May Newsletter
2014 - 2015 Academic Year
Of all the special joys in life, The big ones and the small, A mother's love and tenderness Is the greatest of them all.
Mother's Day Tea
On Monday, May 11th, The Cottages will be hosting a Mother's Day Tea for all the loving Mommies that we have at The Cottages. Moms are invited to spend time with your child in their cottage at 3:30pm for a special tea to honor this holiday. Sign-up sheets will be posted in your child's cottage if you are able to attend this event. We wish all of the wonderful Moms and Grandmothers a very special Mother’s Day!
Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week is scheduled for the week of May 4th - 8th. We feel so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing teaching team at The Cottages. They truly go above and beyond to ensure our kids have the best care and education. Please join us in celebrating our teachers for all their hard work and dedication. Be sure to check you child's communication folder for more info. TCMLC teachers are the BEST!!!
Spring Portraits
Summer Camp Is On It's Way!
As the academic year comes to a close, preparations are underway for Summer Camp. The summer calendar is almost completed and it’s looking like it’ll be another fun-filled summer at The Cottages! Keep an eye out as a Summer Camp Info Packet will be coming home later this month in your child's classroom folder. You will want to keep it handy throughout the summer as it will outline special field trip days, water play days, theme days, and much more!
Memorial Day - School Closed
Mark Your Calendars
5/4-5/8- Teacher Appreciation Week
5/11- Mother's Day Tea at 3:30pm
5/25- Memorial Day TCMLC CLOSED
6/5- Graduation Day. School Closes Early at 3:00pm
6/8 – Summer Camp Begins!!!
6/22- Donuts for Dad
May Birthdays!
” Wishing you a day filled with happiness and a year filled with joy.”
- 5/3- Dymitrik T.
- 5/3- Julia M.
- 5/7- Reagan B.
- 5/13- Taylor J.
- 5/15- Ms. Christina
- 5/15- Grayson C.
- 5/19- Ms. Erin
- 5/23- Sophia C.
- 5/23- Abigail L.
Happy Birthday to our friends born in May!
Cricket Cottage News
Mother’s Day
We want to start off this month by saying Happy Mother’s Day to all of our amazing Cottage Moms. We appreciate and value what you do each and every day. We are so glad to have such a great group of Mommies! To show our appreciation, we will be working with our friends on a very top secret project from us to you.
Sensory Play - Splish Splash!
This month with our younger infants we will be introducing water play by having them splash water with their feet and with the older infants we will have them splashing water with their hands. This helps in the development of their gross motor skills as well as language development as we talk about how it feels and sounds when splashing.
Music & Movement
We will be working with our friends on clapping hands to “Patty Cake”. This will help
strengthen their eye/hand coordination. We will also be singing the song, “If you’re Happy and you Know it”, to work on our clapping skills.
Sign of the Month
During the month of May we will be learning the sign “more”. Place you hands/ fingers as shown and tap 2 them together 2 times.
At Home Play Activity
In a clear plastic bottle, combine 2/3 cup light corn syrup with 1/3 cup water. Sprinkle in some glitter and hot glue the cap on the bottle. Let your child shake and swirl the glittery mixture.
Ladybug Cottage News
April in Review
April was full of fun with our Earth Day celebrations! The children really enjoyed exploring the recycled materials. They used a variety of recyclable materials to build with, stack, investigate, and more. We also introduced the Tickle Monster book by Josie Bissett and Kevan Atteberry. The children sat and were fascinated by the furry hands, especially when they reached out to tickle their feet, knees, and tummies!
May Flowers
This month we will be exploring flowers and plants and talking about their colors. We will go for a buggy ride to see what we can find in nature. During our exploration, we will also be practicing our soft and gentle touches as well as talking about the textures we feel as we are using our sense of touch.
Art
During our creative art experience, we will paint using some of the materials we have gathered from outside. We will also be using fake flowers as a tool.
Donations
- Artificial flowers of different colors/ sizes
- Portfolio supplies (if you haven't turned them in yet!)
o Sheet protectors
o 3 ring binder
o 1 ream copy paper
Inspiration
"Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write, and count. Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace which is right for each individual child."- Magda Gerber
Caterpillar Cottage News
Topics
Spring has sprung in the Caterpillar Cottage! We will be creating flower projects during the month of May. Also, we will be studying the growth of flowers from seedlings as we work in our "hanging garden". Picture books and songs about Spring and gardening will also be used to help the children learn more about this process.
Hanging Garden
The Caterpillars will be creating a new type of garden outside of our classroom. We will be using 2 liter bottles as our planters and we will be planting strawberries this month. We will be looking for donations of 2 liter soda bottles (empty and clean please), soil, and seeds. Our favorite gardener, Ms. Erin, will be helping us with this project as she has done such an amazing job in our cottage garden!
Donations
During the month of May, we will be needing the following donations for our garden theme-
- Easter grass
- Fake flowers
- Plastic vases
- Plastic garden tools
- Colored paper plates (see Ms. Jamie or Ms. Niki)
- Paper towel tubes
Mud Playdough
The children had such a blast playing with the mud playdough last month! We will be continuing to use it during the month of May. We will be using it with our garden theme by adding fake seeds and fake flowers to our 3D garden display. Plastic insects will also be added again to get the real "mud" experience.
Art
Flowers will be blooming in the Caterpillar Cottage this month. The children will be creating different kinds of flowers for our Spring bulletin board. Suncatchers made out of plates, contact paper, and flowers will be displayed on our sliding glass doors.
Caterpillar of the Month
Jack Whitehurst is our Caterpillar of the Month. He recently turned two on March 15th. His parents are named Melissa and Nat and his older sister is named Emily. She is also a student in the Dragonfly Cottage. Jack's favorite things to do at school are "cooking" in the kitchen, art and sensory projects, and buggy rides.
Butterfly Cottage News
May Topics
As we near the end of our time being Butterflies, we will be enjoying such activities as Mother's Day surprises, Sea Life, Classroom Jobs, and Leadership Skills. We are looking forward to becoming Bumblebees soon, so we are getting ready to become even more independent and responsible just like the "big" kids. You will find some benefits to this progression at home too! Prepare yourselves for you will soon be watching the progression from your little butterfly to super bumblebee!
Mother's Day Surprises
To honor our special mommies, we will be working on something very special for you. Your little butterfly will be working very hard to create the very best gift for you from their loving hands and hearts. We hope you enjoy all of their creativity and love they will put forth for you. Moms do so much for us, now it's time to do something for you.
Sea Life
As we approach summer and enjoy the beach more, our class will be learning about the ocean life that can't always been seen when we're in the water. We will explore different animals, fish, and plants that live in the sea. Together we will create various group projects to make our own under the sea art display. If you would like to send in a special sea life book, we would love to share it during circle time. We will also enjoy splashing around in our outdoor water table to help us cool off and pretend we are fish!
Classroom Jobs/ Leadership Skills
Ms. Lisa and Ms. Erin are preparing the Butterflies to gain more independence, self help, and leadership skills. One way we will be accomplishing this is with a new job chart. This will act as a visual aide and reminder of responsibilities that we may have daily. Such activities as circle spot helper, book collector, line leader, and more! These will be easy and fun jobs that will encourage your child to embrace their work and be proud that they can help themselves and be a good role model to their peers.
Five Little Fish Fingerplay
Five little fish
Swimming in the sea
Teasing Mr. Shark
“Can’t catch me!”
Oh no! (in a deep voice)
Along comes Mr. Shark as quiet as can be
And he snaps that fish right out of the sea
(Continue until Mr. Shark eats all the fish)
Reminders
- If you have not sent in your child’s supplies for their portfolio, please do so soon. We need a 3 ring binder, sheet protectors, and 1 ream of copy paper. We are putting them together for you and your child to look back at all the growth and accomplishments your child has gone through during this school year. It is both a wonderful keepsake and an authentic form of assessment on your child.
- Please check your child’s extra clothes as well. Be sure they have at least one to two full sets of summer clothes that are the correct size. An extra pair of shoes is also helpful.
Bumblebee Cottage News
Topics
Can you believe our year together is almost done? It went by so fast! During the month of May, we will be reviewing a lot of topics we’ve learned this year. Letters, numbers, and phonological awareness skills will be discussed and different activities will be planned to see how far we’ve come. All year long our main goal was to help in your child’s developmental milestones to assist and prepare for a confident and creative VPK child. Our school year may be coming to an end, but the Bumblebees are leaving us and gaining their Dragonfly wings.
Thank You
We just want to say thank you to every Bumblebee family! It was a pleasure to teach your children this year and we are very proud of them all. We have come so far in only a short fast moving year. Our parents were amazing all year round and we are so grateful for all your donations, patience, and love throughout our school year together. Thanks again “Bee” friends and families. You guys rock!
Portfolios
We have been working on each child’s portfolios throughout the year. They all should be completed for you before May ends. All children will need a 3 ring binder and sheet protectors if you have not handed one in yet, please do so. Thank you!
Mother’s Day
Mothers are very special to our Bumblebees! We will explore the wealth of knowledge that each Bumblebee possesses about his or her mother. Special activities will be planned by the students and dedicated solely to mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!
A Love for Nature
The Bumblebees loved the plant and bug themes so much that we had to extend the topics a little longer. The discussions about plants not needing, sunlight, soil or very little water for growth appeared to be very fascinating to our Bumblebees. The Bumblebees have yet to capture and observe every species of bugs from the playground. Watch out nature, the Bumblebees are coming!
Dragonfly Cottage News
Graduation
Can you believe it’s the end of the school year and graduation is almost here! We will be practicing our graduation performances a lot this month, so it is really important to be here on time. Please remember that VPK starts at 9am, so your child should be at school by this time each morning.
Graduation is scheduled for Friday, June 5th and the ceremony will begin at 5:30pm. Please note, all Dragonfly Cottage students must arrive by 5pm so they have time to get prepared for the ceremony. The ceremony will take place in Church of Motion’s Sanctuary located across the street. Pastor David Gibson with Church of Motion was kind enough to allow us to use this space for the ceremony again this year! Keep your eye out this month for more information from the school and the graduation committee.
Review, Review, Review
This month we will be reviewing. A lot. We will review letters, numbers, sets, sounds, patterns, and so much more! While we review we will be sending home art made by your child throughout the year.
Spring Assessments
During the month of May, we will be working on completing your child's assessments. The assessments we will be completing are your child's VPK assessment and the Creative Curriculum: Teaching Strategies Gold assessment, and the Kindergarten Readiness Checklist. These are the last assessments that will be done before your child goes off to Kindergarten.
Extra Clothes
We will be sending home all of the children’s extra clothes before they graduate. If your child is staying throughout the summer, please replace their extra clothes (your child has grown since the beginning of the year!) We will be happy to store them throughout the summer. We just want to ensure all the children get their clothing returned.
We Give You Back Your Child...
We give you back your child, the same child you confidently entrusted in our care last Fall. We have lived, laughed, played, studied, learned, and enriched our lives together this year. We wish it could go on forever, but we must give your child back to you. Take care of your child, for your child is precious. Thank you to all our families for a great school year and we wish all of our Dragonfly friends and families the best of luck in all future endeavors. We will truly miss all of you!