Welcome!

Another month has come and gone, and we are already

on to October. October is a very exciting month, as you all know
we have our Halloween party and parade on October 31st. Sign-ups
for activities and supplies can be found on the class website. We
ask that each parent sign up for at least one school party or donate
supplies, whichever works better with your schedule.  For the
month of October, we will be incorporating pumpkins into many
different activities: counting, adding and subtracting, parts of a
plant and fractions using pies. The class will even get to plant
pumpkin seeds in the classroom after we learn about the parts of
the plant. REMINDER: we have our field trip to Trax Farm on
Monday the 22nd, we will meet at the school first before heading
out. I will send out another reminder with more information closer
to the date. The end of the month we will also have our annual
pumpkin launch. Throughout the month, we will be talking about
and getting ideas for to create a small catapult for our mini
pumpkins and will see whose pumpkin can go the farthest. The
hope is that you will work with your child and make this something
that is fun and exciting for both of you. Conferences are the 25th
and 26th, our website also includes a document to find what times
work best for you, please send back with your child by next week. I
hope your family has a wonderful month, I cannot wait to see you
at our events this month.
Miss Nicole :)
 Halloween Safety
Halloween is many children’s favorite holiday. Although it can be
fine, there are several precautions that families should take to make
sure everyone is save and happy during their night. I have found
several different tips through websites including:
https://www.safekids.org/tip/halloween-safety-tips and
http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/halloween-
safety.aspx. I have shared a few tips below with an explanation, or
use the links listed to find more information.
Safe Kids:
-cross at the traffic signs on streets
-look left, right, then left again before crossing the street
-children under 12 should have adult supervision
-decorate costumes with reflective tape or choose light colors
-have kids carry glow sticks or lights so that they can be seen
National Safety Council:
-if older children are going alone plan an acceptable route
-set a time for the children to be back
-do not any treats until you return home
-put electronic devices down so that you can pay attention

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Sensory Activities
For all ages sensory activities are both stimulating and
enjoyable for the teacher and the children. In a NAEYC excerpt
titled Exploring Play by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick
Golinkoff, we learn about the importance of using sensory
activities for infants and toddlers. All of these reasons also
pertain to the 1st grade level. Hands on activities allow children
to get a deeper understanding of how the world actually works.
They are able to work through things and strengthen their motor
skills, social emotional skills, and brain development. By using
the poking, squeezing, or cutting motions the child is improving
hand strength and fine motor skills. As the children stand next to
each other and share materials they are promoting interactions
that can lead to conversations. There is also development in the
brain when the child uses the open-ended materials how they
wish as there is no pre-designed purpose. This can also promote
creativity. By watching these interactions at school or through
activities at home, we are able to see the child’s developmental
progress and can determine if there are any setbacks. Our
activity feeling the inside of the pumpkin will also promote the
aspects discussed here. The children will be able to use their 5
senses when examining the pumpkins contents. It can even
branch out from just a sensory activity and can incorporate
science and math.
.
 Healthy Snacks
With Halloween approaching here are several reasons to
offer healthy treats and ideas for what you can use if you are
struggling with what to hand out.
https://wellnessmama.com/128061/healthy-halloween-treats/

Many children have food allergies today and it can be

extremely hard to make accommodations for them. The
popular candies contain peanuts and other allergens so
children need to be careful or cannot even go out for fear
that they may be exposed to these. The abundance of sugars
also creates problems with obesity and other health issues
that can surface. This website explains that children can get
candy anywhere and questions if it is necessary to get a
whole bag of it in one night. Another problem is that some
children can be sensitive to the dyes that they put in the
candies Candy can also be very damaging for people with
braces. It is always a struggle to clean braces and teeth when
there is an overabundance of candy sticking to them.
The article continues on to share some kid friendly
alternatives to the usually candy for Halloween. Several of
them include little toys such as glider airplanes, bouncy balls,
stamps, flashlights, fake mustache, playdough, or stickers.
Many of these objects are cheap and can still be enjoyed by
the children. They are also several other snacks that can be
substituted in place of the candy. Organic juice boxes,
natural fruit leather, “pumpkin oranges”, and organic candy
can all be given as an alternative.
 Sign Language
After an increased interest from the children, after the arrival of our new student
Madison, I am beginning a sign language section in each newsletter to teach your
child some basic signs. All of the students are very welcoming towards Madison and
they are very excited to sign to her. Below I have also included some benefits of
sign language in the classroom, and then I have our signs for October.
The School Health Corporation website explains that in many schools the
children with disabilities are being placed in the general education classrooms. This
is what most schools are pushing for but it then creates problems for the teacher
on how they can engage all of the students in learning. Sign language is one of the
best answers to this and will help all of the students not just those with disabilities.
Sign language can be beneficial to children in the literacy development of phonics,
reading, and spelling. By using sign language with spoken English it allows children
to create a mental picture that makes pathways in the brain for storage and
retrieval. It also promotes interactions between all of the students which we are
always looking for in our classroom.
In our classroom, we will use sign language the most in our language arts
work. I will use sign language with our phonics for the alphabet and sound learning.
We will also use signs with our sight words to increase our speed at reading
development. I hope that learning these signs will help you children interact with
our students that have disabilities and even increase the communication with our
ELL learners.
 Pumpkin Cookie Recipe (Kid Friendly)
http://liveseasoned.com/cooking-kids-pumpkin-
cookies/

Ingredients
-1/2 cup butter
-1 1/3 cup sugar (original recipe calls for 1
½)
-1 cup pumpkin
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 ½ cups flour
-1 tsp baking powder Instructions
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp cinnamon 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease cookie
-1/2 tsp nutmeg sheets or use silicon sheets (my
-1/2 tsp salt preferred method). 
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in
For the Glaze
the bowl of an electric mixer until well
-2 cups powdered sugar
-3 Tbsp milk blended. Beat in the pumpkin, egg, and
-1 Tbsp melted butter vanilla extract until smooth. 
-1 tsp vanilla 3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour,
baking powder, baking soda,
cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Slowly add
the dry ingredients to the pumpkin
mixture. 
4. Drop the batter by rounded spoonfuls
onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to
18 minutes until the edges are firm (I
like to bake these on the lighter side to
make sure they don't turn out too dry).
Cool on the baking sheet for two
minutes before transferring to a wire
rack to cool completely. 
5. Combine the glaze ingredients and
whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled
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