While
we like to think that all days are special at Sheffield,
some days are even more so. These special events focus
around the students, visiting parents, or field trips:
Sheffield Preschool
provides a rich calendar of activities, including arts
and crafts, learning themes, cultural explorations, and personal
celebrations. Enrolled children will get special treatment
on their birthday and field trips and visits
from parents and grandparents, and, of course, the reknown, annual
Sheffield Circus/Graduation in August.
Birthdays Are
Important!
We celebrate birthdays
during the morning snack period. Please bring
a healthy treat to share for everyone enrolled
that day. These could be gingerbread men and women,
oatmeal cookies with raisin faces, dried fruit,
bagels, seasonal fruits, or popsicles, etc.
We
help make this a wonderful day for your child by
talking about them at circle, singing songs,
lighting birthday candles, and generally making a
fuss over your child all day long. |
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It
has become a tradition for each child on his or her
birthday to bring a picture book to donate to the
Sheffield School in his or her name. This then becomes
part of the school legacy, and when we read this book to
the children, we begin by reading who gave the book to
the school. It is a warm reminder of friendship and good
times that everyone enjoys.
Graduation/Circus
We
treat your child’s last day like a birthday. We
encourage you to talk about it as a special day with
your child, planning together what treat you will
bring for snack time. We will sing our good-bye song and gather
together all of your child’s belongings, clothes, blanket, and
artwork to take home. Some children graduate as a group,
and some children graduate as individuals. It
depends upon the family's plans.
This
is an emotional time for us as we say good-bye to your
child who leaves friends behind. But we send him or her
off with love and the sure knowledge that our
program’s strong foundation in early education will
help him or her have a successful kindergarten year and
that the fundamentals learned in the Sheffield Preschool
Program will extend throughout his or her formal
education and life.
The last two
weeks of August are dedicated to creating a circus and then performing
in front of the entire Sheffield community. The children practice tumbling, balancing,
swinging, dancing, and roaring every day until they
know what to expect and are ready to perform. At the
conclusion of the circus, we sing goodbye to the
graduates, and end with a pot-luck lunch provided by the
graduates and their families.
Celebrations
Every
year we celebrate holidays in a secular way—Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents’ Day, Easter,
Fourth of July, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, Thanksgiving,
Chanukah, and Christmas—so that the children begin to
understand the traditions and heritage that surround
them. We decorate the preschool and coordinate projects
with the events—pumpkin carving and “scary” storytelling
for Halloween, gingerbread houses and holiday songs for
Christmas, egg coloring for Easter, etc.
Each
year we add additional celebrations from around the
world, such as Kwanza, Passover, Chinese New Year,
Persian New Year, St. Maarten’s Day, Japanese Children’s
Day, and Day of the Dead.
Field
Trips
During the year we will go on
short walking trips to neighborhood parks, fire
stations, libraries, and shops. We will also
organize driving trips to Tilden Park, the
Lawrence Hall of Science, Alameda Beach, Oakland
Chinatown, etc., if the children are old enough
and seem ready for it. We usually begin our field
trips in December with a performance of one act of
the Nutcracker at the Berkeley Ballet.
Please look
for and sign any permission slips we send home
to you. We need you to help take us on trips.
Let us know if you have any suggestions for good
places to go. Some of our best field trips have
been initiated by parents.
We take field trips in
the second half of the school year once all of
the students are familiar with each other and
the Sheffield rules. Below is a list of trips
from 2004 and 2007 (this does not include
special guests such as dancers, musicians, and animal tenders). |
|
| Field Trips:
February - June 2007 |
|
1. Take the bus to
Tumble and Tea Cafe! Tuesday, February 27, 10:00
a.m.—1:00 p.m. Limited to 17 students (Tuesday
students have first choice). $3.00 per student,
$1.70 bus fare for children five years old, adults
are $1.75 each way.
2. Visit the #5 Berkeley Fire
Station. A walking trip for everyone. March
20, 10:00--12:00.
3.
Take the bus again to the Main Berkeley Public
Library for ABC stories with Sugene Yong-Kelly.
Open to everyone. Tuesday, April 17, 10:00 a.m.—12:30
p.m. $1.70 bus fare for children five years old,
adults are $1.75 each way.
4. Animal Differences workshop at the Oakland
Zoo. Wednesday, May 16, 8:30 a.m.—1:30 p.m.
Limited to 20 students (Wednesday students have
first choice). $5.00 children, $9.00 everyone
over six years old.
5.
Annual School Picnic at Crab Cove in Alameda.
Wednesday, June 13, 9:30 a.m.—1:30 p.m.
Open to all. Free to all.
Yoga classes with Lynn Zamarra, the owner of Flow
Like a River: once a month at Sheffield, alternating
Mondays and Fridays,
Field Trip List from
2004
1.
Exhibits and "By the Light of the Sun" planetarium
show, Chabot Space & Science Center, January
23, Friday, 9:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. Open to
everyone. $7.00 per student, chaperones attend
at no charge.
2.
Dinosaurs, Lawrence Hall of Science, February
19, Thursday, 9:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. Limited
to 14 students (Thursday students have first choice).
$9.00 per student, chaperones attend at no charge.
3.
Dinosaurs, Lawrence Hall of Science, February
26, Thursday, 10:00 a.m.—12:30 p.m. Limited
to 14 students (Thursday students have first choice).
$9.00 per student, chaperones attend at no charge.
4.
Ancient Egypt, Chabot Space & Science Center.
March 10, Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
We will just go to the Space Center for the movie.
Open to everyone. $4.00 per student, chaperones
attend at no charge.
5.
Native American exhibit, Oakland Museum, Friday,
April 16, 10:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. Open to everyone.
$1.00 per person for people over 5 years.
6.
Amphibians & Reptiles, Lawrence Hall of Science,
May 19, Wednesday, 9:00—1:00 p.m. Limited
to 14 students (Wednesday students have first
choice). $9.00 per student, chaperones attend
at no charge.
7.
Amphibians & Reptiles, Lawrence Hall of Science,
May 26, Wednesday, 10:00—12:30 p.m. Limited
to 14 students (Wednesday |
| Special Parent Visits include: |
- Art:
Mittie Cutera
- Bat
pellets: Milo, Heather, & Loren
- Beekeeping: Uncle Stuart
- Birdwatching: Chris
- Candle
making: Suzanna
- Cinco de
Mayo circle: Rogelio
- French:
Tara
- Jewish
traditions: Mike
- Latkes:
Karen, Mike, Miriam
- Music
Circle: David Ferrazares, Gary Lapow
- Nutrition pyramid: Suzanne
- Poetry:
Julie, Laynie
- Pumpkin
pies: Miriam
- Tee
shirts: Wendy
- Trash & hazmat
circle: Michele M.
|
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