarily enroll your child in Prekindergarten before the age of 6, school attendance laws apply to your child.

IMPORTANT DATES and INORMATION TO START SCHOOL

I am so excited to begin this year with each of you!  I can’t wait to spend this year with your little one, as we grow and learn together!

BACKPACKS

Please send your child with a backpack that can hold a folder, artwork, snack, and a change of clothes.  Little backpacks will not be able to hold all our important information.  No rolling backpacks are allowed as this is a tripping hazard for our little ones!

FOLDERS

FolderS will be provided as a way to communicate and will be sent home each day with activities that your child has completed. A calendar of events will be sent home once per month and other information will be included in this folder for your little one.

EXTRA CLOTHES

Sometimes accidents happen.  This is completely common and this age.  We are all learning not to spill, or get too messy when playing together. Please send a complete change of clothes in a gallon Ziploc bag with your child’s name. These clothes will be kept at school in case of an accident.  I will swap these clothes out as the season changes and the weather gets colder.  Please send your child in comfortable washable clothes that you do NOT mind getting messy or dirty. Tennis shoes or closed-toe shoes/sandals are ideal! Please do NOT send your child in sandals, open-toe shoes or flip-flops as stubbing little toes can hurt!

SNACK TIME

We have a snack time each day. If you prefer your child to receive meals at school, please sign them up and send lunch money for their account on the FISD website.  If you want to provide your child with a snack from home, please send items that can be eaten in 15 minutes. Please send a snack your child will eat.  You may also provide a drink if your child likes, but we do have a water fountain in class if needed.  Please no foods with peanuts as we have several students with allergies.

COOKING TIME

Certain units of study in our curriculum allow us to cook and explore using our senses.  We will strive to keep in mind allergies as we do these activities throughout the year.  In the event your child may be allergic to an activity I will contact you directly to work out an alternative that you may provide for your child.

REMINDERS

DO NOT send valuables or breakable items or toys as we cannot be responsible if they are lost or damaged.  We have more than enough materials for each student.

Read the ECS handbook: http://schools.friscoisd.org/spc/ecs/site/home

Contact Information

Early Childhood School

10330 Red Cedar Dr.

Frisco, TX 75035

Front Office: 469-633-3825

Fax: 469-633-3835

Teacher: Maria Tiffany

tiffanym@friscoisd.org

469-633-3825                                             

Ext. 63838              

Room 304        

I am available for scheduled conferences or parent phone calls from 2:50 – 3:20 pm every afternoon.  Please call or email to setup a time if you would like to conference about your child.  If you are picking up your child early, he/she is not riding the bus today, etc. please call the front office and they will make sure I receive the message.

Important Information:

Phone Calls to Parents: Monday and Tuesday August 15-16th

Meet the Teacher Night: Wednesday, August 17th - 5:30 - 6:30pm (Come and go event)

First Day of School: Monday, August 22nd (walk students into the building)

Second Day of School: Tuesday, August 23rd (Normal Drop off procedures apply)

NO SCHOOL Labor Day: Monday, September 5th

Curriculum Night: Tuesday, September 6th - 5:30 - 6:30 (more info to come soon)