Pre-K

January 2025

Important Dates

  • Thursday January 2, 2025: Welcome back to school!
  • Monday January 20, 2025: Martin Luther King Day, no school
  • Wednesday January 29, 2025: Lunar New Year, no school

Reminders

  • Please check your child’s folder every day, and please return the folder to school the next day.
  • Please remember to label all of your child’s belongings: write your child’s name on their jackets, water bottles, lunch boxes, lunch containers, etc.

Creative Curriculum

Unit of Study: Buildings

Focus Questions:

  • What different types of buildings are there?
  • Who builds buildings?
  • What are buildings made of?
  • How can we make a community with our buildings?

Center Time

At school, center time is an important part of our day. Children are engaged in meaningful activities that help them meet the academic standards. Please see attached for a peek of what goes on in the Blocks Center.

Math Focus: Time and Shapes

  • Time (Sequencing and daily routines)
  • Shapes (Identifying shapes and being able to describe their attributes)

Pre-K January Math Focus Letter to Families

Dear Pre-K Families,

This month our class is learning about Time and Shapes. 

  • Time: Children discuss the sequence of their routines, and when they do different activities, by categorizing them into morning, afternoon, and night. 
  • Shapes: rectangles, ovals, stars, diamonds, and hearts

Here are some fun activities that are easy to do at home to help reinforce these concepts: 

  • Talk with your child about their daily routine, for example; What did you do this morning when you woke up? What did you do this afternoon after school? What did you do at night before bed? 
  • Go on a “shape hunt” with your child around your home or in magazines, pointing out different shapes you see, for example; a window (rectangle), a mirror (oval), or a street sign (diamond.)

Thank you for working with us. If you have any ideas that you would like to share, please let us know. 

Block Center

Wooden blocks are one of the most valuable learning materials that we have in our classroom. They come in many shapes and sizes. In the block center at school, children get to use their imaginations and create their own unique structures.  

Math Concepts: While working at the block center, students are developing many different math skills. They are measuring, comparing, counting, sorting, balancing, and problem solving.  

Language Development: As they are building with blocks, students are discussing their structures with teachers and classmates and are using position and direction words. For example: the bridge is over the water, cars drive in the tunnel, the water is under the bridge, etc. Students may make up a whole story to go along with their creation. 

What You Can Do at Home

You may want to purchase wooden table blocks or make a set out of milk cartons and boxes. Add props to further play, such as small plastic animals, cars, and people. Encourage pretend play and vocabulary development. 

Sincerely,

The Pre-K Teachers