Sunday, September 18, 2011

September Newsletter Week 2 - Community Helpers (Teachers)


Newsletter for September
                  Week of Sept.12th-16th
Monthly Thematic Unit – Community Helpers
                  Color of the Month - Red

Song of the Week:
     "The Wheels on the Bus"


The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town.

The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish,
all through the town.

The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep,
all through the town.

The Driver on the bus says, "Please move back,"Please move back;"
The Driver on the bus says, "Please move back",
all through the town.

Substitute these also:
The doors on the bus go open and shut.
The people on the bus go bumpity bump.
The windows on the bus go up and down.
The lights on the bus go blink, blink, blink.

End with:
The engine on the bus is running out of gas.





Book of the Week: Barney and Baby Bop Go To School by Mark Bernthal


Activities of the Day for Monday: We began our day by building with our bristle blocks and playing with our trains. Then we had IRT where we worked on putting our book  back on the shelf before getting out a new book. Then we built with our mini waffle blocks. We introduced the BOTW and the SOTW. We played with our busy beads, built with our alphabet blocks and our animal bin. We read theme related books, too! We listened to our VeggieTales Sing-along music and watched The Talking Words Factory DVD.


Special Enrichment for Monday: We baked Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies today! Mmmmm...delicious!
We also played with our toy schoolhouse set.

Activities of the Day for Tuesday: We began our day by building with Duplo blocks and worked on our alphabet train floor puzzle  and then we had IRT. We built with bristle blocks and busy beads, read some school themed books about teachers and the alphabet and sang the SOTW and read the BOTW. We also used our bumpy blocks to try to build school buses. We ended our day by building with Lincoln Logs while listening to and later dancing to 50's music!

Special Enrichment for Tuesday: We went for a Nature Walk and Picnic at the lake. We saw geese and bunnies while on our Nature Walk! :)
We also played a school bus coloring matching game!

Activities of the Day for Wednesday: We started our day off by working on puzzles and making silly faces with our Mr. Potato Heads. Then we had IRT. After, we listened to our 50's music while building with our bumpy blocks and and alphabet blocks. We also enjoyed listening to classical music. We read the BOTW and sang the SOTW. We ended our day by playing in our kitchen set and playing with our train set.

Special Enrichment for Wednesday: We played with our shape sorter bus and practiced colors and shapes.
We had Computer Day and played Dora's Backpack Adventure! Lots of number matching games.

Activities of the Day for Thursday: We began our day playing with Hotwheels and our magnetic fishing game. Then we had IRT. We enjoyed listening to classical music. We played with our shape sorters and kitchen set. We sang the SOTW and read the BOTW.

Special Enrichment for Thursday: We tried to keep today generally low key...the children we had today weren't feeling well. We didn't go to the library for Story Time, so instead, we watched a theme related movie called Blue's Room - Alphabet Power!
We also had fun wearing the COTM today  - RED!

Activities of the Day for Friday: We started our day by playing with our dollhouse and chain links. Then we had IRT. After, we read the BOTW and sang the SOTW. We took turns playing with our baby dolls and cooking food in our toy kitchen.

Special Enrichment for Friday: Today we played a fun new game called "Franklin Goes to School"...lots of fun and learning!

We also watched our movie of the week - Clifford's Schoolhouse!

Parents - If you haven't noticed already, we are currently having a contest on our Facebook page. Here's how to play and win:
Who wants to win a $20 Gift Card for Target? TIME FOR A CONTEST!!! Here's how to play: Spread the word to everyone you know on Facebook about us. Once your friends and family "like" our page, simply have them click "like" on any picture that includes your child(ren). {If more children that just yours are in the picture, please also make a comment on this picture referencing which child you are clicking "like" for. PLEASE NOTE: ONLY USE A CHILD'S NAME IF THE CHILD'S NAME IS ALREADY MENTIONED IN THE CAPTION OF THE PICTURE - SOME PARENTS PREFER THEIR CHILD'S NAME NOT BE POSTED ON OUR PAGE - IF YOU CANNOT USE THE CHILD'S NAME WHEN COMMENTING, SIMPLY SAY SOMETHING LIKE "LOOK AT THE CUTIE IN THE PURPLE SHIRT" OR "CHECK OUT THAT HANDSOME GUY WITH THE HAT ON".}

If your child's picture is posted on our page, you can play to win! It does not matter if you are a current parent, former parent, or your children's pictures are here simply because you were a Special Visitor for us.

Even if you "like" us and have no children enrolled with us, you can still play! Click "like" on the pics that you think are of some cutie pies and help get them extra votes!

This contest starts now and will end Sunday, October 2nd at 9 PM EST. The family with the most "likes" wins. Not the child with the most "likes", the family. All results will be posted at the end of the contest.
And all "likes" on pictures made before the contest started will count. The "likes" aren't dated, so that would just make it more complicated to exclude them.

September Newsletter Week 1 - Community Helpers (Dentist)


Newsletter for September
                  Week of Sept. 6th-9th
Monthly Thematic Unit – Community Helpers
                  Color of the Month - Red

Song of the Week:
"My Teeth"

My teeth, I care for them
I brush them every day
After I eat and before I sleep
I brush them properly!


Book of the Week: Just Going to the Dentist by Mercer Mayer

Activities of the Day for Monday: Closed in observance of Labor Day

Special Enrichment for Monday: Closed in observance of Labor Day

Activities of the Day for Tuesday: We began our day by playing with Hotwheels and building with wooden blocks. Then we enjoyed IRT. After that was finished, we read the BOTW and sang the SOTW. We later played with our electronic learning toys, musical instruments, and built with our bumpy blocks and busy beads. Then we played with our shape sorters, We listened to tooth brushing themed music. We read monthly theme related books and built silly faces with our Mr. Potato Heads.

Special Enrichment for Tuesday:It was to rainy for our Nature Walk and Picnic after the storms we had this past weekend. So instead of going outside, we stayed in and played our Dora's Lost City computer game! Lots of matching the numbers activities.

We also discussed the proper way to brush our teeth while we painted a yellow tooth cut out white.

Activities of the Day for Wednesday: We started our day off by building with our mini waffle blocks and playing with our dinosaurs. Then we had IRT where we practiced putting our books away on the bookshelf when we were finished reading them. Then we built with our Wee Waffle Block Village set and took turns playing with our Little People playsets, too. We read the BOTW and sang the SOTW. Then we built with the bristly blocks.

Special Enrichment for Wednesday:We played Winnie the Pooh's Preschool computer game. We matched pictures with Owl, made alphabet soup with Kanga and painted with Piglet by matching numbers and shapes.
We also did a "Plaque Attack" activity with the children to demonstrate how plaque builds up in our mouth. We used baking soda to represent the white enamel of our teeth. We used vinegar to represent the acid that built up in our mouth from constant snacking. Well, if you don't know yet what happened - here's the scoop - when you mix vinegar and baking soda a chemical reaction happens where they make a huge amount of foam - thereby representing the plaque that attacks our teeth! The kids were in awe!

Activities of the Day for Thursday: We welcomed two new friends today! Welcome Tristan and Kyleigh! We began our day by building our fine motor skills with our chain links and also with playing with our dollhouse (which everyone LOVES!). Then we went to IRT and then we enjoyed some time looking through our monthly theme related books. We then played our musical instruments, played with our shape sorters, played in our kitchen center and played with our Little People. We read the BOTW and sang the SOTW. Then we built with our bristle blocks (another current favorite) and then we had a Red Hunt where we practiced our observational skills about the color of the month and looked around the playroom and tried to find everything that was red!

Special Enrichment for Thursday: We went to Story Time at the library! We had soooooooooooo much fun listening to stories about the Beach and Ocean, we bopped until we dropped, did fingerplays, sang songs and did an art project. So much fun.

Activities of the Day for Friday: We began our day by building with Christmas trees out of Legos and creating our PopOnz Stack and Build City set. We had IRT. Then we built with our chain links and played with our Hotwheels. We sang the SOTW and read the BOTW. We also listened to music about tooth brushing.

Special Enrichment for Friday: We played our "Journey to Tooth Kingdom" Game. Josh won! It was lots of fun to play.
We also watched a movie called Return to Tooth Kingdom.

Parents - If you haven't noticed already, we are currently having a contest on our Facebook page. Here's how to play and win:
Who wants to win a $20 Gift Card for Target? TIME FOR A CONTEST!!! Here's how to play: Spread the word to everyone you know on Facebook about us. Once your friends and family "like" our page, simply have them click "like" on any picture that includes your child(ren). {If more children that just yours are in the picture, please also make a comment on this picture referencing which child you are clicking "like" for. PLEASE NOTE: ONLY USE A CHILD'S NAME IF THE CHILD'S NAME IS ALREADY MENTIONED IN THE CAPTION OF THE PICTURE - SOME PARENTS PREFER THEIR CHILD'S NAME NOT BE POSTED ON OUR PAGE - IF YOU CANNOT USE THE CHILD'S NAME WHEN COMMENTING, SIMPLY SAY SOMETHING LIKE "LOOK AT THE CUTIE IN THE PURPLE SHIRT" OR "CHECK OUT THAT HANDSOME GUY WITH THE HAT ON".}

If your child's picture is posted on our page, you can play to win! It does not matter if you are a current parent, former parent, or your children's pictures are here simply because you were a Special Visitor for us.

Even if you "like" us and have no children enrolled with us, you can still play! Click "like" on the pics that you think are of some cutie pies and help get them extra votes!

This contest starts now and will end Sunday, October 2nd at 9 PM EST. The family with the most "likes" wins. Not the child with the most "likes", the family. All results will be posted at the end of the contest.
And all "likes" on pictures made before the contest started will count. The "likes" aren't dated, so that would just make it more complicated to exclude them.

Check Out Our Reviews On Angie's List!


August Newsletter Week 5


August Newsletter
Week of August 29th-September 2nd
Monthly Thematic Unit – Under the Sea
Color of the Month – BLUE



  Song of the Week (S.O.T.W.):
"Clownfish, Clownfish, Who Do You See?"
(to the tune or chant as Brown Bear, Brown Bear)


Clownfish, Clownfish, who do you see?
I see a___________________swimming with me


lobster
("Lobster, Lobster, who do you see?")


(And so on and so forth)
starfish
shark
dolphin
octopus
crab
whale
(and end with )
lots of fish swimming with me.



 Book of the Week (B.O.T.W.): Finding Nemo by Disney


Activities of the Day for Monday: Closed for court


Special Enrichment for Monday: Closed for court


Activities of the Day for Tuesday: We started our day by playing with our magnetic fishing game and building with our bumpy clocks. We then had IRT (Independent Reading Time). Then we introduced the BOTW and the SOTW. Then we built with our mini waffle blocks and and our wooden blocks. After that, we moved on to be creative chefs in our toy kitchen! When we were done with that, we played with our busy beads and our bristle blocks.



Special Enrichment for Tuesday:  Today we had lots of fun playing our Freddi Fish computer game!

Activities of the Day for Wednesday: We began our day by playing with our train set and our Hotwheels cars. Then we enjoyed IRT and worked on reading quietly to ourselves. Next, we brought out our bin of toy animals and or Duplo blocks and played for a while. Then we sang the SOTW and read the BOTW. We watched a short movie called The Wiggles at Wiggle Bay aand learned about how mermaids live in the ocean and helped them take care of the magic shell! We built with our alphabet blocks while we listened to our KidSongs CD.


Special Enrichment for Wednesday: We did a fun Goldfish Counting game! We looked inside our fish stacking cups and counted how many ocean animals were on the bottom of the cup. Then we counted out that many Goldfish crackers into the cup! When we were done, we got to eat them! Yum!



Activities of the Day for Thursday:  We started our day by playing with our dollhouse and building with our chain links. Then we had IRT and worked on sitting quietly while reading our book. The we read the BOTW and sang the SOTW. Then we worked on our ocean puzzles and they entertained us for a long time today! :) Then we built with our Wee Waffle Block Village, played our magnetic fishing game and worked with our electronic learning toys.


Special Enrichment for Thursday:  We made Ocean Collages by gluing pre-cut pictures of ocean animals onto blue paper (to represent the ocean).
We also baked cheesy cornbread for Baking Day! It was delicious!


Activities of the Day for Friday: We began our day by working on our puzzles and making silly faces with our Mr. Potato Heads. Then we had IRT. Then we sang the SOTW and read the BOTW. We built with our bristle blocks and created funky jewelry with our busy beads. Then we became bakers in our toy kitchen! :) We ended our day by playing with our train set.

Special Enrichment for Friday: We had fun playing our Blue's Clues ABC Time Activities computer game! We also watched the movie Finding Nemo.

We want to thank all of our wonderful families for being so understanding during this time of court!

August Newsletter Week 4 Sorry that this newsletter is so late! With court and everything, life got crazy! :)


August Newsletter
Week of August 22nd-26th
Monthly Thematic Unit – Under the Sea
Color of the Month – BLUE



  Song of the Week (S.O.T.W.):
"5 Little Fishies"

Five little fishies swimming at the shore, one was caught and then there were four!
Four little fishies swimming by me, one was caught and then there were three!
Three little fishies swimming by you, one was caught and then there were two!
Two little fishies swimming for fun, one was caught and then there was one! One little fishy swimming all alone, I caught him and took him home!






 Book of the Week (B.O.T.W.):  Blue Sea by Robert Kalan


Activities of the Day for Monday: We started off our day playing with our train set and building with our bumpy blocks. We then enjoyed having IRT (Independent Reading Time). After that, we moved on to doing stations and taking turns building our PopOnz Build and Stack City and creating silly faces with our Mr. Potato Heads. We introduced the BOTW and the SOTW. We had tons of fun playing make believe in the kitchen set. Georgia Power finally came to replace the broken streetlamp cover at the base of our driveway and the kids were FASCINATED with watching!


Special Enrichment for Monday: We went on a nature walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed watching birds chase one another! They were being very silly!
We also created a "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" art project. We practiced counting to two and identifying the colors blue and red correctly. We also talked about the parts of the fish (scales, fins, eye, etc.)


Activities of the Day for Tuesday: Today we began with playing with our bin of toy animals and building with our Duplo blocks. Then we worked on remaining seated with our book during IRT. After IRT was over, we enjoyed our BOTW and SOTW. Then we worked on puzzles for awhile. We listened to and tried to sing a long with our "Toddler Tunes" CD. We watched a short movie called LeapFrog's The Letter Factory. We enjoyed playing in the kitchen and pretending to feed the baby dolls. Then we built for awhile with our bristle blocks and played with our shape sorter school bus. We ended our day by building and then playing with our Wee Waffle Block Village.



Special Enrichment for Tuesday:  Today we had lots of fun playing our Freddi Fish computer game!

Activities of the Day for Wednesday: We started off our day by playing with our dinosaurs and building with our wooden blocks. THen during IRT, we worked on turning the pages of the book properly. After that, we did stations and built with our chain links and our bristle blocks. Then we read our BOTW and sang our SOTW. We used our computer to watch Rainbow Fish & The Amazing Lagoon Interactive Book. Then we listened to our KidSongs music.


Special Enrichment for Wednesday: We painted our hands to make Handprint Octopus Art! So much fun!
We also playing with the fish themed stacking cups in the water table!


Activities of the Day for Thursday:  We began our day by playing with our magnetic fishing game and building with our Lincoln Logs. We enjoyed some IRT. Then we played our JumpStart Preschool computer game. After, we played in our kitchen, then played with our shape sorters. We sang our SOTW and read our BOTW. We listened to our "Silly Songs" CD. Then we built with our Duplo blocks.


Special Enrichment for Thursday: We colored and then made Ocean Animal Paper Puppets!
For Baking Day, we baked cranberry scones! Mmmmmm.....


Activities of the Day for Friday: Closed due to court

Special Enrichment for Friday: Closed due to court

We want to thank all of our wonderful families for being so understanding during this time of court!