Kicking Off 2026 in Younger Preschool!

Hello everyone,

I hope that this email finds you well. This first week back at school has gone very well. The class has been very busy and all of them have done a great job getting back into the classroom routines. This week we did not hold a show and tell in order to give the kids a chance to get comfortable in the classroom again after the break. Next week we will be focusing on the letter J. Show and tell days are held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This week in class we also had the pleasure of having a special visitor in the classroom on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Leo! Leo will be joining our class full time next week and we are very excited to have him; the children are happy to have another friend joining the class and have done a wonderful job making Leo feel welcome! He has already begun adding so much happiness and fun to the class! This week we discussed light and darkness, which included nighttime routines and nocturnal animals. Here is a look at what we did in centers this week:

The art table- Here the class made nighttime skylines and then added buildings and houses with bright and dark windows, to coincide with the book we read in class this week: Windows. We then painted paper cups to create cup phones! The children had noticed these while reading Windows and wanted to make some themselves. We also made Lego stamped igloos on Friday!

The art easel- We watercolor painted different nocturnal animals-the kids were surprised to learn that some animals they know do in fact only sleep in the day time! 

The math table- the children used animal picture cards to create ABA patterns-they did really well with this activity!

The discovery center- Here we used a light table where the children could place various objects from around the classroom to test and observe light, and whether or not the objects were opaque, transparent, or translucent. They then were able to draw on clipboards what they observed with the objects they found.

We have continued to practice name writing at the writing center and have updated the playdough table with white, glitter playdough and pieces to create snowmen. This has definitely been the most loved playdough theme yet.

The dramatic play center now holds ice fishing with magnetic fishing rods and fish, a hot cocoa station, and a life-size snowman that can be built and taken apart, then reconstructed in various ways. 

The books we read in class this week included:

                                                    Windows

                                                    Little Owl's Night 

                                                    Pop Up Seasons

For music and movement this week the class has been loving dancing to Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon by the Kaboomers. 

We are very glad to be back in school and have missed everyone over break! We look forward to having a great rest of the year with all of you and we will see everyone again next week! Happy New Year.

P.S. Thank You again to Tess for volunteering in the classroom today, it was very nice to have you!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Mackenzie and Mrs. Haynes