Mrs. Terrio

My name is Rebecca Terrio and I am thrilled to be your child's preschool teacher! I am a mom to a 3-year-old daughter and an infant son. I joined the Pelham School District in 2022. Prior to that, I earned six years of teaching experience in grades pre-k-third grade with four of those years being in Kindergarten. I completed both my undergraduate and graduate degrees at Salem State University where I earned a Bachelor's of Science in Health Education for grades pre-k-12, a Masters of Education in Early Childhood Education and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) of the Autism Spectrum. I hold New Hampshire certifications in Special Education and Early Childhood and Massachusetts certifications in Health Education and Early Childhood Education. Lastly, I am a member of the Pi Lambda Theta National Honors Society for educators.

CLASS OVERVIEW

Our classroom emphasizes community building, acts of kindness, meeting students where they are developmentally, and play!

Our focus during the 3-year-old group is on the development of social skills (sharing, compromise, problem solving, waiting our turn) and learning routines necessary for school readiness (lining up and walking in hallway, turn taking in conversation/listening to the speaker, self-help skills such as unpacking/packing up). Circle Time for the 3's includes singing nursery rhymes/songs and finger plays. Foundational academic skills include recognizing their name in print, learning colors, shapes, counting, identifying patters, sorting by size, shape and color, and singing the alphabet.

In addition to the above, our 4-year-old group digs deeper on building stamina for whole group and small group activities, identification and writing the letters of their name, calendar concepts, number identification, creating patterns, nonstandard measurement, and letters of the week lessons where students learn about the sound and handwriting strokes to help them identify the letter in both print and by sound. While we review each letter of the alphabet, it is not an expectation to be able to identify every letter of the alphabet by the end of preschool.

Classroom Staff
Mrs. Terrio - Teacher/Special Education Case Manager
Ms. Gillis - Instructional Assistant (AM and PM Sessions)

Schedules
3-Year-Old AM Session: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00-11:30AM
4-Year-Old PM Session: Monday-Friday 12:40-3:20PM

Classroom Routines

Arrival/Bathroom Visits

Doors Open 8:50AM

Doors Open 12:30PM

Table Time - A soft-start approach where students choose a play-based activity to start their day

9:00-9:20 AM

12:40-1:00 PM

Circle Time - Greeting, songs, games, calendar, weather, and/or mini lesson

9:20-9:30 AM

1:00-1:20 PM

Outside

9:30-10:15 AM

1:20-2:05 PM

Handwashing/Snack/Bathroom Visits

10:00-10:15 AM

2:05-2:20 PM

Centers - Whole class review of center activities, students rotate in assigned groups to each center

10:15-11:00 AM

2:20-3:00 PM

Whole Group - Read aloud, daily recap

11:00-11:15 AM

3:00-3:15 PM

Pack-up/Bathroom Visits

11:15-11:30 AM

3:15-3:20 PM

Dismissal

11:30 AM

3:20 PM

Communication

As a parent myself, I am trying to limit how many online apps you need to access as a parent because I get it! I will be sticking to email and paper newsletters.

I will be sending home monthly newsletters outlining academic themes, classroom photos, important dates, and reminders in your child's communication folder. Please leave the communication folder in your child's backpack for school-to-home correspondence.

"Happy Notes" are my way of periodically recognizing students for their effort, kindness, and responsibility. Your child may come home with a handwritten note from me tucked into their communication folder from time to time!

As mentioned above, I intend to include photos from our days at school in the monthly newsletters. A permission slip to have your child's photo shared in the newsletter was given out at the August Meet and Greet and additional copies will be sent home in the first few days of school to anyone else I am awaiting a response from.

General Day-To-Day:

Please send your child to school with a backpack, daily snack, and keep an extra change of seasonal clothes in their backpacks at all times.
Car placards must be visible on the dashboard when students are picked up.
Dismissal changes, absences, vacations, etc. must be noted in pick-up patrol
Labeled water bottles and hats are helpful to ensure items return home with your child.
With the exception of Show and Tell Days, toys from home need to stay at home. We have plenty of toys to share at the preschool :)
Wipes are appreciated if your child is in a pull-up. Please label the package with your child's name and send it with them in their backpack.
On hot/sunny days, please apply sunscreen before school and send your child with a hat.
Snow gear can be sent in on Wednesday's and Friday's if there is an accumulation of snow. Gear will be sent home the same day.

Just a few things...

If your child is absent: Pelham Elementary will be using PickUp Patrol to document absences; more information on PickUp Patrol can be found in the Family Handbook
If your child is arriving late (after 9AM for AM preschool, after 12:40PM for PM preschool) you are able to note the anticipation of a late arrival via PickUp Patrol. Please sign students in at the main office of the Elementary school ****Not the SAU office**** when they arrive after 9AM/12:40PM.
We are a nut-free classroom and have individuals with life-threatening allergies present. This includes Nutella as a dip or spread, almond flour crackers, and some varieties of granola or snack bars such as Rx bars may contain tree nuts.
Birthday Celebrations: We will recognize your child's birthday (Summer Birthday's too!) as a class with a birthday crown and offering to sing to them during snack. We are a peanut-free classroom. You are welcome to send in non-food based treats/goodie bags: stickers, pencils, mini play-doh, key chains, etc.

Thank you!

Donations

While we do not need a school supply list for our classroom, we are currently accepting donations of the following:

Zip lock bags of a variety of sizes
Basic white paper plates for crafts
Googly eyes of various sizes for crafts
Glue sticks for hot glue
Small disposable cups for when student's forget their water bottles
Shaving cream for crafts and activities
Water color paint pallets

We are NOT in need of any toy donations from home at this time.