November Curriculum
For November’s Curriculum, will be focusing on Autumn, Thanksgiving (being thankful, kind and giving), Turkeys, Forest animals, and all the various kinds of Dinosaurs. We will also have new songs to sing, books to read, and curriculum related painting and letter/number writing worksheets. 

Mask Mandate age of Enrollment Change
Due to the requirement of masks for all children 2 and over in all licensed childcare facilities in CA, we are temporarily suspending our enrollment of children under 2 years of age that legally cannot wear a mask. This is to safeguard the children over 2 years of age complying with the CA mask mandate as we move through the Cold and Flu season. Once State of CA CCLD, CDC, and CDPH no longer require masks to be worn in childcare facilities, then we will begin accepting students under 2 years of age again. (Effective, 11/9/21)

​Thanksgiving Feast
On Thursday, November 18th, we will have our Thanksgiving Feast. All children who normally attend on Thursdays are asked to bring a food offering for 12 friends (about 1/4 cup serving for each child). We ask that the food be something you would share with your family on Thanksgiving. Please do not bring chocolate, frosting, candy, ice cream or popsicles. If your items(s) contain dairy, eggs, or gluten, please let us know, as we have a few children with these food allergies. Reminder -we are a Peanut-free school- so please do not send or make any dishes with nuts. We will place the feast foods on the plate, so the children can take a thank you bite of each, and try new flavors. Please let us know what you intend to bring so we have variety of dishes for the children. This is such a fun event, and the kids really enjoy trying new things :) 

Weather Changes/Warmer Clothing
We have entered the rainy/cold season, and it’s time to start bringing the coats, jackets, and socks/closed toed shoes to school daily. If your child brings an umbrella on rainy days, please leave them on the front porch next to the turtle bench, so they can dry off during the day for pick-up. Please bring a fall/winter change of clothes to switch out with the spring/summer clothes (preferably loose fitting pants and socks) in the event of any diapering or toileting accidents. 
Also, if your child is starting to use the toilet or just likes to wear pull-ups, please bring them in a diaper/pull-up with velcro sides. It can take quite a bit of time to remove all clothing to change a pull up without velcro sides, especially with shoes on if we are playing outdoors.

November Covid-19 Update
We will continue to remain focused on having all children remain healthy as we begin the cold/flu season. Reminder- all children with fever, runny nose, chest congestion, cough, sore throat, vomiting and/or diarrhea cannot attend school and must remain home until they are symptom-free for a period of at least 72 hours, and 10 days if they test positive for covid. We must know immediately if a child tests positive for Covid-19 so we can alert the other families so they too can safeguard their loved ones.

New Front Yard
We are pretty close to finished with the planting of the front yard area and thankful for your patience during this endeavor. I am requesting that all families please stay on the paved areas to visit and depart our school and please do not walk onto the rock areas or touch the plants. We don’t want anyone to fall or become injured. Thank you very much for understanding!

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October Curriculum
For October’s Curriculum, will be focusing on Autumn, Halloween, Pumpkin Harvest, Forest Animals, The Solar System, Magnets, and the continued study of North America. We will also have new songs to sing, books to read, and curriculum related painting and letter writing worksheets.

Excursions for October
For many years we have recommend Apple Hill and Bishops Farm for fun family trips during the Fall season. Outside activities help keep spirits up during this new normal we are living through.
Apple Hill, www.applehill.com, is an amazing collection of growers in the Foothills off of Highway 50, just north of Placerville. 
Bishops Pumpkin Farm, www.bishopspumpkinfarm.com, is a great place to visit to get into the Autumn spirit. Located north of Lincoln off Highway 65, in the town of Wheatland, they have many enjoyable activities for the whole family.

October Covid-19 Update
I am very thankful to all of the students that have been wearing masks to school to help reduce the spread of illness in our program. Reducing the spread of colds, flu, and covid is very important to safeguard the health of our families. We continue to eat our meals outside spaced apart at extra tables, and indoors we run our Dyson air filtration system continuously. At the beginning and end of each day we run our whole house fan to pull all contaminates out of the house, and at night we run our hospital grade sterilization uv light system in the classroom. I can safely say we are doing everything within our ability to reduce the spread of illness, and pray we have an illness-free holiday season.
Please remember- all children with fever, runny nose, chest congestion, cough, sore throat, vomiting and/or diarrhea cannot attend school and must remain home until they are symptom-free for a period of at least 72 hours, and 10 days if they test positive for covid. We must know immediately if a child tests positive for Covid-19 so we can alert the other families so they too can safeguard their loved ones.

Update on Front Yard
We are happy with the progress that has been made to the front yard, with the completion of our paver patio and steps. We hope to have the project completed by Halloween weekend. The wrought iron fence and gates for the courtyard patio will be installed by early Winter 2022 if not sooner. During this continued construction we ask that all children and parents remain on the paved areas and please do not walk on the dirt planter areas.
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October Curriculum Songs ~ Woodcreek Montessori School
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate.
The first one said, 
“Oh my, it’s getting late.”
The second one said, 
“There are witches in the air.”
The third one said, 
“But we don’t care.”
The fourth one said, 
“We’ll run, and run, and run.”
The fifth one said, 
“Let’s have some fun.”
OOOOOOH, went the wind,
And out went the light.
And the five little pumpkins
Rolled out of sight.

Space Action Song
Sing to: “London Bridges”
The planets spin around the sun,
Around the sun, around the sun.
The planets spin around the sun,
We live on Earth.
The sun is found in the middle,
In the middle, in the middle.
The sun is found in the middle,
It keeps us warm.
The stars are twinkling far away,
Far away, far away.
The stars are twinkling far away,
Now make a wish.

Autumn
In Autumn, when the leaves are brown,
The little leaves come tumbling down.
They do not make the slightest sound,
But lie so quietly on the ground.
Until the wind comes puffing by,
And blows them off towards the sky.

The Leaves are Falling Down
Sing to: “Farmer in the Dell”
The leaves are falling down,
The leaves are falling down,
Red, yellow, green, and brown,
The leaves are falling down.

One Little, Two Little,...Pumpkins
Sing to: “One little, two little,...Indians”
One little, two little, three little pumpkins,
Four little, five little, six little pumpkins,
Seven little, eight little, nine little pumpkins,
All for Halloween night.
Let’s get Dad to carve the pumpkin,
Let’s get Mom to carve the pumpkin,
Let’s all go to carve the pumpkin,
Just for Halloween night.
Don’t eat the seeds until Mom cooks them,
Don’t eat the seeds until Dad cooks them,
Don’t eat the seeds until we cook them,
Then they’ll taste just right.
Here come the trick-or-treaters dressed up,
Here come the trick-or-treaters dressed up,
Here come the trick-or-treaters dressed up,
Yes, it’s Halloween night.

I’m a Little Pumpkin
Sing to: “I’m a Little Teapot”
I’m a little pumpkin
Round and stout.
Packed full of seeds, 
That you can scoop out.
When I get all carved up,
Then I’ll be,
The cutest Jack-o-Lantern,
That you ever did see.

October Time
October time is pumpkin time,
The nicest time of the year.
When all the pumpkins light their eyes
(encircle eyes)
And grin from ear to ear.
(big grin)
Because they know at Halloween
They’ll have so much fun.
Peeking thru the window panes,
(put hands over eyes and look)
Watching children run.

I am a Trick or Treater
Sing to: “Twinkle, Twinkle”
I am a trick-or-treater set to go,
Here is my flashlight, I’ll walk slow.
I always say thank you for my treats,
And I never, ever, ever, run across the street!

September Curriculum
For September’s Curriculum, we will be focusing on the beginning of Fall/Autumn, Back to School, Farm Animals, Apple Harvest, and North America. We will also have new songs to sing, and books to read. In the mornings we will begin working on fine motor skills. Each day students will have the choice to work on their folder papers with their individualized writing boxes. This will include letter and number writing, and coloring/painting.

September Covid-19 Update
Due to the unprecedented spread of Covid in Placer county as we are just about to enter the Fall season https://www.placer.ca.gov/7521/Placer-County-Public-Health-issues-new-C, I strongly urge all students to please begin wearing masks to preschool to safeguard themselves and their friends. We do not want a school closure, and we do not wish for any of our friends to become sick with this virus. If you do not have a mask for your child, PCOE has provided disposable child sized surgical masks for us to use daily for our students. I am including a required Covid-19 Policies and Protocols in the email sent to you for September. Licensing is requiring we have an updated document that each family acknowledge they have read, so we are all on the same page with the information our preschool is providing for Covid-19 documentation compliance. 
Please remember- all children with fever, runny nose, chest congestion, cough, sore throat, vomiting and/or diarrhea cannot attend school and must remain home until they are symptom-free for a period of at least 72 hours, and 10 days if they test positive for covid. We must know immediately if a child tests positive for Covid-19 so we can alert the other families so they too can safeguard their loved ones.

Update on Front Yard
Our new paver patio is scheduled to be installed Labor Day week through mid-September. We will alert all families as soon as we are notified which exact days we will need to block access to the front entry and create a secondary drop off and pick up point for all children, most likely through the garage into the family room, through to the classroom temporarily. Once the patio is installed we anticipate all the landscaping will be placed by mid-October, and we are hopeful the fencing and gates for our courtyard can be installed by the end of December. Once the front yard is completed, we will have a lot more space for families to stage for drop off and pick up times 6 ft apart.

Reminder - Yearly Material Fee & Wipes Due
The $90.00 material fee per child, will be due with the September tuition payment. This material fee helps cover the cost of new classroom materials throughout the year to maintain our indoor and outdoor environment. We appreciate you providing this yearly Material Fee. In addition, we will need each family to bring a refill package (about 200 wipes) with each child enrolled in our program. These wipes are due every September, December, March, and June. They can be any brand as long as they are unscented. Thank you for your support as we begin our 25th school year!

September School Portraits Postponed
For the second year, as an extra measure of caution, I have decided we will not be having Teddy Bear Portraits come to our environment in the Fall to take photographs of the students. I will be taking the students portraits in our classroom or during the holidays as we did last year. If we are able to get good pictures of each child, we will create our own school collage of the students, and print them up for you.

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September Curriculum Songs ~ Woodcreek Montessori School
Look Who Came to School Today
Sing to: “Mary had a little lamb”
Look who came to school today
School today, school today
Look who came to school today,
_________(child’s name) did.

Little Children
Sing to: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
Little children, how are you?
Keep a smile all day through.
Come to school to dance and play,
Paint a picture of your day.
Little children sing along,
Keep a smile all day long.

We Welcome You
Sing to: “Mary had a little lamb”
We welcome you to school today,
School today, school today.
We welcome you to school today,
Please come in and play.
We’re glad to have you here today,
Here today, here today.
We’re glad to have you here today,
Yes, it’s a special day.

I Like to go to School
Sing to: “Farmer in the Dell”
I like to go to school, I like to go to school,
Heigh-ho-the-derry-oh,
I like to go to school.
I like to sing new songs, I like to sing new songs,
Heigh-ho-the-derry-oh,
I like to sing new songs.
I like to play with friends, I like to play with friends,
Heigh-ho-the-derry-oh,
I like to play with friends.

Farm Sounds
Sing to: “Wheels on the Bus”
The cow in the barn goes:
Moo, moo, moo
Moo, moo, moo
Moo, moo, moo
The cow in the barn goes:
Moo, moo, moo
All around the farm.

Other verses:
The pig in the pen goes oink, oink, oink...
The hens in the coop go cluck, cluck, cluck...
The lambs on the hill go baa, baa, baa....
The ducks on the pond go quack, quack, quack...
The rabbits on the grass go hop, hop, hop...
The cat on the ledge goes, meow, meow, meow...
The rooster on the roof goes cock-a-doodle-do...
The dog in the yard goes woof, woof, woof...
The tractor on the dirt goes vroom, vroom, vroom...

Here Is The Barn
Here is the barn (Form a roof shape with your hands)
Where I like to go (Walk in place)
It’s as tall as a tree (Point overhead)
And cozy, you know (Hug body with arms)
Here is the barn (Make a roof shape with your hands)
I’ll go there with you (Walk in place)
To pet a sweet lamb (Pretend to pet a lamb)
And cuddle it too! (Pretend to hug a lamb) 

Apples
Sing to: “Twinkle, twinkle”
Apple, apple tree so tall,
I can hardly wait for fall!
When your apples I can pick,
Fill my basket eat them quick.
Apple, apple tree so tall,
I can hardly wait for fall!
Apple, apple tree so fair,
What do I see growing there?
Green and round and plump and sweet,
Soon they will be good to eat.
Apple, apple tree so fair,
What do I see growing there?

Old Mac Donald
Old Mac Donald had a farm, E I E I O.
And on this farm, he had a pig, E I E I O.
With an oink, oink here, and an oink, oink, there.
Here an oink, there an oink,
Everywhere an oink, oink.
Old Mac Donald had a farm, E I E I O.

Other verses:
Cow - moo, moo
Horse - neigh, neigh
Duck - quack, quack
Sheep - baa, baa
Chick - cheep, cheep
Bird - tweet, tweet
Turkey - gobble, gobble

I Wiggle my Fingers
(A Movement Rhyme)
I wiggle my fingers,
I wiggle my toes.
I wiggle my shoulders,
I wiggle my nose.
Now no more wiggles
Are left in me.
So I can sit as still as can be.

Way Up High in the Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree
Two little apples smiled at me
I shook the tree as hard as I could
Down came the apples
Mmmm, they were good