JANUARY 2025
Welcome to the New Year at St. Catherine's Preschool! As we embark on this exciting journey, the focus for the remainder of this year will be on kindergarten readiness and diligently preparing all our children for their next important educational steps.
The children in our school community are happily gaining valuable independence and confidence in their abilities.
Our classrooms are coming together as a united front, fostering meaningful friendships and collaboration among the children.
We eagerly anticipate a year filled with abundant learning, joyful exploration, and wonderful experiences for every child.
Registration for the 2025/26 School Year
Registration forms for September 2025 will be sent home in January. Families who are already enrolled in our program will have priority consideration if they submit their forms along with the required deposit cheques by the deadline of January 31, 2025. Starting on February 1, 2025, we will begin filling any remaining open spots with registrations from the community at large.
If your 4-year-old has a sibling who is aged 30 months or older, we kindly ask that you contact the office for a registration form or you may also download one conveniently from our website. Please note that we can only accept a maximum of 2 children who fall within the age range of 30 to 36 months in each class. Any additional children beyond this limit may require special approval from our local Licensing agency.
Please check the calendar below for School Closures and special events coming up.
RAINBOW ROOM
Danielle, Carol, Mary, Monica, Vibha
What a busy and fun month we had in the Rainbow Room! Full of glitter, secret present making and practice sessions for our Christmas Service. All the children and teachers had a great time.
When we first introduce the classroom theme of Christmas, we start with the story of the Nativity, the Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Star and the stable. We have toy Nativity sets that the children manipulate and play with, plus books and puzzles to aid in the story telling.
We started preparing our secret Christmas presents and cards at the beginning of the month (in some cases actually in November) and had a lovely time creating some Christmas decorations and keepsakes which we hope will be kept for years to come. The children all enjoyed making them, and particularly loved the idea of keeping a secret gift for their parents.
We also started preparing for our Christmas service at the beginning of the month. We practiced our songs, the sign language we used in some of them and we practiced waiting in the side chapel and walking into the church. It was very exciting preparing, and especially exciting for the children on the night. A good experience for us all, and a lovely spectacle. We wish to thank you, the parents and families, for bringing your children to the church that evening and for supporting us all by attending the service.
Back in the classroom:
At the art tables, besides making presents, we decorated gingerbread men to eat with our lunch, we made manger scenes, stables, angels, Santas, bells, Christmas trees, ornaments, wreaths, stockings and many more works of art!
In our home corner, we had a bakery with cookies and sweets and cash registers; then it became a workshop to build things and lastly it housed our two reindeer, who were hitched to a ‘sleigh’, complete with jingle bells and play carrots to feed them.
At Circle Time we read books, told stories, played counting games, matching games, listened to stories on CDs, and sang many Christmas songs.
During our cognitive and gross motor time, we played both outside in the yard and inside in the gym; our favourite group games were “What’s the Time, Mr. Santa?” and “Run, Run, as Fast as You Can, You Can’t Catch Me, I’m the Gingerbread Man”, and “Sleeping Reindeers”.
In our final week, we had our class Christmas Party. Everyone wore Red, Green or White, and we played games, sang Christmas songs and enjoyed our snack of special party food. We also had the treat of watching a DVD in the music room. Thank you to the families that provided the party food this time; it was very festive.
When we return to Preschool in January, our theme will be “All About Winter”: weather, sports, activities and more. We will also be talking about our class pet, Echo; he’s our adopted Orca, and everyone will have a chance to bring him home for the weekend. More information about this fun and educational program will be sent out in a separate email.
This just leaves us to thank you all so very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness in the cards and gifts you gave us for Christmas. It was very kind of you.
We hope you all had a peaceful and love filled holiday, perhaps with some relaxation too!
And now we’re ready to start the New Year!
TREEHOUSE ROOM
Gabi, Karen, Catriona, Mary
Hello Treehouse Families,
Happy New Year!
We hope you all had a relaxing, peaceful, and wonderful Holiday Season, filled with joyful memories and precious moments spent with your loved ones. We want to express our sincere gratitude for your kind wishes, thoughtful messages, and generous gifts. Your appreciation means a lot to us, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to work with your youngest family members.
Although December was a short month in the classroom, we made sure to make it special. Our main focus was learning about Christmas, creating gifts for our families, and preparing for the Christmas Service. The children had so much fun practicing the songs, and we hope you enjoyed watching their performance at church as much as we did!
As with all our themes—especially around the holidays—we discussed the importance of kindness and generosity. The children were thrilled to create little art pieces for us, for you, and for their friends. We even mailed a letter to Santa, and he kindly replied, reassuring us that we all made the good list!
The holiday parties were filled with joy. We spent a lot of time gathered around the table, chatting and enjoying the delicious food you so generously provided. A big thank you from all of us!
Looking ahead to the coming months, we will focus on helping our students develop skills that will prepare them for school. They will be tackling more complex tasks while also using their creative thinking. We’ll continue to encourage them to be more independent with their self-help skills. (You should see them packing up, cleaning up, lining up, and organizing—they’re becoming so self-sufficient!)
We’ll also be offering plenty of opportunities for the children to take center stage without any pressure. They won’t even realize they’re practicing their first steps in public speaking!
As we know, the weather can be unpredictable at any time of year. Since we all enjoy outdoor play, please continue to send your child dressed in layers and be sure to pack extra clothing in their backpacks.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. We’re here for you!
RESOURCE ROOM - Marion
Hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas break. Thank you for all the lovely gifts and well wishes and I want to thank the teachers for preparing the children for the Christmas Service; it was a wonderful, magical evening.
Just looking forward to the next six months and all the play/work that the children will be doing. Our 3s will start to engage in co-operative play, which means sharing and turn taking with peers. All the children will be encouraged to be more independent when following all the daily routines.
Kindergarten Readiness will be the focus for our 4s. A letter will be sent out to the families telling them what the teachers will be working on as they prepare the children for Kindergarten. It will be a big transition, but they will be ready. We must remember that all children learn in different ways. Some are visual learners, while others learn by hands-on experiences. They will be working on fine motor skills (cutting with scissors, drawing letters and numbers), and gross motor skills (running, jumping and skipping).
If you have any questions or concerns please speak with the teachers or drop by the office.
All the Best for 2025!