In-House Position Newsletter
December 2016
Education Specialist
Teacher Enhancement Packet
The Teacher Enhancement Packet is a great resource when writing your classroom lesson plans! It has many theme related activities for each age group and learning center. Each activity provides objectives, materials needed, the procedure and evaluation method. The Enhancement Packet can be a tool that teachers from each age group use while lesson planning, but it is important to remember that these activities are generic and will need to be altered to fit the needs and developmental level in each classroom.
An Enhancement Packet is delivered to each center with each curriculum shipment but you can also find them on Google Drive > Shared With Me > Curriculum Connection Sheets > 2016 > from here you will find a folder for each month. You can also ask your Center Management team to get it from SharePoint > Education > Curriculum Connection Sheets > 2016 > from here you will find a folder for each month.
In the Enhancement Packet you will find:
- Shopping Lists
- Suggested Materials
- Suggested Estimation Jar materials
- Suggested Touchy Feel Box materials
- Theme related age appropriate activities
- Pre-K Academy project
- Kids of Character
- Intentional Teaching Cards
- Suggested Book List
Rainbow Representative
December is a month full of reasons to get together and be merry. Use those reasons to help your staff and families connect and build lasting relationships. Strong, positive relationships help with both staff and customer retention because they feel invested in the center. By hosting or coordinating events, on and off site, during the week and on the weekends, you can help those relationships flourish. These can be as simple as attending a local tree lighting or setting up a winter walk in the park complete with hot cocoa at the end.
Each month we will continue to provide ideas as well as general tips for connecting with staff and families. We would also love to hear your ideas and see your hard work! Please send ideas and pictures of completed activities to education@rainbowccc.com.
Staff Appreciation Idea- “When it Rains, look for Rainbows. When it’s Dark, look for Stars.” Create a board with the above quote and the question what are your Rainbows and Stars? Encourage staff to write out the bright spots of their day! Dec. 29th is National Chocolate Day. Place some chocolate covered treats in the break room with a nice note or card telling the staff how appreciated they are!
Family Connection Idea- December is full of holidays and reasons to celebrate! Arrange a cookie exchange for both parents and staff to participate in. Remind everyone that Rainbow is a peanut free school but encourage participation with many unique types of cookies. Dec 21st is the First Day of Winter, set up a hot cocoa station at pick-up for families to enjoy!
Health and Safety Coordinator
It is that time of year when the weather starts to get a little chilly! We all know that chilly weather brings extra layers of outerwear as well as runny noses. When the parents bring their child in with a hat, gloves and that super puffy winter coat it is important that we make sure they go out wearing those items. Parents have voiced their concerns that they have picked up their child from the center and their child was not wearing the hat they came in with and their coat was not zipped. We need our teachers to be aware of the outside temperature as well as all the accessories each child should be wearing. It is important to make sure that each child has all their winter outer wear on before exiting to the playground! Remember, children are required to go outside twice a day, weather permitting.
The cold air also causes our noses to run and we need to make sure we are following the correct procedures for wiping children’s noses.
- Be sure to take a box of Kleenex with you when you leave your classroom.
- Be sure to have a plastic bag to use for trash/used Kleenex’s.
- Be sure to have many pairs of gloves so that you are able to use a clean glove each time you wipe a child’s nose.
- Do not place used Kleenex’s in your own pockets! Use the plastic bag!
- Remember to wash your own hands upon returning to the classroom!
- Wet hands
- Add soap
- Scrub for 15-20 seconds all over your hands
- Rinse soap off
- Dry with paper towel
- Turn off water using paper towel