February is such a lovely month here at preschool. We focus on friendship, kindness, family, love, respect and care of one another. Although we often think that caring and kindness come naturally (which is true to some degree) we also need to realise that the choices we make are what makes us kind and respectful people. Children at this age are still learning to make choices and it's not always easy to make the caring choice when you REALLY want that baby doll and someone else is playing with it!
Recently I was faced with one of those difficult choices when I scratched a van in the Capilano University parking lot. I was backing into the spot and managed to scratch the door of a work van with my wing mirror. We all know that sinking feeling when we do something like that and the panic which follows after! The funny thing was that NOBODY was around to witness my mistake, bizarre on a busy university campus, and for a few seconds I considered driving away and parking somewhere else. Then I thought about what we try and teach our preschoolers every day. Sometimes the kind choice, the respectful one, is the hardest one to make.
I wrote a note, left it on the windshield, and walked away feeling light and happy, knowing that whatever happened next, I had done the right thing.
Teaching children from an early age that we all make mistakes but it's our choices AFTER those mistakes happen that really matters, and having the confidence and integrity to admit when we have made a mistake, is just as important to our future success as academic achievements. I think here at St. Catherine's we realise the need for balance in children's lives and strive to promote a love of learning, while maintaining a love of our planet and an understanding of our fellow human beings.
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| Owl Babies by Martin Waddell |
"The plain fact is that the planet does not need more 'successful' people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these needs have little to do with success as our culture has defined it."
A note from the Church...
A big thank you to all who contributed to the mountain of toiletries collected in February. We were able to deliver large quantities of soap, shampoo, lotion etc. to the Homeless Shelter, Women’s Safe House, Youth Safe House, the Harvest Project and the “Young Wolves Lodge” -all of whom were very grateful. Start saving for next year!
From the resource office: Marion
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| Almost the whole rink to myself! |
On Wednesday March 6th we had our annual 4's skating party at Harry Jerome Rec Centre. We provided skates and helmets for those who needed them through the ice-rental shop and then it was on to the ice!
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| Having fun! |
There was lots of action on the rink with many children demonstrating their ice-skating skills while others were experiencing skating for the very first time with the help of a scooter bar. Parents and children commented on how much fun they had and we know this is a popular event for the staff too who really enjoy spending time doing something so different with their preschoolers!
The Rec Centre staff were great and everyone enjoyed spending time with family, friends and finishing up with a hot chocolate, marshmallows, and cookies as they came off the ice.
Creative Music: Cheryl
This month we spent our time discovering the feel and sounds of some new instruments. A very exciting one was the Communal Drum! This large drum is perfect for preschoolers to come together and play as group.
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| 404's Dragon Dance! |
My Paddle's clean and bright.
Flashing with silver,
Strong as the wild goose flight.
Dip, dip and swing.
Another song we enjoyed was Frere Jacque in which we had to play, sing, wait and rotate!
As it is almost Easter we have started to learn the songs we will be sharing with our families at the Easter Services taking place in April.
From the Discovery 2's: Vibha, Danielle, Cheryl, Gabi, Estelle, Karen, Krystal.
Celebrating both Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year in the past month gave us the perfect opportunity to emphasise and practise some of the basic social skills which our youngest preschoolers have been learning since the beginning of the school year.
One of our themes was “Feelings” and we talked about sharing, caring, helping and all the other positive ways we communicate with each other. It is becoming very evident how much all the children have learnt and grown in so many ways! It is extremely hard for a two year old to part with a toy, or a book that they are holding, yet more then once we have witnessed a little boy or girl (voluntarily!) hand something over to their peers with a happy, proud smile.
We all enjoyed dressing in pink and red, working with heart-shaped materials: paper, plastic, fabric strips, play-dough or rubber. We changed the water table into a huge rice container filled with sparkles and chopsticks to help work on those smaller muscles.
We sang happy songs about love, friendship and families. “The more we get together” “Miss Polly had a Dolly” and “If you're happy and you know it” were some favourites. During Circle Time we played memory games, listened to felt board stories or rhymes involving dragons and hearts in many shapes and sizes; mostly in pink, red or gold.
Another area we focused on was self-help skills. Walking up and down the stairs could be challenging for tiny feet, but our toddlers understand that safety is first, and how important it is to hold the railings and stay in line. Using the toilet or the sink on their own and taking their coats off by their cubbies are all small steps towards getting ready for school.
We would like to thank all the families who brought snacks and beverages for our parties, Valentine Cards and sweets for the other families and to our staff. It warmed our hearts to know that you included us in your planning and was much appreciated!
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| Pringle tube shake painting! |
In the upcoming weeks we will be having fun expanding our knowledge on farm animals, and we will be preparing for Easter.
From the Rainbow Room 301: Joanna, Sali and Karen
Wow! February has flown by. After we finished celebrating Chinese New Year we moved onto Valentine's and this was a great opportunity to talk about caring and friendship. We read some great books such as "Clifford's First Valentine's Day" (the children love Clifford!) and "Franklin says I Love you!" in which Franklin is trying to give his mother a gift which shows how much he loves her and in the end he finds a gift which comes straight from the heart.
In February we invited the parents to come and play in the classroom with us. The children felt so proud showing their moms and dads what they do at preschool. We really appreciate all the help that the parents put in while visiting our class.
We did a short unit on Winter, talking about what we wear in cold weather and Winter sports. The children were busy decorating scarves, toques and mitts and it was quite funny because even though it was still Winter when we started our Winter theme suddenly we started getting some great weather (not that we were complaining!)
From the Rainbow Room 301: Joanna, Sali and Karen
Wow! February has flown by. After we finished celebrating Chinese New Year we moved onto Valentine's and this was a great opportunity to talk about caring and friendship. We read some great books such as "Clifford's First Valentine's Day" (the children love Clifford!) and "Franklin says I Love you!" in which Franklin is trying to give his mother a gift which shows how much he loves her and in the end he finds a gift which comes straight from the heart.
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| Beautiful! |
We learned how to say "I love you" in sign language and sang "Skinamarink, I love you!" The children enjoyed making their Valentine's bags and were so excited to give their cards to their friends. We also had our Valentine's party and really appreciate all the contributions! It is such a lovely time when the children can enjoy a special snack together.
In February we invited the parents to come and play in the classroom with us. The children felt so proud showing their moms and dads what they do at preschool. We really appreciate all the help that the parents put in while visiting our class.
We did a short unit on Winter, talking about what we wear in cold weather and Winter sports. The children were busy decorating scarves, toques and mitts and it was quite funny because even though it was still Winter when we started our Winter theme suddenly we started getting some great weather (not that we were complaining!)
We have recently started to talk about farm animals which will move us into baby animals and our Easter theme. Look out for 'Old MacDonald's Farm' on our bulletin board!
We are starting to get the children ready for 'The Fours' by focusing on independence and self-help skills. It would be great if parents could spend some time at home practising taking shoes on and off, even just for fun, when you're not rushing out the door!
We are looking forward to Spring and nice weather for playing outside.
From The Treehouse Room 302: Stephanie, Rachel and Joanna
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| 2013 is the year of the snake! |
February was a very busy month with Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day happening so close to one another. First we talked about about Chinese New Year and we looked at a Chinese calendar to see the different animals that represent each year. This year is the year of the snake. We talked about a big parade that happens with lion dancers and a dragon and how families hand out lucky red envelopes with money inside them. For art we decorated red paper lanterns with gold paint and made long snakes.
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| Party time! |
After all the excitement of Chinese New Year was over, we jumped right into Valentine's Day. This was a great opportunity to talk about friendship and feelings. We had so much fun decorating our Valentine bags for our party day and making "heart people". Thank you to everyone who brought food for our party!
With the month not over yet we decided to do some free art with the children to let them use their imagination and create anything they'd like. We used different materials such as collaging with tissue paper and tissue circles, finger painting, and roller painting. It was amazing to see how each child used the materials differently to create their beautiful and individual artwork.
Next month we will be focusing on Easter.
From the Treehouse Room 303/403: Stephanie, Sali and Vibha
It's March and we are so excited to Welcome Spring at last... Even if the weather is not cooperating! At least the flowers are starting to bloom!
February was a fun and exciting month. We had a great time welcoming the year of the snake. We made delicious fried rice and shared it at snack time and we hope that the children enjoyed their red envelopes! We decorated the classroom with lots of pink and red colours and hearts for Valentine's Day and we talked about what we love, friendship and feelings. We also made beautiful marble painting hearts and decorated paper bags with lots of hearts and glitter.
Our classroom was transformed into a fancy restaurant called CHEZ. ST CATHERINE'S. The children came dressed up in their best clothes and we had a wonderful formal party.The teachers had fun acting as the hostesses and servers! Thank you to all who brought such wonderful yummy goodies for our party.
After Valentine's, we focused on our new theme.....SHAPES AND COLOURS. The shapes that we mainly focused on were squares, triangles, circles, rectangles, ovals and diamonds. For art we created shapes with flour, salt and water in a squeeze bottle. Also, we used cookie cutter shapes to make shape prints with paint.
For colours, we talked about the three primary colours and experimented by mixing two of them together to see what would happen. We used different types of water colours on a diffusing paper to create colourful designs. Later, the children's creations were framed and displayed in the classroom.
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| Helping to prepare the fried rice! |
Our theme for March will be Easter and Spring! Have a wonderful Spring Break.
The month of February just seemed to come and go so quickly. For the first week we focused on Chinese New Year.The one thing about this celebration that brought the most excitement to the class was the dragon. We did many dragon action songs at circle time and read stories about them and we looked at a Chinese calendar to see all of the different animals which represented each year. 2013 is the year of the snake. Before the weekend of Chinese New Year, each child got a red envelope to wish them luck in the new year. For art we decorated red paper lanterns with gold paint and made snakes. We also worked together to make vegetable fried rice. The children all helped to cut up the vegetables and we tried the fried rice at snack time.
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| Looks delicious! |
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| Our classroom looks so beautiful! |
The classroom was filled with hearts with Valentine's Day fast approaching. We focused on friendship games and talking about feelings. We made a heart flower garden and decorated Valentine bags. For our Valentine's party we transformed the classroom into a fancy restaurant. It was so much fun seeing all of the children dressed up in their formal wear and the teachers became the servers and each child was served their food after looking at the menu. The children were very polite the entire time. It was truly a genuine restaurant experience! Thank you to all of the parents who brought the goodies for the party.
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| Heart flower garden. |
Next month it will be all about Easter!
The children have come such a long way since the beginning of the year. They've come together so nicely as a group. They are helpful with one another and take turns while playing and it is great to see the special relationships they have formed with each other. They have so much drive in them and they are always excited about learning new things. We can also see a change in their play. It has grown so much from the things they create to the puzzles they can put together.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak with any of the teachers.
From the Downunder Room 402/404: Permjit, Libby, Gabi and Joanna
From the Downunder Room 402/404: Permjit, Libby, Gabi and Joanna
We drew self portraits and they were put on the front of our journals.The children draw a picture in the journals every week and then the story of the picture is written by the teacher.The journals go home at the end of the year and make for some very interesting reading!
Chinese New Year was our next project and we painted a big box and decorated it to look like a very fierce dragon. Next a very long Sari was attached to the box, then the children held the side of the Sari and with musical instruments in the other hand we walked around the preschool saying "Gung Hay Fat Choi" to bring good luck to the church and the preschool. Noisy but so much fun! We also made our own little dragons, lanterns and fans.
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| Looking lovely in red! |
Well, we have had a really busy time in February.The Tribles were introduced to the children.You may have seen them on the wall; small hairy creatures whose facial expressions vary from "I am happy to be here " to "I am here but I am not going to enjoy myself!" The children have magnetic pictures of themselves which they place on the magnetic wall under the appropriate Trible.This is an excellent guide for the teachers and the other children to see how everyone is feeling and gives us the opportunity to cheer up the friends who are feeling a little down that day so that they can move themselves up to a "happier space".
We drew self portraits and they were put on the front of our journals.The children draw a picture in the journals every week and then the story of the picture is written by the teacher.The journals go home at the end of the year and make for some very interesting reading!
Chinese New Year was our next project and we painted a big box and decorated it to look like a very fierce dragon. Next a very long Sari was attached to the box, then the children held the side of the Sari and with musical instruments in the other hand we walked around the preschool saying "Gung Hay Fat Choi" to bring good luck to the church and the preschool. Noisy but so much fun! We also made our own little dragons, lanterns and fans.
Love was in the air as we celebrated Valentine's and heard the story of Saint Valentine and the reason for the celebration. Small to large valentines were everywhere. The house corner became a valentine work shop and post office and lots of cards went into the mail box and were delivered to friends. Our Valentine party was lots of fun and a big thank you to all the mums who supplied the yummy goodies.
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| Two curious young ladies. |
Then it was on to something completely different! We all became Scientists for the next two weeks and had a great time watching experiments at circle and then doing our own. Our theme was Explore, Investigate and Discover and we did just that.
We began by putting dirty pennies in salted water and then in vinegar to find out which liquid worked best to make them shine (it was vinegar).Tulips were put in water and also in blue and red food colour to see how they sucked up the water to keep them fresh.
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| Scientist at work! |
The house corner became the science lab and we were able to be real scientists as we wore our white lab coats and did our own experiments. We made raisins dance and predicted which things would sink and which would float. Magnets were used in many different ways and we also made milk dance. Ask your little scientist if they can remember how we did this, it was quite amazing!
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| Yummy! |
The best experiment of all was baking a rainbow. First we mixed up a cake mix and then divided the mix into small containers and then each child chose the food colour they liked best and that was added into the cake mix.When that was mixed to the child's satisfaction each individual mix was then carefully poured into a bundt pan and baked. Not only did we bake a rainbow we got to eat it too and it was delicious!
Next month we will be welcoming Spring, looking forward to Easter and exploring the life and art of Emily Carr.
As always if you have any concerns please come and talk to us.
A last note from Jen...
I see our teachers writing almost monthly in the blog, "please speak with us if you have any comments, questions or concerns" but I have to wonder, what does that mean to you as parents?
Recently I emailed families asking for some feedback with regards to you and your children's preschool experience here at St. Catherine's and we received some fantastic responses that were truly heart-warming to read. There was however some concern by parents that we don't give enough one-to-one feedback and that this could possibly be achieved by having parent-teacher style conferences.
After much discussion at our monthly staff meeting we came to the conclusion that this is not the way we want to go with regards to communication because at this age children still have so much developing to do, and what is considered 'typical' for one child may not be for another of the exact same age.
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| 4's shapes pictures |
We have an 'open door policy' here at St. Catherine's and this means that you are welcome to spend time in the classroom any time that you would like to. Just let the teachers know when you would like to come in!
Dates to remember:
March 18-22 Spring break - No Preschool
March 29 Good Friday - No Preschool
April 1 Easter Monday - No Preschool
April 11/12 Easter Services - More information to follow!
Tel: 604-980-1326
Please 'LIKE' our facebook page St. Catherine's Childcare Society.
To contact us or for more information:
Tel: 604-980-1326
Fax: 604-980-3277
email: stcpre@telus.net
www.stcatherineschildcaresociety.comPlease 'LIKE' our facebook page St. Catherine's Childcare Society.
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