Week of April 22, 2013
Nature Walks
The students will take Nature Walks around the school neighborhood to build vocabulary and observe seasonal changes. They will also be on the lookout for various types of birds and small mammals. Please send your child to school with comfortable walking shoes each Wednesday, weather permitting.
You Are Invited to the Event with Musician and Author, Jim Gill
Join Title I/VPI Family Engagement Night on May 1st at Kenmore with Author and Musician, Jim Gill. He is a child development specialist who focuses on family play, music, stories and games. Your child will bring the flyer and a sticker home to remind you of this event. The event will begin the evening at 6:00 p.m. with Pizza.
Spring Expeditionary Learning!!!
Our Spring Expeditionary Learning about “Our World in Light and Shadow” has been focused on student’s learning. It has been a wonderful time for the children to become knowledgeable about light and shadows and to grow lettuce for the Arlington County Food Bank. Our showcase night will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd from 5:30 pm to 06:30 pm.
Field Trip to the National Zoo
What perfect weather! Our preschoolers went to the zoo on April 24th. The animals were in a great shape and greeted our preschoolers by chewing bamboo, clinging on the tree, hissing through the branches, tanning in the sun, and so on. They need a little more sleep, but it was fun.
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program
The library has launched the1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program to VPI students. You can go to the library with your child and sign up. You will get a sheet with circles to get stamped. Your child gets credit for hearing a story and reading a story, even if it is the same story over and over. The library has prizes waiting for your child.
Assessments for Student’s Performance
Teachers will administer assessment in Language Arts, Math, and Oral Language Development during the next several weeks. The results will be shared with you at the spring parent teacher conference.
Important Dates
* Family Engagement Night with Jim Gill – May 1st, Kenmore middle school at 6:00
* Early Release – May 24th, Friday. WSS Prep Day The students will be dismissed at 12:20.
* Memorial Day – May 27th, Monday, No School
* Upcoming Field Trip to Roosevelt Island and River Cruise (We will inform you of the date.)
* Schoolyard Work Day – May 11, Saturday 9:00-12:00
Week of March 17, 2013
Dear Parents,
The unit 5, Things That Grow, has begun. The students explore how living things grow, using observations, experiments, and books. Through Story Time readings, the students hear about ducks who find a special home, a new baby on a farm, a boy who grows from babyhood to school age, and a girl who discovers the joys of growing vegetables. The students continue to learn about letters, sounds, and rhyming words, and participate in many other mathematics, science, music, music, poetry, music, and art activities. We hope that you will have a peaceful and productive spring break.
Conscious Discipline Strategies
VPI has adopted Conscious Discipline as the method to guide children's behavior and build social skills. Campbell's VPI teachers and assistants have now received hours of professional development in Conscious Discipline. This is a significant investment both in time and expense. We are doubling down on that investment by working to implement these methods in the classroom.
The ultimate goal is to turn the classroom from a place where the children are afraid of making a mistake to one where they are compassionately guided to make choices which are good for themselves and others. We'll be sharing these principles and parent tips in our newsletters so you can be on the same page and use Conscious Discipline to help your student make successful choices at school and at home.
One of the foundations of that compassionate environment for our kids is creating high quality connected time shared by kids and adults. Another foundation of creating the supportive environment we describe is using kid friendly language to assert what the child needs to do. <Parent tip 1> When you begin to feel frustrated or that your child is not respecting your authority as an adult, take the next opportunity to reconnect by doing something playful with lots of attention and eye contact with your child it may only take five or ten minutes but it will make a big difference. Remember, to your child your presence is more important than your presents. <Parent Tip 2 >Use calm, clear, specific language to help your child make a mental picture of what you are directing them to do. “ Hold on tight to my hand and stay close while we walk through this busy parking lot” or “Pick out the bedtime story and we will get ready for bed together.” Children are reassured by having a clear positive picture of what to do, coming from an adult who is emotionally connected and reliable.
Summer School
Please consider sending your child to summer school. It will help them retain the knowledge learned at school during the school. The summer school will run from 8:00a.m to 11:00a.m, 07/08/12 through 08/08/12 at Campbell Elementary School. The summer school application is being accepted at the Campbell school office. The deadline for registration is May 10th.
Spring Expeditionary Learning Will Begin!
Our eight week Spring Expeditionary Learning about Our World in Light and Shadow will begin the second week of April. The students will experience being without light on the very first day of EL. For the first two weeks, they are expected to recognize that there are different sources of lights and sort them by natural and man-made light. It will be a wonderful time for the children to become knowledgeable about light.
Upcoming Dates and Events
* March 25 – 29 Spring Break, No School
* April 8 Prek Spring Expeditionary Learning begins. The showcase will be on May 23.
* April 13 (Saturday) Schoolyard Work Day
* April 17 Early Release Students will be dismissed at 12:20.
Week of February 18, 2013
In unit 4 of OWL (Opening the World of Learning) the children are learning about color names, color mixing, stains, camouflage, and color patterns. The books that the children repeatedly read during story time are about a dog that stains his white coat(Dog’s Colorful Day), a lion who paints pictures(The Lion and the Little Bird) , a boy who gets special letters from his grandmother(Dear Juno), and a rabbit who wants to buy a special shirt(Max’s Dragon Shirt). The children continue to learn about letters, sounds, and rhyming words. They participate in music, poetry, mathematics, science, and art activities.
Field Trip to Nation Building Museum in DC
The students went to the National Building Museum on February 14th. It is located in Washington D.C. It was fun to see many different things on the way to the museum. They saw the airplanes taking off and landing, the construction workers repairing the road, the boats floating on the Potomac River, and monuments and memorials around D.C. With a facilitator, the students had fun searching for patterns of a building and making a pattern book. The students were very amazed by such a big building with beautiful designs with patterns. The trip was very safe due to the chaperones. Thank you for your time to help our field trip.
Celebration of the 100th day of school
You have certainly noticed that your child has been learning so many things at school. It is hard for us to believe that the 100th day of school has already passed. It was such a big accomplishment for everyone. The students celebrated their special day in different ways.
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on March 7th and 8th. There will be no school for the students during conferences. It will be a valuable time for both of us to get a better understanding about our children’s growth and development. The VPI team will appreciate you for immediately responding for the Parent-Teacher Conference date. If you have any changes, please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible. We will send you a reminder for your convenience.
Upcoming Dates and Events
February 27(Wednesday) - Author’s Visit(Kim Norman), Firefighter’s Visit
March 1(Friday) – Read Across America and RIF
March 7,8(Thursday, Friday) –P/T Conferences, No school
March 10(Sunday) - Day Light Saving Times resumes. Set the clocks ahead 1 hour.
March 13(Wednesday) – Early Release, The students are dismissed at 12:20.
March 25-29 – Spring Break, No School
Dear Parents, Week of January 14, 2013
Our VPI team hopes everyone had a wonderful and restful break. We are looking forward to seeing the students succeed in the 2013 school year.
In language arts, the children are learning how they listen for sounds at the beginning of words. They sort pictures that offer a clear contrast (such as m and s) into two or more categories at a time. This picture sorting helps the English language learners build their vocabularies.
In math, many children are able to recognize patterns around them and create simple patterns in their drawings and with objects. Please help your child understand the concept of patterns, which are something repeating and find any patterns, such as AB, AABB, AAB, ABC, and so on in your environment.
PALS(Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) and DMA(Developmental Math Assessment)
The children have been administrated for PALS and DMA in January. We are glad to see much progress from the beginning. The specific information about your child’s performing levels will be provided to the parents during the parent teacher conference days.
Give Kids a Smile (Dental Day)
The children who are eligible will participate in Dental Day, on February 1st at the Medical Education Campus in Springfield. The children will have an opportunity to see what dentists and hygienists do and the tools that they use to perform their jobs. Remind your child how important it is for us to take care of our teeth. Ask him/her which food is good or bad for teeth.
Keep Your Child Home for 24 Hours After Fever or Vomiting
The center for Disease Control says that there is a flu virus epidemic in the US. Norovirus is reported in many Arlington schools. When your child is ill, help fight the flue and norovirus. Keep your child home for 24 hours after vomiting or fever subsides.
In case of snow- in case of snow, ice or other unusual conditions, school officials may decide to close school, delay school opening, or send students home early. Parents and students are urged not to call schools. All area media outlets are notified in the event of school closings, delays and early dismissals.
Upcoming Dates and Events
January 18- Field Trip to the National Air and Space Museum in DC 9:30-12:00
January 21- No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Holiday
February 6- Early Release (Wednesday) We dismiss the children at 12:25.
February 18 - No School, Presidents’ Day Holiday
Dear Parents, week of December 10, 2012
Thank you for coming to the Parent-Teacher Conferences. It was a precious time for both of us to get a better understanding about our children at school. We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
In Language and Literacy, the students are exploring wind and water using observations, experiments, and books to learn more about such topics as evaporation, weather, temperature, insulation, rain, and snow. In addition to listening to stories, the students learn about rhymes and identifying letters and sounds.
In Mathematics, the students are continuing to work on counting practice and number recognition. Counting objects with one to one correspondence is one of the important foundations to build further mathematics learning. Practice with your child counting with objects at home. You can use the items that we can easily collect, such as snack, forks and spoons, and crayons.
Celebrate Our Children’s Expeditionary Learning
The fall showcase night was held on December 6th (Thursday) at 5:30 to conclude 8 weeks of Expeditionary Learning. The students proudly presented what they have learned about the important places and the people in communities. The field trips to our community have helped our students understand that there are many different places and people working together to make our community better. We are so proud to be in our community and thankful for the community members.
The photo on the left taken on the field trip to the Oxen Hill Farm We appreciate the chaperons who made our trip fun and safe. |
Winter Break
Monday, December 24th – Wednesday, January 2nd
Children will come back to school on Thursday, January 3rd.
Clothes The weather is getting cold. Children need to play outside to get fresh air and explore nature in the late fall and early winter scene. The children bundle up before playing outside in cold air. Please send your child to school wearing gloves, a hat, and a coat. The children feel comfortable with sneakers at school instead boots.
Pre-K PALS & DMA After winter break students will receive the Pre-K PALS (literacy skill readiness screening) and the DMA (Developmental Mathematic Assessment) with Mr. Kim or Mr. Turner. |
VPI Team
The New Curriculum Unit beginning this month is “Friends”. During this unit the children will be further encouraged to engage in conversations with each other and adults. Encouraging children to ask “Can I play, too?” or “Can I help, too?” opens up lots of play opportunities. We will be talking about friendship, how to be a good friend, and ways to resolve conflicts with friends. Through the Story Time books, the children will hear about the importance of being who you are, helping friends, enjoying special times together, and getting along.
All four pre-k classes enjoyed the field trip to the shops and library in the Westover neighborhood along Washington Blvd. The children briefly visited the library, post office, bank, market, hardware store, barber shop, floral shop and restaurants. Everywhere we went the shopkeepers were kind to the children and talked to them about their work in the community. Afterwards the school bus took us to Westover Park where we ate our lunches and thoroughly enjoyed playing on the terrific playground there.
at the post office
at the public library
Literacy Screening
At this time the children are being s creened by their teacher for phonological awareness; their understanding of letter names, letter sounds, words that rhyme, and beginning familiarity with written text. The results of this assessment are used to help guide us in teaching your child pre-literacy skills. We will share specific information about your child’s results at the parent/teacher conference.
• To everyone for returning the Share Books each day.
• To the parents who came along on the field trip.
• To all of you for sending your child to school everyday dressed for outdoor play.
Days to Remember
Field Trip Oxon Hill Farm Friday 11/16 departing at 9:30am
Thanksgiving Holiday 11/21-11/23, No School
Week of October 9th, 2012
Daily School Routine
Many children can now use our schedule cards to predict what will happen during their day at school. They are interpreting the icons and words of the schedule cards, combining that information with what they know about our school routine. Together, the icon, written words and context allow our children to give meaning to print. Is this reading? Well, not like adults read. But, it is an important step toward reading and it makes kids feel powerful about print. Your child can do this at home and even in the car by “reading” labels and signs.
Math Tip
Here are some tips to help your child develop math concepts. Math activities for preschoolers are everywhere: They count stairs as they go up or down, help you measure ingredients as you cook, classify their toys into groups, set the table with exactly one of each item for each person, and notice the shapes of boxes and cans at the store. The most powerful math activities for preschoolers are often "hidden" inside children's play. For example, children classify objects (stacking blocks by shape or sorting them by color); measure things ("This cloth isn't big enough to cover the table"); count just about anything (coins, candy, people, toys, and so on); transform objects (stretching dough and making a flat circular shape); recognize patterns and shapes (building a symmetrical structure by putting a two unit block over two blocks)
Fall Expeditionary Learning: We are Here - Community
The fall Expeditionary Learning launches this week. The students start to look around the Campbell school to find out what/who is here. They will expand to our broader community. The OWL unit 1 about Family is wrapping up, so it is good for the students to extend their learning to other worlds. We will have three field trips. They will be authentic experiences to learn that there are many different places and people working together to make our community. The showcase night will be held on December 6th at 5:30 pm. Further information will be brought to you.
Westover Community Wednesday 11/1 9:30-1:00
Take a walk through a community of shop keepers, restauranteurs, bankers, librarians, mail carriers, barbers, pharmasists and meet people from all over the world.
Oxen Hill Farm Thursday 11/16 9:30-1:30
Come down to the farm to milk a cow, feed the chikens, go on a hay ride and learn how people and animals depend on each other in this rural community.
Schoolyard Work Day (The Big Plant) 10/13 Saturday 9:00 am -1:00 pm
Early Release 10/24 Wednesday – Students dismiss at 12:20
Teacher Worksampling Prep Day 11/6 Tuesday, No School
Veterans Day 11/12 Monday, No School
Mr. Turner & Mrs. Kim
Week of September 24, 2012
Dear Parents,
VPI team is very excited about the coming year and look forward to working with you and your child. Our Home Visits have been such valuable times to build the relationship with the families. We appreciate your time to make it happen. We would especially like to thank many families that came to Back to School Night.
The last couple of weeks the children spent a lot of time getting to know each other, learning how to be a preschooler, how to follow rules, and most of all adjusting to a new environment. Here are a few highlights to help you know what to expect in the weeks ahead:
Language Arts
The Unit I in OWL(Opening the World of Learning) is about family. Your child may enjoy visiting a local library and borrowing more books about family! The children are learning to use their oral language in play situations and to tell wants and needs. They are also working on how to handle books and share a story with a friend.
OWL Books
Oonga Boonga by Frieda Wishinsky
Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats
Courduroy by Don Freeman
The Letters on Your Child’s Name
Recognizing the letters on their own names and the beginning sound of it is a very powerful way for the children to learn letters and sounds. Please help your child remember the letters on his/her name. If your child knows all letters in his/her name, help your child work on the sound in each letter in the name.
VPI Share Books
Your child brings a VPI Share Book home and it may be read by you. After reading a book, please put it in the folder provided and bring it back to school next school day. However, your child brings a library book home without the folder one day.
Things to do while reading with your child
Ø Model how you put your finger under each word as you read the story
Ø Ask a few questions for comprehension and ask what might happen next
Clothes- Sometimes the weather is not predictable, so please make sure your child’s clothing is appropriate for the weather. It is also important to make sure your child is wearing proper clothes and shoes for recess and P.E. Sneakers are right for active movements. Important Dates
October 8th- Columbus Day, No school
October 9th- Expeditionary Learning Kick-off Day
October 24-Early Release, Students are dismissed at 12:20pm.
Our field trips are coming. We let you know the dates in advance.
Mr. Turner & Mrs. Kim
Reminders at the Beginning of School
Week of September 5, 2011
Welcome to VPI program at Campbell!
We are very pleased to have your precious children in our classes.We inform you that there are several things that you are expected to rememberor respond to as soon as possible.
1. Your child brought home the first day packet. Please take alook immediately and fill out the forms that need your signature. Send them toschool with your child’s school bag by this Friday.
2. Yourchild needs an extra pair of clothesin case of an accident. Please put a shirt, pants, underwear, and socks in theplastic bag and write your child’s name on it.
3. Your child also needs a blanket for a nap/quiet time. Yourchild will feel cozy and comfortable with their own blanket during the quiettime. Your child’s blanket will be sent home every Friday. Please wash it over the weekend and let yourchild bring it back to school on the next school day.
4. Weshare the school supplies that yourchild brings through this school year. Please put the school supplies in thebag and write your child’s name on it, but not on each item.
5.Your child will bring home the Thursdayfolder every Thursday. Take all papers out of the folder for reading andput only the forms that need your response back in the folder. Your child needsto bring the folder on Friday.
6. Promptly,we start school at 08:00 everymorning. It is important for the children to begin the morning meeting at thesame time all together. If you drop your child to school, please be at school by 07:55. After 08:00, you are expectedto stop by the office to get a tardy slip and give the tardy slip to yourteacher.
7. Wedismiss the children at 02:35. Whenyou have a reason to pick up your child early, please stop by the office andtalk to the office staff. If someone other than the parents needs to pick upthe child, please send the note withyour child in the morning.
8. Our Home Visits have been successful and we appreciate yourtime to make it happen. We all look forward to seeing you on Back-to-School Night, September 14th.
VPI Team
