Welcome 2016!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!  I'm looking forward to this new year and all the fun things I have planned for the kids.  As a quick reminder, Miss Rachel Clegg will be substituting for me the first week back after the holiday break.  She met all the children in December at circle time and will do great!  If you need to call or text her, you can reach her at 801-668-4438.

Here are January's calendars.  Please be sure to read the class news at the bottom of both calendars!  :)

MWF 10am-12pm JANUARY 2016 Value of the month: Responsibility

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
3	4 Capital “J” Units: Calendar/Days/Months Positions Numbers: 8 (Starting sight words today!) snack: Chloe	5	6 Lowercase “j” Units: Calendar/Days/Months Positions Number: 8 Show n' Tell Bags: Kacen and Claire snack: Claire	7	8 Review games for: -All letters learned this school year -All numbers 0 – 8 Snack: Annie	9
10	11 Capital “W” Number: 9 Number Games! snack: Kacen	12	13 Lowercase“w” Number: 10 Number Games! Show n' Tell Bags: Natalee and Tanner Snack: Tanner	14	15 Math to the Moon: Counting, skip counting, and simple addition Assessments snack: Kinzlee	16
17	18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day No School	19	20 Letters Kk Number: 11 Unit: Nursery Rhymes Old King Cole Boys are “KING” today! Snack: Tyce	21 Assessments <----------------- -------------------->	22 Unit: Nursery Rhymes Vowels Review and sounding out words. Show n' Tell Bags: Brooklyn and Kinzlee snack: Brooklyn	23
24/31	25 Capital “Q” Girls are “QUEEN” today! Number: 12 Nursery Rhyme: Queen of Hearts Snack: Natalee	26	27 Lowercase “q” Number: 12 Shape: Heart Show n' Tell Bags: Tyce and Natalee snack: Mie	28	29 Fun in the kitchen Making Tarts (from the nursery rhyme Queen of Hearts) snack: Miss SueZan	30

January 2016 T/Th class

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
3	4	5 Capital “J” Units:Calendar/Days/Months Positions Numbers: 8 (Starting sight words today!) snack:Ava	6	7 Lowercase “j” Units:Calendar/Days/Months Positions Number: 8 Show n' Tell Bags: Ada & Bennett snack: Macie	8	9
10	11	12 Capital “W” Number: 9 Number Games! Snack: Ada	13	14 Lowercase“w” Number: 10 Number Games! Show n' Tell Bags: Ava & Cooper Snack: Jaxson	15	16
17	18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day	19 Capital K Number: 11 Unit: Nursery Rhymes Old King Cole Boys are “KING” today! Snack: Cooper	20 Snack: Tyce	21 Lowercase k Number: 11 Unit: Nursery Rhymes Show n' Tell Bags: Embry &Taj snack: Taj	22 Assessments <-----------------	23
24/31	25	26 Capital “Q” Girls are “QUEEN” today! Number: 12 Nursery Rhyme: Queen of Hearts Snack: Embry	27	28 Lowercase “q”Number: 12 Shape: Heart Show n' Tell Bags: Kenzie & Daphne snack:Daphne	29 Assessments <-----------------	30

Welcome to 2016!

The value of the month is Responsbility, {RESPONSIBILITY: Doing what we have said we will do; being accountable for our actions and consequences because we know right from wrong; being dependable and reliable; not making excuses or blaming others.}

I will be teaching them the sign language for Responsibility and talking to them continually about it during snack time and pointing it out when I see the students using the value (like picking up toys, hanging up their coats and backpacks when they come in, cleaning up after themselves at snack time, etc.) I feel that this will be a great addition to our class conversations. :)

Two big things that we will start this month and an announcement!

Sight words: The school year is half way through now! Can you believe it? And the kids are doing great! We are going to start sight words in January. Sight words don't require the child to know the entire alphabet with each sound that's made, because they aren't “sounding out” the words. I will help them with learning to sound things out too, but for right now, it's just to sight read. So what I have been doing (and feel free to do this at home) is taken five words and during circle time and recap time, I go through each one. i.e. I hold up the word “in” and I say, “This is the word 'in'. What is it?” And they all respond, “in”. This is the word 'up'. What is it? And they all respond, “up.”. I know it sounds a little crazy, but I promise it works over time. It's a technique I learned in a literacy group just out of college.

The sight words for January are: I, in, is, it, big, we, up

Number Recognition and Simple Addition: I will be working with them on patterns and counting/recognizing numbers up to 12 this month. I would love it if you could listen to your child count and see if they are getting those in order. Ask them questions when you are driving together or doing activities together. If you have 2 forks on the table for dinner and there needs to be 6 forks, how many more do you need? I don't expect them to know that off the top of their head, but I'd like them to start seeing the real world application of it. Get those wheels turning even more. :) Towards the end of the month, I will be doing mid-year assessments. I will be doing these during class time and then will send a report home. At the end of April, I will do one more assessment which parent(s) can attend if they wish.

Coming in May 2016: Some of you may know, but some may not, so I wanted to make sure it was out there! I found out in autumn that I am due with a baby on May 12^th. I am still working out how to handle the month of May since this beautiful surprise landed me due two weeks before our usual preschool graduation. (Yikes!) Thanks for your patience and understanding. :) I really appreciate it.

Looking forward to this awesome new year!

Miss SueZan 

(P.S. For the MWF class.  There's a professional development day on the Weber County schedule for Jan 15, but I still plan to hold school that day.)

Merry Christmas!

  I'm so excited for this Christmas season and for the fun and magic children bring to the holidays.  :)  Below are the calendars for both classes.  Please be sure to read the news at the end of your child's class calendar since both classes have different news this month.  :)  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

MWF 10-12                                             DECEMBER 

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	11/30Capital “D” Shape: Star Number: 5 “Little Jack Horner” Program Practice snack: Claire	1 Program Parts come home Wednesday	2 Lowercase “d” Green/Wear Green Program Practice Show n' Tell Bag: Tanner and Kinzlee Snack: Annie	3	4 Program Practice Talking Words Factory snack: Kacen	5
6	7 -Capital C Program Practice Number: 6 -Christmas Craft Happy Birthday Mie!! Bday snack: Mie	8	9 Lowercase c Program Practice Show n' Tell Bag Mie and Chloe Happy Birthday Natalee! Bday snack: Natalee	10	11Program Practice Review Letters of the year (A, S, O, P, H) snack: Chloe	12
13	14 Fun in the kitchen! Number 7 Review Letters of the year (N, T, I, D, C.) christmas Craft snack: Tanner	15	16 -Cookie Exchange!* Program Practice Show n' Tell Bag: Tyce and Annie snack: Kinzlee Christmas Program TONIGHT @ 6pm Pleasant Valley Library	17	18 ~Christmas Village in Ogden and food drive~ School is from 9:30 to 12:00 dress warm!! snack: Tyce	19
20	21 Christmas Party! Handprint Art Wear your comfy pajamas. Snack: Miss SueZan	22	23 See you back January 4th!	24	25 Merry Christmas!	26

--MONTHLY NEWS--

*Cookie Exchange: To avoid an extra refreshment fee at the library, I thought it'd be fun to have a cookie exchange the day of the program. Please bring a dozen of your favorite cookies before or after school on Wednesday, the 16^h! I will distribute them all onto individual plates and wrap them up so that you can take them with you after the program is over that night. Everyone will leave with a dozen different cookies and there will be no mess for the library to clean up. Win-Win! :)

**Christmas Program @ the Pleasant Valley Branch Library, 5568 S. Adams Ave. Washington Terrace

We usually do the program at the Roy branch, however, they are getting ready to move into their new building and so that branch is unavailable for the program. Thus, our Christmas program will be at the branch across from Ogden Regional Medical Center.

For the Christmas Program, I would like the children to wear best dress please. You and your family can wear whatever you'd like. :) Please feel free to invite grandparents and anyone else you'd like to this. The children will each have a short line that I'd like you to help them memorize. They'll get to practice it lots of times in school, but it'd be great when I hand those out if you could help your child practice. After the program is over, there will be a small craft that you can stay and do with your family if you'd like to. :)

~Christmas Village in Ogden. We will have a fun tour of Christmas Village given by none other than Mrs. Claus at 10am on December 18^th. We will meet at the school at 9:30 so that we can get everyone buckled up. I need two volunteer drivers/chaperones. This is free for any other parents or siblings who'd like to join us! Please sign up on the bulletin board inside the preschool. You may also meet us in front of Santa's Castle (by the amphitheater) at Christmas Village at 10 if you prefer. Please let me know your plan so I don't leave anyone behind. Thank you!

This year, they are offering a mini train ride after the tour if you donate a can of food! So please bring a can of food for their food drive!

^Christmas Break: No school from Dec.23rd-Jan 4^th. My husband and I will be out of town the first week in January, so there will be a substitute for the first week.  Her name is Miss Rachel (Rachel Clegg).  She taught for me last spring while my P.M. teacher was on maternity leave.  During December, I'll introduce her to the kids so that they'll be familiar with her.  I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

T/Th 9:30-11:30                                        DECEMBER

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	11/30/15	1 Capital D Shape: Star Number: 5 “Little Jack Horner” Program Practice snack: Kenzie	2 Program Parts come home Thursday*	3 Lowercase d Green/Wear Green Program Practice Show n' Tell Bag: Cooper & Derek Snack: Bennett	4	5
6	7	8 Capital C Program Practice Number: 6 -Christmas Craft snack: Daphne	9	10 Lowercase c Program Practice Show n' Tell Bag: Ava & Taj snack: Embry	11	12
13	14	15 -Cookie Exchange Number 7 Review Letters of Nov. and Dec. (N, T, I, D, C.) christmas Craft snack: Cooper	16 Christmas Program TONIGHT @ 7pm Pleasant Valley Library	17 Christmas Party! Handprint Art Wear your comfy pajamas. Show n Tell Bag: Macie & Jaxson Snack: Taj	18	19
20	21	22 Christmas Break	23 See you back January 5th!	24	25 Merry Christmas!	26

--MONTHLY NEWS--

*Cookie Exchange: To avoid an extra refreshment fee at the library, I thought it'd be fun to have a cookie exchange the day of the program. Please bring a dozen of your favorite cookies before or after school on Wednesday, the 16^h! I will distribute them all onto individual plates and wrap them up so that you can take them with you after the program is over that night. Everyone will leave with a dozen different cookies and there will be no mess for the library to clean up. Win-Win! :)

**Christmas Program @ 7pm @ the Pleasant Valley Branch Library, 5568 S. Adams Ave. Washington Terrace

We usually do the program at the Roy branch, however, they are getting ready to move into their new building so that branch is unavailable for the program. Thus, our Christmas program will be at the branch across from Ogden Regional Medical Center.

For the Christmas Program, I would like the children to wear best dress please. You and your family can wear whatever you'd like. :) Please feel free to invite grandparents and anyone else you'd like to this. The children will each have a short line that I'd like you to help them memorize. They'll get to practice it lots of times in school, but it'd be great when I hand those out if you could help your child practice. After the program is over, there will be a small craft that you can stay and do with your family if you'd like to. :)

^Christmas Break: No school from Dec.22nd-Jan 4^th. My husband and I will be out of town the first week in January, so there will be a substitute for the first week. Her name is Rachel Clegg (Miss Rachel). She taught the P.M. Group last year for three months while my other teacher was on maternity leave. In December, she will be coming in to meet the kids during circle time so they'll be familiar with her the first week back from Christmas Break. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

November is here!

---Please make sure to check out the monthly news at the bottom of this post!---

                                   MWF 10-12      N o v e m b e r      Value of the month: Respect

Sunday	Monday	Tues	Wednesday	Thurs	Friday	Saturday
1	2 Capital “N” Unit: People Homes planting tulip bulbs in preschool garden snack: Annie	3	4 Lowercase“n” Unit: Land Animal Homes Hibernating &Migrating Show n tell: Easton & Tyce snack: Mie	5	6 Unit: Undersea Animal Homes Review games of letters: S, A, O, P, H, & N snack: Easton	7
8	9 Capital “T” Number: 1 Unit: 5 senses Color:Brown/ WearBrown snack: Kacen	10	11 Lowercase “t” Number: 2 Unit: 5 senses Show n tell: Claire & Annie snack: Claire	12	13 “Think outside the box” 5 senses discovery science snack: Tyce	14
15	16 Capital “I”Number: 3 Unit: Indians & Pilgrims Show n' Tell bags: Kacen & Natalee snack: Natalee	17	18 Field Trip to Winegars* Lowercase “i” Number: 4 snack: Chloe	19	20 Unit: “The Story of Thanksgiving” by Nancy Skarmeas Handprint Turkey Bday snack: Tanner	21 Happy Birthday Tanner!
22	23 Letter Zz Review: 1, 2, 3, 4 Unit: Indians & Pilgrims Thanksgiving Fun in the kitchen** snack: Kinzlee	24	25 No School	26 No School Happy Thanksgiving	27 No School November 30th will be on December's calendar :)	28 Please save the date!! 12/16/14 Christmas Program at Pleasant Valley Branch Library (by Ogden Regional)!

November News~

Hello!

Last year, I started something new called the value of the month. Some of our students have siblings that attend Good Foundations Academy in Riverdale. The school has 'foundation stone' values that they focus on. I really liked this idea, and have interwoven these same foundation stones into the preschool calendar. So month by month I will add new values. The month of November is Respect.

{Respect: Showing consideration for others and their property; listening to and following instructions of parents, teachers; honoring others; following the Golden Rule; being courteous and polite.}

I will be talking to them continually about respect and pointing it out when I see others using respect. I will also ask that they help me during their play time point out when they see friends using respect. I feel that this will be a great addition to our class conversations. They will also learn the sign language for the value each month. It was a lot of fun to see the kids do these last year. :)

*This month's field trip is to Winegars grocery store on 4800 S. We will have normal preschool hours. Our field trip time starts at 10:15 that day at Winegars. So please strive to be on time so we can just buckle up and head out. :) I could use a couple of drivers, so please sign up on the bulletin board in the preschool if interested. Thank you! After the field trip, we will still have time to come back, have a mini circle time, snack, and write our letters.

**The last class before Thanksgiving will be a fun kitchen day for the kids. They are going to make homemade pumpkin pie filling. We will be using some of the pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and from our own preschool garden. If you would like to turn your own pumpkin from the field trip into a pie, here's the recipe I'll be using that day with the kids!

So Easy Pumpkin Pie

Cut pumpkin in half without stem. Scoop out seeds and strings. Place cut side down on foil lined baking sheet. Cover with foil. Bake @350 degrees until tender. (About 60-90 minutes) Cool. Scoop out flesh and mash with a hand mixer. Drain if too watery.

Beat together:

1 1/3 cup smooth mashed pumpkin

1 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ginger

(or if you don't have those, you can do 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice)

1 cup hot water

Pour into a 9 inch pie shell at Bake @ 375 for 55-65 minutes. (Center will still move slightly.) Cool and enjoy! Mashed pumpkin will hold 5 days in refrigerator.

Following the Weber County School District schedule, there will be no school November 25^th-27^th. Enjoy this time with your family and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Last, but not least, please save the date for our Christmas Program! It will be held Wednesday, December 16^th in the evening at the Weber County Library, Pleasant Valley Branch (by Ogden Regional Medical Center).

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful to be able to teach your child. :)

Miss SueZan

                    T/Th 10-12           N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5    Value of the month: Respect

SUNDAY	MON	TUESDAY	WED	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SAT
1	2	3 Capital “N” Unit: People Homes planting tulip bulbs in preschool garden snack: Taj	4	5 Lowercase“n” Unit: Land Animal Homes Hibernating &Migrating Show n' tell: Daphne & Bennett snack: Ava	6	7
8	9	10 Capital “T” Number: 1 Unit: 5 senses Color:Brown/ WearBrown snack: Macie	11	12 Lowercase “t” Number: 2 Unit: 5 senses Show n' tell: Embry & Ada snack: Ada	13	14
15	16 Happy Birthday Cooper!	17 Field Trip to Winegars** @9:45 Lowercase “i” Number: 3 Bday snack: Cooper	18	19 Capital “I” Number: 4 Unit: Indians & Pilgrims Show n' tell: Kenzie & Cooper Turkey Handprint/ Footprint Art snack: Derek	20	21
22	23	24 Letter Zz Review: 1, 2, 3, 4 Unit: Indians & Pilgrims Thanksgiving Fun in the kitchen* snack: Jaxson	25	26 No School Happy Thanksgiving!	27	28 Please save the date!! 12/16/14 Christmas Program at Pleasant Valley Branch Library (by Ogden Regional)!

November News~

Hello!

Last year, I started something new called the value of the month. Some of our students have siblings that attend Good Foundations Academy in Riverdale. The school has 'foundation stone' values that they focus on. I really liked this idea, and have interwoven these same foundation stones into the preschool calendar. So month by month I will add new values. The month of November is Respect.

{Respect: Showing consideration for others and their property; listening to and following instructions of parents, teachers; honoring others; following the Golden Rule; being courteous and polite.}

I will be talking to them continually about respect and pointing it out when I see others using respect. I will also ask that they help me during their play time point out when they see friends using respect. I feel that this will be a great addition to our class conversations. They will also learn the sign language for the value each month. It was a lot of fun to see the kids do these last year. :)

*This month's field trip is to Winegars grocery store on 4800 S. We will have normal preschool hours. Our field trip time starts at 10:15 that day at Winegars. So please strive to be on time so we can just buckle up and head out. :) I could use a couple of drivers, so please sign up on the bulletin board in the preschool if interested. Thank you! After the field trip, we will still have time to come back, have a mini circle time, snack, and write our letters.

**The last class before Thanksgiving will be a fun kitchen day for the kids. They are going to make homemade pumpkin pie filling. We will be using some of the pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and from our own preschool garden. If you would like to turn your own pumpkin from the field trip into a pie, here's the recipe I'll be using that day with the kids!

So Easy Pumpkin Pie

Cut pumpkin in half without stem. Scoop out seeds and strings. Place cut side down on foil lined baking sheet. Cover with foil. Bake @350 degrees until tender. (About 60-90 minutes) Cool. Scoop out flesh and mash with a hand mixer. Drain if too watery.

Beat together:

1 1/3 cup smooth mashed pumpkin

1 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ginger

(or if you don't have those, you can do 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice)

1 cup hot water

Pour into a 9 inch pie shell at Bake @ 375 for 55-65 minutes. (Center will still move slightly.) Cool and enjoy! Mashed pumpkin will hold 5 days in refrigerator.

Following the Weber County School District schedule, there will be no school November 25^th-27^th. Enjoy this time with your family and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Last, but not least, please save the date for our Christmas Program! It will be held Wednesday, December 16^th in the evening at the Weber County Library, Pleasant Valley Branch (by Ogden Regional Medical Center).

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful to be able to teach your child. :)

Miss SueZan