WEAR YOUR HELMET

Julie Philbrook, a safety educator from Hennepin County Medical Center, spoke to our students last week about the importance of wearing their bike helmets  EVERY time they ride their bikes this summer!  We are thankful for Julie's willingness to spend time with us.  Her message is so important for bikers of all ages!  Are all of you wearing your helmets?  We hope so!

MINNESOTA IS WHERE WE LIVE

This past week we have been learning about our state of Minnesota.  We learned that it can be very snowy, even in May!!  But, it is a wonderful place to live.  The loon, the lady slipper, the agate, the blueberry and the Norway pine are a few of our state symbols.  Maybe we should have included the mosquito but it is not an official symbol yet.  At the end of the week we hosted Minnesota Twins Day! We all wore our Twins gear, made Twins banners and Homer Hankies.  Popcorn was the perfect snack and we played a little ball before going home.  Go Twins!

REGISTRATION CONTINUES

       As the school year winds down we are beginning to make plans for our 2013-2014 school year.  Registration is going well but we could use more students in our four year old afternoon classes.  Recognizing that these classes are in the middle of the day, which could be a disadvantage, there are some real advantages to enrolling in these classes.  Consider these positives.  The tuition is less then for  threes days a week.  If you or your child like to sleep in or have a leisurely morning, the afternoon classes are for you!  The classes in the afternoon are smaller so the teacher/student ratio is better.  It is a good chance for you, parents, to have a little break in the day.  All of the curriculum taught in the morning classes is taught in the afternoon classes.  Have I convinced you yet?  If you would like to know more about our school visit our web site, www.salemcovpreschool.com.  To register, email Pam Carlson at pam@salemcovpreschool.com.

     

Tomorrow is May Day and the weather man is predicting a cold rain/snow mix for the next few days.  We are busy caring for our seedlings in our classrooms, hoping we can get them into our pre school garden before school ends at the end of May.  I am posting two pictures of our garden from last summer.   Is there hope for a beautiful garden this year?  The children say, "YES!"

WHAT SEASON IS THIS ANYWAY?

We have been very busy planting marigolds this month at Pre School.  We learned all about what plants need to grow, good soil, water and sun.  Our seedlings are coming up slowly but the sun and warm weather are not cooperating!  Luckily our plant have been willing to give growing a try in spite of the snowy spring!

A BUSY MAY

It’s spring!  At Pre School we’re turning “inside out” so to speak. Warm weather means trading the indoors for the outdoors more often. Because we are going outside, at school and at home, it is important to review some health and safety tips this month.  The New Brighton police and fire departments will both be stopping by to talk to our students.  These community helpers are there to keep us safe and to help us if we are hurt, lost, or afraid.  Meeting them in person is a good way to recognize that they are our friends.  We never need to hide from them.  We also get an opportunity to see the police car and the fire truck up close, including all of the specialized tools they have for helping in dangerous situations.

Another visitor we have in May is Julie Philbrook, a safety educator from Hennepin County Medical Center.  This year Julie will be teaching us about the importance of wearing a bike helmet every time we are on our bikes.  That will be often now that the weather is nice!  This lesson is for bike riders of all ages!  We appreciate Julie’s willingness to come and talk to us this year.

We celebrate the end of the school year by getting out into our community.  The four year old classes will be spending a class session at Silverwood Park.  The park educators will be teaching about birds in general and owls in particular since there is an owl’s nest with baby owls right there in the park!  Can’t wait to see them!  The three year old classes will be taking a school bus to Como Park for a morning of fun with the animals there.  Both the bus ride and the zoo are exciting for the children!

We’re sad to have our school year end in May.  We will have a fun summer.  Some of our students will be back in the fall to harvest our garden and to learn and grow in our classrooms.  Others will be off to kindergarden.  Congratulations and best wishes to them!

APRIL NEWS

SALEM PRE SCHOOL NEWS, APRIL 2013

What!  No holiday this month?  No problem, we’ll focus on spring and all the changes that come along with the transition to a new season of the year.  This is the time of the year when we need to get our seeds planted.  It won’t be long before we will be surprising our mothers with little plants (hope the mom’s reading this will still be surprised in May) and planting seedlings in our outside garden.  Our windows become lined with trays of pots drinking up the April sunshine and warmth.  

April showers bring May flowers and we will be looking for them.  The earliest ones are usually the dandelions.  We love their cheery yellow faces.  We’ll be taking a walk around the pond south of Salem in April, too.  There are many plants and animals that call the pond their home.  Some of these animals can be heard before we can see them.  Other animals and plants need to be searched for.  The hunt is worth the surprise of finding them!  Baby birds are born in the spring and we hope to be on the lookout for many of our common Minnesota birds.  Building “nest helpers” at school and hanging them in our yards will help the birds get started with their families.

Tools and big machinery get busier then ever in the spring!  We don’t have to go farther then Highway 694 to see many different types doing what they do best!  Just think of how hard people had to work before they had tools and machines to make their work easier.  By the end of April we will be able to name many more tools and machines and recognize the work they do.

One of the new, big work sites for big machines in Minnesota will be the new Viking’s Stadium.  Go Vikings!  At the end of April we are going to learn lots of facts about our state, Minnesota, including, but not limited to, the name of our football team!  Ask our students to name our state bird, state tree, state capital or which season of the year is their favorite.  M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A, Minnesota, Minnesota, Minnesota.  Yeahhhhh, Gophers!

PAJAMA DAY!  HURRAY!