Hey PreKPals and Families-

Can you believe that we are already at the end of March? I feel like we just got started with school and now we are on the down hill slide. This week we will have some new things to learn as we prepare to leave PreK and become KinderFriends!

The first new thing we will do this week is learn to eat in the cafeteria! All year we have been eating in our classroom and we’ve had some flexibility about time with lunch. Now, we will learn to go to the cafeteria and sit at the big tables on the little stools instead of in our classroom sitting in chairs. We will learn to sit with our tummy to the table, and to eat first and talk last, so that we can get finished in 25 minutes. We will also practice using the restrooms in the hallway after lunch! We are growing up!

On Wednesday of this week, we will go to our first book fair in the library. Book Fair purchases are optional, but everyone will go to look. Our time to shop is Wednesday from 8:15-8:45. (Virtual students, we will not meet on Wednesday of this week due to book fair time.) The easiest way to shop is to send money in an envelope, labeled with your child’s name. Put the money in the zipper pocket of the Rocket Binder. We will help your child shop for a book for the amount that you send. There are trinkets (book mark, erasers, etc) at the checkout. Some books have “toys” (jewelry, stuffed animals). We will encourage your child to get BOOKS and not toys so that they do not come home with 50-11ty erasers and glittery gadgets. If you want to mark a book that your child wants from the flier that came home, feel free to do that and we will make sure they get that book.

If you want to shop WITH your child, or if you are a virtual student, you can make an appointment with Ms. Hamilton to come shop on FRIDAY. These times are by appointment only and are made through Ms. Hamilton.

The third way to shop is to order online and the books ship free to your home. This would be the same procedure you have used if you have ordered books through our class book orders this school year. Easy to do and no interaction is needed. Just you and the computer! No matter how you chose to shop, RQES is thankful for you! The Book Fair is a fundraiser for our school and it helps with new books and materials for us to use at school. Thank you!

Each week, we will check out books from the library. However, the books will not come home this year. They are all checked out under my name, so they have to stay in the classroom. Some friends were worried last week when they thought they had forgotten to take their book home. Next year, they will get to take their library books home each week! So many fun things to look forward to!

The PreKPals are bringing home a book to keep for their PreK book box this week! The Interrupting Chicken is a fun read and is always a favorite! We hope you enjoy!

Please remember to pack 4 snacks, a water bottle with a VALVE, your ROCKET binder, your backpack, your napmat, and a jacket, WE PLAY OUTDOORS EVERY DAY that it is not raining.

Dates:

March 31: Book Fair 8:15-8:45

April 8: Last day to order RQES t-shirts. Here’s the info in case you need it again.

• Where: https://rqepta.memberhub.store
• When: ORDER BY APRIL 8!
• T-Shirts will be sent home with students approximately two weeks after the order deadline.
• Contact: Michelle Waits – michellecwaits@gmail.com
• Price: $15 Short Sleeve Comfort Colors T-shirt

April 10-16: Week of the Young Child (info coming soon!)

April 21: The Tuscaloosa Barnyard will visit RQES!

May 25: PreK Celebration (We do not have a graduation at RQES, but we do have a celebration! More information coming soon on our socially distanced celebration!)

Breakfast and Lunch are free for each child for the remainder of the year. I posted the menu on Dojo last week. Check it out to see if your child wants a school lunch.

We are working on learning letter sounds. This is a skill your PreKPal will need in Kindergarten. We are using these fun songs:

Jack Hartmann:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQB7gpDpt6o  and

The Letter Factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neItURLvyIQ

Have you made a Gonoodle account for your child? It’s free and fun! www.gonoodle.com

Learn how to tie your shoes (The easiest way EVER!!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJVR8hHBQyM

PreK Jacket Flip instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRKDeKbAcI

Class Wish List:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1NIMKDO4OUN7A/ref=cm_wl_huc_view

Have an amazing week! We are so glad you are in PreK! Alicia

Hey PreKPals and Families-

Happy Spring!! We are so excited to see everyone tomorrow! We hope you have had a great time with your family and that you have adjusted from the time change. I don’t know that I have ever been so excited to return from Spring Break. I still have all of the feelings from LAST Spring Break…….you know…..the one where we never returned. Whew. I know that your little ones weren’t pat of all of that, except for maybe with their daycare, but it was pretty traumatic for all of us. Let’s hope and pray that we never have to experience that again!

We can’t wait to hear all about the adventures the PreKPals had on Spring Break, even if it was a staycation at home (those are the BEST!). Go to sleep early and get ready to come to PreK tomorrow! It’s going to be a blast!

This week we are learning about Rainforest animals! In fact, it will be all animals for a while now! We have TONS of animals to learn about! We cannot wait to share all of the fun things we have planned!

You may have noticed that there is one PreK teacher taking temps now instead of all three. We have decided to rotate and do a week at a time, so this week, Mrs. McClinton will be on duty. I will be on duty next week. Since we don’t have planning time in PreK this year, and we have to be on duty at 7:30 (which is outside of contract hours) we decided to split up the check in duty for the rest of the year.

In person students need to return the red permission slip for The Barnyard visit to RQES. Even though we aren’t leaving campus, we are still required to have a permission slip due to school rules. The visit is free, but I must have the permission slip signed.

Please remember to pack 4 snacks, a water bottle with a VALVE, (we kept your ROCKET binder so it is already at school), your backpack, your napmat, and a jacket, WE PLAY OUTDOORS EVERY DAY that it is not raining.

Lydia and Deam do NOT need snacks. Their cubby is well stocked!

This week we will get to go to the library for book check out. That got put on hold until after Spring Break. Soon, we hope to begin eating in the cafeteria, instead of our classroom, to learn how to do that before kindergarten. Kindergarten!!! Can you believe that you will be getting kindergarten information soon??

Don’t forget that your child is already registered in the system. You do NOT have to register them so don’t panic when you see the announcements on social media to do that. I will let you know when Mrs. Gray, our awesome school secretary, is ready for you to do what needs to be done. But for now, your spot is saved.

Dates:

March 29-April 4: Book Fair @ RQES (more information coming home soon!)

April 10-16: Week of the Young Child (info coming soon!)

Breakfast and Lunch are free for each child for the remainder of the year. I posted the menu on Dojo last week. Check it out to see if your child wants a school lunch.

We are working on learning letter sounds. This is a skill your PreKPal will need in Kindergarten. We are using these fun songs:

Jack Hartmann:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQB7gpDpt6o  and

The Letter Factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neItURLvyIQ

Have you made a Gonoodle account for your child? It’s free and fun! www.gonoodle.com

Learn how to tie your shoes (The easiest way EVER!!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJVR8hHBQyM

PreK Jacket Flip instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRKDeKbAcI

Class Wish List:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1NIMKDO4OUN7A/ref=cm_wl_huc_view

Have an amazing week! We are so glad you are in PreK! Alicia

Hey PreKPals and Families-

We had so much fun last week with our Read Across America activities! Our little book character parade was so much fun! Thank you for letting your child participate!

This week we are learning about Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. We have castles and castle blocks, dress up clothes, a new sensory table with Rapunzel towers and gemstones, and lots of fun themed math and literacy activities. We can’t wait for the PreKPals to see what we have in store! Did you know that being able to recite Nursery Rhymes is a great indicator of being on target with literacy and learning how to read? Nursery Rhymes are easy to do in the car, in the waiting room or anywhere you have a few minutes to spare!

This is our last week before Spring Break! Whoo Hooo! Ms. Hoffman’s birthday is on Wednesday. You can have your child make a card to send to her this week if you’d like. I know she would appreciate it.

We will actually get to go TO the library this week for book check out (instead of a basket of books being delivered to our room), and hopefully soon, we will learn how to sit in the cafeteria for lunch. We will learn how to sit at the tables, even if we don’t actually eat in the cafeteria, because kindergarten lunch will look a lot different than PreK lunch has looked this year.

Dr. Daria announced on Friday that we would remain virtual on Friday’s for the rest of the year. Speaking of- we only have about 59 school days left of PreK. We have some fun and exciting things planned for the next few months. Ms. Hoffman and I can’t believe we are on the downhill side of this year. We say all the time what a sweet class y’all are and how flexible all of you are with whatever is going on. Thank you! You make our jobs so much easier by being so flexible. If this pandemic has taught us anything- it’s that we need to be flexible and appreciate the ones we love!

Dates:

March 10: Ms. Hoffman’s birthday!

March 13-21 Spring Break

March 29-April 4 Book Fair @ RQES (more information coming home soon!)

Please remember to pack 4 snacks, a water bottle with a VALVE, your ROCKET binder, your backpack your napmat, and a jacket, WE PLAY OUTDOORS EVERY DAY that it is not raining. I cannot tell you how many PreKPals come to school with no jacket. You are welcome to send one and tell them to leave it in their cubby if you’d like.  

Breakfast and Lunch are free for each child for the remainder of the year. I posted the menu on Dojo earlier.

Time is running out to register for PreK for next year! The PreK drawing is Thursday of this week!  Applications are online only and the child must be 4 by September 2 to register. Please tell your friends and family that may be interested in PreK to register! We are very hopeful that PreK will be all day, every day for the 2021-22 school year. Don’t wait!

We are working on learning letter sounds. This is a skill your PreKPal will need in Kindergarten. We are using these fun songs:

Jack Hartmann:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQB7gpDpt6o  and

The Letter Factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neItURLvyIQ

Have you made a Gonoodle account for your child? It’s free and fun! www.gonoodle.com

Learn how to tie your shoes (The easiest way EVER!!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJVR8hHBQyM

PreK Jacket Flip instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRKDeKbAcI

Class Wish List:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1NIMKDO4OUN7A/ref=cm_wl_huc_view

Have an amazing week! We are so glad you are in PreK! Alicia