Newsletter - Apple Tree School

Volume 20 Issue 2
November 2016
Director’s Corner
Classroom News
Pre-K
Thank
you for giving Apple Tree
School the opportunity to teach your children. We take great pride in our school
and are proud to have parents like you.
Gold Birds
Mrs. Bennett
October has been a busy month for the
Gold Birds. We read the book “If You
Take a Mouse to School” and discussed
what the little mouse might do if he visited Apple Tree School. We decided he
would have a very fine time indeed,
play outside, building with blocks, and
painting pictures! We talked about the
four seasons and decorated an “Autumn
in Texas” bulletin board. We also read
“Miss Spider’s Tea Party.” The children discussed what they would serve if
they had a tea party. Cupcakes and
chips were the most popular choices. We also observed a web with a
small spider in it outside on the back
patio.
Our letters and numbers of the month
were S, T, E, R and 3, 4, 5, and 6. The
children have been working hard on letter recognition, upper and lowercase,
beginning sounds, counting objects, and
counting in sequence from 1-25. We
have also been learning the names of
the presidential candidates, their political parties, and the symbols of those
parties, a donkey or an elephant. They
are very excited to be able to vote in
their own election.
Pre-K enjoyed a visit from the Sugar
Land Fire Department, who talked to
them about fire safety. The children got
to see the firemen in their fire fighter
gear and also tour the fire truck.
Everyone had lots of fun at our Fall
Festival, wearing costumes and playing
games. Many thanks to all of the parent
and grandparent volunteers. Happy
Halloween!
(Continued on page 2)
Apple Seeds is a newsletter published for the
parents of ATS students. We welcome your
suggestions and comments.
We have a box in the hallway to collect
items for the East Fort Bend Human
Needs Ministry (EFBHNM). The EFNHNM will be distributing Thanksgiving
and Christmas baskets to families with a
need. Please add some items to your shopping list and share your blessings with others.
Make Plans: Please turn in items by
Thursday, November 17th.
First Presbyterian Church
Apple Tree School
502 Eldridge Road
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
281-240-1565
Carolyn McGee
Carolyn McGee
Director
www.AppleTreeSchoolOnline.com
Thanksgiving Holidays
Monday November 21
Through
Friday November 25
Inside This Issue
Song
3
Cookbook
3
Activity Corner
3
Have a safe
And
Thankful
Thanksgiving!
Page 2
(Continued from page 1)
3 - Day
Purple Birds
Mrs. Orin
The air is crisp and the leaves are changing and we are enjoying the cooler
weather at recess. Please be sure to check
whether we are having shorts or long
pants weather and change out the clothes
in your child’s zip lock bag. Also sweaters and jackets will come in handy on
some mornings. We just never can tell
what the weather will be.
The themes for October were: Manners/
Shapes, To Your Health & Safety, Night
Animals and Fall Festival, and Proud to
be an American. Our letters were I, H, O,
B, G, P and F.
We had so much fun making owls, bats,
cutting out pictures of food of out magazines, making ice cream cones, catching
sneezes, pumpkins, grapes, and bat
hands. Most of these will be in your
child’s keepsake book at the end of the
year. Periodically you will get some of
their work. We have not only been playing shape/color bingo but also letter bingo. I am pleased to see that about half of
the class already recognizes their letters.
I know you are spending time reading
with your children because they tell me
about it. I love working as a team so if
you notice something let me know I will
be sure to help in any direction I can to
help your child be successful. Do you
have a calendar on the refrigerator? Let
your child use a wooden spoon and help
them spell the month and count the days.
They really enjoy this exercise at circle
time each morning.
It’s so nice to see them learning to recognize their names in class! We sure enjoyed the visit from the Sugar Land Fire
Dept. We learned how to stop drop and
roll in case our clothing catches fire. We
learned every family should have an
emergency plan of where to meet outside
the house in case of fire. Please teach
your children a very safe way to exit the
home. Touch the door to see if it is hot
Apple Seeds
and crawl along the floor. We saw the
fireman dress in his mask and we will
know to go to him and not hide in the
house. They are our friends and want to
help us out of the house. You should be
so happy that your little children know
how to properly exit the school each
month during our fire drills. We got to
see the firetruck and see where all the
important tools are kept inside the truck.
We learned a wonderful poem about five
little pumpkins sitting on a gate. You will
find a copy in their backpack.
Thank you to Mrs. Mouse who visited
our room and read a book to the children.
I collect McDonald toys if you are cleaning out closets. Thanks for all your support!
Purple Bird Rule!
Red Birds
Mrs. Barillas
The Red Birds have been quite busy
since the beginning of the school year.
We are learning new things daily while
being very attentive and trying very hard
to follow directions. We are also exploring all our centers and are continuing to
learn how to store all our things in the
proper places. This investment of time
and effort between students and teachers
during the first few months of school
pays great dividends during the remainder of the school year, therefore making
transitions and routines flow very
smoothly in our classroom.
All our learning throughout the year is a
continuous "work in progress", but very
enjoyable and rewarding. Our classroom
is presently filled with different opportunities for the children to explore all areas
of learning. By doing so, we as parents
and educators are enriching their language experiences so that they can extend their knowledge of their world, as
well as developing their own unique
character and personality traits.
During this time we have also welcomed
our friends, the policeman, Officer Lauren, and enjoyed the time she spent talking to us all about "Stranger Danger" and
other interesting topics like good manners and safety. At the end of the visit,
we all received a police badge sticker and
a coloring book.
Several weeks later we welcomed our
other friends, the firemen. What a great
day that was! They talked to us about
what their job entailed, the gear they
have to wear in a fire, and how it all operates, even their oxygen masks. At the
end of their discussion, we all received a
fireman sticker and best of all we were
able to see the big red and white fire
truck and the inside of it also. But best of
all we were able to see the ladder on the
truck go way up high in the sky like
when they have to rescue someone from
a burning building, and as they were
driving away they played their siren for
us all. We had a wonderful time.
The Red Birds would like to give a big
"Thank You" to our special friends for
taking time out of their busy schedule to
come and visit all of us at Apple Tree
School!
Yellow Birds
Mrs. Lee
This has been a very busy month for the
Yellow Birds. Our first unit of the month
was "Manner/Shapes." In this unit, we
learned to say please and thank you. The
children have been working hard on
learning their shapes by associating them
with everyday items they see. For example, an oval shaped like an egg or a circle
is the shape of a round pizza or ball. The
children are learning to cough & sneeze
into their elbows or inside their shirts to
keep from spreading germs.
During the unit "To Your Health and
Safety", the Sugar Land station No. 2 fire
department came to talk to us about fire
danger and showed us around the fire
truck. The firemen had the ladder extended and let all of us up in the
truck. To thank and honor the firemen
for coming to see us, we made fireman
hats & painted fire trucks.
In "Night Animals," we talked about
night animals like owls and bats and
made owls for the letter O. With Hal-
Apple Seeds
loween around the corner, we marble painted bats. And, what's Halloween without some jack-o-lantern cut outs for the letter J? Also
coming are some hand print Frankenstein’s and some little feet
ghosts. Our colors that week were orange and black.
"Fall Fantasy," our last unit was a lot of fun. The children made
dragons with bubble wrap and special wizard wands and told stories
about what they were going to be for Halloween.
Thanks to Mrs. McGee for our new fun game she made for us. The
children loved the basket weaved with yarn to look like spider webs
and little spider rings inside. We had to use little tongs to get the
spiders out of the webs.
Parents, thank all of you that helped volunteer or donated time for
our Fall Festival. Without your help, this would not have been possible. Please continue to read to your child and to ask them about
their day.
KDO
Blue Birds
Mrs. Lee
This month has flown by so fast. We have been learning to say
please and thank you during our unit “Manners/Shapes.” When we
use our manners it shows respect and makes others feel good. The
children are learning how to use the phrase “excuse me” when wanting to pass someone or interrupt when others are speaking.
When you and your little ones are out running errands or just relaxing at home, point out items and ask them what shape that particular
item is. They have been working very hard to learn their shapes,
such as circles, diamonds, rectangles, etc. and what objects are
shaped like that according to our shape poster.
In our unit “To Your Health and Safety,” we are learning to sneeze
and/or cough into our elbows or shirts that way we do not spread
germs to our friends.
Our next unit was “Night Animals,” we made a couple nocturnal animals for our art projects. First we made owls to go along with the
letter O. The children loved learning about owls especially the sound
they make. We had a bunch of little owls in our classroom going
“whoooo whoooo,” it was quite adorable. The other nocturnal animal we made was paint marbled bats. The little ones enjoyed watching the marbles roll around in the paint as it created an interesting
design on their bats.
Seeing as this month is Spooky October, the students made a few
bonus art projects to celebrate Halloween. They got to make cute little Frankenstein’s out of their own handprints. But what they really
loved was making little spooky ghosts out of their footprints! We
even got in some cutting with scissors practice while making Jack-O
-Lanterns to go with the letter J. Our colors to learn and recognize
this month were orange and black to go along with the spirit of Halloween.
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Always please continue to read to your children and ask how
their day was. Children get excited about learning when we
are they know we are excited to know what they have
learned. Don’t let the learning stop when they leave school.
There are so many books and websites out there for you to
use that allow you to interact with your child, have fun and
allows them to learn even more.
Music
Mrs. Ford
Wow! This month has flown by. I can’t believe it is already
Halloween. We have had a great month singing and dancing.
One of their favorite songs is “The Hippopotamus Song”. I
have included the words below so you can sing along at
home.
As always, I hope you will join us for chapel every Thursday
morning to celebrate birthdays, sing songs, and to praise
God. It is a great way to start the day.
Hip Hip Hooray
(The Hippopotamus Song) by Mary Rice Hopkins
In the beginning God made the Sea,
And the forest filled with trees.
He made the mountains, up so high
At the very top, He placed he sky.
God’s fingerprints are everywhere,
Just to show how much He cares.
And in between He had loads of fun,
He made the hippo, who weighs a ton.
Hip hip hip hippotomus
Hip hip hooray, God made all of us.
Hip hip hip hippotomus
Carolyn’s Sugared Nuts
3 Egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 - 11 oz cans of Salted Mixed Nuts
Beat whites until foamy
Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nuts coating the nuts well
Spread on greased baking sheet
Bake at 225° for 1 hour - stir every
15 minutes
Makes about 6 cups.
www.AppletreeSchoolOnline.com
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Apple Seeds
Tip of the Month
Snack on a Stick
WHICH COAT IS YOURS
Set out cubed pieces of cheese and fruit
and straight pretzels. Let your children
spear the cubes with the pretzel for a
snack on the go.
Clove Scented Fruit
Fall is a wonderful time for comfort foods
and smells. Here is an easy way to get
that wonderful comfort smell in your
home and decorate at the same time. Your
children will love helping you with this
one!
1 Apple or Orange or Lemon
Whole Cloves
Place pieces of whole cloves side by side
until your piece of fruit is completely
filled. Place on a mantel or table, or as
part of a fruit display. The aroma will last
for about a month, and you can even
sprinkle with cinnamon to refresh the
scent! For hanging, place a piece of decorative ribbon or cord around the stem. For
gift-giving, wrap with brown paper or
place in a brown bag. Tie with a piece of
raffia and a piece of cinnamon stick!
Come & Worship
First Presbyterian Church
Sunday Worship Schedule
8:30 a.m. Worship Service
9:30 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Worship Service
With the number of students enrolled in Apple Tree, the chances
of duplicate clothing, backpacks,
lunch boxes and other personal
items is tremendous. Please label
everything your child brings to
school on the outside of the garment or item in clear sight. This
includes clothing as well as items
your child carries. Also, please
refrain from allowing your child to
bring personal items to school,
such as toys, books, dolls, etc.
The exception to this request is for
Show and Tell each Wednesday
for 3-Day children and items requested for Pre-K students. This
will eliminate tears when favorites
are misplaced or lost.
Sunday School classes are
provided for ages two through
adults. Infant care is available
in the nursery.
Church Office 281-240-3195
www.fpcsl.org
Are you using the right Child Safety Seat?
Use a Rear Facing Infant Seat - Birth to 2 years (35 pounds)
Convertible/Toddler Seat - 2-4 years (40-80 pounds)
Booster Seat - 4-8 years (80+ pounds)
Mark Your Calendar
Wednesday Nov 2 - Visit by a U.S. Veteran Jim Shilts
Wednesday Nov 9 - Recycle Truck Visit
Monday Nov 21 - Friday Nov 25 - Thanksgiving Holidays (No School)
Daylight Savings Ends
Sunday Nov 6
Set Clocks Back 1 Hour