HAPPENINGS AT DAYCARING
Dear Parents,
Here it is March already and it seems like time is just flying away from all of us.
Some very exciting and wonderful stuff is happening at DayCaring and here are some of the headlights:
Silent Auction
Our Silent Auction is coming up on Saturday April 23rd. Attached is a letter from our Board of Directors and a donation sheet outlining what we expect from you, our very generous parents.
At school, your children will have their own fun with a pajama, pizza and video party. Bring your child to school in pajamas at 5pm and go enjoy yourself at the silent auction. Pick up your child by 8pm and leave us $10.00 to cover our part of the fun.
Teacher's In-Service day
We had to postpone our teacher in-service day until Thursday April 7th. School will be closed that day as I am taking our staff to the Roseville Parent co-op for observation and gathering new ideas. This school's Director is Bev Boss, a dear and old friend of mine, who has written several books on early childhood education and has established (with the help of the town of Roseville) a truly spectacular setting for her program.
Save the date
Silke, Jakob's Mom has organized our 3rd Camping trip at Casini Ranch in Duncan's Mills on the Russian River for the weekend of May 13th-15th. Details will be posted closer to the actual date.
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FROM OUR TEACHERS
Pre-K
Checking in with Map Study
with Silver
We're now on Lesson 3. All the Pre-K kids mastered 1 & 2 which included learning and being gently tested on the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Florida, U.S., Hurricanes, Carribeans, Gulf of Mexico, North and South Pole, Western and Eastern Hemisphere, Russia, Nepal, Mt. Everest, China and India!
Sounds like a lot, but these Pre-K'ers are very bright and they all got it.
We are now learning to name and point to the seven continents. Ask your kids to bust out a map at home and see how much they remember. See you at Map Study!
Pre-K
Espanol con Leydis
In Pre-K, I have been doing Spanish with the kids. This month I have been teaching them words about our body. The five words they have been learning are:
- Foot (pie)
- Hand (mano)
- Head (cabeza)
- Nose (nariz)
- Ear (oreja)
I have also been working on writing their names and drawing their face or whole body. I first ask them to spell out their name and I write it down. Then they write it and draw a picture of their face or their whole body. I observe them, watching how they hold the pencil and what letters they can write and what letters they recognize.
Pre-K
Yoga and Movement
with Genevieve
For the last month in Yoga and Movement class, we have been focusing on expanding our yoga program and really learning about finding our "center" and calming our bodies. We have added several new poses to our repetoire, and are advancing in our balance and coordination. We have acquired our own yoga mats through a generous donation from Sacha's mom, Janice Gates. (Thank you Janice!)
Aside from providing extra comfort while doing yoga, I think adding the mats will give the kids a sense of ownership of their space, and allow me to use this as a tool for promoting better listening, focusing on our own energy around our bodies and concentration and control of our bodies during poses.
All of your kids are doing great in this part of Pre-K. They are loving it and so am I.
Salt trays
In addition to Yoga & Movement, I've been working with your kids on writing words in trays of salt. This has been and will continue to be an ongoing part of teaching and evaluating our kids' verbal and recognition skills. We have been keeping detailed records of all my observations, which are turned over to Karla as part of her Pre-K evaluations.
Puddle Jumpers
With Jenny & Carie
In Puddle Jumpers, our 3-4 year olds have been working on numbers 1-10. We practice our numbers in Spanish and sing lots of songs. Our February projects focussed on Valentines Day art, "what's inside your mouths" theme, and parts of the body.
Our kids also enjoy our nature walks and walks to Fairfax Library for story time.
Stompers
with Kelly
The projects that the Stompers (age 2-3) have been doing for the last few months are generally based around the DayCaring theme of the month. We try very hard to keep to the calander of events, but sometimes we go in the direction of their current interest. Parents may have noticed your little Stomper coming home singing songs or counting in different languages. These things are something the Stompers do routinely everyday. At the start of our group time we first sing our Stompers song and then we count the kids in the group in English, Spanish and German. Then we do our ABC's. These same first steps to group time never change.
I am so proud of my Stompers and your children. They amaze me each day. As the weather gets nicer I am going to start taking a lot more adventures and maybe we can all come up with a great field trip for us to go on.
Stompers wish list
- Everyday shapes for felt board: food items, furniture, shapes, people
- Extra clothes for kids to have in cubbies (for wet days or accidents)
- Rags for cleaning
- Any type of beads for necklaces
- Any type of art supply
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