Peer Information/Applications for 2011-2012

The Independence Integrated Preschool Program provides preschool services to children with disabilities and typically developing peers. Applications are now being accepted for typical peers to participate as role models in all areas of development for all of our students for the 2011-2012 school year. If you would like to learn more about this program, click here. If you are interested in your child participating in this program, please click here to download the Preschool Application for the 2011-2012 school year.

Happy Holidays to each of you!

...............................................

As the Christmas season unfolds at our home, I want to wish each one of you a Happy Holiday season. May your days be filled with special moments and may you be surrounded by the love of others during this holiday season.

Click here to check out pictures from our Holiday Party with Santa and other classroom pictures from this month.

Gingerbread Baby....

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett is one of my childhood favorites so I love reading this with the kids! It is a little different than the traditional Gingerbread Man that most people know of. Very clever and cute story with a happy ending!

Check out these links that go along with our story:

Decorate and print your own Gingerbread Baby house online.

Print and play a Gingerbread Baby board game.

Jan Brett has so many great stories! If you have a chance, check out the sequel to Gingerbread Baby which is called Gingerbread Friends. Jan Brett has great illustrations and she makes her books predictable....take a look in the border of each page to clues as to what will happen next.

Along with leargning letter Gg for gingerbread, we will be making gingerbread baby cookies for our cooking lesson. Another activity this week includes making a scratch and sniff gingerbread baby decoration. It is very easy to do.....cut out a gingerbread baby on sandpaper. Rub a cinnamon stick across the sandpaper to make it smell great. Then decorate it with glitter, markers, or be creative and use raisins or other candy. Hang it up and enjoy this scented decoration for weeks!

On Thursday, we will be watching the short movie "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and decorating our own Christmas trees with fruit loops. Aww....this time of year is so much fun!

*Book Orders are due by December 1oth.

Click here to go to the Schlolastic Book Club Website.

Class online code: HHZ7D

* Mark you calendars for the next Family Fun Friday! Friday, January 21st will be our next event at the Children's Museum. The event will be from 1:00-2:30. Please plan to arrive by 12:45 as it is a group tour/activity. Independence students do not have school this day as it is a Teacher Inservice Day. Hopefully our preschoolers can share this experience with their siblings. Details including cost/directions will be coming soon.

* Thank you to everyone for the thoughts, prayers, cards, and get well wishes with my recent surgery. Everything went well. It has only been a few days but I miss the kids and coming to school! I am planning to briefly stop in to see them a few days next week, but please do not tell them as I don't want them to be dissapointed if I am not able to. I talked to Mrs. Palik today and she says everything is going well in the classroom. If you have any concerns or questions during my absence, please feel free to contact me via email. I can check my email from home but cannot retrieve my voicemails.

* Peer Model Information for the 2011-2012 school year will be out soon. If any siblings of our children, neighbors, or relatives might be interested please let me know. Applications will be available online at the district's website, on this website, and in the office at each building. I am hoping to have it available by the end of this week. Peer models that are currently attending our program DO NOT need to complete an application. I will be sending home a letter for you to indicate you intent for next year.

Happy Holidays

The Holiday Season is here! This time of year is filled with lots of festive activities, music, lights, decorations, family, and fun. It is my favorite time of the year and it is always a fun time with the kids! The next three weeks will be spent on the Winter Holiday theme.

For this first week, we are working on letter Qq for queen. Red and Green will be our colors of the week throughout the Holiday Season. Along with learning how to write letter Qq, we made quesadillas. They are a simple and easy snack that you can make at home.

We read several great Holiday stories including Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear along with Reindeer Afraid to Fly. We made a reindeer decoration to go along with our story. The morning class had the opportunity to go to the high school on Thursday morning to watch the Christmas Concert dress rehearsal. The PM class went shopping at the Santa Shop to buy gifts for their families.

Below are the Holiday songs that we are learning in school if you would like to practice them at home:

DEAR OLD SANTA (Sung to: "Mary Had a Little Lamb")
Guess whose beard is long and white?
Long and white? Long and white?
Guess whose beard is long and white?
It's Dear old Santa.
Guess whose suit is red and white?
Red and white? Red and white?
Guess whose Suit is red and white?
it's Dear old San-ta!
Guess who comes on Christmas Eve?
Christmas Eve? Christmas Eve?
Guess who comes on Christmas Eve?
It's Dear old San-ta!

He'll Be Driving 8 Brown Reindeer (Santa Sung to: "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain")
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer when he comes, (yee-haa)
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer when he comes. (yee-haa)
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer,
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer,
He'll be driving eight brown reindeer when he comes. (yee-haa)

He'll be piled up with toys when he comes, (oh my)
He'll be piled up with toys when he comes, (oh my)
He'll be piled up with toys,
For all the girls and boys.
He'll be piled up with toys when he comes. (oh my)

He'll be dressed all in red when he comes, (woo-wee)
He'll be dressed all in red when he comes. (woo-wee)
He'll be dressed all in red,
From his toes up to his head,
He'll be dressed all in red when he comes! (woo-wee)

S-A-N-T-A (Sung to: "BINGO" )
I know a man with a long white beard
And Santa is his name-o
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-o
He slides down the chimney with a pack on his back
And Santa is his name-o
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-o
Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh
And Santa is his name-o
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-o

WHEN SANTA COMES…..
When Santa comes down the chimney,
I should like to peek,
But he'll never come ,
no never,
until I’m fast asleep.


REMINDERS:
* Scholastic Book Orders Due by Dec 10th.

* Our Preschool Holiday Party will be on Dec 16th. 10:00 for AM & 2:00 PM

* Mrs. Palik will be substituting for Miss Gruskiewicz beginning December 2nd. If you
need to contact me, please email me at tgruskiewicz@independence.k12.oh.us . I will be checking my email daily.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey day will be here soon and the preschoolers are getting ready! Our letter of the week is Tt for turkey and our color is brown. For our cooking lesson we are going to make turtle sundaes.

There are lots of things going on in our classroom including making a turkey and a horn of plenty craft. The preschoolers are working at home to disguise "Tom the Turkey" so he can come hide and school. Please send in your "Turkeys in Disguise" by Tuesday, November 23rd.

We are going to read some funny stories: Plump and Perky Turkey, Ten Fat Turkeys, Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, and Thankgiving is for Giving Thanks.

We have been busy learning some songs that we are going to sing at our Thanksgiving Feast. Please feel free to practice the songs at home:

I'm a Little Indian
(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little Indian on the go,
Here is my arrow, here is my bow.
When I go a-hunting, hear me shout,
Bears and buffalo, better watch out!

I'm a Little Turkey
(I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little turkey,
Short and fat
I have lots of feathers
On my back.
Gobble, gobble, gobble,
Is what I say,
Quick! Run! It's Thanksgiving Day!

Indian Song

This is how an Indian paddles his canoe (splash,splash,splash,splash)
This is how how he hunts with is bow and arrow too (zip,zip,zip,zip)
This is how he beats upon his drum (boom,boom,boom,boom)
This is how he dances when his day is done (woo-hoo-woohoo)

Parents and welcome to join as at our Feast on Tuesday, November 23rd. The AM class is at 10:15 and the PM class is at 2:00.

Check out some activities you can print and do at home for letter T. (Click to open)

Turtle Counting

Turtle Color Match

Turtle Writing Practice
Turtle Size Sort

* Reminder: Early Dismissal on Wed., Nov 3oth. Preschool will dismiss at 2:00.

Down on the Farm

Mooove over, the farm animals are coming to preschool. For the next two week, the preschoolers are going to be learning about farm animals and harvest. This is such a fun unit for kids! We are singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm and the Farmer in the Dell and learning the nursery rhymes Little Boy Blue and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Our letters of the week are Cc for cow and Jj for jam. We will be making chocolate chip cookies and jello jigglers for our cooking lessons.

There are so many great stories that it was hard to choose which ones to read. Below is a list of stories that we will be reading. Some of the stories on are online so you can enjoy them at home too.
Barnyard Dance
Mrs. Wishy Washy's Farm
A Flea's Sneeze
Three Little Pigs
A Leaf Blew In
Sheep in a Jeep
Big Red Barn
The Cow That Went Oink
The Little Red Hen (online version)
Mr. Bunny's Carrot Soup (online version)
Farm Animals (online movie)

Here are some computer games you can play at home:
Create an animal farm
Animal Sounds matching game

REMINDERS:
* Conferences are scheduled for Nov. 4th and Nov. 11th.

*Family Connections has a one night program regarding Sensory Processing and how it can impact behavior. The program is free and childcare is available. Please click here for more information.

Trick or Treat!

Our preschool classes celebrated Halloween today. We had many different costumes from witches to bugs, to Buzz Lightyear and Mario. Our room parents provided lots of great activities including crafts, games, and delicious snacks!

If you would like to download or print any of the pictures from this year please click on the link below.

Halloween Pictures

Pumpkin Carving & Patterson Fruit Farm

Leaf Hunt Pictures

Beginning of the Year

Skeletons, Spiders, Ghosts, & Goblins.....

This week we have lots of fun activities planned for our Halloween theme. Our letter of the week is Ss for spider and we will be making S'mores for our cooking lesson. Six starts with letter s and is our number of the week. There are so many great spider and halloween stories it was hard to choose! Stories this week include Itsy Bitsy Spider (by Chapman), Miss Spider's Tea Party (by David Kirk), The Very Busy Spider (By Eric Carl), and Hallo-Wiener (by Dave Pilkey). Mrs. Prahler will be playing Halloween Bingo with us on Wednesday. We are also learning several nursery rhymes inlcuding Eensy Weensy Spider, Little Miss Muffet, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Our Room Parents are busy planning our Halloween Parties for Thursday. The AM party is at 10:00 and the PM party is at 2:00. Please send your child to school with their costume or they can wear it to school.

Check out these fun Halloween activtities:

Monster Mash Movie (3 minutes)

Hershey's Halloween Coloring Page

Family Fun at Patterson

Several families took part in our first Family Fun Friday. We had lots of fun at Patterson Fruit Farm. We took a wagon ride to the Fun Fest area where there where lots of BIG slides, corn mazes, riding tractors, and a straw play area. We also took a short tour of a small orchard and saw a baby apple. Every tasted a fresh apple and some apple cider.
Click here to check out pictures from the event as well as this week's classroom pictures of our birthday party and pumpkin carving.

I am am working on plans for another Family Fun Friday in December.....more info to come soon!

Thank you!

I want give a big thank you to all of the children and families for making my birthday so special! It was a great day and I enjoyed celebrating with each of you. Thank you so much for your kindness and caring!~ Miss G

Pumpkins.....

This week we are learning about pumpkins and other "Pp" words. We read Dora's Perfect Perfect Pumpkin today and will read 16 Runaway Rumpkins and Big Pumpkin later this week. On Tuesday we will be making pumpkin muffins for snack. On Thursday we will have fun carving a pumpkin. All week we will practice singing the the song Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate, (hold hands up)
The first one said "oh my its getting late," (hands on cheeks)
The second one said "there are witches in the air," (fingers flying)
The third one said "but we don't care," (shrug)
The fourth one said "we're ready for some fun," (jump)
The fifth one said "lets run, run, run," (run in place)
So woo went the wind, and out went the lights,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight (sit down).

Here are some letter Pp/pumpkin activities to try at home:
Pumpkin Patterning Activity
Pumpkin Sorting Activity
Pumpkin Color Matching Game
Pumpkin Number Game

Computer Game:
Decorate a pumpkin
Sesame Street Halloween Activities


REMINDERS:
* This week is Character Counts Week. We will be taking the Character Pledge and attending an assembly on Monday afternoon along with participating in various other activities throughout the week. Please wear your orange Character Kids shirt on Monday and Wednesday.

* Wednesday is Early Dismissal. PM will be dismissed at 2:00.

* Friday is our first "Family Fun Friday"....hope to see you all at Patterson's Fruit Farm at 11:30.

* Scholastic book orders went home....deadline is Nov. 10th. You can order online or send in your order/payment to Ms. G.

* If you received an ASQ:SE survey please complete and return as soon as possible.

Going on a leaf hunt.....

Today our preschool classes enjoyed the beautiful fall day as we took a nature walk to hunt for signs of fall. We found all kinds of leaves....big, small, red, yellow, brown, orange, wet and even some crunchy ones. We even found a few acorns, some pinecones, and big buckeyes! After our leaf hunt, we made leaf shaped cookies. We will decorate our cookies tomorrow and enjoy them for snack....mmmmm! Click here for the recipe.

Click here to take a look at pictures from our leaf hunt.

Mrs. Koziol also showed us two more fun games to play on the computer. Super Why is a class hit! The Fall Puzzles and Games link has lots of memory games for acorns, spiders, and other fall items. Look to the right to find the links under "Games and Activities".

Fall is Here!

In our preschool classroom we are going to be talking about the Fall season. Our letter of the week is Ll for leaves as the leaves are changing colors and begining to fall. Some classroom activities will include Fall Bingo, cooking and decorating leaf shaped cookies, going on a nature walk to collect signs of fall, and making scarecrows for a craft. One of our stories this week is I Know and Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves which will focus on rhyming words.

Our song this week is "The Leaves on the Tree" (to the tune of Wheels on the Bus)
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown, orange and brown, orange and brown. The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown, all through the town.
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down. The leaves on the trees coming tumbling down, all through the town.
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish. Swish, swish, swish. Swish, swish, swish. The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish, all through the town.

Fall is a great time to have some family fun! Enjoy the changing leaves and cooler air and celebrate the season with some autumn-themed activities, such as fun crafts for fall and great fall recipe ideas. Click here for ideas.

This week will be our first week for Star Students. We are excited to learn a little more about our classmates and welcome parents to spend the day with their child to see what we do in our classroom. If you have any questions about this activity, please contact Ms. Gruskiewicz.

Reminder.....please send in your form and $4 per person for our Family Fun Friday held on October 22nd. Hope to see everyone at Patterson Fruit Farm. For information about the event, please click on the link on the right side of the page (under Classroom Connections).

Fire Prevention Week

This week we focused on Letter Ff for fire. Students listened to several stories about fire safety including Firehouse, My Ff Book, No Dragons for Tea, and also Mingo and the Fire Drill. We reviewed how it is important to get out quick if there is a fire as well as "stop, drop, and roll". We played a Fire Safety Memory game with Mrs. Prahler using different picture vocabulary for fire safety. During our Math lesson, we worked on matching the fire badges with the correct numeral. We finished our fire safety week with some computer games with Sparky the Fire Dog (also posted in the links on right side of this page) and even painted a picture of Sparky! Lots of FUN!!
For letter Ff, we made fruit smoothies which were delicious! Click here for the recipe card. Our song for the week was Five Green and Speckled Frogs.