This Week in MWF Pre-K!
Good evening, Families!
What a gorgeous weekend! I hope you all enjoyed this beautiful weather!
This week we will continue learning about opposites and talking about how to be a good friend.
Monday we will review what we have learned about the caterpillar life cycle and make our own books about it. We will also finish putting together our huge butterflies!
Wednesday please dress your child in old clothes, as we will be using acrylic paints. We will be working on our Mother’s Day gifts that day, so if you are working and you don’t want to see your gift, choose yard or block room so you won’t be with our small group. :) Wednesday we will also begin talking about birds.
Friday we will make our own bird feeders to take home. We will also bake cookies and freeze them for the May 2nd Art Show.
This week I will begin sending home “cutting kits.” These are kits with different types of paper, scissors and glue. I have four of them and will give each child an opportunity to bring one home to use until the next school day. Please remember to return them the next school day so everyone gets a chance. Also, if you do not want your child to bring one home, please email me and let me know.
Please remember to apply sunscreen to your child before school this week. We’re going to have lots of fun outside!!
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!
Warmly,
Tess
Reminder of upcoming events!
* This Wednesday night (April 24th) is our last General Meeting at the San Ramon Library, 7:00 -8:00.
* This Saturday (April 27th) is a Maintenance Day at our school for those that need to do their hours or just come help.
* Thursday May 2nd is the VPPS Art Show-6:30-8:00
Summer Camp Registration Now Open
Open to all VPP students (including incoming and outgoing) and their friends.
See our “Summer Camp” Page, under “Programs and Tuition” for details.
This Week in MWF Pre-K!
Good evening!
Wow- what a beautiful weekend!! I hope you are all enjoying it.
I wanted to tell you that last Friday we had SO MUCH FUN making our own science experiments during small groups! It was amazing – they were so happy and having a blast (no pun intended!) We used baking soda, vinegar, soapy water, water color, shaving cream and lots of glitter! Each child had their own try with beakers, test tubes, eye droppers, etc. They really got into their scientist roles. We had lots of amazing, sparkly explosions!
This week we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday!! I think he would be 109 years old! Lots of Dr. Seuss books will be out, and we will read a few in our small groups. This is a great introduction to rhyming! We will also do some really fun Dr. Seuss activities during free choice and in small groups.
Monday, one star group will read Cat in the Hat and then try balancing a cup, a small sandbox rake, “milk,” books, a fish, a toy ship and a little toy man! The other star group will read Ten Apples Up On Top and then try balancing a stack of bean bags and an apple on their heads! Wednesday we will do the same thing, but switch groups so they all have the opportunity to do both activities without rushing.
Friday for small groups we will make Oobleck at the outdoor table – super fun to play with! And in the kitchen we’ll make Dr. Seuss ice cream hats! Does anyone have a copy of Dr. Seuss’ Bartholomew and the Oobleck that we could borrow Friday? If so, I’d love to have it by Wednesday so I can pre-read it in case I need to “shorten” it.
I’m looking forward to our festive week!
Warmly,
Tess
This Week in MWF Pre-K!
Good evening, Families!
Well, I think I jinxed the good weather when I sent out my last note! Hope you are all enjoying the rain and hail! 
It was definitely a good day for puddle stomping…
Tomorrow we will have a visit from Aditi’s dad (Tues/Thurs family), Dr. Goyal, who is a pediatric dentist in San Ramon. He will teach the children about dental health and what they can expect when visiting the dentist.
It will be a “backwards day,” with our group meeting with Dr. Goyal, then snack, then free choice time.
Friday during small groups, the children will have the opportunity to create their own science experiments. We will work five to a table and they will each have a tray and a variety of science tools and ingredients available to them. It should be a lot of fun!
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!
Warmly,
Tess
2013-2014 Registration NOW OPEN
Registration is NOW OPEN for the 2013-2014 School Year!!!
To register, you must have Toured Our School and received a Registration Form & General Info Policy. Submit a completed registration form plus your registration fee of $60 and first month’s (September) tuition (we can accept checks or cash). Families may drop off registration during school hours*. We will begin accepting registration from the general public on February 4. Please note that registration cannot be accepted before the dates listed above. Please find the registration envelope on the table just outside the front door of the school. You will take the lowest number sticker, put it on your form and place the form, with payment, in the envelope.
If you have any questions please contact Molly Matthews at info [at] valleyparent [dot] org
* School Hours: Mon-Thurs 9-3:30; Fridays 9-12
License # 073400683
This Week in Pre-K!
Good evening!
It’s very late, but I just wanted to give a quick summary of what we will be doing this week.
First, some background information – which I guess isn’t so quick!
As you know, the children have been talking a lot about dreams and are interested in that subject. When we talked about Martin Luther King, we talked about “awake dreams” – how Martin Luther King had a dream for the world – like wishes. (This is a big concept, but we talk and they are catching on.) We then thought about our wishes for the world. They are hanging on the window above the play table near the science area. There are wishes for everybody to be nice (like Frankenstein!), to be friends and hold hands, for no more sickness, to be brave (like Merrida from Brave!), that everyone has good dreams, that everyone gets to have a unicorn, that everyone has food to eat, etc. Last Friday we talked about how we can make our dreams for the world come true. With the common thread, we decided to have a food drive for the Contra Costa Food Bank. (…… You have to be brave to move forward and help out in the world. It is nice to be a good friend to those in need. Having healthy food in their bellies will help children avoid illness, have good dreams, and play and imagine things that children imagine – like unicorns!) Wow, a food drive could solve a lot of problems!
Our food drive will officially start Thursday, as the bins are being delivered some time tomorrow. Tomorrow in our small groups, we will make posters to hang out by the bins, and later tomorrow I will send an email inviting the whole school to join us in our food drive. Please don’t bring any food tomorrow, as we need to get the posters done and everything ready first. Then they will be excited to bring food on Friday – or any time until the 15th of February, when the bins will be picked up. …… We will also read a really fun book tomorrow – a new one that Sarah brought in after the break. They take part in the story – super fun!
Friday we will read The Mitten Tree, a book about acts of kindness. Then we will make paper mittens with dictation about kind things we can do. We will also do a fun activity with our names!
I hope you all are doing well. We have been blowing get well wishes to all of our sick friends – and our lucky friends on vacation!
See you in the morning!
Tess
This Week in MWF Pre-K!
Dear Families,
I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and the beautiful sunshine! I enjoyed seeing some of you at the pancake breakfast Saturday. :)
This week we will continue with the Gingerbread Man story. We will use sequencing cards to retell the story and then talk about the ending and how we could change it. (They don’t like the ending. The fox eats the gingerbread man!) Then they will have the opportunity to create their own individual Gingerbread Stories – and give them happier endings if they choose! ….We discussed the ending quite a bit and thought that we could recreate the gingerbread man by making another batch of cookies ….maybe. So, Monday we will cut out and bake our own gingerbread people and Wednesday we will decorate them. They can then eat them or take them home.
We will also use our cutting, glueing and puzzle skills to cut shapes and create a flat paper gingerbread house. And Friday we will make our famous Valley Parent Gingerbread Houses out of graham crackers, frosting and yummy decorations!
Friday we will also continue with balloon science outside during free choice. Last Friday we were amazed as the bubbles created from vinegar and baking soda filled up our balloons!
And we will continue working on name and letter recognition throughout the week. They are enjoying our name version of the BINGO song and are starting to talk about common letters in each other’s names!
I’m looking forward to a fun filled week!
(I wonder where Gingy will by hiding tomorrow??)
Tess
This Week in MWF Pre-K!
Hello Families,
I hope you all stayed warm and dry this weekend! My family and I had a nice, cozy weekend at home. 
Last week we had a lot of fun with “The Little Red Hen!” We acted it out at least 14 times, as 14 of them wanted to be the Hen! The children did great in each of their roles, even when they were the audience – paying attention and clapping at the end. They really love that story! Each “hen” was able to choose his or her own ending – either sharing the bread or not. It was great! Thank you to the parents who took LOTS of pictures! They are all up on the school picture site. We did bubble experimenting last week, as well. We made bubbles with straws, bubbles with baking soda and colored vinegar, and Friday we blew bubbles out into the rain and learned that bubbles don’t pop in the rain! I think I was more surprised than the kids! They float down and land without breaking on the wet ground. They were beautiful!
This week we will read The Gingerbread Man and continue it with sequencing cards, talk about beginning, middle and end, see it as a felt story and cut out and decorate our own gingerbread person. I will also introduce the children to “Gingy,” our schools own silly gingerbread person who hides in different places each day – the children try to find it! We will continue experimenting with baking soda and vinegar, as they were definitely not wanting to finish with that. We will do a science/art activity with glue, salt and water colors. We will continue with name and letter recognition. And we will begin working on our holiday gifts – but those are a surprise.
Please let me know what holidays you celebrate this time of year so I can be sure to include them in our lesson plans and festivities. You can email me or let me know at drop off or pick up.
Also, if the interest in bubbles keeps up, I’d like to make our own bubble wands. I will need interesting sticks – they can be curved, but strong – not too long, about 12 inches or so. If you notice any when you are out and about, please bring them in. I’ll keep them in a special place until we have enough. I’d like to do it before the winter break.
Thank you, and I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!
Warmly,
Tess
This Week in MWF Pre-K!
Dear Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a nice week in this beautiful weather! My family and I enjoyed a mostly sunny week up in The Sea Ranch on the Sonoma Coast and headed into Healdsburg one day to visit with some good friends. With two teenagers that time together seems precious – and it was wonderful!
This week our class will continue with The Little Red Hen story. Tomorrow we will use sequencing cards to retell the story, and Wednesday we will act it out. Friday we will read another version of the story - Little Red Hen Bakes a Pizza - and we will bake individual mini pizza’s in the kitchen. It was interesting to talk with the children about the Little Red Hen last Friday. They had very strong opinions about The Little Red Hen not sharing her cake – and they had a lot to say about it. Most of them felt strongly that The Little Red Hen should have shared her cake, but a few felt that she was right not to share since her friends didn’t help her. It was fun to see them think about it and try to work it out.
We will also be sorting autumn leaves, reading Leaf Man, and creating our own leaf people or creatures. We will continue our name and letter recognition activities, as well. ….. And our class is very interested in bubbles right now, so we will do some bubble science experiments outside during free choice time this week!
I’ve missed you and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!
Tess
This Week in MWF Pre-K
Good morning, Families!
I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend!
This week we will continue to practice our song to present to you at our Family Thanksgiving Feast on the 14th, talk about autumn leaves, and talk about what it means to be thankful.
Today we will work on our “thankful leaves”, paint the world for “Our Wonderful World” transformation in the library, and create paper people that look just like us.
Wednesday we will create a rainbow out of silk and bleeding tissue paper, and clouds out of paper and cotton – more for “Our Wonderful World.”
Friday we will bake something for our feast and go through an obstacle course that will include bikes in the yard.
Thank you for all of your well wishes last week. I’m feeling much better!
This past Friday we began talking about how we were thankful for our parents – and oh my goodness, are they ever thankful! We have a loving bunch! I’m thankful for all of you, too.
See you soon, Tess