October 2010
Observations
Dear Families and Friends,
We would love to hear more from you about how your sense of place within our ~Paper as an invitation to investigate~ setting was transformed by your Welcome to the experience at Back to Preschool Night. Studio of the Senses! How did the spaces and materials contribute to your interactions with people? How did you feel—relaxed, curious, inspired, surprised—maybe just a little off-balance? We speculate that children, too, may experience some of these feelings and states of mind and we observe that children interact with the elements in the environment to build relationships with materials, spaces, teachers and with one another. –Our own interactions over materials (and food!) paralleled those of the children.
Thank you for participating in an evening of dialogue and community. Your questions were interesting and thought-provoking. The process of co-constructing answers served to stimulate a sense of collaboration. . . an action that is, hopefully, a part of our community’s sense of place. One question, in particular, was asked on both evenings: “What is the role of the teacher in shaping the membership in children’s small (play) groups?” The teacher’s role as an observer and documenter of children’s interactions and interests is an integral part of our work. We look forward to elaborating more on this aspect of our approach at future meetings and conferences. -September’s preschool calendar offered many opportunities to renew relationships and to begin new friendships. As we enter the month of October, we build upon our sense of place as we meet at the homes of Room Parents and prepare for the Silent Auction, to be held on Friday evening, November 5th, at the beautiful home of Kristen and Steve Abraham in Pacific Palisades. We hope you will continue your participation as a part of the PPS community as we begin this second month of the school year.
Warm wishes,
Nancy
Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:
- Silent Auction News
- Room Parents
- PPS Family Picnic
- After-School Small Group Classes
- Wreath Sale
- Photographer
- After-School Small Group Classes/Stay & Play
- Preschool Mission Statement
Silent Auction News
By now everyone should have received their Evite to this year’s Silent Auction. . . Please note the date change. The Auction is now planned for Friday, November 5th, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
We thank Dandelion parent, Rich Lin, for creating our beautiful Evite invitation! We ask that you RSVP with a “yes” or a “no” by Novmenber 1st. You will note that there is a space within the Evite for you to indicate if you would like to sponsor a teacher’s attendance at the event. We are also accepting donations toward the cost of food, drinks and flowers for the evening.
The planning for our preschool’s large fundraiser is well underway, headed by co-chairs, Marika Spielman and Judy Tyler. They have a supportive Silent Auction Committee that is meeting this week to organize the details of the Auction item preparations and the set-up/clean-up on the day of the Auction. You will soon be receiving information about each family’s (requested) donation of 2 auction items to be submitted to Karen by the end of October. Additionally, our Room Parents in each class are meeting this month with the parents in their groups to begin organizing the Class Baskets created by each class for the Auction. We encourage all parents and friends to join us for a lovely evening of great food and drinks, music, and good company— in support of our preschool. Tickets can be purchased from Karen and, for the sake of a speedy check-out following the closing of the Auction bidding, we suggest that you might like to pre-register your credit card with Karen. Thank you for your participation. We look forward to seeing you at the Silent Auction!
Room Parents
We would like to thank our new Room Parents for volunteering to serve as this year’s coordinators for some of the activities and events in their children’s classrooms.
- Cherry Blossom Room
Kelli Haas, Megan Histand, Catherine McGarvey & Katie Rosenfeld - Rosemary Room
Mary Nadler, Annie Besser & Laurie Montgomery-Cornell - Dandelion Room
Nancy Marcus, Raisa Lilling & Rich Lin - Sunflower Room
Denisse Leon & Renee Berghoff
Please look for communications from the Room Parents in your child’s class about the date for the Class Coffee planned for this month.
PPS Family Picnic
We so appreciated your participation in our September 26th Family Picnic at Rustic Canyon Park.
After-School Small Group Classes
Beginning the week of October 12th, the first of our 3 sessions of after-school classes opens to children enrolled in our preschool. For the Fall Session, we are offering Photography on Mondays, from 1:45 to 2:30 (open only to about 6 Dandelion/Sunflower children), Ballet on Tuesdays, from 1:45 to 2:30 (all ages) and Story Yoga on Thursdays, also from 1:45 to 2:30 (all ages). Children will join Stay & Play free of charge between their dismissal time and the start of their class. Ballet teacher, Laura Mazur, will return to teach the Ballet class and our own Nancy Goodstein, parent of Vivien and an experienced Yoga teacher, will teach Story Yoga. Jon Alonso, Dandelion room teacher, will teach the photography class. The charge for each of these 3 classes is $265 per session. The photography class may also require a small materials fee. Please see Karen to enroll your child.
Wreath Sale
Our traditional small fundraiser for the holidays is Karen’s Wreath Sale. You can order beautiful, fresh holiday wreaths that can be delivered to the preschool for pick-up or to your home—or to the home of a gift recipient. The wreaths do make lovely gifts! Order forms will go home this month and you can see Karen for more information about these fragrant decorations for home and office.
Photographer
During the week of October 18th, professional photographer Mark Berger will be present at the preschool to take photos of the children for your purchase. Please look for information about Mark’s service at the Communication Center next to the entrance to your child’s classroom. He will be photographing the children during their outdoor playtime and will offer a make-up day for children who were absent. Photos are to be pre-ordered through Karen. Mark will donate a portion of the photo sales to our preschool.top of page ↑
After-School Small Group Classes/Stay & Play
On Friday, October 29th, all Palisades Preschool children are invited to participate in the annual Halloween Parade. We are planning to hold 2 parades in order to accommodate children and adults on our play yard during this event. The Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children will start the day outside as usual at 8:45— wearing their costumes– and their parade will take place from about 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. Following their parade, the children who usually attend school on Fridays will go inside for the party and be dismissed at about 11:00. Children who do not attend preschool on Friday will go home with their family.
The Dandelion and Sunflower children will start their day inside as usual at 8:45—wearing their costumes. Their parade will take place on the play yard at about 9:30 or so. They will come back inside after the parade for their party and be dismissed at about 11:15.
Please make sure that costumes are appropriate for our ages. We request that there be no scary masks or weapons. Also, please think about your child’s ability to move safely and easily during the parade.
While our curriculum does not formally include Halloween, we do like to help children interpret a holiday that includes a lot of commercialism and “fright.” Halloween offers an opportunity to talk about what is frightening to us and to explore rich language, music and stories. Our classrooms will feature natural seasonal decorations.
Preschool Mission Statement
Our mission is to serve our community by offering a preschool experience for children and families that celebrates diversity, creativity and kindness. These values are embedded within a rich child-centered curriculum that provides individuals and groups with opportunities to investigate, explore and express themselves through meaningful play.