Busy Bees! March 2013

March has come and gone in a blur of Easter services, Spring Break, and Easter Break and we are already half way through April with no sign of slowing down! It certainly feels that a general sense of 'busy' is in the air and it is at this time of year, with the weather still predominantly chilly, rainy and zapping our energy that we need to remember to take the time to appreciate the most important things in life: our families, friends and taking care of ourselves so that we can be there for those special people when they need us most.



Easter Services

I myself have been incredibly busy with preschool commitments, university exams to study for and a very exciting move to a new home for myself and my daughters Ayla and Kaitlyn. During the move and for 2 weeks after we had no television or Internet and we never realised how used to these modern commodities we actually are.

At first we all felt a bit lost but then I noticed the imaginative play that was taking place between my daughters (in amongst the packing boxes!) and how much extra reading we were doing. It made me realise that although technology is a wonderful and necessary component in our lives, having it so readily available to my girls had stopped them from interacting with one another as much and had been more of a draw to them than sitting quietly with a good book. Truthfully it had become much more than a component, it had taken over.

 

Singing loud and proud!

Now that we have cable and Internet back again I am determined not to let it have such a presence in our lives. I sat down with my girls and we discussed how we could make sure that we aren't falling into old habits and we decided on one screen free night per week and more limited screen time on the other days. The funny thing is, that the girls are embracing this new minimal screen lifestyle much more easily than I am! I find myself reaching for my laptop or phone constantly and they take great pleasure in reminding me that it's "screen free night!"

 Now we are spending more time playing games, cooking together, talking and reading and I have noticed a positive difference in my stress level and in the amount of quality time that I am spending with my girls.

I know that the Internet and smart phones are here to stay, and believe me I don't want to live without them, but I am realising more and more that we need to make time for those old fashioned mediums of reading and writing and talking face to face! 

Performing on stage!



I truly believe that reading is one of the best things we can do with our children. Every night me and my girls sit cuddled together on the sofa, with blankets wrapped around us as we enter the world of all the wonderful characters from the minds of children's storytellers, Roald Dahl, A.A. Milne and Beatrix Potter, to name just a few. Hearing my children laugh during these stories at all the same parts I remember laughing at when I was a child is a very special feeling. I'm not really sure if we would get that same cozy feeling while looking on the Internet together, (well perhaps you can while giggling over the funny cats on youtube!) but nothing beats turning the pages of a book and hearing your mum or dad's (or grandma or uncle's..) voice doing "the voices" of your favourite story!

This month I asked our teachers to let me know some of their favourite stories to read with young children and here's what they said:

Joanna: "Lost and Found" by Oliver Jeffers

Permjit: "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr Suess

Gabi: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle

Jen: "The Alfie Treasury" by Shirley Hughes

Marion: "Storm is Coming" by Heather Tekavec

Tina: "The Big Red Barn" by Margaret Wise Brown

Estelle: "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey

Sali: "The Mitten" by Jan Brett

Stephanie: "Love you Forever" by Robert Munsch

Vibha: "Where's Spot?" by Eric Hill

Danielle: "We love you, Little Critter!" by Mercer Mayer

Karen: "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown

Krystal: "How Full is your Bucket? For Kids" by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer

Rachel: "Pinkalicious" by Victoria Kann

Libby: "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds

Cheryl: "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev

From the Developmental Resource Office  Marion

Registration has begun for the Summer Program in July and the morning sessions are full already! There are still spots open in the afternoons (1-4pm) and you can still go on a wait-list for mornings. Registration forms will now be available from the preschool office. We are looking forward to a fun Summer with “Kings, Queens, Castles and Things” as our theme.

Wearing our Jeans in support of BC Children's Hospital!

April 22^nd – 26^th is Jean’s Week here at St. Catherine’s and we will be painting tiny jean cut-outs and collecting money in the upside down umbrellas in each classroom for the B.C. Children’s Hospital. Please send your child in jeans, jean skirts and jackets and lets all have fun celebrating the wonderful work the hospital does for so many children. 

The lists are up outside the classrooms as to where the 4’s will be attending Kindergarten.  This is a great way to connect children with other children through play dates before September. The teachers have been working on letters and the children are encouraged to try writing their own names on art work and journals. Letter games are a fun way for children to find the letters that make up their own name. You can purchase a fun fly swatter at the Dollar Store and place letters around the house. Have a duplicate set of letters on a table and have your child take a letter and find the corresponding letter with the swatter. If you have any questions please talk to your teachers or come down to my office. 

From Creative Music  Cheryl



I might have lived inside a shell if I had been a snail!

The month of March and into April was a busy time for all the children and teachers. The Easter Service is so much fun but requires a lot of practise and repetition in order for everyone to learn their songs, actions and instruments by the time of the performances. Of course everyone did a fantastic job and the services were absolutely beautiful and a great time was had by all. I am so proud of all the children, they worked so hard!

I would like to say an extra big thank you to all the teachers because without their dedication to learning all the songs and putting in the extra time outside of music classes it would not be possible to coordinate this fantastic event.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to Marion for all her behind the scenes work and tireless prop making as well as spending lots of extra time rehearsing with us, we are truly thankful for all that you do! 

From the Discovery 2's Danielle, Estelle, Vibha, Karen, Gabi, Cheryl



Gorgeous hand print spring flowers!

 Spring has sprung, the butterflies and bumblebees are out, we are back at school after a short break and it is amazing how quickly the seasons change. This month we focused on farm animals and Easter. For art we used feathers for painting, stamped with animal shapes, painted with a tractor's wheels, coloured eggs and hid them in the grass and made a farm collage that included pigs in the mud, painted ducks and bunnies coloured with condensed milk!

Our circle time included books such as the "Runaway Bunny" "Little Red Hen" "5 Little Ducks" and lots of stories about the Easter Bunny. We also sang many songs; a favourite was definitely Old MacDonald had a farm and the children got so excited naming animals and making the animal sounds.




Buzzy bees and Butterflies!

We put out lots of plastic eggs which the children had fun hiding around the classroom and finding with their friends. They looked so sweet peeking behind things and putting their eggs into little baskets and never got tired of hiding them all over again. Another fun thing we did was to put shredded paper into the water table for the animals to 'nest' in!

Now that we are in April we will be talking about Spring; as always if you have any questions or concerns please talk, call or email us.

From the Rainbow Room 301  Sali, Joanna, Karen

Here we are with another month of activities and learning behind us. March was a month full of many different activities. At the beginning we finished learning about winter and all the different things we need to keep us warm when it is cold outside.



Happy Daffodils!

 As we moved closer to springtime we started to learn about all the different animals that live on a farm.  We made cuddly sheep and muddy pigs! The children made footprint horses and square shaped cows. Our St. Catherine’s farmyard got full very fast with all sorts of different animals. The children also made shaving foam/puffy paint bunnies. Of course the children enjoyed singing Old MacDonald had a farm and also learning new songs like down on Grandpa’s farm, singing all about different animals that live on a farm and this song taught us to learn and think about how all the animals look or sound.



St. Catherine's Farmyard!

After Spring Break the children enjoyed talking about Easter. Everyone had fun making Easter eggs and chicks. While the children were playing outside, on the last day before the Easter Break, the Easter Bunny visited the classroom and left the children a chocolate surprise! The children had such a great time searching the classroom for the chocolate eggs left behind. Once the children had found all their eggs they enjoyed helping their friends find the remaining eggs.

Thank you for all the hard work you are doing at home in order to get your children ready for the four year old program. Just the other day we were commenting on how independent these children have become and how they are almost ready to make that great move up to their four year old class! Now is the time to reinforce these new skills with positive reinforcement and encouragement.

From the Treehouse Room 302  Rachel, Stephanie and Joanna

Wow there's only a few months left in the school year but it truly feels like it was only yesterday that we were just meeting everyone and getting to know each other and the classroom routines. Now we are watching these very grown up, confident little people ready to move up to the fours in just a few short months!



How many eggs do I have in my basket?

We been talking about Easter in our class. The children have been busy making Easter bunnies, colourful Easter eggs, and decorating colourful Easter baskets for the Easter Bunny to fill! They also enjoyed playing a game pretending to be the Easter bunny and finding chocolates.

Five little Easter eggs,

Lovely colours wore; 

Mother ate the blue one, 

Then there were four. 

Four little Easter eggs,

Two and two, you see; 

Daddy ate the red one, 

Then there were three. 

Three little Easter eggs, 

Before I knew, 

Sister ate the yellow one,

Then there were two. 

Two little Easter eggs,

Oh, what fun! 

Brother ate the purple one,

Then there was one. 

One little Easter egg, 

See me run!!! 

I ate the last one, 

And then there was none.

The children were also very busy practising for our Easter Services which were so much fun! We hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the children's hard work in action as well as spending time altogether for the Easter tea.

From the Treehouse Room 303/403  Vibha, Sali and Stephanie

Hoppity hop Easter was on its way! The classrooms seemed to fill up so quickly with eggs and bunnies all over! The children really enjoyed playing the Easter bunny game, where one child was the Easter bunny and had to figure out which friend was hiding their egg. For art we made chicks out of cotton pads and out of toilet paper rolls and cut out egg shapes to make chicks using out hand prints as their wings.We also talked about the life cycle of chicks and how they are born. 

We experimented with a variety of different tools to decorate eggs. We used watercolours and pipettes, marble painting, and a wax candle with a watercolour finish. We used some of the eggs to put up on our "Splat the Cat" board. The children helped bring this Easter story to life! 

We decorated Easter baskets, created paper bag bunnies, dyed hard boiled eggs, and baked rainbow coloured cupcakes. 

We were so excited when the Easter Bunny came to visit our classroom. None of us saw him but he left us a note and a special treat inside the classroom. We each got to find 5 chocolate eggs! That was a real adventure. Some eggs were tricky to find. 

We talked a little about St.Patrick's Day. The children decorated shamrocks with green glitter and tissue paper to celebrate this fun day. 



Cotton Pad Chicks!

With our fours we have started our journals. Each week the children are going to draw a picture and tell us a story about what they have drawn, which we will write down in their journals. Sometimes we might let them choose what to draw or we might give them an idea. We will also give them pictures once in awhile and they can tell us what they see and what is happening. Journals are a great way for the children to express themselves and use their imagination.  

As the weather is getting warmer, we will be going outside more often. Please ensure that your child has proper running shoes on, thank you!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to any of the teachers. 

From the Treehouse Room 401  Rachel, Stephanie and Krystal

We can't believe how fast the school year has gone by and we are starting to think about graduation and saying goodbye to our friends as we move on to new experiences at new schools. Check out our notice board outside the classroom to see which schools everyone will be going to for Kindergarten and perhaps arrange a playdate with some children that will be going to the same one as you!

We've been doing an Easter theme in our classroom this past month and getting excited  for the Easter Bunny to come!

Hop hop hop Little bunnies!

The children have made some wonderful pieces of art for this holiday including beautiful pictures of Easter baskets with Easter eggs. For this art project the children traced their hands and cut them out to make the handles for their Easter baskets.They also made Easter bunny paper bag puppets!

A song the children really enjoyed was 5 Little Bunnies (to the tune of 5 little ducks)

5 Little Bunnies at Easter time.
Went to the carrot patch far away,
Mummy bunny called them all right back.
But only 4 of her little baby bunnies came back.

We are now conducting some science experiments in our classroom. We have a presentation board showcasing our experiments outside our classroom so take a look whenever you get the chance!

From the Downunder Room 402/404  Libby, Permjit, Gabi and Joanna



Our Bean Stalks!

Spring was in the air and it was time to begin planting. We planted Sunflower seeds in small peat pots so that when the seeds sprout, the pot can be easily planted directly into the garden. Zip lock bags became the container for our bean seeds and were stapled to our large board to be the base for our beanstalk (we never did see the giant!).

Long green caterpillars were next, made from different shades of green circles, lots of legs and eyes and covered in glue and sparkles. They were crawling around the room in no time and really made the walls look bright and cheerful. We learned that caterpillars become beautiful butterflies and we made ours from diffusing paper and watercolour paint. When the paper dried it was squished between a 'spring' clothes peg and voila - a butterfly! They joined the beans on the board and when the beans began to sprout through the top of the zip lock bag we had a living beanstalk on the wall with butterflies fluttering around it.

Bunnies, eggs and ducks were everywhere in the classroom as we began our celebration for Easter. We had great fun drawing designs on our hard-boiled eggs and then dipping them in watercolour. When they dried we put them in our Easter baskets. The Easter Bunny left a note and some clues to where he had hidden some eggs for us to find. Great fun was had as we searched in the classroom and squeals of delight were heard when the eggs were found.



Water Table fun!

Emily Carr, our famous B.C. artist was our next project. We learned about her early childhood and how lonely she was because her parents would not allow her to have friends over to play (they thought they would infect her with their germs!) Instead she had imaginary friends; a pet monkey and a dog. She drew on brown paper grocery bags because she had no drawing paper and so did we!

Emily travelled to San Fransisco, France and England to study art but always came back to her beautiful B.C. She opened an art school in downtown Vancouver and as she grew older she began to visit the Firsts Nations villages on the West Coast and this became the inspiration for the vast majority of her paintings. She had a great affinity for the West Coast First Nations people and they named her "Klee Wyk" which means "laughing one".

We began our Emily Carr art projects by making a personal totem and a native totem made from a cardboard tube, decorated with interesting bits of wood and paper. our representation of nature masks were next and then a really messy and very fun nature picture.



Space Supplies!

Next we made button blankets - miniature of course - they looked beautiful with lovely patterns and then it was on to our "Piece De Resistance" weaving with feathers, pipe cleaners, wool and raffia on a large forked branch.

Currently we are exploring Outer Space, so watch out for rockets and space stations when you enter our classroom!

Please come and talk to us if you have any questions or concerns.

Dates to remember:

April 22-25: Jeans week

April 26: St. Catherine's Teachers Professional Day (No Preschool)

April 29: An Evening with Christopher Burt M.A. (Tickets are selling fast! Pop by the office and get yours before they are all gone!)

To contact us or for more information:

Tel: 604-980-1326
Fax: 604982-3277
Email: stcpre@telus.net
Website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com
Facebook: Please "Like" our page: St. Catherine's Childcare Society.