Category Archives: Preschool

The Preschoolers started to visit the library this month.  They listen to a story, then get a bag of books.  There are ten books in the bag for parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, anyone to read to their preschooler.  The books came from various sources.  The bags were donated by the Security First Bank and filled by the National Honor Society.  We have 50 bags to rotate among the preschoolers.  Our goal is to have every preschooler be read to for at least 10 minutes every day.  Next month the Noah’s Ark Preschool will join the program.  If there are other preschoolers in the community who would like to join the program, call Mrs. Matthews at the school (638-4434) for more information.

Please mark your calendars!  You are invited to our first annual Preschool Christmas Open House on Monday, December 17^th at 6:00pm.  The Preschool class will share their Christmas songs with you as well as have activities and refreshments.  We are all very excited to share what we have been working on with our families and friends!  Also, a big thank you to Mrs. Varvel for helping us with this event!

Our preschool class is quickly growing and we are so thankful for all sixteen of our little friends!  We are continuing our journey through the alphabet.  Each week we focus on a different letter.  Not only do we learn the letter, but the sound(s) it makes, words that begin with that letter and how to write the letter.  Our art projects, music, and other activities are all centered on the letter of the week.  We took some time off from our weekly letters to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving.

We have been very busy in our room with all our various activities and holiday celebrations.  For Halloween we were so lucky to Trick-Or-Treat at the area businesses.  We are so lucky and grateful to be part of such a welcoming community!  The preschoolers enjoyed walking to each of the businesses and nursing home and showing off their costumes!  Our preschool class also recently attended the Veteran’s Day program with the rest of the school.  They enjoyed watching the older students sing and speak and were also very proud that they could say the Pledge of Allegiance along with everyone else!

Picture courtesy of ShielaLStudio

Whether trick or treat, our preschoolers are sweet! We captured a picture of the little goblins as they headed out to Trick-or-Treat at area businesses.

Back Row: Aubry Anderson, Mya Turman, Chloe Morrill, Esme Corrall, Julius Bauer, Tanner Tobiason, Rueben Sanchez; Front Row: Mathis Picket Pin, Bristol Prado, Hayden Picket Pin, Reese Varvel, Tripp Buettner

Time sure flies when we’re having fun!  I cannot believe we have been in preschool for over a month!  We have overcome many obstacles already and are continuing to grow as little learners!  The students have an established routine which helps eliminate unproductive time.  Every morning the preschool students start their day with a family style breakfast.  They are eager to help serve and have already learned many new manners!  We then transition into our day with brushing our teeth.  After that we are ready for the day!  Our day is busy with whole group time, calendar, singing, games, free play, art, outside time, music with Mrs. Varvel and PE with Mrs. Mandelko.  We are also so very thankful to have Mrs. Ray assist us in our room every day!

Some of the themes we have covered so far this year are All about Me, I Have Five Senses, and Shapes.  This week we were excited to begin our study of the alphabet.  We kicked off the week with “A is for Apples” and are doing many activities integrating both the letter “a” and apples.  Literacy awareness is relevant very early in a child’s life.  By introducing skills like knowing the alphabet and letter sounds early on, it provides children with the solid foundation they need to continue on to elementary school.

A large part of our focus in preschool is building positive social skills.  We are working on an array of skills.  We actively participate in sharing our toys and time.  We also are working on table manners, saying please and thank you, chewing with our mouth closed.  Using kind and helpful words is also important to us.  All of these skills are necessary to become independent little kiddos!

Please check the website each week for our weekly newsletter!  The newsletter briefly discusses our theme for the week as well as other preschool happenings.  Needless to say with 13 students we are busy little bees!

This week in preschool we began our study of the alphabet.  We kicked off the alphabet with the letter “A.”  More specifically we studied apples.  We studied “A” is for Apples through art projects, songs, and sharing.

We found out that if you cut an apple in half, we could use it as a stamp to make pictures of apples!  Be sure to check out the apple banners we made with real apple prints!  We also discovered that apples come in three different colors…red, green, and yellow.  Another fun project was using our fine motor skills to trace the shape of an apple and cut out five seeds to glue onto the apple.  All apples have five seeds in the star pattern.

Wednesdays are our show-and-tell days.  The students brought some awesome things to share that began with the letter “A.”  Some examples were an airplane, alligator, Andalusian horse, Aubry, apple, and a stuffed ape!  We were impressed with the creativity!

Another exciting activity we did to reinforce the letter “A” was to make “Applesauce A’s.”  We used our spoons to make the letter “A” in our applesauce.  The class was excited to “play” with their food. The best part of the activity: it was a yummy and healthy treat!

Tripp & Tanner making apple prints

Chloe, Mya, and classmates making applesauce A’s

Welcome to Preschool!

I am so excited for the school year to start!  We have a lot planned for preschool this year.  Each day we will have outdoor and indoor play and exploration time, group activities like story time, music and movement, as well as individual activities like art.

Each week we will have a different theme such as a letter of the alphabet, season, holiday, and/or social skill that we will focus on in activities and explorations.

Once the school year begins keep an eye out for weekly correspondence regarding our weekly activities and adventures!  One thing I do ask before school begins is to determine a drop off and pick up plan for your preschooler.  Please let me know your child’s plan on the first day of school!  Thanks!

I am excited to see you all on the first day of school!

The Hay Springs Early Childhood Program will be located within Hay Springs Public Schools beginning in August 2012. We are now accepting enrollment for the upcoming school year. Please call (308) 638-4434 with any questions.

Enrollment Form

Play, laugh, learn. There are nine students between the ages of three and four in Hay Springs preschool and Head Start this year. The teachers are Diane Avery, Holly Scherbarth and Linda Besana.

This week they were learning the color blue and the letter S. They experimented making blue water and freezing it into cubes to see what would happen. Then they made their own class rules and they all had to sign the document.

They have been enjoying sitting around the table, eating breakfasts and lunches as a family. They are full of questions and energy and they are almost constantly singing.

Returning “senior,” JP Janes said, “I like being Mrs. Avery’s helper.”