This Week in PreK-

Hello PreKPals and Families-

Lots of exciting things going on in PreK this week! We will have our first Music class on Thursday! We are so excited for this opportunity. We will have music weekly this first semester with our music teacher from The University of Alabama. Her name is Ms. Siyu Tian and we are anxious to meet her.

Beginning this week, there will be only 2 teachers on front door duty in the morning. Please encourage your children that they may go in either door and their other teachers will meet them in the STEAM room where we all wait together. PreK is a team and all of the 10 teachers work together!

Our Nursery Rhyme this week is 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe. We are sending a copy home for you to enjoy with your child. We review each Nursery Rhyme weekly. The students love knowing these rhymes and saying them together.

This week’s theme is Health and Safety. We are going to be talking about ways to stay safe, healthy foods to eat, exercises to do and all the ways we can stay safe at home and at school. We have already practiced for a fire drill and an intruder drill (which we call a quiet drill).  We will also learn what to do during a tornado drill. Everyone is doing a great job! We are not scared! We are prepared!

Last week, your first fieldtrip form came home. Please sign and return it on Monday. There are a TON of steps that I must complete for booking a fieldtrip and we have to start way in advance. We cannot move forward until everyone has their form returned. It does not obligate you to go on the fieldtrip, but it is super difficult to add a student after the paperwork is completed. All parents are invited to attend. The students and teachers will ride in Charter Buses to the Tuscaloosa Barnyard. Parents may meet us there. All fieldtrips for PreK students are FREE through the Office of School Readiness (OSR). Our fieldtrip date is October 26th.

The handwriting name sheet that came home in your child’s binder is for you to practice name writing at home. Don’t forget that the back of the sheet can be used for additional letter and number writing practice. We sign in everyday in PreK and this format is similar to what your child does at school. (tip! We use small pieces of Magic Eraser (dollar tree brand) to erase the boards we use at school.)

Your September calendar is coming home this week. Don’t forget that there is no school on Labor Day! I cannot believe that we have almost completed the first month of school. The PreKPals are rockin’ big school! Hooray!

It’s going to be another outstanding week in PreK!

Weekly Reminders:

  • A water cup with a valve, already filled with water (flavored water must be clear!), labeled with your child’s name. Make sure your child can drink from it at home before coming to school. NO OPEN POUR CUPS. NO JUICE!!!
  • Your child’s backpack and lunch box (if they will not eat from the cafeteria).
  • A bag with 5 snacks labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Nap Mat
  • PreK binder (this will need to be checked and cleaned out daily)

 

Dates to Remember:

August:

Immediately: Please do the ASQ for your child. This is a requirement for PreK.

https://www.asqonline.com/family/989e71 (English)

https://www.asqonline.com/family/cbc71c (Spanish)

28: Signed Fieldtrip forms due

September:

4: Labor Day: No School

13: Health Screening

15: 5 Senses PopCorn Day

29: School Picture Day

October:

9: No School for students

19-20: NO SCHOOL FOR PREK STUDENTS ONLY (The PreK teachers are going to be at a required state conference in Moblie)

26: Barnyard Fieldtrip

Please email or message on ClassDojo if you have any questions! Thank you for sharing your children with us! They are precious!!

Alicia Jenne: ajenne@tusc.k12.al.us

Whitney Dunn: wdunn@tusc.k12.al.us

Have an amazing week!

Alicia Jenne’

 

 

Rockin’ Right Along in PreK….

Hello PreKPals and Families-

We are so excited to begin week 2 with our amazing PreKPals! We had such a great time last week learning all the things! This week, we will get to go to the Library with Mrs. Hamilton. Her son is a PreKPal across the hall. We will pick out books to keep in the classroom, but soon, the PreKPals will get to bring their library books home. We will also have music class provided by The University of Alabama’s Community Music School starting soon!

Our Nursery Rhyme this week is Little Miss Muffett. We are sending a copy home for you to enjoy with your child. We will work on recognizing our names and the names of our friends this week. We will complete our name puzzles, talk about birthdays and learn more about one another! Our Family Tree circles have been a huge hit! Almost everyone has turned theirs in! We love watching our tree grow. 

Speaking of birthdays, we have a few coming up! We are always happy to share party invitations on Dojo or we can pass them out in the binders if everyone in the class is invited. The exception to this is that you can send them to just girls or just boys (if you are having a party where only one group is invited).

I sent the menu for the month home on Dojo last week. Please know that menu items are subject to change based on delivery schedules. Also, PreKPals may only get white milk from the cafeteria (they all take their water bottles with them) and PreK students do NOT purchase any extras (ice cream, cookies, etc). They will have the opportunity to do that in Kindergarten on Fridays.

At RQES, we are not allowed to celebrate with edible treats as it goes against our wellness policy. You may send a little goody bag or other non-edible treat for each child if you would like but it is not required. We will celebrate the birthday child with a crown, a song, blowing out our “candle” and getting to choose some goodies from the Birthday Box.

Another reminder is that we are not allowed to assist children in the restroom. They must be able to wipe their own bottoms, and fasten all clothing. If this is something your child struggles with, please practice at home. Since this is big school, and not daycare, our rules are different.

Our friend, Dr. Mary Beth Dennis, who is a retired TCS/TCSS Principal and PreK Coach, will be volunteering in our classroom each Wednesday starting this week. If your child mentions the other teacher in our classroom (who is not Jenne’ or Dunn) that is who they are referring to!

Everyone is doing a great job with the cafeteria, with coming into the building in the morning, and with life as a PrekPal in general! Mrs. Dunn and I feel very blessed.

It’s going to be another awesome week in PreK!

Weekly Reminders:

  • A water cup with a valve, already filled with water (flavored water must be clear!), labeled with your child’s name. Make sure your child can drink from it at home before coming to school. NO OPEN POUR CUPS. NO JUICE!!!
  • Your child’s backpack and lunch box (if they will not eat from the cafeteria).
  • A bag with 5 snacks labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Nap Mat
  • PreK binder (this will need to be checked and cleaned out daily)

Dates to Remember:

August:

Immediately: Please do the ASQ for your child. This is a requirement for PreK.

https://www.asqonline.com/family/989e71 (English)

https://www.asqonline.com/family/cbc71c (Spanish)

August 21: Family Projects due/ parent involvement hours for returning project

22: Open House 6 pm. This is a come and go, optional event but you do get parent involvement hours for attending.

September:

4: Labor Day: No School

Please email or message on ClassDojo if you have any questions! Thank you for sharing your children with us! They are precious!!

Alicia Jenne: ajenne@tusc.k12.al.us

Whitney Dunn: wdunn@tusc.k12.al.us

Remember- if you are here, you are awesome!

Alicia Jenne’

 

 

Welcome to PreK!

Hello PreKPals and Families-

Welcome and Happy Sunday! Each week, on Sunday, you will get a link to the blog post for the week. As long as you read the blog post – you will be in the know for all things PreK!

We had a great girl day and boy day last week! Friday was awesome with all our PreKPals! We are looking forward to learning and growing together!

Each week you will get a nursery rhyme to read and learn with your child at home. Learning the rhyming patterns in nursery rhymes is a great indicator of being a good reader by third grade. This week we will learn the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Along with rhyming, we will be learning the names of our classmates and how to recognize our own names in print.

We will do a weekly science experiment. This week we are going to learn about what scientists do and our first experiment will help us learn to predict, observe, and describe what we see.

It’s going to be an awesome week!

Weekly Reminders:

  • A water cup with a valve, already filled with water (flavored water must be clear!), labeled with your child’s name. Make sure your child can drink from it at home before coming to school. NO OPEN POUR CUPS. NO JUICE!!!
  • Your child’s backpack and lunch box (if they will not eat from the cafeteria).
  • A bag with 5 snacks labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Nap Mat
  • PreK binder (this will need to be checked and cleaned out daily)

Dates to Remember:

August:

14: Please enable notifications for class dojo so that you will not miss a message from us regarding emergencies.

14: All paperwork is due! Please also do the ASQ for your child. This is a requirement for PreK.

https://www.asqonline.com/family/989e71 (English); 

https://www.asqonline.com/family/cbc71c (Spanish)

19: Family Projects due/ parent involvement hours for returning project

22: Open House 6 pm. This is a come and go, optional event but you do get parent involvement hours for attending.

Please email or message on ClassDojo if you have any questions! Thank you for sharing your children with us! They are precious!!

Alicia Jenne: ajenne@tusc.k12.al.us

Whitney Dunn: wdunn@tusc.k12.al.us

Have an amazing week!

Alicia Jenne’