We've been busy!

It's been a busy few weeks! We had fun last week at Hann's Christmas Tree Farm. You can see the pictures on our Photo Gallery page. We also made bells on Monday that we will be using during our Holiday Sing...which is on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19th! We had the date listed incorrectly on the newsletter last week, however, the calendar shows it correctly. 

We also made mini-drums and painted to music. The paintings are displayed in our hallway and classroom. They are all so unique and colorful!!

This week we read the story of The Night Tree and made our own trees out of paper strips. These are decorating our room too.

We created stockings with our names on them for on our stage at the Holiday Sing. We got to write our names with glue and then add glitter!

Wednesday we painted a wreath and added a bow and some "holly berries". On Friday we made our own spider after hearing the story of Sammy the Spider's First Hanukkah.

A Magical Week

We learned about an African Folk Tale called Abiyoyo. It is about magic, music, and understanding.  Mrs. Fox even performed some fun magic tricks this week!!

Monday we made a wizard’s hat and a wand.  We made our own magic hat and rabbit on Tuesday. Did your child pull a rabbit from the hat for you? Wednesday we created monsters by cutting a monster shape and then adding various eyes, noses, and mouths.

We experimented with color mixing to make new “magic” colors on Thursday. 

Photo orders were sent home in your child's red folder this week, so be sure to grab those out your child's backpack so they don't get ruined!

Don’t forget that next week we only have one day of school!  
There will not be a newsletter next week. Have a great Thanksgiving Break!

More Bear Fun

We worked on a number of bear projects this week. On Monday we created a bear puppet.

Tuesday we all enjoyed our day off...well, Mrs. Fox didn’t get the day off, but she enjoyed meeting with all the families at conferences. Thank you to those who attended! If you haven't had your child's conference yet and can't remember when it's scheduled for, check the "Conference Schedule" using the link in the menu above.

We made a bear hibernating in a cave on Wednesday, which was hard work...especially using our fine motor skills to pinch and pull the cotton balls to spread them.  

Thursday we created posable bears that are now decorating our classroom.

We also had a great time at our pajama party where we painted a bear portrait and did patterning activities. It was a beary fun day!

Bear Painting

AM Pajama Day

PM Pajama Day

Beary Fun Week

We did lots of bear crafts last week. These projects will be given to you during your child's conference. These projects display lots of important math skills including sequencing, patterning, and sorting.

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Conferences have begun. If you forgot when your child's was scheduled, please check here: http://www.creativeartsclass.net/Conferences.pdf

Also, it is not necessary for your child to attend the conference and may be easier for you if they do not. The play centers will not be open for them to use during conference time. Also, if you can't make it for any reason, please call us right away at 884-6162.

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If you haven't turned in your child's Health Report, we put a neon green note in his/her red folder. These are due by December 1st and if we don't have it by then, your child will not be able to attend class until it's turned in.

Happy Halloween!

Monday we cut strips and made mummies that decorated our room for our costume party. 

Tuesday we glued mini-marshmallows into the shape of a ghost. We made a skeleton out of Q-tips on Wednesday.

We also enjoyed some really fun snacks this week!

Ghost  Bananas from Annabelle

Delicious Fruit Cups from Jameson

Super Fun Monster Snacks from Tori for her Birthday!

Thursday we had our costume party! It was so much fun!! We worked together to make witches brew. The brew included Snake Eyes (Red Hot Candies), Ghost Droppings (Popcorn), Witches Finger Nails (Bugles), Chicken Toenails (Candy Corn), Skeleton Bones (Pretzels), Beetle Shells (M&M's), Skeleton Glue (Mini Marshmallows), Spider Webs (Honeycombs Cereal), Bat Bones (Fritos Chips), Jack-o-Lantern Eyes (Doritos), Pumpkin Poo (Cheese Balls), and Pumpkin Drool (Cheetos).

And we had special Halloween-themed games. 

Here are the class pictures but be sure to go to our Photo Gallery Page for many, many more photos.

Morning Class

Afternoon Class

Spooky Cupcakes from Malik

Spooky Fun

We had a fun week making spooky creations! On Monday we made a scarecrow head...our positioning of facial features has improved SO much since we started the year. We made adorable spider headbands on Tuesday.

Wednesday was our trip to Hermanson's Pumpkin Patch. There are more photos on the Photo Gallery page. Our trip was a blast! It was the first time on a school bus for many of our friends. At the farm we saw animals including goats, donkeys, llamas, a calf, pigs, a sheep, bunnies, a Saint Bernard dog named Hans, and cats with kittens. We took a hayride through the pumpkin patch and saw pumpkins that were orange, white, yellow, striped, bumpy and more!

There was a spooky barn maze too. When we clapped really loud we made ghosts fly, cats meow, and witches cackle.

Thank you to all the chaperones who joined us, your help was very much appreciated!!!!! Our next trip will be to a Christmas Tree Farm around the first week of December. Watch future newsletters for the details!

Morning Class

Afternoon Class

Thursday we made a Scaredy Cat using our fine-motor skills to cut snips to make it's tail bristle-y.

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 BRRRR...It's Cold Outside!

Wisconsin has crazy weather in the fall...some days are very cold and others are quite warm. Please dress your child in layers so that he/she can easily adjust to the changing temperatures. Now that it is colder, please send your child with warm/winter jacket, a hat, warm jacket and mittens/gloves.

We do go outside nearly everyday. Sometimes it is too wet to play outside, but not still raining, so we may take a walk around the school neighborhood. Please note that we will not be sending home a permission slip for these instances.

Please be sure all your child’s clothing is labeled, as we are not going to be familiar with his/her new coats, warm clothes, etc. Plus hats & gloves are often the same as our friends’.

Please be sure that your child can zip his/her own jacket!!!

Now is also the time to check your child’s backpack to be sure his/her extra clothes are appropriate for fall weather.

Pumpkin Fun!

We had so much fun learning about pumpkins this week! We learned that pumpkins start as seeds and then grow into sprouts. The sprouts turn into vines and on the vines grow flowers. These flowers develop into little green pumpkins. Then the green pumpkins grow into the big pumpkins we can carve into jack-o-lanterns.

We made a quilt of pumpkin squares that are now decorating our hallway. 

Tuesday we read a book called “The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin”. It told the story of a square pumpkin that saved the day. We then created our own unique pumpkins of any shape, size, color, and pattern. A colorful pumpkin patch is now decorating our classroom. Want to see it? Stop in or check the website. 

We combined red and yellow paint on Wednesday to create orange for our paper-plate pumpkins.

Thursday we used our fine-motor skills to make a paper strip pumpkin. We had to insert the brad into the small holes in all the paper strips, then open the “wings” of the brad to secure it. Then we had to separate the strips carefully to make the pumpkin shape. 

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Our fieldtrip to Hermanson’s Pumpkin Farm is next Wednesday. 

If we haven’t received a permission slip for your child yet, we have included one in the his/her folder. Be sure to get this turned in!!

Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck!

This week we created a firefighter by gluing the body parts together and drawing a face on him/her.

Tuesday some of the Edgerton Firefighters came to visit us. They talked to us about fire safety and we even got to go in the fire truck!

AM Class

PM Class

Be sure to see the photo gallery page for photos of this fun event!!

Here are some fire safety items we talked about:

• Are your smoke detectors working—check monthly!
• What is an emergency? When to dial 9-1-1
• Don’t run! STOP, DROP, AND ROLL!
• Have fire extinguishers available
• Crawl on the ground, smoke rises
• Have a meeting place outside where you can meet safely. Practice your plan.
• NEVER play with fire, matches, or lighters
• NEVER EVER, hide from fire fighters! YELL, I am HERE.

We used many shapes to create a fire truck on Wednesday and Thursday we created a Dalmatian. What a week of gluing!!

We also had our pictures taken on Thursday. Your proofs will be coming in the next few weeks for you to select the poses and sizes you would like.

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Thank you to everyone who came to
our Open House last week!

It was great to see you!!

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Please schedule your conference if you haven't already.

You had the opportunity to select a conference during our open house. If you weren’t able to make it to the open house, we have included a conference selection note in your child’s red folder this week. Please return the yellow conference note complete with three time choices, ASAP. Slots will be filled on a first-come-first served basis.

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As You Prepare for the Costume Party...

Here are some things to keep in mind when helping your child select a costume for our party on October 31st:

• Your child needs to wear their costume to and from school...we don’t have time for changing here at school...it’s a very exciting and crazy day!
• Your child needs to be able to get in and out of his/her costume to use the bathroom by him/herself.
• No masks are allowed since they obstruct vision and may lead to an accident.
• No weapons or gore of any kind please.
• Please no face paint either, as it gets wiped all over our classroom.

Fall is Here!

We created a number of different fall-themed items this week in preparation for our Open House, tonight, Oct. 3rd from 5:30-6:30pm.

Monday we painted a tree with fall colors using Q-tips. It's always fun to use an ordinary item in a new way for our art projects. We created a fall leaves shaker on Tuesday. This involved a lot of paper tearing, which is an awesome fine-motor skill activity. It takes a lot of thought to pinch the paper in both hands and then push one side while pulling the other in order to make it tear.

Wednesday we peeled and broke crayons to melt in wax paper for our acorn sun catchers. This was another great fine-motor activity. Thursday we completed the second page of our Person Book. The advances in drawing and writing over last month's rendition are amazing! Just wait until you receive the book at the end of the year...you are going to be so impressed with the skills your child has developed :)

We'd love to show you lots of great pictures of our activities this week but we are keeping it a secret so that they can be revealed in person TONIGHT at the open house! If you can't make it, these projects will be sent home for you to enjoy very soon.

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SAFETY NOTES:

• Please remember that if your child is going to be absent fo-r any reason that we need to hear from you due to daycare laws. We need to know that your child is okay. So please call us anytime prior to his/her class (even the middle of the night) 884-6162.

• Please note that all children must be walked into the building with an adult. You may not drop them off outside the door. Also, be sure to sign him/her in. And arrival cannot be more than 5 minutes prior to class start time.

• We have some safety requirements of costumes for our party on Oct. 31st. Please read the newsletter on the back of the October calendar for the details.

Friends Week

We drew a portrait of ourselves and made a Who Am I? class book. You can read this book at our open house next Thursday, October 3rd. Tuesday we decorated our handprints using bingo daubers. The daubers are always a favorite in our classroom and offer a fun, different way to paint. 

Wednesday we made a friendship chain. It took lots of small motor skills to cut on the lines to make strips, decorate the strips, and then glue them into circles! 

Thursday we made a picture of Mat Man. 

We learned a song that helps us create Mat Man and remember all the parts we need to draw a person. Ask your child if he/she will sing you the song. 

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If your child has had a fever, vomited or had diarrhea the night before or the morning before class, please, please, please do NOT send them to school. They are still carrying the infection even if they are “feeling better”.

Your child must be symptom free (no fever, no vomiting, no diarrhea), WITHOUT medication for 24 hours before they can return to school.

If your child is sent home sick during class, he/she may not return to school the following day even if feeling better, as this would not meet the 24 hour requirement.

While it might be an inconvenience for you, we cannot stress enough how critical it is for you to adhere to this school district policy. The health of all thirty-five 4K kids, plus teachers, plus the pre-schoolers & daycare children that also attend here, is jeopardized when you send your child to school while they are still carrying infection.

Please also encourage your child to use proper hand washing techniques, which means using both soap & warm water and washing for the length of time it takes to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

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Don't Forget our Open House is Next Thursday, October 3rd from 5:30-6:30pm. See you then!

A Super Week!

We worked very hard this week on our “Feelings” book. Each day we decorated a person in our book with a different emotion and we used different mediums each day as well. Monday was crayons, Tuesday we used watercolor paints, Wednesday we tried colored pencils, markers on Thursday, and on Friday we got to choose whichever medium we wanted.

Our Super Hero Dress Up Day was...Super! You can see pictures on our photo gallery page. This was the first time we had this special day, but it may become an annual occasion. We talked about how each one of us are super, that we all have different talents, and together we make up a super class!
 

AM Superheroes

PM Superheroes

Super Teachers

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We are having an open house on Thursday, October 3rd from 5:30-6:30pm. This is an opportunity for parents & other family members to see our classroom. The kids will be working on a lot of projects to be displayed around the room for that evening.

We will also be having sign-ups for our Super Student Week and conferences.

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We will be having picture day on Thursday, October 10th. These will be taken outside, therefore, we also have a rain date of Thursday, October 17th arranged, if necessary, due to bad weather.You will then receive proofs of your child’s photos and will be able to select the exact number of sizes/poses you want. We will also be taking a group photo that day.

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Here are some more pictures of everyday 4k fun!

Building

Housekeeping

More Building

Doing the Bean Bag Dance