Orientation Newsletter

Welcome Parents and Children!

Here is some general information for your family to get the new school year started:

Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety is typical in 3 and 4 year old behavior. Your child may express this anxiety by crying, screaming, refusing to let go of you or refusing to enter the classroom. This is a process that you and your child will need to go through together. Here are some tips to help:

• Do not leave the classroom without your child’s knowledge. This upsets the child and they panic when they discover you are gone.
• Enter the classroom with your child. Help them put on their name tag, grab a carpet and join the group in our Circle Time area. Sit with them for a moment to help them feel more at ease.
• Time is too abstract for young children to understand. Tell them something specific, such as “I will be back to pick you up at lunch time.”
• Be firm, positive and consistent. Tell your child you love them, hug and kiss and then leave the class.
• The assistants, volunteers and I are here to help support you and your family through this challenging time. Just speak to one of us if you feel your child is having a difficult day, or if you need to get to work, etc.
  

Schedule/Planning
Each month we will focus on a new theme for our fun and learning. Learning will be based on this theme in our circle time, whole group activities, and the centers. For example: This month we are learning “All About Me” and as part of that we will talk about hygiene. We will sing a song during circle time about washing our hands and do a fun group activity where we learn how to wash our hands properly. Then during center time there might be soap and cloths at the water table, various towels and “play soap” for the dolls in the house, etc.

Here is our daily schedule:

8:45-9:00 - Parents are dropping their children off and getting them ready for the day:
• Put on indoor shoes and hang up jacket
• Go to the bathroom
• Put on nametag
• Sign in
• Get a carpet and help child sit down in our designated circle time area

9:05 – Circle Time
• Pray
• Calendar, counting/letter recognition, singing songs, stories, finger plays, etc

9:15-10:00 – Center Time
• This will be free play for the children to explore and play throughout the centers with their peers, supported by the educators.

10:00-10:10 – Clean up, hand washing and bathroom check

10:10-10:15 – Story Time
• Teacher will read story while assistants set up snack

10:15-10:40 – Snack Time
• Pray
• Serve snack
• Clean up

10:45-11:10 – Gym Time/Outdoor Time
• This will be a time for children to get active through a variety of free play and structured physical activities.

11:15-11:30 – Bible Story
• Read stories from the bible along with puppet shows, finger plays and songs
• Pray

11:30 – Home Time
• Put the child’s nametag back in their basket and check if there are any newsletters
• Change children from indoor shoes to outdoor shoes
• Sign out

Attendance/Illness
Please arrive at the school no earlier than 8:45am. This ensures enough time for your child to change their shoes, hang up their coat, go to the bathroom, put on their nametag and bring your child to circle time. Please remember that my assistant and I are still setting up the classroom, so we are not able to monitor the children until 9:00am. Also remember to pick your child up at 11:30am. Children can become very sensitive to being consistently picked up late. If you are not picking up your child, I must have WRITTEN CONFIRMATION including the adults name and your signature. I will also need to see photo ID from the adult picking them up. I say adult, because I am not allowed to release children to children, even if they are siblings with your written consent.

If your child will be absent, please call the preschool phone at 892-6627 and let me know. Also please inform me of any illnesses your child has come into contact with since being enrolled at Little Lambs (this is important if a child presents with similar symptoms while under my care.) If for any reason you need to drop off early or pick up late, arrangements can be made. Just please be courteous and call me first.

Supplies
Your child’s day will be filled with lots of varying activities from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. It is important to dress your child appropriately for the day.

Your child will need:
• Durable play clothes (that can get dirty)
• Indoor/Outdoor shoes (appropriate for activity and weather)
• Extra set of pants, socks, underwear, and shirt (you can leave these in their basket)
• Weather appropriate outdoor clothing

What your child does NOT need is:
• Super special toys that they do not want anyone else to look at, touch or play with
• Any makeup, lip gloss, nail polish, tons of hair clips
• Small toys that are similar to classroom toys or that are really easy to lose
• Gum, candy
• Extra food

At the beginning of the year, it is fine to bring an item from home that genuinely soothes them and makes them feel more comfortable. Just explain that others will not know that is their toy from home. If you are having a late morning and couldn’t feed your child breakfast, please ensure they either wait for snack time (10:15ish) or eat out in the hall. I cannot have any outdoor food coming into the classroom.

Communication
The preschool cell is 892-6627. I answer the phone on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30am-3pm. There is also voicemail if you need to leave a message. If you have email, I can be reached at: kindrabirss@hotmail.com If you have questions, concerns or something you need to know, don’t hesitate to call or email. Whenever there are notices, newsletters or any information I need to send home, I will put it in your child’s basket. Please check your child’s basket at the end of each class. I will also be setting up a blog for further information on our classes, activities, and songs. The website address is: http://littlelambslethbridge.blogspot.com/. This is a resource center for all parents of little ones in Little Lambs Preschool.

If your child has severe allergies please inform me ASAP.

Ensure all your information in your registration form is complete and current. Please ensure all emergency cards are filled out and all required information and post dated checks are on file.

I wish you and your child a wonderful year!

Sincerely,
Teacher Kindra