November 2015 Parent Page

 
Recycle your Candy in November
  We will be participating in The Great Candy Collection, a collection of excess Halloween Candy.  The excess candy will be donated to our troops and will be collected by the Health, Green Schools organization that we work with.  If you want to rid your house of unwanted candy, send in a sack during carpool the week after Halloween.  Please wrap it up so that your child won’t recognize it!
 
Nov. 23 - 27                        Thanksgiving Holidays
We have a whole week off for Thanksgiving Holidays. Class parties are listed on individual class calendars. Holidays for Christmas are 12/17-Jan.4.  Have a safe and fun time with your family. 
 
Food Drive
The St Andrew United Methodist Men are collecting food for area families in need.  They are putting together boxes with the items listed below.  We would like our students to have the opportunity to participate by bringing items for the boxes.  Please send in one or more items from the list.  It is OK to send it in your child’s bag.  Take a moment to talk to your child about giving.  Any time before November 18 is OK.
 
14-16oz can of Fruit                             1 bag Sugar                              Box of Spaghetti Noodles
Cans of Beans                                       Bottle of Syrup                         Jar of Spaghetti Sauce1 14-16oz
Canned Corn                                         1 bag Rice                                 Box of Bisquick
Canned Soup                                         1 jar of Peanut Butter               Bottle of Fruit Juice
1 jar of Jelly                                        1 (packet) of Gravy                   Box of Macaroni & Cheese
Box of Instant Oatmeal                         Box of Quart/Gallon Ziploc Bags
                                               
 
Immunization and Health Forms     Thank you for turning these in to us so promptly.  Every time your child gets a shot, remember to ask for an updated Immunization Form (Form 3231).  If you have NOT provided these forms please make it a priority to do so immediately.
 
Chapel Activities
This month we will be talking about Moses, the ‘baby-in-the-basket’, the law-giver, the leader in the escape from Egypt.  We hope you will follow-up with your 3, 4, or 5 year old.
 
 
Keeping Well
Please practice good health habits as we approach cold & flu season.  We continue to use ‘magic soap’ as the students arrive and we wash hands frequently during the day.  We recommend that you keep antibiotic wipes or hand sanitizer in the car to minimize germs coming home on your child’s hands.  Please watch for signs of illness and keep your child home when necessary.   We are being especially careful this year and sending children home if we have any doubts about illness.
 
 
 
See the following note from Ms. Jessi, assistant teacher in the 2’s with Ms. Becky.
“Recently, I went on a Mission Trip to Haiti with St. Andrew UMC and Sixes UMC. While in Haiti, we had medical and vision clinics, staffed a pharmacy and had VBS with many children.
It was an amazing and eye-opening experience! While I was in Haiti, I had the opportunity to visit a school that is partially funded by St. Andrew UMC. I was surprised when given a tour that they have 2-5 year olds at their school! But, when I walked in to the classrooms, they had no toys to play with except one or two large blocks each. I decided right then and there to start a toy drive for these children.
I am asking for your help. I am looking for gently used “table toys” for 2-5 year olds. They need to be able to use these on a table because the classrooms are very small.  I am looking for puzzles, large Lego or Duplo blocks, wooden blocks, sorting and stacking toys, lacing beads, plastic animals, or anything else that your children like to play with at a table.  If you would like to donate, please send the items to school with your child. Please label them “Toys for Haiti” and send them in by November 13.  Another group will delivering them so no shipping costs!”
 
 
Learning Through Play
            We believe that children learn best through play both at home and at school.  Note these points from Exploring Play, a text we’ve been reviewing at our staff meetings. 
Play means being in an active, alert, non-stressed frame of mind.  Children at play are in the ‘flow’, focused on the activity not a specific goal.  This state of mind supports children’s creativity and is ideal for learning new skills.Play is guided by mental rules.  It has structure, which derives from the rules in the player’s mind.Play benefits physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.  In play, children are relaxed and engaged.  They solve problems and negotiate as they play with other children or with adults modeling play.  They learn to regulate their own behavior.It is never play versus learning but play and learning.