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april newsletter niles 2016 edited2

April Event Guidelines

April 1, 4 and 5: Parent Observation Days:  We encourage parents to sign up early to reserve your spot.  Sign-up sheet is available in your child’s classroom.  There would be four adults only for every 30 minute session.  Observation notes will be available for note-taking.  Thank you for the parents who came to observe the classroom.

April 7 and 8:  Parent-Teacher Conferences for Room 2 classroom.  Parents will meet with their child’s teacher and discuss the progress report of the child.  There are 15 minutes allotted for each family.  Parent conferences will be held in the back office.  Sign-up sheet is available in your child’s classroom.

April 11 and 12: Parent-Teacher Conferences for Room 3 classroom.

April 13 and 14: Parent Teacher Conferences for Room 4 classroom.

April 15 and 18: Parent Teacher Conferences for Room 5 classroom.

April 22:  Earth Day:  The children will have fun and exciting Earth Day activities.  Earth Day activities include projects reinforcing the concept of the 3 R’s–Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  There will be gardening activities, poster-making, and arts and crafts using recycled materials.  Older children will view educational videos about the history of the earth and environmental concerns.  Parents are welcome to schedule for a class presentation related to Earth Day.  Please speak with your child’s teacher for volunteering in their classroom activities.

April 29:  International Day Celebration at 10:30 A.M. in your child’s classroom:  The children prepared performances showcasing cultures and traditions around the world.  Performances will include songs, poems or chants, short skits, or folk dances from all over the world.  We welcome you to share a dish for this celebration.  Food items may be store-bought or homemade with ingredient list attached.  Food containing eggs and nuts are not allowed.  Ingredient cards are available at the front desk.

Congratulations to our LAPMS young scientists and their mentors for this year’s 2nd Annual Science Fair!

Thank you to our LAPMS parents and children for a successful Science Fair yesterday.  Doing a science fair project is a wonderful learning opportunity that develops learning skills a child has been taught in our LAPMS curriculum.  Our science curriculum integrates all subject areas that involve reading and writing, grammar, math, art and drawing, logical thinking, and the scientific method.  We strongly support the preschool science standards as they are complemented by science fair projects including pre- and post-lab activities.

The science participants were excited explaining what they have discovered from their science experiments and describing their work in front of their classmates.

We applaud all science parent mentors and especially our young scientists at LAPMS for an achievement we all are very proud of!

We would like to thank all our parents that volunteered and donated in making our annual Easter egg hunt a success for all our Friends. As the classes begun this morning, all our children anticipated their turn to start their hunt. We heard “this is amazing” and our friends faces had big bright smiles as they scattered all around in the playground in hunt of Easter goodies. At the end, our friends were very much happy and eggs were shared all amongst each other. We appreciate all your generosity in making this event a memorable one for all our Niles Friends.

March 15, 2016
Dear Science Fair Family Project Participants,
Happy Tuesday!
We would like to thank you for your interest in participating in this year’s Science Fair. It is stated in the Science Fair Guidelines that the scientific method will be used in making the science project. Scientific method is a way of doing a science experiment or hands-on demonstrations.
Doing a science experiment is a wonderful opportunity to introduce children to the concepts of observing, predicting, investigating and testing. It is important to give the children the chance to experiment where they need time to investigate things on their own and generate their own questions. Brainstorm with your child prior to starting the science project.
A sample of the scientific method: With guide and instructions
Topic or Title: Soil Exploration
Problems or Questions: What are the living things and non-living things that are found in the soil? (Before the children can test their ideas, they need to discuss possible questions.)
Prediction or Hypothesis: This is the possible answer to the question. (Answer the question/s). I think that there are things found in the soil. Children can make their own predictions. Whatever was discussed should be written in their paper or notebook.
Materials: Tray or bowl, Wood stick, Backyard soil, Magnifying lens, Notebook and Pencil
Procedure/Do the experiment: Give the children a tray and collect soil from the backyard. Let the children dig in some soil and put it on the tray. Parent may dig in, too. Our goal is to let the children make their own discoveries and observations. Slowly and little by little use a stick to see if there are things mixed with the soil. Use a magnifying lens to enlarge the tiny or small things.
Observations: Watch anything that moves, describe the shape, color and texture, even the smell, identify and record in the notebook. Ask the children to tell something about what they observe and see. Children can make their own interpretations.
Drawing: The children may draw what they saw, label the names of the living things or non-living things they identified.
Conclusion: Discuss outcomes. How did the living things (ants, earthworms, leaves, twigs) go in the soil? Where do ants come from? Ask the children to go to a different spot in the backyard and dig in soil again. The children may compare the first soil with the second soil. Children relate and compare experiences with what’s happening to increase their understanding. Pictures of the science experiment may be posted as highlights onto the bulletin display board.
On the day of the Science Fair, Wednesday, March 30th, all projects will be displayed in the courtyard. When it is the child’s turn to present his/her project, the teacher will bring in the project into the classroom.
Classroom participants will have their space to display their science projects in the courtyard. All projects will be taken home at the end of the day.
The class presentation for rooms 2, 3, 4, and 5 will start at 9:00 A.M. Class presentation will be for the children only as the classroom has limited space. Parents are welcome to view the family projects at 1:00-4:00 P.M. in the courtyard on Science Fair Day.