August, 2007 Volume XIV Edition 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sharing Times

Kirkland Preschool

Carolyn Wirkman, Director & Editor

www.kirklandpreschool.org

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkW

CALENDAR

8/3 September tuition due, please

Fri. 8/3 Free school playdate – drop in 11-1 – bring snacks, lunch, towels, wear old clothes for lots of water play (adults stay with children)

Parent Information Nights – 7:15 – 8:30:

Wed. 9/5 is for Tues-Wed -Thurs class (3-1/2 to 5-1/2 yr. olds)

Thur. 9/6 is for Tues-Thurs class (2-1/2 to 3-1/2 yr. olds and 3-4 year olds) and

Mon-Wed-Fri class (3 to 4-1/2 year olds)

***** Parent Information Nights – 7:15 – 8:30 – at the preschool (802 – 2^nd St.)

Please join us to meet the teachers and other parents and to receive your school handbook. You also sign up for your child’s special before-school visit and for the in-class parent helping days, so please bring your personal calendar.

Sorry, no child care is available.

If you are parents of siblings in different classes, you are welcome at both or either evenings. You can pick whichever is most important or convenient.

Week of 9/10 Each child and parent comes for a special before-school visit with his or her teacher. Appointments are made at the Parent Information Night.

Week of 9/17 Classes begin.

Thurs-Fri 10/25-26

School closed for our State Teachers’ Conference

From the director’s chair…..

WELCOME!

We are very glad you have chosen our school for your child’s early education. We can’t wait to greet our old friends and to begin new relationships with families who are just joining us. We hope everyone soon feels that Kirkland Preschool is a community which reflects not only our overall philosophy and what each teacher contributes, but that it also becomes your community.

Please join us at the early September Parent Meeting to start building your sense of belonging. Plan on a lively, interactive evening with opportunities to meet parents in your class, to meet your teachers, and to start learning how to make this a successful school year for you and your child. This is also the time to sign up for the following week’s special in-school visit for your child.

See you in September!

We are very pleased to introduce our newest teacher --- Patrice Bahnsen. Patrice joins us with many years experience in preschool and childcare settings. She loves working with the younger students and so will be teaching with Jenni and Karla in our Little Friends room (the Tues-Thurs classes and the Mon-Wed-Fri classes).

Patrice shares our school’s philosophy that active, hands-on learning is most successful for most children. She is extremely patient and is a wonderful listener. Patrice spent a few days with us before we ended in June, and it was like extra sunshine in our rooms!

We are very grateful to have Patrice on our team. We know you also will be pleased.

PLANNING YOUR FAMILY CALENDAR…

Here is a general school calendar so you may plan vacations, etc. As the year progresses, each class shares specific calendars with information about class topics, projects, field trips and goals.

2007 – 2008

9/5	TWTh parents meeting
9/6	TTh parents & MWF parents meeting
Week of 9/10	family visits at school
9/17	MWF class 1^st day of school
9/18	TWTh class 1^st day of school
9/18	TTh class – ½ of class has 1^st day of school
9/20	TTh class – other ½ of class has 1^st day of school
10/25 & 26	SCHOOL CLOSED for State Teachers’ Conference
11/12	School closed for observance of Veterans’ Day
11/22 & 23	School closed for Thanksgiving
12/17 – 1/1	School closed for winter break
1/21	School closed for Martin Luther King Day
2/18-24	School closed for mid-winter break
3/31 – 4/6	school closed for spring break
5/26	school closed for Memorial Day
6/12	Last day for TWTh class & TTh class
6/13	Last day for MWF class

SEPTEMBER TUITION REMINDER

For your convenience, we divide our yearly tuition into 10 equal payments. Also, to help your budget, we collect the September amount by August 3^rd. This helps us see if there are families who forgot to tell us they are not attending school. It also gives you more time between the September payment and the October one. Please mail your payment to Kirkland Preschool, 802 – 2^nd Street, Kirkland, WA 98033. Of course, if you are joining our 8/3 playdate, you may bring it then. A sincere thank you.

EASING INTO A GOOD SCHOOL YEAR…
OR JUMPING INTO A GOOD SCHOOL YEAR…

(This is a revision of a previously published article, but it bears repeating…)

With all these warm summer days, I’m sure you all have had some swimming time. How do you like to first get in the water? How does your child? Are you so eager you just jump right in, splashing and laughing? Do you like to dabble your toes first and get used to the temperature? Are there days when you just want to stretch out on a lounge chair, reading a book, and your child just wants to play in the sand?

Well, welcome to the wonderful world of preschool! We’re glad you are joining us and sharing your children with us. We welcome and appreciate all you eager ones, cautious ones, and really-not-so-sure ones! We try to make the transition into school easy for each child and family. Just like your feelings about getting in the water, you and your child have many feelings about “jumping into school”. Please be assured that all of us teachers respect your many feelings.

Hopefully, these newsletters help connect you to our school community. Many families also take advantage of our free summer playdates so children start to feel at ease at school. If you can, please try to join us at the last one, Friday, August 3^rd. Drop in any time between 11 and 1. Plan on outside messy, wet play and plan on bringing at least snack or lunch.

Our upcoming parent meetings will also help introduce you to most of the other parents in your class. Even if you are sending Child #3, we want you to join us. Not only are there new faces to meet, we try to make each year’s meetings fresh and different from previous ones. If you need to talk with Carolyn about this, please call the school (425-822-4450). We need to make sure your family has an appointment for your visit the week before classes start. We need to share important school information with you. We need to get our parent helper calendars filled in. We also need to be sure who is actually attending school.

The parent-child-teacher visits are an important way to help your child start feeling comfortable with the idea of school. Finding out where the bathrooms are, seeing some of the toys and activities, hearing the teachers’ voices gives children a sense of belonging. We take photos for coat hooks and personal baskets or cubbies. Even our returning students enjoy getting re-acquainted with their school. It also gives us a chance to get to know your family better and to check paperwork with you.

At home you can also help your child develop a comfortable anticipation for school. One family is already “playing school”. Knowing that it is ok to ask teachers or other children for help empowers children. Equally important is practicing how to be part of a group. With stuffed animals, puppets or dolls, children can practice how to ask for a turn with a toy or how to join a group who are already playing together. Besides pretending to be “the student”, children like the power of being the one in charge and telling Mom and Dad what they need to do!

It’s helpful to keep a positive, calm attitude about school. We suggest you establish ahead of time some kind of good-bye ritual that you use whenever you separate (even if it’s only to the bathroom!) Possibly, you have a secret wink or a special combination of hugs and kisses or some silly good-bye rhyme.

When we get to the first day of school, though, even all these preparations may seem to fail. Still, it’s best to keep the positive, calm approach. Perhaps you will have identified an activity at your parent-child-teacher visit and will have talked about it at home. You might say that after playing together for so many minutes, you will give each other your special good-bye and then you will be back after school. Since young children hear us talk about their “school day”, please be sure to specify how long school really is --- morning children’s parents come back before lunch, for instance.

A warning --- children are terribly confused and distressed by lingering good-byes. If you ask, “Are you ready for me to go?” you can imagine the answer. If you keep saying that you’re going and don’t, or if you keep coming back for one more hug, your child becomes more and more upset. Believe me, as a grandparent who takes her grandson to child care, I know how wrenching it is to even think of someone else being with your child. But, for most children, your positive, calm and predicable approach will demonstrate that you have confidence in your child and their teachers.

Even if there are a few tears, all the teachers are wonderfully comforting. Most children calm down and become interested in activities shortly after their parents leave. If you are “hiding” in the large upstairs room, we will send word to reassure you. Similarly, if you leave, we will call you with an update so you don’t worry. Occasionally, we do have a child who is not easily comforted, and we definitely call you if that is the case.

Remember, not everyone is the sort to dash into a situation, feeling immediately comfortable. Some like to find a quiet spot to watch before venturing out. We acknowledge those children’s powers of observation and gently help them feel comfortable in more parts of the room. Some like to shadow a teacher before wanting to go off on their own. We let those children know how much we appreciate their companionship and slowly introduce them to other children. Some have to voice objections every single day before arriving at school and by doing so, release their anxieties. We compliment their parents on their patience (!), acknowledge to the children that it is hard to make the change from being at home to being at school, and help them find a favorite activity.

So whether you and your child are ones who jump in or who ease in or are ones who really aren’t sure you want to go in at all, please accept our welcome. We look forward to helping each and every one of you have a wonderful preschool experience.

PLAN NOW FOR OUR GALA DINNER AUCTION

Saturday, April 26, 2008 should go in all our calendars and planners RIGHT NOW! This is the night of our not-to-be-missed 2008 gala dinner auction. Last year’s event was extremely successful and so much fun. With your help, we will have another spectacular event this year.

Of course we want you to attend, but we also need everyone’s help as soon as school starts and throughout the year. We are counting on each family to help gather auction items and to sign up for at least one task as we all work toward our goal ---- providing all our children with the best early childhood education possible.

Why should you sign up for a job? Helping the school is important, but you also will have the chance to make some new friends and really feel a part of our school family.

Here is a general outline of some of the jobs. Please start thinking which one your family would like. Some can be done at home, some involve at-school work parties, some involve driving and some involve work at the auction itself.

We will share more details about time commitments, etc. at the parent meetings 9/5&6, and will start signing everyone up for their jobs.

Invitation Assembly The pattern will be provided, but we’ll need some folks to stuff & stamp the envelopes.

Class Organizers Each class needs at least 1 “cheerleader” to act as an in-person or e-mail liaison between the committee and families. We also need 2 or more people from each class in charge of their class’ auction project. As you can imagine, the items made by the children are extremely popular!

Gathering Auction Items We count on every family contributing items for the auction. There are lots of different ways to accomplish this – in-person requests for items from your favorite store or restaurant, asking family members for donations, making something to contribute, sharing tickets or vacation retreats or experiences such as a family outing.

Auction Catalog Assembly Is there anyone who has experience with this?

Auction Item Displays This is the job for you creative, artistic types! Creating stand-up display boards for gift certificate items can be done at home or at school while your child is in class. There also will be in-school work parties to create various basket-type displays of auction items.

Decoration Assembly This is a work party kind of job.

Transporting Items & Supplies to the Event

Setting up for our Dinner/Auction

Clean-up & Day-After Transport

Shifts of Workers during the Event We need people for short shifts or evening-long shifts to greet guests, to help monitor the auction tables, to help with data entry & to help with other activities.

If you aren’t sure which job is for you, there will certainly be more jobs as we get going. The event planning team thanks each of you in advance for your support and enthusiasm.