February Newsletter

Themes

We cover a lot in February.  The themes that we will be working on this month are Health and Nutrition, Valentine’s Day, Family, and Anti-bullying Day.  We will be reading stories, participating in discussions, making crafts and doing activities that will be based on each individual theme.  Plus, we will have a special guest!  Miss. Sarah, from Jitterbug Dance Studio, will be visiting each class.  We are very excited to learn some new dance moves!

Valentine’s Party

Each playschool class will be having their own Valentine’s party.  We are planning on following the regular classroom routine however we will be including a few different games and activities related to the Valentine’s Day theme.  Parents are asked to send regular snacks on the day of the party, but as a special treat they will be decorating cookies.

Valentine Cards

The children are welcome to bring Valentine cards for each of the children in their class.  We would really appreciate it if you DO NOT write child’s name on each Valentine card as, we have found in the past years, takes a very long time to hand out the cards and the children get very restless waiting for their turn.  If you could just write who the card is from, both Michelle and I will be very grateful!!  If you do choose to give out Valentine cards, please give one to each child in the class, to avoid hurt feelings. 

February 2nd – Carstairs Playschool Board Meeting – 2pm

February 3rd - Miss Sarah from Jitterbug Dance Studio visits both AM and PM classes

February 4th - Miss Sarah from Jitterbug Dance Studio visits both AM and PM classes

February 12th - Valentine’s Party for the Monday/Wednesday classes

February 13th - Valentine’s Party for the Tuesday/Thursday classes

February 17th - No school - Family Day

February 18th - No school - Family Day

February 19th - No school – Winter Break

February 20th - No school – Winter Break

February 26th – Pink Shirt day in support of Anti-bullying

February 27th – Pink Shirt day in support of Anti-bullying

February 27th – Carstairs Playschool Open House/Registration Night 5:30pm-7:30pm

Anti-bullying Day

The annual Pink Shirt Anti-Bullying Day is on Wednesday, February 26th.   We feel it is important to join the nation in teaching the children how not to be a bully.  We will be observing anti-bullying day on Wednesday, February 26th, and Thursday, February 27th. We are asking the children to wear pink on those days to support this great message.

Table Time

This month the three year olds will be working on the rectangle and triangle shapes.  This helps the children recognize and draw two-dimensional shapes, as well as using correct top-to-bottom, left-to-right directionality for symbols.  When we do the 1,2,3 flip cards, the children will be learning to recognize numbers, and learn the language for the Handwriting Without Tears program.  The ABC sing and point activity is where the children will point to the alphabet letters as we sing the song.  This helps them recognize letters and understand sequencing.  The three year olds will also be learning the number 7.  The activity we use for this encourages the children to use proper crayon grip, and correct top-to-bottom, left-to-right directionality for numbers.

This month the four year olds will be working on letters B, R, K, and A.  Practicing these letters will help the children learn to use correct top-to-bottom, left-to-right directionality for letters, while holding a crayon with proper pencil grip and using their helper hand to help stabilize objects and paper.  We will also start working on capitals and lower case letters.  We will be observing the differences between the two and I will help the children point and name capital letters, as well as point and name lower case letters.  We will also start to try and match the lowercase letters to the capital letters, which helps the children notice and attach meaning to visual information.

Because the Carstairs Playschool Society is a not for profit facility, we often rely on donations.  Parents are not obligated to donate however it is very much appreciated when you can.  We do, however, ask that you do no donate items that we have not put out a request for.  As much as we appreciate it, there is not a lot of storage space and we have found in the past, that some items do not get used and it can quickly become overwhelming.  Each month, the newsletter will include a list of items we are in need of.

The Carstairs Playschool uses a lot of various materials for crafts and we may be short of some items.

This month, I would be grateful for:

• Empty tissue boxes

• Washable Markers

Sick Policy

We would like to remind parents to review the Carstairs Playschool Society’s sick policy found in the Parent Handbook.   Please refrain from bring your child to school if they are not feeling well or contagious.  If you do bring your child to school and staff feels he/she is too sick to be there, you will be contacted and asked to pick up your child.  We do encourage healthy hand washing practices, however, with young children and lots of toys, germs spread quickly.  Should you have any questions regarding the playschool’s sick policy, please feel free to contact us at carstairsplayshool@gmail.com. 

Open House/Registration Night

With the 2019/20 school year halfway through, it is time to start thinking about the next school year.  The Carstairs Playschool Society is now accepting registrations for the 2020/2021 school year.  We will be hosting an Open House on February 27th from 5:30-7:30pm.   Staff and Carstairs Playschool Society Board members will be on hand to answer any questions.  Alternatively, you can register by visiting our website at www.carstairsplaychool.net.  We also ask that you advocate for the playschool and let your friends, who have not yet experienced the playschool, know.  We thank you for your continued support!

Reminders

• Snacks must be peanut free. Please bring snacks in a lunch kit and please label all containers as we have a few juice cups that are the same.

• Don't forget to follow us on Facebook.

• There are a few items in lost and found, please take a look.

If you have any questions, please feel free to discuss them with myself or Michelle, or email me at carstairsplayschoolteacher@gmail.com, or you can phone the playschool at 403 816 1481.

Danielle and Michelle