From Our Director - Kennett Square Preschool
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
JANUARY 2021 KSPC
Winter Newsletter
From Our Director
Welcome 2021! I am sure you were as ready as I was
to say goodbye to 2020. A new year always brings
about a sense of new beginnings and hopefulness
and I know I am very hopeful that this is a better year
for all! While there are still many challenges ahead, I
feel con dent that our school community will
continue to work together to make this the best
school year it can be for our students and families.
As a teacher and parent I always enjoy January and
February because things seem to calm down and we
are able to settle back into our routines. It is a great
time to accomplish many things at school and see a
lot of growth with the students. Let’s hope the weather cooperates with us this year! If the weather
gets too severe, please be sure to check your emails for an email blast or NBC 10 for updates on
delays and closings. You can sign up for NBC 10 text alerts. If school is delayed, the morning
session will be from 10:00-11:45. The afternoon session will be from 12:30-3:00. Please note that
we usually follow Kennett Consolidated School District’s snow closing/delay schedule, which is
generally consistent with the other surrounding school districts
January has been busy because it is enrollment time for our current and alumni families. As with
everything this school year, it was done a little di erently, but I am happy to say our enrollment is
going very well and classes are lling quickly! By now you should have received your placement for
next year. If you have not, please see me as soon as possible. Please remember that September’s
tuition is due by March 5th. This will secure your child’s placement for next school year. We are
now accepting applications from new families, so if you know of anyone interested, please send
them our way. Recommendations from our KSPC families seems to be the best form of
advertisement!
Teddy Bear Picnic Day was “beary” fun! The students (and teachers) were thrilled to bring their
favorite bears to school. Some bears were bigger than me! We enjoyed reading bear stories,
singing bear songs/ nger plays, playing Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear (a fun following directions
activity), measuring our bears using cubes, weighing our bears, sorting bears (based on color,
shape, size, type), making “bear dens” to hibernate in and more! The best part was having our
bears join us at our teddy bear picnic. The students loved having the opportunity to make their
own special snack for the picnic (a bear bubbly bath)! Be sure to check out the pictures included
on our Facebook page
Due to Covid 19, many of our committees have not been able to run. I do want to thank the
following committees that have been working so hard: Handy Parents, Website Manager,
Newsletter Coordinator, Scholastic Books Coordinator and our KSPC Board of Directors.
We truly appreciate your time and e ort, especially in times like these. Many of you on committees
that have not run have asked how you can help. We are planning a second fundraising e ort and
1
fi
fi
.
fi
ff
ff
.
ff
will be asking for help to mail out information to our alumni families. Stay tuned for more
information
February is a shorter month, but it is lled with fun themes like Dental Health Month, Valentine’s
Day, Healthy Heart Month! Our teachers have already been busy planning wonderful lessons and
activities to help our children learn about these themes. Of course the highlight will be our
Valentine’s Day parties! Each student will be bringing in Valentine’s to exchange with their
classmates. Your teacher will be giving you speci c details on all of this as it gets closer.
As always, please DO NOT hesitate to reach out to myself or your teachers if you have any
questions or thoughts. We recognize that this school year is quite di erent in many ways and we
want you to know that we are ALWAYS here to help and support our families. The success we have
experienced so far is because we have worked together as a school community.
Warmly,
Jen Augustine
Around Our School
Did you know that oral language, phonological awareness,
print awareness, and letter knowledge are highly correlated
with reading success?
Our curriculum is designed to be sure children are gaining in
these areas each day. Below are ways we support these areas.
Ways we support oral language:
• Model appropriate grammar and the use of rich vocabulary through reading aloud and
dramatic play.
• Maintain positive, nurturing relationships with children and engage them individually in
responsive, conversations throughout the day.
• Use instructional dialogue that fosters thinking about words and concepts.
• Answer children's questions and provide explanations.
• Provide real experiences that expand children's vocabulary, such as field trips in the
community and exposure to various tools, objects, and materials.
2
!
fi
fi
ff
• Read daily a variety of high-quality fiction and nonfiction books.
• While reading to children, we give them opportunities to actively participate, relate to their
everyday lives and answer analytical questions about stories.
• Provide opportunities for children to discuss stories, hear repeated readings of stories,
retell familiar stories, act out stories, and create their own stories.
• Encourage communication among children by helping them learn to take turns listening
and talking to one another and use language to solve problems.
• Respect the culture and language of children who are learning English as a second
language by ensuring that children are able to maintain their home language while also
learning to speak English.
Ways we develop phonological awareness:
• Share stories, poems, nursery rhymes, chants, finger plays, and songs in which phonemic
patterns such as rhyme and alliteration are present.
• Read frequently books with patterned, predictable texts.
• Engage children in choral readings of rhymes and rhythms in order to help them associate
the symbols with the sounds they hear in these words.
• Engage the children in games that encourage word play and rhyming such a making a list
of words that rhyme with a child's name .
• Call attention to words that begin with the same sound by using activities such as saying
tongue twisters like, “ The Pretty Pink Pig Picked Purple Plums."
• Give experiences with sentence segmenting such as asking the child to move a penny
when each word in a sentence is said.
• Help children understand that words have syllables by using activities such as clapping the
syllables in their names.
• Offer exposure to onset rime blending and segmenting with games such as "Guess the
Word," For example, "Guess the birthday child’s name-ob. Yes, it's Bob's birthday."
Ways we develop print awareness:
• Talk about how a book works by pointing out the cover, back, title, authors, illustrators, and
familiar words or names during read aloud sessions.
3
• Teach page arrangement, story grammar, and
directionality of print by modeling with read aloud books
and big books.
• Use teacher modeling to demonstrate the form and
function of writing and print such as the concepts that
words can be spoken or written. Print corresponds to
speech and print carries a message. Writing a thank
you note with the children to a classroom visitor is an
example of how these concepts can be taught.
• Take dictation from children. Write their words exactly as they say them while they watch
you form the letters.
• Model reading and writing as a way to investigate theories. Provide a classroom full of print
that is varied and demonstrates the practical uses of written language. Direct their attention
to the print in their environment.
• Promote literacy based play activities such as setting up a restaurant in the dramatic play
area where children can take orders for food and "record" them on a pad.
Ways we teach alphabet knowledge:
• Develop visual memory and visual discrimination by playing games such as "I Spy”,
“Concentration”, and matching games.
• Model reading and writing behavior as a way to promote
children’s interest in and enjoyment of reading and
writing.
• Play games with children's names.
• Post children's names in a variety of meaningful places
in the classrooms.
• Describe actions as letters are written, say names of
letters. and talk about specific letter~sound associations
during shared reading and writing.
• Familiarize children with the alphabet by teaching them
alphabet songs, reading alphabet books, and playing
alphabet matching games.
4
• Provide kinesthetic manipulatives such as magnetic letters, sandpaper letters, alphabet
puzzles, and alphabet stamps.
• Assist children in learning about the differences in the shapes of letters through activities
such as playing alphabet matching games, sorting letters with curved lines from letters with
only straight lines, and forming letters with playdough.
• Give children opportunities to practice writing letters of the alphabet using motor skills
such as writing in sand, finger-paint, shaving cream and rice, or writing with chalk.
• Help children learn to print their names and encourage them to label their work.
KIDS CORNER
What do you like to do during the winter time?
Mrs Paulson’s Clas
Riley - “sledding!
Scarlett - “I like doing two things: making
snowballs and having a snowball ght. I like
Mrs. Schwarz’s Class
sledding too.
Noah - "I like to play in the snow and shovel
Liliana: - “sledding and making a snowman!
the snow.
Wesley: - "sledding!
Ruby - "I go sledding and I love to eat the
Emmett: - "I like to make snowballs an
snow.
have snowball ghts!
Nolan - "I like to build a snowman and drink
Leah: - “sledding!”
hot cocoa.
Mack - "I like to play in the snow, go sledding
and swing in the snow.
Tate - I like to skate and play in the snow.
Henry - "I like to run around in my backyard.
5
"
"
"
"
fi
"
s
"
"
"
fi
d
"
"
"
“Mrs.
Augustine, Mrs. Augustine,
what do you see? I see SO
MANY great things going on
around me!!”
6
A Letter from Our President
Happy New Year! I hope the holidays and the break were a wonderful time for you and your family.
As 2020 has come to a close I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their support of the
efforts to keep our preschool open and safe this year. It has been so incredible to see our school full
of life and our children thriving. It would not have been possible without all of your commitment to
the safety protocols that were put in place and mindfulness of your family’s health.
I’d also like to thank everyone for your generous support of our fall GoFundMe fundraising efforts.
While our online campaign does not look like we met our goal the outpouring of donations whether
through our online campaign or in the form of cash or check sent directly to school was
overwhelming. The staff & board are so grateful for your generosity and continued support of our
preschool. We were blown away by the response to our fall fundraising efforts.
Now we are looking forward to sharing with you our 2021 fundraising campaign and fun virtual
preschool community activities that are currently being finalized. Keep your eyes peeled for more
details coming soon!
It is hard to believe but we are already beginning to plan for the fall! It has been exciting to build off
of the successes of this year and look to make the fall of 2021 even better. Applications were due for
current/returning families on January 22nd. We will be working on sending out placements very
soon! If you have friends, family, or neighbors interested in enrolling please let them know that open
enrollment for non-alumni begins on February 1st. We would love to welcome them to our
cooperative preschool family!
Additionally we are continuing to revamp our committees for next school year. As you know,
committees have looked different this year and we will be using our experiences to help us with our
ideas for next year. We will keep you up to date as we look for volunteers for our new ideas!
If you have any questions I’m always here to help jraydelotte@gmail.com.
Best,
Jennifer Pannulla
7
Secretary’s Notes:
Happy 2021 to our KSPC families!
I hope this newsletter finds you staying warm and cozy! It’s cold out there! I am anxiously waiting for spring
this year to get out of the house and go on more outdoor adventures! We’ve been cooped up for too long! In
the meantime, I am really excited about an upcoming KSPC fundraiser with the Kennett Kitchen that will give
us all a chance to do something fun with the kids while we are stuck inside! Be on the lookout for more details
soon!
Please be aware that applications for current families and alumni for the 2021-2022 school year were due
January 22nd! Be sure to get your application in soon if you haven’t done so already! Registration for new
families begins February 1st.
I hope your families enjoy the rest of the winter with lots of hot chocolate and snuggles. Stay tuned for
information on all of the fun upcoming activities at KSPC!
As always, if you need to update any of your personal information or if you have any questions or concerns,
please contact me anytime at kedwards416@yahoo.com or 631-374-2131.
Thank you!
Katrina Edwards
Program & Tuition Info
Happy New Year KSPC families! I hope you all had a restful and safe holiday break. If you plan to
return for the 2021-2022 school year, you should have already turned in your application and
enrollment fee. Also, don’t forget to submit your September 2021 tuition by March 5 to secure
your child’s spot! Please reference the tuition chart below.
Program Monthly Tuition
2 Day (T/R-AM) $190 1st child/$171 subsequent children
3 Day (M/W/F-AM)-Both 3 and 4 year olds $270 1st child/$243 subsequent children
3 Day (M/W/F-PM) -Both 3 and 4 year olds $270 1st child/$243 subsequent children
3 Day (T/R-AM, F-PM) $255 1st child/$229.50 subsequent children
Pre K (M/T/W/R/F AM) $455 1st child/409.5 subsequent children
Virtual Option 165 1st child 148.50 subsequent children
**Please note the subsequent child discount does not start until October 2021. In order to secure your spot
for September 2021 tuition must be paid in full. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!
Thanks so much!
Sarah Hutchins
8
You can also read
