| SEPTEMBER Newsletter |
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Dear Parents, I would like to take this opportunity to wish a warm welcome to all of our beautiful families - we feel as if you are all part of our families. I look forward to a long, wonderful journey with you and your child. To all my "babies" going off to kindergarten, I wish you a wonderful year where you will continue your journey through a love for learning. I will miss you all and can't wait for snow days and school breaks!!!! I am always here for all of you. You are such a huge part of my life! Welcome to our 2010-11 school year! We are very excited to start our new curriculum for the year. We will be having Curriculum Night Sept 13th for the Transition, Preschool & Pre-k classes (adult only please). This will give you a chance to learn about your child's classroom, meet the teachers and review the curriculum. I hope that you will all be able to attend. Exciting news... I will be changing my hours this year to the closing shift, so I will see all my families in the evening vs the morning. I will be talking some more classes, as well as, helping out in the Troy Babes in Toyland during the morning hours. I am excited for the change as its been 17 years of the opening shift here in Rochester. Bittersweet News... Ms. Julie in the Pre-school class has been offered a position with the Oxford Schools Head Start Program. We are so happy for her but of course we hate to see her leave. I have 2 potential candidates for the Lead Teacher position that I have been meeting with, so I will be sure to inform you of their credentials as soon as I make my decision. We will be blessed with Julies' presence until Sept 10th. Please be sure to wish her the best! On the bright side she will be coming back each summer to teach our camp program! So she will still be a part of our Babes Family! The 8th annual Picnic in the park was a huge success! A great time was had by all. The children enjoyed "Tootsie the Clown" and the weather was perfect. Thanks for all the yummy food! Thank you for all the support during our "Date Nights" We will be starting them up again in the next few months. Starting With ... Shopping Night for parents complete with a wrapping room available for when you return with the Christmas goodies!!! Your child will be having fun and you can take care of all your holiday business and/or enjoy holiday cheer. More info to come!! Interesting Reading... Linking Play to Early Learning and Development Guidelines: Possibility or Polemic? By Sharon L. Kagan, Columbia University http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/30-1_Kagan.pdf?docID=11641 Hollywood Time!!! * It is time to start collecting Hollywood Market register receipts again. Please place your receipts in the superbly decorated box (decorated by our school-age children) located near the front door. Your support is greatly appreciated. Easy ways to help the center... *Save Campbell's soup labels and other Campbell's product labels and deposit them in the receptacle by the front door. Be sure to check out Rochester Hills Babes in Toy land on FACE BOOK. I have created a page that displays all of the photos from each month in a photo album. I have too many great pictures to put on this newsletter so I thought that this would be a great way for you to see a lot of the wonderful activities. Grandparents and friends can check them out too. I hope you enjoy. Remember my door is always open for any thoughts or concerns you may have! Looking forward to an exciting month! Ms. Sue Graf |
| NURSERY/TODDLER NEWS Dear Parents, A new school year is upon us already! We would like to welcome back Lek, Daniel and Kate who have taken the summer off. Ms. Weezie is also back from her summer-off, yay!! We would also like to welcome Wally and Owen to the Nursery. Happy Birthday Daniel!! To start the year off, we are going to focus on developing our communication and verbal skills! To do this we will sing songs with finger actions, work on our baby sign language, and practice our everyday talking during conversation. To increase our fine motor skills, the toddlers will be working on the "pinching" motion this month. We will do this by picking up items such as cheerios. This month's theme is "All About Me". During this time we will learn our body parts. To help us achieve this we will be singing songs such as, the Hokey Pokey, Head-Sholders-Knees and Toes and Simon Says. The toddlers will be working on a life-size replica of themselves this month. They will start by tracing their bodies, followed by painting them and finally, placing an 8x10 picture of their face onto them. The results are amazing! Reminders: **Please remember to check your child's daily sheet for supplies needed. ** Families Please bring in a family picture. The children love to see pictures of their loved ones throughout the day. Sincerely, Nursery & Toddler Staff TODDLERS DEVELOP COGNITIVE SKILLS... ...through everyday activities. Maria Montessori said children at this age have "absorbent minds" and Jean Piaget called toddlers "little scientists". Toddlers are just beginning to develop reasoning skills, understanding cause and effect. They are also beginning to comprehend spatial relationships, math concepts, time and distance. Through play, a toddler develops skills that lead to higher levels of thinking. Here are some easy tips for enhancing your toddlers thinking skills throughout the day: chatting helps to both build vocabulary and develop comprehension. Ask questions, give options, try new things, teach, offer praise and feedback, work together, and set the toddler up for success. |
TRANSITION NEWS Dear Parents, We would like to welcome Caleb and Daniel to the Transition Room! Happy birthday to Mark, Natalie and Daniel this month! Our theme for September is "All About Me". The children will engage in projects about families, pets, feelings and more! This month we will be asking our parents to have their child bring something special from the back yard (a rock, a leaf, a flower/weed). The children will talk about their special item at circle time and we will be making a college out of all of them! Please don't forget to make sure your child has a weather/size appropriate set of extra clothing (including socks) here at the center at all times. Also, please remember to take nap bedding home on Friday's to be washed and return it on Monday, thank you! Our Goal is Social Development The social development of small children is reveled in how they get along with their peers. Adults sometimes think of social actions as manners and politeness, however, in the study of young children, social actions refer to how children learn to get along with their peers. This rarely involves manners. Social skills are a constant struggle for children to develop. During the ages 2-3 in our classroom an amazing transition takes place. We guide the children and teach them a variety of ways to interact with peers, to give and take and they begin to interact in harmony. They will begin to learn to respect others rights and resolve interpersonal conflict. Our role as teachers is to physically set up the arrangement of the classroom to encourage small group activities. We also observe and record the social skills of children in order to determine how to help each individual child make the process a successful one. The out come is having children resole conflicts with each other and build skills that will last a lifetime. If any of you have any questions, concerns or comments, please feel free to call or inquire while picking up/dropping off your child. Sincerely, Transition Staff |
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: Sept 6th Hollywood Market Kick off Sept 7th Labor Day -Center Closed Sept 13th Curriculum Night (Adult Only) Sept 13th Savory Cookie Dough Fund Raiser Sept 16th Picture Day Sept 27th Cookie Dough Forms & Money Due UPCOMING EVENTS: Cookie Dough Arrives during first week October! Constructive Playthings Catalog Kick off! BE SURE TO CHECK FOR: RECALL ALERTS |
| PRE-SCHOOL NEWS Dear Parents, Welcome to the Pre-school room! We will explore the theme of "All About Me" through activities involving gross motor, social play, and dramatic play. We will focus on our cognitive skills through math, science and language activities. Feelings, our five senses, and families will also be discussed this month! Thursday mornings we will do a class cooking activity. Fridays are show-in-tell days (please be sure to bring something theme-related and non-violent. Please remember, your child will need a extra set of clothes (weather/size appropriate) here at the center. Your child will also need one package of wipes as well as a toothbrush and tooth paste. Curriculum night is September 13th from 6:30-7:30 at the center, we hope to see you there! We are looking forward to a great school year! Choosing a Good Children's Book Every minute spent reading a mediocre book is time taken away from reading a good one. Like a piece of art, a good children's book is greater than the sum of its parts. It needs to be funny, honest, inspire a sense of wonder, and show respect for the young child. Scholastic provide a wonderful opportunity to build your child's library at very reasonable prices. We will be circulating the scholastic book orders monthly so be sure to check them out. Books make great gifts for the Holidays!! Sincerely, Pre-School Staff |
PRE-K NEWS Dear Parents: Throughout September we will focus on the letters Aa, Bb and Cc and the number 1. We will enjoy many hands-on activities that will help to increase our letter/number knowledge. The theme this month is, "All About Me". Many of our activities will be associated with family, feelings, our bodies, etc. Building our fine motor skills will also be a focus this month. We will achieve this by stringing beads, cutting paper, tracing shapes and forming play doh. Special projects this month include... dice with different traits about your child on each side and a silhouette portrait of your child. Fridays are show-in-tell days (please be sure to bring something theme-related and non-violent.) Please bring in a family picture for our classroom Family Board. Also, a 4x6 picture of your child is needed for our photo album, thank you! Please remember, your child will need a extra set of clothes (weather/size appropriate) here at the center. Your child will also need one package of wipes as well as a toothbrush and tooth paste. Curriculum night is September 13th from 6:30-7:30 at the center, we hope to see you there! We are looking forward to a super school year! Recipes for No More Tears Bubbles 1/4 cup baby shampoo 3/4 cup water 3 tbs light corn syrup Gently mix together, then blow bubbles and enjoy! Sincerely, Pre-k Staff |
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