Mount Pleasant News
December
Virtue of the Month
Patience
2's
Mistletoes and Rudolph's nose! The most wonderful time of the year is here! Your two's crew will kick it off as the stars of our "Patience is a Virtue" parade. December will be bursting with themes from Laura Numeroff's classic book series such as "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and more. The children will explore the laws of cause and effect through baking, tasting, and imaginary play, while gaining knowledge and confidence in the kitchen.
Each classroom incorporates gross and fine motor skill practice into daily activities; the building blocks to body and muscle development, while strengthening their hands to prepare them for writing.
The children will be immersed in crafts, songs, and experiments that reflect our December curriculum. These include: green (color), star (shape), "Pat A Cake" (nursery rhyme), and patience (virtue). Lastly, their focused skill will be working on how to put on their socks and shoes.
Our Two's crew is beyond thankful to make memories with your children everyday. We wish you the happiest of holidays and may your spirit be as bright as your little ones!
3's
4's
During the month of December, our 4K students will be learning to properly form the letters G and S, as well as identifying the sounds each makes. We will also be studying Holiday Traditions and Celebrations with craft making and class parties.
We have been preparing for the return of our holiday programs. The children are excited to show their parents all of their hard work.
Our Discovery students are traveling to Europe. Their first stop is in Italy to make pizza and ride on a gondola. They will also visit SinterKlaas in Holland, the Louvre in Paris to see works from Monat, gingerbread houses in Germany, and more as we discover holiday traditions throughout Europe!
5's
In December we get to travel all around the world to learn about different holiday traditions. We will learn about Diwali in India, La Befana in Italy, Los Pasados in Mexico, Hanukkah, and Christmas. We will have a visitor from Porter-Gaud coming in for a fun reading of The Grinch, please have your child wear green! We will also spend one morning visiting each Kindergarten class to make an ornament along with enjoying a special holiday snack! Our focus books this month are Little Red Ruthie, The Wish Tree, and Santa Bruce. We will continue to work out way through the alphabet, taking a deeper look at the letters U, B, and R. While reading, we will identify punctuation and complete sentence writing. We will also be working on reading and writing CVS words. In math, we will be comparing numbers using the words more than, less than, or equal to. We will also explore quantity and volume through capacity of equal, more than, and less than. The children will be decorating gingerbread houses during their holiday parties!
November
Virtue of the Month
Gratitude
2's
Bring on Turkey Time! November will be filled with learning about farm life, growing foods, and Thanksgiving. Our little turkeys will explore the wonders of harvest, including growing vegetables, making soup, vegetable painting, and more!
Each classroom will incorporate gross and fine motor skill practice into daily activities - the building blocks to body and muscle development - while strengthening their hands to prepare them for writing!
Our November themes will be filled with crafts, songs, books, experiments, and a festive Thanksgiving performance on stage for their school friends! "Ba Ba Black Sheep" and "Little Bo Peep" will also be woven into the fun.
Lastly, their focused skill will be "using eating utensils" and learning about the virtue of "gratitude."
Our Two's crew is beyond thankful to make many memories with your children everyday!
3's
The Three's are Falling Into Books this month. We will share books about thankfulness, families, friendship, and Fall. We look forward to a visit from an author on November 16th, watch for order forms to come home.
The classrooms will be buzzing with business as we prepare for the Friendship Feasts later in the month.
4's
During the month of November, 4K students will practice gratitude and thankfulness with our school families. The school will join in the gym for a school wide sing-a-long. Each class will share a Thanksgiving themed feast before we vacation with family and friends at the end of the month.
Our curriculum for this month includes reviewing the past curriculum we have already learned while focusing on all we have to be thankful for. We will explore the fall harvest foods we eat and the family we cherish time with. The children will be growing some of their own vegetables from seeds as well as regrowth from the actual vegetables themself.
Children will learn how to properly form, identify, and provide a sound for the letters O, Q, and G. They will identify and count the numbers 4 and 5, continue to copy and extend patterns, demonstrate positional words, and draw shapes independently.
Discovery Students will continue their travels through North America as they head to Canada. Here they will learn about native Inuits, dog sledding, ice fishing, and Inukshuks. Canada is full of land and water animals to study such as narwhals, moose, and the snowy owl. Ice hockey and maple syrup are always a favorite to learn about and experience.
5's
October
Virtue of the Month
Perseverance
2's
Hello October, we are so excited you are here! These little pumpkins will be learning all about the wonders of Fall, including leaves, trees, and animals. . . What a breath of fresh air!
October is also Fire Safety month and will include a visit from our local Fire Department.
Our Halloween theme will be filled with crafts, songs, and books. Even a festive carnival for children and their parents to enjoy! The "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Little Miss Muffet" will also be woven into the fun.
Lastly, their focused skill will be "washing hands" and learning about "perseverance" (we think they can, we think they can). Our Two's crew is eager to make many memories with your children through endless crafts and sensory activities!
3's
The Three's are Down on the Farm this month and watch their learning grow! Learning about the animals and jobs on a farm will be interesting to their little minds. Classes have planned "virtual fields trips," barn "raising" is also happening in the classrooms. An exciting day on the "O'Quinn Farm and Pumpkin Patch" (Playground) has been planned as teachers plan for our annual Farm Day. Explore your child's classroom together in the upcoming days to celebrate their accomplishments, amazing artwork, and discoveries.
4's
Discovery classes will travel to Mexico to explore the Mayan and Aztec cultures. The students will learn about The Day of the Dead, Frida Kahlo, Mariachi music, and the Monarch butterfly migration. After learning about the sport of soccer, the children will practice some dribbling skills and play a game of soccer. We will end our unit with a fiesta to include traditional Mexican foods prepared by the children.
5's
October is such an exciting month in Kindergarten! We will explore stars and focus our learning on specific constellations. Then, we will learn all about bats and will conclude our unit with a bat cave day where we get to dress in all dark "bat" colors and work with the lights off! With Halloween at the end of this month, we will work on some fun Halloween crafts and activities and we get to attend the Halloween Carnival, dressed in our costumes.
In math, we are starting a new unit about 2 - D and 3 - D shapes. Our focus books for the month are The Circus Ship, Hippos are Huge, Quit Calling Me a Monster, and Pick a Pumpkin. We will work on making predictions, creating mental images, and we will discuss the author's purpose in nonfiction books. We will also discuss what is needed to make a sentence and create our own sentences. For ELA we will continue to focus on different letters by reading books, singing songs, and learning to correctly form them in our writing journals.
August and September
Virtue of the Month
Friendliness
2's
We are all so excited about our new Two's Crew!
August and September are all about LOVING their new O'Quinn home. We will read many stories about school, learn to navigate the classroom, and begin building the most special friendships!
The children will develop a sense of their body and its parts, while exploring their 5 senses. Our "All About Me" theme will expand their thoughts on themselves and each other.
Our main focus is to ensure that each child feels loved, has fun, and enjoys their new classroom family, one day at a time.
Parents, thank you for entrusting us in their journey. We look forward to a fantastic year!
3's
This month in the Three's we are learning to Go To School. We are practicing our cutting, coloring, painting, and other new skills as we make new friends. Recognizing names, shapes, colors, and counting will be introduced this month as all of our friends learn We Can go to School. We will close the month of August with a Three's Spirit Day celebration with popsicles and bubbles.
4's
Welcome back to school! The 4K Team is eager to welcome friends back to our campus this month. We will begin our first few weeks of school getting to know one another and learning our classroom routines. The children will also be introduced to "Mat Man" from our Handwriting Without Tears program and review 4K readiness skills.
Later in the month and into September, we will begin our study of the alphabet. 4K will learn how to properly form the letters L, F, E, and H as well as the sounds these letters make. Our math concepts will include the numerals 0-4, counting, and 1:1 correspondence. In addition to our shape review, the children will be playing the game "Left, Right, Center" as a fun way to introduce the positional words "left and right."
Discovery classes will learn the 7 major continents and 5 major oceans on our planet. The students will also be introduced to map reading skills and directional words. Each class will map their own classroom and learn a song about the 7 continents. Exploring different types of ecosystems and major land formations will prepare students for our upcoming travels around the world.
5's
Welcome back! We are so excited to get our Kindergarten year started! This month we will be getting to know each other with our unit, "All About Me." We will be learning about our city, our state, our country, and the continents. The Kindergarten students will be exploring our phonics program with the letters m, a, l, o, h, and g. We will also incorporate grammar lessons and interactive read aloud through the use of literature. In math, Kindergarten will be discussing attributes of two objects, working with different configurations of numbers to 5, and classifying objects to make categories and counting those objects. We can't wait to jump into the school year and get to know our students!