Welcome to Preschool - September 2013

Another preschool year is in full swing here at St. Catherine's and the first month has flown by really quickly with gradual entry, meeting friends old and new, and getting to know teachers, classrooms and routines. For some of you this will be your first preschool experience and for others not so much! No matter what, we hope to make your time here at St. Catherine's special, rewarding and memorable.

As I walk through the hallways it's wonderful to hear the happy hum of chatter, songs and laughter coming from the classrooms and if I'm lucky I might just get a little visitor or two to my office throughout the day!

If you have any questions or concerns please talk with your teachers, Marion, Tina or myself (Jen). We are really lucky here at St. Catherine's to have so many people available to help with any issues that arise. Communication is so important and helps us to all be on the same page with regards to your child's preschool experience.

Jen McEneany  Staff and Program Coordinator

Hello and welcome to St. Catherine's Preschool. I came to St. Catherine's in October 2008 as a practicum student, and from the moment I walked through the doors I knew that I didn't want to leave (luckily I didn't have to!) I have since worked in the Discovery 2's and 3 year old programs before taking on the role of coordinator in 2012. I feel very lucky to work in such a caring, compassionate and supportive environment and I hope that you and your children will feel that same love and care during your time here at preschool.

I have two daughters Ayla who is 10 and Kaitlyn who is almost 7. We live in a little apartment here in North Van and feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful city. I love to spend my free time with friends and family, hiking local trails, swimming, dancing and reading.

Tina Spencer  Administrator

This is my fifth year at St. Catherine's Preschool, and I really enjoy being here. My job consists of all the registration, licensing issues and grants as well as serving on the board for several ECE related committees in the community. In addition to this I run a small business called Little Giant in which I make and sell felt board stories as well as teaching felt board story workshops.

 

I have lived and worked on the North Shore for 45 years, I have two sons Spencer and Jack and I love to spend my spare time playing baseball, camping and taking photographs.

Marion Porter   Developmental Resource Teacher 

I was raised in Montreal, moved to Newfoundland in the early 70's  and then drove across Canada in 1978. Met and married my husband Jim and had our three wonderful boys Richard, Stephen, and Derek. We are now empty nesters and enjoy taking off camping whenever we can. For over 30 years I have worked with children, especially those requiring extra support. 

I became part of the St. Catherine's family in 1997 and since that time have taken on a variety of roles from Support Teacher and Team Teacher to Coordinator before settling into my current role as Developmental Resource Teacher in 2003. My position is very unique to a preschool setting. I am the .5 teacher in all the classrooms and a liaison between community services, parents and children. For the past 15 years I have been part of the teaching team during the Summer Program in July.

I look forward to coming into work each day and seeing all the little faces and how excited they are to learn through play.

Cheryl Hebb  Music Director and 402

I am so excited to begin another year at St. Catherine's! This year as well as my role as Music Director, I am also aiding one day a week in 402. It's so much fun to be working in both the music program as well as in the classroom!

This year is my 21st year at St. Catherine's and I wouldn't change a moment. I love this preschool, the wonderful staff and board. I look forward to sharing your children's hard work and having lots of fun in the Christmas and Easter services. 

I live in a little house in the woods with my husband Jim, our 11 year old son Nathan, and our dog Indi. In my spare time I am involved in several community theatre groups.

Permjit Kaur  301, 403

I was born in Birmingham and spent most of my adult life in London. Thirteen years ago I moved to Vancouver with my husband and three wonderful children. Although I missed London at first, the beauty of Vancouver’s mountains makes me very glad to be here. I have two daughters and a son. My oldest daughter graduated from Queen’s University and is now living and working in London. My son graduated with a BSc in Genetics at University College London (UCL), and my youngest daughter is in her third year at the Sauder School of Business at UBC. I like to hike, run and vegetate with a good book!
 
I completed my ECE, special needs and Infant toddler training in England. I worked and supervised for a variety of childcare organisations mostly in inner city London. I have worked in childcare for the last 27 years and at St. Catherine’s for the last 9 years. I have worked with the 3's and 4's and am happy to be working with Gabi and Stephanie this year!

I feel very privileged to witness your children's enthusiasm to new things and experiences, and I look forward to teaching your children and having lots of fun this year.

Danielle Moore  201, 202, 204

My name is Danielle and I was born in Perth, Western Australia. Twenty years ago I travelled to Canada and fell in love with Vancouver and my husband Rick. We now have three lovely children Alyssa who is 17, Rhys who is 15 and Haylee who is 11. We love to go for walks in the North Shore mountains with our dog Shadow. My spare time is consumed with my children's activities especially soccer, as it is a big part of our weekend. We also love to watch movies and go swimming.

I have been working at St Catherine's for over 8 years now and I first worked in the 4 year old program before working with the Discovery Two's for the last several years. I really enjoy watching the youngest members of the preschool develop over the 10 months they are here.  

Estelle  Stojcic  202, 204

I completed my basic certificate in Early Childhood Education in 1993 before going on to do my Infant/Toddler and Special Needs in 2004. I've been here at St. Catherine's since 2005 and really enjoy my job!
 

I have two children; Angelique who is seven and Liliana who is four. In my spare time I like to knit, go to the park with my daughters, and shop!

I look forward to a fun filled year with your children and can't wait to see the little two's blossom and grow as the year goes on.

Vibha Sisodraker  201, 202, 204

I was born and raised in the Fiji Islands and moved with my family to Toronto when I was 15. I completed my Early Childhood Education there before moving to Vancouver in 1995. I am married and my husband and I have a beautiful daughter Ria, who was born in 2002.

Yoga, reading and Bollywood dancing are my favourite hobbies!

I joined St. Catherine's Preschool in 2006 and am thrilled to be working with the 2's this year!

Sali Chippett   302, 401

My name is Sali Chippett. I was born in England and have lived in Canada for 22 years. I have two children, a son aged 15 and a daughter aged 18, who both attended St.Catherine's preschool! I have lived near Edgemont Village for 19 years and know many families in the area. My hobbies include reading, hiking, camping, swimming, and hanging out with my kids. I also love to cook and bake. 

I have worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 20 years. I have my Early Childhood Educator licence and Infant/ Toddler licence. I have also had experience supporting children with differing abilities.

I started working at St. Catherine's in the Spring of 2012 and am very happy to be back for the new school year. St. Catherine's is a great place to work, the teachers are a great support to one another and there is always a lot of fun and laughter. I enjoy helping children develop skills such as independence, co-operation and self confidence. I love watching the children's faces as they create a piece of art, when they hear a song, or read a story that they are really excited about! I am looking forward to a great new school year and getting to know the children and families.

Karen Hamfeldt  204, 401, 402

This is my second year as part of the staff here at St. Catherine's, however I have been part of the St. Catherine's family for many years as my three children Connor, Alexis and Amanda all attended the preschool.

I thought my time at St. Catherine's was finished but it seems I just can't leave! The preschool has been a big part of my life and my children's, and I feel very fortunate to be working in a place that I feel so comfortable. 

I have wanted to work with children since I was in elementary school, but my path took a different route when I was sixteen and I fell in love with cooking. I attended VCC to take the Culinary Arts program and enjoyed every minute. I went on to work in restaurants and then to catering on movie sets.

When I got pregnant I had to put the catering on hold as I was working 16 hours days. To make a long story short I never really got back into it seriously as the hours are not good for family life! So after being a stay at home mom (eating Bon Bon's all day for 9 years!) I decided to go back to school (with a push from a former St. Catherine's employee) and pursue a career in ECE.

I should have done this sooner as enjoy every day with your children. I think as I am a bit of a kid still myself that this is the right place for me!

I am looking forward to a wonderful year working with your children and meeting all the families too!

Rachel Deakin  401, 302

I graduated from the ECCE program at Capilano University in 2008 and I have enjoyed working with children in various capacities in both preschool and daycare for the past eight years. I currently work with both the 3's and the 4's here at St Catherine's and I enjoy every minute!

I am married to my wonderful husband Ryan and we have two beautiful daughters Havana who is in the 4's program here at St. Catherine's and Aaliyah who is in the Discovery 2's program.

During our spare time we like going to local parks, beaches, the aquarium and travelling.

Stephanie Mah  201, 304, 402, 403

Hi my name is Stephanie Mah. I live in Vancouver with my mom, dad, and brother. During my free time I like to bake, roller blade, and spend time with my family and friends. I also have two dogs that I enjoy taking out for walks; a Pomeranian named Chi Chi and a Labrador named Shadow.

I completed my Early Childhood Education, Special Needs and Infant Toddler Programs at Capilano University.

This is going to be my eighth year working at St. Catherine's Preschool and over the years I have had the pleasure of working with the amazing staff and wonderful children in the 2's, 3's, 4's, drop-in, and summer programs. I have learned and experienced so much in the years that I've been here and I am looking forward to many more to come!

Gabi Pasek 301, 302, 304, 403 

My name is Gabriella Pasek (Gabi)  and I was born and raised in Hungary and lived in Austria for a year before I moved to Canada more than 15 years ago. I have a 13 year old daughter Rebecca who is also my fashion adviser, language pathologist and event planner!

E.C.E. is my new field, although I took courses in teaching before the adventure of moving over to this side of the world. I spent the 5 years prior to taking my E.C.E. working in the financial sector, before faith helped me to realise that I should be doing something that makes me happy.

I have always enjoyed the company of young children. I love to watch how smart, independent, lovable and unique each of them is. I like to observe the interaction between them; some of their conversations are priceless! I admire their simple (and if not hungry or tired!!) usually happy outlook on life.

I feel privileged, accepted and welcomed in the St. Catherine’s community, where I have met loving families and witnessed amazing teachers plan and implement programs and activities just the way I imagined that one day I would do!

In my spare time I like reading, hiking, biking and snowboarding.

I also enjoy spending time with all age groups when I volunteer my time at folk-dance events, swim meets or theatrical performances. 

Arsi Amirians  402

My name is Arsi and I am so very delighted to be in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care. I graduated the ECE program with the additional certification of Infant Toddler from Capilano University. I have been working in this field for over 6 years now and look forward to many more years of playing, learning and teaching!

I've been married to my husband for 8 years now and we have 2 beautiful children. Our daughter Lara is 7 years old and just started grade 2 and our 18 month old son Luca keeps us busy and on our toes!

During my very rare spare time, I enjoy reading mystery books, surfing the net, and catching up with my friends.

I'm looking forward to a fun filled new preschool year and getting to know all the wonderful children and families!

Christine Rowe  Reverend at St. Catherine's Anglican Church

I have been the reverend here at St. Catherine's for seven years now and I thoroughly enjoy my work. I am originally from the UK and have called Canada home since 2000 when I arrived here with my husband (who is also a priest) and our three wonderful children.

St. Catherine's Preschool was founded in 1990 as a mission of St. Catherine's Anglican Church and we continue to share our values of love and care for families especially in this community. The Preschool and Church enjoy many close links, and these are especially apparent during the Christmas and Easter services when the children are able to spend time in the Church, and then share their talents for us. This is a very special experience for the children, families and for members of the Church congregation.

One of the highlights of my day is peeking out of my office and seeing all the little faces on their way to the gym or music class and hearing their happy chatter. Truly the children and their families bring this space to life with warmth and happiness and it is an honour to be so connected with such a wonderful part of the community as St. Catherine's Preschool.

I would like to let each family know that they are welcome to attend a Church service or to meet with me in person at any time and for those families with new babies come and talk with me about baptism. My door is always open!

A note from Marion...

Welcome to a new school year. I am enjoying visiting each classroom and reconnecting with the returning children and welcoming the new ones. The children are learning our Number 1 Rule of “No One Gets Hurt!”  This means we do not hurt our friends with our hands, feet or words. There are many resources for parents and children in our Resource Library. Games and reference books can be signed out, please come down to the office for more information. 

The 2’s are working on developing their verbal and social skills. They are expanding their listening skills with sitting at Circle Time. 

The 3’s are developing their gross motor skills (running, jumping and riding bikes) and their fine motor skills (pincher grasp with scissors, Lego, puzzles etc.). They are also leaving the parallel play phase and starting to play co-operatively with peers. Circle times are becoming longer, giving the children an opportunity to increase their attention span and participate in group discussions.  

The 4’s are developing their literacy skills through chants, rhymes and sequencing games. They will be getting ready for their transition into Kindergarten and much of the research today shows that children need confidence to be in school without their parents and should have strong social skills to interact with children and adults. We need to embrace the importance of play and how it supports our children to be confident, communicative, and curious individuals. 

 

As the Resource Teacher I invite you to come and see me if you have any questions or concerns. We do have an Open Door Policy, which means that you can talk with the teachers about arranging a time to visit in the classroom. If you have private therapists who would like to observe in the classroom you can make arrangements with me and I will speak to the classroom teachers.  

Wishing everyone a wonderful and fun year “Learning Through Play”.

A note from Cheryl...

3's Music

I am Cheryl Hebb and I am the Creative Music teacher for your children. I have been around helping in the classrooms for the first couple of classes, getting to know the children and becoming a familiar face. Once gradual entry was finished the children came in for the first time to my music room. We met Rascal Bear our music room mascot and started to learn our fellow classmates names and our hello song. The children are beginning to find their voices and sing “Hello Cheryl” when I sing their name.

 

The first instrument we have explored are my jiggle bells. We talked about what they are made of, how to play them and what actually makes the bells ring. We learned how to put our bells to sleep, "Instruments down, hands up.” We also learned how to get prepared to sing and play, “Instruments up, ready to play.” We  sang 'Ring Around the Rosie' using the bells. When to play and when to wait.

We have also done some movement, marching, tip-toeing, walking and stopping. We had to listen to my lollipop drum to tell us what to do next. We have had fun waiting in anticipation to do the next move and then moving around the room being aware of our friends and our own bodies.

4's Music

I am thrilled to see all the returning faces and brand new faces in my music class. The children that had music with me in the 3's were eager to come to my classroom and see Rascal Bear again and learn our new 4 year old hello and good-bye song. It hasn't taken the new children long to join in and sing hello to me.

We started with the claves, which by the way is Marion's favorite instrument! We sang Twinkle Twinkle but we had to sing and play then wait and pause to sing the next line. Or we sang and only played on the word star. This is not easy because when you have that instrument in your hands you just want to play it! The children were very disciplined and played (usually!) only when asked.

We have also started to learn a new song called Little Bird. We are using the rhythm sticks with this song and are learning the words we will tap the sticks on. We will also be making pictures in the air with our sticks. Mountains, seas and rainbows.

Little bird up in the tree,

In the tree,

In the tree.

Little bird up in the tree.

Sing a song for me.

Sing about the mountains.

Sing about the sea.

sing about the rainbow,

Is there one for me?

We have been reintroduced to my lollipop drum and we are doing movement activities with it. We will get to the point where I will hand off the lollipop drum to each child so they get a chance to be the teacher with it.

A note from the Discovery 2's  Danielle, Vibha, Estelle and Karen... 

Our youngest members of St.Catherine's Preschool are beginning to settle in nicely to the program. Most are happy to stretch their boundaries. A few still need a little more time to feel secure with Mom and Dad leaving. Such is the nature of two year olds! Often this is their first experience away from family. They love to explore their surroundings, but still need to stay close to their primary base of support and trust. Separation anxiety is quite strong at this stage, but often it is only the "good-bye" that is difficult. For this reason we encourage you to make your "good-byes" short and reassuring.

We set up the rooms in a way that facilitates exploration and discovery through play. A great deal of time is spent exploring, pushing, pulling, filling, dumping and touching. Toddlers feel secure in environments that are familiar and for this reason you may see the same toys and equipment out for several weeks. What we will do is present these familiar toys in different set-ups (i.e. adding a set of wooden blocks to the cars and garage.

Two's love painting, splashing in the water table, housekeeping, singing and dancing at circle time. Although play tends to be more solitary, they enjoy being in eachother's company, playing side by side. We hope to be able to capture all of this on film so please make sure you have given us a disposable camera with flash and your child's name on it. 

We are still waiting for a few more family photos. Children love to look at these pictures especially if they are missing mom or dad. Please also make sure to check your child's cubbies for artwork.

As fall is here, we remind parents that children should come to preschool with the appropriate clothing and foot-ware to be outside. Unless it's raining hard, we always go outside to play.

The white board outside the classroom will give you a synopsis of our day and please feel free to talk to us if you have any questions or concerns.

We look forward to an exciting year - a year of tremendous growth in confidence and abilities. We hope that this first group experience will be an enjoyable and memorable one for both you and your child.

A note from Permjit  and Gabi 301 Down Under Room...

We would like to welcome our new and returning families for the 2013/14 school year.

In the past few weeks our main goal was to help our preschoolers feel safe and relaxed enough to be able to say good-bye with a smile to their parents (who may also have been feeling a little teary!). Being parents ourselves, we do understand how you feel, and we do know the difference between a relaxed summer morning, and a hectic, crazy-busy, forget the lunch-kit in the car kind of fall morning! With time and patience we will all have this new routine figured out very soon!

We’ve learnt our Welcome Song, Good-bye Song, and short songs between our daily activities, such as our Clean-up Song. We had some fun moments creating messy art projects with primary colours – parents, be aware, we both love messy art!!! We shared books, felt board stories, finger-plays and rhymes in the themes of preschool, friends and families.

We are in a process of helping the children feel independent, capable, unique, and a friend among many new friends. We feel happy that we reached one of our first goals: when we ask the children what should we sing next? They don’t throw their arms up in the air bursting into “Good-bye my friends, good-bye” as a few children did on one of their first days at preschool! Now everyone seems more comfortable and able to enjoy new songs, playing with new friends, and we are happy to guide them and assist them throughout the school year.

A note from Rachel, Sali, and Gabi 302 Down Under Room...

We would like to welcome all our families to our class this year.Gradual entry went well, our little people are settling in, getting to know our daily routine, their peers and the adults at preschool. Amazingly, children from our 2’s classes came back remembering the routines of a school day, teaching some of our new friends what to do (or what not to do!) we are so proud of them all! One of our next goals would be to slowly extend those minutes at Circle to keep them happy but focused.

The children are making great progress with getting accustomed to the classroom and to the people in it. They are learning to play together, to share toys, ideas and activities. In the last couple of weeks we sang many name songs to get to know one another, shared stories on families and friends, school, the changing season, learnt new finger-plays about fall, leaves, apples, made our family trees, and covered those little artist’s fingers in vibrant fall colours to create some amazing art projects.

In the upcoming weeks we will be talking about Thanksgiving, and we will have lots of fun preparing for Halloween.

A note from the Rainbow Room 304 Stephanie and Gabi...

A warm welcome to our new and returning families! We are all getting to know each other at this time, the children don’t seem to mind if we accidently call them by their friend’s name, and we feel honoured when they call us Mom while handing us their garbage or used tissues!

We all like talking about our families and friends, and believe it or not, we will have some personal information on everyone in your families (it may include details about your driving habits!)

In the past few weeks the students enjoyed creating their self-portrait, we shared stories about families and friends. We learnt new songs to help them learn to share and to take turns. We worked in small or large groups to create art projects and posters, including one we do every year with our children: NO ONE GETS HURT. It’s a nice reminder to everyone about how important it is to use our words in heated moments, how to stay safe and help others to feel safe.

In the fallowing weeks we will be preparing for Thanksgiving and Halloween

A note from Sali, Rachel and Karen 401Treehouse Room...

Welcome to a new school year! The children have settled in nicely to their daily routine.

We have started the year by talking about families and friendships. Thank you for helping the children bring in photos of their family. In art, they have made the photos into a mobile. The children also made hand-print paintings which they ‘stitched’ together with a friend’s painting creating a ‘friendship quilt’ which is displayed outside our classroom. The children also made an apple for our apple trees at the back of the classroom on which the teachers helped them write something they like to do with a friend.

 

At circle, we are doing the calendar each day so we can learn the days of the week, months of the year and each child takes a turn to be the ‘leader’. The leader helps with the calendar and leads the class to the gym/outside or to music. There is also a ‘leader’s helper’. 

We have been reading stories of friendship such as ‘The crayon box that talked’ and Franklin stories. We have been singing name songs and playing partner games such as ‘Rig-a-jig-jig’. We are also practising recognising our name in lower case letters.

Starting this week, every Friday, the children will take turns bringing home the class mascot, a stuffed Orca whale named Echo. Echo comes with a journal, so you can help your child write about the things they did with Echo over the weekend and add photos if you like. The children bring Echo back on Monday and will stand up at circle to show the journal and talk about their weekend with Echo.

In October, we are moving on to talking about Fall, apples  and Thanksgiving.

It is a pleasure to have your child in our class. Please feel free to arrange to meet with the teachers at any time if you have any questions or concerns. Also if you would like to come in and spend time in your child’s class you are very welcome!

A note from Arsi, Stephanie, Karen and Cheryl 402 Rainbow Room...

Welcome to the Rainbow Room. We are so glad to see all of the children's smiling faces. Gradual entry went very smoothly. Now we are all settled in and familiar with the daily routine. First of all we talked about our one rule at preschool which is "No-one gets hurt." The children all helped paint a poster of our rule so we would have it in our classroom to remind us. At circle we talked about how our rule refers to our bodies, feelings, and materials. 

Next we started talking about friends. It was nice that lots of the children were familiar with each other but there were still a few new faces to the group. We sang name songs to learn everyone's names and we talked about how we share with our friends and what can we say in different situations. We painted friendship links and told everyone what we like to do with our friends. We drew self portraits of ourselves and told eachother a few things about ourselves so we could get to know everyone a little bit better. 

We moved on to talking about families. At circle time we discussed how there are different types of families (two parents, adopted, single parent, pets, grandparents) and how everyone lives in different homes. We learnt that some people have big families and some have small families and some people even have pets in their families. Some families live in houses and some live in apartments. For art we drew the members in each of our families for "our family ties." We traced our hands and wrote something about why we love our family. 

We introduced our friend Echo to everyone this month. Echo is an Orca Whale that we have adopted from the aquarium. Each week a child will get to take him home and write and put pictures in a journal about their weekend with Echo. 

Next month will be all about Thanksgiving and Halloween. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak with one of the teachers. 

A note from Permjit, Stephanie and Gabi 403 Rainbow Room...

Welcome back! We were so excited to see lots of familiar faces and some new friends too and hear the laughter of children back in the classrooms. Gradual entry was a success! The children have settled in very well and we are now into our daily routine. To start things off we talked about our most important rule at preschool which is "No-one gets hurt." We talked about how this applies to feelings, bodies, and materials. 

We sang a lot of name songs at circle time so the children had a chance to learn all of their friends names. We talked about things we like to do with our friends and the words we can use if we want a turn with something or if we want to play with someone. For art we painted friendship links. We wanted our friends to get to know us better so we drew self portraits and answered a few questions about ourselves. 

We started to talk about families. We talked about the different kinds of families there are and read stories about families at circle. We used paint to make finger families and coloured cut-out people to represent who's in our family and counted all of our family members. 

We introduced our friend Echo to everyone this month. Echo is an Orca Whale that we have adopted through the Vancouver aquarium. Each week a child will get to take him home and write and put pictures in a journal describing their weekend with Echo. 

Next month will be all about Thanksgiving and Halloween. 

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

Dates to remember:

Monday October 14: Thanksgiving, PRESCHOOL CLOSED
Wed/Thurs October 30/31: Halloween Parties
Thurs/Fri November 7/8: Class Photo Days

Contact us or more information:

Tel: 604-980-1326
Fax: 604-982-3277
Email: stcpre@telus.net
Website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com
Like us on facebook: St. Catherine's Childcare Society