January 2026

Dear Families,

The children have become curious about the different types of pets they see, what pets need, how pets make us feel, and the kinds of jobs that involve working with pets. We are excited to begin a study of pets and think it will be engaging and fun! To get our study going, we need your help to gather pet-related materials for the children to explore, such as different plastic or stuffed toy pets and books or pictures related to pets. Below is a list of suggested items, but you may also send in other items that you think may add to our explorations. Please label all items with your name, so we can return them to you at the end of our study. We promise to take good care of them! Also, please let us know if you or another family member works with pets or has a gentle, interesting pet to share with the class. We would love to arrange a time for you to join us in our investigations. As we study pets, we will learn concepts and skills in the areas of literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, and technology. We’ll also develop thinking skills as we observe, investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test our ideas.

Objects

Pet-food containers Plastic or stuffed animals (domesticated) Pet carriers Pet enclosures (e.g., cages, aquariums) Cardboard shoe boxes Samples of dry pet food in airtight plastic containers Pet-food dishes and water bottles Pet bedding Pet toys Grooming materials Pet beds Pet-care books Books about pet breeds Pictures or Videos Children with pets Pets in everyday activities

What You Can Do at Home

Notice pets in your community. Be on the lookout for pets at dog parks, on walks, in cars, and in homes. Ask to visit friends’ and families’ interesting pets. Talk about the kinds of animals you and your child like. How does it make you feel to interact with a pet? If you have a pet at home, invite your child to help care for the animal. Together, feed the pet and fill water containers. Talk about what, how often, and how much your pet eats and drinks. Invite children to watch as you clean the pet’s habitat or to help you groom the pet. Take photos or make video recordings of your child interacting with and helping care for the pet. Look for books about pets at your local library, examine pet supplies at the grocery store, and watch how pets move and play. Invite your child to pretend to move or sound like different pets. Keep a tally of the pets you see each day. Look for pictures of pets on signs.

Thank you for playing an important role in our learning.

Our Study

Buildings Study 2025

Dear Families,

When we are outside, children often ask questions about our building. They want to know the height of the school building, what it’s made of, and how strong it is. They also ask many questions about the way it looks. Their ongoing interest in our building helped us realize that buildings would make a good study topic. To get the study started, we are gathering all sorts of pictures of buildings. We could really use your help! We welcome pictures from any source, such as newspapers or magazines, postcards, printouts from the Internet, and your family’s photo collection. It would be wonderful if you could include pictures of buildings in other parts of the world, too. Here’s a list of suggestions, but you may also send in pictures of buildings that are not on the list: houses apartments barns sheds castles cottages cabins bungalows huts yurts shacks hotels–motels inns office buildings schools stores churches synagogues mosques post offices supermarkets libraries restaurants hospitals factories skyscrapers theaters concert halls museums parking garages gas stations mechanic shops government buildings, community centers.

What You Can Do at Home

Study your house or apartment building with your child. What materials were used to build it? How many floors or stories does it have? How many rooms, windows, and doors does it have? Don’t forget the basement if you have one! How old is your home? Who built it? What are its dimensions? Talk with your child about the buildings that you see together. Keep a list of the buildings that interest your child. Help your child investigate questions similar to the ones we mentioned above.

As we study buildings, we will learn concepts and skills in science, social studies, literacy, math, the arts, and technology. We will also be using thinking skills to investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test our ideas. What You Can Do at Home Study your house or apartment building with your child. What materials were used to build it? How many floors or stories does it have? How many rooms, windows, and doors does it have? Don’t forget the basement if you have one! How old is your home? Who built it? What are its dimensions? Talk with your child about the buildings that you see together. Keep a list of the buildings that interest your child. Help your child investigate questions similar to the ones we mentioned above.

Thank you for playing an important role in our learning.

Clothes Study

Dear families,

From the day they were born, getting dressed has been a part of your child’s daily routines. When your child was an infant, you dressed your child in soft, comfortable clothes to keep them cozy and warm. As your child has gotten older, you may have noticed that they are developing their own preferences for the clothes they like to wear and are beginning to express themselves in their outfit choices. Young children are often interested in the variety of colors, textures, materials, and patterns that clothes come in and enjoy exploring features such as zippers, buttons, and snaps. Two-year-old children are also beginning to engage in more dramatic play activities that can be meaningfully supported by offering a variety of dress-up clothes. These characteristics of clothes and the children’s curiosity has inspired us to introduce a study of clothes. We need your help gathering a collection of clothes for the children to investigate. We’ll need many different types of clothes. Here’s a list of suggested items, but you may also send in items that are not on the list. Please label any items you would like returned to you with your name. We’ll take good care of them so we can return them to you at the end of the study

T-shirts pants sweaters jackets hats gloves uniforms helmets saris jerseys leotards robes vests parkas windbreakers rain coats rain boots rain hats suits work shirts blouses flannel shirts smocks aprons shorts skirts pajamas scarves belts mittens hijabs tights costumes dresses sweatpants pajamas scarves shoes ponchos

As we study clothes, children will develop fine-motor skills as they open and close buttons, zippers, and snaps; social skills as they explore clothes alongside other children and learn about the special clothes other people wear; and cognitive skills as they sort and explore clothes and incorporate them into dramatic play experiences. What You Can Do at Home Notice the welcome activity set up each morning for you and your child. These activities that you and your child will engage in reflect what we are currently learning and investigating in the classroom. Look for similar materials at home that you can explore with your child, such as sharing with your child what you wear to work or for any special hobbies you have. Draw your child’s attention to their own clothes and invite them to help choose what they wear each day by offering two or three appropriate options. Invite your child to explore the clothes your family wears for daily activities and special occasions and talk with your child about why you chose them.

Thank you for being a part of our study and our learning!

September 2025

Dear Families,

Our Preschool Program uses The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, a research-based curriculum that features hands-on exploration and discovery. We have chosen this curriculum because it focuses on the skills and knowledge that are most important for helping your child be successful in school.

The Creative Curriculum for Preschool is based on 38 objectives for development and learning that focus on all the areas that are most important for school success: social-emotional, cognitive, math, literacy, physical, language, social studies, science, technology, and the arts.

In The Creative Curriculum for Preschool learning happens through studies. Studies are implemented during several weeks and are in-depth investigations of topics that are part of your child's everyday life. These featured topics (studies) include:

Beginning of the Year Balls Boxes Bread Buildings Clothes Exercise

Gardening Insects Making Music Pets Reduce, Reuse ,Recycle Roads

Sand Signs Simple Machines Trees Tubes & Tunnels Water

Our first study, Beginning The Year, helps children become familiar with our school. Some of the topics we will explore include: What names do we need to know at school? What should we do if we get sad or scared at school? What are our rules? When do thinggs happen at school? Who works at our school? How do we make friends? Hqw can we be part of a group? We will be encouraging children to observe, take things apart, build and see what they can find out. The more active children are in their work, the more they learn and remember. As the children play, we will be watching how they use the materials. We will listen. We l talk with them to find out what they are thinking and trying to do. Through the studies and play, children will think of new ideas, obtain information by asking questions, and learn through trial and error.

May/June 2025

Dear Families,

You may have noticed a lot of activity lately at the sand table. The children have been very busy! Now they want to learn all about the different kinds of sand, where sand is found, how sand is made, how it’s used, and who works with it. In their play at school, the children have shared their passion for digging, holding, scooping, and pouring both wet and dry sand. We think a study of sand will be an incredible opportunity for children to explore their interest in sand. If you can, we’d appreciate your help in gathering materials related to sand. We’ll need many different objects and pictures related to sand. We will begin our study by collecting books or pictures of sand. Here’s a list of suggested items, but feel free to send other items that you think may add to our exploration. Please label all items with your name so we can return them to you at the end of our study. We promise to take good care of them! Also, please let us know if someone in your family has a job or hobby related to sand (e.g., glass worker, mason, bricklayer, construction worker, or artist who works with sand) and would like to share their expertise with the class. We would love to arrange a time for you to join us in our investigations.

Natural (not colored craft or art) sand samples Shovels Plastic containers with lids Chunks of broken masonry or bricks Wheel barrow Photos of sand, beaches, dunes, the desert Nonfiction books about sand Sand paper of different grits Water pitcher, spray bottles Hourglass or sand timers Books, photos or samples of art made of sand Microscopic images of sand and dirt Sand molds and rakes

What You Can Do at Home You can help with our study of sand in several ways. Take your child on a walk to look for sand around your home and neighborhood. Take a small bag, masking tape, a spoon, and a pen. When your child finds sand, make a note of where it was found on the tape and stick it to the bag. Talk with your child about the sand’s color, texture, and size of grains. Was it part of a piece of cement on the side of the road? Did it blow over from the shore? You may even want to record your child’s ideas. Call your child’s attention to the various ways sand is used in and around your neighborhood. For example, point out how sand is used on icy roads, sidewalks and pathways, in mortar, cement, on construction sites, and even in heavy bags at the gym. Thank you for playing an important role in our learning.

March 2025

Dear Families,

Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about trash and garbage. We might give the problem some thought when our community needs a new landfill, a crisis about dangerous waste arises, or litter gets out of control. But then we often forget about the ever-present challenge of dealing with trash and garbage. We think studying how to reduce, reuse, and recycle trash and garbage will engage children because they are familiar with and curious about the topic. We need your help gathering items to investigate. We’ll need many different objects and pictures related to trash and garbage. We will begin our study by collecting them. Here’s a list of suggested items, but you may also send in others not on the list as long as they are clean and safe. As we study trash and garbage and how we can reduce, reuse, and recycle, we will learn concepts and skills in literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts, and technology. We will also be developing thinking skills to observe, investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test our ideas. What You Can Do at Home Talk with your child about trash and garbage. Help raise your child’s awareness of the kinds of trash and garbage your family creates each day. If you dispose of your trash at a dump or landfill, take your child along to see where the trash goes. Borrow some library books about trash, garbage, and recycling. If you recycle at home, help your child take responsibility for sorting items into your family’s recycling boxes. When you are outside with your child and you notice a piece of trash on the ground, point it out and talk about it. For example, say, “I wonder why someone dropped that candy wrapper on the ground. Is it supposed to be there? Is there a better place to put it?” Thank you for playing an important role in our learning.

Objects (pictures of objects) wastebaskets garbage–trash cans recycling bins–boxes trash–garbage bags compost containers–bins paper shredder clean and dry trash–junk items* can crushers Pictures litter–trash in various places dumps and landfills garbage trucks street-cleaning vehicles sanitation workers recycling centers incinerators public trash receptacles * paper towel rolls, empty plastic containers, cans with dull edges, empty packaging, fabric scraps,

Dear Families,

We’ve noticed the children showing interest in the different kinds of signs that we see around our community and school. The children are curious about what letters and words they see on signs, what those signs mean, and how they are used. We think a study of signs will be a great opportunity for children to explore their ideas. We need your help to get our study started. If you can, your help in gathering materials related to signs would be valuable in supporting our investigations. We need a variety of materials for the children to explore and use to make their own signs such as cardboard, scrap paper, fabric, and stencils. If you have any books or pictures related to signs, we’d love to borrow those, too. Below is a list of suggested items, but feel free to send other items that would enhance our exploration. Please label your items with your name so we can return them to you at the end of the study. We promise to take good care of them! Also, please let us know if any member of your family works with signs (e.g., printer, crossing guard, sign language interpreter) and would like to share their expertise with the class. We would love to arrange a time for you to join us in our investigations.

Toy signs Cardboard Cardstock Scrap paper Magnetic letters and boards Magazines that have pictures of signs Clean, empty food packages Flashlights Books about signs or sign language Fabric Stickers Paint Stencils Board games with signs Whistles Paint rollers Pictures and Videos Interesting signs from other places Signs in your community People using signs

What You Can Do at Home Talk with your child about signs that you see around your neighborhood. Point out street signs, traffic signs, and signs you see at any stores that you visit. Talk about what they look like and compare the colors, shapes, and words that you see. Read the signs with your children and talk about what information the signs are communicating and how some signs help keep you safe.

Thank you for participating in our learning.

October 2024

Dear Families,

Our class is beginning to study trees. We’ll be observing and comparing trees to learn about what lives in them, what they’re made from, and who cares for them. We hope that this study will help children explore and appreciate nature. As we study trees, we will use literacy, math, the arts, and technology to explore the topic in depth. We will learn important social studies and scientific concepts through firsthand investigations. If you are able to take a “tree walk” with your child, we would appreciate your help in collecting tree parts to investigate. If you can, please take a bag to a tree area and collect things that have fallen, such as leaves, bark, acorns, twigs, flowers, fruit, or cones. See below for suggestions of other tree parts to bring in.

a variety of leaves small limbs, branches, twigs food from trees (fruit, nuts) pinecones evergreen sprigs or small boughs a live, potted tree flower clippings (may be kept in water) seeds tree “cookies” (cross sections of trees that show the rings) bark

We need your help to enrich the children's learning. If you work with trees, please let us know. Perhaps you’re a gardener, forester, tree trimmer, tree farmer, or nursery worker. Even if your job is unrelated to trees, you can be involved in our study. Extra hands always help! What You Can Do at Home You can help your child explore and appreciate nature by learning about trees. Invite your child to talk about trees. Share stories about your favorite childhood memories involving trees and games you might have played around them. Wonder aloud with your child to encourage his or her thinking about trees. “I wonder why leaves fall from trees.” “I wonder what makes some trees grow so big.” At home, collect parts of trees, and encourage your child to sort them. Your child might also enjoy making a collage by arranging and gluing tree items on paper. Thank you for playing an important role in our learning

Here is a snip-it from an article from Scholastic that I think you might like.

Your Preschooler Discovers Letters and Numbers

Literacy doesn’t start only when your child starts school. From birth, babies and children are gathering skills they’ll use in reading. The years between ages 3 and 5 are critical to reading growth, and some 5-year-olds are already in kindergarten.

The best way to instill a love for and interest in reading is to simply read to your child.And yet, many parents don’t. Reading gives you the opportunity for close bonding with your child, and it also provides a window into a world of literacy that your child is about to enter.

As your child goes from saying her first sentences to speaking in paragraphs, you will start to see exciting milestones develop with reading. Your child will begin to recognize print on the street, stop signs, familiar store signs, and the address posted on your home.

Most Preschoolers Will: Know the names of their favorite books; hold a book correctly and turn pages; recall familiar words and phrases in favorite books, pretend to read books; know the difference between a random squiggle and a letter or number.
Some Preschoolers Will: Recognize and write some letters and numbers; name letters that begin certain words, make up rhymes or silly phrases.
Some Preschoolers Might Even: Predict what might happen next in a story, read and write their names and some familiar words, retell stories that they know.

Talk About Text

A text-rich environment for preschoolers lays the groundwork for reading success. It’s not just about having books in the home, although that’s a great start. You can also start talking about letters, numbers, and words on packages and signs.

Help your child see how text is already a part of his daily life. Point out the name of his favorite cereal. Show him the labels on clothing. Show him the different parts of a birthday card or invitation.When you are out and about, play games involving letter and number recognition. Can your child tell you any of the letters in the supermarket sign? Can she read the serving amount on a packaged snack? She will be delighted to understand more about her world — but don’t push her delight. Developing text awareness should never be a chore.

Reading Activities for Ages 3-5

1. Fun With Letters

Children enjoy copying words out onto paper. Write your child’s name and have him copy it himself with alphabet stamps, stickers, or magnets. Encourage him to “write” his own words using the letters. Your child will write letters backwards, spell seemingly randomly, and may hold his marker strangely — it’s “all good” at this age when a child wants to communicate in writing of any kind.

2. What Word Starts With…

The letter-sound connection is one of the first steps to reading. Play a guessing game about your child’s favorite words. What letter does “p-p-p-pirate” start with? How about “M-m-mommy”? Once your child guesses one correctly, see how many words you can come up with together that start with the same letter.

3. Your Child the Author

Three-year-olds can be chatty, and by age 4, it can be hard to get a word in edgewise. Take advantage of your child’s interest in talking by writing a book together. Start out with something simple, like describing a fun day at a park or visiting friends. Staple a few pieces of paper together, and write out one or two of your child’s sentences on each page. Then, read the story to her and let her illustrate it.

4. A Different Way to Read

Reading to your child is great — but what’s even better is something called “dialogic” reading. That’s when you ask your child to participate in the story. Before turning the page, ask your child what he thinks will happen next. You can also ask your child what other way the book could have ended. For example, with the classic book Corduroy, what would have happened if the little girl hadn’t come back to take Corduroy home from the toy store?

5. Take Letters Outside

Kids are tactile and enjoy few activities more than poking things with a stick. Many preschools encourage kids to make letters out of Play Doh or draw them into sand or clay. The next time you are out in the park, or at the beach, or in the snow, use your surroundings to play with letters. Take turns writing letters in the snow, dirt, or sand.

6. Just the Facts

Try getting your child interested in nonfiction books. At the library or bookstore, find books on your child’s favorite topics. Cars, dinosaurs, dogs, and other topics are covered in on-level books with plenty of pictures, designed especially for kids this age.

Dear Families,

The Creative Curriculum® is a play-based learning curriculum that focuses on interest areas and fosters creativity in both children and teachers. Being creative means thinking of new ideas, obtaining information by asking questions, and learning through trial and error. The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool is based on 38 objectives for development and learning that focus on all the areas that are most important for school success: social–emotional, cognitive, math, literacy, physical, language, social studies, science and technology, and the arts. These objectives are built into every activity that happens in the classroom, which means that all day long, the teacher is helping your child build skills and knowledge in these important areas.