Preschool

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• ⭐️Your children have been working hard on their class art piece and hope you will be at Celebrate to see it and bid-there are still event tickets left! Thank you for always supporting WCDS- https://app.betterunite.com/wcds-celebratewonderland
• Friday, March 28th– 11:30 am dismissal, Aftercare is available
• CELEBRATE MARCH 29, 2025. Hope to see you there!!
• Starting in the new year, our preschool class will begin having community snacks. This will be a fun way for the children to build independence, as they’ll help set the tables, prepare and distribute the snacks, and clean up afterward. We’re asking families to sign up to bring snacks for the class for one week. You will provide snacks for 20 students for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning snack times. Monday and Friday snacks, as well as afternoon snacks, will remain individual, as usual. Click to sign up for your family’s week. Thanks!
• Beforecare is available in the gym from 7:30- 8:20 and aftercare from 3:30-5:00.
• Teacher Email: mshah@wcdsedu.com, awolle@wcdsedu.com, aschultz@wcdsedu.com 

Hello Preschool Families!

What… A… Week! The grass did not grow under our feet! The Spring weather put a little pep in our steps, bigger smiles on our faces and allowed us to take our learning outdoors.

We kicked off the week with a letter hunt in our out door learning space. Armed with magnifying glasses, the children set out to search for the hidden letter blocks, the children raced and giggled as they scoured the amphitheater, excitedly identifying and reporting back which letters they had found. We then gathered together and read the story “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed the ABC’s” Next, that silly old lady made an appearance in our classroom and she was only hungry for letters! The kiddos were presented three letters at a time, they were then asked to listen to the sound of the letter that that old lady would eat and had to identify which letter out of the three made that sound. They squealed with excitement as they waited to see if the lady would eat the letter they chose, we are happy to report that they are letter experts!

On Wednesday we read the story “Hello In There” A charming story about a little girl anxiously awaiting the arrival of her sibling. With every turn of the page the mommy’s belly grow bigger and the children loved watching as the flaps opened and we watched page by page as the baby continued to grow. Before we knew it, the baby had arrived! As we wrap up our study of babies and families, the time had arrived, the children were given a baby of their own to take home and care for! The children created the cover of their “Baby Books” that they will use to document their babies journey to home with them! We cannot wait for them to share all the stories in their books with us next week!

While letters are all the rage in the preschool classroom lately and the children are asking how to spell things, learning that the letters are how we create words, we thought, what better way to explore letters than to spell the most important thing we own, our names! We listened to The Name Song sung by Maya Angelou. A beautiful tribute to our names and the pride that they carry. It is the one thing that is with us throughout our entire lives. We then came together around the circle and sand “Everybody’s Got A Name” and practiced spelling our friends names. After, the children were invited to find their names at the tables. The kiddos were given various loose parts, such as straws, mesh tubing, and pipe cleaners to create lines, while beads, gems, and tree circles could make curves, to create a mosaic masterpiece of their names!

While we gear up for CELEBRATE next week, we used Daily Discovery to begin the second step of our art piece. The children worked methodically and diligently to create a mosaic mat to showcase those beautiful self-portrait mirrors. The children are so excited to share the art they have been working so hard on. This will be a one of a beautiful, one-of-a- kind art piece that you will have the chance to bid on! Stay tuned for the final reveal next week!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Arden, Miss Meredith & Miss Airry

CELEBRATE SNEAK PEEK

LETTER HUNT

THAT LITTLE OLD LADY

BABY BOOKS

LOOSE PART NAMES

DAILY DISCOVERY & EXPLORATIONS

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• No School Monday, March 3rd- Friday, March 7. Enjoy Spring Break!
• Monday, March 10th 10:00 start. Before care available in the gym.
• Starting in the new year, our preschool class will begin having community snacks. This will be a fun way for the children to build independence, as they’ll help set the tables, prepare and distribute the snacks, and clean up afterward. We’re asking families to sign up to bring snacks for the class for one week. You will provide snacks for 20 students for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning snack times. Monday and Friday snacks, as well as afternoon snacks, will remain individual, as usual. Click to sign up for your family’s week. Thanks!
• Beforecare is available in the gym from 7:30- 8:20 and aftercare from 3:30-5:00.
• Teacher Email: mshah@wcdsedu.com, awolle@wcdsedu.com, aschultz@wcdsedu.com 

A Look at Our Week:

This week in class, we dove into a classic Golden Book that had the kiddos giggling and thinking deeply—Where Did the Baby Go? The story follows a little girl who sees pictures of a baby and wonders, “Where did the baby go?” After searching high and low, she looks into a mirror and discovers… wait for it… the baby is her! The big reveal sparked an amazing discussion about how we were all once babies, and of course, we couldn’t resist turning this into a game of “Guess Who?” The teachers shared baby pictures of each child, and the kids had a blast trying to figure out which friend it could possibly be. The excitement and laughter in the room were contagious! To wrap up the day, the children drew pictures of themselves as babies. It was such a joyful and sweet moment, watching their creativity flow as they reflected on their younger selves. What a fun and heartwarming way to celebrate how far they’ve come!

Happy Birth Day! showed us all the exciting moments of a baby’s first day—from getting weighed and measured to their first bath and meeting their family. The children loved learning about the special role of belly buttons, too! After the story, each child got their very own baby to care for. They carefully weighed and measured their baby, just like real doctors and nurses, and even chose a name for their little one. To make the experience even more special, they decorated real hospital bracelets for their babies and created watercolor birth certificates. It was such a sweet way for the children to learn about the beginnings of life while using their imagination and creativity.

What will you name your baby?

Khy- Niko

Evelyn- Willow

Clara- Willa

Avery- Ashley

Audrey- Oatmeal

Archie- Jazz

Emma- Jean

Lenni- Atticus

Roman- Gino

Lily- Sky

Levi- Levi Jr.

Brody- Brody

Hunter- Dilly

Isla- Isla

Atticus- Dash

Lincoln- Lincoln

As we head into spring break, we just want to take a moment to wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable week with your little ones! Whether you’re going on an adventure or simply enjoying some quiet time at home, we hope this break gives you a chance to recharge and make wonderful memories together. We can’t wait to hear all about the fun and exciting things everyone did during the week when we return to class. Have a wonderful break, and we look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces soon!

Enjoy your Spring Break!

-Meredith, Arden, and Airry

Baby Picture Guess Who:

Baby Weighing and Measuring:

Baby Birth Certificates:

This is Me in February:

DAILY DISCOVERY & EXPLORATION FUN

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• Starting in the new year, our preschool class will begin having community snacks. This will be a fun way for the children to build independence, as they’ll help set the tables, prepare and distribute the snacks, and clean up afterward. We’re asking families to sign up to bring snacks for the class for one week. You will provide snacks for 20 students for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning snack times. Monday and Friday snacks, as well as afternoon snacks, will remain individual, as usual. Click to sign up for your family’s week. Thanks!
• Beforecare is available in the gym from 7:30- 8:20 and aftercare from 3:30-5:00.
• Teacher Email: mshah@wcdsedu.com, awolle@wcdsedu.com, aschultz@wcdsedu.com 

A Look at Our Week:

This week, we had so much fun diving into the classic story There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose. Not only did we enjoy the silly tale, but we also honed in on those rhyming skills that are really starting to blossom! Each day, we practice distinguishing between rhyming and non-rhyming pairs, and I’m happy to report that our little rhymers are growing more confident by the day. Who knew hat and cat could spark such excitement?

After the story, the class got creative by adding color, pom poms, paper, and, of course, glitter to their 3D puffy hearts. These fun, festive creations are now proudly displayed around the classroom to help set the mood for the holiday. If you stop by, be sure to check out their work—you may just find a heart that’s as bright and full of love as our class!

The Love Monster, is a story about a cute, fluffy monster who feels different and is searching for love and acceptance. Despite feeling out of place in a world of sweet, cuddly creatures, he learns that love comes in many shapes and forms, and sometimes, the best thing you can do is embrace who you truly are. This led to some great conversations about love and your little ones creating their very own Valentine’s Day books! We talked about love and what it means to each of them. The children answered big questions like: “What is love?”, “Who do you love?”, “How do you show love?”, and “How does love feel?” Their answers were as sweet as can be—some said love is “giving hugs,” others shared that love feels “warm” or “soft.” The kids proudly shared their responses with us, and then they got to work illustrating their answers. The finished books are filled with adorable drawings and heartfelt thoughts about the people and things they love. It’s a reminder of just how big their hearts are, and we’re so grateful to be able to witness their sweet and thoughtful perspectives.

A Note from Miss Valerie:

This week during Daily Discovery on Tuesday and Wednesday the children fine tuned those fine motor skills, numerical sense and sorting. The students were given colored heart graphs numbered 1-5. Using tweezers to work on those pincher grasps and adding Valentines flair, the children were given colored candy hearts that they sorted into the correct color square while identifying the correct number of hearts. Others opted to lace beads onto heart shaped pipe cleaners, again working on those fine motors skills. During our party the children gathered around our Valentine’s sensory bin, filled with rice, gems, beads, and halves of hearts, one side displaying the numeral, the other side displaying different numbered dots, digging, dumping and searching, the children worked to make the hearts whole with the correct number and dots!

While love and number sense was the center of our explorations, one thing is certain, our love is infinite for these kiddos!

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💕

-Meredith, Arden, and Airry

3-D HEARTS

VALENTINE’S BAGS

VALENTINE’S PARTY

DAILY DISCOVERY & EXPLORATIONS

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• Winter Long Weekend: February 7- February 10. Classes resume at 10:00am on Feb 11. Enjoy!
• Our preschoolers have become really interested in babies lately, especially since some of their friends have welcomed new siblings. As we explore the theme of babies and families, we’d love for each child to share a baby photo of themselves with the class. Please send a picture via email, text, or by bringing it in. Thank you!
• Starting in the new year, our preschool class will begin having community snacks. This will be a fun way for the children to build independence, as they’ll help set the tables, prepare and distribute the snacks, and clean up afterward. We’re asking families to sign up to bring snacks for the class for one week. You will provide snacks for 20 students for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning snack times. Monday and Friday snacks, as well as afternoon snacks, will remain individual, as usual. Click to sign up for your family’s week?>>”. Thanks!
• Beforecare is available in the gym from 7:30- 8:20 and aftercare from 3:30-5:00.
• Teacher Email: mshah@wcdsedu.com, awolle@wcdsedu.com, aschultz@wcdsedu.com

Hello Preschool Families!

As we continue to explore the world of babies and family roles, there is one common theme we continue to hear.. love. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love has taken the center stage. During daily discovery the children enjoyed various valentines themed table tops, some explored measurement, using rulers with numbered hearts and heart shaped gems they worked together to identify the numbers and count how many gems tall or long objects were. Valentine’s patterning proved to be fun as they followed AB an ABB patterns to figure out “what comes next”. The children worked diligently on creating Valentine’s collages, cutting crepe paper, gluing gems, and practicing writing words such as mom, dad, love, roses, and xoxo.

On Tuesday we read “The Day It Rained Hearts” a heartwarming story about a little girl who finds herself in the middle of a not-so-ordinary rain storm. One day it begins to rain hearts, as Cornelia collects the unique hearts she realized they are perfect for making Valentines. Each heart special in their own way, she thoughtfully sends each one with a friend in mind. With hearts in mind we went to the drawing board, a white board to be exact. We practiced writing two letters, first v and then m. The kiddos were astounded to find that when you connect a lowercase v and m you can create the heart shape! “Whhaaattt, that’s crazy” exclaimed Romeo. The children then took their new skill and were invited to each draw a heart on paper. There is nothing sweeter than a 3 and 4 year olds heart and their heart drawings are no exception!

On Wednesday we had a special guest, Senior Kindergarten teacher Miss Gina! The children gathered around calm carpet with their baby dolls. Miss Gina then sang a song as she guided them on various ways to care for a baby. Beginning with how to gently hold your baby, loving your baby, feeding your baby, changing your baby, rocking your baby, playing with your baby, and lastly putting your baby to sleep. This was a great activity to work on listening, following directions and how to care for fragile things. This also will be a great review as we begin to send the children home with their babies to care for overnight! They are so excited for this adventure!

Following along with loving and taking care of people, we read the story “Love Is”. A story about a little girl who finds a duckling who has wandered away from the park onto the city streets, she takes it home to care for it. The baby duck requires constant attention—early morning feedings, bathing, and cleaning, until the time comes to say goodbye. When her pet has grown too big for the bath, the girl takes the full-grown duck back to the pond. Afterward, she misses it and wonders if it remembers her, until one day, the duck comes back—with six ducklings of her own. A beautiful lesson that love isn’t just big moments, it’s the messy moments, the hard moments, and all those tiny moments in between that show us what love is… your children then gave us their own description of what love is, grab a tissue:

Avery- “Reading a book together and a bath, sometimes I’m a mermaid in the bathtub.”

Evelyn- “My mommy giving me a kiss”

Lily- “Playing a game with someone”

Emma- “My mommy”

Romeo- “When Mommy cooks dinner”

Lincoln- “Playing with my toy boats in my bath”

Audrey- “When sometimes mommy cooks dinner and daddy plays blocks”

Hunter- “Talking to me”

Isla- “Mommy saying I love you so much”

Brody- “Playing at the playground”

Ben-  “When Mommy plays mario cart”

Levi- “My Daddy and my Mommy”

Roman- “When my Mommy carries me upstairs and plays games with me”

Lennon- “Going for walks with Mommy and Roman”

Khy- “Ice skating with the penguins”

Clara- “A hug and swimming in the pool”

The children wrapped up the week working on their gifts for their families, and as we studied those little heart drawings they created earlier in the week, we wondered, how can they become more magical? Well, In Preschool, you super size them! We cannot wait to share the finishing product!

We hope that you take a minute to find love in the small moments over break! We will see everyone Tuesday!

Miss Arden, Miss Meredith & Miss Airry

LETTERS V & M

CIRCLE TIME WITH BABIES

HEARTS

DAILY DISCOVERY & EXPLORATIONS

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• Our preschoolers have become really interested in babies lately, especially since some of their friends have welcomed new siblings. As we explore the theme of babies and families, we’d love for each child to share a baby photo of themselves with the class. Please send a picture via email, text, or by bringing it in. Thank you!
• Starting in the new year, our preschool class will begin having community snacks. This will be a fun way for the children to build independence, as they’ll help set the tables, prepare and distribute the snacks, and clean up afterward. We’re asking families to sign up to bring snacks for the class for one week. You will provide snacks for 20 students for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning snack times. Monday and Friday snacks, as well as afternoon snacks, will remain individual, as usual. Click to sign up for your family’s week. Thanks!
• As the weather dips cooler, we ask that children come with attire to be outside as we try to get out at least for a few minutes each day.
• Beforecare is available in the gym from 7:30- 8:20 and aftercare from 3:30-5:00.
• Teacher Email: mshah@wcdsedu.com, awolle@wcdsedu.com, aschultz@wcdsedu.com 

A Look at Our Week:

Brrrr! It’s chilly outside, but we’ve been staying cozy and warm inside our preschool classroom. In the peaceful wintertime, nature encourages us to slow down and rest—just like the animals in Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows. This fun book teaches us about hibernation, why it’s important, and which animals “sleep” through the winter. From bears to skunks, groundhogs, and bats, the children were excited to learn how different animals rest during the snowy season.

Although we couldn’t go outside for recess in the polar vortex, we found other ways to stay active inside! Channeling the animals from our story, the children practiced yoga poses with big smiles and lots of energy. It was a fun way to move and stay warm while learning about hibernation!

In Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright, we had fun exploring cause and effect. Sneezy was so cold that his friends gave him cocoa to warm him up, but that made him melt! They quickly rebuilt him, only for him to melt again when he got too warm. So, his friends kept building him over and over.

Inspired by Sneezy’s story, our preschool friends also created their own snowmen. They were introduced to clay and used what they learned last week about spheres to shape their snowballs. After stacking them, the children added buttons, sticks, and ribbons to make their snowmen unique. And let us tell you—these little creations are absolutely adorable and will definitely bring a smile to your face!

We wrapped up our week with a magical polar sensory adventure! The children created beautiful “icebergs” by painting with pipettes and liquid watercolors after discovering a giant bucket of sparkling ice near our classroom. They also explored frozen ice cubes made with water, baking soda, glitter, and food coloring. Using pipettes of vinegar, they delighted in watching the ice fizz and melt before their eyes. Becoming little Picassos, sheets of ice became their canvas leaving colorful trails on the cold, glistening surfaces. It was a wonderful blend of science, art, and winter wonder!

We hope you are enjoying all the magic that this winter season brings!

-Meredith, Arden, and Airry

SNOWMEN

WINTER SCIENCE

DAILY DISCOVERY & EXPLORATIONS

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

” MLK Jr. Day of Service at Wheeling Country Day School embodies the spirit of community and action, inspiring students to make a difference in the lives of others. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'” This day reminds us that even the youngest among us can contribute meaningfully to building a better world.

Preschool/ Junior Kindergarten/ Senior Kindergarten will be collecting hygiene items for Laughlin Chapel. Please bring items to school before Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20th. Here is what they need:

• 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner  (16 oz average size-not travel or mega)
• Dove soap-unscented
• Disposable razors
• Deodorant-preferable neutral (Ok for either gender)
• Chapstick
• Hair brushes
• Toilet paper

The early childhood classes will also be holding our “Loving Littles for Laughlin Button Sale” beginning Wednesday, January 15th – sale will take place before school and during our core time. 1 button for $2 or 2 buttons for $3 with proceeds supporting Laughlin Chapel. Right now the children are in the process of creating the buttons. Thank you in advance for your support! “

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• Starting in the new year, our preschool class will begin having community snacks. This will be a fun way for the children to build independence, as they’ll help set the tables, prepare and distribute the snacks, and clean up afterward. We’re asking families to sign up to bring snacks for the class for one week. You will provide snacks for 20 students for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning snack times. Monday and Friday snacks, as well as afternoon snacks, will remain individual, as usual. Click to sign up for your family’s week. Thanks!
• As the weather dips cooler, we ask that children come with attire to be outside as we try to get out at least for a few minutes each day.
• Beforecare is available in the gym from 7:30- 8:20 and aftercare from 3:30-5:00.
• Teacher Email: mshah@wcdsedu.com, awolle@wcdsedu.com, aschultz@wcdsedu.com 

Hello Preschool Families!

While some chose to rumble and grumble during these frigid and snow covered days, preschool certainly embraced all the wonders and warmth that winter has to offer! During daily discovery the children explored “animal tracks” in winter colored play dough. Using flashlights to navigate the trails they left behind. While it may have been frigid, we brought the snow inside, a snow cone shop was in full force, scooping, dumping and piling made for lots of fun. Some gravitated towards winter art, using transparency paper, glue, glitter, paint sticks, sharpies, and oil pastels to create their own one of a kind snowflakes. Others built warm homes for their baby dolls and stuffed animals, shining flash lights to lead them through their “neighborhood”.

On Tuesday we read the story “The Smiley Snowman”. Bear, Fox and Bunny build a smiley snowman, when they arrive the next morning to greet him, he is not so smiley anymore. Fearing that he is cold they bundle the snowman with a coat, gloves, scarf, hat and blanket an head out for the day to play. As they return later to check on their new friend, trouble is in the air, “he’s melting!!!!” shouted our students. Bear, Fox and Bunny quickly undress him and add more snow. Still, the snowman never smiles. Concerned, the animals begin asking questions and talking to the snowman, when all of a sudden the snowman begins to smile. Learning that the Snowman wasn’t cold on the outside, he was cold on the inside, and with kindness and love his heart was filled with warmth. The children began excitedly talking about how they would build a snowman. Which led us into our next discussion, how to build a snowman! Everyone agreed that the body of the snowman is made up by a circle. We reviewed that a circle has no corner or sharp points like other shapes and that where you start is where you will end. The kiddos were then given dry erase markers and boards to practice drawing their circle. Next, we also agreed that the body is made up of three circle shapes. we talked about different ways to make three using loose parts. 2+1 makes 3 , 1+1+1 makes 3 . They then practiced writing the number three. We talked about how all of our letters and numbers start at the top. Three is a tricky number to write and they were so excited to show off their number three! The children were then invited to draw their January self-portraits, but these weren’t any ordinary self portraits, they drew themselves as, you guessed it, Snowmen!

On Wednesday during phonics we began working on sentence segmentation, whereto children hear a sentence and count the words in the sentence. They are also beginning to identify rhyming pairs they hear in the sentences, we are blown away by their rhyming awareness! We read the story “Snow” by Cynthia Rylant, which gave lyrical and poetic descriptions of falling snow and all that it has to offer! The kiddos then set out to create the back drop for their self portraits, Using shaving cream, glue and glitter the children made, light snow, heavy snow, fat snow and soft snow to create a snowy landscape on black paper.

Thursday gave us a blank canvas of snow again allowing us to continue to relish in the wonders of the winter weather . We read the story Snowman’s Big Job. A Snowman thinks about what his job will be, he gives three clothing clues, there’s our number again, and the children used context clues based off of the 3D images to guess the job, they were little rockstars, and guessed every job correctly! We also dove into a different type of shape, a sphere! We discussed how a sphere is similar to a circle, it is like a ball! It’s round, and it looks the same from every side. Atticus then shouted “So a snowman is a sphere!” Romeo said “so are snowballs!” Turns out, the snow brings more than beauty and a sense of calmness, it can bring shapes also!

We hope your weekend is filled with all the warm hugs from your little snowmen!

Miss Arden, Miss Meredith & Miss Airry

CIRCLES & THREES

SELF-PORTRAITS

SNOWY BACKDROPS

SPHERES

DAILY DISCOVERY