March 30-April 3 Spring Break

April 11-17 Week of the Young Child

April 28 Field Trip 

May 22 Field Day 

June 4 End of Year Concert

Watch this video to hear a sweet story about eggs and what kind of friends might hatch from them. In the video, the author Kevin Henkes reads to a group of preschoolers. Notice how the children join in reading familiar words. That’s a pre-reading skill!

When the story ends, the author models some great ways to discuss the story with the children.

Colorful plastic eggs seem to be everywhere this time of year. Here is a fun letter-matching activity you can play using those eggs.

With a permanent marker, write a lowercase letter on one half of an egg, and a capital letter on the other half. Mix them up and have your preschooler try to match them all together again.

Tip: If you don’t have 26 eggs, use the letters in your child’s name!

The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) has a wonderful library of resources that support teachers and families of young children. The Backpack Connection Series is a set of simple, easy-to-use handouts designed to help families and teachers work together to support young children’s social–emotional development and positive behavior.

Each handout provides information that helps parents stay informed about what their child is learning at school and specific ideas on how to use the strategy or skill at home.

This month's Backpack Connection topic is How to Teach Your Child to Take Turns.  A fun way to teach this skill is to play board games.  Board games not only teach children how to take turns, but also to play fairly and even how to handle upsets. Here at Van Derveer we have a group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who are part of the Kindness Club. These students have volunteered to play board games with our preschoolers to help model these skills. 

*Please contact Suzanne Hubschmitt if you would like this resource in another language.

Click on the image above to learn more ways you can support your child at home. 

Take a peek at what amazing things are happening in preschool!

The snow has melted and the sun is shining!  The students are finally able to get back outdoors and enjoy our wonderful Preschool playground!

Week of the Young Child is a week-long celebration of early childhood education.  This year marks 100 years of NAEYC (National Association for Education of Young Children).

Winter Fest was a special day for our preschoolers. The students engaged in winter-themed activities that supported literacy, math, fine motor and gross motor skills.  Each station began with a snowy story followed by a hands-on activity. This day was made possible because of our amazing volunteers.  We were fortunate to have parent volunteers as well as members of the Somerville Public Library Youth Department.