Welcome to preschool! September 2014

A note from Jen   Coordinator...

Sunflower Room Mural

Welcome to another preschool year here at St. Catherine's. Over the summer I painted a mural on the wall of the Sunflower Room (A.K.A the Downunder Room!) and had my mum Lynn help out with painting the art area of the classroom a fresh, light green. We also had a lovely new carpet installed in the classroom and added an air purifier to help with airflow in the room. I think we have made a huge difference in brightening up the room and we hope that your children will enjoy it over this next year!

Pre-Math Skills are gained by sorting, pattering, and sequencing.

Marion: our own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

We have been doing our gradual entry in all classes over the past few weeks and apart from a few tears, the process has gone smoothly. Separation anxiety is hard for both children and parents alike but believe me, our teachers have a lot of experience with helping children to overcome that sadness and begin enjoying their time at preschool. We find that a consistent, calm, reassuring and fairly quick goodbye usually works best. Also making sure not to re-enter the classroom again until it's time for pick-up is really important too because as soon as children see their parent/caregiver again, they tend to go right back to that first stage of separation all over again. If a child was so upset, that they just couldn't settle then parents would be contacted; but this is rarely necessary. By the end of September/beginning of October most children are usually quite at home at preschool and excited to be here but as always if you have any concerns please chat with your teachers, Marion, Tina or myself.

We are so honoured that you made the choice to have your precious children attend St. Catherine's Preschool and we will strive to make your time here as positive as possible. We are proud to provide a safe, inclusive, nurturing environment in which your children can make friends, explore, create and imagine all while doing what children do best - PLAY!

Important Upcoming dates

Monday October 13   Thanksgiving - Preschool closed
Thursday October 16  Messy Church 5-6:30pm in the gym
Tues/Wed October 21/22  Elmer the Safety Elephant (3's and 4's)
Wed/Thurs/Fri October 29/30/31 Classroom Halloween Parties

For general information please contact Tina or Jen in the office:

Tel: 604-980-1326
Fax: 604-982-3277
Email: stcpre@telus.net
Website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com
Please 'like' our Facebook page St. Catherine's Childcare Society.

Our Team!

Jen McEneany Coordinator

10 things about me!

1. I have lived in 4 different countries.
2. I have 2 daughters - Ayla who is 11 and Kaitlyn who is 7.
3. I love to read and always have a book with me wherever I go.
4. When I like a song I listen to it on repeat (and sometimes make
     up a dance to go along with it!)
5. I wanted to become a preschool teacher because when I was little my preschool teacher in England was MEAN and I wanted to be a kind and caring first teacher for children.
6. I have been making healthy juices and smoothies for over a year now and I always try and convince people to try them (ask Marion how she liked the juice I made for her!!!)
7. I love hiking around the North Shore and I have a whole album of pictures of interesting tree roots!
8. My favourite TV show of all time is Gilmore Girls.
9. I am obsessed with the online sites Pinterest and Etsy.
10. I just started taking guitar lessons and I can now play "Oh my darling Clementine" and "What Shall we do with the Drunken Sailor?"

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 teach felt board story workshops.

I have lived and worked on the North Shore for 46 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)

Hi I’m Marion Porter. I have been at St.Catherine’s for 17 years, first as a Support Worker with Supported Child Development and then I took on the position of Co-ordinator for a year in 2002. I have been the Developmental Resource Teacher since then and am responsible for the children who require extra support and I oversee their Support Workers. I am a liason for any community services which the families require, such as NS Supported Child Development, Speech & Language, Occupational Therapy and Physio Therapy. I am considered a .5 teacher for all the classrooms and am available for the teachers as a resource person. If you have any questions or concerns please speak with your teachers or come down to my office to talk.

On a personal note my husband Jim and I have lived on the North Shore for 18 years after having lived in Toronto and Winnipeg. Our three boys were born in Richmond in 1983, 1984 and 1986. Richard and Stephen both attended the University of Manitoba and made Winnipeg their home. Derek also attended U of M but decided to make Vancouver his home. We are now empty nesters and enjoy camping in our tent trailer and hiking with our dog, Jasper. We also took up archery last year and we are getting out at least twice a week to practice.  

Laura Kaario (Music teacher)

My time at St. Catherine’s started when I came here for preschool as a child, and 17 years later – I’m back! I’m currently a third year music student at Capilano University, majoring in voice. I plan to finish my Bachelor of Music in the education stream and may pursue further education in music history. I’ve been teaching piano and voice for a few years and last year I took my first Kodaly-Orff methodology class. I believe that teaching children music is extremely important – I could not imagine my childhood without being surrounded by music; it is a skill and appreciation that can be enjoyed throughout life.  

I live in North Vancouver with my mum, dad, yorky-poo, and budgie. Apart from music, I love to relax in the sun or with some tea and read, eat and cook, craft, travel, enjoy nature and, of course, spend time with my family and friends. So far I’ve really enjoyed teaching the children: it’s wonderful to see them enjoying music and creativity – and I can dance however I like and fit in perfectly!

Sali Chippett (201 and 202)

Personal:

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 16 and a daughter aged 19, who both attended St. Catherine's preschool! I have lived near Edgemont village for 18 years and very much enjoy being part of the community. My hobbies are reading, hiking, camping, swimming and hanging out with my kids. I also love to cook and bake. An interesting fact about me is that I have a pet bunny who is litter trained and runs free around my house!

Professional:

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 another school year. St. Catherine's is a great place to work, the teachers are a great support to each other and there is always a lot of fun and laughter. This year, I am teaching 201 (Mon, Wed Two year old class) and 202 (Tue, Thurs Two year old class). I look forward to getting to know you and your children over the course of the year.

Arsi Amirians (402)

I'm looking forward to another fun and exciting preschool year!

I live in North Vancouver with my husband Arbi and our two children. My daughter, Lara, is 8 years old and very spunky and my son, Luca, is 2 and very energetic. They keep us busy and I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I did my Early Childhood Education course at Capilano College (now University) and worked at a daycare in the Infant/Toddler program for four years before joining the lovely team at St.Catherine's in the 4's program.

When I have some free time, I love getting my nails done, listening to music, and catching up with my friends! A Weird thing about me: I don't like spiders and if I see one, I feel like they're all over me!!!! 

Danielle Moore (201 and 402)

My name is Danielle and I was born in Perth, Western Australia. Twenty years ago I traveled to Vancouver and fell in love with Vancouver and my husband Rick. We now have three lovely children Alyssa who is 17 (and recently headed off to Australia to travel and study) 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 in the Discovery Two's Program and have taken on the challenge of running the extended Four Year Old Program with Arsi this year. I look forward to working with our littlest preschoolers and our biggest ones over the next year!

Permjit Kaur (301 and 403)

I've worked in child care with children of different ages for over 25 years. I find children's company a lot easier than adults! They are honest, sincere and intuitive and they make you laugh!

My family emigrated to Canada 15 years ago from London (UK). We have three children. Our oldest daughter went to Queens University and now lives in London where she works in Corporate Responsibility. Our son went to UCL (in London where he studied Genetics) and he is just about to head off to do some travelling. Our youngest daughter attends the Sauder School of Business at UBC where she has a full scholarship and she also had the opportunity to study abroad over this past year at the University of Hong Kong. She and my husband will talk for hours about anything business related! I do feel very lucky and blessed to have such an awesome family and I find that family life is definitely a lot easier now the teenage years are over!

At St .Catherine's I get to interact with fantastic parents and staff and of course the wonderful children. I go home with so many funny stories and my husband looks forward to hearing the funniest thing that was said that day! It just fills your heart with so much love and appreciation to be a part of a child's first steps into education.

My biggest achievement this year has been learning to ride a bike! Yes I can finally do it! I had a very patient fella who held on to the back while I practiced and practiced, until his back gave way!! Up hill is still a work in progress!

I look forward to meeting you all and teaching your children over this next year. I'm sure we will have a few laughs and a lot of fun!

Gabi Pasek (301, 302 and 304)

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 15 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 realize 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 lucky and privileged to be part of the St. Catherine’s community, to have the opportunity to get to know our great children and their families, teaching with some amazing ladies.  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.

Karen Hamfeldt (302 and 401)

This will be my third year at St. Catherine's and over that time I have learned so much from each and every child. Working  with children is something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember but my career path first led me to professional cooking. I have St. Catherine's to thank for my chance to become an Early Childhood Educator.

All three of my children have attended St. Catherine's (Connor 11, Alexis 10 and Amanda 6) and so it is a very comfortable place for me to be. I am so privileged to work with such caring, wonderful and knowledgeable people so much so that my 'job' does not feel like work.

I will continue to do my support, nurture and care for your children as if they were my own! 

e with my family and friends. I also enjoy taking myout f

Estelle Stojcic (201 and 202) 

I have been an Early Childhood Educator since 1991. I completed my basic ECE in ’93 and my Infant/Toddler and Special Needs in ’04. I’ve been at St. Catherine’s since 2005. I have two children Angelique is eight and Liliana is five years old and has just started kindergarten. I look forward to working with your children in the 2’s program and getting to know you as well. I look forward to a fun filled year and to see how the two’s will blossom and grow in the coming year. In my spare time, I like to knit, go to the park with my children and read.





Narine Kazanchyan 401 and 302 

I studied Early Childhood Education (ECE) at MTI Community College. I really enjoy being around children - they are an unlimited source of positive energy and joy. I feel that “every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.” (R.Tagore)

I am originally from Armenia and while I was there I studied at the American University of Armenia and received a certificate in "Teaching English as a Foreign Language". I also studied at the Yerevan State Foreign Language Institute and received a Diploma in "Teaching German & English".

In my spare time I enjoy hiking, riding a bicycle, listening to classical music, watching old Hollywood movies, reading, and spending time with my family and friends.

Sousan Hakimy Kashany (301 and 302)

I am so honoured to be working at St. Catherine’s Preschool this year. I love working with children, discovering their choices and encouraging them to learn positive behaviour. I believe that each child is unique and an individual with the potential to learn in a comfortable atmosphere where they can develop their personality and impact the world around them now and in the years to come. My desire is to help each child grow to their greatest potential in an atmosphere of love and support. I have experience working as an ECE teacher in childcare centres and preschools since 2003. Originally from Iran, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietitian. I enjoy walking, jogging, yoga, and gathering with my friends and family.

Vibha Sisodraker (201, 202 and 304)

I was born and raised in the Fiji Islands and moved with my family to Toronto in 1985.  I completed my Early Childhood Education Program in Toronto before moving to Vancouver in 1995. I have one daughter; Ria who is 12 years old. Yoga, Hiking and Cooking are my favourite hobbies.  I joined St.Catherine's Preschool in 2006.  I am looking forward to a fun filled year getting to know the children and families. 

Stephanie Mah (202, 304, 401 and 403)

I completed my Early Childhood Education, Infant and Toddler, and Special Needs programs at Capilano University. Once I finished the ECE program, I had the pleasure of working here at St.Catherine's Preschool. This is going to be my ninth year at the preschool. I am very excited for this upcoming year as I am working in the 2's, 3's, and 4's programs. I am looking forward to another great year with all of the children and their families!

During my spare time I like to bake, rollerblade, and spend time with my family and friends. I also enjoy taking my dog out for walks. 

 L-R Amy, Lauren and Caroline

   Our new Board Moms!

Stephanie Mah (202, 304, 401, and 403)

I completed my Early Childhood Education, Infant and Toddler, and Special Needs programs at Capilano University. Once I finished the ECE program, I had the pleasure of working here at St.Catherine's Preschol. This is going to be my ninth year at the preschool. I am very excitfor this upcoming year as I am working in the 2's, 3's, and 4's programs. I am looking forward to aner great year with a of the children and their familn my spare time I like to bake, rollerblade, a spend tim

Leslie our returning board mom!










A note from Marion our Developmental Resource Teacher

Welcome everyone to a new school year. I have been busy helping the children with gradual entry and everyone seems to be settling into their new classes. I am enjoying spending time with your children and look forward to getting to know you better. Please do not hesitate to call me or come down to my office if you have any questions or concerns.

Self Portraits Class 402

Both the Rainbow and TreeHouse Rooms have observation windows from which you can observe your child’s interaction with peers. Please speak to your teachers if you have any concerns and they can schedule an observation.

There are many resources available for parents and caregivers. We have a great parent/child resource library outside the Rainbow Room. You can sign out adult resource books and children’s books and games.

I am available to meet or talk on the phone with any private therapists you might have for your child. Often it is helpful for them to come and visit the preschool setting. Looking forward to a fun, fantastic year!

A note from our Music Teacher Laura

During our classes this year I plan to teach the children the basic fundamentals of music (high-low, long-short, loud-soft, slow-fast) and begin – or continue! – with them what I hope to be a life-long love of music. The great childhood music education methodologist Carl Orff believed the best music education should include singing, words and poems, instruments, and movement or dance, so I will be incorporating these aspects into lessons in various ways. I also want to expose them to as much music as I can so they can appreciate and enjoy a broad range of music as they grow. We will be doing all this learning through fun and creative ways such as games, stories, songs, and music recordings. I will let them be creative and discover as much as they can for themselves in these activities.

Now at the end of September we are getting to know each other better. We are all working on our big, beautiful singing voices and we have learned a couple songs that have actions that go with them (my favourite was with the 3’s – Shake Your Sillies Out by Raffi). We also started playing instruments – shaker eggs for the 3’s and claves for the 4’s. We learned that instruments are not for hitting or putting on our faces but just for making music. We practiced loud and quiet and fast and slow, and read a story and only played our instruments on special words (it was tricky). We listened to music by the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, 3^rd mvt.) and avant-garde Erik Satie (Gymnopédie No. 1). We talked about the music and danced to it – free-movement dance to Mozart and mirrored group movement to Satie. 

A note from the Discovery 2's - Sali, Vibha, Danielle and Stephanie

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 need to still stay close to their primary base of support and trust.  Separation anxiety is quite strong at this stage, but often it is only the "goodbye" that is difficult.  For this reason we encourage you to make your "good-byes" short and reassuring.

Our "Jungle" family board!

We setup 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.  Two's love painting, splashing in the water table, housekeeping, singing songs and dancing at circle time.  Although, play tends to be more solitary they enjoy being in each other's company, playing side by side.  

Halloween is going to be here in few weeks.  Please keep an eye out for emails about our Halloween parties that will be held during the last week of October. A notice will be put in your child's cubby, prior to the party, listing what we will need you to bring.

All the leaves are falling down!

Please encourage your child to walk up and down the stairs holding onto the railing when being brought to or leaving the preschool.  Each day we will be going outside or to the gym, therefore, it would be nice for the children to feel comfortable with walking up and down the stairs on their own.  And it's a great way to promote gross motor skills.  Also, make sure to check your child's cubbies for beautiful art work to take home. We are still waiting for more family photos.   Please check the board outside the classroom for 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 one for both you and your child.

A note from Class 301 - Permjit, Gabi and Sousan

Welcome to St. Catherine’s preschool, class 301!

School has gotten off to an excellent start. In September, we spent time getting to know each other and the children are beginning to adjust to the new environment, new routine, new faces and quickly learning how to take turns or ask for help. These are very hard tasks when you are three, almost as hard as to learn how to wait patiently for a well desired toy, how to hold the rail walking up or down the stairs, or how to line up!

Tears might be frightening to a parent dropping off a child, but be assured, those tears will be gone in a few minutes, we will do our best to help any distressed child feel safe and happy. (We do understand, we are mothers too and had our share of dropping off our own children at preschool or kindergarten.)

We will be working on academic skills to prepare your children for a good start at school, but our main objective throughout the year is to see that your child is happy and adjusting well socially.

Warning: Permjit and Gabi are big fans of messy projects! Your child will explore art and science hands-on, and our projects usually involve lots of paint, sparkles, water, sand, leaves, twigs and other objects found in nature, mud, animals (don’t worry, the plastic kind!) Please dress your children accordingly, remember, playing is their “job”, wearing “work clothes” will make them more comfortable to join any activities at preschool.

If you need to talk to us about anything or if we can be of any help to you, please see us to arrange a convenient time. We are looking forward to an exciting and enjoyable year!

A note from Class 302 - Gabi, Narine and Karen 

September is always a very exciting month to open our classroom doors to find fresh new faces, either a bit hesitant, unsure, or so ready to join the fun! We, as teachers find it challenging, exciting and interesting to get to know our new little friends and to find ways to help them feel safe and happy.

Friendship Board!

In the first weeks of school we focused on activities to help the children feel comfortable in their new environment, to become acquainted with teachers and classmates, and to learn the routines and patterns of the days at school. We sang name songs, played games in small and large groups to practice basic social skills, such as: lining up, following directions, or taking turns.

We love “messy” activities, your children will climb, roll on the floor, play with sand and water, and will be encouraged to explore freely with paint, glue. Don't be surprised if the occasional bit of dirt, foliage or woodchips ends up coming home on their clothes and in their shoes from the outdoor playground! Please dress them in comfortable, weather appropriate, washable clothing so they can be involved in all our games, art and other activities.

We are looking forward to a great school year with your little ones!

A note from Class 401 - Stephanie, Narine and Karen

Welcome back to the returning families at the preschool and welcome to the new families that are joining us this year. We have the pleasure of being in the Sunflower Room this year. Gradual entry was a great way to meet all of the children and their families. It went very smoothly and now the children have gotten very familiar with the routine of the day. We have been playing name games and songs at circle for all of the children to learn their friends names in the classroom. We have started building relationships with each child and learning so much about them each and every day.

Beautiful Autumn Trees

We have one rule at preschool which is 'no one gets hurt.' We discussed this rule at the circle with the children and described different scenarios in which we can be hurt. We talked about different strategies to use when dealing with certain situations where we don't use our bodies or our words to hurt anyone.

We worked together to create a hand-print poster for the classroom so we can always be reminded of our rule.

We painted people links and talked about what we like to do with our friends, made a friendship flower, and friendship links with our friends. We also looked in mirrors to draw a self portrait of ourselves. Then we answered some questions about some of the things we like to give everyone a chance to learn a bit more about the children in the class.

Each year we adopt a killer whale named Echo in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium. Each child decorated their own Echo and we talked about killer whales at circle and all of the members of Echo's family. Every Friday one child will have a chance to take Echo home for the weekend.

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

We are looking forward to a wonderful year with your children! 

A note from Class 402 - Arsi and Danielle

What a great start to the beginning of the new school year. It was awesome to meet some new faces and welcome back some familiar ones. Everyone has settled in quickly and we have spent the first few weeks getting reacquainted with each other and our number one rule – No One Gets Hurt. We read the book “Swimmy” by Leo Leoni and learnt how to work as a team, working togther. We have also spent some time talking about sharing with our friends and learning our friends names.

Fall Collage!

We explored “Me, Myself and I” and it was interesting to see how the children pictured themselves. We used different mediums to do this, from pencils, to wool and material, to paint and also clay.We incorporated how to be a great friend into our week. Reading the story “Bear & His New Friend” and dancing together with scarves. Pairs of children painted child size cut-outs of children, which encouraged lots of talking and the sharing of ideas. We used a partner's handprint with ours, to make a 'Friendship Heart' and together we all brought a piece of fruit and helped cut it up for our “Friendship Fruit Salad".We also had the opportunity to act out some great felt stories '5 Little Elephants' and '10 in The Bed'.  We have the beginning of some great actors/actress's in the group and some who just like to be in the audience!

We just spent the week looking at fall. How the leaves change colours, why do they change? Exploring the many different types of leaves. We experimented with colours. We mixed orange, red and yellow water colour onto diffusing paper and watched it spread over the paper and change colours, just like the leaves that fall from the trees. We also used Vinegar, powdered paint and baking soda; what happens when you add all those things together? There was lots of noises, bubbles and some odd colours were discovered, so we mixed it all together and captured it on paper.

Autumn Leaves!

Just a little reminder that we are here for 4 hours, so it is better to pack more food than less and please remember to place the food item for snack in a separate container so that your children can be independent and grab their own snacks with minimal assistance from teachers.

Please continue to send extra clothing as there are some very enthusiastic painters and children who enjoy water play. With the cold weather here, please remember to send warm coats and hats. Our playground is shaded and tends to be cooler earlier in the day.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to either of us.

A note from Class 304 - Stephanie, Vibha and Gabi

We would like to welcome everyone to the Treehouse Room! We enjoyed meeting all of the children and their families during out gradual entry period. Gradual entry went very well and now the children are starting to get comfortable with the classroom and daily routines of each day. We have been getting to know each child while they play and learning so much about them. They are also starting to learn all of their friends names. We have been singing name songs at circle for the children to get familiar with all of their peers in the class. It is coming together very nicely. We talked about our one rule at preschool which is 'no one gets hurt.' We read stories about how certain things may hurt friends and other ways we can deal with situations to make everyone feel safe and included. We worked together to make a hand-print poster of our rule that is now up in our classroom.

For the first few weeks we talked about friendship in the classroom and what it looks like to be a good friend. For art we painted people friendship links and we traced our hands and put them on a plate with a heart we decorated to show friendly hands.

As the weather is getting colder, we would like to remind parents to dress your child according to the weather as we will be going outside to play if it is not raining.

Next month we will be all things Fall, Thanksgiving, and Halloween.

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

We are looking forward to an exciting year with the children!

 A note from Class 403 - Gabi and Permjit

Yum, yum, apple muffins

Welcome to the Treehouse Room! It has been a great month seeing some familiar faces and meeting new children and their families. Gradual entry went very well. The children settled in quickly and are getting familiar with the routine of each day. During the first week we really got to know each individual child and sang a lot of songs at circle so that the children learnt each other's names as well. On our first full day of class, we talked about our one rule at preschool which is 'no one gets hurt.' We talked about how we can express ourselves in a variety different situations in a way where our bodies and our words aren't hurtful to any of our friends at preschool. We all worked together to make a handprint poster of our rule that will always be up in our classroom.

We painted people friendship links, talked about how things make us feel and the different feelings people may have. We fingerpainted with colours that made us happy. We looked into mirrors to draw self portraits of ourselves and answered some questions so everyone had a chance to get to know the other children better.

Echo our Preschool Orca!

Each year we adopt a killer whale named Echo in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium. Each child decorated their own Echo and we talked about killer whales at circle and all of the members of Echo's family. Every Friday one child will have a chance to take Echo home for the weekend.

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

We are looking forward to an amazing year with your children! 

Fundraising:

This month we used some of our fundraising money to purchase some fabulous new materials for our preschool. We think that this awesome Fire Station  (pictured below) is sure to please some of our preschoolers and these "Super Sorting Pies" are so much fun to play with while practising our pre-math skills... Colour recognition, patterning, sorting and fine motor control.

We also just purchased a "Listening Station" which has 4 sets of headphones so our preschoolers can sit together and listen to a story, poetry, music or various recorded sounds. It's a great addition to our classroom materials because it allows someone who might need a break from interaction with the other children in their class to sit quietly and relax. It also allows children to practice their listening skills which are so important! We can also add another layer to our programming by playing a story which pertains to the theme we are learning about.

As the year goes on we will let you know what special items we are fundraising for and how you can get involved!

For those of you who made it down this far!! Thanks for reading our blog and have a great day!

May Flowers... 2014

A note from the office    Jen McEneany, Coordinator...

We began May with our staff professional development day which was a felting workshop put on by our wonderful administrator Tina with her company Little Giant Preschool Resources. This was a real team building day for us as we got to spend some time all together, make some new stories and games to share with our preschoolers and discuss ideas we have for programming, as well as having a laugh or two along the way!

Next we had our "Just for Mom" event which was well attended and lots of fun. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us as well as the many businesses who donated items for our door prizes.

I want to say  HUGE thank you to The Great Canadian Landscaping Company who recently donated 10 yards of soft fall for our playground as well as organising some of our wonderful preschool dads to help us to haul it into the playground! As you know we are a non-profit organisation so every dollar counts and when we get a generous donation such as this, it means the money we save can be used for more preschool supplies and fun activities for our children. THANK YOU, THE GREAT CANADIAN LANDSCAPING COMPANY!

Painted lady butterfly hanging out in the Memorial Garden!

We had a delivery of caterpillars to our Treehouse room at the beginning of May and it has been a fantastic learning experience for our preschoolers to watch them go through the stages from caterpillar to chrysalis and then on to their final transformation into butterflies. Over the past few days we have been releasing several at a time into the memorial garden and it has been so much fun watching the children's faces light up as they watch them flutter away into the sky!

Upcoming dates to remember:

Thurs June 12: Messy Church
Tues/Wed June 17/18: 4's Graduation.
Wed June 18: Last day of preschool classes.
Thurs/Fri June 19/20: Picnics.
Mon-Thurs July 7-31: Summer Program.

For general information please contact Jen or Tina in the office:

Tel: 604-980-1326
Fax: 604-982-3277
Email: stcpre@telus.net
website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com
Address: 1058 Ridgewood Drive, North Van, V7R 1H8
Please like our facebook page "St. Catherine's Childcare Society"

A note from the Developmental Resource Office   Marion...

It has been a great year with lots of laughter and learning through play. All the children have demonstrated that they are ready for new challenges. 

One of our classroom butterflies. 

The 2’s have begun to make connections with their peers and we can now hear some conversations emerging that are absolutely delightful to listen to. Many of them have been successful with toilet training while others are working on being trained for the 3’s.

The 3’s have learnt so much this year about sharing, turn taking, using their words and developing listening skills, especially at circle time. For some of the children going into the 4’s will mean extra time at preschool. In the 4’s the children will learn to become more independent with dressing and self help skills. There will be lots of opportunities for the children to develop their Kindergarten readiness skills.

The 4’s are moving on to Kindergarten. Parents need to embrace this transition as it is the next step in your child’s development. Parents can help with this transition by:

•     Talking with your child about the impending changes (timing is everything, wait until you     are just enjoying a walk in the park and just chatting about life)
•     Helping you child acquire many self help skills (dressing, eating and being responsible     for simple tasks around the house)
•     Encouraging your child to ask for help when needed
•     Allowing your child to practice working independently
•     Teaching your child to follow directions
•     Helping your child learn his/her full name, address and phone number
•     Teaching your child about rules and how important they are

Marion's toes are ready to limbo!

I want to say a fond farewell to the families who are moving on, it has been a pleasure having you as part of the St. Catherine’s Family. I want to wish everyone a great, sunny summer and as usual I never say good-bye, but see you in the Village.

A note from Creative Music   Cheryl...

This month we had our Music Open House and had the opportunity to bring our families to visit a music class. Both our 3's and 4's classes sang the wonderful song Tingalayo and then our 3's took turns at being the conductor for an orchestra and our 4's listened to the story "Peter and the Wolf" and learned to identify the different instruments that portrayed each character. Oh and for those of you who are interested, the taped recording of Peter and the Wolf finishes very suddenly... but in case you are wondering the duck does make it out of the wolf alive! Thank you to all our families for taking some time to visit my music class, it was wonderful to share a little of what goes on in our music program with you.

Our playground looking lovely after the donation of wood chips!

As next week will be our final week of music I want to take a moment to say how much fun I have had over this past year. Spending time nurturing your children through the power of music is something I feel very privileged to be able to do and I truly believe that music is a universal language that sparks something in every single person no matter what their age. Have a fantastic summer and make sure to turn on your radio, sing along to your favourite songs and dance with your little ones as much as you can!!

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

It's amazing how fast this year went by. It has been a fun filled year with lots of play and learning for the children. It has been such a great pleasure to watch your children develop throughout the year. All of the groups have become more cohesive with one another. They are inviting friends to play and have formed relationships with each other. The children are also using sentences and more words when talking to their friends and their teachers. 

This month we have been talking about transportation. We used a variety of different art mediums to create things that go. We glued tissue paper on cars, put cars in paint and drove them onto paper to make different car tracks, used different utensils with paint to make prints for a train, glued colorful squares on buses, rolled paint onto stencils, and finger painted airplanes. 

It has been a pleasure having your children in our classes this year. We always looked forward to see their smiling faces as they came into the classroom. Hope everyone has a great summer and we hope to see you all next year! 


A note from the Downunder Room, class 301   Gabi and Permjit

We can’t believe that we only have a couple of more weeks to spend with our busy bees! We already miss the children of 301, our very interesting, full of energy, full of strong personalities, never a dull moment- emotionally charged class! 

A school year is long enough to get to know them quite well, well enough to like, even to love them. We share many happy and some bittersweet moments, we learn about their likes and dislikes, we learn to adjust our daily routine to their needs and abilities and even to the general mood of the day in the classroom.

In May we shared stories and interesting facts about Ocean Life.The children created sharks, seahorses, turtles, and other sea creatures to make murals to decorate the room. Next we celebrated Moms; the children excitedly decorated a card, and practiced some self-discipline not to touch or taste our handmade lip-scrubs. Speaking of moms, we had some very special guests visiting, some of our parents signed up to spend a day with their children in the class. It was a great pleasure to see the proud, happy smiles on both the mom’s and the children’s faces for the very special occasion. Thank you for helping us with the children!

Thank you for trusting us to care for your lovely children, hopefully we will see you in September again! Have a wonderful Summer!

 A note from the Downunder Room, class 302   Rachel, Gabi and Sali

May was a very busy month in class 302. We learned some interesting facts about endangered, rescued and injured animals. Our home corner area was transformed into an Animal Rescue tent  where the children happily cared for “injured” cats, dogs and other creatures. They all practiced they empathy, sharing, caring and other social skills.

They were all excited to celebrate a very special family member, Mom, by creating a card and a batch of handmade lip-scrub for her.

The children loved having their family members visiting our preschool for Music Open House and they were equally delighted to see them in our classroom for a visit.

We are so close to the end of the school year, and we have so many more fun activities to do! This is the time of the year when we, the teachers have so many more ideas to share, to teach, than sadly have to realize that we only have a short amount of time to spend with the children.  We only have a few hours in a week in their company, but those hours are precious, we learn about their personalities, unique needs, we learn to respect each other. It is a bittersweet moment when we have to say good-bye to our preschoolers.

We thank you for all your support, your suggestions, your help, your understanding, your very creative ways to get involved in your child’s education. Keep up the good work and have a great summer!

A note from the Treehouse Room, class 304  Stephanie and Gabi

This month our class was learning about creatures that live under the sea. We created lots of beautiful "Ocean Art" such as octopuses, starfish, sea horses, turtles, and whales. We read lots of stories set in the sea. Some favourite stories with preschoolers are the Rainbow Fish series of books.

This has been a really fun and busy year at preschool. We have watched some of our quieter children begin to find their voices and engage in more confident play and we have noticed some of our more out-going children invite their friends into their games. This class is a full of unique personalities and we have so enjoyed getting to know each and every one of your wonderful children. We have also enjoyed being able to help facilitate the play and learning and watch some very firm friendships form between the children in this class.

As this is our combined class we have some children who are moving on to Kindergarten after this year and other children will be coming back to preschool again next year. For those of you who will be leaving us, we will miss you and we wish you all the best and for those of who will be returning in September, we look forward to spending another year playing and learning together.

A note from the Treehouse Room, class 401 Sali, Rachel and Karen

This month we had a very special delivery to our classroom... Caterpillars! We got to watch as they ate their food then built their chrysalises around themselves and then it was time to be very patient while we waited for them to turn into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies! Next was the best part when we got to set them free!

Learning about the life cycle of a butterfly is a very fun subject for preschoolers especially when we get to enjoy The Very Hungry Caterpillar story by Eric Carle, make our own caterpillars and butterflies and then see the real thing happening before our very eyes!

We also talked about ants this month and watched the ants in our ant farm dig tunnels through NASA space gel!! A favourite song was "The Ants Go Marching 2 by 2!"

This year we have seen our class learn and mature so much. They have formed close friendships, learned the importance of listening, exploring and asking questions. We are so lucky to have been able to be there to share in these special moments and we will miss them all!

We are looking forward to celebrating with you on June 18th when our little ones have their graduation ceremony and then hopefully having some good weather for a final goodbye at the picnic on Friday June 20th. We wish you all a fantastic summer and a great transition into kindergarten in September.

A note from the Treehouse/Rainbow Room, class 402  Arsi, Stephanie, Karen, Cheryl

What a fun month May has been! We can't believe this school year is almost coming to an end with our 4's graduating to kindergarten!

This month we worked on a very special project for our moms for Mother's Day. The children decorated the front and back of handmade recipe books with their hand prints in bright colours. We added a special touch by having them dress up in a chef's apron and hat which then became the cover picture! Most importantly we received great recipes from our families which we compiled in the recipe book for our moms and families to enjoy! Hope everyone has tested some of those delicious ideas!

Since summer is around the corner, we thought we'd have some fun bringing Hawaii into our classroom! We got busy working on Hawaiian shirts which the children painted with string and glued colourful buttons on the front and then we made tie-dye t-shirts as well! Next we made beautiful leis out of various colours of paper and attached them together with string to make them look like the Hibiscus flowers they use in Hawaii. The children were very excited to paint in a pool using a coconut. What a blast that was for us! We added bright paint to our paper lined pool and just had lots of fun watching the coconut make a beautiful abstract painting! Of course we can't talk about Hawaii without doing some pineapple art. The children decorated pineapples by using yellow and green tissue paper. Lastly, we had a fun hula dance party where we learned how to hula dance! We even did the limbo!! For snack, we munched on some special treats including Popsicles! Yummy!! We'd like to thank all our families who brought in the treats for our party!!

As we get closer to graduation, we see the special friendships that have formed with the children. They have all made new friends and bonded with ones they knew from before. It's been such a fun and wonderful year teaching the children. We wish them all the best in their years ahead as they move into kindergarten!!

If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to ask any teachers.

A note from the Treehouse Room, class 403  Permjit and Stephanie

For the month of May we were busy working on a surprise project for someone very special in our lives. We found out a lot of moms liked to read so we decided to make bookmarks for Mother's Day. The children spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into the way they decorated each bookmark to make them extra special. It was very interesting hearing all of the comments about their moms. Some were 5 years old and others were 50. Hope you all enjoyed those!

Our next theme was Hawaii. It was amazing to find out that so many children have been to Hawaii. We cut out grass from newspaper, made paper Leis with colorful flowers, used water colours to decorate sea creatures, and tie dyed t-shirts. To end things off we had a Luau. It was so much fun. The children played in the "Flamingo Tiki Hut" we put up in the house corner, we did the limbo and we learned how to hula dance. Thank you to everyone who contributed treats for the party. 

We had a fantastic year with all of your children. We enjoyed watching them learn and grow throughout the year. They have developed in so many different ways and we would like to wish all of you the best of luck in the future. 

Rainy Days April 2014

A note from the office Jen McEneany  Coordinator...

What a BUSY month we have had at preschool! I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for all their hard work in making our Easter Services such a success. We love to spend time with our families and to show them how much we appreciate them; the Easter Services and tea is one of those times. We hope you enjoyed watching your children perform and then having a bite to eat and cup of tea served by the St. Catherine's team! Thank you also to those parents/grandparents who stayed behind and helped us to pack all the tables and chairs away again afterwards!

Beautiful apron and gift basket to win at the fundraiser!

Tomorrow, Tuesday May 6th is our "Just For Mom" event from 7-9pm in the Rainbow/Treehouse classrooms. We really hope that all our lovely moms can make it out to do a little socializing, shopping and enter their tickets in a draw for some incredible door prizes!

Thank you to all the local businesses taking part in this event:

www.mubiblossom.ca
Arbonne: kalideans@me.com
www.instockclothing.com
Siobhan Smith: local artist
www.epicureselections.com
Norwex: christineinwhistler@gmail.com
Barefoot Books : readtomebarefoot@gmail.com
Stella & Dot: cherylcameron@shaw.ca
Personal gifts: suej421@hotmail.com
Silver Smith Jeweller: lor.rhi@telus.net
Nutirie: andreapelly@me.com
www.spiralityoflife.com
www.buddhaandtheraven.com
Studiopoplash@gmail.com

Thank you to the local businesses who donated special items to give away to our preschool mamas!

Why Knot Mom
Tea time
Heros International Food Ltd

Important upcoming dates:

Tuesday May 6 7-9pm Just For Mom fundraiser

Thursday May 8 Scholastic orders due

Monday May 19 Preschool Closed for Victoria day

Wed/Thurs May 21/22 Music open house

Steph chooses felt at our professional day on Friday!

For general information please contact Jen or Tina in the office.

Tel: 604-980-1326

Fax: 604-982-3277

Email: stcpre@telus.net

Web: www.stcatherinespreschool.com

Please LIKE our facebook page "St. Catherine's Childcare Society"


A note from the Developmental Resource Office   Marion Porter...

Just want to say how proud I am of all the children for their hard work over the past weeks preparing for, and taking part in the Easter Services. It was wonderful to see them all up on the stage performing and also to see all you proud parents supporting them.

I will let everyone know what spots they have for summer school by May 31st. We do still have some spots available for afternoons. If you, or anyone else you know is interested in an afternoon spot please give me a call.

A note from the Rainbow Room Discovery Two's class  Estelle, Danielle, Vibha, Stephanie and Karen...

Hello everyone, April has been a busy month talking about spring, animals and preparing for Easter. The children enjoyed making rainbow fish, Easter baskets, Easter eggs, chicks, sheep puppets and many other projects using different art mediums.

Discovery 2's Rainbow Fish

We started out the month of April talking about spring and with a pet shop theme in the home corner. The children enjoyed taking care of the “animals” using the doctor’s kits as well as putting the animals and birds in their kennels and cages. Then we moved on to Easter with baskets and eggs. The children enjoyed filling the baskets and hiding the eggs in the home corner.

Next we decorated cookies with icing and sprinkles. Some of the children enjoyed taste testing the ingredients like real little cooks!

For Circle the children learned to count and to recognise their colours with different felt board games. They listened to stories by way of different mediums; felt, books, songs and drawings. A favourite song was ‘Sleeping Bunnies’.

See the little bunnies sleeping til it’s nearly noon,

Shall we come and wake them with a merry tune?

Oh how still, are they ill?

Wake up sleeping bunnies!

Hop, hop, hop!

Wake up sleeping bunnies!

Easter chicks!

Hop, hop, and stop!

The children are becoming much more independent and social. They are talking to each other and making plans such as “ let’s play cars”, “Do you want to come to my house for a play date?” and “Can I have a turn?”. The children also need fewer reminders to put their jackets away and pack up their snacks.Please remember as the weather gets nicer to put sunscreen on your child and to send a sun hat to school. While the play ground has some shade, it tends to get sunnier in the afternoon. If you have any questions or concerns about your child please feel free to talk one of us.

A note from the Dowununder Room class 301 Permjit and Gabi...

It's been a very hectic April with rehearsals with Cheryl as well as keeping up with all the activities in the classroom. We discussed Easter and how we celebrate it because it's the beginning of new life and we compared this concept to the fact that we can see the brand new buds on trees every spring and how some have already started to bloom.

Simple and fun, pots of brightly coloured paint are always a big hit!

For the children the best part was the Easter egg hunt and how they just missed the Easter bunny who had left them some yummy chocolate eggs to find. They had to find three each and then they helped their friends who couldn't find more than one.

We are finding that they seem to be really enjoying each others company and will invite themselves over to a friend's house to play after preschool!! We have talked about how it's a really good idea to discuss it with your mum and dad and make a plan which works for both families!

They are real social little butterflies and will also be feisty and let one another know when they are not happy. We are working on this and learning that we do not use our body/legs/arms to make a point but instead our voices. We are trying to step back sometimes and let them deal with conflict so that they learn to resolve their differences of opinion themselves, although we are right there when needed, but this skill is incredibly important to learn and develop over time. 

We love the fact that each child has a unique personality and that they will speak up but we are now helping them to understand that sometimes even words can really hurt someone's feelings and if we would like to say that we are unhappy or don't want to be part of a game, there is a kind way to say it. We are helping them with the words to use and continue to emphasize the importance of personal space.

Estelle, Gabi and Sali making felt board stories during our Pro Day!

The children did such a marvvelous job at the Easter Service and I am sure you were just as proud as we were! Having tea with our families was a wonderful way to end the day! Thank you for making it so special and being there to enjoy it with us. A big thank you to Jen, Tina and Marion who worked tirelessly, we know a lot went into making it happen. Cheryl is loved so much by the children that music day is one of the highlights of the week and spending so much time rehearsing and still making everyone laugh is what Cheryl does best! Thank you Cheryl!!

A sign-up sheet has gone up on the bulletin board if you would like to spend a morning or even just an hour in the classroom. Please make arrangements for younger siblings so you can fully focus on your child and let them share their preschool with you, thank you.

A note from the Downunder Room class 302 Gabi, Rachel and Sali...

This past month has been a lot of fun and very busy. Our three's worked so hard learning their songs for the Easter Service and I think you will agree that they all sang beautifully up in the Church. It was lovely to share their hard work with you and then spending time all together for the tea was a great way to end a special day.

We also spent time taking part in traditional Easter activities; egg dyeing, Easter egg hunts and art work which focused on rabbits, chicks and eggs!

The children are maturing, making close friendships and learning how to use words even when a situation may be frustrating. We know they are almost ready to move up to the big fours for next year! Please come and speak to us if you have any questions or concerns.

A note from the Treehouse Room class 304  Stephanie and Gabi...

April showers bring May flowers! We did see a lot of rain in April and now it is wonderful to see all of the beautifully coloured flowers in bloom everywhere. It really is starting to look like spring. We also got a few sunny days which we love to see because that gives us a chance to play outside. We even opened our sand box outside which the children really enjoyed. We would like to remind parents to please send your child in proper running shoes as we will be going outside more often with the weather getting nicer. 

Make-it table fun!

We were very busying getting ready for Easter this month. We made chicks, painted Easter baskets, decorated eggs, and dyed hard boiled eggs. We also got a lovely surprise from an animal that hops; it was the Easter Bunny! He filled our room with chocolate eggs that we had to find. It was so exciting going on an Easter egg hunt. 

With all of the Easter excitement, we also had one more thing we were excited about; the Easter services. The children were amazing up there. All of their hard work practicing their songs showed. We would like to give a big thank you to Cheryl and Marion for making it all come together so beautifully. It was great seeing all of the families up in the gym for the tea afterwards. It was to spend time with everyone. 

This month we also decorated jeans for jeans week. We collected donations for the BC Children's Hospital in the umbrellas we had up in the classrooms. Thank you for all of your donations. 

The children have grown so much through the year and they are forming relationships with the other children in the classroom. It is great to watch how their play has progressed. We are seeing a lot more back and fourth conversations and working together with their peers. 

For the month of May we are inviting parents to come and spend the day with us. There is a sign up sheet on our bulletin board if you would like to do so. Next month we will be talking about beaches and all things that are under the sea. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to speak to one of the teachers.

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

April has just flown by with all the Easter activities.The children enjoyed painting Easter egg pictures, bunnies and baskets at the easel. For art, they decorated egg shapes with tape, pastels and sparkles. They enjoyed dying their eggs that they brought from home and making a basket to put them in.

At circle, we read ’It’s the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown’ and listened to ‘The Golden Egg Book’ with props.The home corner had egg cartons and coloured eggs to sort, count and find.

Our Ant farm

The last day before Easter, a special visitor came to the classroom. He left a note for the children explaining that he had hidden eggs for them to find and that there were five eggs each. The children had fun finding the eggs and putting them in their baskets.

The children practised very hard for the Easter services and were so proud to perform the songs in front of friends and family members. It was lovely to see you all at the tea.

Our ant farm (Formicarium) has arrived in our classroom. The children are enjoying watching the ants work and make tunnels in their colony.

On Wednesdays, we have started doing journal writing. The children have each decorated their own journal book. Each week, they draw a picture, sometimes the teachers help them with an idea and sometimes the children choose what to draw. The teachers write down the words that the children use to talk about their picture.

We have now started a unit on science, we will be doing experiments and changing the home corner into a laboratory!

A note from the Treehouse/Rainbow Room class 402 Arsi, Stephanie, Karen and Cheryl...

Wow what a busy month it has been! It just seemed to fly by with everything we had going on at the preschool. The Easter services were a huge success. Cheryl did an amazing job bringing everything together and Marion made many wonderful props. We couldn't have done it without them! The children were excellent singers up there. They worked very hard at remembering their songs and words. It was great to see all of the families afterwards for our tea in the gym and spend some time with you.

The month of April was all about Easter! We decorated eggs, painted baskets, painted a group basket, made bunnies, and dyed hard boiled eggs. We had a very special surprise from the Easter bunny one day. He stopped by the preschool to hide chocolate eggs in the classroom. It was very exciting to go on an egg hunt. 

 

We also spent one week decorating jeans for jeans week. We had umbrellas up in the classroom for donations that we were collecting for the BC Children's Hospital. Thank you for all your donations. 

The children have been very enthusiastic about their journals. Each week they are drawing a picture in them and telling us a story about their picture. It is a great way to let them be creative and use their imagination. 

Little jeans for Jean Week!

With the weather getting nicer we would like to remind parents to send your child in proper running shoes as we will be going outside as much as possible. 

For the month of May we are inviting parents to spend the day with us. Please sign up on the bulletin boards.

Next month we will be talking about Hawaii!

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

A note from the Treehouse Room class 403  Stephanie and Permjit...

April was a very busy month and the children did a marvellous  job of keeping up with not only the activities but rehearsals which kept them on their toes!

We really enjoyed the Easter service and tea. The children were so proud to perform their songs and worked very hard practicing. We are so proud of them. It's very hard to stand in front of everyone and perform. Cheryl did a fantastic job and it helps that the children adore her and absolutely love music with her. In the background we have Marion who does a lot of running around and get all our props ready. Jen and Tina make our Tea go without a hitch. I'm sure they must not want to see a cucumber sandwich for a while!! We loved the yummy food prepared and have to say a big thank you because without them, us teachers wouldn't be able to pull it off. 

While rehearsing we managed to fit in quite a bit. We bought in two white boiled eggs and decorated them using water colours. We had fun listening to stories about the Easter bunny and about Easter. Our all time favourite was when the Easter bunny left us some chocolate eggs to find. We had to find five each and helped our friends when we found ours. This was so much fun, made us laugh, got us to work together and produced endless chatter about how the Easter bunny manages to hide eggs without us noticing!

We decorated tiny pairs of jeans!

We played games and continued to work on kindergarten readiness. We are fortunate to have Marion who will come in and give us a hand to make sure all the children are ready for the next big chapter in their lives and help the transition into elementary school go a little more smoothly.

Towards  the end of April, we had our ‘jeans week’. The teachers and children wore jeans in support of BC Children’s hospital. The children decorated tiny pairs of jeans and we had an umbrella in each classroom to collect donations. The children were enthusiastic about bringing their coins to toss in!

We have a sign up sheet if you would like to spend the afternoon with us. If you would like to bring in an activity, play a game or read a particular favourite book or just hang out! We look forward to you coming in and just playing with us!!