One of the first skills we learn at school for regulating our emotions is the STOP skill. This skill is essential because it helps lead us to use our other skills so we can get back to the Green Zone.
S - STOP First, if you notice you are feeling upset, STOP. Just freeze. T - TAKE A BREAK Next, take a break. In our classroom, we go to the Cozy Corner to take a break. But you can also find a quiet spot at home or somewhere else to take a break if you need one. O - OBSERVE (or LOOK/LISTEN) Then, look and listen to what is happening around you. Pay attention to how your body feels. Put a name to how you are feeling right now. P - PROCEED MINDFULLY (or MAKE A GOOD CHOICE) Finally, make a good choice. If you are ready, you can go back and join the activity. Or, you can use one of our calm down strategies to feel better.
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Hello EC Families!
During our Feelings/Emotions Unit, we learn about a lot of different feelings and the zones that they fall into--green, blue, yellow, or red. Being able to identify emotions is very beneficial for all of us. Simply being able to name what you are feeling actually helps to calm your amygdala! This is one reason why it is so important for children to learn to name their feelings. Here are the feelings and zones that we learn about in class: Green Zone - happy, calm, okay, focused, ready to learn, can do my best, show expected behaviors Blue Zone - sad, tired, sick, bored Yellow Zone - silly, frustrated, excited, worried Red Zone - mad/angry, mean, terrified, hitting/yelling We also learn that even though it is okay to experience all of these feelings, there are strategies or tools that we can use to get back to the Green Zone. We will learn more specific strategies throughout the year, but here are a few: 1) Take a break (in our classroom, we use the Cozy Corner) 2) Go for a walk (with a grown-up) 3) Drink water 4) Talk to an adult 5) Use breathing strategies (these will be learned throughout the year) 6) Use a calm down strategy (these will be learned throughout the year) You can help your child at this at home by:
Hello TK Families!
We will be working on sight words at school throughout most of the year in TK. We will be doing monthly sight words for the months of September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and May. You can help your child master these words by working on them together at home. Our goal is for children to be able to read the words when they see them. Here are some ideas for how you could practice these words together at home:
Have fun! :) 1. How often do children receive prizes from the prize box?
On average, children receive prizes about once a week. This can vary a little give or take based on factors such as how often your child is in class and what behaviors your child exhibits while at school. 2. How many hole punches does my child need to receive a prize? This depends on which class your child is in! For the Preschool class, children need 9 hole punches to get a prize. For the Pre-K class, children need 12 hole punches. For the TK class, children need 15 hole punches. 3. What can my child get a hole punch for? Lots of things! Typically, I start off the day by giving hole punches for coming in nicely, writing names, and getting quiet for the harmonica. But these certainly are not the only ways your child can receive a hole punch! Other ways include (but are not limited to): cleaning up quickly at the end of center time, lining up at the end of recess when the teacher blows the whistle, walking nicely in the hallway, being quiet for emergency drills, helping a friend or teacher without being asked, and more! Last year, I changed the hole punches for the afternoon class part way through the year to promote responsibility. The hole punches at the start of class changed to coming in nicely, bringing backpacks to school, and bringing in folders and water bottles to the classroom. This helped encourage children to remember to grab these items before coming into the classroom each day! As stated in the EC Handbook and at the Parent Orientation, we will be limiting sugar served to children while at school. Therefore, birthday treats high in sugar will not be served. You can choose to bring in non-food items to send home, or you can choose a healthy birthday snack! I am including some fun ideas here! :) Some additional snack ideas include:
Some non-food treat ideas include:
I hope some of these ideas are helpful to you! :) Hello Preschool Families!!!
I understand that not everyone is able to devote time to helping in our classroom due to work schedules and other commitments. I wanted to make sure to provide you with alternative ways you can help our class learn this school year! All of these opportunities are completely optional. Please do not feel obligated to donate. I simply wanted to communicate ideas for those who are interested. :) One area you can help with is our Art Center. Preschoolers are very busy in the Art Center all year long, creating masterpieces. You can help by keeping our center fully stocked with fun supplies the students can add to their creations! Please don't feel the need to buy any of these. You might have some of these items laying around the house! Some ideas for what you could donate:
Another area you can help with is our class prize box! Students receive hole punches for good behavior. When their hole punch cards are full, they get to pick a prize from our prize box to take home. Again, you don't need to purchase any of these items. It is possible that you have these laying around the house (or simply items your kids don't use any more that you'd love to get rid of!). You might also have leftover items from a birthday party. These make great additions to our class prize box! Some ideas for what you could donate:
Finally, you can help with our writing center! I am trying to make the writing center more engaging for students this year. If you have any of these items laying around the house or any extra, we would love to add them to our center to help encourage emergent writing skills! Some ideas for what you could donate:
Please do not feel obligated to purchase any of these items. If you have extras or would like to help out, we would really appreciate it! These items can be brought in at any time during the school year. Please place a note in your child's folder if you bring them in so I know to check for it in his/her backpack. Thanks again!!! I'm looking forward to a great school year! Blessings, Ms. Barker Hello Preschool Families!
Letter recognition is a big preschool skill, especially if your child will be going onto Kindergarten next school year. I wanted to provide some ideas of different ways that you can practice letter identification together at home. That way, you're not always doing the same thing each time. Hopefully this will help to make it more fun and engaging for both you and your child.
There are countless ways that you can practice letter and sound recognition with your child! I hope that you will find some of these ideas helpful and enjoyable. Have fun learning! Blessings, Ms. Barker Hello Preschool Families!
I wanted to write a post about rhyming. This is an important pre-reading skill for preschoolers to master. Being able to rhyme, will help your child become a stronger reader because he will be able to more easily notice the sounds in words. While doing assessments the past couple of weeks, I noticed that many of the preschoolers this year struggle with rhyming. Therefore, I wanted to provide you with some ideas/resources to help you practice rhyming words together at home. Here are some websites you can visit the provide both ideas and resources for teaching rhyming to your child. They include suggested books to read together and downloadable resources that you can use to practice this skill with your child.
Also, you can check out Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) and find even more printable resources that you can use with your child. Some are free, some cost a little money. I will provide some of my favorites (free and non-free) that you can choose to download and use at home. FREE:
I hope you will find some of these ideas helpful for you and your child! Thank you so much for all you do at home to help your child continue to learn and grow at school and in life. Blessings, Ms. Barker Hello Preschool Families!
Since we are exploring our 5 senses this month at school, I wanted to provide you with some ideas for how you could continue this exploration together with your child at home. I hope you'll find at least some of these helpful and enjoyable. Sight:
Hearing:
Smell:
Touch:
Taste:
I hope you are able to try some of these activities with your child! Enjoy! Blessings, Ms. Barker Hello Preschool Families,
Fine motor skills are an essential part of preschool. Many children enter school with low fine motor skills. We use a variety of activities at school to develop these skills, but you can also help your child develop these skills even further at home during play and daily activities. Here are some ideas that you could try:
These are just a few ideas! Hopefully you find some of these helpful for your child at home. Blessings, Ms. Barker |
AuthorI'm Mrs. Soldner, the early childhood teacher and director at Immanuel Lutheran School. I have been teaching preschool since 2016 and have been teaching here at Immanuel since 2018. Archives
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