The year has started off with loads of fun! The children have already explored topics including “All about Me” and “Apples and Other Fruit”. We had our first Chapel Chat with Ms. Betsy and had the new experience of lighting the candles in the Chapel.Coming up on September 25, the church has invited our children to come and sing in the 10:30 service. This is such a great opportunity for us to say thank you to the members of the congregation who support out program in so many ways. I am looking forward to a great turn out! We will have an Art Show featuring all of the preschool children’s art immediately following the service as well as snacks. We hope to see all of you come help us represent our preschool!

Thanks for supporting our program and entrusting us with your children!!

• The use of Creative Curriculum helps our teachers to plan and implement a variety of learning opportunities to enrich each child’s preschool experience. We plan activities to promote learning in the areas of Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Cognitive Development and Language Development.
• When you order books online from Scholastic books and use our school code — FK82Y — we earn free books!
• September 10 — Scholastic book orders are due.
• September 25 at 10:30 AM — Preschool Children sing in church and parents attend the Art Show immediately following.
• October 3 — PRESCHOOL CLOSED
• October 4 at 6:00 PM -– Parent Advisory Meeting
• October 17 10:00 AM –- Family Field Trip to Roca Berry Farms! Bring a lunch. Admission is $5.00 and includes a pumpkin! PRESCHOOL IS CLOSED.
• October 17, 18 & 20, 3:30-7:00 PM — Parent Teacher Conferences

September 6-9

Theme: My Body
Letter: Rr

• Eyes and Hair
• Organ Tunic
• Body Game
• Feet Painting

September 12-16

Theme: Reuse, Recycle, Renew
Letter: Tt

• Binoculars
• Newspaper Hat
• Musical Tubes
• Bird Feeders
• Shadow Boxes

September 19-23

Theme: Farm
Letter: Bb

• Down in the Barn
• Sheep
• Rocking Horse
• Animal Prints
• Goat Mask

September 26-30

Theme: Feelings
Letter: Nn

• Worried Petal
• Happy/Sad Puppets
• What Makes You Happy?
• Paper Plate Faces
• Finger Paint

Here’s a couple of activities we’ve had fun with at school that you can do as a family at home:

Build Hand-Eye Coordination

Simple outdoor games can improve your youngster’s hand-eye coordination for writing, drawing, and using scissors. Try these three:

1. Play catch with increasingly smaller balls (beach ball, soccer ball, softball, tennis ball). Or have your child throw balls into goals of different sizes (laundry basket, large box).
2. Make a ring toss game. Cut the centers out of paper plates, and let the children toss the rings onto water bottles. Make the challenge more difficult by having her take a giant step backward after each successful toss.
3. Fill two spray bottles with water, and ask your child to draw two circles on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. Race to see who can soak a circle first.

The “Apples and Bananas” Song

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees

I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys

I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos

I like to oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos

Here’s what the kids are up to in July. Don’t forget about our super special summer session special events!

July 5-8

Theme: Babies

• July 4 Celebration!
• Baby Bottle Paintings
• Baby Collage
• Make Applesauce

July 11-15

Theme: Construction

• Build A Project
• Hammer and Nail Project
• Car & Truck Painting
• Make Your Own Stepping Stone
• Outdoor Spray Paint Art

July 18-22

Theme: Alligators & Turtles

• Egg-Carton Alligator
• Mosaic Turtles
• Alligator Masks
• Balloon Turtles
• Terra Cotta Turtles

July 25-29

Theme: Body Parts

• Hand & Foot Print Art
• Legs & Arms
• Eyes Ears Nose Mouth
• Trace My Body
• Silhouettes

Yayyy for Summer Session! Don’t miss our super special summer session special events either!

May 31 – June 3

Theme: Space

• Flying Saucers
• Marble Paint the Planets
• Stars In The Night Sky
• Telescopes

June 6-10

Theme: The Beach

• Sand Art
• Rainbow Fish
• Hula Skirts and Leis
• Ocean in a Bottle
• Jelly Fish

June 13-17

Theme: Camping

• Binoculars
• Build a Campfire
• Who Is Inside The Tent?
• Pudding Smores
• Newspaper Boats

June 20-24

Theme: Circus

• Clown Faces
• Animal Circus Train
• Snow Cones
• Elephants and Peanuts
• Cotton candy

June 27-30

Theme: Changing Weather

• Winter Snowflakes
• Spring Buds & Blossoms
• Summer Beach Ball Painting
• Fall Colorful Leaves

We are excited about all the fun activities and themes we’ll be exploring during our summer session. If you’re not registered yet, what are you waiting for?

We’ll be posting the weekly themes and daily activities the kids will explore here as the summer progresses. For now, mark your calendars for these special events! Parents are always welcome to join us.

• Every Wednesday – Story time at the Library
• Mon, June 6 at 10 AM – Puppeteer Chris Short
• Tue, June 7 at 10:30 AM – Visit from the Lincoln Salt Dogs
• Tue, June 14 at 1:30 PM – Walk to Piezano’s
• June 20-24 – Shake It Up Cafe! Westminster Church Vacation Bible School is available for ages 3-12
• Tue, June 28 at 10:30 AM – Folk music by Chris Sayre
• Mon, July 4 – CLOSED. Happy 4th!
• Thu, July 14 – Humane Society
• Mon, July 18 at 10 AM – Pottery with Paint Yourself Silly
• Tue, July 26 at 2 PM – Magician Jeff Quinn
• Fri, August 5 – Last day of Summer School

Announcements

• Summer and 2011-2012 classes are filling up quickly! Register here.
• Check for any lost and found items on the table by the gym.
• Flower orders available for pickup from May 3.

Mark Your Calendars

• Tuesday, May 3, 6:00 — Parents Advisory Meeting
• Friday, May 13, 5:00 — End-of-year Family Picnic, Auld Pavillion
• Sunday, May 22, 2:00 — Graduation (for children entering Kindergarten in 2011)
• Friday, May 27 — Last Day of 2010-2011 Preschool!
• Tuesday, May 31 — Summer 2011 Session Starts
• June 20-24 — Westminster Church Vacation Bible School

May 2-6

Theme: Sports
Letter: Aa

• Golf Ball Painting
• Race Car Painting
• Ball Stamping
• Football Lacing
• Baseball Cookies

May 9-13

Theme: Music
Letter: Vv

• Paper Plate Maraca
• Rain Sticks
• Painting to Music
• Dancing Sticks
• Bell Bracelets

May 16-20

Theme: Fish And Ocean
Letter: Cc

• Sand Painting With Shells
• Construction Paper Crabs
• Fish Prints
• Rainbow Fish Collage
• Hand-Print Starfish

May 23-27

Theme: Bears
Letter: Pp

• Coffee Bears
• Bear Foot Prints
• Panda Bears
• Cinnamon and Sugar Bears — Share Day
• Bear Masks — Share Day

As we enter our last month of preschool this school year, we feel blessed to have had such a great year! As we look back over the last year, we remember so many things we learned about, such as Health and Safety, Apples, Family and Friends, Opposites, Teeth, Pets. We also learned about loss and grieving with the unexpected and sad death of our beloved Ms. Jean. (Ms. Jean’s family has established a memorial scholarship in her name if you would like to contribute, or know a family that could benefit, please let me know.)

We are thankful as a staff that you have entrusted us with your child’s early education experience! We are looking forward to a fun filled summer and hope that many of you will join us!!

We also look forward to ending our year with family picnic at Antelope Park in the Auld Pavilion on Friday May 13th 5:30pm. We will provide hotdogs and lemon-aid, please bring a side dish to share.

Thank you for such a great year here at Westminster–I have enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to this summer and next year!

Have a great summer!!!!
Magen, Rachel, Jenna, Darci, Judy, Melissa, Kylie and Suzanne!!!!