Theme: Jungle
Dates: December 14-22
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Make binoculars and search around the school/"jungle" for animals.
• Make monkey bread.
• Make zebra masks with paper plates.
• Make parrots with colored sand.
• Make palm trees with monkeys or make a safari map.
• Make spiral snakes with paper plates.
• Make tiger cookies.
• Make swamp snack.

Vocabulary:
parrot, zebra, crocodile, gorilla, hippopotamus, jungle, slimy, flamingo, cave, palm tree, vest, splash, swing, binoculars, crawl, gallop, map

Notes: Grandparents Day was a huge success! Thank you for contributing to our bake sale! We made over $500, which will be matched by the Oberkotter Foundation. Just a reminder...school is out on Wednesday, December 23 at 12:00pm and will resume again on January 4th. I'm looking forward to a great week ahead as we learn all about the jungle!

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Kennedy
Wednesday: Sooah and Frank
Friday: Isiah and Esther

Theme: Igloos and Ice
Dates: November 30-December 11th
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Make a snow man with paper cut outs.
• Make igloos made of real ice and salt.
• Make ice skates with paper plates and "skate" around the school.
• Make hot cocoa with marshmellows. "Yummy!"
• The teachers will put on another Emmy Award winning skit about "Winter Fun!"
• Make and lace paper mittens.
• Make snowman ice sculpture.
• Make bagel bird feeder and hang on the tree for our winter birds.
• Make a snowman snack.
• Make a winter mobile craft.

Vocabulary: ice skating, skiiing, skiis, snowflake, snowman, snow, snow angel, igloos, snowpants, snow suit, skates, sledding, sled, snow shoes, Eskimo, hat, scarf, mittens, gloves, ice, boots, hot cocoa, marshmellows, bird feeder, snow mobile

Notes: Welcome back!! Hope you enjoyed a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving! Please mark your calendars for Grandparents Day and our Holiday Extravaganza...on December 8th. More details to come this week. I'm looking forward to another great week ahead...and possibly a little snow as we enter this new theme of "Ice and Igloos!"

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.

Wednesday: Sooah and Frank

Friday: Isiah and Esther

Theme: Healthy Living and Gardening

Dates: November 16-24

From: Tanya


Language Experiences:

• The teachers will act out a "Made for T.V" skit of things that are healthy and not healty for body.
• Sort foods into food groups (i.e., meat, vegetables, fruit, junk food).
• Make homemade butter and enjoy with crackers.
• Make paper bag turkeys to decorate the tables for the Thanksgiving Feast.
• Make Vegetable soup.

Vocabulary: junk food, fruit, vegetables, meat, grocery store, turkey, feather, soup, butter, exercise, pie, Thanksgiving, grow, garden, hole, gardening gloves, watering can

Note: Reminder...our Thanksgiving Feast is Tuesday, November 24 at 11am. Please sign up on the board outside the preschool room if you wish to attend. Hope to see you all there! Also, could you please send a vegetable in with your child on Thursday, Novemeber 19th. We will be making vegetable soup on Friday. Thanks!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.

Wednesday: Sooah and Frank

Friday: Isiah and Esther

Theme: Family and Friends
Dates: November
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• The teachers put on a made for T.V "Be a Good Friend" skit.
• We made "Friendship Cookies" and passed them out to our friends.
• We made a Family tree.
• We made "Friendship Trail Mix" and took turns handing them out to our friends.
• We made shaped houses complete with squares, circles, triangles, and rectangles.
• We read the story "The 3 Little Pigs" and acted out the story on a flannel board.
• We read the story "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears" and acted out the story on a flannel board.
• We made an edible house with crackers, American, and String Cheese.
• We went for a walk on the neighborhood to look at the different houses and reinforce the vocabulary learned.

Vocabulary: cook, sweep, house, window, basement, driveway, bathroom, chimney, bedroom, sink, garage, blanket, sidewalk, living room, kitchen, closet, curtains, dresser, family, rug, dishwasher, brother, sister, roof

Notes: Thanks to all of you for keeping your children home if they were sick. We are doing everything we can to keep each other as healthy as possible (ie., hand washing etc.). Please keep November 24th at 11:15am open for our annual Thanksgiving Feast. All our invited! More to come next week...

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.
Wednesday: Sooah and Frank
Friday: Isiah and Esther

Theme: Our Earth, Fall, and Halloween
Dates: October 19-30
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Take an "Earth Walk" and pick up trash
• Clean up a "trashed" room while sorting plastic, cans, glass, and newspaper
• Make a trash collage
• Make apple juice
• Take a field trip to the Good Will to donate items that can be reused
• Make Halloween orange play dough
• Go to a "pumpkin patch" and get a class pumpkin along with our very own small pumpkin to take home (hand-picked by me at my dad's farm)
• Make Witch's brew
• Make spider snack.
• Halloween party...Happy Halloween!!

Vocabulary: squirrel, stick, pick, earth, recycle, empty, full, newspaper, rake, can, plastic, glass, recycle bin, fall, seeds, acorn, trick or treat, costume, jack-o-lantern, costume, witch, skeleton, Frankenstein, Witch's broom, scarecrow, carve, bat, haunted house, mask, candy corn

Notes: Just a reminder...our Halloween party for the preschoolers will be at 2:00pm on Friday, October 30. Please send your child with their costume and we will help them put it on before the party. Also, you can join us at 2:40pm for our costume parade around the school. Hope to see you there!

Show and Tell Dates"
Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.
Wednesday: Frank and Sooah
Friday: Isiah and Esther

Theme: Dinosaurs
Dates: October 5-14
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Dig for dinosaur eggs and bones outside on the playground
• Make a dinosaur puppet
• Talk about meat eaters and plant eaters like the dinosaurs and taste meat and vegetables
• Make a volcano with baking soda and vinegar
• Make dinosaur toast
• Make a dinosaur egg cut-out
• Make a dinosaur snack
• Explore a "Feelie box" and reinforce vocabulary: hard, soft, rough, bumpy etc.
• Pick apples and or go on a Fall walk
• Make something yummy with our apples:)

Vocabulary: dinosaur, soft, hard, dinosaur bones, rough, bumpy, volcano, horn, T-Rex, extinct, tail, sharp teeth, dig, plant eaters, meat eaters, apatasaurus, leaf, umbrella, rain, tree, red, purple, green, orange, yellow, blue

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.

Wednesday: Frank and Sooah

Friday: Isiah and Esther

Comments: Please sign up to have your child's conference on the form that's located on the wall outside of my door. My conferences are being held November 2 through November 6. Time slots available are: 2-3pm, 3-4pm, and 4-5pm on these days. If none of the available dates/times work for you, please let me know and we can work something out. Thanks! .

Theme: Community Helpers

Date: September 21-October 2

From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Talk about the dentist and brush our teeth (after making them dirty with oreos)


• Learn about a Hair Stylist's job and give a doll a hair cut and style:)


• Learn about a Doctor's job and experiment with some of the equipment that they use.


• Make a Doctor's bag complete with cotton balls, band aids, and gauze.


• Have a mystery guest hair stylist do a demonstration.


• Learn about a Mail Carrier's job and write a letter and mail it to someone.


• The teachers will put on a police officer skit!:)


• Make edible stoplights.


• Pretend to be an artist and display our class art in the "Art Gallery."


• Learn about firefighters and act out putting out a fire and safety strategies to use if there is a fire (i.e., "Stop, Drop, and Roll").

Vocabulary: toothpaste, toothbrush, dentist, teeth, band aid, leg, arm, mail carrier, doctor, sneeze, cough, mail box, stamp, short hair, long hair, curly hair, straight hair, mail truck, post office, firefighter, hose, police officer, badge, police car, fire truck, fire station, police station, ticket, fire hydrant

Comments: Just a reminder there is no school on Monday, September 28th. Also, thanks for remembering to send show and tell in with your child on their assigned day. This facilitates a lot of language as they love talking about their own things!

Show and Tell Days:

Monday: Ben D. and Kennedy

Wednesday: Frank and Sooah

Friday: Esther and Isiah

Theme: All About Me and Body
Dates: September 8-18
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• "I have something in my backpack"...open our backpacks and learn about all the different school supplies we need.
• Read "The Gingerbread Boy" and go around the school to search for him while learning about the different rooms in the school.
• Role play various rules we use in school and make a "Rule Book"
• Make a"School Snack Mix"...while learning about sharing with our friends.
• Trace our bodies on butcher paper and learn the names of our different body parts.
• Make a pizza face with english muffins, cheese, sauce, pepperoni and olives.
• Make our hand prints and foot prints using paint and markers.
• Make a paper plate face complete with our implants/hearing aids, eyebrows, eyelashes etc.
• Wash a toy baby while using language and vocabulary from our "Body" theme.

Vocabulary: (Your child will be exposed to many of these vocabulary words throughout the two week theme. However, they will only be expected to learn 8 to 10 or more of the words expressively.) stapler, paper clip, eraser, paintbrush, pencil, pen, desk, markers, crayons, clock, tissue, backpack, scissors, tape, school, glue bottle, glue stick, teeth, foot, hand, eyes, nose, hair, tummy, belly button, ear, leg, arm, mouth, shoulders, fingers, face, toes, neck, tongue, ankle, eyebrow, eyelashes, wrist, thumb, back, chin, fingernail, forehead

Comments: Welcome back to school! It has been a pleasure to see all of your faces again! All of the children seem so excited and ready to be back in school...and we are too! I sent a letter home last week introducing myself and discussing the procedure for Show and Tell. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.
Wednesday: Sooah and Frank
Friday: Isiah and Esther

Theme: Construction, shapes, turtles, transportation, buildings

Dates: May 18-29

From: Tanya


Language Experiences:

• Make a turtle out of different shapes
• Field trip to the Dodge Nature Center...turtles!
• Construct a house using a variety of shapes and sizes
• Make edible stoplights
• Examine a tool box and "fix" various broke objects
• Make and pretend to be a crane that picks things up
• Make an edible road
• Make a safety cone and talk about why they are important
• "Tool Time" performed by the Northern Voices Builders (teachers...kind of like Bob the builder!)

Vocabulary: stop sign, stop light, screw driver, buildings, saw, safety cone, crane, hard hat, construction worker, tool box, ladder, hammer, dump truck, nails, drill, cement mixer, digger, goggles, tape measure, architect, shapes (circle, square, oval, triangle, rectangle, octagon)

Notes: Thanks to all of you lovely moms for attending our Mother's Day Hoe Down! I hope you enjoyed yourselves! Happy Mother's Day to some of the best moms in the world!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Tuesday: Henry, Ashden, and Allie

Friday: Sadie and Ella B.

Theme: Western

Dates: May 4-15th

From: Tanya


Language Experience:

• Make horses for our cowboys
• Make a brown paper bag vest
• Make a surprise for our moms~!
• Make chili for our Mother's Day chili cook-off
• Mother's Day hoe down!
• Make cowboy boots
• Make Western trail mix
• Make horse shoe prints with sponge cut outs
• Make a cactus
• Teachers will put on a live hoe down!

Vocabulary: cowboy, campfire, desert, chili, cactus, sand, cowboy boots, rope, lasso, beans, cowboy hat, vest, ranch, bandana, hoe down, cowgirl

Notes: If you haven't already, please sign up to attend the Mother's Day lunch that will be held this Friday at Northern Voices at 11:15 am. You and your child can come dressed in Western attire or just come as you are. Hope to see you all there!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Tuesday: Henry, Ashden, and Allie

Friday: Sadi and Ella B.

Theme: Farm/May Day (next week)

Dates: April 20-31

From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Act out many things that a farmer might do on his farm
• Field trip to Dodge Nature Center: Farm
• Make a farm display complete with a barn, pond, mud, silo, tractor, fence etc.
• Make mud (chocolate pudding) and have pigs roll in it
• Milk a pretend cow (rubber gloves)
• Sheer a pretend sheep and talk about the things you can make with the wool
• Plant a garden on the farm
• Learn about the chicken coop and make scrambled eggs for breakfast
• Make tissue paper flowers for May Day
• Make May baskets and give to friends

Vocabulary: (Your child will be exposed to these words throughout the next two weeks. However, they will only be expected to learn 10-15 words expressively.) cow, horse, sheep, hen, rooster, duck, pig, goat, farmer, overalls, tractor, farm, barn, fence, garden tools, wagon, hay, silo, plow, pond, chicken coop, pig pen, mud

Notes: Thanks for signing up for our Spring progress report meeting. Please remember to fill out the permission slip for our Dodge Nature Center field trip on Tuesday, April 21st and return to Angie or Melissa. Thanks! Also, please join me in welcoming our new student Allie Guyer to the preschool program. We are happy to have her with us! Have a super week ahead!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Wednesday: Henry, Allie, and Ashden

Friday: Sadie and Ella B.

Theme: Forest/Camping/Animals

Dates: March 30th-April 3rd and April 14th-April 17th

From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Take a walk in the "Forest" to collect leaves, sticks, pine cones, stones etc.
• Make an edible bird nest with marshmallow cream and cereal
• Make a multi-sensory squirrel
• Dye eggs and examine hard-boiled/raw eggs
• Spring egg hunt
• Make paper plate snakes
• Make an edible deer face with english muffins, raisins, and pretzel sticks
• Pack a backpack to go on a camping trip
• Take a mini camping trip to the forest (fellowship hall), set up a tent, and make smore's

Vocabulary: (Your child will be exposed to these words throughout the next two weeks. However, they will only be expected to learn 10-15 words expressively). Snake, plant, bear, bird, tree, acorn, mushroom, skunk, beaver, raccoon, forest, berries, pinecone, squirrel, deer, owl, hiking, nuts, nest, antlers, worm, grass, tent, flashlight, campfire, smore's, sleeping bag, camping

Notes: If you haven't already, please sign up for a date to have your child's Spring conference on the sign up sheet outside my door. Kristi has specified which dates she is unable to attend by stating (no KB) above or next to the date. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Wednesday: Henry and Ashden

Friday: Sadie and Ella B.

Theme: Circus

Dates: March 17-27

From: Tanya


Language Experiences:

• Make Shamrock snacks
• Happy St. Patrick's Day! We will celebrate with a St. Paddy's Day Bike Parade
• Act out the circus (jump through hoops with/without fire, balancing on tight ropes, tricks acrobats do, pretend to be an animal trainer, be the ringmaster, balance a ball on our nose like a seal etc.)
• Make Tiger face pictures
• Make lion face masks
• Play the animal trainer
• Make clowns
• Make a circus snack
• The circus comes to Northern Voices! (we'll be putting it on)

Vocabulary: ( Your child will be exposed to these words throughout the next two weeks. However, they will only be expected to learn 10 words expressively). circus, audience, curly, straight, zebra, giraffe, tight rope, balance, tiger, lion, flying trapeze (swing), acrobats, animal trainer, wig, clown, make-up, costume, Big Top (circus tent), seal, unicycle, cotton candy, juggle, ring master

Notes: Please remeber to send show and tell with your child on the date listed below. We play guessing games to reinforce categorical language during this time. I appreciate all you do to make this a fun experience for your child!

Show and Tell days:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Wednesday: Henry and Ashden

Friday: Sadie and Ella B.

Theme: Under the Rainbow (Rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, kaleidoscope)

Date: March 2-13

From: Tanya


Language Experiences:

• Read Rainbow Fish
• Make a rainbow fish
• Make rainbow pudding
• Make a beautiful stained glass picture with crayons
• Make rainbow crayons
• Explore various objects that look like rainbows
• Field trip to Dodge Nature Center (Flower garden)
• Make a layered rainbow
• Make shamrock shakes
• Learn about leprachauns and St. Patricks Day

Vocabulary: rainbow, dip, easel, splash, painter (artist), teal, mix, pinwheel, stripes, long, short, kaliedescope, crayons, markers, paint, painting, glue bottle, glue stick. We will also review previous vocabulary from the next 125 word list.

Notes: What an exciting time of the year it is! It's been amazing to witness all the growth your child has made in their language, speech, and auditory skills thus far. Thanks for all you do to make this possible! Please remember to send show and tell with your child on the days listed below.

Show and Tell Days:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Wednesday: Henry and Ashden

Friday: Sadie and Ella B.

Theme: Good Night, Sleep Tight (Moon Activities, stars, nighttime activities, dreams, bedtime, night animals)

Date: February 17-20

From: Tanya



Language Experiences:

• Field trip to Dodge Nature Center
• Make a "stuffed" teddy bear
• Pack and overnight bag for our pajama party
• Bedtime routines
• Read/act out "Goodnight Moon"
• Learn about bats or owls
• Make nighttime toast with moons and stars
• Make nighttime wind sock
• Have pajama day next Friday!

Vocabulary: During the next two weeks I will be reviewing vocabulary from previous themes to assess what the students learned and retained. Some of these categories will include: body parts, furniture, school items, food clothing, and verbs.

Notes: Thanks to those who were able to attend the field trip. It was a great help to have the extra set of hands!


SHOW AND TELL DAYS:

Monday: Levi and Isiah

Wednesday: Henry and Ashden

Friday: Sadie and Ella B.

Tanya's Blog

Theme: Transportation

Dates: January 18 -January 30

From: Tanya


LANGUAGE EXPERIENCES:

• Field trip to Dodge Nature Center: Space/air travel
• Make a rocket ship with paper towel tubes
• Make a parachute with coffee filters
• Make a hot-air-balloon
• Make a edible banana airplane
• Make a sailboat and float it in the water
• Do a science experiment to learn about sink/float
• Make an edible train
• Make a transportation poster by sorting vehicles into land, sky, or water.

VOCABULARY:

school bus, city bus, bike, car, train, sun, moon, stars, water, land, airplane, rocket ship, sailboat, half moon, full moon, tractor, hot-air balloon, helicopter, truck, snowmobile, submarine, 4-wheeler, earth, canoe, parachute, ship, fishing boat, sky

NOTES:

Please remember to send show and tell with your child on their given day. A show and tell item be related to the theme of the week or anything your child chooses. I will send a note home if there is something particular I am looking for the students to bring for show and tell that week. Let me know if you have any questions! Here are the student show and tell days:

Monday: Levi/Henry

Wednesday: Ashden/Sadie

Friday: Ella B./Isiah

THEME: Fun, fantasy, and feelings (Pretend, Fairy Tales, Toys, Magic, Real/Make Believe, Dragons, Monsters, Giants, Afraid, Excited, Happy)

Week 1: We will focus on the fairy tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfts"
Week 2 (January 12-16): We will focus on magic and the fairy tail "Cinderella"

DATE: January 6-9

FROM: Tanya

LANGUAGE EXPERIENCES:

• Read and act out "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
• Make mirrors and repeat the chant "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the prettiest one of all?"
• Talk about things that you can eat/drink and things that you can't and refer it back to the poisonious apple that Snow White ate.
• Make a headband with our favorite dwarf.

VOCABULARY:

Snow White, Prince, Queen, castle, wand, magician, princess, mirror, excited, afraid/scared, happy, mad/angry, tired, sad, surprised, hungry. (Some of this vocabulary will carry over into next week along with new vocabulary from our new story "Cinderella").

NOTES:

Happy new year and welcome back! It's great to see all of your smiling faces again! I've missed all of you! Please see the previous blog and hard copy of show and tell details. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Show and Tell….

**Each student will bring a show and tell item in one day a week on every week until the end of the school year. Here are the days for each child:

MONDAY: Levi and Henry will bring show and tell.

WEDNESDAY: Ashden and Isiah will bring show and tell.

FRIDAY: Ella and Sadie will bring show and tell.

HERE’S HOW IT GOES….

1. Please help your child pick something for show and tell on their assigned day. It can be anything from toys, food, drink, sporting equipment, notes, pictures,…ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING! Help them to say a few things about their item…I’ve suggested a few ideas on the attached paper.

2. Please put the item in a separate bag or their backpack so no one can see. We will play games (to work on categorical language) to guess what they brought.

3. The item will be returned home each day. Try to encourage your child to pick something different, but don’t worry if they want to bring the same thing as they did the day before.

4. Please don’t send anything valuable or breakable.

If you have any questions or suggestions….please let me know! Thanks for all you do to help your child learn to listen and talk!