Miss Sidell's PreSchool Class

Come Join the Fun of Learning!

Each week we focus on theme.  We have a very literacy enriched classroom where stories are read aloud, listened to on the CD player, watched on the computer, or made up by the students to support our weekly themes.  Each theme is also spread out across the curriculum in order to explore it from many points of view.  We invite guest speakers as much as we can to help us understand more of our theme and go on field trips when possible.

Here are a few themes that we work on throughout the year:

Manners, Sharing, Listening, Helping & Giving

Apples, Pumpkins, Leaves

Fire Safety & Strangers

Faces & Emotions

Hibernation

Gingerbread Man

Snow, Snowflakes, Snowmen

Penguins

Dinosaurs

Farm Animals

Sea Creatures

Flowers & Seeds

~About the School~

Preschool Age Groups

The preschool is made up of 3 and 4 year old students.  We have a variety of options available when sending your child to preschool here at St. Peter Ev. Lutheran School, North Ridge.  The 3-year olds can attend for two, three, or five days a week.  The days can be decided between yourself and Miss Sidell.  The students arrive in the morning at 8:00, and stay until 11:00.

4-year olds attend preschool Monday through Friday each week.  They are required to attend between 8:00-11:00 in the morning to meet the 3 hours of NYS requirements.  In addition to this day, there is the option of staying all day until 2:30 in the afternoon.  The 4-year olds who stay all day bring a lunch with them and are required to have a nap mat for their afternoon nap time.

How the Preschool Day Runs

~A Snapshot of Our Day~

The preschool mornings include morning work first thing to get the student’s minds turned on and ready to go.  Once completed the class heads to the rug to learn about the weather, calendar, counting exercises, letter/shape/color of the week, and listen to a themed story book.  The story will lead the class into centers.  The centers are designed around the students, usually consisting of 4 weekly activities.  One of the centers focuses on the letter, number, shape or color of the week.  A second center focuses on the math concept for the week.  These two centers are run by myself and the teacher aide in the class.  The third and fourth center is more independent and focuses on the weekly theme but utilizing different skills.  We also include the computers into our centers every couple weeks.  The students are on an “open door” rotation, which means when they are finished with a center they move on to the next.  They do not need to sit and wait for the child next to them.  Children learn at their own pace, so there is no need to hold a child back from the challenge of the next center.  When all the centers are completed by students, they are able to go play. 

In our classroom we have a loft that consists of a Home Living Center upstairs.  It has play tools, a kitchen set, and dress-up clothes available.  The class loves to play upstairs.  We also have the downstairs area with blocks, stuffed animals, toy cars and trucks, and many other toys to choose from.

When play time is over, the students come to their tables for a snack.  The snack is brought in by a different parent each day to be shared with all students.  There is a sign up sheet available to choose your snack day.

After snack is a whole group activity.  This activity is focused around the theme with the addition of Social Studies or Science.  This time brings the morning almost to the end.  The students who leave at 11:00 get ready to go home.  Then we all head to the gym for 15 minutes of running, exercise, games, and an introduction to sports.

The students who stay all afternoon now get ready for lunch in the classroom, followed by their afternoon nap/rest time.  After nap, I sit down with students and work one-on-one to further prepare them for Kindergarten next year.  The 4-year olds work independently while I keep a close eye on their work.  This allows me to work with a struggling student while everyone is being challenged.  We mainly focus on letters and numbers and will take each letter or number to the furthest ability of that particular student.  This one-on-one time does wonders for the students getting ready for Kindergarten.

About Miss Sidell

Throughout my teaching career so far, I have taught 5^th grade, 2^nd grade, Reading K-6, and now Preschool which I am enjoying to the fullest!  I have a BA in Elementary Education and a Master Degree is Curriculum and Instruction, from Birth to Sixth grade.  In addition to these degrees, I have a NYS Certification in Literacy, also Birth to Sixth grade.  I bring a strong amount of Literacy into the Preschool daily routine because it has such a huge positive effect on the students at this age level.  I am also a creative person and enjoy doing many crafts with the students.  Being at such a young age, they soak up and are excited about everything we do.  I love watching their faces light up with a giant smile when they make a project for their parents!

I am looking forward to talking with you about the St. Peter North Ridge Preschool program.  You may call the school or email me with any questions.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it