Message from the Principal
Dear Merryhill Families,
In my opinion — this is the most wonderful time of the year. This is when everyone really starts to feel the year end race to the finish line in one way or another. Whether it’s finishing up your thesis for school or fiscal close, everyone starts watching their calendar days fly by! I call it wonderful because it brings a number of festivities! You will want to keep an eye on the calendar of events, which I have updated until February.
This month kicks off the excitement with a few new items including “Boo Treats” and Kids Can Food Drive. As we did last year, we will be wearing PINK every Tuesday, Pre-K1 & 2 Field Trip, Parents Night Out, and Trick-R-Table before our Halloween Party, October 30th. A number of these events require sign ups or permission slips, so please keep an eye out for those, as well! We do not want any of the students to miss out on anything!
Parent Reports will also be going out this month, so please take the time to review your child’s report and ask any questions or share any comments you may have. This is one of 3 reports that will come home. The scale of development ranges from Introduced, Beginning, Developing, and Mastery. Most children will not have shown mastery in a number of skills at this point of the year and some skills have not even been introduced yet due to the structure of our curriculum. So again, please ask any questions that you may have and we would be happy to help you understand.
Major thank you goes out to everyone who participated in the most recent fundraisers! We will continue to offer opportunities to participate in school fundraising in the future. If you’re unable to participate in the fundraisers, please try to contribute to our upcoming Kids Can Food Drive. Every donation helps, and it will directly relate to the lessons we are teaching the children about community and caring about others.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about anything regarding the program or Merryhill, please feel free to reach me at your convenience via email or phone at 530-753-9210.
Sincerely,
Jherica McEndree
Principal
Calendar of Events:
- EVERY TUESDAY: WEAR PINK
- October 5-9: Fire Prevention Week
- October 12: Kids Can Food Drive
- October 16:
- Boo Treats Due!
- Pre-K 1 & 2 Field Trip to Bobby Dazzlers (Permission slips due: October 13)
- Parent’s Night Out (6:00-9:00 PM) — Sign Up Today!
- October 21: Pumpkin Exploration & Pumpkin Drop
- October 23: Cultural Study — Pablo Picasso
- October 26-30th: SPIRIT WEEK
- Monday: Favorite Sports Jersey Day
- Tuesday: Wear Pink Day!
- Wednesday: Wear Your Class Color Day
- Infants/Toddlers: Purple
- Beginner 1: Yellow
- Beginner 2: Blue
- Intermediates: Red
- Pre-K1: Green
- Pre-K2: Black
- Thursday: Crazy Dress Day!
- Friday: Wear Your Costumes Day
- October 30th: Trick-R-Table Event (Sign Up to Participate at the Front Desk!) 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Save the Dates: (More Details to Follow)
- November 11: SCHOOL CLOSED
- November 20: Friendship Feast & Festival (5:00-7:00 PM)
- November 26-27: SCHOOL CLOSED
- December 12: Parent’s Day Out (10:00-2:00 PM)
- December 18: Polar Express Party with Santa Claus (3:00 PM)
- Students will perform songs, and Santa will be available for pictures.
- December 24: SCHOOL CLOSED @ 12:00 PM
- December 25: SCHOOL CLOSED
- December 31: SCHOOL CLOSED @ 12:00 PM
- January 1: SCHOOL CLOSED
News from Our Classrooms
Infant Classroom
Hello Infant Parents!
We would like to start off by introducing our three newest friends into our infant class, Josie, Cole, and Angela. The month of October will be so much fun. We will be exploring various experiences involving leaves and pumpkins. Fall will bring cooler days so be sure to bring in warm clothes as backups. Bringing a jacket would be great so that we can play outside and ride in the buggy. Every Tuesday in the month of October is WEAR PINK DAY in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. The last week of October is Merryhill Fall Spirit Week so be sure and see the calendar for all the fun activities, including a Trick-R-Table event from 10-11. Feel free to come in costumes.
Have a great October!
Ms. Hayley & Ms. Nati
Toddler Classroom
Hello Toddler Parents!
With this new month, we welcome in the changing colors of the leaves, cooler weather, and fun fall festive activities!! In this month, we are bringing awareness to anti-bullying as well as breast cancer awareness. With that being said, every Tuesday of the month we ask that everyone wears pink! The first week of the month is Fire Prevention Week. We will talk to our toddlers about fire and show them how to be safe. Coming up the second week of October is the Kid’s can food drive. Any donations would be greatly appreciated! And guess what parents? We are having another Parent’s Night Out October 16th from 6:00 to 9:00pm. You are welcome to bring your toddlers for a fun night at school — sign up at the front desk. Lastly in the month of October, we are having a fall spirit week! Make sure to check the calendar for what the theme of the day is!
We are all very excited for this upcoming month and the toddlers will be too!
Have a great day parents!!!
Ms. Kayla K. and Ms. Olga
Beginner 1 Classroom
We would like to start off by saying FALL is here! We are excited to bring a very good month of October to these growing students. We are looking forward to having more fun in the next couple of months.
In regards to our Links to Learning Curriculum, we are introducing numbers, the square, circle, triangle, and rectangle as shapes and vocabulary, and we will use orange and black as the colors of the month. We will incorporate Links to Learning skills into all of our fun learning activities such as recognizing common colors, and using our words to express our needs and wants. We will do lots of activities inside and outside, too. As weather begins to change, the children will learn about the leaves turning colors and the air outside getting colder while we take nature walks.
A few reminders with the weather changing, please make sure your child has extra sets of weather appropriate clothes in their cubby just in case of accidents, along with a blanket and sheet for nap time. We are very happy to have such a great set of students and parents and are looking forward to much more fun learning in the Beginner 1 class.
Ms. Li and Ms. Francis
Fall is here & we have so much to look forward to this spooky fun month! We ended the month of September with new faces. We would like to give a big warm welcome to our new friends Humoud & Ryann. This month we will have fun with our pumpkin exploration and will also focus on weather changes & experiment with the fall leaves. We are so excited for the new Month of October!
This month we will be reading “Fire Engines, Red leaf, Yellow Leaf & Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin”. We will have many fun actives from practicing our colors to describing textures, & best of all we will experiment with the insides of a pumpkin, if any families would like to donate pumpkins for our class experiments we could use pumpkins of every size and would greatly appreciate it. We will also be having a “Not So scary” Halloween party! Keep an eye out for “monsters” & “Ghost & a very frightening signup sheet!
The season has changed & hopefully soon we get some rain! We ask our Beginners II mommies & daddies to make sure to change our friend’s clothes for the appropriate weather. Just a little reminder our friend’s only need 3 outfits. And don’t forget to take home blankets & sheets at the end of every week. We also ask that you please don’t bring toys from home. This month is full of subjects that will broaden our friends little minds and can’t wait to see how our friends grow in the month of October!
Ms. Jalisha, Ms. Linda, & Ms. Amanda
Intermediate Classroom
Hello Intermediate Families, September was such a great month in our classroom. We explored many fun topics including Mexico, Johnny Apple Seed, apples and community helpers. The children are doing a great job remembering our daily routines, classroom playground safety rules and are beginning to hold a writing utensil correctly. In the month of October we will continue to practice mastering past skills as well as introducing new skills such as: tells about an event or picture when asked, counting 1-25, explores size, shape and texture of leaves, engages in clean-up routines including clearing spot after eating, begins to understand what technology is, folding paper in half and learning October Spanish words.
October is going to be a very fun and busy month in our class while we learn about fire safety, farm animals, Peru and Costa Rica just to name a few things. Our books this month will include A Trip to the Firehouse, That week will be filled with fire safety including to learn how to stop, drop and roll and what number to dial if there is ever a fire or emergency. During the week we read Cow’s Cant Fly the children will learn about different farm animals and what their jobs are on the farm. We will continue to explore Hispanic Culture month while learning about Costa Rica and Peru. While exploring Costa Rica the children will learn about rain forests animals and the Blue Morpho butterfly that lives there. For a n art activity the children will make their own Blue Morpho butterfly. While exploring Peru the children will learn about The Nazra Lines and make their own out of sand and glue. The children will also learn about llamas which is an animal seen a lot in Peru. October is also National Anti-Bullying Month which we will celebrate by learning how to be good friends through dramatic activities and reading books. Some of those books include Llama Llama is a Bully, It’s Okay to be Different and The Bad Case of the Strips.
WE have a few dates to remember for this month, Fire Prevention week starts on October 5th and ends the 9th. On October 12th we will begin our Kids can food drive, please look for our donation box! The 16th is parent’s night out, if you wish for a night out while your little ones enjoy a fun night of games, movies and pizza please sign up at the front desk. The week of October 26th-30th is Merryhill Fall Spirit week and Also on the 30th is our annual Trick-R-Table, send your child in their costume on this day. We will also have a party on this day if you would like to donate an item to our party please be on the lookout for the sign- up sheet. Lastly please remember to have at least two extra sets of weather appropriate clothes for your child in case of accidents.
We hope all our families have a great October and we cannot wait to watch our friends continue to learn and grow while having a ton of fun. If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to talk to any of us.
Ms. Kayla, Ms. Hilary, & Ms. Stacy
Pre-Kindergarten 1
Goodbye September, Hello October! We have seen progress in all Pre-K 1 students with their letter recognition and numbers. The students are beginning to sound out words on their own and say the word as they sound it out. As September is ending and the weather is getting colder Pre-K1 Students show excitement about the Holiday coming up in October. We want to continue this excitement and do more hands-on activities. This month is National Anti-Bullying and National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
On October 16 Pre-K class will be going on a fieldtrip to a Pumpkin Patch (Permission Slips go home Monday, October 5th)! The first week is fire Prevention week which we will discuss and explain fire safety hazards and do activities in relation to fire safety.The third week we will discuss and introduce another famous artist, Pablo Picasso. Also, doing more 3 Dimensional pumpkin related activities. The students enjoyed learning about Andy Warhol who’s famous for his Pop-Art so we are excited to introduce our students to another famous artist. Last week of October will be our Merryhill Spirit week and each day is something different. We encourage students to get in the fall spirit.
Ms. Cristina, Ms. Cindy and Ms. Beccah
Pre-Kindergarten 2
Our Links to Learning Spanish curriculum this month will introduce new Octubre vocabulary: Cristobal Colon, Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria, Palos, San Salvador, Cumpleanos, Feliz and Insecto. Mini poster was sent home in your child’s Links to Learning folders at the end of September. We will be focusing on learning fun facts of Christopher Columbus, recognizing insects have six legs, and introducing the concept that each country has a unique flag, as do we. Children will also be reviewing colors vocabulary.
This Fall, children will be focusing on constants with more than one sound: C G S W Y. Our Letter Buddies curriculum we have been working with is a great way for children to practice correct letter formation, along with letter sound(s). The children enjoy tracing letters on their dry erase letter mats, and playing the I-Spy and Spot letter games on the back of their mat.
This month, our class will be having many special snack making experiences. October is a great month to just go wild with all the interesting and unusual recipes I have planned for us, such as: Spider Bites, Jack-o-Lantern Pizzas and Meringue Skeleton Bones! The parent sign up sheet will always be posted on our one and only class door.
Re-use, Reduce! PLEASE save your cardboard egg cartons and toilet paper rolls for our classroom! Many of our projects this month require these items. Plus, it’s a great way to teach the children the theory behind recycling!
Last but not least, our class will be having a Halloween Costume Party the morning of Friday, October 30th. More details on this will be posted closer to the date.
Ms. Jill
News from the Education Department
Exploring Community Helpers & the Roles They Play
This month, our students are gaining a greater understanding of community helper occupations, such as police officers, mail carriers, medical professionals and firefighters. The children have a lot of fun imagining themselves in these important roles, and incorporating toy versions of the uniforms, equipment and vehicles that go with them.
In addition, October is National Fire Prevention Month, so we place a special emphasis on the importance of fire safety and the role of firefighters. Our classroom activities help the children become more comfortable around emergency responders in uniform, and teach them basics about what to do in case of an emergency.
Here are some ways children learn about community helpers in the classroom, as well as activities for you and your child to do at home.
TODDLERS (ages 1-2):
In the classroom: Toddlers are fascinated with dressing up as doctors, police officers and firefighters, because they have distinct uniforms and roles that children can easily understand. During dramatic play, our teachers provide students with costumes and props, and encourage them to choose the role they want to play.
At home: Continue dress-up play by providing your child with various props and costumes. Ask him, “Who do you want to dress-up as?” and “What does that person wear?”
Recommended reading: Whose Hat is This by Sharon Katz Cooper
BEGINNERS (ages 2-3):
In the classroom: Our Beginner students learn about the special vehicles that community helpers use, by playing matching games, reading books, and building vehicles using cardboard boxes.
At home: Go for a drive with your child. Point out vehicles that belong to community helpers, such as a fire truck and a police car. Ask, “Who drives that vehicle?” and “Where might it be going?”
Recommended reading: The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski
INTERMEDIATES (ages 3-4):
In them classroom: During fire safety lessons, many of our schools invite local firefighters to visit. Students explore the tools firefighters use, learn “Stop, Drop and Roll,” and may have the opportunity to tour a fire truck.
At home: Continue exploring fire safety by practicing “Stop, Drop and Roll” with your child. Ask him, “Who puts out fires?” and discuss what he should do if he hears a fire alarm at home.
Recommended reading: The Fire Engine Book by Tibor Gergely
PRE-K/PRE-K 2 (ages 4-5):
In the classroom: Teachers introduce situations when it might be necessary to dial 9-1-1. Students practice finding 9-1-1 on different keypads, such as cell phones and landlines.
At home: Show your child photos of various community helpers and the buildings where they work. Ask him to identify the helpers and their workplaces, and describe the roles the helpers play in our community.
Recommended reading: The Berenstain Bears: Jobs around Town by Jan Berenstain
We provide many opportunities for students to learn about community helpers. By setting this foundation, they become more familiar and comfortable around the people that make their neighborhoods a better place.
– Lauren Starnes, PhD – Director of Early Childhood Education
October Newsletter
Message from the Principal
Dear Merryhill Families,
In my opinion — this is the most wonderful time of the year. This is when everyone really starts to feel the year end race to the finish line in one way or another. Whether it’s finishing up your thesis for school or fiscal close, everyone starts watching their calendar days fly by! I call it wonderful because it brings a number of festivities! You will want to keep an eye on the calendar of events, which I have updated until February.
This month kicks off the excitement with a few new items including “Boo Treats” and Kids Can Food Drive. As we did last year, we will be wearing PINK every Tuesday, Pre-K1 & 2 Field Trip, Parents Night Out, and Trick-R-Table before our Halloween Party, October 30th. A number of these events require sign ups or permission slips, so please keep an eye out for those, as well! We do not want any of the students to miss out on anything!
Parent Reports will also be going out this month, so please take the time to review your child’s report and ask any questions or share any comments you may have. This is one of 3 reports that will come home. The scale of development ranges from Introduced, Beginning, Developing, and Mastery. Most children will not have shown mastery in a number of skills at this point of the year and some skills have not even been introduced yet due to the structure of our curriculum. So again, please ask any questions that you may have and we would be happy to help you understand.
Major thank you goes out to everyone who participated in the most recent fundraisers! We will continue to offer opportunities to participate in school fundraising in the future. If you’re unable to participate in the fundraisers, please try to contribute to our upcoming Kids Can Food Drive. Every donation helps, and it will directly relate to the lessons we are teaching the children about community and caring about others.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about anything regarding the program or Merryhill, please feel free to reach me at your convenience via email or phone at 530-753-9210.
Sincerely,
Jherica McEndree
Principal
Calendar of Events:
Save the Dates: (More Details to Follow)
News from Our Classrooms
Infant Classroom
Hello Infant Parents!
We would like to start off by introducing our three newest friends into our infant class, Josie, Cole, and Angela. The month of October will be so much fun. We will be exploring various experiences involving leaves and pumpkins. Fall will bring cooler days so be sure to bring in warm clothes as backups. Bringing a jacket would be great so that we can play outside and ride in the buggy. Every Tuesday in the month of October is WEAR PINK DAY in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. The last week of October is Merryhill Fall Spirit Week so be sure and see the calendar for all the fun activities, including a Trick-R-Table event from 10-11. Feel free to come in costumes.
Have a great October!
Ms. Hayley & Ms. Nati
With this new month, we welcome in the changing colors of the leaves, cooler weather, and fun fall festive activities!! In this month, we are bringing awareness to anti-bullying as well as breast cancer awareness. With that being said, every Tuesday of the month we ask that everyone wears pink! The first week of the month is Fire Prevention Week. We will talk to our toddlers about fire and show them how to be safe. Coming up the second week of October is the Kid’s can food drive. Any donations would be greatly appreciated! And guess what parents? We are having another Parent’s Night Out October 16th from 6:00 to 9:00pm. You are welcome to bring your toddlers for a fun night at school — sign up at the front desk. Lastly in the month of October, we are having a fall spirit week! Make sure to check the calendar for what the theme of the day is!
We are all very excited for this upcoming month and the toddlers will be too!
Have a great day parents!!!
Ms. Kayla K. and Ms. Olga
Beginner 1 Classroom
We would like to start off by saying FALL is here! We are excited to bring a very good month of October to these growing students. We are looking forward to having more fun in the next couple of months.
In regards to our Links to Learning Curriculum, we are introducing numbers, the square, circle, triangle, and rectangle as shapes and vocabulary, and we will use orange and black as the colors of the month. We will incorporate Links to Learning skills into all of our fun learning activities such as recognizing common colors, and using our words to express our needs and wants. We will do lots of activities inside and outside, too. As weather begins to change, the children will learn about the leaves turning colors and the air outside getting colder while we take nature walks.
A few reminders with the weather changing, please make sure your child has extra sets of weather appropriate clothes in their cubby just in case of accidents, along with a blanket and sheet for nap time. We are very happy to have such a great set of students and parents and are looking forward to much more fun learning in the Beginner 1 class.
Ms. Li and Ms. Francis
Fall is here & we have so much to look forward to this spooky fun month! We ended the month of September with new faces. We would like to give a big warm welcome to our new friends Humoud & Ryann. This month we will have fun with our pumpkin exploration and will also focus on weather changes & experiment with the fall leaves. We are so excited for the new Month of October!
This month we will be reading “Fire Engines, Red leaf, Yellow Leaf & Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin”. We will have many fun actives from practicing our colors to describing textures, & best of all we will experiment with the insides of a pumpkin, if any families would like to donate pumpkins for our class experiments we could use pumpkins of every size and would greatly appreciate it. We will also be having a “Not So scary” Halloween party! Keep an eye out for “monsters” & “Ghost & a very frightening signup sheet!
The season has changed & hopefully soon we get some rain! We ask our Beginners II mommies & daddies to make sure to change our friend’s clothes for the appropriate weather. Just a little reminder our friend’s only need 3 outfits. And don’t forget to take home blankets & sheets at the end of every week. We also ask that you please don’t bring toys from home. This month is full of subjects that will broaden our friends little minds and can’t wait to see how our friends grow in the month of October!
Ms. Jalisha, Ms. Linda, & Ms. Amanda
Intermediate Classroom
Hello Intermediate Families, September was such a great month in our classroom. We explored many fun topics including Mexico, Johnny Apple Seed, apples and community helpers. The children are doing a great job remembering our daily routines, classroom playground safety rules and are beginning to hold a writing utensil correctly. In the month of October we will continue to practice mastering past skills as well as introducing new skills such as: tells about an event or picture when asked, counting 1-25, explores size, shape and texture of leaves, engages in clean-up routines including clearing spot after eating, begins to understand what technology is, folding paper in half and learning October Spanish words.
October is going to be a very fun and busy month in our class while we learn about fire safety, farm animals, Peru and Costa Rica just to name a few things. Our books this month will include A Trip to the Firehouse, That week will be filled with fire safety including to learn how to stop, drop and roll and what number to dial if there is ever a fire or emergency. During the week we read Cow’s Cant Fly the children will learn about different farm animals and what their jobs are on the farm. We will continue to explore Hispanic Culture month while learning about Costa Rica and Peru. While exploring Costa Rica the children will learn about rain forests animals and the Blue Morpho butterfly that lives there. For a n art activity the children will make their own Blue Morpho butterfly. While exploring Peru the children will learn about The Nazra Lines and make their own out of sand and glue. The children will also learn about llamas which is an animal seen a lot in Peru. October is also National Anti-Bullying Month which we will celebrate by learning how to be good friends through dramatic activities and reading books. Some of those books include Llama Llama is a Bully, It’s Okay to be Different and The Bad Case of the Strips.
WE have a few dates to remember for this month, Fire Prevention week starts on October 5th and ends the 9th. On October 12th we will begin our Kids can food drive, please look for our donation box! The 16th is parent’s night out, if you wish for a night out while your little ones enjoy a fun night of games, movies and pizza please sign up at the front desk. The week of October 26th-30th is Merryhill Fall Spirit week and Also on the 30th is our annual Trick-R-Table, send your child in their costume on this day. We will also have a party on this day if you would like to donate an item to our party please be on the lookout for the sign- up sheet. Lastly please remember to have at least two extra sets of weather appropriate clothes for your child in case of accidents.
We hope all our families have a great October and we cannot wait to watch our friends continue to learn and grow while having a ton of fun. If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to talk to any of us.
Ms. Kayla, Ms. Hilary, & Ms. Stacy
Pre-Kindergarten 1
Goodbye September, Hello October! We have seen progress in all Pre-K 1 students with their letter recognition and numbers. The students are beginning to sound out words on their own and say the word as they sound it out. As September is ending and the weather is getting colder Pre-K1 Students show excitement about the Holiday coming up in October. We want to continue this excitement and do more hands-on activities. This month is National Anti-Bullying and National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
On October 16 Pre-K class will be going on a fieldtrip to a Pumpkin Patch (Permission Slips go home Monday, October 5th)! The first week is fire Prevention week which we will discuss and explain fire safety hazards and do activities in relation to fire safety.The third week we will discuss and introduce another famous artist, Pablo Picasso. Also, doing more 3 Dimensional pumpkin related activities. The students enjoyed learning about Andy Warhol who’s famous for his Pop-Art so we are excited to introduce our students to another famous artist. Last week of October will be our Merryhill Spirit week and each day is something different. We encourage students to get in the fall spirit.
Ms. Cristina, Ms. Cindy and Ms. Beccah
Pre-Kindergarten 2
Our Links to Learning Spanish curriculum this month will introduce new Octubre vocabulary: Cristobal Colon, Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria, Palos, San Salvador, Cumpleanos, Feliz and Insecto. Mini poster was sent home in your child’s Links to Learning folders at the end of September. We will be focusing on learning fun facts of Christopher Columbus, recognizing insects have six legs, and introducing the concept that each country has a unique flag, as do we. Children will also be reviewing colors vocabulary.
This Fall, children will be focusing on constants with more than one sound: C G S W Y. Our Letter Buddies curriculum we have been working with is a great way for children to practice correct letter formation, along with letter sound(s). The children enjoy tracing letters on their dry erase letter mats, and playing the I-Spy and Spot letter games on the back of their mat.
This month, our class will be having many special snack making experiences. October is a great month to just go wild with all the interesting and unusual recipes I have planned for us, such as: Spider Bites, Jack-o-Lantern Pizzas and Meringue Skeleton Bones! The parent sign up sheet will always be posted on our one and only class door.
Re-use, Reduce! PLEASE save your cardboard egg cartons and toilet paper rolls for our classroom! Many of our projects this month require these items. Plus, it’s a great way to teach the children the theory behind recycling!
Last but not least, our class will be having a Halloween Costume Party the morning of Friday, October 30th. More details on this will be posted closer to the date.
Ms. Jill
News from the Education Department
Exploring Community Helpers & the Roles They Play
This month, our students are gaining a greater understanding of community helper occupations, such as police officers, mail carriers, medical professionals and firefighters. The children have a lot of fun imagining themselves in these important roles, and incorporating toy versions of the uniforms, equipment and vehicles that go with them.
In addition, October is National Fire Prevention Month, so we place a special emphasis on the importance of fire safety and the role of firefighters. Our classroom activities help the children become more comfortable around emergency responders in uniform, and teach them basics about what to do in case of an emergency.
Here are some ways children learn about community helpers in the classroom, as well as activities for you and your child to do at home.
TODDLERS (ages 1-2):
In the classroom: Toddlers are fascinated with dressing up as doctors, police officers and firefighters, because they have distinct uniforms and roles that children can easily understand. During dramatic play, our teachers provide students with costumes and props, and encourage them to choose the role they want to play.
At home: Continue dress-up play by providing your child with various props and costumes. Ask him, “Who do you want to dress-up as?” and “What does that person wear?”
Recommended reading: Whose Hat is This by Sharon Katz Cooper
BEGINNERS (ages 2-3):
In the classroom: Our Beginner students learn about the special vehicles that community helpers use, by playing matching games, reading books, and building vehicles using cardboard boxes.
At home: Go for a drive with your child. Point out vehicles that belong to community helpers, such as a fire truck and a police car. Ask, “Who drives that vehicle?” and “Where might it be going?”
Recommended reading: The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski
INTERMEDIATES (ages 3-4):
In them classroom: During fire safety lessons, many of our schools invite local firefighters to visit. Students explore the tools firefighters use, learn “Stop, Drop and Roll,” and may have the opportunity to tour a fire truck.
At home: Continue exploring fire safety by practicing “Stop, Drop and Roll” with your child. Ask him, “Who puts out fires?” and discuss what he should do if he hears a fire alarm at home.
Recommended reading: The Fire Engine Book by Tibor Gergely
PRE-K/PRE-K 2 (ages 4-5):
In the classroom: Teachers introduce situations when it might be necessary to dial 9-1-1. Students practice finding 9-1-1 on different keypads, such as cell phones and landlines.
At home: Show your child photos of various community helpers and the buildings where they work. Ask him to identify the helpers and their workplaces, and describe the roles the helpers play in our community.
Recommended reading: The Berenstain Bears: Jobs around Town by Jan Berenstain
We provide many opportunities for students to learn about community helpers. By setting this foundation, they become more familiar and comfortable around the people that make their neighborhoods a better place.
– Lauren Starnes, PhD – Director of Early Childhood Education