School for Young Children
Inquiring Minds June 2019
From the Director
Thanks to all the families that attended the Spring Picnic Friday night! Our two picnics offer wonderful opportunities to socialize and get to know one another better. The simplicity of the event – picnic spots and a blank field with bouncy balls and kickballs are good examples of the environment needed for children to have a great time! Throughout the years children have so much fun with this open space and interacting with each other.
This year as the ice cream truck pulled into the parking lot an older sibling of an SYC student asked his father for a dollar. When I told him the ice cream was free, he literally jumped in the air and shouted with glee! Holding onto these simple moments of joy is so important!
I want to thank the many families who have made contributions to our program. Your contributions have varied and all have made an impact on our program. Families members have been “Mystery Readers” in their child’s class, have shared a cooking activity, taught children about a family celebration and participated in a special art exploration. Many families have been involved with the PAC group during the year and contributed time and ideas. Please consider attending the meetings during the next school year. We value any amount of time you can offer, but more importantly we value every new idea or suggestion you could bring to the group!
I also want to thank families for their continuous generosity, kindness and concern for programming at SYC during the year. Please know the conversations and notes you share with staff related to your child’s experience here means so much.
I want to take one more opportunity to thank you for choosing SYC. We will continue to strengthen our program by reflecting upon our practice and working to provide new opportunities that allow children to develop wonder, inquiry and curiosity in their world.
Many of our current families have been with the program for many, many years and are now ending their time at SYC. Your contributions to our program have been important and your presence will be missed within the community. Please stay in touch and keep us posted about new developments and joys within your lives!
Last Day of Preschool and BackPack
Tuesday, Jun 11, 2019, 07:45 AM
SYC
2019-2020 School Year Forms
SYC End of the School Year Candids!
PAC NEWS
A huge thank you to goes out to Maggie and Kate Roberts and all the families who participated in the activities to help make staff appreciation week a success!
We’ve received so many books so far for our spring service project! Our book drive is in progress through June 7th. Please consider putting a new or gently used children’s book into the box in the foyer to help build the home libraries of local children in need.
As another year comes to an end at SYC, we want to genuinely thank all the parents and families who volunteered their time and efforts to make all the PAC events such a success. The community of parents here at SYC is one of the reasons that this school is so special.
Returning families will receive information about volunteer opportunities. If there’s something you’ve either enjoyed being a part of in the past or are interested in getting involved with, now is a great time to sign up! We are also looking for a PAC co-chair for next year to join Stephanie. If you are interested or would like to hear more about what the position entails, please send us an email at paccochairs@gmail.com.
And thank you Melissa for your hard work these past couple of years!
Happy summer to all and congratulations to those of you graduating from SYC. You will be missed!
See you next year!
Bubbles! Family Play Plan
Bubble play is just plain fun. And it helps children cooperate, take turns, and solve problems.
Support your child’s learning by talking about what’s happening: “You blew a huge bubble,” “The bubble floated away and popped,” “You were very patient waiting for your turn.” Ask simple questions: “Can you make it bigger?,” “What is the wind doing to the bubbles?” Watch your child play to see what interests him. It’ll also help you figure out what questions to ask to expand his learning.
Make your own bubble mixture or buy some. Use it with these bubble games:
- Bubble relay
Use one plastic bubble wand and the bubble mixture. Family members stand in a line. The first person blows a bubble and passes the bubble and wand to the next person. (If the bubble pops, the child blows another bubble and passes it again.) Ask your child to predict how many times your family can pass the bubble without popping it.
- Bubble tag
Use one plastic bubble wand and the bubble mixture. The person who’s it uses them to tag others with bubbles instead of hands. Bubbles must land on another player to count. Play in a small space so children are able to tag others.
- Bubble obstacle course
Make a start and a finish line and create a course using milk jugs. Have family members line up on either side of the course. The child who is it moves from start to finish dodging bubbles, trying not to let any bubbles touch him. First, one person blows bubbles. If the it child successfully reaches the finish line without a bubble touching him, then two people blow bubbles, then three, etc. The more bubbles, the harder it is to make it to the finish line.
Bubble Solution Recipe
6 cups of water
1 cup dishwashing liquid( Joy and Dawn work well)
1/4 cup corn syrup or 1tbs. glycerin
Directions
Pour dishwashing liquid into water and slowly stir. Try not to let foam or bubbles form while you stir.
Add corn syrup or glycerin and stir gently until combined
Now its ready for blowing bubbles!
This information has been adapted from Family Play Plans by TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment). A variety of materials are available on the TRUCE website (www.truceteachers.org) that will help parents and teachers counteract the negative impact of media and marketing on children and promote positive play activities.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Aug 12-16: Shut down week: SYC closed
- Aug 19-23: Shut down week: Office Open
- Aug 22 : New Family Orientation 7pm
- Aug 28 : Classroom visits (with Children) Time TBD
- Aug 28 : Curriculum Night (Adults only) 7pm
- Aug 29 : First Day of Backpack and Preschool
School for Young Children at the University of Saint Joseph
Website: schoolforyoungchildren.org
Location: 238 Steele Road, West Hartford, CT, USA
Phone: 860.231.5560
Facebook: facebook.com/schoolforyoungchildren