Welcome to Pre-K
Preschool is an important place for children to learn social and academic skills in a fun and relaxed environment.
While at preschool your child will have a variety of experiences to aid with a smooth transition into elementary school.
This will be an eventful year and the children will learn many things about the alphabet, phonics, numbers, reading, math, science, social studies, computers, art, music, Spanish, and Sign Language in an age appropriate manner.
Before entering Pre-K children should be able to do the following things.
1. Say or sing their ABC's in order
2. Count to at least 10
3. Be able to sit and listen to a book being read for at least 10 minutes
4. Name basic colors
5. Name basic shapes
6. Work at least a 12 piece puzzle
7. Recognize their written name
8. Spell their name verbally by saying the letters in their name and begin writing their name
9. Children must be able to use the bathroom by themselves (number one and two)
10. Children must be able to put on their shoes and socks by themselves (sticks and rocks get in shoes from the playground and need to dumped out)
Please have your child wear shoes that velcro, zip, or slip on because shoes that tie take too long and are frustrating to the children.
We do not recommend flip flops or sandals because the mulch on the playground can poke the children’s feet.
Cowboy boots are adorable, but dangerous for pre-k.
Children get kicked (accidentally while walking under the monkey bars), stepped on, or have their fingers smashed by them all the time.
Boots are hot and children want to take them off inside.
Children must keep their shoes on all day.
Comfortable tennis shoes are great for our adventures (long walks we take on our 30 acres of school property).
We play outside and do messy art projects so please have your child wear play clothes to school.
Elastic waistbands are preferred because children have accidents trying to unfasten difficult snaps and buttons.
Please keep an extra pair of clothes in your child's backpack just in case of an accident or messy spill.
I teach using thematic units.
Every week we will learn about a different subject.
I have a wide variety of thematic units ranging from dinosaurs to dolphins that are engaging and keep the children very interested.
I will be posting a new "Letter of the Week" every week on our school website.
I will also email the “Letter of the Week” to all parents every week.
The letter will contain information about weekly themes, questions to ask your child about our unit, vocabulary words, Spanish and Sign Language words, parties, field trips, and class events.
I also communicate using my google classroom.
There is a free google classroom app that makes accessing my google classroom very easy.
I post pictures and videos of our class on my google classroom.
Your child will get a school gmail and password you can use to access my google classroom.
We will be learning about the alphabet this year.
Please go over our “alphabet letter” each week with your child.
They need to visually recognize the Upper and lower case, make the sound, and do the Sign Language of each letter.
Pre-K children are still young, but should be able to identify the letters of the alphabet and their sounds by the end of the school year.
I have pages of fun alphabet learning links on my class website.
Your child will love exercising while learning the alphabet.
Reading to children is extremely important in helping children learn how to read.
In over 1,000 studies conducted about "how children learn to read" the results indicated the number one way children learn to read is by being continually read to by an adult.
Please spend at least 10 to 15 minutes a day reading to your child.
Your child will bring home a book to read every night.
Please write down the title of the book on your child’s reading log and return the book and log every day.
Children are very excited to get a new book daily.
We will be learning rhyming sounds.
For example, we will learn the "at" sound and practice saying rhyming words like cat, hat, bat, and rat.
Research has shown that learning rhyming words and phrases can be very beneficial in helping children learn how to read.
Studies have shown that children who learn Mother Goose Rhymes learn to read much faster and easier than children who do not.
The children will learn some Spanish and Sign Language in Pre-K.
It's incredible how quickly they pick it up and are always eager to learn.
We love doing fun and messy art projects and science experiments.
Because the students are interested in what they are doing and having such a great time, I rarely have any discipline problems.
However, they do come up occasionally and I start out using positive messages, but if those do not work students may have to go to time out for a few minutes.
Once students become familiar with our routine and know what is expected of them they usually act in an appropriate manner.
Students are engaged and busy in our class and that helps with behavior.
The rules are: 1. Stay with your teacher. 2. Follow directions. 3. Be kind.
There are many things you can do to help your child become a great student and life long learner.
Please have your child color and practice writing their name.
It is so important to read to your child every day.
Please check the school website and read our class "Letter of the Week" so you can talk to your child about all the amazing things they are learning and ask them questions.
Please have your child watch engaging learning shows like Super Why, Word World, Cat in the Hat, Sid the Science Kid, and Wild Kratts on PBS.
PBS Kids also has excellent learning games on the computer.
There are many great alphabet identification games your child can play on the ipad, computer, or phone.
Akili has excellent alphabet, number, and reading games you can download for free from the google app store.
Pretty Water has learning games and I have a page explaining how to access the games.
I have several pages that have links to excellent learning shows on Youtube.
I have pages listing learning shows on Netflix, Disney Plus, and other channels.
It is incredible how much the children can learn!
We have a great time in Pre-K and I eagerly anticipate meeting you and your child and having a fantastic year!
If you have any questions or concerns please email me at jjones@prettywater.k12.ok.us
THE MAIN THING WE DO IN PRE-K IS HAVE A GREAT TIME!
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