Our theme for the first week of August is Prehistoric World. We are so excited to welcome back Sean from Education through Nature. He will be teaching the students about Dynamic Dinosaurs on August 8. Our children will become paleontologists by examining museum quality replicas of real dinosaur fossils!

Under the Sea will be our theme during the week of August 12. Mad Science will present a science workshop on “Sea, Sand, and Surf.” The children will take an imaginary ride on a submarine and create their own ocean in a bottle. Preschool is the perfect time to stress the importance of conserving our ocean life! On August 14, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium will be bringing some fascinating live sea creatures in touch tanks. We can’t wait to see the puppet show about the “Adventures of C. Weed the Snail” and explore the assortment of hands-on sealife specimens. On August 15, Franklin Haynes will be presenting his Princess and the Pirate Marionette Show. Our students always get a kick out of his silly puppets!

Western Week is something we look forward to all year! Pony rides along with exciting western games and activities will take place on the playground on August 21. We encourage your child to wear western attire that day. Yee Haw!

Goofy Week is the last week of August and we will start off the silliness with Crazy Hat Day on August 27. Next on August 28 we’ll have Wacky Wednesday and on Thursday, August 29 we’re having Crazy Hair Day (last day of summer camp). It has been a fun-filled summer at Patti’s Preschool!

Celebrating birthdays this month are Charlotte, Andres, Kipton, Nash, Delilah P., Delilah R., Elijah, Nathan, Shae, Bronson, Ean, and Elison. Two of our teachers, Monique Dominguez and Tanya Rios are also celebrating. We hope everyone has a very special day!

The last day of our summer session is Thursday, August 29. We will be closed on Friday, August 30 for Teacher Prep Day in order to get ready for our fall session which begins on Tuesday, September 3. Your child may be moving to a new class that day. Class assignments will be posted in front of the school on Monday, August 26.

We will resume Mandarin class with Betty Yang in September. This class has been very successful due to Ms. Betty’s enthusiastic teaching style. She always comes well-prepared with puppets, flannel stories, and games. To help parents follow up at home, Ms. Betty emails videos that review what she is teaching in class. Her experience as an elementary teacher makes Ms. Betty the perfect fit for this class!

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY-BASED LEARNING

Early-learning researchers have long argued for play-based education for young students. Years of research have demonstrated the importance of play for childhood development. Temple University professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, an expert in developmental psychology has noted, “What we need is something in the middle, what we call guided play and a playful learning approach. It’s playtime that prepares students for classes like math and reading. Hirsh-Pasek said: “Learning how to play teaches collaboration and community building, which aids language development through listening and talking. Language, in turn, is necessary for reading, writing, math, and every subject after. Critical thinking skills are also developed by creativity and innovation learned through play. And play teaches skills such as the confidence to learn from failures.” At Patti’s Preschool, we model this philosophy and also offer a wide variety of experiences including circle time, hands-on games with manipulatives, and structured table activities. We also make sure that children are given enough time to play and interact with peers in the classroom and on the playground to develop positive social skills.