Springtime Blog - March/April 2015

A note from the office - Jen McEneany - Coordinator

We have been so busy around here with preparations for the Easter Services but I think you'll agree that all the hard work paid off, the children were adorable up on the stage performing and the Easter tea in the gym was so much fun. Thank you to all our teachers, Laura and Marion for all the extra hours they put into making the Services come together.

I want to take a moment to introduce a new member of our team, Peggy Stortz. Peggy will be supporting class 302 from now until the end of the year and comes to us with many years of experience working with young children in various settings (preschool/drama programs/YMCA). Welcome Peggy!

Important upcoming dates:

Wed April 15: Summer Program registration begins.
Wed April 15: April Scholastic Orders Due.
M-F April 20 - 24: Jeans Week!
Thurs April 23: Messy Church.
Fri May 1: Preschool Pro-D-Day (Preschool closed).
Tues May 5: May Scholastic Orders Due.
Thurs May 14: Parent Social Fundraiser 6pm @ The Tap House.
Mon May 18: Victoria Day (Preschool closed).
Don't forget about Sunday School every Sunday at 10am with Gabi!

For general information about our programs please contact Jen or Tina:

Tel: 604-980-1326
Fax: 604-982-3277
Email: stcpre@telus.net
Website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com
Please "LIKE" our facebook page "St. Catherine's Child Care Society" Thank you!

A note from Laura Kaario - Music Teacher

The concepts we have been working on this month include the notes so and mi for the 4's. This interval (the amount of space between the notes) is one that most cultures of the world naturally learn first and are most tuned into. It’s the interval of the average doorbell, Chickadees in the spring (Chicka-dee-dee-dee is so so mi mi mi), and even the notes you use when you call your kids in the park with a sing song voice (Laaau-raaaaa, let’s goooo!). It’s also the interval in Rain, Rain Go Away (so mi, so so mi) and similar songs. With both 3's and 4's we have been working on finding the beat of a song and clapping it, stepping to it or patting it on our knees, noses, foreheads – wherever! It’s the beat no matter where you put it, as long as you don’t start going faster or slower when the song stays the same speed.

This spring we have been listening to music of the world and a new flag appears on our paper earth in the classroom each week. Watch for the little flag on the music classroom door as well! In the past couple of months we have heard music from Zimbabwe, Peru, England, China, and Iran, celebrating the new years of the latter two countries. We have also learned songs for Valentine’s Day and a day of rain music (some of which you will have heard at our services – God made the rain too after all!).

We took a break from new flags and world music so that we could learn all our music for the Easter services. Our theme was God’s creation and love. We all worked very hard to learn the words and actions and the children all did a fantastic job performing all of our songs, poems, movement and instrument playing for you! I'm very proud of each and every child for trying their best at the Services - it's not easy to see your parents so close and keep your mind focused on performing but they all did so well!

A note from the Rainbow Room Discovery 2's - Sali, Vibha, Stephanie, Estelle, Danielle

By the time this newsletter reaches you, it will officially be Spring! For the months of March and April we had fun pasting, painting and collaging cutout bunnies, chicks and eggs. The children also enjoyed experimenting with finger paints. They had great fun using the egg tongs at the science table to pick up eggs and other small objects. At Circle the children love to sing finger rhymes and action songs. 

Hop Little Rabbit

Hop little rabbit, hop, hop, hop

Hop little rabbit don't you stop

Hop little rabbit 1,2,3

Hop little rabbit, hop to me.

Over the past few weeks we have noticed that our little twos are growing up to be great little threes. We are seeing them work so well together. Their play is starting to incorporate more and more children. As teachers, we are always looking for ways to bring new and exciting experiences to the classroom, to enhance this process. The most exciting area is language development and the blossoming of speech. Another interesting development is the beginning of pretend play - playing with dolls, dishes and dress-up clothes.  

A note from the Treehouse Room - Class 301 - Permjit, Gabi and Sousan

We hope you all had a relaxing, wonderful time spent with family and friends over Spring Break. We did notice how much our lovely students matured in just a two week break! Besides growing more into their shirts, tops and pants, they are more relaxed at times of transitions, and have an easier time saying good-bye to mom and dad as they come in to start a day at preschool. 

They all seem to recognize when a friend needs help or just a little more encouragement to join an activity, and the proud smile on their faces when they tackle a new task or are successful at opening a friend’s snack is priceless!

March was super busy, with two multicultural celebrations and starting off a third one, we were always on our toes! We had some festive fun turning everything green for St. Patrick’s Day, even the water in the water table, and of course shimmery golden and green sparkles (that are still clogging up my washer and dryer!) were used by the handfuls to decorate shamrocks. Then we moved on to celebrate Persian New Year by planting beans to celebrate new life/spring. Eggs, chickens and bunnies were the next art/table toy items to be found everywhere, and for science we proved that eggs are way stronger then they look as we walked on them without wearing shoes or socks. 

Before the break we practiced the songs and poems for our Easter Service and we were so proud of all our preschoolers on the day! It was wonderful to see them all up there, singing, smiling and waving to you and having so much fun afterwards at the tea.

A note from the Treehouse Room - Class 302 - Gabi, Susan, Karen, Peggy 

We can’t believe that the school year is almost over! We hope that you all enjoyed Spring Break, I think the teachers did come back with more energy to match the children’s (if that’s even possible!!). It is obvious that our lovely children grow by the day, but it is always a wonder to see them after a short while, when they first come back to our care just how much they really change in appearances and maturity on all levels. They confidently wear their shorter pants- good thing capris are in style- and smiles as they walk in the classroom, heading straight to a little friend, or to us telling stories about family outings, play-dates, exciting updates on anything that happened over the break.

They are all settled in the daily routine, our shy friends have found connections with our more outgoing children, they constantly move around in the room or on the playground to form small or large groups to play in, nicely involving new friends. They are all unbelievably caring and compassionate about helping friends who need extra support or just more encouragement  to join these group activities.

March was a green month, and not only because the weather turned nicer, but considering the amount of green paint we used for art, or green colored objects we used to decorate the Treehouse room. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with shamrocks, leprechauns and lovely rainbows, while discussing changes in the weather and the environment. We also spent time practicing the poems and songs for the Easter Service and your children did so well up on stage; we're sure you had just as much fun watching them up there! It was lovely to spend some time having tea all together afterwards.

Please remember dress your children in weather appropriate clothing as we are looking forward to spending more time outside.

A note from the Treehouse Room - Class 304 - Stephanie, Vibha, Gabi, Karen

March seemed to fly by so fast! We hope everyone had a wonderful spring break. For one week we talked about Bob Marley's song 'One Love'. The children really enjoyed listening to the song and they were interested in learning more about Bob Marley. We created a board to represent this song which included people, butterflies, and flowers. 

Before we started talking about Spring and Easter, we decorated shamrocks with green paint and glitter for St. Patrick's Day. Then went on to decorating Easter eggs with water colours, painting Easter baskets, and decorating and dying plastic eggs. At circle we played games and read stories about Easter and the Easter Bunny. We also made a spring picture using popcorn to represent blossoms. The children really enjoyed this particular activity because it was a nice treat for them to have a taste of the popcorn before we used it for art! To end things off we got a lovely surprise from the Easter Bunny! The children were so excited that he came to visit us to hide chocolate eggs in our classroom. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to see him but he left behind a special note for us. 

We had fun up in the Church performing our songs and poems for everyone and of course having a yummy Easter tea in the gym all together afterwards!

As the weather is getting nicer we would like to remind parents to dress your children in proper running shoes as we will be going outside more often. For our next theme we will be exploring everything about dinosaurs! 

A note from the Sunflower Room - Class 401- Susan, Stephanie, Karen

We had a very busy month with lots of fun and exciting activities planned. For two weeks we did free art using different art mediums. We explored with paint on canvases, pastels, charcoal, clay, and puffy paintings. It was interesting to see all the different ways these materials can be used and we were able to be as creative as we wanted with them. 

A science experiment that the children were amazed by was using milk, dish soap, and food colouring. It was so neat to see all of their reactions when they touched the colours with the dish soap. 

Our theme for the month was Easter so we decorated Easter baskets, coloured and dyed Easter eggs, and made Spring trees with Q-tips. It was such a nice surprise to get a visit from the Easter Bunny! He had some tricky spots that he hid the chocolate eggs in but we were able to find them all. We finished up with our Easter Services which were a lot of fun and then it was great to all have a delicious tea all together in the gym.

We also started our journals this month. Each week we will spend one day drawing a picture in our journals and then the teachers will write down a story of what the children tell them about the picture. This will give the children a chance to use their imagination and practice their story telling skills. They will also practice writing their name each time. Sometimes it will be a free journal entry and sometimes there will be a specific topic. At circle we read a story called 'The Golden Egg Book' but we only read half of it. Then the children were asked to draw what they thought was inside of the egg in their journals. At the end circle we finished the story and they found out what was actually inside it. 

Next month we will be focusing on the alphabet and kindergarten readiness skills with the children. We will also be starting show and tell so please check the bulletin board for your child's day to bring something. 

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

A note from the Sunflower/Rainbow Room - Class 402 - Danielle, Arsi and Sousan

With the chirping of birds and budding of flowers, we are looking forward to Spring! We have started talking about what we observe as the season changes such as hearing birds chirp, seeing the flowers slowly bloom, and even what changes in our clothes as the weather becomes warmer.

During one of our art sessions, we made the sequence of a flower growing from a seed to sprouting roots and then growing into a flower. We learned about the different a parts such as the stem, the bud, and the petals. We also had a chance to make flower collages too.

We have started our Alphabet letters with our favorite story "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." After reading the book, the children then used their cutting skills by making their own tree trunk and putting together a coconut tree. They also practiced tracing the letters A,B, and C, tracing and cutting out the letter B, and making a flower alphabet puzzle with various other letters that we have talked about.

As we discover the alphabet, we have dived enthusiastically into our journals. This gives the children a chance to express themselves with their own art work and tell us what they have drawn. The children have also started to practice printing their names in their journals with guidance. It will be very fun to see their journals coming together at the end if the year!

Green, green, everywhere green! We had fun decorating shamrocks and even making green cupcakes for St.Patrick's Day! Some of the children even tried green hair and green hats from the house corner! Before we knew it, Easter was around the corner!

We started off by the children making their own hatched egg with a chick inside. They traced the hatched egg shape, glued soft cotton circles for the shape of the chick, and even used water color to make their chicks yellow! Looked great! Next up was to make the Easter baskets (just in case the Easter Bunny visited!) and to decorate our own Easter eggs with lots of sparkle!!! And of course we had to make some Easter bunnies too.

The Easter Service went very well and we were proud to see our preschoolers up there singing and reciting their verses. It's always bittersweet at this service to think that this is the last time our class will be doing this but great to see how much they have matured and how much confidence they have up there. Having tea with our families was really fun too!

It's been busy but we remember to keep "bucket filling" and practice being a "bucket filler ." Our jar is definitely filling up!! We've even gotten great at our favorite group activity which is freeze dance! We cheer each other on and dance, dance, dance!

Now we are exploring the world of Emily Carr and letting her inspire our inner artists! We hope you enjoyed the slideshow we sent you as we took an adventure out in the garden.

If you have any questions, please come to us!!!

A note from the Treehouse Room - Class 403 - Permjit, Stephanie, Gabi, Karen

We hope everyone had a lovely spring break. It was such a nice way to end things before the break with the skate party. It was great to see everyone who could make it. There were some really good skaters out there. It was such a nice get together with all of the four year old classes. 

This month was all about Easter, but we were able to spend one day talking about St.Patrick's Day and decorated green shamrocks with glitter. Next we painted Easter baskets using Q-tips, coloured and dyed plastic Easter eggs, and decorated bunny masks. One theory we tested out was what will happen if we walked on eggs? We each got to walk on a carton of eggs and we found out they didn't break! It was an exciting surprise to get a visit from the Easter Bunny! We had so much fun trying to find the chocolate eggs that he hid in our classroom. We finished up with our celebrations with our Easter Service up in the Church, which was a lot of work but worth it! We love to see your children singing up there and we're sure you enjoy seeing them just as much as we do! Afterwards it's fun to all spend some time together having the Easter tea in the gym.

We also started our journals this month. Each week we will spend one day drawing a picture in our journals and then the teachers will write down a story of what the children tell them about the picture. This will give the children a chance to use their imagination and practice their story telling skills. They will also practice writing their name each time. Sometimes it will be a free journal entry and sometimes there will be a specific topic. At circle we read a story called 'The Golden Egg Book' but we only read half of it. Then the children were asked to draw what they thought was inside of the egg in their journals. At the end circle we finished the story and they found out what was actually inside it. 

We will be starting show and tell and this will give the children an opportunity to practice speaking in front of a group. We will also be working on other kindergarten readiness skills until the end of the year. Our next theme will be all about dinosaurs! 

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