Parent Handbook

St. Paul’s Lutheran School

Preschool Handbook

Welcome to St. Paul’s preschool! This handbook is filled from A to Z with helpful and important information that you will need to know!

A Art: Art is my favorite subject and in preschool we do lots of art everyday! We use many types of media such as paint, finger paint, construction paper, tissue paper, play-dough, and much more! I have a special request that we let the children do their very own work. Some parents may feel that they help by “fixing” artwork that doesn’t look right. You may make suggestions but always help them feel proud of what they’ve done!

B Bible: The Bible is God’s Word and we will use it everyday as the basis for our “Bible Story Time”. Our religion series is from Concordia and is called “Voyages”. It takes the children through the Bible in chronological order from the story of creation in the Old Testament to the life of Jesus and his followers in the New.

C Calendar: Each month you will receive a calendar which shows the themes for each week and the projects for the day. The calendar will also announce field trips and parties as well as the parent helper for the day. Please keep these calendars posted on your refrigerator or someplace handy because they will be very helpful.

D Discipline: Sometimes, as all parents know, children need discipline. It’s how we learn right from wrong and that there are consequences to doing something wrong. Usually we use “time out” or we take away a privilege such as playing on the playground for three or four minutes. After a child is punished, it is always important for the child to learn to say sorry and to know that he or she is forgiven just as Jesus forgives us!

E Exercise: Three and four year olds love to move so it’s no surprise that the playground is one of their favorite places to play! Please remember to have your child wear good, rubber-soled shoes to help prevent accidents. When the weather is bad, we will have some large muscle movement indoors.

F Field Trips: Both classes will be going on various field trips throughout the school year! There are field trips to the pumpkin farm, hospital, fire museum, and even a potato chip factory! We usually “carpool” to most of our field trip destinations although we do ride a school bus on one of our special trips!

G Going Home: Your child will be dismissed from our classroom at 11:30. Please wait outside the classroom and we will call your child’s name when we see you. If someone else is coming to pick up your child, please let us know. Also, please let the office know if you are running late.

H Holidays: We love holidays and many of our themes revolve around these special times! We celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and of course, Easter.

I Itinerary: This is our usual day in preschool:

K Kleenex: I would like for each person to bring in a small box of Kleenex for our sniffly noses. (The big boxes will not fit in my tissue basket!)

L Literature: I love children’s books and everyday we will share a story before snack time. We will introduce the children some of my favorite authors and books. We try to choose books that go together with our theme for the week. In addition to our “Story Time”, the four year olds will go to the library every Thurday morning at 8:45. You may keep the book for one week.

M Music: Music is a very special part of preschool and another way that we can make your child’s learning fun! We use music in our Bible story time, circle time, and in our indoor exercise activities. This year, our music teacher, Mrs. JoAnn Zieroth, will teach music every Monday!

N Notes from the Teacher: Please check your child’s tote bag for these special little newsletters that keep you posted on special things your child may need to bring to school or to explain a new unit that we are doing. For example, your child may need to bring in a small coffee can or oatmeal canister.

O Orders: Once a month you can order books for your child from Scholastic Books. These books are very nice and very reasonable. We can earn points to receive free books for our classroom but please don’t feel obligated.

P Progress: There will be two conferences a year to review your child’s progress. One will be held in November and the other at the end of May. There will be sign-up sheets on the bulletin board outside our room or you can sign up in the office or by phone.

Q Questions: If you ever have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me or you may call me at home. My number is 410 592-2293.

R Room Moms: Each class has a pair of room moms who help to coordinate class parties and special events such as Teacher Appreciation Week and our dinner auction.

S Snacks: Due to the growing number of children who have food allergies, we would like for each child to bring their own snack to school. The snacks should be healthy and not contain a lot of fats and sugar. Some favorites include Goldfish crackers, fruit, Teddy grahams, cheese, and apple juice! For birthdays and special parties, it’s definitely okay to bring cupcakes, cookies, or brownies unless your child has an allergy to these foods.

Sh Show and Tell: If you find a special pillow case in your child’s bag, that means that they are to bring something special or maybe something we are learning about to school. The children get so excited when they get the pillowcase!

T Tree: We would like to have a wallet-sized picture of your child (or one that we can cut down to the right size) to put on our apple tree! The tree changes with the seasons: apples in the fall, snow-flakes in the winter, and bumblebees in the spring!

U Units: We will be covering many units in preschool such as colors, shapes, numbers, and alphabet. We will also cover such units as health, our senses, and transportation.

V Values: The values that we try to instill in our children can best be summed up in the words of Galatians 5: 22-23…. “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

W Wednesday: Wednesday is a very special day for our four year olds! It is chapel day and each child will receive one or two fifth grade “chapel buddies” who will sit with your child during the service. We will also do several art projects together throughout the school year! You may bring a small offering to school each Wednesday which we will take with us to chapel.

X Extra clothes: Please bring some extra clothes to keep at school in case there’s a spill or accident. You may put the clothes into a zip-lock bag that’s labeled with your child’s name. We will keep the bag handy in your child’s cubby.

Y You!: We would like you to come and visit our classroom! Do you have an interesting job such as a nurse, firefighter, or police officer? Do you have an interesting hobby or have been to an interesting place? Maybe you have a pet that you would like to bring in! Just let us know!

many things by his or herself such as using zippers, buttons, and buckles. We will be there to help them whenever they need us, but dressing your child in clothes that they can more easily manage gives them a good feeling of independence.