Welcome to Prek 143.  My name is Ms. O'Hara and my teacher assistant is Miss Anita Serafin, who likes the children to call her Ms. Anita.  We are excited to be working with you and your most valuable asset, your child.  We have a very busy schedule in Prek 143.  Please know that your child will be bringing home their work each Friday, Thursday if Friday is a school holiday.  It is very important that you take all of their work out on Friday when you see them and talk to them about their work.  On a daily basis, please ask them what stories we read that day as we read at least 2 and sometimes up to 5 per day.  Ask them what centers they worked at as that is work for the children.  Also, discuss which letter is the letter of the week and see if they can sing a song or recite a poem or nursery rhyme from the classroom.  We do nursery rhymes and songs and fingerplays every day.  Your little one will be going outside on a daily basis while the weather is nice, so please dress them for the weather.  As it gets cooler, make sure they have a jacket so they will be warm enough.  

      We will be starting a complete Math series in 2 weeks as well, so talk about shapes and numbers and patterns with them.  It is awesome to point out numbers and letters on the goods in your cupboards, such as cans and cereal boxes.  That is called environmental print, and it brings Reading into their everyday life and makes it resonate more clearly.  Also, allow them to help you set the table, as we do here in school.  This teaches them one on one correspondence, one fork for each plate, one milk for each child, etc.  Learning is more fun for the children and makes more sense if you incorporate it into their everyday life.  When you go to the store or are driving somewhere, point out letters and numbers on billboards and signs.  The children have a stronger desire to learn new things when they know that their parents will be so proud of them. 

     Thank you for trusting me with your precious child, and send in any question you may have in their schoolbag, as we check them daily.          thanks, ms. O'Hara