N E W S  &  L E S S O N S  F R O M  M S.  S  I O B H A N ’ S  C L A S S
Issue: November 1 – November 30, 2021

Fall Parent Teacher Conferences on November 18th & 19th

Dear Families,

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Fall is finally here, there is chill in the air reminding us that Thanksgiving will soon be here, spending time with family and friends. The children still enjoy the falling leaves running through them and raking them with child size rakes. We had a wonderful time with pumpkins, as well as the Halloween parade.

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The Toddlers continue to make nice progress following the daily routines. It makes us smile when we see our friends patiently sitting in the hallway waiting for their turn to wash hands. They can now sit and listen to a short story for a few minutes and transitions from place to place are getting much smoother. In the classroom and on the playground, we are beginning to see the children playing next to each other and showing interest in each other. Occasionally, we see a child try to help a peer. The children are becoming more independent during bathroom routines and snack. It is great to hear when they say, “I do it!” if we prematurely try to help.

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It was nice to see everyone at our virtual Back to School Night, thank you so much for joining us. Although we could not be together in person, we hope our description of our daily routines and the video of Ms. Jeanne showing the classroom gave you a better sense of our day and the philosophy of the program.

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Ms. Siobhan joined the toddler team last month and Ms. Suki’s last day as a regular toddler team member was Friday, October 29th. The team had a 3 week overlap which aided in the transition since the goal was to make it as smooth and easy as possible for the children. We will continue to see Suki in the building as she will support all the classrooms as a substitute teacher.

The themes for the month of November are Fall, Thanksgiving and Pumpkins. We will talk about Thanksgiving in a way that our toddlers can understand. We will introduce a cornucopia with pretend vegetables and fruits, and talk about our favorite foods that we like to eat. We will decorate cut out cornucopias and turkeys, learn turkey poems and songs, play with orange playdoh and listen to stories related to the holiday.

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Our classroom will have Parent – Teacher Conferences on Thursday, November 18th from 4 – 6pm and Friday, November 19th from 8 – 12pm. Please let us know ahead of time if you have any specific topics you would like to focus on, you can email Siobhan at sagababian@alcottschool.org. To set up an appointment for your conference, please call Donna in the front office at 914-472-4404. During your conference, please be in a separate room from your child as this is an adult meeting.

School will be closed on the following days in November:

Nov 2:                 Staff Professional Development Day

Nov 11:               Veteran’s Day

Nov 19:               Parent - Teacher Conferences

Nov 24 - 26:      Thanksgiving Recess

As a reminder, please check the weather daily and dress your child in appropriate outwear. We will continue spending as much time as possible outdoors throughout the year.

We wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Warm regards,

Siobhan, Jeanne, and Janet

Theme: Fall, Thanksgiving and Pumpkins

Books:

Goals: To be able to listen to a simple short story and to comprehend it with the help of pictures. To insert a word when the story is familiar.

Thanking is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland

Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? by Eric Carl

Nighty Night, Little Green Monster by Ed Emberley

Art:

Goals: To explore art creativity. To explore different medias. To develop basic grasping skills.                                                       

Turkey decorations and collages

Cornucopia decorating with cut out fruit and vegetables

Drawing at the easel with crayon and markers

Painting at the easel

Grace and courtesy:

Goals: To be aware of basic appropriate behaviors.

To learn to say,” help me,” “thank you,” and “sorry”

To wait for your turn to play with a toy

To follow simple directions given by a teacher

To understand basic safety rules

Language:

Goals:  To increase vocabulary. To verbalize basic needs.

To learn vocabulary related to fall and Thanksgiving

To learn to address own name and friends’ names

To learn to vocalize own needs and wants using words

Math:

Goals: To begin to be familiar with numbers.

To rote count 1-10 with an adult’s help

To recognize some numerals

Sensorial:

Goals: To be able to identify similarities and differences of colors and shapes. To explore and understand the similarities and differences of different textures. To recognize different sizes.

To match colors and shapes

To learn primary colors

To experiment with different textures

To understand the differences between small, medium and large

Practical Life:

Goals: To develop basic pincer control and grasping skills. To learn to be independent in self-help skills such as hand washing, feeding and drinking. To learn to transfer objects from bowl-to-bowl using a spoon and large tong

To cut pretend fruits and vegetables with a wooden knife

To hammer pegs and golf tees

To place pegs on a peg board

To work with non-interlocking puzzles with large knobs

To play with playdough

To play in sensory bin (rice with small toys)

To transfer objects from one bowl to the other bowl

To string large beads together

Science:

N/A

Songs:

“Turkey is so good to eat”

“On Thanksgiving Day”

“Smells like Thanksgiving”

“Old MacDonald had a farm”

“I’m a little acorn on the ground”

“Gray squirrel, gray squirrel, shake a bushy tail”

“The wheels on the bus”

On Thanksgiving Day Song

Turkey is so good to eat, good to eat, good to eat,

Turkey is so good to eat, on Thanksgiving Day,

Friends and family gather round, gather round, gather round,

Friends and family gather round on Thanksgiving Day.

Smells like Thanksgiving Song

Smells like Thanksgiving, Smells like Thanksgiving

Mmm so good, Mmm so good

I can smell the turkey,

I can smell the pies,

Mmm so good, Mmm so good.

Turkey Poem

The turkey is a funny bird,

His head goes wobble, wobble

And all he says is just one word

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

**All lessons and goals are adjusted to the individual developmental level of each child.

*Please note that mask wearing in the indoor space is a mandate now for the children 2-years-old and up. We understand it is a challenging task for our young students, but it is for the safety of all of us. We would like to keep our in-school learning as long as possible. Please practice mask wearing at home and we will do our best to help our friends at school.

Daily Classroom Schedule

9:00 – 9:25                  Bike Yard

9:25 – 10:00                Gym

10:00 – 10:15               Hand Washing, Hello Circle, Snack

10:15 – 11:10               Work Time, Bathroom (occasionally front playground)

11:10 – 11:30               Back Playground/Dismissal

*On Fridays we have music class with Ms. Melissa 9:30 – 9:55am