June news 2018

From The Director

Last month’s graduation went well. All of the children gave a wonderful singing performance in church. We will miss all of the families that are leaving and hope that God continues to keep them in His care. Thank you to all the parents and children for the gifts during teacher appreciation week.

Ms. Tiffany will be back on Monday, June 3, 2019. Her working hours have changed to 9:00 a.m. until 5:30 pm. Monday through Friday to help accommodate to her new life as a “Mommy.”

Summer calendars have been passed out to all the parents. If for some reason you did not receive one please stop by the office for another copy. I have planned a lot of fun activities and I hope that all of your children enjoy the program. A few staff members have vacation this month, including myself. Ms. Jasmin will be on vacation June 10-14. Then I will taking another small vacation. I know I just took one but I still have the time and some of my family members will be joining us. Once again Ms. Kim will open as my substitute and Ms. Rita will be here until closing.In July, Ms. Beth, Ms. Rita and Ms. Liz will take vacations. I will give updates on exactly when next month.

We will hold a parent night on June 14th at 6:30 p.m. At this event we will serve ice cream sundaes for snack. The children will sit with you at circle time for a story. Then you will make a parent /child art and craft project. It is a fun night for everyone to enjoy each other’s company and relax. We hope to see you there!

New children will be joining the school and others moving up to different classes, so it is possible to see changes in your child’s behavior. The children may say they don’t want to come to school because some of their friends are leaving or transitioning to the next class. Please reassure your child that they will move up to the next class when there is space available. Please let us know if they start to exhibit these fears and we will also assist in helping them adjust to their new experience. Most of the children are extremely happy to move up to the next class, but everyone is different. At the end of the month, we are having a water balloon toss outside. On June 25, dress your child in a swim suit under their clothes. Please bring a towel. The children should wear their regular shoes to school. No water shoes or flip flops.

We wish all of our Dads a Happy Father’s day. We are going to have a fun summer!

In God’s service,

Marie Ostrowski

From The Dolphins

As we head into our summer program we begin to say our goodbyes to the Pre-K graduates who are leaving the school. I am so proud of the growth I have seen in these wonderful young children. I will miss all of the children and their families. It was a pleasure getting to know all of them and I truly appreciate their participation and generosity.

We are all excited to start our summer program. Each day is a different theme and they all should be really fun. Some of my favorites are: silly hair day, puppy day, and pony ride day. We will do activities that correlate with the theme of the day. On silly hair day we will have a pretend hair salon. We will make silly hairdos the Barbie doll head that is in our classroom. On puppy day we will read stories about dogs and play pet store in the dramatic play area. On pony day we will do a music and movement to the song “Cowboy Dance.”

The children may bring books to school as often as they like. I enjoy reading the books to class and they enjoy it as well. It helps promote their self-esteem when their peers enjoy and comment on the books. This also promotes a love for literacy that can last throughout their lives. Toys should be kept at home until we resume our share days in September. A cuddly stuffed animal is always welcome for naptime!

Please check the children’s extra clothes boxes and add some clothes for warm weather. Please apply sunscreen on your child each morning before coming to school. I will re-apply the sunscreen as needed throughout the summer.

I hope everyone has a wonderful month!

Ms. Kim

From The Dolphin 2 Class

I would like to thank everyone for the thoughtful gifts and cards I received during teacher appreciation week. I am truly blessed to work with such wonderful children and families. Our graduates are very proud of themselves.

We are excited that summer has begun. Hopefully the weather will start to warm up. Please refer to the monthly summer calendar to keep up with the daily theme. This month we are going to decorate our classroom with an ocean theme. We will decorate the bulletin board and the ceiling with ocean themed art projects. We will sharpen our math skills by playing a game called Fishing for Numbers. The children really enjoy playing this game. Another activity I have planned is to let the children play with toy sea creatures in the sand box and at the water table.

An enrichment activity that you might want to do with your children could be to see real sea creatures. The Aquarium of the Pacific is a wonderful place to visit for interactive learning for children of all ages. It is located in Long Beach and is a lot of fun.

This month we will work on learning to use our classroom library. We will discuss and demonstrate how to look at books, how to put books back properly in the bookshelf, and how to treat books appropriately. Lately the children have been throwing or stepping on them. This an important skill for them to learn as they venture off to kindergarten next year. We will practice how to use our quiet voice in the library.

Ms. Debbie and Ms. Jasmin

From the Seahorses

Wow! The school year flew by and now we begin our summer program. Take a look at the summer calendar for all the exciting fun to come. May was blooming with our study of the parts of a flower and how they grow. We watched white flowers change color by putting them in a vase containing water and food coloring. The flowers drank the colored water and absorbed the color. This showed us just how water moves through a flower. The class also saw the church garden blossom with roses that have so many colors. It was beautiful!

The children also learned about various types of music like opera and jazz through the stories Soap Opera by Jim Gill, Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler and Hepcat by William Bramhall. The class worked on tempo, pitch and dynamics. We enjoyed playing musical instruments like drums, maracas and castanets. We took our study of music into the world of art with The Noisy Paintbox by Barb Rosenstock. From there the class read several books by Laurence Anholt such as Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail and Van Gogh and the Sunflowers. The children made mosaic collages, sunflower prints and watercolor lilies. They created their own art gallery of masterpieces.

We finished out the month with an adventure into storytelling. The class read Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland. We discussed “beginning, middle and end,” the sequence that makes up a story. Then the children wrote their own incredible storybooks.

As we journey into June, the class will study the anatomy of an insect. We will read and talk about ladybugs, butterflies and spiders. We will discuss their life cycles and how they contribute to nature. The children will make butterfly and dragonfly art projects. Then on Kite day the children will fly their projects. Another activity is to create paper chain caterpillars and busy bees. In addition, the class will explore nature outdoors to see what they can find. We will count plastic insects for math at learning centers. It should be great fun. Ever since we set our butterflies free, the children have been asking questions like “Do ladybugs bite?” or “Do worms have eyes?” Stay tuned for the answers to these questions and many more.

Also coming up this month is our annual Parent Night on Friday, June 14th. It’s a wonderful glimpse into a day in the life of your child. I hope you can join us.

Jitterbugging into June,

Ms. Beth

From The Starfish

It has been a wonderful school year with all of the children and families. The children have grown and blossomed in many developmental areas. During preschool years, language development takes off as they learn more words and use more complex sentences. I have seen this happen in the class as the children are engaging in deeper conversations.

Last month, the children were interested in playing family roles and learning about various foods such as vegetables and desserts. Their favorite songs are “Peanut Butter and Jelly” and “If All of the Raindrops.” In the area of art, they enjoyed finger painting on paper vegetable cutouts and making bell pepper prints with paint. They also listened to a story about which foods are healthy to eat and the ones that are not. In the dramatic play area, the children were busy with pretend cooking, preparing meals, and learning to set the table. The children continue learning to problem solve conflicts with peers, play cooperatively, and be kind with one another.

I would like to thank all of the families for the gratitude of love, gifts, flowers, and treats that were sent during Teacher Appreciation Week. I appreciate all the wonderful notes and messages. Moreover, I would like to thank all parents for coming in for parent-teacher conference time.

Summertime is here! As the days get warmer, we will have lots of fun time and outdoor activities. Please review the summer calendar daily to see the highlight of the day. Please make sure all children are at school by 9:15 to experience the full fun. On June 4, the children will come to school with a silly hair style for Silly Hair Day.

I look forward to a fun summer!

Ms. Frannie

From The Turtles

The class has had an exciting and educational time with Ms. Stacy. They did some really fun arts and crafts projects. They sang some fun songs such as “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Baby Shark.”

The children had so much fun dressing up in costumes in the classroom. One child dressed up in a puppy costume. Two children wore dinosaur costumes. Another was a princess. The two-year olds were so excited when they put on the costumes. They jumped up and down and said “Look at me!” The Turtles have really come a long way in using their manners at mealtimes. They say “Milk please!” and they say “Thank you!”

Happy Summer Everyone!

Ms. Marie and Ms. Stacy

From The Assistant Director

It has been a great school year for the children and the staff. The summer program begins June 3rd and it will be a lot of fun. I am going to miss the children and the families who are leaving during the summer. It was great getting to know them all. I am grateful for all of their generosity at Christmas and during Teacher Appreciation Week. The teachers and staff were showered with delicious lunches, treats, and awesome gifts. It made all of us feel very special.

I would like to remind the parents about nut allergies. If there is a party or event that calls to bring food, please keep in mind to make it nut free.

The teachers will be updating the children’s sunscreens and will notify the parents if they need to bring in new sunscreen.

I hope everyone has a super first month of summer!

Ms. Rita