2014 NewsletterFIRST UNITED METHODIST PRESCHOOL

GO RAYS! Support the team; it’s a family friendly ballpark!

CHICKS Eggs are on the way to our incubator thanks to Jaya Eeten! We will have chick eggs by the first of May! Chicks take 21 days. They will be in Shoaf/Howry classroom. Wish us luck!EASTER Sunday APRIL 20EASTER PREPARATION AT CHURCHIf you would like to reach out and find Him at this most important of the Christian holidays, join us for services leading to Easter. We congregate at 8 and 11 for traditional services, and at 9:30 for contemporary worship. On Palm Sunday, April 13, the sanctuary will be adorned with palms and palm branches symbolizing Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city. On GOOD FRIDAY, April 18, at 7 pm there is a moving service delivered by our Chancel Choir under the leadership of our traditional choral director, Derek Weston, the orchestra and choral leader at Gibbs High School. On Saturday, April 19, you are encouraged to join the church family for a fun-filled picnic and egg hunt for the family at Crisp Park, called the Gathering. There will be lots of activities for the children and lots of families to meet and greet with. This is from 4 to 7. Bring your lawn chairs and a dish to share (casserole, salad or dessert), and an Easter basket…the main dish and drinks will be provided. Then join the community for a beautiful Easter worship at 8:00 and 11:00 for traditional worship and 9:30 for contemporary worship to celebrate that Christ is Risen!CLASS PICTURES Thursday and Friday April 24 and 25 PLEASE BE THERE! All classes Thursday, and all except the 4s again on Friday!LIBRARY WALK Thursday, April 24 3s leave @ 10:00 4s @ 10:30 School CLOSED Good Friday April 18 and Easter Monday April 21

Sign up sheets are in the hallway now for our Easter party on Thursday April 17…there will be an Easter Edition newsletter with all the details.

NEWS FLASH! Shoaf/Howry’s class received a letter and photos from President Barack Obama today! We wrote him on P week!

MAY ACTIVITIES…more details in May newsletter!**4s spring concert Tuesday, May 13 8:45 for brunch, 9:30 programLAST WEEK OF SCHOOL We had an overwhelming interest in the last week of school going thru May 30. We will be out on Monday, May 26 for Memorial Day. The OFFICIAL last day for sentiment and closure will be May 23, and the last week until May 30 will be for fun and play. You will be billed for the last week in May. If you are NOT taking advantage of the added week write it on the bill and return it. You must use the days your child currently attends and you have to pay for all days in the week; you can’t choose one or two days. Lunch and nap will be available until 4:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the last two days will end at 12:00. Hours will be 9:00-12:00 for all kids!NO LUNCH OR NAPS last days of school Thursday and Friday May 29 and 30 :(

4s CAMPOUT was another huge success this past Friday!!! It was a beautiful night until the dew and cool air dropped around 2 am, but the kids were perfect!!! All but two were asleep by 10:45 and did not awaken until 6:45! Even the birds did not start their usual chirping at 5:30 am! Thank you to Derek Houston, Bebop Williams and Kelly Bonyata for staying all night. Thanks to all for the food and drinks, coolers, tents and your trust that your kids would be safe with us! Another huge and popular success!

Music and Me is a great success with the under-two group! Tuesdays and Wednesdays @ 8:50, bring your little ones and your friends!

VPK i shared this with you at the beginning of the school year, but want to remind you...VPK covers only 540 hours, but the last official DAY OF SCHOOL IS LONGER THAN THE 540 HOURS, May 23. You can not stop bringing them before then, PLEASE!! You are free to opt out of the last week ending May 30, but we need the kids until may 23. We plan lots of special activities that week to make it special for them and us. You have already paid and we need them!!the Word Half of each class received this, this week…with a few

details about your child’s day…our goal is to do it every other week for each child. Some areas may stay blank, depending on the week’s activities. We hope you find it informative and entertaining. If you did not receive it this week, you will next week! Feedback is welcomed!

MONEY MATTERS…good news…April is the last payment for school except for lunch and naps!! Yippee! not so good news…fall registration money is due by the end of the month…if it is still a hardship, please contact me at school or email jshoaf@fumcsp.org.

last SCHOLATIC BOOK order coming in the next few weeks…Order your summer books…easy readers for the 4s!

APRIL BIRTHDAYS Alissa Patterson 8 Christopher Jacob 8

Olivia Bond 8 Laine Petagna 16 Davis Houston 23 Arwen Singer-Daou 25

Gunderson Lowe 27 Robbie Collinson 29

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!

SPRING CONCERT performed by 4s for their families! Mrs. Fredericks has been working hard on the songs for this joyous performance…their memories and joy in performing is amazing. Tuesday, May 13, 8:45 FOR BRUNCH AND 9:30 FOR SHOW! Watch for details…the 3s parents are being asked to provide breakfast goodies for the families to enjoy. You will be receiving an email soon about what to bring.

CLASS PICTURES will be taken the week after Easter on Thursday and Friday and then later will be posted in the hall for you to order.

Candy and cards for the

Troops

neWS with twos We need blankets back!!They will be talking about Easter for the first weeks of April. They will be creating some very cute Easter projects as well as learning about why we celebrate Easter. After Easter, we will begin our Nursery Rhymes unit. The children really enjoy all the ways in which we learn the rhymes; through music, finger plays, projects, etc. We are also continuing to work with them on colors, shapes and counting.

BUSY BEES THREES we need blankets!We will also be working on Easter projects! Check out the schedule for letters and show and tell items: Q 7th and 8thR 14th and 15th17th Egg Hunt and Picnic 18th No school Good Friday21st No School Easter MondayS 22nd and 23rd T 28th and 29th U 30th and May 1st 3s parents…VPK certificates of eligibility are needed ASAP! They must be signed!!

FUN WITH FOURS blankets, please!For Tt, We will read and watch Thumbelina, Tom Thumb, the Tortoise and the Hare, and We have had a tea party! Mrs. Hodge’s class had a Teddy bear tea party and our class had a Peter Rabbit tea party. Thank you to the girls and Jaden for bringing in tea sets

and to all the kids for preparing the tea party food and tables. You had fun and we loved your willingness and attention to detail! We talked about the 10 Commandments and learned their meaning. They learn why it is important to keep their 20 teeth clean! And they loved the tuna tacos!

We are beginning with Ee to Easter…we will begin our Easter crafts…get in the carton for us…and for talk about EGGS, exercise, watch the Prince of Egypt, and hear about Eeyore and elephants! They are beginning to hear the Easter story and we will have

LOTS of Easter crafts coming your way. We begin a unit of Peter Rabbit and friends by Beatrix Potter. They will learn about the author, I have beautiful movies of her life and

stories and their Easter basket is fashioned after Jemima Puddleduck. I shared Peter Rabbit figurines with them and the tableware for the tea party was Peter Rabbit and

friends. They liked the cucumber sandwiches and cream cheese and jam!They have painted Easter bunnies and will paint eggs, make bunny ear head bands, hatching chicks, Jemima Puddleduck Easter baskets We will begin watching the Prince of Egypt which tells the story of Moses setting his people free. For Uu, they will paint umbrellas, visit the urinals, talk about underpants, hear and watch the Ugly Duckling, make Pineapple Upsidedown Cake and celebrate all about the good ole USA! We did V v for Valentine’s Day! For Ww, we will begin working on Mother’s Day gifts, paint watermelon and make magic wands and read Where the Wild Things Are. We will watch Willie Wonka and eat Wonka candy and we will have an introduction of Winnie the Pooh stories. We will finish XYZ in May and concentrate on progress reports and practicing for the Spring Concert.

This month in Harcourt math we will continue to work on one-to-one correspondence. Part of our vocabulary for this will be more, fewer, and same. We will also be matching numerals to groups and trying to recognize numerals in our environment. (In my evaluations, all the children were able to match to the number 5, and almost all of them to ten!) This leads us into a review of shapes, their comparisons, sizes, and finding them in our environment, and in our letter formations. The vocabulary word, corners, will be re-enforced.Upcoming then will be spatial relationships and the words: on, off, up, down, over, under, next to, beside, in front of, behind, top, bottom, in and out. They are all doing great!!Encourage them to draw shapes and identify them: diamond, circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, square. Please remind them to “pinch” their pencil as they write. Practice writing and identifying by name the numerals 1-20 and the letters, of course. You can practice rhyming words when driving in the car. You can cay a compound word and have them tell you the 2 smaller words. You can say words to them and have them count and clap

the syllables. You can say sentences and have them count and clap the words in the sentence.

Summer’s coming fast!