February Newsletter

Happy February, Douglas Park families,

We have so many things to share with you as we head into a new month of our new year!  We may have only been back from the holiday season for a month, but we have been busy!!

First, let's begin by sharing some important upcoming dates.  Don't forget to mark these down on your calendar!

BC Family Day:  Monday, February 13th.  No classes in session.

Parent Teacher Interviews (for 4 year old classes only): 
Thursday, February 16th.
NO regular classes in session.  A sign up sheet will be available at he end of this week.

Preschool Open House:  Thursday, February 16th.  
6:00pm- 7:00pm.
This is an information evening for new families wishing to enroll for the 2017/2018 school year.  Send your friends, family, neighbours, and coworkers our way if they are thinking about preschool options!

Valentine's Day Celebrations:

ORCA 4am/4pm:  Friday, February 10th.
ORCA 3am/3pm, UNICORN 3am/4pm: Tuesday, February 14th.

We will celebrate this special day with games and activities, talking and singing about friends and family we love, and perhaps even a special treat or two!
Please note:
Your child is welcomed to wear red or pink to class!  Of course, purple or white work just as well too!  These colours certainly aren't required for class, but it is a fun way to celebrate together.

Should your child wish to bring valentine cards or treats for their friends, we ask the following:

• Please ensure there is a card or treat for each child, so no one feels left out.  It is a day of friendship, after all!
• Up to date class lists will be distributed within the next few classes.
• Please help your child hand out their cards/treats AFTER class.  Each student will have a labelled bag in the coat areas for these items.
• If you are thinking about edible treats, please remember that we are a NUT FREE school.

A busy month at school....

First, we would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who donated to our January Charity Drive!! As bags of warm clothing items came in each day, the students helped us to sort, categorize, and count.  Many of the children were very excited to show us what they brought in, and we observed a great deal of engagement in this subject, not to mention a wonderful display of empathy as they each strived to "help others who are cold".  Street Saviours was overjoyed with and incredibly moved by our donation.  These items will all be put to great use!!

A peek at some resources that were created during part of our Professional Development Day on Monday.....

After a busy morning of reflecting upon what the children have been showing interest in, and working hard to plan and develop curriculum ideas for the upcoming weeks, we brought out the scissors, felt, glue, and google eyes to create some new masterpieces!  Each teacher ended the day with four new felt board stories to be shared in class with students at circle time.  Felt stories are an engaging and fun way to share stories during group time and help foster a love for literature and language!

Over the course of the last couple of months, our students have been busy exploring animals that can be found not only in the Arctic (Unicorn room), but also in the Canadian wilderness (Orca room).  To wrap up these learning experiences, we were fortunate enough to bring in O.W.L Rehabilitation Society (http://www.owlcanada.org) for a small, up close, and very informative presentation for our 4 year old classes.  Please check back for our weekly post to see more photos!

O.W.L on the go!
Mobile classroom.

Last, but certainly not least, we were happy to receive an award for our very own preschool blog!  That's right, the one you are reading right now!

Feedspot's Top 25 Preschool Blogs

Our teachers believe in the practice of photographic documentation and work very hard to make it a daily part of our class.  We believe strongly that this practice is a wonderful tool to support our philosophy of an emergent curriculum, as it enables us to really observe and reflect upon what the children are interested in and how they are using materials.
When we post photos of our daily activities and explorations, we are also thinking about our relationships with you; our families!  We love showing you what your children are learning about and giving you a "behind-the-scenes" look at what goes on while your child is in class.  Sharing these moments with you is important to us as we truly believe that the relationship between teacher, student, and family is one of teamwork!  So, thank you, families.  For not only popping by to see the photos posted here, but for sharing your amazing children with us every week!!