October 2013
It’s hard to believe we’ve already had a month of school. All the children have been settling into the routine, exploring the classroom, and making new friends. We’ve been working hard to learn names and figure out which friends come to school which days!
We’ve been lucky with the weather so far and have made it outside every day. Please prepare your child for any weather. Boots are a great asset for the children who have been enjoying digging and driving trucks through the mud, and mittens will become important as the weather cools. It’s a great idea to label your child’s outdoor clothing. A number of children have similar jackets and boots and labeling avoids confusion for everyone.
When we can’t get outside due to weather and end the day upstairs dancing, please try to gather your child’s belongings and meet us upstairs. It helps eliminate congestion on the stairs, making it safer for everyone.
Remember, there’s no school on Friday, October 11th and Monday, October 14th for Columbus Day weekend. Hopefully we’ll have wonderful weather for the long weekend!
Don’t miss the next parent committee meeting – Tuesday, October 22nd at 6:00 pm. We’re going to try something different and start at 6 pm and have cheese pizza (no need to cook dinner!) Hopefully this will make it easier for families to join us. It’s a good way to meet other parents, hear about what’s happening, and have input about the program.
Fundraising: We’ll be starting our first fundraiser of the year soon. Watch your cubby for the fall bulb order form. This is an easy (and beautiful) fundraiser for TCNS. Just share the order form with friends and families. TCNS receives half of the money collected. Orders will be due after the Columbus weekend. Copies of donation letters and list of past silent auction donors will also be available in the next few weeks.
Fieldtrips: The TTh class will take a trip to Jesse’s grandparents orchard on Seneca Rd in Trumansburg on October 1st. We’ll meet at the orchard at 9:30 have a tour and snack then walk back to TCNS. On Halloween children are invited to wear their costumes to school and we’ll have a parade to Juniper Manor. The residents will share snack with us, and we’ll walk back to TCNS. Any MWF child who would like to show off their costume the day before Halloween is welcome to bring it in on the 30th.
October Activities: Our themes this month will be apples, colors, sunflowers, pumpkins and Halloween. We’ll start the month by reading Apples Here by Will Hubbell. We’ll talk about apples, do a taste test, cut our own apple, and make applesauce. Next we’ll read White Rabbits Color Book by Alan Baker and I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont. We’ll do some color mixing , melted crayon, and even make our own crayons. Then we’ll read This is the Sunflower by Lola Schafer and make sunflower bird feeders and button sunflowers. At the end of the month we’ll talk about the life cycle of a pumpkin and Halloween.
Terrific Twos: Welcome fall and welcome October! We will welcome fall with books that will help to bring the outside into our classroom. We will start with Fresh Fall Leaves by Betty Franco and make our own fall tree. We will try apple stamping to go with We Love Fall by Diane Muldrow. Next, We’re Going On A Leaf hunt by Steve Metzger and collage with tissue paper. We will continue with It’s Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall and introduce painting to our classroom by painting a pumpkin and decorating a jack-o-lantern. We will end our month on Halloween by reading Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley and make masks. We do ask that you do not send Halloween costumes into our classroom. They are too distracting and sometimes fearful for our twos. Thank you for understanding. Also, keep practicing independent dressing, especially outside clothes. It is very helpful, as we encourage the “flip” with the jacket and trying to slide shoes on. We are having a great start to the year! Thanks for all your help with cleaning and the yummy snacks. We have a great group this year!
Trumansburg Community Nursery School 