March Newsletter
2016 - 2017 Academic Year
Save the Date for Our Third Annual Spring Family Festival
We are looking for a few parents to help with the planning and preparation of the festival. As well, we would love to have parents help us on revamping our playgrounds. We have some pretty big ideas and could certainly use some extra hands. If you are interested in volunteering to help, please touch base with Michelle. Thank you!
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences will continue during the month of March. Parents can choose to have a face-to-face conference or a phone conference, if that suits your schedule better. Keep your eyes out for an email specific to your child's cottage with more information and a sign-up sheet for a scheduled time slot will be posted in your child’s classroom. During this scheduled time with your child’s teacher, you will have the opportunity to review your child’s assessment as well as discuss your child’s growth and development.
Dr. Seuss' Birthday Celebration!
St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
Mini Break - School Closed
Mark Your Calendars
3/2 - The Cat in the Hat Visits The Cottages!
3/13 - 3/17 - Spring Break for VPK students (Non-Instructional Days)
3/16 - St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
3/17 - TCMLC Closed for Mini Break
March Birthdays!
Today you are YOU, that is TRUER than true. There is NO ONE alive who is YOUER than YOU!
3/2- Job T.
3/15 - Jack W.
3/16 - Sophia S.
3/13- Ms. Stephanie
3/19 - Ms. Amanda
3/23 - Brynn L.
3/30 - Abner B.
Happy Birthday to our friends born in March!
Cricket Cottage News
March Messy Art
This month we will be finger painting with baby food! It will be interesting to see what they do with it. It will be fun to get the expressions on their face if they happen to try to take a taste! If you feel like being part of the fun, let us know and we will arrange a time for you to come join in the fun. We will be sure to take plenty of photos!
Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!
March 2nd we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss! Please dress your child in red, white and black or combination of for some class photos! We will read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and Green Eggs and Ham. The Cat in the Hat will make a surprise appearance in our room! We will make a special footprint to commemorate the day!
Happy Spring
We are so happy to see the trees sprouting new green growth and the flowers blooming all over town. We will be taking daily stroller rides to enjoy the beautiful weather. We will be talking about the trees, birds and bugs that we may encounter. We will immerse ourselves into by reading books about Spring, Bugs and Baby Animals. You may hear some new sounds from your little one imitating a baby chick (peep peep) or lamb (baa baa).
St. Patrick’s Day
March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. We will be introducing the color green to our friends. We will highlight green objects in the play areas. Green sensory bottles will be added to our spring collection. We will also promote motor skills by moving and grooving to musical rhymes and beats. Our younger infants will be encouraged to reach for objects, while our older friends will continue t work on creeping, crawling and standing and walking. We will also have a special art project commemorating the day. Friends can help participate by wearing different shades of green!
At Home Activity
Babies love to watch someone blowing bubbles. It looks like magic to such young eyes to see something so unusual appear out of thin air. Try this recipe to make a little of your own magic!
Homemade Bubbles
1/2 c. non toxic dish soap
1 1/2 c. water
2 teaspoons sugar
Gently mix all ingredients together, and stir well.
Ladybug Cottage News
Flashback Through February
February was full of LOVE and appreciation! The children gave out lots of hugs to each other as we focused on gentle touches. They also enjoyed using their hands for art. We can tell the children have really begun to form strong bonds that will continue to grow throughout their preschool days. Special thanks to all our parents that truly make our program extra special. We heart you!
March Madness
During the month of March, in honor of saint Patrick's day and all the green goodness on this planet, we will be using the color green as our focus. We will go on buggy rides and discuss all the green things we see in nature. We will also use green paint and objects for art this month.
Helping Kids (and ourselves!) Learn to Relax
www.kidsrelaxation.com
This website has a lot of techniques to help you and your child relax and self-regulate. There are various resources and activities for children of all ages. This is a great resource for helping parents and educators activate children's highest potential
The S Word – Toddlers Learning To Share by Janet Lansbury
(http://www.janetlansbury.com/2009/11/the-s-word/)
It’s chanted on every playground and enforced at the park, parties and play dates. It’s a word that has become the social mantra for parents of toddlers everywhere: Share!
We are all desperate for our children to share. Sharing is vital. The future of the world depends upon our children’s spirit of generosity. We fear that if we don’t remind our children to share, they might become selfish, stingy outcasts. Or, we worry that we will be judged an indulgent, inconsiderate and ill-mannered parent.
The truth is that toddlers don’t yet understand the concept of sharing, and our parental concerns make ‘share’ a loaded word. We tend to misuse it. We say “share”, but what we really mean is, “Give what you have to another child.” Why would a child want to ‘share’ his red truck when it means giving up the truck to someone else?
Toddlers want what they see, and that object becomes ‘theirs.’ ‘Mine’ can mean either: I see it, I want it, or I’m using it. The idea of ownership — the concept that dad or mom bought an item at the store so now it belongs to them — is not understood by a toddler.
It’s common in RIE Parent/Infant Classes for children to want the same toy. The giving and taking of toys often begins as a social gesture, an infant’s early attempt to make contact with another infant. The children may appear to be struggling with a toy, but with a bit of patience and objective observation, we usually see that there is little stress and lots of curiosity. If a child reacts to the exchange with surprise or disappointment, infant expert Magda Gerber advises caregivers to ‘sportscast,’ rather than interfere. ‘Sportscast’ means to acknowledge the interactions of the children in a matter-of-fact way, never implying blame. Children often calm down when they feel that an adult understands. We might say, for example: “Rex, you were holding the car, and now Sophie has it.” Or, “You and Sophie both want that toy.”
There are no villains or victims in Toddlerland, just children learning by experimenting with social behaviors. When infants and toddlers have opportunities for uninterrupted socialization, they will try out different options. Should they let go and allow the other child to take the ball away? What happens if they hold on tightly? If they do ‘share’ or offer something to another child, how does that child react? As infant expert Magda Gerber reminded us in her book Your Self-Confident Baby, “Self-learned lessons, whether sharing or the will to hold on, stick with us longer.”
Children will often demonstrate that the interaction with another child is what interests them, not the toy itself. This is evident when there are multiples of a certain object available, yet the children are only interested in the one that has ‘heat.’ Soon after the struggle is over, the toy is usually dropped, becomes ‘cold,’ and no one wants it anymore. Children are best left to work these situations out by themselves while the adults ensure that there is no hitting or hurting.
Several years ago I experienced the futility of adult interference in a toddler power struggle when I brought my daughter to her friend’s house to play. The girls both wanted a particular doll. The girl’s kind-hearted mother couldn’t bear to see them fight, so she offered my daughter a replacement toy, a stuffed turtle. Then both girls wanted the turtle, so she brought something else. She bought toy after toy to the girls, and they continued to fight over each new toy. Finally, after tears and yelling, the girls finished their rivalry, abandoned all the toys and went out in the yard to play, friends again.
So, how do we teach children to share with others? First, by modeling generosity. For example, saying to a child, “You’re reaching for my crackers. Here, I’ll share some with you.” Or, “Let’s share this umbrella.” Second, when our child demonstrates generosity we acknowledge it. “It was kind of you to share those blocks with Robert.” Most importantly, we must be patient and trust that our child will learn to share in time. No parent feels comfortable when their child takes from another, holds on to toys that another wants to use, or seems upset because another child will not share with him. But these situations usually look far worse from our point-of-view than they do from our child’s. When we unnecessarily intervene in a struggle by insisting that a child shares, we rob him of a social learning experience. And when we insist that our child shares before he can truly understand what it means, we risk making ‘share’ a bad word. A child shares when he begins to feel empathy for others, empathy modeled through a parent’s patience and trust in him.
Caterpillar Cottage News
February Recap
Last month was all about love. The children have put their hearts and love into art and made special gifts for our mommies and daddies. We practiced sharing with our friends and using our manners. We would like to thank all the parents for making it to our Valentine's party and hope you had as much fun as we did!
March
We can't believe March is already here but we have lots of activities heading our way. The caterpillars will be exploring the wonderful world of colors of the rainbow. Each week we would like to have a spwecific color to focus on. We are also looking forward to the furry visitor who will be visiting us on Dr. Seuss's birthday on the 2nd.
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
Every year we are lucky to get a visit from the very own Cat in the Hat! The cat will be reading us a story and the caterpillars will take this one step further by reading other stories from this famous author. We will be reading the stories Fox in Sox, Green Eggs and Ham, and Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? The caterpillars will also be doing a special art project in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.
Gardening
The weather is warming up as we enter the season of Spring. The caterpillars will be visiting the garden daily and will help tend to the flowers and vegetables by watering and weeding and watching the plants and flowers grow. We will also be making wonderful decorations to view as we walk by the garden daily. We are very excited to help the children learn about taking care of the plants in the garden.
Potty Training
A few of our friends have been showing interest in potty training. When we have regular changing time hours, we ask each child if they would like to try sitting on the potty. We give your child the option but do not force it. We will let you know if your child has been trying at school and will have a quick meeting with you on what can be done at home. We will discuss routines as well as items needed here at school to help this process go smoothly for your child.
Math
We will be incorporating pre-math skills during our focus on colors this month. We will use various colored items to count, pattern, and sort while enhancing color recognition. Felt board games will be used this month as well to encourage the skill of counting.
Butterfly Cottage News
February Recap
There was a lot of love in the air this past month in the Butterfly Cottage. We decorated hearts, played with chocolate playdough, and discussed food and activities that are good for our hearts. The children also explored a real stethoscope and listened to their heartbeat as well as others.
Building
Our theme for the month of March will be building. We will practice building with different types of blocks as well as unique building materials such as cups and ice cubes. The children will also be studying pictures and books of real buildings and structures to get the creative juices flowing.
Math
Some math activities that we will be incorporating into our building theme will be patterns and measuring. The children will use the different types of blocks to create patterns. We will also be using our measuring tapes to find out how tall our towers are and who created the tallest or the smallest.
Washing Hands
As you are all aware, we've had some illnesses in our building lately. Just a friendly reminder to please wash your hands and your child's hands upon arriving to school. This will hopefully help eliminate outside germs being brought into the classrooms. We will be washing hands continuously throughout the day as well and encouraging the children to cover their mouths and noses with their elbows whenever they sneeze or cough. Please remind your child of this at home as well. Thank you.
Donations
We are asking for the following donations for the month of March to use towards our building topic. We would greatly appreciate donations to enhance these activities.
- Shaving cream
- solo cups
- colored plates
- tablecloths
A sign-up sheet will be posted as well and please see Ms. Jamie for details.
Butterfly Cottage Families Rock!
Ms. Jamie and Ms. Cassidy would just like to thank the parents for all of your generosity so far this year. Our party signup sheets always fill up so quickly and parents are still asking if we need more items. Donations for our classroom are constantly showing up as well as the very generous gifts for holidays and birthdays for the teachers! Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
Bumblebee Cottage News
February Recap
Thanks to the awesome support of our Bumblebees’ families, our Valentine’s Day celebration were a big hit! It was the “cherry on top” as we delved more deeply into the ongoing topic of loving ourselves and others during the month of February. We enjoyed the exchanging of Valentine’s cards in thoughtfully painted and decorated mailboxes. In honor of Dental Health month, we got to practice our teeth flossing skills in a play-doh and MegaBlocks activity. We discussed caring for baby and adult teeth and the importance of visiting the dentist. This segued into our unit on healthy foods from the farm as well as the animals where we get such products as milk, cheese, and wool from.
Literature
Starting in March we will be placing a special emphasis on literature and cultivating in our Bees a love of reading. Through this topic, it will strengthen effective communication as well as further learn about themselves and the world around them. What better way to kick off a great topic than with the birthday celebration on March 3rd of the Cat in the Hat’s author Dr. Seuss? “Green Eggs and Ham” will be read, providing a special opportunity to review February’s letters of “X”, “O”, and “B”. “…I will not eat them in a box, I will not eat them with a fox…” This will be but one of the many books we will use as a vehicle to further our young Bees’ learning.
Transportation – Cars, Buses, & Trains
Speaking of vehicles, we noted our Bumblebees have a great interest in transportation of all kinds, from airplanes in the sky, to the school buses driving by, to the construction trucks seen in both in our enrichment tools on the playground and in our literature. We will therefore be delving further into this topic of transportation in its various forms to what should be our Bees’ delight! This first week of the month, we will be placing a special focus on transportation such as cars, buses, and trains. A “name train” activity will provide a special focus on the letters in our Bees’ names and in recognizing their order.
Transportation – Emergency Services
Emergency vehicles and their helping staff are seen all around us. Fire trucks, ambulances, and policemen’s vehicles definitely catch the eye of adults and children alike, providing a great opportunity to discuss the helpful roles they play in our lives. This will be our focus the second week of March. A traffic light sorting activity will further our math and sorting skills as we begin discussing seatbelt and road safety.
Transportation – Boats & Airplanes
Finally, we will look up to the skies and across the sea to learn about the ways people travel in air and over water. Airplanes, jets, helicopters, even hot air balloons will the next week’s unit of focus. Our shaving cream “cloud” sensory bin with planes will allow for imaginative play while fueling discussions on this week’s unit. Of course, our sensory water bin will present a wonderful opportunity for floating our boats and comparing them with items that sink to spur on our scientific theorizing.
Names
Our focus upon the alphabet will be on how it appears in each child’s name. Therefore, our transportation activities will not only feature books that will encourage our Bees’ love of reading, but in recognizing and writing the letters of their own names. We are certainly looking forward to another month of learning and fun with our Bumblebees in March!
Dragonfly Cottage News
Space Unit
Our space unit during the month of February was a huge hit! We explored all things space and learned some of the world facts. We have been working very hard on letter recognition, letter sounds, onset rime, and our family words. We have been loving adding and subtracting numerous items as well as learning math vocabulary. Our STEM challenge has been going great and it's really amazing to watch so many of our friends learning and teamwork happening in a natural way!
STEM is in the Dragonfly Cottage!
We will continue to incorporate STEM challenges into our cottage this month. We would like your help if you're able to donate household materials to help make our STEM challenges awesome! Below please find some items we are requesting to help enhance these challenges.
- Rolls of masking tape or paint tape
- Washers, dowels, shims
- Cardboard tubing
March
During the month of March, we will be learning about geology. We will be investigating rocks and learning about the different types of rocks such as igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. We will also be using rocks to connect, literacy, math, writing, and inspiring creative art.
Phonological Awareness
As part of our phonological awareness study, we will be working on word families. We have been working on the "at" family and we will also begin working on the "op" family.
Stone Soup - Cooking Project
As part of our rocks and geology study we are going to make some stone soup. We will read the story then create our own yummy soup. A signup sheet will be posted asking for donations prior to the cooking project. Here is the recipe if you'd like to make it at home.
2 16 oz vegetable broth
1 bag baby carrots
1 stock celery
3 potatoes
1 can tomato
1 can corn
1 bag frozen peas