Monthly Archives: April 2025

TumbleBus and Derby Week!

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Hello PreKPals and Families-

Sorry to be late with the blog this week! There was not enough weekend for me to get everything done! I need a day between Sunday and Monday where I get my life together! Anywhoooooo- we have a fun week in PreK! Let’s get into it!

This week in Heggerty phonics we will learn Mary Had a Little Lamb. We are sending a copy home for you to enjoy. We will review the letters X, Y and Z and their letter sounds this week.  In math we will work on all the ways to make 10. This week we will learn all about Oceans and Ocean Animals! Our caterpillars have officially all made their chrysalis, and we should have Painted Lady Butterflies very soon!

This week on Wednesday, The Tuscaloosa Tumblebus will be at RQ for PreK. We will also have bounce houses on this day! Make sure your children wear tennis shoes and SOCKS on Wednesday. They will also need to wear shorts and shirts instead of dresses (if they usually wear dresses). When we do the obstacle course in the Tumblebus we are often upside down! It will help us do all of the things if our dresses are not over our faces while we tumble. Thank you!

On Friday, it is Derby Day in PreK! For Derby Day, we race pool noodle stick horses with our friends. The girls wear flower headbands and the boys wear derby hats (provided by PreK). And then we will move to Trike Day. Friday will be fun and exhausting. Actually, they should sleep really well this week with all of these fun activities. We will make lots of pictures for you!

Did you attend the Mayor’s Cup 5K for PreK? If so, let me know and I will add that to your parent involvement hours!

Weekly PreK Reminders:

  • Send the nap mat back tomorrow please.
  • Daily: Make sure your child’s little reader is INSIDE their binder! Make sure to record the title of the book so we can try to assure they get a new book each M-Th.
  • 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). We are not allowed to heat lunches for children so send their things ready to eat, please!
  • PreK Binder (please clean out daily)
  • Wear tennis shoes and socks!
  • Please send a bag with 5 snacks (that do not need to be refrigerated!) labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Do Reading Log M-TH! 
  • Coats, jackets, sweaters are a MUST HAVE item for early morning PE. Please label with your child’s name.

NEW Dates to Remember:

April:

30: Tumblebus/Bounce Houses for PreK only

May:

2: PreK Derby Day

5-9: Book Fair

6: Literacy Night will be after school 4:30-7:00

15: Kindergarten Breakfast 9 am in the Cafeteria (all PreKPals and teachers will attend. Parents will meet us in the front foyer of the school)

15: PreK Celebration 10 am in the Multipurpose room (We do not graduate. We celebrate!) All parents need to plan to attend!

15: Kindergarten Breakfast for all students who will attend RQES PreK. ALL PreKPals will attend the breakfast, but parents will only need to attend the breakfast if the student will come to RQ Kindergarten.

16: Field Day/Spring Fling

20: Field Day/Spring Fling Make up day if needed for weather

21: ½ Day Early dismissal

22: ½ Day Early dismissal

23: Teacher Workday (no students!)

NEW fun Links for Home:

  • NEW!! Learn to tie your shoes in one minute!!

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=how+to+teach+tie+shoes+putting+laces+in+the+holes+of+shoes&&mid=35F16B249023C67E1D9935F16B249023C67E1D99&&FORM=VRDGAR

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

Brianna Alker: balker@tusc.k12.al.us

Thank you so much for the donations we have received from our wish list! We appreciate every bit!

Here is the link for our class wishlist if you would like to contribute. Participation is optional!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1NIMKDO4OUN7A?ref_=wl_share

We are so happy you are here!

Alicia Jenne’

 

Pond Life

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Hello PreKPals and Families-

We hope you had an amazing Easter weekend with your friends and families. I cannot believe that we are at the last full wee of April already. This year is zooming by!

This week in Heggerty phonics we will learn Hot Cross Buns. We are sending a copy home for you to enjoy. We will review the letters H, W and V and their letter sounds this week.  In math we will work on all the ways to make 5. This week we will learn all about Ponds and Pond Life! Our caterpillars are getting BIG! So exciting! We will have 6-7 chrysalis soon! We kept your child’s nap mat this week so you are all set for that. To put the remainder of the year into perspective, you only have 4 more nap mat washings to do……..

Dr. Dennis will be bac with us this week fro Science and we will be building Beaver dams. It is going to be amazing! Everyday is a great day in PreK!

We had such a fun time with our PreK egg hunt last week! Thank you to everyone who sent in eggs! We love making magic with our PreKPals.

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate Mrs. Alker on her birthday! We love her and we love showing her our appreciation!

Are you going to be at the Mayor’s Cup 5K on Saturday!? We hope to see you there. I will be WALKING (because I only run if I am being chased…..LOL) It’s such a great community event and every dime helps to provide free PreK here in Tuscaloosa. (One of the things we did on the teacher workday on Friday was to send out our letters to the NEW class of PreKPals for next year. So you might have friends asking about our program!)

Class Needs:

  • Sidewalk chalk 
  • Small water bottles

Weekly PreK Reminders:

  • Daily: Make sure your child’s little reader is INSIDE their binder! Make sure to record the title of the book so we can try to assure they get a new book each M-Th.
  • 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). We are not allowed to heat lunches for children so send their things ready to eat, please!
  • PreK Binder (please clean out daily)
  • Wear tennis shoes and socks!
  • Please send a bag with 5 snacks (that do not need to be refrigerated!) labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Do Reading Log M-TH! 
  • Coats, jackets, sweaters are a MUST HAVE item for early morning PE. Please label with your child’s name.

NEW Dates to Remember:

April:

26: Mayor’s Cup 5K for PreK

30: Tumblebus/Bounce Houses for PreK only

May:

2: PreK Derby Day (more information coming soon!)

5-9: Book Fair (the make-up Literacy Night will be after school one day this week!)

15: Kindergarten Breakfast 9 am in the Cafeteria (all PreKPals and teachers will attend. Parents will meet us in the front foyer of the school)

15: PreK Celebration 10 am in the Multipurpose room (We do not graduate. We celebrate!) All parents need to plan to attend!

15: Kindergarten Breakfast for all students who will attend RQES PreK. ALL PreKPals will attend the breakfast, but parents will only need to attend the breakfast if the student will come to RQ Kindergarten.

16: Field Day/Spring Fling

20: Field Day/Spring Fling Make up day if needed for weather

21: ½ Day Early dismissal

22: ½ Day Early dismissal

23: Teacher Workday (no students!)

NEW fun Links for Home:

  • NEW!! Learn to tie your shoes in one minute!!

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=how+to+teach+tie+shoes+putting+laces+in+the+holes+of+shoes&&mid=35F16B249023C67E1D9935F16B249023C67E1D99&&FORM=VRDGAR

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

Brianna Alker: balker@tusc.k12.al.us

Thank you so much for the donations we have received from our wish list! We appreciate every bit!

Here is the link for our class wishlist if you would like to contribute. Participation is optional!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1NIMKDO4OUN7A?ref_=wl_share

We are so happy you are here!

Alicia Jenne’

 

 

Springing into Plants and Flowers!

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Hello PreKPals and Families-

Happy short week friends! I hope you all have stayed healthy from the stomach virus that was going around in our classroom. Myself, and several friends were not so lucky. Our room has been cleaned and lysol’d several times and I hope that everyone is well. That being said, if your child is having vomiting or stomach issues, please know that it might be the virus.

This week we will not have a new Nursery Rhyme for Heggerty phonics since it is a 3 day week. We will review the letters G and R and their letter sounds this week.  In math we will work on addition sentences This week we will learn about plants and flowers (and continue with insects)! We are still waiting on our caterpillars! Everyone loved the bug hunt for science last week and this week we are going to learn how bees pollinate flowers and trees! We have a great experiment for that!

Don’t forget that our Egg Hunt is Wednesday so send a bucket or basket for your child. The 5th grade buddies hide the eggs for us so there isn’t any need for parent help with this activity. We will make lots of pictures for you!

Thursday and Friday are not school days for students. We also have 3 birthdays this week in a row! (One of them is Mrs. Alker’s! She’ so happy to be turning one whole hand!) 😊

Class Needs:

  • Plastic Spoons
  • Sidewalk chalk 
  • Small water bottles

Weekly PreK Reminders:

  • Daily: Make sure your child’s little reader is INSIDE their binder! Make sure to record the title of the book so we can try to assure they get a new book each M-Th.
  • Send nap mats please
  • 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). We are not allowed to heat lunches for children so send their things ready to eat, please!
  • PreK Binder (please clean out daily)
  • Wear tennis shoes and socks!
  • Please send a bag with 5 snacks (that do not need to be refrigerated!) labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Do Reading Log M-TH! 
  • Coats, jackets, sweaters are a MUST HAVE item for early morning PE. Please label with your child’s name.

NEW Dates to Remember:

April:

14: Send 12 sticker or toy filled eggs for our Egg Hunt if you have not already done so!

16: Egg Hunt! Send your child’s basket or bucket today! We will return it at the end of the day! (Make sure your child’s name is located somewhere on the basket)

17: Spring PD day for teachers. No School for Students

18: Planning day for teachers. No School for Students

26: Mayor’s Cup 5K for PreK

30: Tumblebus/Bounce Houses for PreK only

May:

2: PreK Derby Day (more information coming soon!)

5-9: Book Fair

6: Literacy Night

15: Kindergarten Breakfast 9 am in the Cafeteria (all PreKPals and teachers will attend. Parents will meet us in the front foyer of the school)

15: PreK Celebration 10 am in the Multipurpose room (We do not graduate. We celebrate!) All parents need to plan to attend!

15: Kindergarten Breakfast for all students who will attend RQES PreK. ALL PreKPals will attend the breakfast, but parents will only need to attend the breakfast if the student will come to RQ Kindergarten.

16: Field Day/Spring Fling

20: Field Day/Spring Fling Make up day if needed for weather

21: ½ Day Early dismissal

22: ½ Day Early dismissal

23: Teacher Workday (no students!)

NEW fun Links for Home:

  • NEW!! Learn to tie your shoes in one minute!!

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=how+to+teach+tie+shoes+putting+laces+in+the+holes+of+shoes&&mid=35F16B249023C67E1D9935F16B249023C67E1D99&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

 

  • A great resource for letters and sounds is the Letter Factory by Leap Frog. You can find them all on YouTube or in DVD’s. All of the Leap Frog videos are great and the songs stick in your head!

 

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

Brianna Alker: balker@tusc.k12.al.us

Thank you so much for the donations we have received from our wish list! We appreciate every bit!

Here is the link for our class wishlist if you would like to contribute. Participation is optional!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1NIMKDO4OUN7A?ref_=wl_share

We are so happy you are here!

Alicia Jenne’

 

Going Buggy in PreK!

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Hello PreKPals and Families-

Happy April friends! We have about 31-ish school days left in PreK. I cannot believe it. Didn’t we just get to PreK? You will soon be getting all of the invitations to Kindergarten breakfast, the kindergarten kickoff party in the park, and all kinds of other exciting things! The time is going to fly by!

This week in Heggerty phonics we will learn Star Light Star Bright. We are sending a copy home for you to enjoy. We will review the letters E and U (short and long) letter sounds this week.  In math we will continue with reviewing shapes. This week we will learn all about Insects! We have ordered our caterpillars and they should arrive any day! So exciting! Our beanstalks are really growing! We will send them home this week. Make sure to replant them in a pot or in your garden to grow some yummy lima beans! Don’t mind the glitter in the soil. That is all part of the magic!

Class Needs:

  • Clorox/Lysol Wipes
  • Sidewalk chalk 
  • Small water bottles

Weekly PreK Reminders:

  • Daily: Make sure your child’s little reader is INSIDE their binder! Make sure to record the title of the book so we can try to assure they get a new book each M-Th.
  • Send nap mats please
  • 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). We are not allowed to heat lunches for children so send their things ready to eat, please!
  • PreK Binder (please clean out daily)
  • Wear tennis shoes and socks!
  • Please send a bag with 5 snacks (that do not need to be refrigerated!) labeled with your child’s name. Please do not pack snacks in the lunchboxes.
  • Do Reading Log M-TH! 
  • Coats, jackets, sweaters are a MUST HAVE item for early morning PE. Please label with your child’s name.

NEW Dates to Remember:

April:

11: NEW DATE! Put a Cap on Diabetes Day (students may wear silly or fun or regular hats and bring a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Fund.)

10: Send 12 sticker or toy filled eggs for our Egg Hunt!

16: Egg Hunt! Send your child’s basket or bucket today! We will return it at the end of the day! (Make sure your child’s name is located somewhere on the basket)

17: Spring PD day for teachers. No School for Students

18: Planning day for teachers. No School for Students

26: Mayor’s Cup 5K for PreK

30: Tumblebus/Bounce Houses for PreK only

May:

2: PreK Derby Day (more information coming soon!)

5-9: Book Fair (the make-up Literacy Night will be after school one day this week!)

15: Kindergarten Breakfast 9 am in the Cafeteria (all PreKPals and teachers will attend. Parents will meet us in the front foyer of the school)

15: PreK Celebration 10 am in the Multipurpose room (We do not graduate. We celebrate!) All parents need to plan to attend!

15: Kindergarten Breakfast for all students who will attend RQES PreK. ALL PreKPals will attend the breakfast, but parents will only need to attend the breakfast if the student will come to RQ Kindergarten.

16: Field Day/Spring Fling

20: Field Day/Spring Fling Make up day if needed for weather

21: ½ Day Early dismissal

22: ½ Day Early dismissal

23: Teacher Workday (no students!)

NEW fun Links for Home:

  • NEW!! Learn to tie your shoes in one minute!!

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=how+to+teach+tie+shoes+putting+laces+in+the+holes+of+shoes&&mid=35F16B249023C67E1D9935F16B249023C67E1D99&&FORM=VRDGAR

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

Brianna Alker: balker@tusc.k12.al.us

Thank you so much for the donations we have received from our wish list! We appreciate every bit!

Here is the link for our class wishlist if you would like to contribute. Participation is optional!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1NIMKDO4OUN7A?ref_=wl_share

We are so happy you are here!

Alicia Jenne’