ECE Connection

Inside this edition you will find:

• Director's Message
• Picky Eaters: November's Parent Workshop *virtual 11/26/24*
• What's Happening In Early Childhood?
• PIRS Corner
• Nurses Nook
• Communication Flow Chart
• Director Mara's Book of the Week
• Pancakes for Prom *November 23rd*
• Disney and Donuts *December 14th*
• Hoboken High School Holiday Cookie Competition *December 15th*
• Change is Hard

Dear Early Childhood Families,

The start of the holiday season is quickly approaching. Please be mindful of our school calendar when planning vacations. Just a reminder that Wednesday, November 27th, 2024 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day. Thursday and Friday, November 28th and 29th, 2024 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Thanksgiving. There will be no school on these days. School will resume on Monday, December 2nd.

I wanted to share a few important upcoming dates with you to put on your radar:

December 16th to December 20th are Parent Teacher Conferences. Information on this will be coming soon from your childs teacher.

Friday, December 20th, 2024 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day.

Monday, December 23rd, 2024 to Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Winter Break. There will be no school on these days. School will resume on Thursday, January 2nd, 2025.

Monday, January 20th, 2025 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. School will resume on Tuesday, January 21st, 2025.

Thursday, February 13th, 2025 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day.

Friday, February 14th, 2025 and Monday, February 17th, 2025 the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for President's Day. School will resume on Tuesday, February 18th, 2025.

Friday, April 11th, 2025 there will be a 1:00 PM dismissal. There will be no Wrap services on this day.

Monday, April 14th to Friday, April 18th the Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Spring Break. School will resume on Monday, April 21st, 2025.

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Our travel policy has gone through some updates. Please be aware that after 9 consecutive absences, your child's seat will not be held for them. When you return from traveling, you will have to provide an updated lease and secondary residency documentation. Once this is received your child will be placed in an open seat. This does not mean that they will be able to be placed in the same classroom as they were in before they left. We can not hold seats for students.

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Remember, our HOPES and MSELC school day starts at 8:30 and dismissal is at 2:30. These drop off and pickup times do not apply for students in morning or afternoon WRAP programs. If you are going to be late dropping off in the morning or picking up in the afternoon, please make sure to call or email your family advocate.

As a friendly reminder, please remember to call your family advocate and let them know the reason for your child being absent no later than 9:15 am. If you can not call your family advocate, please email dbrookes@hoboken.k12.nj.us. In your email, please state:

• your child's name
• provider
• site
• teacher
• reason for absence
• when we can expect them back in school

There are so many wonderful things happening in our Pre-K classrooms! Please continue reading below to see updates from each site and more.

Kind regards,

Kimberly Mara

Director of Early Childhood Education

This week in Ms. Nicole’s Preschool class students are continuing to get ready for Thanksgiving. Talking about their favorite Thanksgiving foods allowed the class to graph them for math and talk about what was the class favorites and least favorite. Students helped their turkey run the turkey trot during circle time to earn bubbles and ran like turkeys during gross motor movement. During centers, students played with the people and talked about who they would be seeing during their thanksgiving celebrations.

This week in PSD, students continued to learn about the Month of November and Thanksgiving. The class read the book “There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey,” made placemats, and have been working hard on their fine motor skills by cutting and gluing different crafts and activities such as decorating leaves with tissue paper and making turkeys. Students are identifying numbers by counting leaves. They are learning to sing the “Turkey Pokey” and "5 Little Turkeys" songs.

For story extensions, the class read “The Leaf Man”. After listening to the story, students put on their thinking caps and thought about a place they wanted their leaf person to travel to.The class spoke about all the different places that were shared. They talked about if these places were hot or cold, if they ever visited these places before, and how they would travel to get to these places. When students were finished sharing, the class went back to their tables to create their leaf person.

The holidays are in full swing here at Brandt! The students enjoyed making their Thankful Turkeys. The class used their handprints for the base and added feathers over the fingers. Students discussed things that they are thankful for. Some things that the children were thankful for included, friends, family, toys, summer homes, comfy socks, and yummy food. The class is excited for their upcoming activity, turkey in disguise. Students are thrilled to dress up their Turkeys and show them off next week. Students look forward to sharing all of the things that they are thankful for when parents come to visit next week!

Here at Calabro students have been celebrating their multicultural diversity all month long. Take a look at these wonderful Mini Me projects the students created with the help of their families! Students highlighted their culture including dress, foods, language, favorite things, and the favorite traditions of their families on the cut out dolls. What a great way to see the similarities and differences between everyone and their classmates. The class has so much to be thankful for this year at Calabro, especially each of the students and their uniqueness!

Students in C005 have been getting much better at initiating and playing group games! Recently they voted to play Duck-Duck-Goose at the park.

In room 102, students have had fun exploring pumpkins. They studied the shape, size, the weather in which pumpkins grow best, and what time of the year pumpkins can be seen. The class also talked about what pumpkins can be used for, whether it be food, decorations, or science.

To explore pumpkins, the children first used real pumpkins that they picked from the pumpkin patch to decorate. After decorating a pumpkin, the next activity in pumpkin exploration led them to do a pum-cano. This activity involves math and science. The children had to figure out the necessary ingredients and then measure those ingredients accordingly. After each child took turns pouring in the ingredients, the class made a volcano inside the pumpkin. The children were delighted when their volcano errupted and the lava came out. The class learned that science is all around us.

In classroom 304 students learned about the letter N. For graphics practice they worked on writing the capital and lowercase N. In art centers, students drew pictures of things that began with the letter N. The class even had show and tell where they shared something that began with the letter N.

In Classroom 405, students continued to work on graphics practice skills such as focusing on developing techniques for illustrating grass and mastering the use of lines to structure and define the boards. They worked on improving precision and creativity in their designs. Students paid close attention to how lines can be used effectively to enhance the overall composition.

Students had fun working on Graphic Practice. In this activity, children draw circles to represent lollipops or balloons and adding lines for sticks or strings after the music stops. The shapes connect to facial features, body parts, and letters like O, o, I, i, as well as the number 1. A story about visiting a candy shop or party store provides context, sparking creativity as they imagine delicious lollipops or colorful balloons. Guided phrases like “around, close” for circles and “down” for lines help support their drawing and fine motor skills.

Giving Thanks and Nurturing Gratitude

• Practice gratitude: using rituals and consistent routines.

• Take turns each evening discussing 2 things you were grateful for.

• Create a Family Gratitude Jar. This can be something you do daily or weekly. Write one thing you’re grateful for on a slip of paper; read at the end of the year. This can become a NYE tradition.

• Try to eliminate rewards: As parents we want to help guide our children learn about the satisfaction of giving and making the right choices. Rather than rewarding children for completing chores or tasks, we can develop conversations about how it feels to accomplish things without being rewarded.

• When I Care About Others By Cornelia Maude Spelman

• Flight School By Lita Judge

• Brave Irene By Will Steig

• Giraffes Can’t Dance By Giles Andreae

• Bedtime Routine Conversations: You and your child can each share a favorite part of the day. You can also discuss something that left you feeling sad or disappointed; this allows children to understand that although they might have felt upset about something, it doesn’t have to affect their entire day.

• What are you grateful for today?

• What was your Sunshine today/What was your rain today?

• Spot everyday acts of kindness: When someone sees a person being helpful or kind, call attention to it. As a family, create a fun name for the game.

• Kindness Rules

• Helpers in our Home

• I spy a helper

• Notice what is good even in challenging situations: Every cloud has a silver lining. Help to teach your child to find positive things in what is happening. This is a way to nurture gratitude and perseverance.

• Try not to complain: Rather express preferences instead:

• “I would prefer warmer weather” instead of “I can’t stand this cold weather.

• I would rather…

• I would like this instead…

• Encourage Self-Sufficient youngsters: Let your child do things for themselves. This will nurture their appreciation for daily tasks.

• Let them get their own snack

• Encourage them to get their own clothes out for school

• They can put their dishes in the sink

How to Plan a Balanced Thanksgiving Meal for Picky Eaters

Engage your child in meal planning.
Engage your child in meal prep
Make it look, smell & taste delicious
Keep the mealtime relaxing & enjoyable

*Reminder that a flu shot is required before December 31st, 2024!!!

All children who attend preschool are required to receive an annual influenza vaccination as per

N.J.A.C. 8:57-4.19. Parents must submit proof of this vaccination given from September 1st to

December 31st, 2024 to their preschool provider.

Please be advised that according to the New Jersey Department of Health regulation, there is

NO grace period for this requirement beyond December 31, 2024.

In the Early Childhood Program we operate using an upward communication procedure. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. please refer to the chart linked below when sending an email. When in doubt please send your email to your child's Family Advocate and he/she will escalate it to the appropriate person.

Another school week behind us means another favorite book to share with all of you!

Did you know that Dragons love gold? In "The Bakery Dragon" by Devin Elle Kurtz we meet Ember. He isn't quite the same as all the other dragons who love to steal gold from all of the villagers. One night after a bad storm, Ember was let into a bakery from the baker who didn't want him to be washed away. Ember learned how to bake and was given some golden bread to take back with him. Read on to see what the dragons do with Ember's yummy gold.

Pancakes for Prom

Saturday, November 23rd 9am-12pm

Hoboken HS Cafeteria

Come support the Hoboken HS Class of 2025 as they raise funds for Prom 2025.

After a successful Cupcake Challenge sponsored by the Hoboken High School Student Government, we have decided to host the 1st Annual Hoboken Student Government Holiday Cookie Contest!

Please read this carefully:

Sunday, December 15, 2024, 2:30pm
Hoboken HS Gymnasium
800 Clinton St. Hoboken, NJ 07030
$5.00 Admission, $2.00 per Cookie
(Contestant do not need to pay Admission Fee)

Do you have the best cookies in Hoboken??

5 Competitor categories - one winner from each.
Adult & Student Categories
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adults, and Fan Favorite.
Judging will be done by 3 celebrity judges. (Judges TBA)

Contestants must bake and decorate 4 dozen cookies for the
competition. Judges will be scoring based on
FLAVOR, CREATIVITY & PRESENTATION.
One Flavor per registration Only.

$15.00 registration fee to compete

All contestants must be registered by Wednesday, December 11, 2024 .
You will receive an email containing instructions for the competition.

You can pay the registration fee by Cash, Check, or Money Order.
Checks or Money Orders can be made payable to Hoboken HS Class of 2025.

You can also Pay by Venmo or Cash App: Venmo @ThatsMunoz or Cash App @$ThatsMunoz

You can mail all Checks or Money Orders to:
Hoboken HS Class of 2025
Attention: Mr. Munoz
Hoboken High School
800 Clinton Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
or you can drop off registration fees in an envelope with your name with the subject: Cookie Competition to the Security Desk at Hoboken HS.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Munoz at Christopher.Munoz@hoboken.k12.nj.us or call (201) 356-3738.

Have you ever heard that? Well the same applies for our youngest learners. For some 3 and 4 year old's this is their first experience with school and being away from home for an extended period of time. For others this is old news- they're been in school/ day care before and know what to expect. Some children who have never been to school find a way to wave goodbye and walk in to school like they own the place while you're standing at a distance in a puddle of tears (speaking from experience). Let's not discount the emotional toll for parents and caregivers too who are feeling all sorts of feelings watching their little one/s walking into school in September.

If your child is experiencing challenges as they transition into a new school year, our ECE team has created a doc for you.

Email: kmara@hoboken.k12.nj.us
Location: 1115 Clinton Street, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Phone: 201-356-3695