<img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-371" src="http://javerill.cuipblogs.net/files/2009/09/caterpilar-300x221.jpg" alt="caterpillar" width="300" height="221" />

Hi Everyone!
I hope you all got a chance to meet Rachel. We had a great day today and I think Rachel feels right at home in our classroom.

<span style="font-weight: bold">PICTURE DAY:</span> Picture Day is this Wednesday. DO NOT BE LATE FOR SCHOOL! We will be leaving the classroom for our class pictures at 9:15 sharp!!!! If you can stay and help us get the children organized, we'd love the help.

<span style="font-weight: bold">CANDY SALE: </span> I hope you are all participating in our school fundraiser. The last day for turning in orders is: OCTOBER 8! Remember, if you don't want to sell from the catalog, you can always make a donation to: Friends of Ray.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;font-weight: bold;font-style: italic">What we've been doing in school:</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold;font-style: italic">Science:</span>
This week we'll be checking out the changing of the leaves. Today we enjoyed throwing leaves in the air and letting the wind carry them. The children are fascinated by the swirling leaves as the wind hits the sides of the building and forms a vortex. This is a great way to learn about wind currents. There's also a song we're learning based on a Christina Rosetti poem: "Who Has Seen the Wind?" (Rosetti was a 19th century poet)
<em>"Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing by.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing through."</em>

So we talk about what senses we need to perceive the wind. Can we see it? Can we taste it? Can we hear it? Can we smell it? Can we feel it? What sense do we use to perceive a rainbow? A song? Baking cookies? A lemon? Sometimes we use a combination of senses, sometimes one of our senses is more important in perception than the others. This is a game you can play with your child at home or walking around.

We have also started collecting natural objects outside and bringing them in to sort. There are many ways to sort  things. We'll be learning about different <span style="font-style: italic;text-decoration: underline">attributes</span> of the things we find outside.

<span style="font-weight: bold;font-style: italic">Literacy:</span>
This week we'll also be putting up our <span style="font-style: italic">"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"</span> tree with your child's initial name letter. We hope you'll help your child understand their most important letter as they begin to start writing their name.

As part of <span style="font-weight: bold">getting to know each other</span>, we're learning about each other's names. I've enclosed an attachment with a homework assignment for you all - to write a letter to your child explaining how and why you chose the name for him or her that you did. I'll enclose a copy of this in your folder as well.

We'll also start getting ready for our participation in the national Read for the Record on October 8 where  we'll join children across the country and read <span style="font-weight: bold">"Very Hungry Caterpillar."</span> All of our children will receive a copy of the book and we'll have lots of caterpillar activities that day.

We're also learning the alphabet song and hand signs for each letter.

<span style="font-weight: bold;font-style: italic">Math:</span>
For <span style="font-weight: bold">math</span> we'll be talking about how old we each are. The children will make an age chart and an age collage. Basic number sense is one of the main foundations for all math learning. We'll be doing lots of counting between 0 and 5. Since all the children are between 3 and 5 years old, age is a great way to start this. Number sense has several parts to it.
1) rote counting - this is the easiest. Most children can rote count to 10, 11 or 12. They often have problems with the teens (totally understandable - the names for the teen numbers are illogical!)
2) one-to-one correspondence - each object gets counted and counted only once. Our younger children may have trouble with this concept. You can help reinforce this by having them help set the table (each family member gets 1 plate, 1 set of silverware, 1 glass, etc.).
3) quantity - when we're counting, the last number we say is the quantity. This is a very difficult concept for preschool children, especially younger ones. When we say, "How many are there?" Your child might count them. When you ask again, "So how many are there all together?" They might start counting them all over again. This child does not have a sense of quantity.
4) order - it doesn't matter how objects are counted, the total number remains the same.

<span style="font-weight: bold;font-style: italic">Art:</span>
We'll be learning about using crayons this week as a tool. Today some children did leaf rubbings and learned a different way to hold a crayon. We'll learn about straight and squiggly lines as well as other things we can do with crayons.

<span style="font-weight: bold;font-style: italic">Music:</span>
We're continuing to learn new songs. Each day a student chooses a song for us all to sing. We also sing songs as we move down the halls to go outside or go to a special class. I sing lullabies to the children as they go to sleep as well. And of course, we end each day (just before nap) by singing "The Garden Song," Here's the words to the refrain:

<em>"Inch by inch,
Row by row.
I'm gonna make my garden grow.
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground.
Inch by inch,
Row by row,
Someone bless these seeds I sow.
Someone warm them from below
As the rain comes tumbling down."</em>
(ask your child to teach you the hand signs for this)

I hope you've all been enjoying our classroom as much as we have. Please feel free to spend a little time with us, in the morning as we do our journals and read with our 3rd grade buddies, at lunch time (12:30), in the afternoons after naptime reading and playing with us. Have a great week!

Jane