Welcome to Mrs. Blocker’s Page
I am excited to teach your children, watch them grow and learn this school year! Preschool is an exciting time! We will be busy learning lots of things but also have fun while doing it!
Mrs. Blocker’s Amazon Wishlist
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1T7NBAU9NJTJU?ref_=wl_share
Preschool Class Times
Morning Class– Monday- Friday 7:25am- 10:25am
Afternoon Class – Monday- Friday 11:40- 2:40pm ( we dismiss 5 minutes before the older grades at 2:35pm)
Daily Routine
Arrival/beginning of day routine
Circle Time
Learning Centers
Literacy or Math ( Large Group)
Letter Knowledge (Large Group) and Music/Movement
Snack
Heggerty (Phonics)
Work at tables in small groups (Book time when children finish)
Science, Social Studies, Second Step , or Literacy( Large Group)
Learning Centers
Outside
Go home
Circle time- This is how we start off our day every day. During circle time we are on the rug and do a variety of activities such as: question of the day, attendance, calendar, day of the week, Pledge of Allegiance, and Heggerty Phonics to name a few things.
Center time- This is the time during the day when the children get to play in the different centers of the classroom. We have center time on a daily basis. The centers we have in our classroom are: blocks, pretend play, toys & games (manipulatives), art, listening/library, writing, sensory table and technology. The children have the chance to go to three centers each day. The first center the children get to pick where they would like to go, then for the second and third center they are rotated to a different center by the teacher. Center time provides the children for time to interact socially with each other and learn through their play and exploration of the materials in the classroom.
Large Group Lesson– This is the time when we are on the rug learning from our World of Wonders curriculum, Everyday Math, and Heggerty Phonics, which includes instruction on identification of each alphabet letter and letter sounds. World of Wonders is based around themes. Each theme teaches a variety of things, such as: friends, transportation, farm animals, zoo animals and many more! Everyday Mathematics is the curriculum used to teach preschool math concepts such as sizes, patterns, counting, numeral recognition, number concepts and more. Second Step is a Social Emotional component where we learn topics such as managing our feelings, how to be a good friend, and following rules.
Small Groups– This is the time when we do independent or group work. We work on skills such as writing, cutting, Math and Literacy concepts.
Snack- A favorite time of day! Snack is provided by the school. The children are provided a snack each day.
Outdoor Play– We try and get out to play on our playground (it is the one with the white picket fence around it) on a daily basis as long as weather permits. When the weather does not allow us to go outside we do different gross motor activities such as Gonoodle, dancing or games in our classroom.
Technology- We use technology on a daily basis in our classroom. We have a smartboard that the children will use for attendance each day. We also do a variety of activities and lessons on the smartboard that allows the children to interact and makes the learning hands on. We also have I-pads in the classroom that the children get to use. We call Friday our “technology day”, as that is when I-pads become a center choice for the children. We have a bunch of educational apps downloaded on them that they can choose from to play.
Birthday Treats
If you wish to send something to school for your child’s birthday please make sure it is a
non-edible item due to allergies. Some ideas to pass our for birthdays are: mini play-doh, stickers, pencils etc.. Two great places to check for ideas of a non-edible item are the Dollar Store and Target’s Dollar isle, both have some neat things! Thanks for your understanding about providing a non-edible birthday treat!
If you would like to invite people in your child’s class to a birthday party and want us to hand out the invitations, it must be for everyone in the class or all the boys if your child is a boy or all the girl’s if your child is a girl. We can not pass out invitations to just certain people. Thanks!
Scholastic Book Orders
Our four year old class will be doing scholastic book orders this year. If you wish to purchase from them you can go online and use the following information to place an order. We will not be sending home paper copies. We will let you know when the orders will be due.
Ordering online is fast and easy:
- VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
- ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code GQWYB
- SHOP from a carefully curated selection of the best books, value packs, and Storia eBooks
- SUBMIT your order and earn FREE Books for our classroom
All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading together!
Mrs. Blocker is one of the the lead teachers for the M-F morning and afternoon four year old class. This will be my twelfth year at JFK and the start of my 15th year teaching preschool. I received a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Western Illinois University in Macomb. and completed my Masters of Arts in Early Childhood Education from the university of Northern Iowa (UNI) In my free time when I am not busy teaching or being a mom, I enjoy photography, swimming, cooking, crafting and shopping. My birthday is in March and my favorite color is blue. My family consists of my husband, Luke, six year old daughter, Finnley who will be attending First grade this year at JFK, and we just had our second daughter, Keely this June! I also have three cats, Garfield, Holly, Pearl and a dog, Winston.
Ms. VanDam (Mrs. V.) is my full time Preschool Adie in the classroom. She started working in Preschool at JFK in 2019. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Judson University.
