This week in DAP and the rest of the building’s theme is Dr. Seuss! Oh, the places we will go! We are prepared with all the Dr. Seuss classics for reading, making activities from, and getting excited about all of the theme days we will be having as a building!! Can you say pajama day?? Dr. Seuss would be proud. (See email for full theme day schedule!) If you have any Dr. Seuss books that your child particularly loves, feel free to have them bring that in to share with the class. This weeks theme in the building also touches on the importance of reading and using your imagination when reading books; something all Dr. Seuss books do for us! We can’t wait to start this week off the Seuss way!

This week in DAP we will be covering the theme of ‘safety’. This covers a wide range of sub categories such as stranger danger, kitchen and home safety, seat belt and car safety, following the rules at home and at school, and other categories to help keep our kids aware and safe! We will be learning all about being safe by participating in themed safety activities and watching some well done safety briefing videos made just for kids. Eating healthy is still going to be discussed as an overall theme, so make sure you talk about that at home as well! We had a great time learning how to keep our teeth healthy and how trips to the dentist can sometimes be scary

This next week we will be exploring the theme of ‘going to the dentist’. We will have a dramatic play area set up with a dentist chair, masks, and dentist tools, play doh dentist game, and lots of other fun activities that apply to going to the dentist.

This week we finished up Eating Healthy. We talked more about going to the doctor, how germs are spread, and foods that work to keep our bodies healthy.

This week we will take time to explore all the benefits of camping.  In the dramatic play area there will be a real tent and some camping chairs set up around a campfire!!! We will pretend to roast marshmallows, go on a bear hunt, look at the stars and make a campfire for art.  At the end of the week we will have S’mores for snack.  This is one of my favorite weeks. The kids will love it.

A Few Notes:

Just a reminder that the second quarter has ended and we will be sending home progress notes for those children who receive them quarterly.  We are also in the process of thinking about next year’s classes.  We will be having our Spring screening for role models in early March.  Date to be announced.  If you know anyone who has a child that you think would be a wonderful role model for the DAP class, please share your experiences with them and have them send one of the teachers an email with their interest.  We are always looking for strong role models.

If the district is closed due to inclement weather, DAP is closed as well.  Also just wanted to let you know Miss Peggy will be out for awhile starting January 25^th. She will be out for approximately 12 weeks for a hip replacement. Miss Fiona (the student teacher she had that has just graduated with a degree) will be taking over Miss Peggy’s class while she is out recovering from surgery.  We wish Miss Peggy well and a speedy recovery!!

Happy Camping!!

Here is another video for the kids to watch!!

Happy New Year!

This month we will have four themes that the children will use their imaginations and create their own play around castles and dragons, pirates, camping, and The Three Little Pigs.  Play in a child’s world is their work, according to Piaget.  Offering an opportunity for children to play and create their own characters also increases their ability to read later on.   Using imagination in play helps a child develop the ability to see characters and plots once they begin to read.  It is amazing what play can do for all of our children.

Here is a fun story about a dragon to get us all ready for the week.  Enjoy.

The Gingerbread Man

This week we will be reading The Gingerbread Man.  All of our activities for the week will surround the story.  We will have gingerbread play doh, a baking center in the housekeeping area and make gingerbread boys!  It will be a fun week.  Don’t forget to practice your songs for the Winter Concert on Thursday evening December 17th at 7 PM.  It is such fun to see all of the children perform on stage.