Teddy Bear Picnic

MY BODY- Healthy Living- From exercising to washing hands properly to eating healthy food, Pre-K is beginning to understand how to keep our bodies fit. Some highlights were shopping in our classroom kitchen, making our paper bodies, sorting food, and getting very messy with finger paint and then washing up.

TEDDY BEAR PICNIC- The children had a wonderful time eating outside on the grass. We had lunch with Ms. Lisa class.

Parisa visiting the doctor’s clinic

DOCTOR OFFICE- We visit the doctor on Monday to get our height and weight. We talked about healthy living and different healthy foods.

BROWN DAY- It was nice to see some variety in the dress today and lots of brown “show and tell” items.

UPDATES FOR NEXT WEEK- 

ARTIST OF THE MONTH– The first artist we learned about is Yayoi Kusama from Japan that does exhibitions around the world. One activity she is known for is setting up a room to look like a house and having visitors stick circle stickers around to show that art can be anything.

LIBRARY- Sunday will be our first library day.

 BABY PHOTOS– I have 3 baby photos so far. Please send in or email one baby photo of your child (between 3×5-5×7 size)  for a class activity by October 5th.  

FRUIT AND VEGGIE FEAST– We will continue our healthy living unit next week and Wednesday, Oct. 11th, we ask each student to bring in one fruit or vegetable cut into small pieces to share with the class. We will try them all and graph our favorites.

Have a nice long weekend and look forward to seeing the children on Sunday.

Dear Parents, If you have not done this, please do it today. 

We would like to invite you to attend our Back to School Information Session on Monday October 2nd.

We will be offering two sessions for parents, which we highly recommend and hope you can attend one of them.

The sessions being offered are at:

• 1:00-1:45pm
• 5:15-6:00pm

You must fill out the Back to School Information Form to let your teacher know if you are attending and at which session before noon on Thursday. 

***Important Reply Needed***

The Back to School Information Sessions is not a parent conference time, but rather a session to learn more about our program and the curriculum we use.

Please note if you wish to attend the 1pm session we will be offering child supervision at that time.

We hope these times work well for you and we look forward to seeing all of you on Monday 2nd October,

Sincerely,

The Early Childhood Team.

Just a reminder that tomorrow is BROWN DAY. Have your children wear brown or bring something that is brown with them. See you all tomorrow.

Funny faces of my class.

Back to School Bears– As we introduce our new unit Who We Are and are learning how to become independent, we have fun bear activities incorporated into this learning. Our focus story will be Goldilocks and the Three Bears and we will make and eat porridge, paint bears and end the week with A Teddy Bear Picnic. On Sunday 24th, your child may bring a teddy bear or other favorite stuffed toy.

I CAN DO IT, YES I CAN!– This week was a full one where we took every opportunity to teach them the routine and how to use school supplies. And it all was done in a fun way! They are beginning to learn how to unpack their backpacks in the morning, how to pack up lunch bags, how to tidy toys, and the use of art materials. EVERYTHING has a specific way and they are doing well learning to do it independently!

 BEARY FUN- While learning how to do all these things, we had fun with bears. Some of our repeated readings were Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? , Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Going on a Bear Hunt.

Reed loved the porridge.

THE THREE BEARS- Today the children mixed porridge, (oatmeal) that we microwaved and got to eat.  Some children had 2 bowls! And almost everyone tried it. We also acted out the story.

NO SCHOOL TOMORROW -OCT. 21st.

HOMEWORK– Please take time to look through the PHOTOS with your child on the side bar from the blog. Enjoy the weekend!

Next Week:

SUNDAY: will be our teddy bear/stuffed animal/doll to bring for our Teddy Bear Picnic on Sunday.  The children will bring their teddy bears to school and we will have lunch outside.

Show and Tell– Next week, we will introduce our Show and Tell time. Each day we allow students to bring in one small toy to share with the class. Please help your child choose one toy/book/item a few times a week. Please make sure it is small, only ONE a day, and they must keep them in their backpacks until we come into the classroom. (No toys/items on the playground.)

COLOR OF THE MONTH -BROWN DAY– Thursday, Sept.28 is our first color day! Please help your child find something brown to wear on this day. The children do not have to wear their uniforms. But please make sure they can use the toilet easily in whatever clothes they wear. If you don’t have brown clothes, it’s fine to have them just pick out something brown to share for show and tell on Thursday.

YELLOW SHIRTS: OCTOBER 5th– Wear your Yellow shirts until the 5^th of Oct. On October 8th kids will start wearing their normal white uniform.

BABY PHOTO – Please send in one baby photo (under 1 year) of your child by October 5th for an activity we will do. It should be just one photo, 3×5 to 5×7 size, and not in a frame. We will keep the photos here and use them in the portfolio. You have the option to email me the photo if this is easier.

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR– On this site, you will find the updated September calendar with a few new additions. Each month we will adding new information which will be helpful for the many “special days” we have in Pre-K.

Dear parents

Just a reminder, drop off is between 7:35am-7:50am and our school day ends at 12:45pm.

If parents, nannies or drivers are dropping kids off in the morning before 7:30 then they most stay on the playground with the child until teacher come out. An adult must be present not the sibling of the child. Also the children can not be in the classroom in the morning.

Thank you again.

The past 2 days have been wonderful.  I am so glad I got to meet my little ones and their families. I look forward to having all of my students together on Sunday. Here are a few photos of the students present over the past 2 full days. See you on Sunday!   

It has been so exciting meeting my new students and lovely parents this week. We are off to a GREAT START for sure.

From here on, I will only post class information and weekly updates on this blog. Should I need you, of course I will email, and you can do the same… lwaldo@uasdubai.ae

Each week I will give a little summary of what we are doing in PreK-LW, along with photos from all week. The photos can be found on the main page of the blog, under the box to the right, labeled FLICKR PHOTOS. It should take you to my FLICKR account, which includes pics of my class.

Remember ALL 17 students should return to school on Sunday, September 17. You may drop off on the playground, as early as 7:30. Please arrive by 7:55. Even if there are tears, just give a quick goodbye and we will have extra hands to help comfort. It allows your child to feel confident, when they are in a solid daily routine. Pickup is at 12:45 please be on time, your children have had a full day and are ready to go home.

Also, remember to send back their folder when I send it home.

OUR CLASS T-SHIRTS ARE HERE!!! I WILL SEND HOME 2  YELLOW T-SHIRTS ON SUNDAY. PLEASE BEGIN WEARING THESE EVERY DAY UNTIL OCTOBER 5! ACCOUNTS WILL CHARGE YOU 50AED.

Thursday, September 21 is Islamic New Year, and therefore school will be CLOSED.

Dear Parents of PreK and KG1 Students,

Thank you for your support and flexibility this past week during Student Orientation. The Early Childhood (EC) staff feels it has been a great success! EC Classes begin on Sunday, September 17th . We look forward to kicking off the school year with your child and family! Wanted to let you know T-shirts are in and will be given out on Sunday to your child.

Tuesday, September 19th is the UAS’s first Early Dismissal Tuesday. Based upon EY family feedback, EY classes (PreK and KG1) will have a regular schedule on Early Dismissal Tuesdays. Classes will be dismissed at the usual 12:45 time.

Sincerely,
Crystal Hanna, EC Coordinator
David Dorn, ES Principal

Welcome Early Years Parents!  My name is Kevin Fields and I am the Early Years School Counselor for Grades PreK-1.  I’m excited to welcome back the familiar faces from last year and for those of you who are new to the UAS Community, I am glad your child is here.   I hope to develop a lasting and helpful relationship with all of you to ensure your student’s academic success.

I often encounter parents who are unsure of the distinct role of the school counselor, particularly in the elementary school.  For many adults the only interaction they have had with school counselors have been at the secondary level; connecting to get information about class scheduling and college admissions.  Although that role is often still the same at the secondary level, in recent years it has grown to encompass more, and the role of the Primary Grade School Counselor is vastly different.

School Counselors are educators that directly, and indirectly provide students with social, emotional, and behavioral instruction.  Much recent research has found a strong link between student’s social-emotional skills and their success academically.

In the early years program I provide the following student supports:

• In-classroom social-emotional lessons to all students
• Small groups for students whom need additional social, emotional, and behavioral learning instruction (grades KG2-1)
• Brief 1:1 individual social, emotion, and behavioral instruction and/or personal counseling
• In classroom student observation and coaching
• School-wide behavioral systems supervision
• Parent consultation
• Staff and parent training around social-emotional learning

If you have a particular concern about your child and would like some guidance or suggestions on how to respond, please know that I am resource to help.  Please send me an email to schedule an appointment.  I would also direct you to the UAS Elementary Counseling Blog that I share with Ms. Jen, the school counselor for Grades 2-5.  We often post information, and parenting strategies pertinent to immediate school issues.  The blog can be accessed at http://sites.uasdubai.ae/escounselors/.

The last thing I would like to mention are suggestions for the first few weeks of school, particularly the first few days.  For many young children, leaving mom and dad can be very stressful.  Often parents share the anxiety with their child.  It is very normal for children and parents to be very upset about leaving their separating the first couple of weeks of school.

On the morning of day one, you may find your child having a significant emotional reaction to your departure.  My advice is to plan ahead.  Here are some strategies for a healthy separation:

• Talk about the departure well ahead of time and what it will be like
• Come up with a goodbye ritual and routine– a special kind of hug or wave goodbye that you and your child created together. Drop off and pickup routines are the same day in and day out so the child knows what to expect.
• Leave quickly and without fanfare – hanging around after your goodbye is often disconcerting for children and unnecessarily extends the transition into the school environment.
• Be consistent – changing the routine and showing up early or unannounced can confuse your child and restart the feelings of anxiety they experienced earlier.
• Give your child a “kid-friendly” time frame – tell them what to expect about when you will be back to pick them up in developmentally-appropriate language. For instance, “I will be back after you have lunch,” as opposed to “12 o’clock.”

Remember that children take their cue from the emotional reaction of their caregivers.  If you are emanating anxiety and distress during separation, your child will mirror that. Make sure you are emotionally prepared for the potential stress of the situation and exude calmness, confidence, and reassurance to your child.

It is going to be a great school year!  I look forward to seeing returning families and meeting all of our new additions in the first few days of school.

Kind Regards,

Kevin Fields, M.A

UAS Early Years School Counselor

Kevin.Fields@uasdubai.ae