Trick or Treat!

2012-2013 Peer Information

Peer information and applications for the 2012-2013 school year are now available. Deadline is January 31, 2012. Don't wait...apply now!

For more info, please contact Tara Gruskiewicz at 642-5870 x 1412.

**Peers who are currently attending the Independence Preschool Program do not need to re-apply.

Click to download:
Peer Information
Peer Application

Fun Fun Fun!!

Check out this cool sight for lots of fun games and computer activities!

ABCya.com

It has also been added to the Games & Activities section located on the right side of the blog.

Thanks Mrs. Kozial!

Ss is for spider and spooky!!

We will continue our letter lessons with week with letter Ss as it ties in so nicely with Halloween. Spooky, spider, and scary are just a few "s" words that the morning class came up with today.

The story The Very Busy Spider is a great one for our young readers as there is a repetitive line that the kids can "read" ("The spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web.") We will begin our farm animal unit shortly so it is a great introduction for that. The spider is so busy spinning her web that she doesn't hear any of the animals. There are so many great Halloween stories, it was hard to pick! Our story collection this week also includes: One Hungry Monster, Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Goons, Big Scary Monster, and Little Goblins Ten.

Smores start with letter Ss and we will be making this scrumptious snack for our cooking lesson on Tuesday. See the recipe here. For centers on Wednesday we will be painting a spider web using marble painting. Sounds like fun! Other centers will be rhyming picture match and writing letter Ss.

Songs start with Ss....so many Ss words can you think of some at home? Our songs that we will be singing and dancing to are Monster Mash, Five Ugly Monsters, Little Miss Muffet, and There's a Spider on the Floor.

Check out these "scary sites"
* Monster Mash video & song.

* Haunted House: enter if you dare! (it really looks scary at first but cute at the end)

* Halloween Night video & song.

* Pumpkin Pumpkin video & song.


Star students: Megan & Liam


PTO Scholastic Book Fair day is on Thursday for Preschoolers. Please send $ if you would like your child to purchase books. Flyer & info coming home on Monday, Oct. 24th!



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Monday, Oct. 31st is Halloween. Please send your child with a costume on or in their bookbag when they come to school. Our classroom parties are 10:00 (AM) and 2:00 (PM). Parents are welcome to join us for the party!

Thank you!

Character Critters are here!

Meet Fran the Fair Frog......

Fran says:
* List to others
* Follow the rules
* Don't blame others
* Share with others

IPS is kicking off Character Education week this with lots of fun activities including a pep rally and an assembly "The NED Show" (Never give up, Encourage others, Do your best!). In our preschool program we will be using the Character Critters curriculum (see link on the right). Every month we will focus on one of the six pillars of character education. The six pillars include fairness, respect, responsibility, citizenship, caring, trustworthiness. Each month you will receive a W.A.R.M. newsletter which includes a story, activities, and tips for promoting character at home...remember We Are Role Models. October will focus on FAIRNESS.

Our letter this week is letter Ff. We have heard many good "f" words such as fish, fair, frog, friend, and flea! We made fruit smoothies for snack. One of our favorite songs is Five Green and Speckled Frogs.

Stories this week include: Fran and Freddy Clean Up, Did You Fill a Bucket Today?, Frank the Monster Who Wanted to Dance , and Ebenezer Flea and the Right Thing to Do.
Clink on the titles above to go to the book websites. Frank the Monster is available on Tumble Books. It is free to our Independence families and has lots of great books for all ages! Check out the link to the right under "Games & Activities".

We will also have an Author Visit this week! Hannah Budic is the author of Ebenezer Flea & the Right Thing to Do. She will be joining our PM class on Thursday to read her story and talk about honesty and foregiveness. Check out the Ebenezer Flea website here and it is also on a link to the right. If you purchase a book anytime and would like it signed by Hannah, please let me know. She is a former college teammate of mine and good friend.

***Important Notices***

- Early Release on Wed., Oct. 19th. All PM preschool will be dismissed at 2:00. IPS will dismiss one hour early.

- End of the quarter is Oct. 28th. Tuition payment for peers is due for 2nd quarter as well as snack fees if you haven't paid them. Snack fees are $10 per quarter/$40 for the year. Most people have already paid, if you haven't please take care of it before Oct. 31st. Someone sent in $40 cash in a white envelope at the beginning of the year without the students name on it...just says "Miss G" on the front. Please let me know if you think this was your child...I have know way of knowing, but I did keep the envelope!


Star Students this week are Victor and Madelyn.
Happy Birthday to Victor and Miss G!

Leaves on the Trees Are Falling Down....

This week we will be learning about the fall season. Leaves, pumpkins, acorns, & squirrels are all signs of fall that we will exploring this week.

Our letter of the week is Ll for leaf as the leaves are changing colors and beginning to fall. Some classroom activities will include Fall Bingo, cooking and decorating leaf shaped cookies (click for recipe), going on a nature walk to collect signs of fall, and making a pumpkin jack-o-lantern for a craft. One of our stories this week is I Know and Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves which will focus on sequencing the items the lady swallows. Other stories include: The Lamb Who Loved to Laugh, Apples & Pumpkins, and When The Leaf Blew In.

Our song this week is "The Leaves on the Tree" (tune of Wheels on the Bus)
The leaves on the trees turn orange & brown,orange & brown,orange & brown.
The leaves on the trees turn orange & 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.

Pumpkin activities to try at home:
Pumpkin Patterning Activity
Pumpkin Sorting Activity
Pumpkin Color Matching Game
Pumpkin Number Game

Some new computer games to check out: 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".

Our Star Students of the week are Lucas & Tommy B.

Happy Birthday to Sam!

Aa is for Apple!

Thank you to all of the parents who came out to Patterson's Fruit Farm on Friday. The weather cleared up just long enough for us to take a tour and have some fun! Pictures are posted and can be viewed here.

This week we will be learning about apples and the letter Aa. We will be making a handprint apple tree for you to see. Other activities include making apple crisp (recipe here), graphing our favorite apple color, drinking apple juice, tasting applecause, and counting/writing numbers for apple seeds, and singing silly songs like Apples and Bananas.

A few stories that we will be reading include Ducking for Apples and Ten Apples Up On Top. Check out this animated video of the story here.

**Parents: Please send in ONE apple with your child on Tuesday for our classroom activities.

Our star students this week are Mark and Joanna.

Happy Birthday to Mark!