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CLASSROOMS - Preschool Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th Computer Art Choir / Band / Music P.E.
Preschool Aide's
Mrs. Melissa Hughes
BIO 
Mrs. Patti Bernesser
BIO 
Mrs. Jo Safranski
BIO
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Welcome to Preschool Important Dates:
3 Year Old Preschool Class4 Year Old Preschool ClassKindergarten Prep Class |
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3 Year Old Class
We have had a another great week! We started the week by honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We learned that Martin Luther King had a dream or a wish that everyone would always show love and kindness to each other no matter what. He inspired many people and made the world a better place. To help further teach his lessons, I showed the children 2 presents and had them guess which present was better just by looking at the bags. After they made their guesses, we opened the bags and discovered both bags had the same thing inside--finger puppets! Even though we all may look different on the outside, we are all the same inside. The children all took home a finger puppet as a reminder of this activity.
On Thursday, we kicked off our Building Study. We started by sharing pictures of buildings we are familiar with and enjoy visiting. We discussed how the buildings are used, features of the buildings, and shapes used to make the buildings. We also read a Clifford version of the story of the 3 Little Pigs. Instead of a Big, Bad, Wolf, there was Clifford sneezing down the buildings from his cold. The pigs helped Clifford feel better and Clifford helped the pigs rebuild their house.
Next week we will continue our building study. Our focus question will be, “What do buildings in our neighborhood look like?” We will compare pictures of local building with pictures of buildings from far away places. How are the buildings similar and how are the buildings different? We will create a map of the neighborhood of our school.
Next week is also Catholic Schools Week. We encourage you to help us celebrate on Sunday by attending either 9:00 AM mass at St. Patrick’s in Grand Haven or 11:00 AM here at St. Mary’s. Tuesday is vocation appreciation day. The 3 year old preschool has decorated a card that will be presented to Fr. Chuck at St. Patrick’s. Thursday is parent appreciation. We hope you can come in for some doughnuts and coffee at drop off that morning. The children have a note of appreciation to share with you. We will also be celebrating student appreciation in class. During Center Time, each student will make their own pizza bagel. We will eat them together at snack time.
Highlights for Weeks of 1/27/2020
On Thursday, we kicked off our Building Study. We started by sharing pictures of buildings we are familiar with and enjoy visiting. We discussed how the buildings are used, features of the buildings, and shapes used to make the buildings. We also read a Clifford version of the story of the 3 Little Pigs. Instead of a Big, Bad, Wolf, there was Clifford sneezing down the buildings from his cold. The pigs helped Clifford feel better and Clifford helped the pigs rebuild their house.
Next week we will continue our building study. Our focus question will be, “What do buildings in our neighborhood look like?” We will compare pictures of local building with pictures of buildings from far away places. How are the buildings similar and how are the buildings different? We will create a map of the neighborhood of our school.
Next week is also Catholic Schools Week. We encourage you to help us celebrate on Sunday by attending either 9:00 AM mass at St. Patrick’s in Grand Haven or 11:00 AM here at St. Mary’s. Tuesday is vocation appreciation day. The 3 year old preschool has decorated a card that will be presented to Fr. Chuck at St. Patrick’s. Thursday is parent appreciation. We hope you can come in for some doughnuts and coffee at drop off that morning. The children have a note of appreciation to share with you. We will also be celebrating student appreciation in class. During Center Time, each student will make their own pizza bagel. We will eat them together at snack time.
Highlights for Weeks of 1/27/2020
- Books: There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe; House, Sweet, House
- Poem: Bubba's Best Buddy
- Mrs. Forgetful - Teacher will use rhyming words to describe objects. Children will guess correct word.
- Number Identification and Counting - Children will practice identifying numbers and counting small objects.
- Lego Stamping - Children will paint by stamping Legos in paint.
- Who Let the Letters Out - Letter Song
- Spanish Lesson - Hola = Hello; Como Estas? = How are you?; Estoy muy bien = I am good; Gracias = Thank You
- Colors - Red = Rojo; Blue = Azul; Yellow = Amarillo; Green = Verde; Orange = Naranja
- Sign of the Cross - Padre, Hijo, Espiritu Santo
- Letter Names in Spanish
- Exploration of Building Pictures
- Number Cruncher - Children will identify numbers 1 -1 0.
- Pizza Making - Children will make their own pizza bagel.
- What Shape is Missing? - Teacher will remove a shape from the group. Children will identify which shape is missing.
- Rhyming Basket - Children will select an object from the basket and identify a word that rhymes with it.
4 Year Old Am Class
Last week began with learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and tolerance. We looked at three bags that were decorated with individual colors and designs. Each bag contained the identical boxes of candy hearts. When we opened the bags and found the identical items we discussed that people are like those bags--different on the outside but the same on the inside. The students were asked to reflect on MLJK's famous "I have a dream" speech by writing what their dream for their world would be. We had some really beautiful ideas for making the world a better place. On Wednesday, we read a book from a favorite series, "Pig the Pug" and talked about the kind of friend we would prefer to have, as Pig the Pug is a not know for his kind and caring nature. We worked on the the "am" family words. Ms. Jo has been teaching us the names of the colors in Spanish and the preschoolers are doing a great job remembering those "colores". At small group played number parking lot for numbers 11-20 . Art last week was using bleeding tissue paper to create a winter scene with a guided drawing of a winter tree. The winter scenes the students created are so much prettier than the gray, soggy weather we are having! On Friday, our Room Moms, Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Butler returned to finish work on our top secret auction project--it is looking so pretty! In religion last week we talked about the life of St. John Bosco.
This week is Catholic Schools Week--a celebration of what and who we are at St. Mary's Catholic School. Because we are not in school all five days, we will be altering the schedule a little to fit our class. Monday we will be celebrating Community Volunteers and Vocations. We have created a fun card thanking the Spring Lake Fire Department for their service. Ms. Doyle will be making the delivery with a small gift to thank them for their service to our community. We also made a fun card for Fr. Dave that we hope to deliver on Monday morning if we are lucky enough to catch him in his office. In our small groups we will be writing to the Seminarian--Mr. Luke, that we pray for daily--letting him know that he is in our thoughts and prayers as he studies to be ordained into the Priesthood. Wednesday, we will be honoring volunteers in our school and employees. We have a little something special planned to honor some of our volunteers. On Friday, we will be honoring our families and students. Parents are asked to join us a little early--8:15 for quick refreshments before school to thank you for choosing St. Mary's. Then at 8:40 we will get busy in our classroom. We will be having a special snack, Pizza Bagels, that the students will be making and enjoying at snack time. It is going to be a busy and fun week celebrating Catholic Schools Week.
Highlights of our week:
Books: Trouble in My Garden, The Lion and the Mouse, Crazy Pizza and The Pout-Pout Fish and the Bully-Bully Shark
Songs: Jesus Loves Me, These Words Rhyme, Learning To Read "At" Rhyming Words, The Beginning Sound Song, I Will Make You Fishers of Men, Pizza Man Chant, Rhyme and Freeze, Who Let the Letters Out?, Do They Rhyme?
Art: Guided Drawing of Winter Tree with Bleeding Tissue Paper (continued from last week), open painting at easel
Morning Practice: Punch Out Shapes, Watercolor Reveal of Hidden Names, Stamping out Names
Religion: I will make you fishers of men.
Specials: Spanish with Ms. Jo, Pizza Bagel Snack , Music
Virtue: Self-Control
Small Group Activities: Letters to Mr. Luke, Fishers of Men & Making Pizza Bagels
Special Notes:
- We plan to play outside daily , weather permitting--unless temps dip below 10 degrees or following Mass. Please send weather appropriate clothing for outdoor play daily.
Kindergarten Prep PM class
We had a great start to our week by honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We learned that Martin Luther King had a dream or a wish that everyone would always show love and kindness to each other no matter what. We connected this message to the story of Elmer the Elephant. He looked different from everyone else, but despite that he was loved by all of the other animals in the jungle. It is our unique differences make the world a beautiful place. To help further teach this idea, I showed the children 2 presents and had them guess which present was better just by looking at the bags. After they made their guesses, we opened the bags and discovered both bags had the same thing inside! Even though we all may look different on the outside, we are all the same inside. We are all deserving of love and kindness. Our Religion Lesson was focused on the baptism of Jesus. We listened to the story of when John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. We also watched a short video clip that depicted the baptism of Jesus and the Holy Spirit coming down as a dove to Jesus. Today people are baptized at church at the baptismal font.
We also began our new study this week on pets. This week we began with an overview and introduction of the topic. We talked about the pets we have at our houses and shared some pictures of our pets. We sorted some pictures of animals that would be pets and animals that would not be pets. Next we further sorted those groups into pets with fur and without fur and wild animals that live close by and far away.
Next week our focus question is, “What animals can be pets?” We will learn the words wild and domesticated to describe animals that are pets and animals that are not pets. We will also explore the question, “What are the characteristics of pets?” We will learn more about the fur on dogs, the scales on fish, and the whiskers on a cat. We will also continue to share our pet pictures.
Next week is also Catholic Schools Week. We encourage you to help us celebrate on Sunday by attending either 9:00 AM mass at St. Patrick’s in Grand Haven or 11:00 AM here at St. Mary’s. Tuesday is vocation appreciation day. The Kindergarten Prep class will decorate a card that will be presented to Fr. Dave. Thursday is parent appreciation day. We hope you can stop in for some treats at drop off that day. The children will also have a note of appreciation to share with you. On Friday, we will be celebrating student appreciation. All Kindergarten Prep students are invited to attend that day. During Center Time, each student will make their own pizza bagel. We will eat them together at snack time. The children will also be participating in some fun school wide surprise activities that day. We can plan to wear our tie-dye shirts on that day.
Highlights for the Week of 1/27/2020
We also began our new study this week on pets. This week we began with an overview and introduction of the topic. We talked about the pets we have at our houses and shared some pictures of our pets. We sorted some pictures of animals that would be pets and animals that would not be pets. Next we further sorted those groups into pets with fur and without fur and wild animals that live close by and far away.
Next week our focus question is, “What animals can be pets?” We will learn the words wild and domesticated to describe animals that are pets and animals that are not pets. We will also explore the question, “What are the characteristics of pets?” We will learn more about the fur on dogs, the scales on fish, and the whiskers on a cat. We will also continue to share our pet pictures.
Next week is also Catholic Schools Week. We encourage you to help us celebrate on Sunday by attending either 9:00 AM mass at St. Patrick’s in Grand Haven or 11:00 AM here at St. Mary’s. Tuesday is vocation appreciation day. The Kindergarten Prep class will decorate a card that will be presented to Fr. Dave. Thursday is parent appreciation day. We hope you can stop in for some treats at drop off that day. The children will also have a note of appreciation to share with you. On Friday, we will be celebrating student appreciation. All Kindergarten Prep students are invited to attend that day. During Center Time, each student will make their own pizza bagel. We will eat them together at snack time. The children will also be participating in some fun school wide surprise activities that day. We can plan to wear our tie-dye shirts on that day.
Highlights for the Week of 1/27/2020
- Books: Swimmy; Dog Fur Facts; Why Do Cats Have Whiskers;
- Journal Topics: 1. What wild animal would you like to have as a pet?
- Sending Love to Fr. Dave - Children will decorate a card for Fr. Dave
- Frozen Animals - Children will work with warm water to thaw out a frozen plastic animal.
- Map Making - Children will draw a map of an area of the house where their pet lives or of their bedroom.
- Patterns - Children will continue teacher's patterns and create their own patterns.
- New Sight Word Introduction: to, said, my, an
- Introduction to Using a Ruler - Teacher will demonstrate how to use a ruler for measuring.
- We Love Our Parents Activity!
- Magtronix Circuit Building Set - Children will experiment with building circuits.
- Animal Sorts - Children will sort animal picture cards by multiple characteristics
- Weekly Music Class
- Religion Lesson - St. John Bosco
- Sight Word Review - Children will use letter beads to build sight words: a, I, the, and, to, said, my, an
- Animal Sort - Children will pictures into 2 groups; they will then further sort into 4 groups based on a new characteristic.
- Animal Measuring - Children will measure animals with a nonstandard unit of measurement and with a ruler.
- Review the hardest working letter: a and intro the /an/ word family.
- Winter Mitten Emergent Reader - With teacher support, children will identify color words in the book and color them in appropriately.
- Rhyming Cords - Children will produce multiple rhyming words when given a word.
- Zoo Phonics Magnets - Children will build /at/ and /an/ word families with Zoo Phonics Magnets.
- Spanish Lesson - We have been learning the words: hola = hello; Como te llamas? = What is your name?; Me llamo = My Name is; Como estas? = How are you?; Estoy muy bien? = I am good.
- Color words: red = rojo; blue = azul; yellow = amarillo; orange = naranja; brown = marron; black = negro; green = verde; white = blanco.
- Sign of the Cross - Padre, Hijo, Espiritu Santo
- Letter Names in Spanish
- Color words: red = rojo; blue = azul; yellow = amarillo; orange = naranja; brown = marron; black = negro; green = verde; white = blanco.
- Friday
- Wear tie-dye shirts
- Pizza bagel snacks
- 1:00 - Special presentation
- 2:40 - Special Event
Science Club
Science Club is an optional activity for students enrolled in either the AM-4 or Kindergarten Prep classes. The club meets on the second Thursday of the month from 9:30-11 am at Hemlock Crossing, September through May. Meetings are lead by Hemlock Crossing naturalists and the membership cost is $ 72 for the year (only $8 per meeting).
Parents, or other adult caregiver, are an important part of the program--you will be actively involved in exploring the topic of the month with your child as well as providing transportation to and from the meetings. Some exceptions can be made for working parents, provided you are able to find a member parent who is willing to transport your child and fill in as your designated adult explorer. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Mrs. Carey at ccarey@slstm.org.
Snow days: if St. Mary's does not have school on a meeting date, the meeting for that day will be canceled. We will not try to reschedule--just too many schedules to try to accomodate. You will not be billed for that month's meeting.
2019-2020 Investigations
Sept. 12th—Nature Navigators
October 10th—Plants & Seeds
November 14th—Art in Nature
December 12th—Nocturnal & Hibernating Animals
January 9th—Snow Shoeing*
February 13th—Tracks & Feet*
March 12th—All About Birds*
April 23rd—Who lives in a Log**
May 14th—Wetlands & Ponds
* Subject to weather—alternative: Food Chains
** Date changed due to Spring Break.
Note: Meetings are held at Hemlock Crossing Education Center at 8115 West Olive Rd., West Olive. Meetings run from
9:30-11 a.m.
Parents, or other adult caregiver, are an important part of the program--you will be actively involved in exploring the topic of the month with your child as well as providing transportation to and from the meetings. Some exceptions can be made for working parents, provided you are able to find a member parent who is willing to transport your child and fill in as your designated adult explorer. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Mrs. Carey at ccarey@slstm.org.
Snow days: if St. Mary's does not have school on a meeting date, the meeting for that day will be canceled. We will not try to reschedule--just too many schedules to try to accomodate. You will not be billed for that month's meeting.
2019-2020 Investigations
Sept. 12th—Nature Navigators
October 10th—Plants & Seeds
November 14th—Art in Nature
December 12th—Nocturnal & Hibernating Animals
January 9th—Snow Shoeing*
February 13th—Tracks & Feet*
March 12th—All About Birds*
April 23rd—Who lives in a Log**
May 14th—Wetlands & Ponds
* Subject to weather—alternative: Food Chains
** Date changed due to Spring Break.
Note: Meetings are held at Hemlock Crossing Education Center at 8115 West Olive Rd., West Olive. Meetings run from
9:30-11 a.m.
Science Club
Inspired by Saint Mary and rooted in our Catholic faith, St. Mary's School fosters spiritual development, academic excellence,
responsibility to self, and service to others in order that the Gospel of Christ may be known in the world.
responsibility to self, and service to others in order that the Gospel of Christ may be known in the world.
