1. Dear SHPS Families, We are happy to announce that the SPARK program is now being implemented into lesson activities during the course of the day in your child’s classroom. The SPARK program is a physical education that is creative and fun and is designed to teach social skills and enhance personal skills while maintaining high activity time. We are also offering “Guard-a-Kid” identification kits on February 10 th and 11 th. Look for more information coming soon! Sincerely, Mrs. Terry Mapson, Preschool Principal Administrative Numbers Mrs. Terry Mapson, Preschool Principal Ms. Michelle Howard, Preschool Assistant Principal Phone: (702) 617-1184 ext. 115 Email: terry.mapson@nlcinc.comterry.mapson@nlcinc.com For information about our school visit… www.southernhighlandsprep.com www.nobellearning.com February 2010 Preschool Griffin Gazette Southern Highlands Preparatory Preschool News Calendar Events OPEN HOUSE Tues. March 23 9-11am – 4-6 pm Share our story. Bring a friend to our Open House and share our school’s success story. It’s a great opportunity to meet our principal, tour our school, and see firsthand how we make a difference in the lives of our students every day. Feb. 10 th &11th Guard a Kid @ 9:30 Feb. 12th Progress reports home Feb. 14th Happy Valentine’s Day!! Mon, Feb. 15th NO SCHOOL- President’s Day March 5 2010 PAC will host the social on March 5 th @ 6:30pm at the M Casino and Resort. We look forward to seeing our SHPS families there. Guard-A-Kid will be at our school on February 10 th &11 th @ 9:30am. In the unfortunate event of a missing child, the first hour is the most critical. Due to panic and distress, parents are unable to provide an accurate description of their child to authorities. Law enforcement recommends that parents keep an up-to-date I.D. of their child handy. Unlike the traditional ink-type fingerprinting, Guard-A-Kid provides you with digital fingerprinting, as well as all of your child’s vital information on a CD-ROM which parents can instantly e-mail to Police nationwide. Don’t’ miss out!

2. Box Tops for Education Please bring in your box tops on your boxed foods! Each classroom has a collection box for your convenience! Enrich your child’s education with our Enrichment Programs! Art Classes Every Monday 2:45pm – 3:45pm Every Tuesday 3:00pm – 4:00pm $100 per program. 6 weeks of class brought to your child’s school and 2 Saturday classes of participation in our dojo. Class size is limited, so please get your forms in as quickly as possible! www.firststepmartialarts.com Wonderland Dance Every Wed & Fri 3:00pm – 3:45pm Amazing AthletesEvery Wednesday 2:45pm – 3:15pm Cranium KidsEvery Thursday 11:55 am– 12:25pm 3:00pm – 3:30pm 3:35 pm – 4:05pm PAC Events Monday, February 1 st : Hands On Reading Forms Due PAC Meeting Wednesday, February 17 th 9:15 am For information on PAC and how you can volunteer contact: Nikki Berti, President: chartonik@aol.comchartonik@aol.com Suzanne Pero, Treasurer: sfpero@cox.netsfpero@cox.net Becky Sullivan, Director: sullivantreasures@cox.netsullivantreasures@cox.net Donna D'Orsi, Director: mrddorsi@yahoo.commrddorsi@yahoo.com PAC email: shpspac@cox.netshpspac@cox.net PAC NEWS A Few Reminders… Effective Monday, February 1, 2010: We will no longer be able to accept cash as payment for lunch or enrichment programs. The following payment methods are acceptable: Tuition Check, Money order or Cashier’s check is acceptable Cash is acceptable, you will receive a receipt for cash The automatic payment program is also an option Lunch * Only checks, money order or cashier’s check are acceptable. NO CASH. Checks made payable to Port Hollywood. There will no longer be credit for lunch. Lunch must be paid for in advance. The “student without lunch form” will no longer be available. A lunch menu must be completed, even if it is for one day of lunch. Enrichment Programs Only checks, money order, or cashier’s check are acceptable. NO CASH. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Any questions, please stop by the office.

3. 1, 2, 3… Embracing Mathematics in Preschool It is not uncommon these days to hear about how American children compare to children in other countries in terms of mathematics achievement and education. These comparisons, along with recent research on mathematic abilities of young children, further bolster our Links to Learning math curriculum. A recent study by Jordan, et al, 2009 found support for the fact that prior to entering grade school, children are already developing the foundational number competencies that will support their acquisition of higher level mathematics. This study is augmented by other studies which have also found that preschool aged children need an environment that is mathematically empowering as this establishes “the foundation for constructing, modifying, and integrating mathematical concepts” (Kirova & Bhargava, 2002). We know that children’s involvement and engagement in preschool education has lasting academic and core competency effects as children enter formal schooling. Considering the gap that has been shown to exist between American children and other nations’ children, numerous approaches have been taken to strengthen early math education. Some of these techniques include embedding numbers and counting into art, focusing on numbers and letters equally, pairing the number symbol with hands-on, tangible items to teach the symbol to number correspondence, and linking numbers to the physical world through songs, shapes, and everyday items. Not surprisingly, the Links to Learning math curriculum embraces all of the above. Beginning in the Toddler program, children are exposed to early math, exploring the number concepts of one and two. Children are encouraged to repeat the number words while also counting physical items that exist in the environment around them. Often times this takes place in the form of counting songs (e.g. Five Little Speckled Frogs).Toddlers are encouraged to distinguish between one and many and also begin to identify and match shapes. This introductory level of numeracy can be continued at home by counting aloud with your child. When you are eating dinner, count how many people are at the table. When you are getting your toddler dressed in the morning, count how many socks he has while holding up one and then two. This repetitive exposure to number words and physical items will set the foundation for mathematical understanding. As our students move into the Beginner program, children are now repeating number words up to 20 and are working on understanding, in concrete terms, the numbers one-five. Children are learning that the number word and the number symbol have a direct connection to a given number of physical items in the world around them. As children are exploring this more advanced concept, they are also learning that those same physical items can be described and sorted by color, shape, and size. This simple sorting of a group to subgroups is a fundamental concept of both division and geometry. At home you can continue this learning by giving your two-year-old items to sort. Once your child has sorted the items, have him count the items touching each one. This gives your child repeated opportunity to build these concepts. For an added challenge, now have your child put the subgroups back together and try to count them again.

4. When our students move into the Intermediate program, they are now being exposed to the basic tenets of addition and subtraction. They are learning to group items and count the number of items in each group and then collectively. They are then being exposed to items being removed from their groups and, upon physical item recounting, exploring how this now lowers the number in their group. They are learning that items can exist independently or in sets and are learning how to group items into sets up to 5. This grouping is the most basic underlying principle of multiplication. Our three year olds will begin creating and replicating patterns and will learn about ordering numbers on a number line. This highly complex mathematical skill can be supported at home in everyday interactions. Give your child a dice to roll. Whatever number he or she rolls, ask him what number will come next. Or, when you are at the grocery store, have your child count the number of items as you add an additional item to the group. Or, when playing at home, create a pattern with some of your child’s toys and ask him to find the next toy to complete the pattern. This manipulation and real world connection will further strengthen the mathematical understanding your child has obtained. Lastly, as our students progress into the Pre-Kindergarten program, they move into formal subtraction problems using concrete items, begin exploring and interpreting bar graphs, and even begin jump counting. These mathematical skills are continuing to build upon the foundational skills in our lower programs and are now moving your child into higher core competency building in mathematics. You can support these skills at home by challenging your child to count by 5’s or 10’s aloud. You can ask your child to put one away and then recount their toys. You can challenge your child to count various items and, with premade boxes to shade in, make a graph of how many they have. There are numerous ways to encourage the math dialogue and help your child see the fun in numbers. However you choose to engage with your child, you can rest assured that they are being engaged appropriately with numbers at school and are getting the proper foundation to understand and excel mathematically now and in the future. When we affirm a young child’s ability do understand math at a preschool age, the sky is the limit for what they can attain as they grow! Lauren Starnes, PhD- Manager of Curriculum and Instruction/ East