February 2021

Love is what happens when two hearts find their happy place right beside each other!

February is the shortest month but it definitely has the biggest heart!!

Well, we are past the half-way point in our preschool year! Only eighteen more weeks until the Summer break! Hard to believe! Things will be amping up around the school so make sure you don't miss a thing!

SEPTEMBER REGISTRATION

Registration for September is well under way! All currently enrolled families have handed in their registrations. You will all get an email on Feb. 16th regarding your child's registration. (Everyone got the days and times they wanted) Classrooms will be assigned at the end of summer and you will receive your Gradual Entry Schedule about 2 weeks before the start of school in September. 

We have now opened registration up to the community and they have begun to send in their forms and deposits. If you know anyone who will be needing childcare, please point them in our direction. Word of mouth is our BEST advertisement!!

SAMOSA FUNDRAISER

We will be doing our Oh So Popular Samosa Fundraiser again!! We will be sending out the ordering information Feb. 8th, and delivery will be March 10th. Don't forget to send the ordering information to your friends and family!! The more we order, the more profit St. Catherine's will get! And that means more fun and exciting classroom activities!!

THE CARD PROJECT

The Card Project is another fundraiser where your child's art is turned into greeting cards! They are amazing! The teachers have begun collecting your child's art work and we will be sending it off in March. Watch your email in March for further details!! 

THE BOTTLE DEPOT

We will be starting an account at the Bottle Depot on Brooksbank Ave. in North Vancouver and families will be able to donate their bottles and cans to St. Catherine's Childcare Society by attaching one of our special labels. MORE INFO TO FOLLOW!! Watch your email!!

IMPORTANT DATES & EVENTS

FEB. 15.............FAMILY DAY (PRESCHOOL CLOSED)

FEB. 16.............PANCAKE SUPPER (VIRTUAL)

FEB. 28............DEADLINE FOR SAMOSA ORDERS

MAR 10...........SAMOSA ORDER PICK UP

MAR 15-19......SPRING BREAK (PRESCHOOL CLOSED)

APR 2..............GOOD FRIDAY (PRESCHOOL CLOSED)

APR 5..............EASTER MONDAY (PRESCHOOL CLOSED)

MAY 14...........PRO-D DAY (PRESCHOOL CLOSED)

MAY 24...........VICTORIA DAY (PRESCHOOL CLOSED)

*As usual, if you are going to be away, please let us know in advance so we can better plan our days. 

*If you are traveling during Spring Break, or leaving the country, please make sure you are isolating or quarantining as per the Canadian Government Covid-19 protocols before returning to school. More information here:   https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/isolation

Virtual Pancake Supper Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 16^th, 2021.

 Every year we celebrated Pancake Tuesday with pancakes, sausages, ice cream and cookies in the gym.  Donations collected were given to the Primate World Relief and Development Fund.  So many people came together to have a great meal and socialize.  There were crafts for the young ones, such a special event! 

Shove Tuesday is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent, on Ash Wednesday.  40 days leading up to Easter, Lent was traditionally a time of prayer, fasting and penance, so one ate pancakes to use up the rich foods before the fasting started.  So remember pancakes are not only for breakfast, they taste great for dinner.  Enjoy!

Please check out the Church's website to see how your can join this year's Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper!! 

https://www.saint-catherines.org/events/virtual-pancake-supper/2021-02-16

FEBRUARY IS A SHORT MONTH BUT JANUARY WAS LONG!! We know you don't get a chance to see what is going on inside our classrooms so check out below to see what programming and activities the teachers do for the children. 

And there are pictures too! 

RAINBOW ROOM - Danielle, Marjan, Vibha

We hope you had a safe and relaxing holiday.

January was a busy and exciting month in the Rainbow room. 

We mostly talked about Winter, snow, snowmen, and Winter animals. We started with Winter sports. We had toboggans in the home corner with Winter animals.  On the light table we had a matching game and also ski equipment. 

On the science table we had a hockey jersey and some Winter sport books. In the water table we had shredded paper that children really seemed to enjoy.

For circle time, there was a hockey stick story and game, Winter Friends book, and we did some creative movement like skating, skiing, and also playing with an ice hockey activity game, and toboggans to sit in. 

For art, there was Jersey marble colouring, ice cube colouring with hockey sticks, sled painting with shaving cream, ski boot prints with paint and glitter, toques with shaving cream and paint, and ice skating painting with q-tips and cotton balls. 

We moved on to snow and snowmen after that. At the science table, we had felt snowmen and we put a castle and princesses on the floor for the children to play with. We had lots of snowflakes and snowmen felt activities on the tables too. For circle time, we did some snowflake body movement, listened to the stories of Five Little Mittens, Five Little Snowflakes, One Snowy Day CD story, and the Mittens Game. For art, they made popsicle stick snowflakes and made melted snowmen with shaving cream.

For the last week, we talked about Winter animals. We had a beautiful house corner with the Penguin House and the children enjoyed playing inside with various other winter animals. 

On the light and science table, we had lots of winter animals for children to play with.

For circle time, there was Five Little Penguins felt story, a Penguin Big Surprise book, yoga, walking around the class  pretending to be a penguin, and Polly the Polar Bear story.

For art, we made penguins by using a potato masher tool to make a print and then the children added eyes and beaks to it. 

Children made polar bears with tissue paper and glitter, and also made foot prints on the paper with paint.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to talk to one of the teachers or call the office.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to a great month of February!

TREEHOUSE ROOM - Arsi, Brita, Carol, Karen, Marjan, Rose

We hope you had a wonderful Winter break and are excited about starting the new year!

January has been an exciting and busy month for the children! We spent the first half of the month exploring all about Winter. We learned about the different types of Winter weather, the clothing we can wear, and some Winter animals.

For the last half of the month, we entered the world of Transportation. We discussed the the different forms of transportation and where you would find them.

For Winter art, the children decorated mittens with jewels, paint, and cotton, used shaving cream and water colours to colour toques and boots, and marble painted hockey jerseys. The children created snowflakes with water colours and Epson salts and melted snowmen with paint, glue, and shapes. They made penguins using various shapes such as circles, hearts, and ovals. They used fork printing to create a polar bear face and glued on the facial features. They also created igloos with bear tracks outside, and made snowy owls by sponge painting the body and head and gluing on eyes and a beak.

The artwork for the theme of Transportation consisted of paper plate sailboat scenes, hot air balloons out of shapes and string, and painting cars. They made traffic lights, school buses, and trains out of egg cartons, paint, and pre-cut shapes. The children painted a canoe and ocean scene, made a yellow school bus out of squares, circles, and rectangles, and edible street lights out of graham crackers, melted chocolate, and skittles!

Our circle time for Winter included the types of weather we experience, the warm clothing we wear, and learned about some Winter animals, such as penguins, polar bears, and snowy owls. Some of the books we read included: The Mitten, The Hat, Flip and Flop, So Much Snow, How to Hide a Polar Bear, CD story When will it Snow? and a short wildlife video of a snowy owl. The children learned some rhymes like 5 Colourful Mittens, 5 Little Penguins, 5 Little Polar Bears, 5 Little Snowflakes, the Hat and Scarf song and Find the Missing Mitten game. We played games like move like a penguin and hoot like an owl.

Our circle time for transportation consisted of the definition, how we travelled in the past and present day, identifying the different forms and where would you find them, such as the air, water, or on land. We played games like what is it and where do you use it, which colour bus is missing, we sang Wheels on the Bus, and 5 Big Airplanes Flying By, I am an Airplane movement song, and a transportation felt board story. The children listened to the books Things That Go, Fly, Wheels on the Bus, and Wake Up Engine. The children pretended to go on a canoe trip for a picnic lunch. We listened to the CD story We All Go Traveling and watched the DVD called Mighty Machines!

Our home corner was transformed into a winter castle,  where the children would walk across the drawbridge and enter the magical castle.  Inside, they played with smaller castles and a wooden castle set. The castle turned into a repair garage for transportation. The children pretended to be cars that needed to be repaired or filled up with gas. They used tools to fix smaller cars, trucks, and trains. Also, the children pretended to be bus drivers and drive their friends around town! We even had a large tent fire truck where the children would crawl inside and pretend to fire fighters!

Our treehouse went from being a warm cozy house with snow and icicles on the outside to a hot air balloon where the children could go for a ride.

Our block corner went from being a winter Groovy girl scene to a construction site. We  had large dump trucks and bull dozers where the children pretended to be construction workers. They would transport colourful blocks around the construction mat and work together to build towers.

Our classroom tables for winter had a large winter animal scene, lacing winter clothing shapes, large winter puzzles, colour and shape matching games, and matching mittens sets. For transportation, the children played with Lego, gears, transportation puzzles, toy airplanes with Little People, train set, and transportation matching cards.

For a special event, the children were treated to a street car zoom presentation from the new North Vancouver Street Car Museum! They learned all about the first street cars and where they would travel throughout the North Shore!

During our extended program, the children went for walks around the neighborhood and identified the different modes of transportation that they saw. They went to the library for a book presentation on transportation and hot chocolate at Delany’s!

It has been an action packed first month back!

Thank you for your continued support by always wearing face masks, social distancing, and keeping your child home if they are not feeling well. It is truly appreciated.

SUNFLOWER ROOM - Arsi, Danielle, Carol

It is hard to believe we have been back for a month now, where did the time go? We had a very busy month venturing into space and then returning to Earth to explore Winter.

We started off learning about Astronauts, what they wear into space, how they need to exercise to keep fit, how there is no gravity in space and that we need spaceships to get there. We turned the house corner into a space ship, with our own rocket ship & command center. We read ‘The Space Walk, There was an Old Astronaut Who Swallowed the Moon, Sheep Blast Off, Come back to Earth Esther & Look Up’. We had lots of fun using creative moment to be astronauts, walking around space or even blasting off as rockets. We played the games ‘What Color Helmet is missing? Where is the Spaceship? Rocket Ship, Rocket ship what do you see? What spaceship is missing (memory game) & Which star is hiding behind the moon?’ We listened to the felt rhymes 5 Astronauts, My Astronaut, 4 Rocket Ships & sang “Zoom, zoom, zoom we are going to the moon, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star & Bumping Up & Down in my little Space Shuttle’. For art we made our own Astronauts wearing a space suit, a Name Rocket ship and a Sun using paint under cling wrap were the children got to use their fingers to move it around the paper.

The next week we moved into exploring the planets in our galaxy. We started with Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars and then moved onto Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune. We talked about the different planets and their surfaces, their distance from the moon and how close they were to Earth. We discussed how some of the planets were cold, some hotter than others, some had rings and some had lots of moons. We read ‘The Man on The Moon, Chicken & Space, Life on Mars & The Planets ‘. We sang ‘Earth (Bingo song) & Solar System in Motion’. We learnt some Space Yoga poses and watched an interactive DVD Called ‘Little Einstein’s space Race Rematch’. For art we used diffusing paper and water colors to make Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars.  For Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune we Marble Painted with many different colors to try to create the planets.  We traced a circle for the moon and used paint mixed with flour & lids to make craters, to create the moon.

We landed back in Earth, right into Winter. We talked about Winter Animals: Penguins, Polar Bears & Harp Seals. We read facts about the animals, how Penguins only live in the South and Polar Bears live in the North and harp seals are born white. We read “The Snow Bear, There was an Old Lady who Swallowed some Snow, Winter Friends & The Little Penguin (CD Story)’. We listened to the felt stories ‘Polly The Polar Bear & Sammy the Seal Counts to 11’ & the felt Rhymes 5 Polar Bears, 5 Penguins & 5 Smart Seal’. We played the games ‘Which Penguin is Missing? & Marco the Snow Seal’. We acted out ‘I’m a Little Penguin, Polar Bear Twinkle & The Seal went over the Iceberg’. In the water table we added ‘snow’ that was fluffy and felt cold. 

For Art we used paint, a fork & glued on ears, a nose & eyes onto paper to make a polar bear. For the penguins, we cut the bottom of his body and then we glued it all together and put on a beak & googly eyes. With the seal we glued on his face and then used glitter for his body. We turned the house corner into a tobogganing hill with winter animals to pull around. We also had huge fun taking turns to pull our friends on the toboggans at circle time.

RESOURCE OFFICE - Marion

The Essentials of Development:

 Emotional Development means developing a full range of emotions, from sad to happy to angry, and learning to handle them appropriately.  This leads to deeper qualities – sympathy, caring, resilience, self-esteem, assertiveness and being able to rise to life’s challenges.

 Cognitive Development means being able to communicate, to think both creatively and abstractly, to pay attention and to solve problems, and develop keen judgement and a lifelong readiness to learn.

 Social Development means being able to make friends and get along with others, work as part of a team and be a good leader, all of which are built on self-confidence, cooperation and trust.

 Children learn at various rates and will show strengths in different areas.  The following is a list of what your child needs to learn before Kindergarten:

• To play and imagine
• To pay attention to others
• To imitate others; verbally and physically
• To understand and use language
• To initiate and make choices
• To function independently and ask for help

The 4’s teachers will be starting their curriculum to support the children’s Kindergarten Readiness Skills, and all these will be taught through play i.e. swatting letters with a fly swatter, counting and sorting toys and planning small group activities where the children need to communicate their choices to one another.

 Readiness: invokes 3 key factors:

1. The task at hand makes sense to the child.
2. The task builds on prior accomplishments and learning flow.
3. The child demonstrates a real and visible interest in the task and in the next steps.

Young children lean best through play because it is meaningful, engaging, interactive, interesting and enjoyable.

If you have any questions or concerns please e-mail the office and the classroom teachers or myself will get back to you.  Our priority is your child’s development and self-esteem.

January 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sorry for the late post but it has been a busy first couple of weeks! 

We are rested and relaxed from our Christmas holidays and we are ready to make the year 2021  the BEST ONE YET! 

 REGISTRATION FOR SEPTEMBER 2021 IS NOW OPEN FOR CURRENTLY ENROLLED FAMILIES!!!

Registration sheets have been handed out so make sure you fill them out with your first and second choice of classes, attach your deposit cheque (which is your September fee plus a $50 reg. fee) and drop them off to your child's teacher BEFORE February 1st to get PRIORITY PLACEMENT. On Feb. 1st we will open registration up to the community families.

PARKING

Please make sure to park in the main lot when dropping off and picking up your child from preschool.

Do not park in the small lot off Ridgewood Drive. That is for Church parking only. Thank you for your cooperation.

ABSENT CHILDREN

Please remember to call or email the office if your child is going to be away. Please let us know the reason for the absence, and if your child is sick, please give us the symptoms. This helps us so we can watch for other children in the class who may be coming down with the same illness. Call us at 604-980-1326 or email us at stcpre@telus.net.

FUNDRAISERS (SO FAR)

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Samosa Fundraiser! We raised $1000! 

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Purdy's Fundraiser! We raised $1400!

THANK YOU to everyone who donated to our Individual & Group Portraits! We raised $215!

THANK YOU to everyone who has ordered books from Scholastics! We've gained $64 in our Bonus Bank. 

We will probably be doing the Samosa Fundraiser again in the Spring as well as our Card Project Fundraiser where your child's artwork is turned into Cards or Notebooks! If you have any other ideas, send us a note and let us know what you're interested in.

UPCOMING DATES & EVENTS

JAN 1              REGISTRATION OPENS FOR CURRENTLY ENROLLED 

FEB 1              REGISTRATION OPENS FOR COMMUNITY

FEB 10/11/12  CHILDREN'S VALENTINE'S DAY PARTIES

FEB 15            FAMILY DAY - PRESCHOOL CLOSED

MAR 15-19     SPRING BREAK - PRESCHOOL CLOSED

HEY! What the heck happened in the classrooms in December??? Check it out!!!

RAINBOW ROOM - Danielle/Marjan/Vibha

Happy New Year Everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas break.  Thank you for your lovely cards, gifts and well wishes. They were greatly appreciated.

 What a fun filled and enjoyable month December was for our Twos.  Our little elves were very busy working on their special surprise gift for you.  We hope you enjoyed the handprint Christmas tree canvas art.

 We set up the Nativity Scene on the light table where the children learned about Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men and Baby Jesus.  For art we made angels with gold foil paper and glitter, painted paper plate Christmas wreaths with green tissue paper and decorated Christmas trees with cotton buds.  Stamping and gluing gem stones on reindeer hats was a big hit with our Twos.  At Circle time we listened to many Christmas theme felt rhymes such as "Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree What Do You See?",  "Five Fat Santas Jumping in the Snow" and 'Shake it Santa" song with a Santa shaped shaker.  We also played a fun, colourful ornament memory game where the children guessed which colour ornament was missing.

 We transformed our House Corner into a castle with knights and blocks. The space allowed the children to grow, socialize and promoted their imaginary skills. 

 In the upcoming weeks, we will be talking about Winter sports, winter clothing and animals in the winter.

As always, please come and talk to us if you have any concerns or questions.

 Thank you!  Stay safe and healthy ❤️

TREEHOUSE ROOM - Arsi/Brita/Carol/Karen/Marjan/Rose

We hope you've had a relaxing, safe and enjoyable holiday. We'd like to say a big "Thank you" for all the lovely presents and well wishes you gave us. They are very much appreciated.

December was an amazing and busy month in the Treehouse Room.

We started with the Nativity Story, reading Mary's Baby, Who's Coming to Our House? and Donkey's Christmas Song.

We made 4 different nativity scenes, big stars, little stars and wooden star ornaments (all with huge amounts of glitter, of course! ) And just as glittery angels, too.

We hope you enjoyed our short Christmas video of the children singing I'm a Little Pine Tree, and singing and signing We Wish you a Merry Christmas and Silent Night.

Other Christmas books we enjoyed this month included: Where is Santa Claus?, Merry Christmas Hungry Bear, Merry Christmas Split, Peppa's Christmas, There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Bell, Rudolph, Biggest Christmas Tree Ever, Bear's First Christmas, Merry Christmas From Biscuit, Clifford's Christmas, 5 Busy Elves, The Night Before Christmas, Things You Don't Know About Santa, Mouse's Christmas,

 and even more that I've probably missed!

Our circle time included many rehearsals of the above songs for the video, and felt stories and games: 5 Fat Snowmen, 5 Christmas Ornaments, What's in the Stocking?  and Where's the Candy Cane?

At our art tables, we made:

Wreaths, using stamping, collage, puffy paint, paper plates and paper mache and a wee bit of glitter!

Handprint reindeer cards

Puffy paint Christmas trees

Gingerbread people

Snowflakes and Santas in many forms and

Finger print Christmas lights.

Most importantly, we made (and kept secret?) the children's presents and cards for their parents. We hope you enjoyed them.

The House Corner went from Santa's Workshop to a Bake shop. This led us to make a ride-in Santa's Toy Train (using Purdy's Chocolate boxes....thanks again for your support in that fundraiser), Gingerbread Houses, gingerbread scented playdough and cake pops (with an edible equivalent of glitter).

The classroom was decorated from top to bottom and all around with a tree, lights, extra Christmas disco lights, which helped with many sessions of freeze dance. We had Elf on the Shelf, and most impressively, a larger than life-sized chimney (on the outside of our treehouse) complete with a life-sized Santa Claus.

The afternoon classes had sunny walks to see neighbourhood Christmas decorations and to look at the shop windows in Edgemont Village.

On the last days of term, we had our Christmas parties, with everyone wearing red, white, and green, and /or their PJ's. We made gingerbread houses out of Graham Crackers, danced to more Christmas music, and watched a DVD of Toopy and Binoo's Magic Christmas.

It was a busy month!

Again, we hope you had a good holiday, and look forward to starting the new year!

SUNFLOWER ROOM - Arsi/Danielle/Carol

With a blink of an eye….December was upon us! 

We hope all our families have had a fun & safe Christmas break! 

We would like to thank you all for your kind words and very thoughtful gifts!

We started the month talking about the Christmas Nativity.

Christmas Artwork

The children listened to the story called “The First Night” about how Mary & Joseph came to Bethlehem and how Baby Jesus was born in a stable. We sang the songs “Savior is Born”, “Mary had a Baby Boy,” and “Christmas Star.” For art, the children used popsicle sticks and various shapes such as triangles, circles, and stars to make the stable scene. We also started working on our surprise gifts for our Moms and Dads for Christmas! Hope you enjoyed lighting the candles and smelling the scents of Christmas!

Next, we read the very funny story “Mooseltoe.” Mr. Moose sure made a great Christmas tree! We sang some fun felt board songs called, “5 little Candy Canes,” “5 Christmas Stockings,” and “Way up High in the Christmas Tree.” For art, we traced stockings and decorated them with Christmas coloured tissue paper and glitter! We used Christmas sequins  to decorate candy cane shapes. Our house corner turned into Mrs. Clause’s Bake Shop and even Santa’s Toy Shop! The children were so excited to hear back from Santa. We were all on the NICE list! What a great letter he wrote! Thanks Santa!

For our second week, we enjoyed the stories “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell,” “The Littlest Christmas Tree,” and “Christmas Angels.” The children really enjoyed singing and doing action songs as well. We played the felt board game “Which house is the candy cane in?” “What colour Christmas light is missing?” and “where is the angel?” Moreover, the children enjoyed the felt board rhymes: 5 Christmas Angels, 5 Christmas Stars, and Christmas Tree What Do You See? We even danced and pretended to be Christmas trees and shining stars! We also enjoyed listening to  CD story called “A Magical Christmas.”

For art, we made very unique cards for our surprise gifts. The children picked their own Christmas card cut outs and made their own card. They also helped scoop and mix together the Christmas spice mix that was part of the surprise gifts! We used our fine motor skills to trace and decorate a Christmas tree shape. Glitter is always fun! For our angel art, we used triangle and circle shapes to make them look like they’re flying. 

During the last week before break, we continued to practice our Christmas songs as well. The children did three songs that we sent home through email for parents to enjoy! We sang "Silent Night" with sign language, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", and "I’m a Little Pine Tree"! They all did such a terrific job!  During circle, we listened to the CD stories “Santa Knows,” Santa’s New Jet,” and “Russel’s Magical Christmas.” We also read the book “Olive the Other Reindeer.” We did the Reindeer Hokey Pokey, 5 Little Reindeer felt board rhyme, and Rudolph, Rudolph What Colour is your Nose? We sang the Santa Bingo song and the action song Old St. Nicholas. It was so fun ringing our jingle bells and singing Jingle Bells. The children also enjoyed singing to The Bells on the Sleigh! 

For art, the children made Santa faces by gluing his beard, hat and eyes! We also used our fingertips to make a strand of Christmas lights and we even made reindeer antler headbands by using big Christmas stamps to decorate them. 

It was great to see the kids wear their Christmas colours and some even wore their special hats for our last day! For our treat, the children enjoyed a yummy Rice Krispie treat! We even danced to Christmas songs and watched a Christmas video called Toopy & Binoo’s Christmas Adventure. 

In January, we will be looking into space!! We’ll talk about astronauts, rockets, stars, the moon, the sun and the planets! 

If you have any questions or concerns, please ask your teachers! 

MUSIC PROGRAM - Tiffany

Tiffany and her husband Alex welcomed their baby girl, Bowen Lily into their lives on December 31^st at 3:20 pm.  

Bowen weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and everyone is home and doing well.

RESOURCE OFFICE - Marion

Happy New Year!  

So nice seeing all our families back after the Holidays.  I want to thank everyone for your Holiday Wishes and thoughtful gifts  The value of kind gestures has increased in meaning during these unprecedented times.   

As we start the new year I would like to focus on The Value of Play and our philosophy of Learning Through Play. 

Two year-olds and younger three year-olds usually play alone or with adults, this is termed SOLITARY PLAY.  As they grow older they move into PARALLEL PLAY, which occurs when a child plays side by side with peers, with some interactions, but without direct involvement with them.  As the number of relationships outside the home increases, the child’s ability to play with other children develops further.  At this point the child may engage in ASSOCIATIVE PLAY, which may take the form of a child merely being present and participating at circle time. Eventually, as they grow more comfortable with their social ties, young children begin to talk about, plan and carry out activities with other children.  This type of play is called COOPERATIVE PLAY.

The needs of children are met through creative play.  They learn about themselves, others, and the world around them through their play activities.   Creative play has specific purposes in an early childhood program – to promote physical, mental, social and emotional growth.  

Three year-olds often cannot separate the real from pretend.  They will become their favorite TV character.  Creative play activities help children develop a positive self-concept.  In play there are no right or wrong answers.  Young children learn to view themselves as successful and worthwhile human beings.  They learn to express and understand their emotions.  Play is a safe and acceptable way to test out their expression of feelings.  They can relive anxiety or stress that they have experienced.

Dramatic play is an important medium for language learning and helping children develop fluency in language.  A child who is reluctant to speak in other situations may be more comfortable speaking when involved in dramatic play.  Finger puppets and hand puppets are wonderful tools to encourage speech and language.  Young children learn best through play because it is meaningful, engaging, interactive, interesting and enjoyable.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s interaction in the classroom, please e-mail the office.

December 2020

 

DECEMBER 2020

Ok! We have almost made it to the end of 2020...THANK GOODNESS!!

Let's hope that the next year is a much healthier and much more normal time for all of us!

But for now...we still have 2 weeks to go so let's tighten up our boot straps and HOLD ON TIGHT!! We have a lot of FUN to pack in to these next few days ahead!!

The Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative is in full force in the TREEHOUSE Room. All families in this class should have received their NEW FEE SCHEDULES FOR JANUARY. Hopefully we will be able to add the Sunflower Room to this Program in the new year. We will keep you informed.

IMPORTANT DATES & EVENTS

DEC. 9TH & 10TH: CLASS PHOTOS FOR ALL CLASSES

DEC. 16-18: IN-CLASS CHRISTMAS PARTIES

DEC. 18: LAST DAY CLASSES BEFORE CHRISTMAS BREAK

JAN. 4: FIRST DAY BACK AFTER CHRISTMAS BREAK

JAN. 29: REGISTRATION FORMS DUE FOR CURRENT FAMILIES FOR 2021/22

FEB. 1: REGISTRATION FORMS DUE FOR COMMUNITY FAMILIES FOR 2021/22

FEB. 15: FAMILY DAY - PRESCHOOL CLOSED

RAINBOW ROOM - Danielle, Marjan, Vibha

Wow, one more month and it is Christmas! Time flies! 

But boy, we had such a busy and fantastic month of November.

We started with the theme of Dogs. Children stamped dots on dog-shaped construction paper and printed dog paws on the paper with paint. Another day, they made dogs with paper plates, stamped thick black dots on them, and added ears and noses and googly eyes on them. Another day, they used sponges to create dogs paws and used them to print paws on the paper.

 

For circle time, we read the Downward Dog book and Dog yoga poses during circle time. We had Milo and Maggie's adventure story tape, as well as the "White Dog White Dog What Do You See" felt rhyme. We had lots of stuffy dogs at our house corner with Veterinarian tools for the children to pretend the dogs are sick and for examining them. We had dogs in the sand and water table. At the science table we had a felt board with lots of dog felts for children to have fun playing with. 

 Next we moved to the theme of Cats. Children covered the cat-shaped construction paper with pieces of tissue papers glued on it. They also made a black cat with paper tiles and added eyes and tails to the cats. For circle time, we had "Mittens" book, "5 Little Cats Sitting On a Row", and "Blue Cat Blue Cat What Do You See" felt stories. For another circle time, we did "Pete the Cat White Shoes", "5 Little Animals" book, and "Pete the Cat Groovy Buttons". We also had small plastic cats in the water and sand tables, and a few cat stuffies at the house corner. At the science table, we had a felt board with felt cats, and at the light table, we had some mini plastic cats.

 

Our next theme was the Rain. For art, children used rubber boots to stamp boot prints on a paper. They stamped rain drops with paint using cotton balls on the umbrellas. Another day, they made boots with tissue paper. For circle time, we had "5 Little Umbrellas" colour game, the "Rain Rain Go Away", and the Bear with dress up felt stories. We also had a rain instrument and sang the "Rain Drop" song. At the water table, we had blue buttons and two cups with holes that the water flowed through. We had metal board with magnets at the science corner too.

 At the end of the week, we talked about Hibernation and that some animals like bears and snakes go to sleep when the weather gets cold. For art, we had roller painting on cardboard to make caves, and the children made bears with paper plates too. For circle time, we had "Brown Bea, Brown Bear What Do You See" book, "5 Little Tail" felt story, a hibernation felt rhyme, and the "Bear Goes Over the Mountain" song. We had two cozy box houses at the house corner with a lot of bear stuffies. We had bears at science table with pieces of wood. We also had colourful small bears at the light and water tables. 

 In the next few weeks, we will talk about Christmas. If you have any question please feel free to contact to office and make a time to talk to us.

TREEHOUSE ROOM - Arsi, Brita, Carol, Karen, Marjan, Rose

Wow, one more month and it is Christmas. Time flies. 

Such a busy, busy month was November and children had lots of fun.

Welcome to the  Robert Munsch world. We started the month with the author, Robert Munsch. During circle time, we read lots of books written by Mr. Munsch: Andrews Loose Tooth, Pyjama Day, the Sandcastle Contest, Class Clown, Paper Bag Princess, Smelly Socks, Cookies, No Clean Clothes,  and Down the Drain. 

We did art projects for all of these books. All around the class you could find lots of art that related to the Robert Munsch books. For the Pyjama book, children wore pyjamas and made pancakes, decorated a large paper pyjama and put colourful paper pyjamas on stick people.

 For Remembrance Day, we talked to the children about the soldiers who fight for our country to keep us safe and why we should never forget them. We had art that day and children made lots of poppies.

 We moved to the theme of Space for two weeks. We had lots of books and art. For art, we made moons, space, rocket ships, rocket ship with names, moon plates, 3D rocket ships, starry night splatter paint, astronauts, solar systems, flying saucers, marble painting earths, painted stars, and we painted and cut out arranged solar system, telescopes, and planets.

 

There were lots of toys, puzzles, and books about space around the class.  Inside the water table, we had rocks and colourful circle pompoms demonstrating planets. In the sand table, we had astronauts and lots of rocks, and children were enjoying to play with them.

 For circle time, we had lots of books and felt stories like: 

Five Roaring Rocket, There is No Place Like Space, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed the Moon, In the Solar System, Earth, I am a Star on the Moon, Which Planet is the Astronaut On, Find the Mouse Behind the Planet game, Matching Planets, Zoom Zoom we are Going to the Moon, Night Sky What Do You See, Five Rocket Ships, Pete the Cat: Out of This World, Five Little Astronauts rhyme, Rocket Ship Hiding Behind the Moon, Papa Please Get the Moon for Me, On the Moon, Our Stars, Little Rockets Special Star, The Moon, Five Little Astronauts, and Five Little Stars.

We also watched a movie called Off Into Space. The children really enjoyed it.  We made constellations out of mini marshmallows and toothpicks.

Next few weeks, we will talk about Christmas. 

 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact office.

 Thanks for reading.

SUNFLOWER ROOM - Arsi, Carol, Danielle

As I sat down to write the November Newsletter I could not believe how busy we have been and what we have been learning about. There is soooo much, I am not sure I have will enough room.

We started November talking about Sea life.  We talked about fish and how they swim in a school of fish and how whales swim in pods. We listened to the felt story ‘The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile’ and read “Fish Wish”. We then sang songs about ‘Slippery Fish, 5 Little Whales’ and guessed which fish was missing. We read ‘Orca’s Song & Whales’ and sang the action rhymes ‘The Whale Hokey Pokey, 3 Jelly Fish, Row, Row your Boat & Here is the Sea’. We read ‘One Tiny Turtle’ & ‘Turtle Soup’. We played ‘Which Sea Creature is under the blanket & Which Sea Creature is Missing? In the water table we even had ‘Green’ Seaweed mixed with crabs, starfish & octopus. For art we stamped ‘white spots’ onto orcas and glued tissue paper & cellophane onto fish & jellyfish. We also used a potato masher to make turtles, that was a lot of fun.

We also touched on Remembrance Day and how it is very important for everyone to use their words when talking to each other and to keep our hands to our own bodies. We read “The Soldiers Puppy & If The Kids Ruled the World”. We listened to the rhyme 5 Soldiers & 5 Poppies. We guessed which colored Poppy was missing & played ‘What’s the Time Mr. Soldier?” In the water table we used tweezers to put black & red pompoms into small containers and on the playdough table we used small shovels to scoop red rice into more small containers – strengthening our hand and eye co-ordination. For art we traced Poppy’s & decorated them with red tissue paper.

For the last 2 weeks of November we went back to some of our childhood favorites…Fairytales. We read ‘The 3 Little Pigs, The 3 Billy Goats Gruff’, Goldilocks & the 3 Bears, Jack & the Beanstalk, Chicken Little, Red Riding Hood, The Princess & the Pea and The Gingerbread Man’. Mixed in there we read a few different versions of these stories with ‘Snoring Beauty, Goldilocks Rocks, Super Pigs, Jack & the Texas BBQ and Gingerbread Mouse’. We sung ‘The Goats Go Marching by’ and listened to the felt rhymes 5 Little Bears, 5 Little Pigs, 5 Princess’s Jumping on the Bed & 5 Gingerbread Men. We played Duck, Duck Goose & Stay, Stay Run games. Along with the running wall game of the characters from the Gingerbread Man. We all had lots of fun using masks of the different characters and acting the stories out in free play and sometimes at circle. We even had a large castle in the home corner to add to the atmosphere of the stories. Art was lots of fun…we traced bowls to ‘fill’ with porridge and we used forks, paint & paper to create goats. We made our own 3 Little Pigs houses with paper bricks, popsicle sticks & spaghetti. We added a pea & mattresses to our own beds and built our own beanstalk with tissue paper and our handprints.  We topped it all off with baking our own gingerbread men to take home & eat…

For the last few weeks of the year we will explore The Nativity & Christmas, as well as continuing to have fun learning and playing together.

Please remember to pack more food than less (one container for snack & one for lunch) as we are here for 4 hours a day, so the children get hungry.  We will also be going outside to play so pack appropriate footwear & jackets.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office so we can arrange a meeting after school hours. 

RESOURCE OFFICE - Marion

Children love toys and the best toys are often the simplest ones, like Lego blocks – because they allow children to be creative and spontaneous.   They enjoy toys that they can master and that are right for their stage of development.  Preschoolers learn a lot about socialization and do a lot of pretend play.

   This type of play allows them to get a sense of the real world. Hand puppets and finger puppets allow your child to use their imagination and create stories as they play.  Crayons, finger paints and Play-Doh help develop creativity.  Children also make huge gains in both fine and gross motor skills throughout this period, so puzzles, Lego and other construction toys are perfect age appropriate toys.
  It is important to buy toys that involve brain activity and hand or muscle movements.   

Although this year has been different in many ways, we need to remember that children bring a special gift to us all and especially at Christmas time.  The gift of imagination and curiosity.  I have been hiding a little ghost left over from Halloween in the Treehouse Room.  He has been named Ralph and they look for him each day around the classroom because he sneaks back in the evening.  He has worn a Santa hat and now they have asked if Ralph could look like a reindeer. 

As we near Christmas break, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

On Christmas Eve this year, St. Catherine's Church is planning a St. Catherine’s Christmas Eve Pageant at 3 pm.

Respecting Covid-19 regulations, the pageant may be hosted on Zoom.

Visit  www.saint.catherine.org  

MUSIC - Tiffany

Tiffany has taken an early leave so she can prepare for her wonderful BUNDLE OF JOY that will be arriving, if on time, sometime in January!

We will miss her wonderful enthusiasm and her love of Teaching Music to Children!!

Thanks so much Tiffany! We will miss you!!

See you in the New Year!!