Orr's Farm Field trip

Orr's Farm field trip is on Monday, October 28th.

AM Class trip begins at 11:30 a.m.
PM class trip begins at 1:30 p.m.

Please make sure you are at the farm with time to meet up with our group and become comfortable before beginning the tour.

CHEERS school is NOT providing transportation to the farm.  The guardian that will be staying with the student is responsible for transportation.  REMINDER:  the guardian must stay with your child throughout the trip.

Weather is calling for good weather!  Low 60's.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Miss Shelly.  She will be doing her best to reply quickly over the weekend.

Includes

• Hayride to Pick-Your-Own Pumpkin Patch (make sure your child uses the rest room before the trip, we don't want them to miss this hayride!!!!!)
• Small Pumpkin from the "Green Patch" which is about 5-6 inches diameter
• Small Corn Maze
• Learn about Varieties of Pumpkins, Gourds, and Winter Squash
• Sample Hot Apple Cider
• Goodie Bag with Coloring Book, Crayons, Sticker, and Small Toy
• One Free Gallon Cider for Each Class (we will enjoy this while at the farm for those that want some)
• One Free Classroom Pumpkin for Each Class (we will carve and bake the pumpkin seeds next week)
• Groups are welcome to bring picnic blankets and have lunch here as well (teachers will not be directing or leading those that want to stay for picnic lunches or those that want to arrive early for lunch)
• Restroom Facilities Provided (indoor facilities available by the market store and portable toilets available throughout the farm.  PLEASE help us be most prepared and arrive with time to bring your child to the restroom if needed)
• Located about 5 miles from Poorhouse Farm Park if groups want to visit their campgrounds/playground for lunch afterward (directions available at the end of this blog post)
• Photo Opportunities (BRING YOUR CAMERAS!!!!)

All groups are welcome, however our haywagons are not currently wheelchair accessible. Please contact us if you have any further questions.

 Please have each child wear an identification tag which includes their name and the name of the school. Stress the importance of dressing properly. They may need to wear boots or coats, depending on the weather.

Miss Shelly and Miss Jamie will have pumpkin name tags at the farm.  We will make sure your child receives this for the trip.

Directions

South on I-81

Take Exit 13 (West King Street); Turn right onto Rt.15/Tuscarora Pike and head west for 1.7 miles; Turn left onto Arden-Nollville Road for 2.3 miles south; Turn right onto Orr Drive at our sign; Straight on Orr Drive for 0.7 miles.

North on I-81

Take Exit 8 (Tablers Station Road); Turn left off the exit ramp onto Tablers Station Road and head west for 1.8 miles; Turn right onto Arden-Nollville Road and travel north for 0.7 miles; Turn left onto Orr Drive at our sign; Straight on Orr Drive for 0.7 miles.

Street Address:

Orr’s Farm Market
682 Orr Drive
Martinsburg, WV 25403

October 22nd - 25th, Weekly Review

The weeks are flying by!

The month of October is giving us the opportunity to have 2 weeks of review.  What an incredible time this week has been.

Reviewing "Down on the Farm" was done through throwing "cow pies" and turning over the Xs and Os.  The faces when we explained what cow pies were was priceless!  As one child said "this is important when we visit the farm."  And they are right!  Our farm visit on the 28th of October might have discussion about cow pies.

The children love anything with crafts, so reviewing the farm and including one of their favorite animals had to happen.  Any time they can make an animal and have the opportunity to make their noise.  It has to happen!

And Halloween preparations have been so much fun!  Miss Jamie has done an awesome job creating Halloween projects that can combine hand eye coordination skills, small motor skill development, and a little bit of fun too :).  Here are some of our students making their witch, pumpkins, and skeleton.  The kids are looking forward to showing off their spiders and mummies in the classroom as well!

This week we also reviewed our "No Bully" rules in the classroom to review that October also represents "Bully Prevention Month."  Bailey the Big Bully* was one of their favorite books that was a huge help in understanding what a bully is.  The conversations this week after reading this book have been very encouraging, both as a teacher and as a member of our classroom setting.  Some of the kids in the class have realized that some of their actions need to change.  Others have realized that they can begin to stand up and use their words if they feel they are being bullied.  Others have been encouraged that their behaviors are rewarded!

Bullying isn't a big problem in our classrooms.  Although the concept of what a bully is assists each child in understanding how to grow and mature into a more loving, welcoming, and good friend to others.

*Link will take you to the You Tube video of this story being read*

It's Picture Day!

Reminder:  Picture day is today; Monday, October 21st.  Our Pre K program will be doing individual pictures between 12:00 - 12:30 p.m.

Class pictures will be taken in the Spring.

More graphing

We graph every day, and our discussions are always incredible when we review what we are graphing.  Here are two of our favorite graphs this week.

The first, we loved how 3 people in this class chose "sitting in traffic" as what they like about the city.  How many parents would agree with that!?!  Their explanation, they get to watch more t.v.

And then choosing to live in either the country or city brought loads of discussions with our theme.  Asking the children what they like most about the country or most about the city helped us all understand our theme this month a bit more.

Week in Review October 15 - 18

Our football unit has been a load of fun!  The kids love bringing in and showing off their footballs and sharing them for games in the grass too.  We continue to practice how to throw (fingers on the laces, thumb by the ear, step and throw).

This week we also were able to bring football into the classroom.  Using our toy people and a paper football, the kids are lightly hitting their football down the field to score a touchdown.  This is not only teaching them a few more basic skills of football, but its also helping us to learn more about using gentle hands.  Don't we all need practice in this?

Making crafts each day brings so much joy, excitement, and personality out of our kids!

Learning the differences between the city and country, we read Town Mouse, Country Mouse.  After reading the book, we used construction paper, pipe cleaners, and wiggly eyes to make either a city or a country mouse.  We encouraged the children to draw in the background of the mouse they wanted to represent.

Another craft project this week was spray painting leaves.  The children understanding the manipulation of tape on their fingers, choosing leaves that were picked from the playground, and then using the spray bottles to accurately shoot the paint was a fun experience!

TS Gold

We have been experiencing problems with our blog, we greatly apologize for the lack of posting, but it seems to be working great now so expect some awesome things this week!

Miss Shelly has sent you an invitation to TS Gold, an online assessment tool that we are able to share pictures of assessments of your child.  We can also share milestones and .  We LOVE to take pictures and videos of your children, and there is no better way to show and share with you what we do during the day than through these. 

In order to view these pictures, videos, and assessments geared towards YOUR child; you need to accept this invitation and create an account.  This is FREE to you!  The county pays a fee for this program and our center is one of the schools that is currently using it for communication with you as the child's guardian.  If you ever have a question about a documentation or material used in this program you can either email directly through this site or email Miss Shelly personally.

If you do not accept the invitation by the end  of October, the teachers in the classroom will stop uploading and adding documentation for your child.  Please communicate with Shelly if there are any problems accessing the site or if you need another invitation sent to your family.​

October 8 - 11th

This week our focus was on Community Helpers.  The firefighters came and it was a blast!

Here is some of what we did in our centers and small groups this week.

In the block center we added a firetruck and firemen and encouraged the children to use their imagination to create a town.  We've never seen the block center so popular than this week!!

In sensory, we added squirt bottles to put the fires out inside of boats.  Firefighters work on the water just like they work on our streets!  Not shooting our friends in their faces was the teacher's fun task!

In the art center we had markers and pictures of Firemen in order to draw a fireman in their full attire.  We also explored an apple this week, checking out the inside of it (color, shape, formation); afterward we were able to do some apple stamping.  (these art projects are hung in the classroom and will go home at the end of the month).

The collection of fireman books in the library made for numerous visits when someone wanted a more quiet center!  In the computer/Ipad center we also played Fire Frenzy (a free app) allowing the children to be the firefighter and to understand the motions of up and down, and how to effectively put out the fires with obstacles around the scene.  For the computer they used NickJr.com to fight fires with Team Umizoomi.

In small group we added our "E"agle to our ABC collection. (I forgot to take a picture but I will add it next week!)

Our small groups were separated on Wednesday and Friday.  Each person participates in both sections, to enable a smaller group setting with a different focus.  One of our topics was our R-E-S-P-E-C-T talk and the other was "How to make bubbles".

With a recipe book in hand, Miss Jamie led this group in an awesome bubble making experience!  (Because Friday we had rain, this group was able to make the bubbles indoors.  We don't let rain stop us!!!)

The children are all excited for the pumpkin patch trip and our Halloween parties!  Stay connected for more details about the Halloween party!

The FIRETRUCK came.

The excitement has been in the air all week long! Both classes" AM and PM had incredible behavior! We were so proud of them!

At the beginning of class we read "A Day in the Life of a Firefighter" and then prepared the children for what we would see and behaviors. We sat and listened, we were respectful when others talked, and we saw REAL FIREFIGHTERS,

Scooter suited up in her entire attire that firefighters wear.  She told the classes about everything she was putting on and the purpose behind the gear.  She looked like an "Angry Bird" when she had her mask on! 

Scooter also had her air tank with her.  She talked to us so we could hear what it would sound like if a firefighter ever came into our house to help us.

After they talked to us, we got to feel her outfit and jump on her feet.  Everyone was amazed that she couldn't feel anything because her boots were so strong!

After our talk, we got to go for a tour of the fire truck.  The AM class was able to see the ladder truck and sit in the front seat!  The PM class was able to see a ladder truck and a regular firetruck.  They also brought the ambulance and water tanker to the PM session.  The PM class was able to take a tour of the inside of the ambulance.  Checking out everything inside was awesome!

R - E - S - P - E - C - T

This month we have been talking about "Respect".  How does a 4 year old understand the word "respect"?

Sesame Street has a great video that we are using this week to help them understand it with people and friends that they are familiar with, Elmo!

Treating someone in a way that makes them feel cared for and important, respect is something that we are each working on with each other, our families, our community, and the things within our schools.  We daily talk about respect and how to be a better person.

* clicking on the "Sesame Street" link will take you to the "Respect" video that has been shared.

Completed auction art projects

We had a BLAST helping the kids complete these projects.  They were so excited to always help out and the look when they completed it was awesome.

The first was made by both the AM and PM class.  It is a wooden piece that is 6 ft. in height.  The idea is to have a family hang it 1 foot from the floor and measure their child(ren) as they grow and mark on the board their growth.  I know we all remember marking up our parents or grandparents wall, then when we moved we wish we could tear that piece of the wall down and take it with us.  Now you can!  Everyone that sees this one is in love with it.  And we are all too!!!

The second project was made by the PM class only.  The "WASH" wooden sign is perfect to hang in your bathroom or even laundry room.  Not only did they paint this, but they also assisted in the sanding after Miss Shelly put on too much wood stain :)

Food service menus

AM Pre K participates in morning snack with our classmates.

PM Pre K participates in lunch with our classmates.

Ms. Debbie is our school cook.  She has a rotating menu that is used within the center.  If she makes any adjustments to the food service the teachers of the classroom will post the substitutions on the communication board outside of the classroom.

Any questions, comments, suggestions to the menu can be discussed with Miss Shelly Heuser, site supervisor for the center.

Any allergies or substitutions needed for your child can be discussed directly with the teachers in the classroom.

Our class projects

CHEERS schools is a non profit organization.  In order to assist some of our families and/or new families with scholarships (meeting eligibility) CHEERS yearly holds an auction.  This year's auction is on November 1st.  Each of our families have received an invitation in their child's folder with additional details.

For the auction our classes were given two tasks, organize an 80's themed basket and also create a project that the kids assisted in making.  First thank you to all the parents that helped make our 80's themed candy basket a success!  When the children in the classroom take out the candy from their bags to show the class they brought something to share, they're so excited its candy!  Then when we put the candy in the box and they realize we're not eating it . . .

The second task is also almost complete.  We have been spending center time and some small group time painting in small groups our class projects.  I can't wait to show off to the parents what wonderful work they are doing!  (I will also update the blog when we complete our projects)

Here are a few snapshots of your kids hard at work!

Our AM class is preparing a growing wooden chart.  Here is one student helping to paint in some of our measurement lines.  We will be adding numbers and a growing flower as well.

Our PM class is preparing a wooden "WASH" sign that will be perfect in a bathroom or laundry room!  Here they are sanding down some of the wood stain.  We will be adding the letters and bubbles as well.

 

Updated: 10.07.2013

 

Graphing Action

Asking the students a question each morning and allowing them to color in their area begins our mornings with a great Math lesson.

We take our Math lesson into more critical thinking asking questions using the words "more, less, equal to, favorite, least, and middle".  Getting the students to answer the question, count the results, and participate in a small group lesson is a part of our morning routine that they all look forward to doing!

Check out some of our graphs.

Mouse Cookies

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, If You Take A Mouse to School, If You Give A Mouse A Pancake, If You Throw A Mouse A Party . . . WOW this list could go on about the mouse books and different books that Laura Numeroff has written.

Our student love the books and they really enjoy guessing what the mouse is going to do next.  So what better way to celebrate reading than baking!

Making mouse cookies and rolling dough in our hands was a first for some of our students.  The textures of the dough when they first received it to the gooey substance that came from them rolling it around taught us a lesson in science too!

Eating the cookies . . . well that was the hard part ;)

Jammin Minute

Jammin Minute

We had so much fun "Jammin" to music and exercising through music.  Mr. David from Pre School I led our side of the building in some really fun songs (including the tutti ta).  We even got to hear The Fresh Beat Band too!

You can also check out the Jam World Record to see where our state is standing in numbers.