The January Tom-Tom
SEPTEMBER 2024–2025 NURSERY SCHOOL
Early bird Registration Form for Nursery School 2024-2025 will be available starting January 15th 2024 for current customers only. Please return the forms with a $200 registration fee (before the rate increase) and you will be registered for the September 2024 school year. If you have any questions, please call the office at 781-3900. In February registration for September 2024 will be open to the public.
SCHOOL CLOSINGS
School will re-open on Tuesday January 2nd. We will be closed to students on Monday January 15th in honor of Martin Luther King Day; this day is used as a Staff Development Day.
REMINDER
**Mittens (instead of gloves), gloves are good for home not school.
**Please send your child to school dressed appropriately for playing outside in the snow. Snow boots are ok to wear to school. Weather permitting, we do go outside.
It is not necessary to send your child to school in a snowsuit if there is no snow on the ground. Mittens (instead of gloves). Boots should be big enough to slip on and off easily.
A COUPLE OF WINTER REMINDERS
*CHRISTMAS TREES NEEDED*
PLEASE DO NOT DISPOSE OF YOUR REAL CHRISTMAS TREE YET. PLEASE SAVE IT AND BRING IT TO US HERE AT BIG CHIEF. WE ARE BUILDING A WINTER FOREST FOR THE BIRDS. SO, WHEN YOU DROP OFF YOUR CHILD THROUGH THE DRIVEWAY, WE WILL TAKE IT FROM YOU, OR ON THE WEEKEND OR DURING THE WEEK YOU MAY JUST THROW IT OVER THE FENCE. WE WILL NEED ABOUT 50 TREES. THANK YOU.
If it is snowing when you wake up in the morning and you don’t know if Big Chief is open or not, you may listen to the school closings, check for the stations below. YOU CAN ALSO CHECK FACEBOOK; WE WILL POST IT IN THE MORNING AND WE WILL ALSO SEND OUT A TEXT MESSAGE.
SNOW CLOSINGS
News12.com Click on closing and delays
Check our Face Book page &
KJOY 98.3FM WHLI 1100AM
Absences………………
If your child is absent from school, you must:
Call the office (781-3900) by 7:45 AM.
Remember there are NO make-up days!!
Parents remember to check your email for our monthly Tom-Tom and any school information.
Thank you for your cooperation in these matters, and if you have any questions, please call the office at 781-3900.
PARENTS REMEMBER NOW IS THE TIME TO SIGN UP FOR FEBRUARY DAY CARE. SCHOOL IS CLOSED DURING PRESIDENTS’ WEEK 2/19 to 2/23, HOWEVER TO HELP ACCOMMODATE PARENTS AND THEIR WORK SCHEDULE WE OFFER DAYCARE DURING THE WEEK FROM TUESDAY 2/20 TO FRIDAY 2/23 FROM 8 TO 4:30. THERE WILL BE NO DAYCARE ON MONDAY 2/19. PLEASE EMAIL ME WHAT YOUR NEEDS ARE SO I CAN HELP ACCOMMODATE YOU (IF I CAN). THE COST FOR THIS IS $12.50 AN HOUR FOR 1 CHILD AND $22.00 AN HOUR FOR 2 CHILDREN. IF YOU KNOW YOUR SCHEDULE OF WHAT YOU WILL NEED, PLEASE EMAIL US. I NEED AT LEAST 10 CHILDREN. I DO NOT PLAN ON MIXING AGES, INFANTS WILL BE WITH INFANTS, 2 YEAR OLDS WITH 2 YEAR OLDS AND SO ON. OUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS: BIGCHIEFSCHCAMP@OPTIMUM.NET
PROGRAM:
MISS JEANNINE’S CLASS:
Theme: Winter and continuing nursery rhymes; “Hey Diddle, Diddle,” “Twinkle Twinkle,” “I’m a little Teapot”
Language Arts: Reading stories relating to winter. “Snowmen at night,” “Spot’s Snowy Day.”
Science: Discussing cold and winter weather; what clothes we should be wearing (mittens, hats, scarves, boots). Going outside to feed the wild birds in our Big Chief Forest, bringing snow inside for our water table.
Physical: Dancing with instruments. Learn how to put on our coat, hat, and mittens.
Art: Painting our stars, water coloring teapots and Hey Diddle Diddle.
Cooking: Making hot chocolate and playdough.
Theme: Winter and continuing nursery rhymes.
Social Studies: Talking about the weather (wind, cold, sunshine and snow if it snows). How we dress for the cold weather. Play with our mittens as we learn to put them on. Putting on and taking off jackets and mittens. Wiping noses and washing hands. Practice using the plastic 5oz disposable cups to drink.
Language Arts: Reading stories relating to winter. “The Three Little Kittens,” “My Mittens,” and “Humpty Dumpty.”
Science: Nature walks, feeding the wild birds in our Big Chief Forest, collecting, snow and bringing it inside for our water table.
Physical: Rolling like a snowball, crawling through our tunnel, and jumping. Introduction to lacing cards. Continue playing with playdough to work on our fine motor skills.
Art: Decorating our mittens, finger paint and stuff a Humpty Dumpty. Water color our Three Little Kittens.
Music: Dancing to Frosty the Snowman, Winter Wonderland and Let It Snow. Continue using the parachute and scarves. Marching with our instruments.
Math: Matching big and little circles and mittens. Working on colors and basic shapes.
************PARENTS PLEASE SEND IN A SHOE BOX*************
MISS JENNA’S CLASS:
Theme: Winter and continuing nursery rhymes: “Ba Ba Black Sheep,” Humpty Dumpty,” “Wheels on the Bus”
Social Studies: Talking about the weather (wind, cold, sunshine and snow if it snows). How we dress for the cold weather. Play with our mittens as we learn to put them on. Putting on and taking off jackets and mittens. Wiping noses and washing hands. Practice using the plastic 5oz disposable cups to drink.
Language Arts: Reading stories relating to winter. “The Three Little Kittens,” “My Mittens”
Science: Nature walks to feed the birds.
Physical: Rolling like a snowball, crawling through our tunnel, and jumping. Introduction to lacing cards. Continue playing with playdough to work on our fine motor skills.
Art: Finger paint and stuff a Humpty Dumpty. Making sheep using cotton balls and dot painting, creating props for and characters for “Wheels on the Bus”. More playdough and coloring to help strengthen our small motor skills.
Music: Dancing to Frosty the Snowman, Winter Wonderland and Let It Snow. Continue using the parachute and scarves. Marching with our instruments.
Math: Matching big and little circles and mittens.
************PARENTS PLEASE SEND IN A SHOE BOX*************
MISS ELISA’S CLASS:
Theme: Winter and classic children’s stories.
Language Arts: Reading stories relating to our theme. “The Snowy Day,” “Brown Bear,” “Three little pigs,” and “Three Billy Goats Gruff.”
The children will be making individual books of our classic stories and will be acting them out in class. Please encourage your child to tell you the stories when they bring home their completed work.
Science: Discuss cold weather and how to dress appropriately. We will be taking walks in the snow (when possible) so please provide snow boots and MITTENS (Not Gloves) for these days. We will be feeding the birds outside in our Big Chief Forest and also experimenting with shaving cream indoors.
Physical: Continue with aerobics, introducing new dances such as; Old Brass Wagon, chicken dance, freeze dance and parachute activities. Outdoor playtime (weather permitting).
Art: Easel and sponge painting, collages of winter clothing and working on our individual books.
Math: Making shapes with our blocks, (square, circle, triangle). Continue counting children while lining up.
Cooking: Making smoothies and oatmeal.
IN THE NEW YEAR, YOUR CHILD WILL START DRINKING FROM A CUP. OVER THIS WINTER BREAK PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD PRACTICE DRINKING FROM A CUP.
Theme: Winter weather and self-help skills. Telling and recreating the “Gingerbread Man” story and “The Mitten.”
Art: Winter mural, snowflakes and snow painting. Decorating and lacing our own mittens and making a snowman. Creative art: experimenting using shaving cream on our art table. Making our own books with props and characters to re-tale the stories of the “Gingerbread Man” and “The Mitten”
Language Arts: Reading the following stories:
- “The Mitten” By Jan Brett
- “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
- “The Snowy Day”
- “Frozen Noses”
- “The First Snowflake”
- “Ten Shiny Snowflakes”
- “Winter Is”
- “Gingerbread Man”
Cooking/Nutrition: Homemade guacamole, rice pudding and Gingerbread cookies, playdough.
Math: Mitten matching, hanging, and counting mittens on a clothesline, counting how many boys and girls are in the class and working on our colors.
Fingerplays: “Five Little Snowmen,” and “I am a Little Snowman” and “Snowman says.”
Small Motor Coordination: Lacing Mittens and cutting with scissors.
Science: Discussing the changes that take place during winter. Discussing weather – wind, cold, snow. Discussing what we need to dress for the weather, hats, boots, mittens, scarves, etc. Taking a nature walk, feeding the wild birds. Looking for tracks in the snow, feeling snow and ice. What happens when you leave a bowl of water outside? The children will be amazed that it turned into ice and exploding snowman science experiment.
Physical: Catching snowflakes on our tongues on a snowy day. Following directions on our movement CD’S. Taking nature walks to note the changes to Big Chief’s outdoor environment.
MISS PATTI’S CLASS
Theme: Community Helpers and Winter Weather.
This month we will be discussing community helpers and how they work together in our community. Our focus will be on Police Officers, Firefighters and Dr. /Veterinarian.
Science: Discussing changes that take place in the winter. Observing Big Chief grounds and seeing what animals may be around; feeding our outdoor birds. If it does snow, we would like to bring it in and see how it changes from outside to inside. What makes it change from solid to a liquid, make ice cubes.
Language Arts: Listening to the story “Going to the Doctor,” “Let’s Meet a Police Officer,” “Curious George at the Fire Station,” “Firefighters to the Rescue,” For the winter: “The Hat and Mitten” and “Snowy Day” and other winter stories.
Cooking: We will be making fruit salad, smoothies, and quiche.
Math: Counting and matching winter items.
Music/Movement: Scarf dancing, beanbags, musical chairs and instruments. Fast and slow sounds and different community helper’s sounds.
Family Living Center: This area will be changed into a Doctor/Vet office, a Police Station, and then a Firehouse.
Art: Making our own Doctor’s bag, making police badges and fire trucks. Having creative art opportunities; such as, when it does snow, we will make snowflakes for our tree and snow art using paint, crayons, cotton balls, etc.…
Block Area: Building hospitals and creating roads for cars and ambulances to get there, building police stations and fire stations, going over traffic lights and signs. Discussing safety and wearing seat belts. Playing with our fire trucks and police cars. We will be designing a community of houses for our bulletin board.
Special Notes: If you are a community helper (Doctor, Vet, fireman, police officer) and would like to donate (or come in) any items to the class so we can look and go over the items please contact the office. Lastly, we are in need of Christmas trees, after the holiday please send in your trees for our science area and bird habitat.
In January, Thursday the 25th and Friday the 26th your child may send in a labeled stuffed animal as we will be talking about the animal hospital.
*We need any empty food boxes for the week of 1/19/24. Please send them in ahead of time if possible. *
MR. ANDREY’S CLASS
Theme: Community Helpers and Winter Weather.
This month we will be discussing community helpers and how they work together in our community. Our focus will be on doctors and Veterinarians, Police Officers, and Firefighters. Beginning supermarket.
Science: Discussing changes that take place in the winter. Observing Big Chief grounds and seeing what animals may be around; feeding our outdoor birds. If it does snow, we would like to bring it in and see how it changes from outside to inside. What makes it change from solid to a liquid, make ice cubes.
Language Arts: Listening to the story “Going to the Doctor,” “Let’s Meet a Police Office”, “Curious George at the Fire Station”, “Firefighters to the Rescue”, For the winter -: The Hat and Mitten” and “Snowy Day” and other winter stories.
Cooking: We will be making fruit salad and smoothies.
Math: Counting matching and winter items.
Music/Movement: Scarf dancing, beanbags, musical chairs, and instruments. Fast and slow sounds and different community helper’s sounds.
Family Living Center: This area will be changed into a doctor and veterinarians office, Firehouse, and supermarket.
Art: Making our own Doctor’s bag, making police badges and fire trucks. Having creative art opportunities; such as, when it does snow, we will make snowflakes for our tree and snow art using paint, crayons, cotton balls, etc.…
Block Area: Building hospitals and creating roads for cars and ambulances to get there, building police stations and fire stations, going over traffic lights and signs. Discussing safety and wearing seat belts. Playing with our fire trucks and police cars. We will be designing a community of houses for our bulletin board.
Special Notes: If you are a community helper (Doctor, Vet, firefighter, police officer or supermarket personnel) and would like to come in or donate any items to the class so we can look and go over the items please contact the office. Lastly, we need Christmas trees, after the holiday please send in your trees for our science area and bird habitat.
In January, Thursday the 18th and Friday the 19th your child may send in a labeled stuffed animal as we will be talking about the animal hospital.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM:
MISS KATYA
Theme: Continuing our senses: Hearing, smell and sight. Winter, hibernation, and migration.
Science:Sight, make a walk through using a stick, blocks, and a blind fold. Going outside and using color paddles, magic mirrors, and a kaleidoscope.
Hibernation, talk about why animals hibernate, not enough food so animals have to sleep. How do animals prepare for hibernation? Eating more food than usual to store extra fat. Searching for geese flying in a “V” shape flying South.
Vocabulary: hibernation, migration, torpor. Which animals hibernate? Bears (torpor) sleep for a while, wake up to eat then go back to sleep. Migration: A group of animals move from one place to another then back again. Animals know when to hibernate or migrate because of the changes in the weather, length of day and availability to food. We will be making bird feeders using pine cones and bird food for our forest for the animals during winter time.
Experiments, Liquid to Solid, Ice Painting, and Ice Fishing.
Art: Making our own color paddle. Making the sun for East and West. Making different sceneries for North and South, such as; a pond for the geese and trees for the butterflies. Making whales, bears, geese, butterflies, and snakes.
House Area: Sight: Converting our house area into an ophthalmologist’s office. Taking turns being the doctor, patient or receptionist. Setting up a waiting room and pretend eye chart, writing prescriptions to then take to the optometrist who will be in the block area. Working on self help skills, such as; putting their coats, outside shoes, hats and gloves on. Create a cave in our house area for hibernation play.
Language Arts: “Don’t wake up the bear,” “The Bear snores on,” “Time to Sleep,” “It looked like spilt milk,” and “Arthur’s Eyes” plus other books on Winter and hibernation.
Block Area: Converting our block are into an Optometrist’s office and selling eyeglasses. Pretending to be geese flying in a “V” shape against the wind (fan). Making hibernation tunnels and caves.
Math: Graphing, adding, and subtracting.