Our last week before the Christmas Holidays were filled with a visit from Santa Clause, (pictures were taken and the children were able to ask him questions and he told them ways to be good to their parents and sibblings for 30 minutes) making and baking Gingerbread men......and one got away so we searched the entire house until we found him warm by the fire, painting a snowman, dressing up like little elfs, decorating our preschool tree and our own tree, planting peppermints in the dirt and watched them grow into big candy canes...that was the best! Also, seeing where the little Elf was in the preschool and what he was doing.  Now I understand that was all the creative play stuff we did, however, they did learn more sight words, shapes, the letters, upper and lower and letter sounds up to the letter "M",  The 4-5 year old classes are right where they should be.

The 3-4 year old class I have some concerns as we are still learning colors.  I worked with 3 children last week for 15 minutes and they had an extremely hard time recognizing their colors and being able to count to 10. We will continue to work on those concerns before we move on.

Days of the week, pledge of allegiance, shapes, colors, identifying numbers as well as counting to 100 are accomplished by the 4-5 year olds!  Way to go guys...so proud of each one of them.

We will see everyone starting Jan 5 & 6 at the regular scheduled time.  Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone!  I haven't informed you as well as I would like but I want you to know we have been learning and drilling a lot in school.  Please as your children sing their alphabet song help them "SEE" what the letter looks like.  I still have children who are struggling with identifying their letters and sounds...we will just keep working on that the whole year.

3-4 year class are counting to 10 - well close again we are working on it.  They are just so cute and doing so well sharing with each other and playing games together taking turns and learning that they're are other people around besides themselves.

4-5 year class have learned around how to read!  They are doing great in class, please have them read their little books to you each night before they go to bed.  Reading to your children is the most amazing thing you can do for them and for your relationship with each of your children.  We are counting to 100 and they are doing great to!  So proud of each of them.

I hope you all enjoyed the little pilgrims your child painted...They did a great job painting.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!  No school the week of Thanksgiving and we will see you all December 1rst!

Halloween is just around the corner -   Our Halloween party is scheduled on October 29th & 30th, regular scheduled time -  depending on what day your child comes to preschool.

*Please dress your child up in something that he/she can play games in and be comfortable.
*Please bring 12 wrapped treats for your child to pass out to each student in his/her class.
*Do not be concerned about bringing a Halloween bucket/bag - one will already be provided for.
*No doughnuts/cupcakes.  Treats that are individually wrapped are cleaner and less messy for each child.

The children in my 4-5 year old classes are moving along very well with their sight words.  Thanks you so much for helping them at home.

I am still drilling each one of them in understanding each letter we have learned (A,B,C,D,E,F) the letter, the sound of the letter and being able to identify a word that starts with that letter.  In general they are all coming along well.  Please encourage them at home by just writing a letter down on a small card or piece of paper, then having them identify, tell you the sound and tell you a word that starts with that letter.

I still have a few children struggling in writing their names - please if your child cannot write his/her name they may need a little extra help at home practicing.  I will be happy to give you a few extra name sheets so you can copy them for your child, if that would help.

The 3-4 year old class are learning how to write their names by tracing.  It is still very hard for some of the children to push their little fingers hard to trace but we are working on it.  We do have some children that are writing their names very well and it amazes me.  They are still developing their fingers, their speech and their movement.  I am working on all three in helping them progress and feel confident in themselves.  I do not want to push them too hard but only encourage and give them the structure.

Tautphaus Park Zoo from Idaho Falls came today and what a treat for the kids.  Each of them got to touch a rabbit, a hedgehog, a chinchilla, but the blue tongue lizard we did not touch because of their rules..
The children learned that each of us are mammals and please ask your child why?  Because we have hair/fur!

I hope you had a great summer!  I sure did.....

If you are interested in openings I have a few left in class 5 (Tuesdays-Thursdays from 12:00-2:00).

My open house is August 29, 2014 between 10:00-11:00 am at my back door preschool room.  This is for new students who will be starting preschool this year.  I recommend you bring your child so that this can be a comfortable transition when he/she comes the first day of preschool.

Preschool starts September 3 & 4, 2013.  If you do not remember your child's class assignment here it is below:

Mondays-Wednesdays        Monday-Wednesdays        Tuesdays-Thursdays       Tuesdays-Thursdays
8:45-10:45 (ages 4-5 )        11:00-1:00 (ages 3-4 )        9:45-11:45 (ages 4-5)    12:00-2:00 (ages 4-5)

If you have any questions please call me cell #403-2715
                                                         

Getting a lot of last minute calls...that's just great!  These are the openings I have currently.  I would love to have your child fill one of these spots.  It makes it fun for the children to have many friends to play and learn with.  Thank you for your consideration

Still have openings for 3-4 year olds:
     Monday-Wednesdays:
               11:00-1:00 (6 openings)
                1:15-3:15  (6 openings)

Still have openings for 4-5 year old:
       Tuesdays-Thursdays:
             12:00-2:00     (4 openings)

Classes available for Fall 2014 starting September 3 & 4
Monday-Wednesday Classes:
 
   8:45-10-45  -  1 opening       4-5 year old class
   11:00-1:00   -  4 openings      3-4 year old class
 
Tuesday-Thursday Classes:
 
  9:45-11:45   -  Full                  4-5 year old class
12:00-2:00     -  4 openings        4-5 year old class

Enrollment for the Fall of 2014-15 has begun.  Please check on the registration form, fill out and send your non-refundable $95.00 to Valerie Doggett 361 east 4th South, Rexburg, Idaho 83440.  If you still have any questions after reading all the information under curriculum, about me, and the registration form that you need to copy and send, please call me at 403-2715.  I will call you back as soon as I can. I will also keep you updated if a class becomes full.   Thank you

Hi everyone... just a few reminders before school is out for the summer.....

Cake walk will be May 19th and 20th during regular scheduled classes. Please make or buy a cake that will be given away to another child - please if you make the cake make sure you put it on something that is non-returnable.
Graduation is mentioned below already, however, if you have any questions please call and let me know.
Have a great warm summer and hope to see you soon!

Hi everyone!  So I hope you all got the note from me that "Bear World" will be bringing those adorable baby bears next Wednesday.  I have scheduled an Open House at the East Stake House Primary Room (just park around in the back and go inside).  Please invite any family member that would like to see the bears and come anytime between 10:00 am until 12:00 noon.  Bring your cameras and we will have little refreshments prepared by Miss Emily!  Standard Journal will be there to take pics for the paper too!

Schedule for March:        No school March 19 & 20 (Open House with baby bears visiting)
                                       School March 24 (as usual)
                                       No school March 25-31 (Spring Break & my sons coming home from Missions)
                                                                                                     
I hope you all enjoy the experience that Bear World is giving to each of us and have a wonderful Spring Break!  See you all back April 1rst & 2nd!!!!!

For those of you wondering when Graduation will be - it is scheduled for May 21 at the East Stake Center Gym (where we had our Christmas program)
Class #1:  Monday Class 8:45 - 10:45 Graduation will be at 10:00 am
Class #3:  Tuesday Class 10:00-12:00 Graduation will be at 11:00 am  
Class #4:  Tuesday Class 12:15-2:15   Graduation will be at 12:00 am
3-4 year old class will not be graduating until next year. Last class will be May 19th

On May 19th and May 20th all classes will have a cake walk.  Please be prepared to make or buy a cake for your child to give away at our last day of school party cake walk.  Please explain to your child that his/her cake will be someone elses..... thank you!  Will send more information with your May calendars!

What a wonderful week the children experienced.  I am so thrilled with each of them as they are learning their rhyming words, shapes, numbers, letters, phonics, sight words. etc. We finished the letter "Ss" and will begin next week learning words that start with the letter "Tt".
March calenders were handed out to each child as well as their new reading book/word.  We observed the children as they are learning how to play together and share and say kind words to each other.  I love the month of February -manners.  They really are listening and connecting with each other.  Couldn't be more pleased with each 1 of them!   If you get a chance at home, please have your child write his/her name lower case letters and upper case letters.  Watch and see if they know the difference.  I want to make sure they each understand what a capital letter is and a lower case letter is. Have a great weekend.

The Letter "Ss" was our new letter this week and will be next week also.  I introduced to the 4-5 year olds this week what a rhyming word is.  After they put together a rhyming puzzle on the floor we took the pictures from it and started learning words that rhyme.  (Goat, coat, pig, wig, snake, cake, and many many others).
Then I had each student stand and tell us a word that rhymed with his/her name.  They had a lot of fun experimenting with their names.  We painted the letter C and you will see the completion of this when we have our graduation program in April.

In the 3-4 and 4-5 classes when we completed tracing our letter and writing our names we had wonderful snacks that were brought my the assigned child/parent.  We then played games together and the children had so much fun together interacting and playing these games. We are still working on right foot and left foot.  If you get a chance at home please help your child distinguish the difference.

Monday Feb. 24 there will be no school because my husband has his EKG test.  I apologize for this inconvenience.  Thank you again for your patience.

Ms Emily, my intern from BYU-I is here for another month.  In utilizing her better, I have decided to cut the class in 1/2 and have her help teach the children three different subjects while I am teaching the other group of children 3 others different subjects.  We will call them learning centers and between the 2 of us we will be teaching the children in groups of 6 for 5 minutes at a time each new subject.  We will be covering our letters; cutting with scissors; reviewing sight words; reading; sounds/identifying alphabet upper & lower case; shapes; months of the year; days of the week; rhyming words;  and our theme for the month -manners.  All of this in just 30 minutes. This will help work more individually with each child with the small groups and then I will be able to see where individually each child needs help in or not. I am excited to see how good this will be for each child and I will let you know about your own child to see where he/she may need a little extra help in at home.    

There will be no school Monday February 17th because of Presidents Day!

Happy Valentines everyone!  It was a great week for the children at preschool.  My little 4 year old Addison said over and over that "this was the funnest day of her whole life".  I must say the children went home with enough candy for the whole family to devour and I hope that's what you all did.  I especially loved the creativity that you and your child came up with, with their valentine cards.  In the 4-5 year old classes this was the first year that a lot of the children read their classmates names they had written on their valentine cards.  It was amazing to watch and feel a part of.  Thank you so much for all you do for your children.
Letter "Rr" was the letter we wrote this week.  Each child wrote the letter R with ease. Just a note - when you watch your child practice writing at home make sure he/she always starts from the top down on any given letter.  A 2nd grade teacher once said that it will help them write faster when they learn to do it correctly.

We are going over the sounds; identifying the letters; telling words that start with that letter; have learned 13 shapes; months of the year; days of the week; and this coming week we will be learning about rhyming words.  In regards to numbers the teens are hard for some of the children.  If you have a chance at home the children know how to count but they are having a hard time recognizing numbers when I show the number to them.  Write the numbers down on a piece of paper - mix the numbers up and see if your child can tell you what the number is.

A note about my husband - we met with the cardiologist.  His heart is fine.  He believes that my husband suffered a stroke or a seizure.  We will need to go sometime in the next two weeks to the Idaho Falls Hosp. where they will give him an MRI and a electrode test to determine what caused his heart to go to afib.  We asked the Dr. to please schedule the tests together, so as not to miss teaching.   My husband is doing fine.  I thank you so much for all your prayers, encouragement and support.  

This week we worked on the letter "Qq".  We now have 13 shapes the 4-5 year old classes have learned.  We practiced identifying our numbers; worked on our sight words; introduced syllables to the children and had them identify how many syllables are in their name; Miss Emily taught each of the children a cute song about the fish in the sea.  They loved it.  We made paper quilts and the children came up with some really fun patterns.

Thank you all for being understanding this week with what is going on in my personal life.  Murray is on blood thinners and they are concerned about blood clots, however, the medication started taking effect 1 hour after he took it and will help with blood clots, etc. We see the cardiologist this coming Thursday afternoon which hopefully they will be able to tell us what caused this and what Murray will need to do next.  Thank you all for being so kind.

*Yes! we are having preschool school even tho Madison school district is out.

There will be school this week!  My husbands doctor appointment is Thursday afternoon. - Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding.

Our puppet show was a blast this week!  Each child took a turn with a partner and made up a story with their kings, queens, ninjas and superhero puppets!  I often wonder if I should invite the parents to come and participate.  For some children it is a very hard thing to do in front of their peers let alone someone else's parent.  So for this reason I just keep it with the individual classes that participate.  They seem to enjoy it a lot better.

This week we learned two new shapes - pentagon and trapazoid.  We now have the months of the year learned.  The Kindergarten test usually is given in April.  This test is only a placement test so that the teachers can evenly put the children in their classes.  Check with your local grade school to find out the date and time to bring your child in for their test.  I have talked with each of your children and explained to them what happens so as to prepare them mentally.  Sometimes children will freeze up when they are put in a situation with a stranger.  I explain to them the procedure and hopefully they feel more at ease about it.  We have been learning about cutting words in 1/2 (if you have the word helpful and take off the help what do you have left?) words that rhyme; shapes, numbers, colors, identifying objects in pictures, writing their names; and just be confident while answering the questions.  Do not be concerned if your child misses questions - again this is only a placement for each student coming into kindergarten.  Your child is well prepared for kindergarten.  I just wished that the teacher questioning your child would have them read sight words to her...they would all be blown away because of how well they know their sounds, letters and sight words.

Wearing Pj's to preschool was pretty fun for the kids this week.  We talked about all the many words that start with the Letter "Pp" and I think the children were amazed at just how many as we were practicing writing the letter.  As we were preparing for next week for our class puppet show some of the children were able to start making their puppets.  Hopefully, we will complete this feat on Monday and Tuesday so that after show-n-tell each child will be able to have a puppet show with their own puppet they made.  They will be bringing it home so that maybe if you have time at home they can show you how to have a puppet show too. We are practicing our sight words, practicing our letters and identifying their sounds.  We have learned the months of the year and will polish up our skills again this coming week.

We learned about the letter "Oo" this week. Each child made his/her own Octopus and designed it by putting dots on the legs - and some children put as many dots as they could every place else.  They had a lot of fun making them. As we are going through our phonics I see the children understanding well the letter sounds, however, I see the some children still struggling with their letters and identifying them.  So this week I will help those who need a little extra help in their letters.  We are just about done learning the months of the year and the kids in class are naming them very well.  I even had them stand up when it was their birthday month and that made it a lot funner for them to understand the concept.

We have a new teacher with us until about April.  Her name is Emily Knowles and is an intern from BYU-I.   She is currently from Texas and has a 1 year old baby girl along with her husband who is attending school also  Because of her schedule she has chosen to be in the Monday/Wednesday 3-4 year old class and Tuesday/Thursday both 4-5 year old classes.  The children are adjusting pretty well and are getting use to two teachers now.  I felt it would help each child more now as I can work more individually with just a few children who are struggling. Because I knew Emily was going to be coming and because a few children have moved away I have added 5 new children since November.  The children who started in August are doing so good.  I am so proud of them. They are happy and trying hard to do their best in what I teach them.  As I have talked to a few parents though, I do have a couple of students who are having a difficult time listening and respecting others around them. That is why I am here to help them learn and develop positive qualities to help them as they enter kindergarten.  I have decided to change my curriculum a little bit because of this, which will only be a more positive approach in trying to help them succeed which in turn will be awesome for all of the children.

No school January 20 and 21rst.  I do apologize.  I was not going to take the 21rst day off, but one of the parents told me Madison School District is out both days and felt like with a 4 day weekend you may have family plans with older sibblings out of school so I cancelled.

January 22 and 23, please have your child wear his/her Pjs and bring 1 show-n-tell!  We are going to start the letter "Pp" and start making our puppets.

Completing our letter "Nn" this week with Night owls, noodle necklaces, needles, nails and a lot of other N words you will not be seeing your children bring home much paper work because we will be learning a lot in class with the Kindergarten tests coming up.  Your child needs to feel relaxed and confident.  I would like each child to be ready to answer the questions and enjoy the experience.  This test is usually given the end of March or in April.  In either case they will be ready!

A lot of college students have been calling and asking if they can come and do an internship here at Building Blocks Preschool.  I have decided that it is time and so there will be a girl coming in the next several weeks who will be attending my 4-5 year old classes.  We are filling out paper work today and so next week I will be able to tell you a little more about her. I fill this will be a  benefit to both the children and the BYU-I student.  If you have any concerns or questions please let me know.  

Happy "New Year" everyone.  School will start back up January 6 & 7.   Can't wait to see you ALL! We will be starting up with the letter "Nn" because we didn't get through this letter in December.  The calender has been changed because of this so instead of wearing our Pj's Jan 13 & 14th, we will wear our Pj's on January 21rst and 22nd!  See you soon....