Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to former pupils and parents and a warm welcome to new members of our school. We hope you all enjoyed your holidays and feel refreshed and ready for the new academic year.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME OF THE DAY: Circle Time

Preschool is the time when your child learns a lot of social skills by interacting with other children. Circle time allows children to engage with other children in a social context. Circle time also teaches children to act appropriately in large groups, take turn in activities and focus on the teacher, as well as functioning as a good teaching tool in the sense that it is the time when new topics are introduced.

Circle time at Gence Preschool is at 09:30 every morning and we strongly recommend that your children be at school at this time of the day. The theme for this month is “People at School”. During Circle Time, we encourage each child to introduce and tell about themselves and their families through various activities. We also introduce the days of the week, months, seasons and the weather through out the calendar time of the year. Despite the fact that some of our children cannot communicate in English, they enjoy playing together and joining in a structured activity.

E-MAIL CONTACTS

Please make sure that we have all your e-mail contacts as soon as possible. Families who were with us last year need to update their records if the address has changed. We will send out one more Newsletter in this format, and then all letters will come via e-mail.

CONTACT NUMBERS

Please make sure that your phone numbers are updated. In case of any hesitations, please hand in your new phone numbers -especially the cellular phone numbers- to our Receptionist.

LABELLING

Please do not forget to put name tags/labels on your child’s clothes with a permanent pen. Almost all the children have the same brand underwear. Although we pay maximum attention not to mix up, sometimes it becomes confusing to sort the clothes out.

DAYS OF THE WEEK

Please note that these little duties will develop your child’s feeling of responsibility. We strongly hope to receive your cooperation.

MONDAY - MY NEWS DAY: Children are encouraged in circle time to share with their classmates, what they did at the weekend.
TUESDAY -   PUZZLE DAY:  A puzzle from home to share with their classmates
WEDNESDAY - FRUIT DAY: One/Two fruits chosen by your child
THURSDAY - MATERIAL DAY: Please encourage your child to bring in a material from home to talk about at school. For example; a can opener, a cloth pin, a sponge, etc. (This responsibility is just for the 5-6 year old children.)
FRIDAY - BOOK DAY: English only

HEALTH

Please do not send your child to school if he/she is unwell. If your child develops symptoms of a cough or throat infection or has a fever of 37.8 or more, you may wish to let your medical provider know or consider a throat culture to rule out strep throat. As you may know, most sore throats are viral and are not treated with antibiotics. To help stop any illnesses from spreading, please keep your child at home until at least a full 24 hours has passed after the fever has gone or after any antibiotic treatment has been completed.

When you send in medicine, please do not forget to fill in the form and label the bottles. On the labels, proper dosage and time should be written. . It is important for your child to receive the proper dosage on time. You can download the “Over the Counter Medication Form” from our web-site under the title of “Illness”.

COMMUNICATION

Please note that if any message you would like to give to your child’s teacher, write to his/her communication notebook rather than leaving a note at the reception. We will be pleased if you can check your child’s bag everyday for the communication notebook and any other materials sent home by the teachers.

LITERACY AND YOUR CHILD

How to help your child develop early literacy skills – show an interest in books – let your child see you reading.

*Read constantly to your child.  Research shows that children who live in a home rich in literature seem to become readers earlier and more importantly, stay readers.

*Point out signs, labels, recipes, shopping lists, etc. to your child.

*Give books as gifts.

*Choose books with rhyme, rhythm, repetition and predictable ideas.

*Encourage care of books.

*Join a public library or better …….

*Tell stories.  They may be the ones that you remember from your own childhood or traditional tales from your own culture.

*If you are able to, tell or read stories in other languages.

Yours Sincerely,

Gence Preschool