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Westwood Lutheran Church - ELCA
9001 Cedar Lake Road
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
952-545-5623

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WECC News PreK/K


PreK/K May 2013 News
  
Upcoming Interest and Curriculum Content
The Art Element for May will be Display. We will be covering frames and woodworking.
We will continue our lowercase letters. We will also learn to write punctuation marks, periods, question marks, exclamation points.
The focus this month will be new life and how our outside environment is changing as we welcome spring.

We will have playground clean-up on May 18, 2012. Please sign up on the volunteer sheet to help. Working together we can make our playground a beautiful green space for the children to explore! 
We will continue reading, Charlotte’s Web. 
 
Upcoming Events and Schedule Reminders
May 18, 2013            Playground Cleanup
May 24, 2013            Teddy Bear Picnic 10-12:30/Breakfast Share       (Close at 1:00 p.m.) 
May 27, 2013            CLOSED (Memorial Day) 

New Discoveries and Learning
We planted grass and wheat this month within the classroom. Children will be tracking the growth with a ruler as it grows and recording it on a graph. We will be following the scientific method through the process.
Children explored 3-D art. We worked with clay, paper and glue, Popsicle sticks and wood glue to create structures. Popsicle sticks/ wood glue will be the stepping stones as we move into woodworking/bird house exploration this month.
We all have mastered writing our last names.
Children have really shown an interest in our beginner reader books!

Health and Safety
Snack sign-up is posted every month. If you are able, please sign-up!  Remember, please, no nut products or products that may have been produced in a factory with nuts. Also, no home-made foods! It’s the rule.
As the weather continues to get warmer, a reminder to families that the first application of sunscreen is the parent’s responsibility before arriving at school or at drop off.  Teachers will be supervising/helping with the application of sunscreen for the afternoon outside times. Sunscreen that is placed in the classroom basket located next to the sign in sheet needs to be labeled with FIRST and LAST names for licensing purposes! 

Reminders and Communications Regarding Care of Child
Please remember to sign in/out EVERY day along with checking your child’s file daily.
 
Interesting article on Play from Exchange Every Day:
Sally Rowden from Madera, CA wrote: “I’ve currently been rereading ‘Crisis in the Kindergarten-Why Children Need to Play in School,’ by Edward Miller and Joan Almon-of Alliance for Childhood, which supports highly this current article shared by Exchange.”  The article quotes Daniel Pink, author of “A Whole New Mind”.  Pink writes about “imagination economy.” His premise is how future leadership in the business world is demanding folks that think with creativity. The article gives valid research on how play, in its complexity, supports children’s learning in language skills, social skills, empathy, imagination, taking another’s perspective, being less aggressive, having more self-control and higher levels of thinking (creative/abstract). It examines a “laissez-faire, loosely structured classroom; a classroom rich in child-initiated play; a playful classroom with focused learning; and, didactic instruction with no play” recognizing that teachers must have an understanding of all four methods. Yet, encouraging a balance of the “two central methods” (child-initiated play focused learning) which “leads to lifelong benefits.”

Kara