Tag Archives: pre-k
Did you receive your welcome letter?
We are excited for another fantastic year at St. Paul’s Preschool and are excited to see all of our preschool friends. If for some reason, your situation has changed and your child is unable to attend school year, please let us know as we currently have a waiting list.
Happy 4th of July…..Time to update records
Happy 4th of July!
To all of our families: We are working on getting materials ready for next school year. If you have already 
registered, please remember to let the Director know of any changes in attendance for next year or if your address or phone number has changed since registration.
Hard to believe school is just around the corner. We have just a few spots remaining if you know anyone who is interested. Don’t hesitate…call today. Spaces are quickly filling up!
Happy Summer
The heat has arrived…….barbecues and swimming pools are getting plenty of use.
End of year fun day
VBS fun is underway.
VBS – making snow
VBS fun
more VBS fun
Summer is such a wonderful time to enjoy family time and regenerate for the upcoming school year. Enjoy your summer because school will be here in a flash. We have a few remaining openings should you know anyone interested in our wonderful program. We want to say goodbye and wish safe travels to to Evelyn and Quentin and their families who will be moving out of the state this summer. Happy Summer to all!
Sprucing up the classrooms
Best Wishes Pastor Janessa
We have been so blessed by Pastor Janessa and the time she has shared with our preschoolers. Today she shared the story “Wonderfully Made”, by Joyce Meyer. The children enjoyed hearing how Hayley the Hippo discovered that “God gives us all unique gifts. We just have to discover what they are.” Today the children presented Pastor Janessa with several bouquets of flowers as we thanked her and wished her well as she leaves Tucson to become the lead pastor of a Phoenix church.
Should you send a 3 year old to preschool?
Setting the butterfly free
Some parents choose to wait until a child is ready for a pre-k (4/5 year old) class before sending them to a preschool program. Once enrolled, they find the pre-k program to be a wonderful experience for their child, and we often hear…”I love St. Paul’s and wish I had enrolled my child when they were three to get the full benefit of both years.” The 3 year old program and pre-k program are quite different. In our three year old class, the emphasize is on social growth,
Things that roll!!
a vital building tool for future educational success. Many young children know their colors, some letters and numbers, but struggle in a social environment. Our three year old teachers have many years of experience working directly with this young age group. Many times, preschool is a child’s first experience in a structured setting with teachers and a group of children. It’s an opportunity to learn to share, follow instructions, and begin the foundation for learning success. Our program offers the benefit of essential playtime and also beginning the first step in pre-math and pre-literacy development.
Learning about germs
In preschool, a 3 year old learns to feel cared for and secure with a teacher and builds trust with adults outside of their family. A quality structured environment encourages social interaction and children are shown how to handle conflict with others. A 3 year old at preschool will learn to make choices, learn to take care of themselves and others, and strengthen cognitive skills by engaging in hands-on activities that challenge them to observe, ask questions and solve problems. So, the answer is yes. Most 3 year olds will benefit greatly from preschool. Check out our amazing 3 year old program and see how much fun they are having.
Creativity at work
Things that fly
Enjoying a special visitor
Snacktime fresh from the garden
Shaving cream fun
Imaginative play
Pajama & Hibernation day
Finding the treasure
Dry Ice Discovery Pictures
Dry Ice fun Mrs. Van Wormer
To a young child, every day can be a discovery of something new. Preschoolers love to explore the world around them. Simple science activities help young children enhance this natural curiosity.
Science exploration in the classroom provides young children the opportunity to…
- Build self-confidence
- Engage in “hands on” experiences
- Increase observation skills
- Receive opportunities to use tools, equipment and familiar materials
- Problem solve
- Develop sensory, physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social attributes
- Develop language through increased vocabulary as they ask and answer questions
- Just have fun
Making bubbles with dry ice
Science activities are incorporated into many of the learning themes throughout our preschool program. A small sampling includes mixing colors, making slime, learning the difference between salt and fresh water and its effect on floating, erupting volcanoes and discovering the wonder of dry ice.
St. Paul’s United Methodist Preschool Fall Calendar
Just a reminder of important fall dates at St. Paul’s.
October
Wednesday & Thursday, October 8 & 9 – Sign up for our next Stay & Play. Due to our fall break, this sign up will be for the Tuesday after break, October 21.
Thursday, October 9 – Orders for our fall fundraiser, Original Artwork, will be due. Should you require some additional time to order, or wish to submit artwork for one of your preschooler’s siblings, please talk to the Director. Color sample of artwork can be found on each classroom’s window.
Next week, October 13 – 17 we will have our Fall break. Take the time to enjoy some special fall activities with your little ones.
Get ready to smile. Picture day will be Wednesday, October 22. We will take individual as well as class pictures.
Join us at the church, in costume, Sunday evening from 4 pm until 7 pm, October 26, for Halloween Daze. Enjoy trick or treating, games and food inside the Life Center and Trunk or Treat in the church parking lot. You will also see the preschool pumpkin patch wall.
The children will enjoy Fall Festival activities during the school day on October 30. No costumes for this day as the children enjoy fall food and games.
November
No school on November 11 as we all honor the vets for Veteran’s Day.
The children will enjoy our Thanksgiving Feast on November 26 during school hours, as we celebrate Thanksgiving and enjoy our last day of school for November.
How will our garden grow?
We are blessed to be able to share the joy of gardening with our preschoolers, thanks to the lovely garden that was built by one of our dads, Mike Van Fleet. In addition to providing the children with a wonderful sensory experience, gardening offers another hands-on opportunity to explore science, math, language and visual arts.
In addition to playing (planting) in the dirt, the children learn patience as they wait for their vegetables to grow, responsibility as they see how necessary their care is to the garden and 
teamwork as they learn to share the garden with their classmates. Gardening helps our little ones learn where food comes from and are fascinated in seeing the vegetables pulled from the ground. Young children are usually willing to eat the veggies because they helped to grow them.
We would like to give special thanks to the Denton, Schmitz, Wicke, Kaufman, Paugh, Bissmeyer, Haggerty, Burt, Fletcher and Van Fleet families for their generous donations to our garden. We would also like to thank our gardener extraordinaire, Mrs. Hendrickson, who is helping to ensure that our garden will indeed grow!
Excited to see our peas sprouting after only one week!
Welcome packets coming soon!
August 1st update: Today is the day – Welcome letters being sent today! School begins August 12. We are looking forward to another amazing year at St. Paul’s United Methodist Preschool!
Water day at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church VBS
It is hard to believe that the lazy days of summer will soon be over. We hope all of our preschool families have enjoyed their family vacations, hanging out at the pool and reading a book or two. The first of August is just around the corner and it is the the date when our preschool teachers send out their welcome letters. They are currently busy getting their classrooms ready for another exciting school year. Enjoy the rest of your summer and look in the mail for your letters the first week of August.
Just a reminder…we request no backpacks be brought to school. All new students will receive a St. Paul’s UM Preschool tote bag.
Summer fun at VBS
Returning students – Don’t forget to bring your tote bag from last school year.
Mark your calendars for Meet Your Teacher night on August 11, where you will meet your child’s teachers, pay the first full month of tuition and fees and have the option to purchase school shirts and additional totes. See you soon and feel free to contact the Director with any questions.
Making good friends at preschool!
St. Paul's United Methodist Preschool 