Growing Tree

May/June 2012 Newsletter

lindarichardi — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:58:38 +0000

Growing Tree’s Newsletter

Newsletter
Young Two’s
Older Two’s
Young Three’s
Older Three’s
Pre-K A
Pre-K B
T-K

Director’s Message

DATES TO REMEMBER:

May 1: Last day of summer camp OPEN registration. After May 1, registration forms will be accepted on a space

available basis only.

May 17 (Thursday): Growing Tree Family Picnic 5:00-7:00 -

Be sure to fill out and return flyer so we know how many will be attending!

May 28: Memorial Day - no school

June 14: Pre-K graduation (Pat/Tonia/Nikki) 9:00 a.m.

T-K graduation (April and Mitzi) 5:30 p.m.

June 15: Pre-K graduation (Laureen/Manal) 9:00 a.m.

June 15: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

June 19-August 3: Summer Camp 9:00-1:00 daily

(early drop off available from 8:00-9:00)

Another Wonderful year! And we have all of you to thank for it! Your friendship and support have been as rewarding as being surrounded by your beautiful children (well, almost as rewarding!). Watching your children grow and learn and laugh this year has inspired us to grow and learn and laugh with them.

Each of your children is a true individual, with his own personality, sense of humor and little quirks – these are the things that make your children so unique and so fun to get to know. While our curriculums may be similar each year, we must always listen to your children and see what engages and challenges them and tailor our curriculum accordingly. We may have the same goals each year, but your children have shown us how to meet those goals in so many different ways. Just as we try to teach your children to be flexible, we must also be flexible.

So we not only thank you, but we thank your children as well. They have shown us how important it is to be flexible and “go with the flow” while maintaining our individuality. They have shown us that you can achieve your goals in many different ways. More importantly, they can ALWAYS make us smile and laugh …. And how many people have a job where they get hugs all day long?

Graduations are just around the corner – exciting stuff! So be sure to read the dates and times listed above for the individual graduations.

We’re also getting geared up for some summer camp fun so please return your summer camp registration forms NO LATER THAN MAY 1^st.

Your End of School Year Statement is for May and June tuition – both due by May 1st.

May drop in will be billed at the end of May.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the Growing Tree Family Picnic on Thursday, May 17 from 5:00-7:00. Look for your sign-up form in your child’s cubby or pick one up in the office. Return completed form to the office. Be sure to bring the whole family! Let’s celebrate the end of the year with some good food and good company!

Terri, Linda and Lysbeth

NEWS FROM EVELYN, SENIA AND BEV’S TWOS

It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of this school year. We still remember the first weeks of preschool, but we’ve also built up very good memories through the year.

This past month we were learning about Construction and Transportation. LEXI told us, “ With tools, you can build a house; you just need a hammer and nails and a door and a window.” While building with blocks, DYLAN told us, “Daddy has some tools in the garage.” RYAN, who was pretending to cut pieces of wood with a saw, added, “Look, Ms. Evelyn, I can build a castle, a big one.” AVILA told us that “ we need to wear hats to protect our head.”

We enjoyed the reading of “Big Buildings, Big Machines”. KRISH said, “I saw machines outside my house, too, just like those in the book.” “I can build a house, a big one for mommy,” said GUILLEM, and he added, “and a big garden, too!” “I have a garden at my house, I like flowers,” said HANNAH B.

We learned also about Ocean animals. “ Look,” said JAKE “my penguin is hungry, I think he wants some fish.” WYATT said, “When I was a blue fish, I just to live in the ocean with a shark and a blue whale, but I was not scare… that was a long time ago.” MAX asked him, “ Sharks are not nice, right?” We asked the kids “What do the sharks eat?” “ They like fishies,” said JACKSON. “ I think they eat sand,” said LOUISE. “ I went to the beach and I saw a big shark, but I was not scared,” said SAM V. “ I saw a shark at the zoo,” said VALENTINA. “And I saw a sea horse and a stingray, but we couldn’t touch it because it was too big,” said SAM P. Ms. Senia showed a conch shell to the kids and said, “ If you put it close to your ear, you might hear the ocean.” “But I can’t hear the ocean,” said MATTEO, “Oh no, I hear a Shark!” he added.

JENNA heard a “big whale and an octopus”, and TYLER heard“some fishies.” ZOE said, “I can’t hear the ocean, just the water.” CARSON likes “sharks” and he chased us pretending to be one!

In our trip around the world , we learned about different countries. We practiced saying ‘hello’ in different languages. ANNA SOFIA was the first one saying “HOLA” and then she sang in Spanish. LEXI told us how to say hello in Chinese and then she also sang a song for us.

Where are you from? we asked them. “ I know that, I’m from California,” said SAM. S. LUKE replied, “I’m from my house.” Looking at the globe, VIVIENNE told us, “This is my house” (by the way, it’s pretty close to Russia!). “Look,” said NICHOLAS, “ if you want to go far far away, you need an airplane,” and looking up to the sky he said, “Airplane, where are you?” “I went to the zoo on an airplane,” said HANNAH SAGE. “Did you go to the airport?” asked JULIETTE. “No, I went to the zoo!” answered HANNAH.

We enjoyed every day with your little ones. Thank you for sharing this amazing year with us and for trusting us with the care of your precious ones.

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER!

Evelyn, Senia and Bev

NEWS FROM CYNTHIA AND BARB’S TWOS

As we move further into spring, it is hard to imagine that this school year has almost come to an end. To our great enjoyment, the children have just blossomed over the past months. It is almost impossible to imagine that these are the same children from the beginning of the year. The children exhibit such confidence now unlike earlier in the year, and we feel secure that their transition into the three’s class will be both positive and exciting for them. Will enters the room with a huge smile on his face and greets his friends with his backpack of toys ready to share. Avery, Dylan, and Griffin are our very own three musketeers and enjoy doing just about everything together, from sitting at circle to playing house to eating lunch. Bella and Jocelyn anxiously show off their outfit choices of the day, which usually consists of some sort of sparkleJ Leah and Clara Shei still LOVE any sort of art but now both help the teachers to encourage their friends to join the art table. Pierce awaits Jonah’s arrival ready to engage in playing cars, while Ellen and Emery take charge in the playhouse cooking for their classmates and putting the baby dolls to bed.

Circle time is a breeze now. Eloise often conducts circle on her own with a group of friends during free play time. She sets up carpet squares and sits in the teacher chair with a story ready to read to her friends. From the moment we ring that clean-up bell, Max is singing for his friends to sit for circle. Luke is looking for his favorite snowman carpet to sit on while Gus awaits Sam’s choice of carpet so that he can score the one right next to her. Reese, Sofia, and Annelise have bonded these past months and will often hold hands to their destination. One morning as we were readying for circle, Reese walked over to Sofia, took her hand, and lead her to the carpet squares and said, “ Sit with me Sofia, cause you’re my good friend.’’

With all of the wonderful weather that we have been having lately, it has been equally fun to observe the children at play outdoors. Trent, Aria, Nolan, and Grant race on the tricycles to see who can catch the other, all the while laughing hysterically. Anisha and Liam take turns in their favorite yellow car occasionally breaking to climb the play structure with their classmates. Jeffrey and Max will often bury toys in the sandbox only to dig them up and do it again.

This year’s classroom is filled with happy dancers! With a big ‘Yo, Gabba, Gabba’ fan base in this class, the children are often telling the teachers what they want to dance to. Jocelyn shouts out, “Let’s do Yo, Gabba,Gabba, it’s time to DANCE!” Aida gets her friends going with some hip shaking and is known for her shoulder shrugsJ Sierra loves to do any dance that makes her dress twirl but especially likes the monkey dance. Cade and Griffin love roaring like tigers at the top of their lungs and dancing the pirate dance. I LOVE all the pirate faces when we do that one!

The rainforest has been an exciting topic although somehow, although we discuss the animals that live in the rainforests, the children still want to include dinosaurs as part of the groupJ Obviously a hard topic STILL to follow! A special thank you to all of our moms and grandmothers that came in for our special reading circles. It was so exciting for the children to share a special story, read by a special person in their life, with their friends.

We still have the excitement of the ocean along with our world travels to come as we conclude the school year. This coming month the children are practicing for a special circle that we will be having for our Mother’s Day celebration. On May 9^th, 10th, and 11^th all of our mothers are welcome to join their child at our 12:15 p.m. circle for a special Mother’s Day circle. A note will go out in your child’s cubby in the coming week as well with more information. We hope to see you all at the end of the year school picnic here at Growing Tree on May 17^th.

Barb and I would like to conclude by saying what a joy it has been to share this year with your children. Every day is both exciting as well as challenging and each child has touched us in his/her own way. They will all truly be missed next year. This last newsletter is always a bittersweet one in that we know that they are more than ready to move on, although we are a bit selfish in having difficulty letting them go.

Cynthia and Barb

NEWS FROM SANDY AND SHARYN’S THREES

Oh my how we havegrown! It is astonishing to see the development of our young students each creating a world that is their own filled with dreams of what is to come. Each child is bursting with confidence. They each declare their need for acknowledgement, opportunity, and recognition as we learn together. Each child has evolved a relationship with their classmates and their families, their teachers, and their Growing Tree director’s .Each child offering gifts of kindness, humor and fairness to their peers. They encourage each other, Sevan quietly telling us, “The Ocean is filled with octopi.” Max teaching us how to share, “it is mine but you can use it for a while, Okay!” Noah displaying a sense of independence, “I can do it, Thank you.” Lucy opening our imaginations with her sense of wonder, “There are beautiful trees and fairies that fly like butterflies.” Kylie enlightening us with the depth of her feelings,” We need to be kind to everyone!”Sonal quietly teaching us to listen with care.” Bowie, Frankie, Cade, Brody, and Thomas teaching us to laugh .Eddie educating us with the facts. Jackie and Jefferson reminding us perfection takes time, “We need more tune!” Lola and Addie knowing if you fall you get back up and try again. Lola, “Are you alright?” Kindly surveying her pals if they are hurt. Addie never failing to bring a smile to her friends as she encourages them. Shawn and Sloane teaching us to reach out for friendship and persevere. Olivia gently guiding with fairness, “We can each take turns, right.” Grace B. teaching everyone books are magic, “I have a book for you!” Every child has enriched our learning experience.

We have been learning more about the world around us. The children were very interested in learning about children who live in other parts of the world, we learned about the cultures of children who live in Japan, Mexico, China, Africa, Norway, Brazil, Ireland, Europe, India, and America. We enjoyed having family members in to tell us stories, and to teach us about their experiences, professions, and celebrations from around the world. As Grace Olivia profoundly shared, “All children need to play with their friends.” Her mommy read to us about friendship. Nolan brought Grandparents who taught us about the music of Norway, he was so happy to teach his friends to play the flute, “I know everybody will learn to make a beautiful sound.” Nolan shared. Bobby helped his Mommy and Daddy teach us about Japan, teaching the language with precise pronunciation. Brody and his Mommy shared the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and taught us about Ireland. Lucy and her family were excited to share the celebration of the Chinese New Year! Thomas and his parents helped us to learn about taking care of our health and how doctors in America teach kids to be healthy. As Thomas told us, “You have to eat good food to get strong.” Sonal brought her Mommy and Grandma in to teach us about India, she was so excited to share her friends..Zayden and his Mom shared many wonderful stories and traditions. Lola and her family taught us how to draw, as Lola guided “You can do it kids!”

Thank you all for sharing! Every family has supported our learning experience for your children come to G. T. each day inspired thanks to the strong foundation their families provide.

Spring has led us to learn about the ecology of the Earth. As we go on our nature

walks the children are amazed by the treasures they uncover. Olivia poetically stated, “I

like the Honeybees, only when they don’t sting.” Riley reminded us “All the insects have

a job to do!” Rocco agreed, “Yes, even the freaky worms!”

The children responded to this prompt,

I enjoy the earth …

Addie I share it with Ethan!

Bowie We go to the beach we look for sea stars and waves.

Brody I like the grass and the flowers.

Cade I love rainbows, they are so colorful!

Eddie The raindrops that fall on the earth I will catch them with my umbrella from my

Obacha.

Frankie I love that all the people can live on it!

Grace B. I go swimming with my family in the lake.

Grace Olivia I like to feel the warm sunshine.

Jackie I see the shining stars above.

Jefferson My family, the sun and the good monster are part of it!

Kylie I like the flowers I can give them to my family and Rosco who is still in my heart.

Lola With my family we look for the flowers, the stars and for Tinkerbelle who lives

here.

Lucy My friends and my family share here.

Max The waterfalls and the snow is special.

Nolan The sunflowers I grow from seeds are beautiful.

Noah I liked seeing the mountains and animals inAfrica.

Olivia I like to sit on the soft grass and to have picnics with my family.

Riley I can go on adventures and explore!

Robert I play hi the sand with my Daddy.

Rocco The seeds make everything good grow.

Sevan The Ocean is neat.

Shawn I play games in my garden.

Sloane I like to search for butterflies.

Sonal I love the animals!

Thomas My people live here.

Zayden I will protect it!

You all hold a place in our hearts xoxo,

Miss Sandy and Miss Sharyn

NEWS FROM VICKI, KAREN AND MEGHAN’S THREES

Our year is almost over; we just have a few more weeks together in the older threes class. It seemed to go so fast, and yet if you look at how far the children have come since September, it’s amazing that they could have made such strides in only these few months. We’ve had a wonderful year together and we will be so sorry to see the children leave. But we know they are ready to take on the challenge of pre-k and being the “big kids” at Growing Tree. We hope the children will come back to visit next year, and we wish all of you a wonderful summer break.

Our class has been enjoying the coming of spring. We planted seeds and watched them as they started to grow. We’ve decorated our room with spring flowers and we’re enjoying the warmer weather and our outside play time, where we are noticing the leaves returning to our trees and the flowers blooming. “Flowers grow in spring,” Emily told us. “Flowers start to grow and birds start to sing,” added Lauren. “The leaves grow on plants,” said Jackson. “The Easter Bunny comes in spring,” added Claire. “And it’s not snowy,” said Kalei. “Flowers grow pink and purple and blue and orange and green leaves,” Juliana told us. “The flowers grow because we have to put water on them and we have to put sun on it,” explained Melissa

We’ve been learning about where we live. We now know that we live in a city, in the state of California, in the United Stateson the earth. “We maked the world,” said Annalise. “We painted a globe and animals and they’re going to be a country,” explained Maddie. “States and cities go in California,” Henry told us. “California is big,” observed Billy. ”We stayed in the lines to make the United States flag,” remembered Walker. “The America flag got lots of stripes,” continued Henry. “It has stars and we put them on it,” added Lauren. “We made a brown bear on green grass,” Marco said, remembering the California flag that we made. “It has a bear on it and a star,” added Mason.

We learned about many different places in the world. It’s fun to hear about different customs, languages, foods and clothing from those countries. In Morocco, “girls wear long dresses,” Ana told us. “They cover up their arms and legs,” continued Paxton. “And girls don’t wear bathing suits or shorts,” added Emma. “They use a special dish to cook (a tagine) and they can make anything in it,” said Madelaine. “We do some things different like different clothes and different food and some things the same,” Olivia said.

We talked about Canada, where the clothes and language are much like they are here in the United States. “It’s next to the United Stares and it’s our neighbor,” Piper said. “We made flags with leaves and we made it with our hand,” added Madeline.

Then we learned about India. “You have to go very far and take a airplane to India,” said Preston. “I think there’s mountains and I think there’s like two or something and it has snow on it,” Thatcher told us. “They have elephants and me and Papa and Lexie and Mama saw elephants at the zoo,” Tristan continued. “They have monkeys and elephants and lions and the monkeys like to eat bananas,” added Estella.

From Indiawe went to Madagascar. “Tigers run fast in Madagascarand they can run faster ‘cause they have four legs,” Crosby told us. “I made a lemur and it has lines,” said Emily. “No, I think she made a tiger with paws and legs and head and a body,” Crosby disagreed. “And I made it and it has tails and it has stripes,” said Kalei.

We learned about Australiaand some of the interesting animals they have there. “Well, there’s kangaroos in Australiaand koala bears in Australia,” Grace told us, “and you know what? …my Mommy went to Australia and she didn’t tell me about the kangaroos, because the kangaroos were sleeping when she was there.” “Kangaroos have pouches and koalas and koalas eat leaves,” continued Gabriel. “And babies live in the pouches,” added Crosby.

We know that Hawaiiis part of the United Stateseven though we have to take an airplane to get there. Some of our friends have taken vacations to Hawaiiso they are the experts. “We were making a sand castle and a bridge at Hawaiiand we had a Hawaiihouse and we went to the pool,” Joey told us. “They make special necklaces,” added Henry. “It’s a flower necklace and you get it from Hawaii,” said Madeline. “You get kisses when you get a necklace at Hawaii,” explained Ella. “And pineapple, you can eat it and they come from a store in Hawaii,” Nicholas told us. We would all like to spend a week making sandcastles, getting flower necklaces and eating pineapple inHawaii.

Although the year is drawing to a close we still have some fun in store before the end of the year. The rain forest, recycling, exploring what is up in the sky and on the farm are all in our future and we will finish up with a fun week of camping and pajama days. So get ready for more fun before our time together ends and summer begins.

Vicki, Karen and Meghan

NEWS FROM PAT, TONIA AND NIKKI’S PRE-K

Well what do you know? We start school in September and, with a blink of an eye, here we are in May with graduation just around the corner. All the children have grown socially, emotionally and developmentally. The concepts we have introduced in class have really made an impact on your wonderful children. The three of us can’t thank you enough for all of your support during the past 10 months. We couldn’t have done it without you.

It is truly inspiring to see the children work cooperatively. Cognitive rotations gave them plenty of initiative to help one another. I believe the alphabet has been mastered and weekly theme assignments challenged and enriched their impressionable minds. Their Kindergarten teachers will be impressed.

Classroom themes in April included Spring Time, Movement and Music, Space and Ocean. At circle time, the children were quite excited to tell us about their flowers at home. Avery Jules said, “I made a pink tulip at school but I have mostly white flowers at home.” “Flower roots go down in the ground and they drink the water. They need sunshine too,” Henry responded. “I like flowers,” says Mackie. “I have a little bit of flowers in my front yard, mostly orange and green.” “You need to put the seeds in the dirt and water them,” says Erin. “I have purple and pink flowers.” “My gardener makes sure the bees don’t take our nectar by smashing them,” says Olivia. Theo appropriately adds, “I like flowers because they smell good.” Clarke says, “There’s bugs in flowers. They come from the ground.” “Some live over the ground like bees. They live up in a hive,” says Trevor. “Ants live on top of the ground and under the ground, they dig,” Natalie responds. “Yeah, yeah,” says Lucas excitedly. “Worms dig tunnels, too. The flowers like that.”

Our Space theme was very exciting. There were astronauts everywhere. The play house was set up as the International Space Station, complete with jet packs, air tanks, helmets, you name it. Kieran informed us, “There’s no air in space and the earth orbits the sun. Well, all the planets orbit the sun.” Now that was a mouth full. Oliver starts spinning around with his arms straight out saying, “Yeah, just like this.” Arnav replies, “If you don’t have a container with air in it you can’t breathe.” James adds, “There are big space rocks, meteors. They can break spaceship wings.” Adrian says, “Jupiter is out in space, so is Mars.” Luke says, “Aliens are real. They live out there.” “I know,” replies Macsen, “There are aliens in space. Their bodies are green and they have one eye.” Ariana rolls her eyes and tells him, “That’s only in Toy Story, Macsen.” Well I guess it has to be true. Pixar wouldn’t lie. (Giggles)

We had a great time during our movement and dancing week. Gracie told us she likes to dance but she gets shy. Abigail nodded her head in agreement but said, “It’s so much fun.” Adria said that she liked the Color song from Hap Palmer. “I held up the blue card,” she said. “I had the red card,” said Ellie. “You really needed to pay close attention. That was a fast song.” I said to her. “No. Just medium,” she responded. I stand corrected. “My favorite song was the Chicken Dance,” said Kaila. “I had fun. I buck bucked around and flapped my arms.” “So did I,” said McKenzie. “It was so crazy. My hair was flying all around.” “I liked the Jell-O song,” said Katie, shyly. “Yeah, me, too,” said Isabella. “The rock and roll part was the best.” Caroline quietly added, “I liked the sticks.” “The Rhythm Sticks,” I asked her. She smiled and said, “The song where we swing our arms, the zoom one.” “That’s Zoom Golly Golly song,” replied Lila. “It makes you laugh.” “I liked the What are you wearing song”, said Avery W. “I got to show my new purple leggings.” Avery S. replies, “Me, too. I showed my pretty sparkly sandals.” “My dress was twirling,” said Hannah. “I think we’re all pretty and friends, too,” said Alison. And they are!

V.I.P’s in April were Alison, Henry, Lucas, Abigail and Macsen. In May, we’ll have Erin, Trevor, Theo, Lila, McKenzie and Luke. Thank you for making them feel like the Very Important Person they are.

Please join us for the Family Picnic on Thursday May 17^th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. We look forward to eating good food with great company.

Graduation will be held on Thursday June 14^th from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Lafayette Veteran’s Memorial Hall on Mount Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette. Please be sure to have your child there by 8:45 a.m. The procession promptly begins at 9:00 a.m. It promises to be full of Pomp and Circumstance. A must see for the whole family.

As this school year comes to an end, Pat, Nikki and I would like to thank you for sharing your children with us. The attachments formed between family, friends and teachers enrich us all and builds your child’s sense of self-worth and well-being. It’s been a privilege to be a part of your child’s life journey.

Tonia, Pat and Nikki

NEWS FROM LAUREEN AND MANAL’S PRE-K

Spring has sprung and love is in the air! Girls are chasing boys, boys are chasing girls. The children are so filled with energy and excitement as if they are ready to bust! This time of year is so fulfilling for us teachers, as the children are so happy and content in our daily routine. They have made such wonderful friendships with their classmates and have such pride of ownership of our classroom. We joke that we could just stay home and they wouldn’t miss us, but then who would unlock the door, walk them across the street, and fix the snack!

We have finished our alphabet sharing activity. What a fun experience it has been. Each and every child has learned how to speak out loud in front of their peers and sit patiently, while waiting to be chosen to guess. Also the children incorporated this activity into their free choice, taking turns pretending to be the teacher, the clue giver and the guessers. They all unanimously said the best part is stumping each other!

In April, we enjoyed learning about all types of insects, bugs, and creepy crawlers. We dot painted butterflies, sipped nectar like a bee and decorated an ant. We explored all the fun activities there would be if we lived on a farm; including gardening, pigs, sheep and cows.

We also turned our play house into the International Space Center as we explored space, planets and astronauts. The children have created their own solar systems, tried a tasty astronaut snack, drank tang, decorated their own spaceship and went on a pretend space walk! When asked what they would do if they lived in outer space here is what they told us: Jenna: I would sing a song about the moon, Sadie: I would go on a Rocket ship and go high in the sky and see Pluto, Neptune, Venus and Mars, Jemima: I would be an astronaut and visit the Big Dipper, Sisi: I would go to Saturn and play in the rings, Xander: I would take a space ship to the moon and wear a space suit, Reid: I would visit the moon in a rocket ship wearing a helmet and a suit, Carson: I will drive a space ship to Pluto and play in gravity boots, Ava: I will fly in a rocket ship around Earth with my mommy, Caroline: I will go to the moon, walk in space and ride in a moon car, Zubin: I will fly to Jupiter in a space shuttle wearing space clothes, Jessy: I will fly to the moon with my mom in a spaceship wearing a purple space suit, Natalie: I will go to the moon and check out outer space and look for aliens, Jordan: I will orbit earth looking at the moon and stars, Sammy: I will float out of my space ship with mommy. We will go to the moon to see the craters, Nikki: I will play on the moon with Sammy and Mommy. We will eat food from tubes and wear astronaut clothing, Mikaela: I will take a rocket to Pluto with mommy, it will be very cold because it is so far away from the sun, Tyler: I will go around earth in a rocket ship but I have to ask my mom first, if she says “no” I can’t go!, Erin: I will go to the moon in a rocket wearing astronaut clothes and explore floating with no gravity.

During the month of May we will be practicing our graduation songs! I am sure you have been hearing a few of them at home already. This should be a fun and exciting time for the kids. We are proud of each and every child and strive for a “stress-free” celebration for all of you and your families.

More information will be sent home soon. Mark your calendars: Graduation is Friday June 15, 9:00 am at the Veteran’s Hall in Lafayette.

We still need to celebrate a few more VIP’S. Please sign up on the calendar if you have not already done so.

We will continue with our guest readers at 12:30. If you would like to read to us, please let us know!

We are looking forward to visiting with all of you at the “Annual Growing Tree Family Picnic” on Thursday, May 17 from 5-7pm.

It seems as if we just said hello and welcome and now we must say good-bye and thank you. Thank you for letting us teach your children this year, and thank you for always being so enthusiastic to help us out no matter what we needed! You are the best. We will miss each and every one of you. Please come back to visit next year!

Have a Great Summer!

Laureen and Manal

NEWS FROM APRIL AND MITZI’S T-K

Its unbelievable how quickly the time has flown by. This is a bittersweet time for us. Our little T-k’ers are ready to spread their wings and fly on to kindergarten.

Abby’s sweet smile beginning each t-k day. Delaney’s wonderful sense of humor, Dylan’s delightful playfulness. Edgar’s gentle kindness. Everett and his playful curiosity. Gaetan’s quite kind charm. Gina’s thoughtful caring ways. Liam’s snazzy sense of fashion. Logan’s direct intellect, beyond his years. Luke’s innocent lightheartedness. Madison’s vast imagination. Max’s compassionate teamwork. Mia’s generous cooperation. Nate’s passion for detail. Niklas’ awesome determination. Nicole’s inquisitive thoughts. Reed’s exuberant personality. Ryan’s willingness to lend a helping hand. Sofia’s straightforward wisdom. Tyler’s joyful energy. Yovela’s mindful consideration. These are just some of the attractive, exceptional qualities your beautiful children possess.

It has been a wonderful month. The children have been busy learning many new things. We made it all the way through the alphabet learning many new sight words and really focusing in on identifying the letter sounds in the beginning, middle and end of words. The job of Word Wizard is a great hit with the children. They all get a great kick out of teaching the teachers how to read the word of the day. They are all excellent teachers! We are continuing to master our last names. Many of the children are even able to write their last name from memory now. Our phone number practice was a great success! Everyone has received their award for remembering their phone number! We are working on birthdays now. Keep up the good work! We have been exploring addition, and becoming familiar with the + and = symbols. Everyone is doing brilliantly. The children are enjoying our fun exercise of clapping out the syllables in their own and their classmates’ names. We have also been exploring the concepts of opposites, rhyming words and revisiting shapes.

We have focused on many fun and thought provoking themes this month: Chickens and Eggs, where we learned that chickens aren’t the only ones who lay eggs! Our “Rubber Egg” experiment was a blast! Next, we moved on to Flowers, Gardening and Earth Day. The kids had lots of fun making “Dirt” to eat just like an earthworm. Yummy! In honor of Earth Day, the children felt good about planting their very own pea seeds into recycled lunchtime yogurt and applesauce containers. We are anxiously awaiting the little green sprouts to pop up.

Your thoughtful children had some wonderful ideas on “ how they can help take care of our earth”……..

Abby will save and protect animals and be a veterinarian.

Delaney will help to make sick animals get better.

Dylan will recycle cans and as a bonus has discovered that you get a bit of money in return.

Edgar will pick up trash at the park so the kids can play.

Everett will plant a new tree to replace the one that died and was cut down near his house.

Gaetan will recycle his garbage in his kitchen.

Gina will plant lots of flowers in her yard to make oxygen.

Liam will plant strawberries and a lemon tree to grow food.

Logan will plant lots of trees to make lots of oxygen for us to breath.

Luke will pick up litter at the school that the kids dropped on the ground.

Madison will plant an apple tree at her Grandmas house to make food and oxygen.

Max will plant lots and lots of flowers and trees to help the world.

Mia will take care of animals, especiallyChihuahuas.

Nate will pick up garbage at the beach inHawaii so the sea animals don’t get hurt.

Niklas will recycle the garbage from the beach inSan Diego.

Nicole will plant trees so the birds have a place to live.

Reed will pick up garbage in his backyard by his pool and recycle it.

Ryan will go to the park and make it clean so all the kids can ride their bikes.

Sofia will take care of dogs and cats and feed them and pet them.

Yovela will be a vet and make the sick animals better.

Such amazing well thought ideas!

From there we moved on to Springtime animals and preparation for a special gift for Mom on Mothers Day…. But that’s a surprise!

Next month we will focus on Farm Animals, coinciding with our last T-k field trip to Sienna Ranch inLafayette. Very exciting! Butterflies and insects are next. We have a batch of winged friends on the way to help us learn about metamorphosis. Then onto Reptiles, Amphibians and Mammals, Zoo Animals and lastly, Ocean Life and Beach Fun. Much to look forward too.

We want to remind you of a few special upcoming dates to remember…..

Growing Tree’s Annual Family Picnic is Thursday, May 17^th. 5:00-7:00. We would love to see you there.

T-K Graduation is Thursday June, 14. It will be held at the Veteran’s Hall in Lafayette. Please arrive with your child no later than 5:15pm as the ceremony will begin at 5:30pm. Thank you!

We would just like to thank all of our wonderful T-K families for their ongoing efforts and support. This has truly been an outstanding and memorable year. Thank you for sharing you dear little ones with us. They have truly touched our hearts…………

Ms. April & Ms. Mitzi

April 2012 Newsletter

lindarichardi — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:12:01 +0000

Director’s Message

Dates to Remember:

April 2-6: Spring Break – no school

April 9: Camp registration begins

May 1: Summer Camp registration forms due

May 17: Family Picnic 5:00-7:00

May 28: Memorial Day – no school

June 14: Pre-K graduation (Pat/Tonia/Nikki) 9:00 a.m.

T-K graduation (April and Mitzi) 5:30 p.m.

June 15: Pre-K graduation (Laureen/Manal) 9:00 a.m.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

June 19-August 3 Summer Camp 9:00-1:00 daily

Three more months…then lots of fun changes begin! Summer vacations, summer camps, swim team…lots of fun in the sun! Until then, there is still lots of fun and learning going on at Growing Tree. With the warmer days ahead, we’ll have more outside time and, hopefully, fewer coughs and colds! This is also the time for the big kids to review all the amazing things they have learned. They all are ready for TK or Kindergarten!

The Two’s, Three’s and future TKers take “fieldtrips” to the room they will be in next September. They meet the teachers and are welcomed by the current students who love to show them all the activities and toys in the classroom.

Registration for September classes is done. You should have received your E-mail confirmation as well as summer camp information/registration forms. We have several families on our waiting lists, so let us know if you’ve signed up for more days than you really want. If you are on our waiting list for more/different days, we’ll let you know as soon as we can accommodate you!

If your child is new to Growing Tree, all forms (including emergency information and doctor’s report) will be put in sibling’s cubby later in the spring. If your child will be attending summer camp, these forms need to be completed and returned no later than the first day of camp.

Now it’s time to think about summer camp! Summer camp is seven weeks this year. Each week has its own theme, and families can register for any number of weeks and/or any number of days in each week. The cost is $40/day. More details are on the registration forms which have been e-mailed to you. Additional registration forms are available in the office. Please register your child NO LATER THAN MAY 1^ST.

At this time of year, we are looking forward to our GT family picnic and Pre-K/TK graduations! Our family picnic is on Thursday, May 17^th from 5:00 – 7:00. This is a time for the kids to run and play and the parents to relax and visit. A couple of parents BBQ and everyone brings salads or desserts to share. Hot dogs, sausages, drinks and chips are provided. We have the picnic on a Thursday hoping that the older siblings won’t have too many other activities going on! Picnic forms will be out the beginning of May.

GRADUATION SCHEDULE

PRE-K (Pat/Tonia/Nikki) Thursday, June 14 @ 9:00 a.m.

(Graduates to arrive no later than 8:45!)

T-K (April and Mitzi) Thursday evening, June 14 @ 5:30 p.m.

(Graduates to arrive no later than 5:15!)

PRE-K (Laureen and Manal) Friday, June 15 @ 9:00 a.m.

(Graduates to arrive no later than 8:45!)

*ALL GRADUATIONS ARE HELD AT THE VETERAN’S HALL IN LAFAYETTE*

Invitations and reminders will be going home as the time gets closer!

Terri, Linda and Lysbeth

NEWS FROM EVELYN, SENIA AND BEV’S TWOS

Welcome back! We have been talking about the themes, Dinosaurs and Transportation! For our Dinosaur theme, we “hatched” felt dinosaurs out of plastic colored eggs, and we asked “what kind of baby dinosaur is it?”Matteo said “It’s a baby stegosaurus!” Nicholas said “triceratops!” Jackson said “Hi, baby dinosaur! It’s a baby dinosaur!” For a morning activity, we put out our toy dinosaurs. The children loved them! Alexis said “Triceratops! It has a button, it roars!” Dylan held up a small dinosaur and said “A blue dinosaur! It’s a baby dino! a T-rex!” For one morning activity we made dinosaur masks. Krish said “look dinosaur mask, colors, and horns!” Louise said “Dio-saur!” and then she put her mask on.

During circle time, we talked about how some dinosaurs eat meat and some eat veggies! Wyatt said “dinosaurs don’t eat broccoli, they eat grass!” Ryan said “I like meat!” Sam P. said “when I eat breakfast my hand get sticky from pancakes!” Zoe said “I like meat, grandma gives it to me!” We also taught the children how dinosaurs are extinct. Tyler said “stink?”Avila said “I don’t like stinky!” “Jake said “no veggies!” Ryan said “dino bones!” When we asked what dinosaur is your favorite, Jenna said “Goddy!” (her stuffed animal), Anna Sofia “green!” (pointing to the brontosaurus) . We danced the Dino-pokey, and sang The Dinosaur Song, The Little Stegosaurus, and Ten Little Dinosaurs. Our dino art was fun. From dino puppets to glitter painted dinosaurs to cool looking paper volcanoes, our room looked like a little Dino-land!

Transportation was fun, too. We sang Wheels on the Bus, and Ten Little Airplanes. During circle time, we spoke about different types of transportation. Valentina said to Krish “no airplane, go to bus station!” Max said “I like trucks! Luke said “too far you can go on bus! Guillem said “I like airplanes!” When we asked how we can go to the moon, Juliette said “car to moon!” When we heard an airplane during outside play time, ViVi said “airplane, up up sky!” Sam S. said pointing to the sky, “Look airplane look!” When we read the book, Train,Trains,Trains, Carson said “ Thomas train!” Hannah B said “moo, moo, cows!” Outside, Hannah Sage was making a sand pie singing, “wheel on bus, round, round, round, town!”

We would like to invite parents to come in to read their child’s favorite story at our closing circle (12:15-12:30) during the last two weeks of April (April 16 – 20 and April 23 – 27). We have a sign up sheet next to our daily sign in/out sheets. Can’t wait to hear their choices!

It has been such a fun month! Thank you for stopping by! We hope you enjoy your spring break!

Ms.Evelyn and Ms.Senia

NEWS FROM CYNTHIA AND BARB’S TWOS

March was certainly a loud month in our class, with all our dinosaurs! Luke loved playing with the large dinos and definitely had the biggest ROAR!! Leah and Annelise had a great time putting the dinosaurs in blue playdough, and Nolan took great care of the sick dinosaurs at the “dino hospital”. Miss Cynthia taught the kids all the dinosaur names, what they ate, and how long ago they lived on Earth. Our room was turned into a swamp, with very cool dinosaur art projects displayed. One of our favorite themes!

The second half of the month we were down on the farm. Old MacDonald continues to be an all time favorite song. Our new friend, Cade, excitedly said “There was a cow on the farm”, and Reese said” There was a horse, too”. Sofia added ” It’s a pink horse!”. Ellen and Clara Shei always have the biggest smiles on their faces, trying to decide what farm animal is missing at circle-time when a blanket covers a few and hides them! Dancing has become a favorite activity. Yo Gabba Gabba is the CD of choice and Bella and Grant are always right in the middle of it all. When Max tired himself out from dancing one day, he decided to stand on the sideline and cheer instead, shouting ” good jobs guys!”. Other fun activities this month included building with the large legos. Eloise and Will built a whole town with them one day, including a “river”. It is great to have such imagination!Our classroom will transform into a rainforest in April, another really fun and colorful theme. The end of the month we will learn all about insects!We would like to invite parents to come in to read their child’s favorite story at our closing circle (12:15-12:30) during the last two weeks of April (April 16 – 20 and April 23 – 27). We have a sign up sheet next to our daily sign in/out sheets. Can’t wait to hear their choices!We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our newest little boy, Cade. We look forward to getting to know you.

Happy Birthday to the following children: March: Leah, Gus and Sam!!
April: Bella, Dylan, Trent, Avery, Pierce, Annelise!!!

Barb and Cynthia

NEWS FROM SANDY AND SHARYN’S THREES

Now that spring has arrived, we’ve incorporated it into our lessons with planting, farming and farm animals, and ecology.

The children have enjoyed working with the soil while planting seeds as well as hypothesizing (with the aid of a graph) under which conditions the seed will sprout more quickly. Frankie informed us, “It’ll grow better by the heater because it’ll get warmed up.” Jacqueline said, “It’ll grow best in the garden because it won’t grow inside.” Along those same lines, Thomas added, “It’ll grow better outside where the flowers are.” Sevan offered, “It’ll grow best in the sun because it’s so bright.” While Jefferson summed things up with, “My seed needs dirt, water and sun.”

During our farming lessons, the class identified the many different farm animals and were able to help each baby farm animal find its way home to its mommy as well as get all the animals safely into the barn. We discovered some of the favorites. Sloane shared, “I like horses because they eat hay.” Cade commented, “Horses are big like that play structure. I don’t like to ride them.” Sonal declared, “ Horses gallop really fast!” Grace B. likes pigs because “they’re pink” and Brody also likes pigs but because “they say oink, oink, oink.” Riley chose cows because “they get milk.” Eddie added, “I see cows on the hills inMoraga.” In keeping with the farm theme, we did a “milk the cow” activity (rubber glove filled with water) which the children found intriguing.

We had a surprise visit to our classroom from some rascally leprechauns. When the children arrived on St. Patrick’s Day eve, they were welcomed with green footprints on the walls and cabinets, the room in disarray, green water in the toilets and gold dust scattered about. The children were so animated in heralding each friend as he or she arrived and showing them around the classroom pointing out the evidence of the Irish fairies’ visit. Addie exclaimed, “How did they do this?” Olivia shared, “ When I was coming into the classroom, there were green footprints.” Shawn chimed in, “They’ve been dancing under the table.” Speaking of dancing, Bowie, while doing the Irish jig, contributed, “Look it. Look it. I’m Irish.” While surveying the damage to the calendar board, Kylie announced, “They’ve messed up the month. It’s a disaster!” and Max noted “They changed the color of the flowers and shamrocks.” Nolan continued, “Those naughty leprechauns.” Grace Olivia stated, “The potty is yucky. I think the leprechauns did it.” Noah couldn’t have agreed more and wouldn’t venture anywhere near the green water. He simply said, “I don’t like it.” Zayden noticed, “They didn’t wear shoes.” Lola summed things up as well as expressed the wonder of our classroom, “It’s magic!”

We hope you all enjoyed seeing us “flying” around the classroom with our colorful butterfly wings. We worked with some new materials and created a beautiful art project. Lucy told us, “Mine have colorful scales.” Rocco was adding dots to his and informed us, “It’s a Dalmatian butterfly!” Bobby declared, “I can’t fly with mine but I can pretend to fly.”

While explaining ecology and respect for Mother Earth, we spent considerable time introducing recycling to the classroom and making a game of which materials go into which trash containers. We even constructed some recycling structures. In addition, we brainstormed energy saving ideas and ways to make the world a better place in which to live.

Next month’s lessons will include exploring the world while learning about the many people in it and understanding their cultures and traditions. These themes provide a wealth of information to bring our global community home to our children and set them on a path toward tolerance.

We appreciate the interest and support you’ve shown in our classroom family by incorporating what we learn in class into your private lives. We always love hearing from you what your children are sharing about lesson subjects. The children have grown so much physically, mentally and emotionally since last September. It’s a joy to behold!

Have a wonderful Spring Break! We’ll see you back in the classroom on April 9^th!

Miss Sharyn and Miss Sandy

NEWS FROM VICKI, KAREN AND MEGHAN’S THREES

Spring is here and our room is reflecting the season. We’ve been busy making flowers and planting seeds, adding to the enjoyment of spring. We’re blooming and growing along with the flowers…how far we’ve come since September!

We learned about our five senses and why they are important to us. Olivia thought her nose was important, “because we have to smell because if we have to eat we have to smell things.” “Because you need your nose to smell things that you don’t know what it tastes,” Annalise continued. “Cheese is good and onions is not a good smell,” thought Emma. “And you need to smell lollipops and yogurt and skunks ‘cause you eat lollipops and yogurt, but skunks are stinky,” added Billy.

Other friends thought feeling was more important. “You feel with your skin and we felt the paint and it’s cold,” Gabriel told us. “You go outside and feel with your skin to feel if it’s cold to need jackets,” added Tori. “We feel if it’s windy or hot or cold with our skin,” agreed Claire. “Or you can feel a pillow that’s really soft or if you’re going in a cold cave you can remember to put your jacket on,” continued Walker. “Or if you couldn’t see you need to feel and I was practicing at feeling things,” Madelaine told us.

Some people thought their ears were the most important. “If people are talking, kids at the circle can’t hear and ears are important to hear,” Madeline said. “I think listening with your ears so Mommy tells me it’s time for dinner,” Thatcher opined. “I think hearing teachers do stories and I couldn’t say it if I couldn’t hear” Ana explained. “ Because so if Mommy tells you it’s dinner time and you can’t hear and you go to sleep and you might miss the whole movie,” Grace continued. “If you are not hearing the teacher, then you don’t know what you are supposed to do and if you’re not hearing your friend his train might crash into you,” Mason explained. “I like to hear my friends talk,” Ryan Elizabeth told us. “I hear birds and you hear the ocean and you hear seagulls and if you can’t hear then you can’t hear anything,” Henry added.

Taste was important to some of our friends. “If you didn’t know what things taste like it might be good or bad,” Emily told us. “We can taste marshmallows and I like it, but I didn’t taste lemon,” said Kalei. “You need to taste vitamins ‘cause if you don’t like them you just have to take them because to make you big and strong,” Henry explained to us. “Because it’s yummy things but I don’t like peas or spinach,” continued Lauren.

Friends thought it was very important to see. “If you don’t see you can’t watch movies,” said Preston. “You need to see where you’re going because you’re going to bump into people,” considered Melissa. “You could bump into something and hurt yourself,” continued Nicholas, “and if you’re watching a movie you can’t see it.” “You couldn’t know where you were walking and you couldn’t see playing with trains and you couldn’t see colors,” Crosby told us. “Eyes are good so you can see leprechauns,” said Juliana. “Eyes are important because it’s important or you have to ask your Mommy and Daddy to give you some eyes to see if you can’t,” continued Maddie. “I wouldn’t know where to go and I might walk in the water,” Tristan thought.

We spent the week before St. Patrick’s Day hoping for a visit from the leprechauns. “Leprechauns hide gold in the rainbow,” Marco told us, “and once I saw a leprechaun but you know what?, I tried to catch it but it was so fast.” “They’re green and they like green and they like gold,” added Lauren. “Leprechauns have funny hats and I made a leprechaun,” Estella told us. “I didn’t catch one yet,” said Ella,”but I found some gold at the end of the rainbow that the leprechauns made.” “And sometimes they mess up things,” continued Paxton. We wondered how the leprechauns could get all the way from Ireland to Moraga without anyone seeing them. “Maybe they could fly on a plane and they could hide under it,” thought Piper. “They could just hide under the seats,” Crosby clarified. “They could fly in a helicopter and hide under a chain in the helicopter,” thought Walker. “They could slide on a rainbow across the ocean,” Maddie told us. “They can fly with pixie dust,” said Annalise. All are very good ideas. And then on Friday we came into school and found that the leprechauns had come the night before. “They made a big mess and we cleaned it all up,” said Jackson. “And they hided gold and then we found it,” Claire exclaimed. “They put green sparkles on the carpet,” Madelaine added. “And they left green water,” Melissa added. “The leprechauns gave us potatoes and we painted with them,” continued Emma. Those leprechauns sure were tricky—and we had lots of fun.

We wish all of you a wonderful spring break. When we return we’ll be learning all about where we live and about different places in the world. In the meantime, we hope you have a great break and return ready to continue our threes year together.

Vicki, Karen and Meghan

NEWS FROM PAT, TONIA AND NIKKI’S PRE-K

‘March comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb.’ How true that statement has been! We had been enjoying our spring time winter weather, and now we are getting excited about all of the snowfall in Tahoe! Although we have been cooped up much of the month, the children are enjoying inside free choice, music and movement and parachute play!

Our theme for the month is ‘Around the world in March’. We started the unit learning about all different types of transportation. The children got a kick out of all the different types of transportation they use on a daily basis: feet, bikes, scooters, skates and cars, to name a few.

Then the children packed their suitcase including camera, clothes and passport, and were headed around the world! First stop: California! They all learned the state we live in, state flower, state bird, tree and flag. We also discussed some of the places that people come from all over the world to see inCaliforniasuch as Tahoe, Yosemite andDisneyland. The children were introduced toHawaii,Mexico,Ireland- which was quite exciting when the leprechauns came – Africa and the Rain Forest, and concluded the unit withEgyptandEngland.

During Circle Time one morning we were talking about some of the places we learned about. I asked “Where would you like to visit?” Arnav said, “I just like Lake Tahoe to play in the snow every single day, just like we did!” Katie added, “Hawaii. I like to go on the water slides!” “Hawaii to make a sand castle!”, stated Gracie. Clarke chimed in “I’d like to visit Hawaii to climb the volcanoes.” James got excited and said, “Hawaii! And go to my grandma and grandpa’s rental house and play on the beach. We do!” Lucas thought, “I want to go to Mexico to see the volcano.” Adrian wanted “to go to Florida and see Disney World.” Luke said, “I like Lake Tahoe and see my Papa & Nana and go to the beach there and go fishing.” “Disneyland in California and go on the Bumper Cars. It’s my favorite ride”, said Caroline. Isabella would like to go to, “Tahoe to build snowmans.” Erin added, “Hawaii and go swimming at the beach with my dad. I went a long time ago when I was 3.” And Ellie ended the conversation with, “Lake Tahoe. I’ve been toLake Tahoe. I like to play with the snow and with my sisters. My sister, Maddie, made a snowman and I like it.” We have many seasoned travelers here in Pre-K!

We have had lots and lots of VIPs here in Pre-K:

Clarke, Olivia, Ariana, Kieran, Avery J., Avery W., Ellie, & Adrian. Along with VIPs come birthdays! Happy Birthday to all of our March kids!

A great BIG thank you to Trevor’s Nana who came and taught the children aboutGermany. The children especially loved their gummy bear treat!

School is flying by! Spring break is March 31st – April 6th. School will resume April 9th. Have a very relaxing break!

Pat, Tonia & Nikki

NEWS FROM LAUREEN AND MANAL’S PRE-K

March brings springtime upon us and wasn’t it full of excitement and learning! The kids are progressing wonderfully in many different areas. They have really improved their cutting and drawing skills, and their ability to recognize letters and shapes is also growing. Their comfort and development in social skills has made their friendships blossom and their happiness infectious. Laureen and I are very proud of their accomplishments and enjoy all of our time with them.

We started March off exploring the children’s interests in many different forms of transportation. Between trains, cars, planes, and boats, the children shared their favorite way to travel. We have a lot of young, eager travelers among us!

Here we are taking off on a trip around the world; we have prepared our passports and suitcases and are ready to go! We started our trip in California. We learned a lot about the Golden State and now we know what the state flag looks like. In Hawaii, we got to dance the Hula. Next, we made our way to Africa and the Rain Forest. Then we stopped off in Mexico where the children were introduced to a special instrument used in Mexican salsa music, the Maraca. The children made their own Maracas and we had a Mexican salsa dance party! We even painted a sombrero.

After Mexico, we jumped over to Ireland. There we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. We found a rainbow in the sky and followed the rainbow to find the Leprechaun that came and visited Growing Tree. Here is what the kids had to say: Nikki: The leprechaun came out of the water and wanted the gold that is in the big pot. Zubin: He jumped everywhere; he’s trying to find the gold. Reid: What happened to the class, OH, the leprechaun came here. Eav: He hid all the gold in the pot. Where is the rainbow coming from? Sammy: He knows that the gold is behind the rainbow. Sisi: Look at the chairs! And the water is green. This is a mess, I think the leprechaun will come in my bedroom and he might leave some gold! Jessy: Our calendar is not right! It’s the wrong weather!!! And month. Erin: The leprechaun jumped everywhere. I can see his footprints. Jemima: You know he made a big mess, but still we can find everything easily. Sierra: I made a trap for him at home with my sister. I hope we catch him. Max: He’s naughty; I wish I can catch him. Xavier: Everything is green today, I don’t know why? I think it’s St. Patrick’s day! Luca: Lets all clean the class! Sadie: I never saw my class messy like this. The leprechaun came and did all that. We will continue our trip by visiting Egypt and England. In Egypt we will learn about the pyramids and modern life, while in England we will enjoy a pleasant tea party.

During our morning circle, we continue our exercises in recognizing and spelling our names. The kids are becoming much more confident in spelling. Now the kids are proficient with the calendar and asking for their jobs in complete sentences. After spring break, we will learn about outer space and the solar system. Finally, the children will also learn about spring time, bugs, and insects.

We wanted to thank Sarah and Matthew Bott and Eav Nielsen’s grandma for reading to the class. We encourage guest readers to join us! The children love to see their parents in the classroom. We also wanted to thank Sarah Bott, who came in to tell us about England, her home country, and Kerry Roggensak, who came in and shared her family trip to Namibia in Africa with the class .

Thank you,

Manal and Laureen

NEWS FROM APRIL AND MITZI’S T-K

Spring is here! And your children are having fun deciding whether it’s a “lion” or “lamb” day…they have definite opinions on which type of weather they prefer! They are now writing words on our daily weather graph which is so exciting to see.

March was an incredibly busy month in our classroom. We worked on our themes of weather, rain and rainbows, and had fun exploring “Pet” week. The kids loved sharing photos of their own pets and proudly displayed them on our classroom chart. They were animated when they told stories about their own pets and especially loved the silly stories that came up! We had a wonderful field trip to Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) where the children learned about care and responsibility of animals. They were thrilled to see all the pets waiting to be adopted. Mia got extra excited when she met the cutest little dog there whose name was…you guessed it… Mia!! Nicole exclaimed “I just want to take them ALL home with me!” Abby added “I want to pet each one of them…do you think they would let me?”

Community Helpers was also a big theme for us. We had great discussions about all types of people and jobs and services in our community. We were privileged to have Luke’s dad visit us and talk all about being a fire fighter. We were all so impressed!

Perhaps the most exciting theme in March was learning about and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. You would not believe the excitement that poured out from every child when we went on a hunt to find a leprechaun! Our classroom had been “rearranged” by those silly little guys and they were also so full of mischief (which the kids just loved!) We followed clues which led us all over the school to catch at least one leprechaun and finally ended up in the office where we found the pot of gold! Their eyes grew open wide when each child received individual gold coins. But they were still trying to figure out the whole situation and how the leprechauns actually slipped into our classroom. Their comments were so funny…

Logan: “This is so crazy…we can’t let them escape!”

Madison: “Those leprechauns are naughty!”

Tyler: “Maybe there were two of them!” to which Luke chimed in…”Noooooo…it was a whole leprechaun family!”

Sofia: I bet they used their magical wands to get in here!” And Yovela added “Yeah… and they must have had a map of the school!”

Max and Delaney laughed together…”There’s green water in the toilet!” And Gina just took it all in and sat and thought and thought until she finally put her finger to her chin looking very perplexed, shook her head, and said “Ridiculous! I just don’t know…!” Sooooo cute!!

Besides our amazing leprechaun hunt, we made green oobelick as a science experiment. Oobelick is a strange substance that is both solid and liquid which the kids found to be incredible. We asked them how it felt to touch it and what it smelled like…

Nate: “It felt like a tar pit and smelled like strawberries.”

Ryan: “It was soft then hard and really smelled like jelly beans!”

Nicole: “It was squishy and gooey and smelled like a bubble bath!”

Reed: “It felt like goo and smelled like stinky potatoes!”

We had a second field trip to the Dean Lesher Theater to watch an amazing show called “Percussion Discussion.” This one man act totally entertained the children with all kinds of musical instruments and drew them in with great humor. It was wonderful to see all of them so intrigued and develop a love of music. Once back in our classroom, we talked about all we learned and how much fun it was. Then we took out all of our own percussion instruments and created our own music. It was a very fun but LOUD way to end the day!!

March also was the beginning of our new job “Word Wizard.” Your children are doing so well sounding out words…they have come so far! The special wizard of the day gets to play teacher and go into the adjoining classrooms to “teach” their word for the day. We can just see how proud they are to explain a word to others! They are also enjoying reading the books they make at school. What a thrill to see them point to words now, work on sounding them out, and actually write some of them as well!

We introduced the children to addition with shamrock math and they really caught on quickly. They liked using their own bodies as figures to understand putting numbers together. They eagerly raised their hands to be next to stand up in front of the class and be one of the “numbers.”

Our April themes will include chicks and eggs, spring animals, flowers and gardening. We are all looking forward to some sunny days ahead! Your children truly are a pleasure to be with every day, and certainly bring much sunshine into our hearts! Thank you for sharing them with us each day!

Ms. Mitzi and Ms. April

March 2012 Newsletter

lindarichardi — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:07:28 +0000

Growing Tree’s Newsletter

Newsletter
Young Two’s
Older Two’s
Young Three’s
Older Three’s
Pre-K A
Pre-K B
T-K

Director’s Message

Dates to Remember:

March 5 – 9: Registration for all currently enrolled families

March 12 – 16: Registration for families on our current waiting list

March 19 – 23: Open registration for all new families

March 30: Summer camp info/registration forms emailed out

April 2-6: Spring break, no school

April 9: Summer camp registration begins

May 1: Summer camp registration forms due

May 17: School picnic 5:00 – 7:00

May 28: Memorial Day, no school

June 14: Pre-K Graduation (Pat/Tonia/Nikki)

9:00 -10:30 a.m.

T-K Graduation (April/Mitzi)

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

June 15: Pre-K Graduation (Laureen/Manal)

9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

(All graduations are held at the Veteran’s Memorial Bldg. in Lafayette)

June 15: Last day of school

June 19 – Aug 3 Summer camp, daily 9:00 – 1:00

You don’t need to look at the calendar to know that we’re on the backside of the school year – Just look at the kids!

The Pre-K and T-K kids are becoming more and more independent. They can follow instructions with fewer reminders, deal with frustration with more patience and solve disputes with less mediation. They pretty much can run the show on their own now and they let you know it.

The Threes are still vacillating between wanting the independence of a big kid and the safety of a little kid. They have their routine down pat, and know what the classroom expectations are. However, sometimes it can all be a little overwhelming, and they need a good old fashioned meltdown…and then back to business as usual.

The Twos are simply crazy! They yell, scream, run amok and, in general, love every aspect of life and everyone they meet! Theirs is a world we all love to stop by and visit everyday!

What great jobs we have!

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

No registration forms will be accepted prior to 8:00 a.m. on Monday, March 5.

Registration is always a busy time. If you don’t hear from us, assume you got the days you requested. We suggest making a copy of your completed registration form for yourself so you remember what those days are! As the forms come in, we number them and that is the order used to fill the daily class rosters. While all currently enrolled children and their siblings are guaranteed space, if you want specific days, don’t wait until the end of the week to register.

Registration for families on our current waiting list begins Mon., March 12.

Open registration for all new families begins March 19.

We’re never sure if we thank you enough for believing in us and for sharing your children with us! So thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Terri, Linda and Lysbeth

NEWS FROM EVELYN, SENIA AND BEV’S TWOS

Do you still remember your favorite book from your childhood? We have a couple of favorites in our classroom, too. This month we had a Book Theme, so we took the time to read and talk about our favorite books. SAM S. was always asking us to read “The Crunchy Ladybug” which actually is “The Grouchy Ladybug”. What is this book about?

TYLER: “Ladybug don’t let friend eat food”; GUILLEM: “He wants to fight with friends and that is not o.k.”; RYAN: “Ladybug is not nice, we need to be nice with friends.”

Now, we’ll focus on being a good friend. How can we do it?

JENNA: “Get a treat for your friend.” LOUISE : “We don’t want them to cry.”

SAM P. : “I know that! We need to share babies and toys, and we need to be nice, right?”

HANNAH B. “Give hugs!”

Some favorite books were “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”, “Clifford and the Big Storm”, “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.

WYATT’s favorite book is “Chicka Chicka Boom”: “I like when all the letters went up to the tree!” MATTEO added, “And the letters fell down and cry, that’s funny!”

ZOE’s favorite one is: “The Caterpillar book, I like caterpillars.” SAM V..said,“ Caterpillar ate too much. He was hungry and he ate apples.” KRISH added, “Caterpillar got a tummy ache, and then he went to sleep.” ANNA SOFIA knows that “Caterpillar now is a butterfly!”

We also talked about Community Helpers . What would the children like to be when they grow up?

JAKE: “I want to be a firefighter.” HANNAH SAGE: wants to be “a dentist”, JULIETTE: wants to “help doggies and cats to feel better “. VIVIENNE: “a doctor” AVILA said, “I don’t know… a teacher… a doctor….A firefighter!” LUKE wants to be “a pilot”. MAX wants to be “a zookeeper”. CARSON said he wants to be “Like Daddy, a great firefighter!” VALENTINA wants to be “a beautiful butterfly,” and DYLAN wants to be “Batman”. Whatever you decide to be, we’ll be very proud of you!

According to your children, what’s Mommy’s or Daddy’s job?

MATTEO: “Daddy teaches big kids.” WYATT said, “My daddy works at my office.” JACKSON said, “Mommy just works at the city and Daddy just work at his office. When I grow up, I want to be just like Daddy.” NICHOLAS told us,”Daddy works at Seattle store, and he went swimming in the ocean because he needs to work.” LEXI said, “Daddy works at the office, so we can play with toys.”

Everybody is expressing themselves so well. They all are growing and learning so fast! Next month we’ll be talking about dinosaurs …..get ready to ROARRRR!.

NEWS FROM CYNTHIA AND BARB’S TWOS

This past month was such a fun month for the children. They all loved
the whole idea of Valentine’s Day, and were so excited when it came time
to pass out Valentines to their friends. Griffin was anxious any time he
received a Lightning McQueen valentine, while Jeffrey shouted out, “I
LOVE Mater” with much enthusiasm as Dylan handed him a Mater
valentine. Aida smiled and replied, “ I like the princesses.”
We would like to extend a special thank you to our families that made our
Valentine’s Day extra special by bringing in special treats for the children.
They were a big hit! It was also great to see so many of our families at the
Valentine’s School Party as well.
This month we began learning about insects. Emery cringed at the
thought of lady bug’s eating aphid bugs for lunch and Jocelyn responded,
“That’s yucky,” when mentioned that to protect themselves from predators,
lady bugs turn over and squirt a smelly goo from their legs. Grace
exclaimed, “Butterflies are pretty” when we discussed how they emerge
from the chrysalis of a caterpillar.
It is so much fun introducing new songs and topics to the children
during circle time. The children are so attentive and have really come to
enjoy the time. As the teachers ring the clean-up bell, Anisha enjoys
announcing, “time to clean-up the mess, it’s circle time.” Pierce takes out
the carpet squares and arranges them for his friends, while Gus waits for
Sam to sit so he can quickly get the carpet next to her. Jonah loves to sing
the ‘Fire truck song’ and is quite animated with his expressions. ~Too cute!
During free choice time we often see the children mimic circle with their
friends. Avery and Sierra love to read the books while their friends sit on
carpet squares in front of them to listen.
With the unexpected warm weather this past month, the children have
really been enjoying outside playtime more. Aria often jets out of the room
as we open the door to get on his favorite tricycle. Trent and Jeffrey chased
each other around the playground on the bikes one afternoon, laughing
hysterically when they caught up with one another. Liam encourages all of
his friends to join him on the bike-o-round so they can ‘go faster!’ Everyone
is playing so well with one another. It is great to see everyone happy as new
friendships blossom.
A very special ‘Congratulations’ to Griffin’s family on the birth of
their new baby boy, Henry!
Next month we journey to the swampy lands of the DINOSAURS!!
One of our favorite months, we will be learning lots of new songs about
different dinosaurs as well as learning about their habitats, what they ate,
enemies, etc. Our classroom will be transformed into a prehistoric swamp
before your very own eyes!
Cynthia and Barb

NEWS FROM SANDY AND SHARYN’S THREES

The sweetness of young love and dear friendships filled our hearts this month. All of the children have the true desire to reach out to one another pulling and pushing open the bonds that they are building together. The rules of friendship are incredibly expanded, they know how to make each others worlds brighter, without hesitance they do! As we welcome each child with our morning song, the children earnestly call out every classmate’s name, if anyone dares to leave the circle for a moment, the singing is curtailed, we all await and honor the acknowledgment of each person. As we offer the children their daily jobs, they listen, smiling as we spell out each child’s name, they call out each pals name together unselfishly alerting those who are receiving a job for the day. Rocco was so excited for Sloane to receive a job the other day he kindly suggested, “Hey, you can be the tapper with me! Ok?!” Sloane was pleased with the offer, “Oh, Yes!” The affinity the children have developed leads them to inspire eachother’s growth and development. They challenge each other reassured that if they fail or succeed they will be encouraged with respect and kindness. Sonal was inspired to show Noah how happy she was to see him. She brought over her beloved baby Panda to share with him. Noah shared a gentle conversation with Sonal acknowledging her friendship. The affirmation the children give out is truly inspiring. Love is in the air.
We have enjoyed a fun month, celebrating the letter P with a PJ and pancake party. We discovered the best part of eating pancakes seems to be the syrup as Eddie, Grace B.and Kylie attested; their smiles growing as they realized their bananas could be dipped in the left over syrup on their plates. Brody and Cade, our notorius Three minute Diners, even took their time enjoying the pancakes. Brody said, “These are delicious!” Cade popped out, “We should eat these every day!” All the children agreed. However, Eddie and Lucy lectured us, “You should eat fruits and vegetables to be healthy!” Smart little people. Max shared, “You must eat tomatoes to make your body grow strong.” As we focused on learning about our healthy bodies, we discovered the kids love doing yoga together. We all have to giggle as we watch each other struggle to hold our poses. Riley loved doing the moves and told Zayden, as they lay upside down, “We are getting stretched.” Zayden said, ” I know! We are strong!” Shawn and Grace Olivia enjoyed learning about how our breathing changes with exercise. Grace Olivia shared, ” I feel good!” Shawn told us,” When I run, I breathe fast and my heart can pump fast!” We learned that healthy food, exercise and healthy giggles make our bodies feel super.
Cherished feelings of love and affection were shared as we celebrated Valentines Day! The children were buoyant as they offered their cards and declarations of LOVE were made. Bowie told Shawn, “You are my girlfriend!” Bobby loved painting with Addie, his eyes never left hers, a lucky girl. Jefferson declared, I have two girlfriends. I have Olivia! I have Lola! I like all of my friends!” Lola offered, “I love to see Jefferson’s smile!” We all enjoyed delicious treats thanks to our generous families! To allow the children to express their idea of friendship they were asked to respond to this prompt . . . I am a friend.

Rocco – I help my friends to do the puzzles.
Jefferson – I play with cade. We share our toys.
Grace B. – I swing with Sloane and we smile together.
Zayden – I share and I am nice to friends.
Lola – I play catch with Nolan , Grace , and Sloane. We throw the ball to one another.
Thomas – I like all the kids. I like to slide and laugh with them.
Grace Olivia – I have my pals Grant ,Shawn ,Josh ,Jackie ,Lolly! All my friends, even more, we play hide n’seek together.
Riley – I like to race the bikes and smile with my friends.
Brody – I run and I play with all of my friends , we laugh , too!
Bowie – I share games with my friends. We play soccer together.
Sevan – I build tracks and play trains with my pals.
Lucy – My friends are silly and nice , I am silly and nice to them.
Kylie – I help my friends. I help Addie to be happy.
Sloane – I feel happy when I share my toys then I am a friend!
Noah – I am a kind friend to my sisters , Abigail and Yovela.I am silly with Brody and Bobby.
Sonal – I like to draw with my friends!
Frankie – We are big boys , we learn to be safe together.
Eddie – I am a friend to all the kids, we pretend to be dinosaurs .I feel silly with them.
Olivia – I take care of my friends!
Nolan – I am happy to share with my friends.
Bobby – We race around and we smile.
Shawn – We make things together.
Jackie – I play family with my friends.
Max – Sharing with all my friends.
Addie – I laugh , my friends laugh with me.
Cade – I am a friend to Avery ! I play trucks with my friends.

Our topics in March include Ecology , Spring Time ,and Farming. We will expect to see a wee bit of Irish whimsy and lore around March 17th.

Congratulations to Thomas and his family, a healthy baby, Mary Kate, has arrived!

NEWS FROM VICKI, KAREN AND MEGHAN’S THREES

March has arrived and the older threes class thinks we may have missed winter. We’re enjoying our lovely weather, playing outside, many times without even needing our jackets. There is a definite feel of spring in the air as we see trees and flowers starting to bloom. It seems only a short time ago that we were celebrating fall and yet when we look at ourselves, we have come such a long way from fall when we were only three. Now many of us have turned four and others will be four very soon.

In February, we learned about the post office and how the mail is delivered. “The mail carrier brings mail,” Maddie told us. “They bring mail for you,” Henry agreed. “You have to put a stamp on a letter,” Annalise told us. “You need a stamp on a letter and a country and a state,” continued Ana. “We made postcards and we colored them,” said Emily. “And put stickers on them and put a stamp on them because we’re going to send them in the mail,” continued Melissa. “We put it on and a stamp on it and we colored it,” agreed Joey. “The stamp’s on the card because we want the mail carrier to take it,” continued Nicholas. “The mail carrier will take it to the post office and it will go to your home,” said Gabriel. “And they put them in your mail box,” continued Preston . “We’re gonna mail it and send it to your house and to the post office,” agreed Estella. “There’s a number on the house and you put that on the envelope,” Emma told us. “And the stamp because the mail person has to pay and we have to pay them,” continued Mason. “We put the post cards in the mailbox and the mail truck is going to come,” said Billy. “The mail guy picks them up and puts them in the post office and put them in the right one and come to our house,” continued Lauren. “Sometimes they fly a airplane to take the mail,” added Claire. “You put them in the mail so the mail can get them and we pushed the stamp like go push, push, push.” finished Kalei. We’re now all experts on the post office.

We were happy to see so many of our friends at the Growing Tree Valentine Party the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. It was fun to celebrate with the whole family. Valentine’s Day is a special time to tell family and friends how much you love them. “You give people valentines ‘cause itsposed to ‘cause you just need to ‘cause you like them,” Madeline told us. “And there’s lots of candy and I eat them,” added Jackson . “And give them to people too,” added Madeline. “No, I just eat them,” Jackson told her. “You give someone a present sometimes,” said Piper. “I’m going to play with my sister on Valentine’s Day and I’ll make her something she likes,” Madelaine told us. “I put stickers on a heart and I make it for Daddy,” said Crosby . “For valentines we get yummy treats,” Tristan told us. “My Mama and me and my brother, Alex, and my Daddy and me and my Mama will have valentines,” said Olivia. “I got cards and princess cards,” Ryan Elizabeth told us. However you choose to celebrate, Valentine’s Day is lots of fun!

We all brought our teddy bears to have some special teddy bear fun. We danced and exercised with our bears and taught them all about our class. “We did teddy bears on the carpet and we made them sleep,” said Juliana. “I sleep with my teddy bear,” Marco told us. “Rainbow is a teddy bear and Rainbow likes me because he likes to play games with me,” sharedGrace. “I like dancing with bears at my house,” Paxton told us, “but just pretend ones because real ones are so mean.” “Real bears live in the forest and teddy bears live in your house,”Walker explained. “Bears like honey and they swim a little bit and they get the honey from the bee hive and it’s a little bit hard to do it because they sometimes get stinged,” Thatcher told us. “But teddy bears can’t ‘cause they’re not real and they’re too little,” added Tori, “and pretend bears should be nice to each other because they can be friends.” We all love teddy bears.

We learned all about being healthy and that we need to eat healthy food to have strong bones and a healthy heart. We need to exercise and not spend too much time watching TV or playing video games. We need to brush our teeth to keep them clean and we should have regular doctor and dental checkups to be sure we are healthy.

In March we will be learning about nocturnal animals. There are many animals that sleep in the day and stay awake at night time and it’s fun to learn all about them. We’ll also learn about our five senses and how our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin help us. And we always hope to have a visit from the leprechauns in March–we’ll have to wait and see.

We’re over half way through the year—it’s going so fast. This is such a special group of children, happy, cooperative, inclusive and fun. We’re all really enjoying our year together.

Vicki, Karen and Meghan

NEWS FROM PAT, TONIA AND NIKKI’S PRE-K

March is in our sights. February will be a distant memory. But it was fun while it lasted! Valentine’s Day always makes it special. Hope you enjoyed the party on Saturday. Weren’t the pictures adorable? I thought so.

Pre-K just loves to fill up those cereal boxes with 32 of their friends’ Valentines (WOW). They made some other Valentine’s for special people. Alison: “I gave one to my Dad because I really love him.” Katie: “I like giving them to my friends.” Avery S.: “I gave one to my brother and sister. They are Twins. They are fun to play with.” Lucas: “I gave one to Dylan because we play games together.” Kaila: “I gave my Mom a valentine because I love her and she loves me back all the time.” Caroline: “I gave one to my brother, Katie, and Adria. Sometimes we have fun playing babies and jewelry at my house.” Olivia: “My sister is special. I like playing with my unicorn puzzle and she helps me.” Lila: “I gave my Papa a valentine because Papa and me and brother play a dice game after he picks me up from school. I love Papa..” Henry: “I like getting valentines from Mommy! I love her so much.” Kieran: “I gave my brother Aidan one because he is nice to me and we play bubbles.” These children do see why their friends and family are important in their lives.

Clarke had some excitement at his house on Feb.17^th. “I’m happy to have a new baby brother. His name is Henry. He is 4 days old today. He has dark hair.” Congratulations to the Waterbury family, Emily, Alex Clarke,Griffin and Henry.:))

Clifford the Big Red Dog is a favorite. We made Clifford ears and dog bones. We made puppets and put them up on the walls and it looked like a dog park. Avery J. comments, “Clifford is really tall. He can’t fit in the house so he sleeps outside in his BIG dog house.” McKenzie: “Clifford has a special friend, Emily Elizabeth, and he carries her all around the world on his back.” Natalie: “When Clifford went to the circus he dressed up as a clown and made everyone laugh.” Mackie: “He dressed up as an elephant in the Circus Parade, too. Clifford has two dog friends. There is Cleo, she is a poodle, and T Bone. Clifford is a good dog.”

Our VIPs in February included Gracie, James, Caroline, and Mackie. The children shine with pride on their special day. Having you there is the icing on their cake. Getting up in front of a group is often fun and exciting. It can also be a little stressful, but it gives the opportunity to develop strategies and abilities to meet social challenges successfully. Thanks for all your support.

I would like to thank the parents who have read stories to the children after lunchtime this month: Avery W.’s grandma and Arnav’s mom. If you would like to read a story or two, sign up on the calendar.

In March, our theme will be “Around the World”. We will make passports, explore California, then pack our suitcases and have an imaginary trip. We will go to Hawaii, Mexico, Ireland, Costa Rica(rain forest), Africa, England, Egypt and home. “It is always good to be back Home.”

We welcome parents in the classroom to share their knowledge of other countries they have visited and enjoyed. We would love to have you come between 9:15-9:45am. Check with us to put your name on our calendar.

We continue to work on letters, numbers, and other readiness skills for Kindergarten.

We appreciate your confidence in our capability to affect the quality of your child’s preschool experience.

Pat, Tonia and Nikki

NEWS FROM LAUREEN AND MANAL’S PRE-K

February was such a fun-filled month! We discovered all kinds of interesting facts about “Clifford the dog“. We were challenged with opposites, sequences and rhyming. We had too much fun at our Pajama Pancake Party for the letter “P”. Everyone loved the pancakes! Some with syrup, some with butter, some with syrup and butter and some plain! We also explored tools and buildings. And, of course, we shared the love during Valentine’s Day. Many thanks to all the families who donated treats for our Valentine celebrations. The children were so sweet and thoughtful while passing out their cards. It is so refreshing to see that a simple Princess or Lightning McQueen card can make us feel so good!

During “P” Week we explored fairy tales and nursery rhymes. The children love when we start a story “Once upon a time…” We did a fun journal page where they had to draw and dictate a start of a fairy tale; here is what they told us: Livia: A princess lived in a castle with a “snap” mother. She didn’t let her go to the ball. Caroline: There was a goofy eye monster wizard that turned into a spider. Jacob: The mountain blew up and cooled down in the ocean. Nina: The step mother went to the ball. She lost her ring. Carson: A googly eye monster woke up when he heard footsteps. Jenna: There was a prince who went to the ball and had fun with a princess. Zubin: A grey guy had a fight with a blue guy and it was over. Jemima: My sisters was home from the ball and she became nicer. Mikaela: There was a princess who went to the ball and danced at the castle. Zach: Me and my dad were working together. I was using the drill. I build a house. Luca: A volcano erupted and lots of lava flowed on everyone. Eav: A princess went to the castle and lost her shoe, the princess was named Eav. Xavier: A Wolcano erupted because the bad guys got the treasure. Bianca: There were 3 princess sisters in a beautiful castle. Xander: There was a full moon, a big timber wolf and the people built a rocket. Reid: The monster that was scary, scared everybody. Matt: There was a monster, a dragon fly and they rode the waves all the way to the grass. Natalie: T-rex was trying to eat me and I ran away. Erin: A princess went to the ball. She wore a blue gown. The step mother didn’t see her.

This month we also explored some of our favorite Dr. Suess books. We practiced rhyming words for The Cat in The Hat, and constructed our own “Cats”. We marbled painted Red Fish Blue Fish, and of course made my favorite, “Green Eggs and Ham”. It always surprises me how many children really “do like green eggs and ham”. This year I am happy to say we had 97% try and like them!!!

During morning circle we ALL can recognize and spell our names. We now have to ask for our favorite job in a complete sentence. We added some new songs to our song bag, get to pick which question the tapper asks and when we are the weather helper, we have to sound out the correct words! The children are becoming very proficient with the calendar and are very proud when we can’t stump them with our questions. Learning can be so fun!

The children are also becoming very confident in their writing of each letter and also in naming the sound (phonemes) each letter represents. We will continue with our alphabet sharing as it is an integral part of our Pre-K classroom: Not only does it give us a chance to get to know your child better, but it allows your child to practice speaking in front of their peers.

March themes will be exploring “transportation“, and we will begin our Month long unit on “Around the World”. The children will get to make their own passport and suitcase and explore a different country and culture every day for the month of March. Some of the countries we will visit are:USA,Mexico,Italy,France,Ireland,Egypt,Mexico, Africa,England, and the Rainforest. If you or a relative have traveled to or are from another country, we would love to have you come talk to us about it. Just let us know.

Also, if you haven’t done so, please sign up on the calendar for your special VIP day. The children are getting very excited about their turn at this now.

Once again, Manal and I want to thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us each day. They touch our lives everyday as we hope we touch theirs.

Happy Spring!

Laureen and Manal

NEWS FROM APRIL AND MITZI’S T-K

It is hard to believe that we are more then half way through the school year. The children are progressing wonderfully. You can see it in so many areas. Their drawings are filled with so much more detail. Their letter formation is advancing and sight word recognition is really coming along well. It is amazing to see how they have adapted with speed in learning our weekly ‘letter’ book strips and monthly chants. Very impressive! Emotionally they are maturing and learning how to socialize successfully with one another. They have really become a tight knit group with each of them enhancing our group and adding their special and unique qualities. We are so proud of each and every one of our students and their many accomplishments thus far!

February has been such a fun, love filled month. We started out the month focusing on the themes “love, friendship and Valentines Day.” We talked about how to be a friend and how to show people we care about them, and love them. We had a great two day Valentine’s party which included a Valentine exchange, special treats from some of our TK families, and a very special ‘love potion’ drink containing a special ingredient which, once added and sipped, caused the children to fall in love with the first person they laid eyes on!!!! Here are some of their hilarious thoughts and comments on this………

Niklas was one of the first children to comment about what was about to happen, and one of our most concerned students. He first questioned, “How long does it last!?” Almost brought to tears, and “Does it last Forever?” Followed by considering, “What if I spit it out!?” And concluding, with much relief, “I didn’t even fall in love with anybody!”

Logan was very popular, with as many as four of the girls instantly falling in love with him, but alas when asked who captured his heart he replied, “I am in love with Mia!”

Delaney was not exactly bitten by the love bug but found the potion delicious saying, “It’s sooooo good! I want seconds!”

Yovela felt the love all around, saying, “I am in love with everyone!”

Nate, the rationalist, was a bit disappointed adding, “Nothing happened to me.”

Everett felt a close friendship bond, explaining, “I fell in love with Ryan.”

From the mouths of babes. To be young again!…

We also had great fun celebrating our 100^th. Day of school! The children were so cute exclaiming, “We did it! We made it!” Clapping excitedly! This was also a great math moment as the children learned that by bundling our 10 groups of 10 straw counters, and placing them in the hundreds pocket of our pocket chart signified 100 days of school. Budding math wizards! We also celebrated by making 100^th day crowns and a paper chain where each child contributed by making a group of links that once combined with everyone’s equaled one hundred links. Before making our paper chain we asked the class to use their estimating skills and make a smart guess as to how far the paper chain would reach around the classroom. Liam was right on the money, guessing that the chain would stop at the next corner of the room. Way to go!

We have made it all the way to Letter Ss. The children do such a great job thinking of words that begin with our letter of the week as well as identifying letter sounds in the middle and end of the words. Great job!

The children are excitedly anticipating our field trip to Toni La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, aka ARF, where we will get to interact hands on with a couple of special arf animals. Nicole is especially excited about this, adding, “I want to pet every kitty!” Dylan commented when looking at one of our pet books, “Rosie the Rottweiler”, “This is about my dog I used to have who went to heaven.” Max was so sweet saying, “I would adopt all the dogs and take care of them!” This coincides with our concluding theme, ‘Pets’, in which we will learn about different pets and responsible pet ownership. We will also make a fun pet graph including photos of your children’s pets, or a picture or drawing of a pet your child is interested in.

March is going to be a great month! We will focus on many themes including St. Patrick’s Day, a favorite of the children’s when the leprechauns tend to run amok in our classroom often times leaving fun and green clues of their presence. Community helpers will be equally exciting; we are looking forward to Luke’s Dad, the fireman, visiting us and teaching us about his extremely important job and fire safety. Thank you Luke’s family for your time.

Thank you also to Mia’s family, Delaney’s family,Tyler’s family and Niklas’ family for the delicious Valentine treats!

We are also looking forward to another fun filled field trip to the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek to partake in the thrilling performance Percussion Discussion.

We are having such a wonderful time with your children. It is truly a great year.

Thank you for sharing your dear little ones with us. They bring joy to our hearts!

Ms. April and Ms. Mitzi