Ms. Gloria & Friends: News from the 3-4 Year Old Class

Each morning, after free playtime, the children participate in circle time activities. They sing two songs, “Boker Tov”, which means “Good Morning” and “The More We Get Together”. It is during this time that we talk to the children about the things that they need to know for the day, like their art project or the letter of the week. The “kid of the day” gets to count the kids, first by counting the pictures of the children who are in school, and second, by counting the children in the circle. After counting, the “kid of the day” shows his/her Show and Tell. After circle time, all of the children move over to the calendar to find out the day and date, the weather, and to dress the Weather Bear. On Monday, we read Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. Our arts and crafts project was to make a farm with cows, pigs, and sheep. We also read Color Farm by Lois Ehlert. In this book, the children identified farm animals, shapes, and colors. We sang “Old Macdonald Had a Farm”, too.

On Tuesday, we read Fall is for Friends by Suzy Spafford. Our letter of the week art project was to decorate the letter F with fall leaves and acorns. The children also put a picture of a fish on the letter F. As an added feature, they painted the letter F the color fuchsia, a combination of the colors, pink, red, and purple. On Wednesday, one group of children began to work in their journals. For their first journal entry, the children used markers to color fall leaves. Please let us know if you would like to see your child’s journal. The children will be making journal entries every other Wednesday before yoga. The other group of children read Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert. In yoga class, Miss Kim began the lesson with yoga breathing as she asked the children to name their favorite colors. The boys and girls learned how to play “Red Light, Yoga Light”. The children made yoga poses to thank the warm, golden sun and to slither like snakes as they moved closer and closer to Miss Kim. The boys and girls took an imaginary trip to the farm. They learned how to “yoga” travel by train. On their trip, they saw cows, ducks, and pigs. They made large sandwiches and sipped a drink through a straw before traveling back home on the train.

On Thursday, we read We Are All Alike. . . We Are All Different by the Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergartners. This book is filled with photographs and drawings of children and their families. In the book, we learn how children are like each other and how children are also different from each other. This book tells about the differences in families, in the foods that people eat, where people live, and what children like to play. Our art project was for each child to create their own self portrait. Their art work will be displayed in the Social Hall and all of the children will complete this project. On Friday, we read Mole’s Hill by Lois Ehlert. For our letter F art project, the boys and girls made a fox. We will be displaying some of our animal art work on our classroom walls in the next few days.

Thank you to Jack L., Ciampone, Annalise, Max M., and Jonnah for being our super “kids of the day” this week. Thank you to all of our Playschool parents who have signed onto our Playschool blog. All newsletters, flyers, and special events will be posted on the blog. Please check the information each week to see what is happening in the Playschool. Next week, we will begin learning about fall, Rosh Hashanah, and letter R. We will also taste apples and honey to celebrate a sweet new year. This week, in Afterschool Arts, the children made pizzas, they learned about caterpillars, they created a pizza art project, they played an obstacle course game and rode scooters, they sang fall and Shabbat songs, and they listened to a story each day. There are still spots available in any of our Afterschool Arts Clubs. It’s a great way to continue having fun in the Playschool. Please let us know if you would like your child to give it a try! Have a great weekend!

Miss Gloria, Miss Allison, Miss Lily, Miss Sophie, and Miss Mindy



October Calendar


The Playschool will be closed for Rosh Hashanah on Monday, September 29, Tuesday, September 30, and Wednesday, October 1.

There will be no Afterschool Arts Club on Wednesday, October 8. The Playschool will close at 12:30 PM.

We will be closed for Yom Kippur on Thursday, October 9.

On Monday, October 13, Tuesday, October 14, and Wednesday, October 15, the Playschool will be closed for Columbus Day and for Sukkot.

We will also be closed on Tuesday, October 21 for Shemini Atzeret and on Wednesday, October 22 for Simchat Torah.

On Friday, October 24, we will have our Fall Shabbat Dinner and Art Exhibit. More information will be forthcoming soon.

Friday, October 31 is Grandparent’s Day for the 3 – 4 Year Old Class and the Pre-K. You will be receiving more information about this special event soon.