Pre-K Activities -- Activities -- Birthdays

Monthly Newsletter

July 2010

Happy July, Pride and Joy Families,

Boy, how time flies. We are well over half way through with the year. It seems like just yesterday, we were welcoming everyone to 2010, soon we will be bidding farewell. July is always a fun month, the weather is warm and spirits are high.

For those not too familiar with El Cerrito, summer days can host a variety of different weather patterns. Most days start out cold and gloomy while our natural air conditioning (ocean fog) blankets our area. Shortly into the afternoon the sun breaks through and the day can get very warm. We advise that students should come prepared for whatever weather the day decides to bring. We will still hold outdoor activities even if the weather is somewhat brisk. We also do have several water play activities for the children to do on hotter days. Naturally when children and water mix, someone ends up soaking wet. Please be sure that there are adequate spare clothes for your child so they can enjoy the activities and get some relief from the heat, but also have something clean and dry to wear to enjoy the rest of their day.

The preschool classes this month will continue their extended life-science projects and talk about where their favorite animals live around the world. All of the students have been fascinated by our talks about animals, plants and places. Many of our children have visited or lived in different parts of the world and are eager to tell us stories of the different animals and environments that they have experienced.

The preschoolers’ garden now is brimming with corn upwards of 7 feet tall. The silks have come out and now we are expecting corn to be ready in just a few weeks. We will be exploring the many ways in which we can use the products of our corn.

Many different activities can be developed using items from the garden. We suggest that if you have a home garden you spend some time with your children talking about the parts of plants, animals and insects in the garden, as well as counting and dissecting the fruits and veggies as they come ready to be picked.

The Infants and Toddlers have been full of life. Their words and language develop and mature each day. Often we are caught off guard and surprised at the new ways the children use their words to communicate. The toddlers have also shown great strides in social and physical development. Many of our toddlers are future track stars, always in motion and always running about. As children are learning how to use their bodies, slips, falls and accidents are common place. We suggest that parents take various steps to keep their home play spaces safe. One hazard, which is commonly overlooked is spilled sand. While not a very dangerous situation for adults, children tend to have difficulty navigating areas safely where sand is on the walking surface. We suggest that parents sweep up any sandy areas at home on a regular basis, it’s best to sweep after every use. We have made some changes of our own to the playground area for the toddlers. To help manage slips and spills we have incorporated a large matted area in the playground. Limiting the children’s exposure to large open areas of concrete will limit their chances of falling and getting scrapes. Plus it’s fun to walk and tumble on soft surfaces.

Many of our children are fascinated by science experiments. There are many experiments that you can do at home. Many of the easiest and tastiest science experiments for kids are those which involve food. Baking projects are fun and easy way to incorporate learning at home. Baking a loaf of bread is a fun project and the children can watch as the yeast works in the bread and the dough grows! Here is a simple recipe for bread that children can help with.

Ingredients * 2 cups warm water (for a tender brown crust use 1/2 cup warm water and 1-1/2 cups warm milk) * 1 packet active dry yeast * 1 tablespoon sugar * 5-1/2 to 6 cups all purpose flour (whole wheat can be substituted for all the white or just half) * 2 teaspoons salt

Procedure

1. Put the water and/or milk into a medium bowl
2. Add the yeast and sugar.
3. Whisk until the sugar and yeast are gone.
4. Add two cups of flour and whisk the mixture well.
5. Let sit for 10 minutes. Tiny bubbles should begin to appear and the batter should look slightly expanded.
6. Stir in the salt. Add the remaining flour, one cup at a time. This can be difficult with a spoon, so hands can be used to mix the dough.
7. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured countertop and knead.
8. Form a ball from the dough and place in a bowl greased with nonstick cooking spray. Roll the dough to coat with the spray.
9. Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft-free area for one to two hours or until doubled in size.
10. Punch down the dough.
11. Knead again to remove air bubbles.
12. Roll into a rectangle and split in half.
13. Turn the ends of the half rectangle under. Place in a bread pan with the seam down.
14. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 45 minutes.
15. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
16. Bake bread for 30 minutes. To test the doneness, tap on the bottom of the pan. It should sound hollow.
17. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and transfer to wire rack.
18. Cut and enjoy!

(http://recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/easy_yeast_bread_recipe)

We wish everyone a safe and happy July!

May 2010

Dear Pride and Joy Families,

Welcome to May, a month filled with sunshine and smiles! This month we are planning many activities which piggy-back off many of the ideas the children developed and explored last month. Our month talking about birds, eggs, and nature was absolutely fascinating to our children. We will continue with these concepts into May learning about plants, flowers and insects.

We do have two days in the month of May in which Pride and Joy will be closed. Please mark your calendars with the following dates:

Friday May 21st 2010 – Staff training day
Monday May 31st 2010 – Memorial day

May is also a month to honor all of our mothers; to all of our Pride and Joy mothers, grandmothers, and motherly individuals, please take our sincerest thoughts and appreciation for all of your support and loving care you provide to all of your wonderful children. Your love and dedication really shows in how wonderful all of your children are.

May 13th marks bike to work day, we encourage all families who have a means to participate in this event to join us in support of earth friendly and alternate forms of transportation. We already have several families who come day-in and day-out by bicycle, join them on Thursday the 13th by coming to school and work by bike! There will be two energizing stations provided by the city of Richmond and El Cerrito along the Ohlone greenway (near El Cerrito Plaza BART and Macdonald and San Pablo Ave in Richmond, respectively), which will have coffee and treats for bike to work day participants. Do keep in mind that any children participating with you will need to wear a helmet per California state law. We will also have space set up on both sides of our facility to stash away any children’s bikes and ride-along chariots.

Our preschool groups are set to explore the world of flowers, plants and insects. Our pea garden is just approaching harvest, and the preschool children will be able to enjoy sugar snap peas for snacks this month. We have already sampled a few of the products from the garden and they are delicious! The children will take great pride in reaping these wonderful snacks from the garden they have planted themselves and watered along the way. If your child has any allergies to peas please be sure to send an email to the office so we are sure not to provide these garden treats to any student who may have an allergic reaction.

Our infant and toddlers have been growing by leaps and bounds. They have a few new items in their playground which you may have noticed. A new warm weather water table and sand box are stationed in concrete area of the yard. The children absolutely love the sensorial activities these items provide. They are also serving as “speed bumps” for the race track around the grass area. The children must now navigate around these objects, which helps them work on their gross motor skills and also encourages them to explore the grassy area.

Birthdays are plentiful during the spring and summer months and many parents ask; “what is an appropriate treat to bring to celebrate my child’s birthday?” Here are a few ideas to help with your celebration planning. To help us to continue to encourage healthy eating habits parents may elect to substitute the traditional birthday cake or cupcakes for a fruit platter or frozen fruit bars especially as warm weather approaches. Not only will these items provide a healthy alternative to the traditional sugar laden birthday cakes but also help your wonderful children beat the heat with a cool treat! As always in respect for children with food allergies all treats should be store purchased and prepared, with a label indicating what ingredients are included in the treat. Although we ask that you bring fruit to share, you can still bring a small cupcake for just your child with a candle and we will bring the celebration!

May is shaping up to be a wonderful month, we are all looking forward to the surprises your children have for us as we explore the world around us. As always you are encouraged to send any and all feedback you may have to our office by way of telephone, email or set up a time to stop by and visit. Have a great month!

April 2010

Dear Pride and Joy Families,

Happy April to you! The sun is shining; the birds are chirping… it’s finally starting to look like spring!

We wish to thank all of the families once again for joining us this past March for our parent and staff connection day. Those who we missed or new families should mark their calendar for October 22nd, for our next parent and staff connection day! We will be busily uploading all of the moments we captured on camera to share with you through our website. Stay tuned!

I wanted to send a friendly reminder to drop off/pick up parents, we have received word from some of our neighbors that they have come across their driveways blocked on their way to their home. We ask for your help in maintaining our great relationships with our neighbors by refraining from parking in front of their driveways. We also ask that no one park in front of the driveway at our school. This driveway space must remain open so staff and teachers can arrive at the school to work with your children and also in case of emergency. I thank you for your continued consideration with parking, we know it can be challenging from time to time.

Our preschool groups are busily soaking up the sun and coaxing their wonderful pea plants to life. Their plants have made great strides in growth over the last few weeks. We will be spending this month focusing again on life science. The children will explore the fascinating world of birds and other avian animals. Fitting for the month we will talk about eggs, where they come from and their uses, as well as the way birds live and interact with the world around us.

Our toddler children continue to amaze and wow us each day with the new things they learn and how much their personalities shine! We recently planted the toddler’s garden for their own extended life science project. You will soon see corn popping up around the area. We will use the products of the plants for various art and sensorial activities. It is important if you recently learned of any corn or grain allergies your child may have, to inform us about them so we can ensure all children are safe while exploring this natural and interesting art and sensorial medium.

Our infants are all growing so fast! One of our youngest children is busily attempting to crawl! Not too much longer and the entire infant group will be completely mobile, watch out world! In the coming weeks parents for the infant group will be receiving a new infant form to fill out. We request that you fill out these forms with the most current information about your child so we can continue to nurture and help your beautiful babies grow.

We wish all of the Pride and Joy families a wonderful April, and as always our inboxes and telephone lines are open to all.

March 2010

Dear Pride and Joy Parents,

Happy March! Springtime is quickly approaching here at Pride and Joy. We are busily preparing for all of the wonderful activities that come with the change of the season. The students have begun the process of sowing seeds for the spring around the facility. We already have sprouts popping up in our garden around the tree in the preschool playground. Have a quick look during drop off or pickup. Expect to see our corn and other crops start to grow in the coming months.

We are excited to have our very first Parent/Staff day on Friday, March 15th. Pride and Joy Preschool will be closed for the day to students, but parents are welcome to bring their children with them during their visitation time. Parents from groups 1 and 2 (Infants and toddlers) are scheduled to attend our event from 8:30 until 10am. Parents from groups 3 and 4 (preschool groups) are scheduled to attend from 10:30 until 12noon. This will provide an opportunity for parents and families to connect, families to meet all of our staff and have an opportunity to visit with your child’s current teachers and teachers of your child’s future. We will remain closed after the event for a scheduled staff training.

For some of us, we are already dreaming of the summer months and as the weather becomes warm and sunny, our children will spend more time enjoying the outdoors. We advise you to bring sunscreen lotion to help protect your children’s health and skin. We ask that you be sure, if you haven’t already, to drop off a bottle of sunscreen with your child’s teacher. This will ensure that everyone is safeguarded from the sun’s less than friendly rays. As always please be sure to clearly label any items that belong to your child, if items come unlabeled, your child’s teachers may label them for your child.

Our preschool children are always busy creating new and exciting artwork. We ask that if any families are looking for creative ways to get rid of stacks of old computer or colored paper or any other materials, our preschool children would absolutely love to help use up these old materials. Feel free to drop off any paper or extra materials with your child’s teacher. This will help ensure that there are always enough new and recycled materials for your children to continue to explore the wonderful world of art.

The preschoolers will begin to investigate nature and the animals and plants that exist in their environment. Our garden will serve as one of the classrooms for these projects. The children have planted pea plants in the front of the building and are able to view and discuss the changes, the insects that are found there and what the plants need to grow big and healthy. The children will also take great pride, harvesting the crops that they planted themselves and helped nurture their growth.

Our older infant group will continue to do wonderful new things each day. We have several art and language activities planned for the month of March. We are happy to announce that your children have been making remarkable growth in language and social development. It is very exciting to see what new word they will say each day, what connections they make and what things they have to share. We encourage parents to continue to talk and read to their children, your efforts truly show each day as your child grows.

Our infant department will continue to provide loving care for our beautiful infants. We were fortunate to have been a part of one of our infants first steps, which are always exciting milestone in a child’s life.

One of the things that all children experience is new and challenging behavior. For some veteran parents, they know all too well how this cycle goes, but for newer parents it can be confusing and challenging to see the difference between "normal" and "abnormal" behaviors. Since this is such a common question and occurrence we would like to include a bit of information regarding typical behavior to help guide parents through these times. (the following information is an excerpt from Parents Central Express)

It's tough to know which behaviors are "normal" without considering the context or intensity as well as each behavior itself. Behaviors may become "abnormal" if they last too long, if they consistently occur at the wrong time or place, or if they exceed acceptable limits. Clearly, it is important to catch and change these behaviors early on.

The ages listed here are approximate guidelines. The behaviors listed occur most frequently but are not limited to these ages. Behaviors may reappear at any time, particularly in times of stress.

Responding To Your Child

Sometimes it seems that children resist every limit you set. The resistance and your response to it help them learn expectations and rules for getting along with others. Although each child and situation is different, there are basic guidelines for dealing with troubling behaviors. First, keep your child and others safe. Stay close to help your child gain control of his behavior or to establish limits.

It may be effective to ignore certain behaviors such as whining or swearing when they first occur. Later, talk it over with your child. "Those words can hurt people's feelings and our family doesn't use them" or "Those are 'Grown Up Words' and you are a child so you may not use them".

Other behaviors may be better handled by redirection. "I know you're angry but I can't let you bang on the TV. You can hit this big pillow all you want". Redirection helps provide a solution for each of you.

Help your child face the consequences of his actions. This may be uncomfortable for your child but it is important to give him clear guidance and the opportunity to set things right.

So remember, there isn't just one 'right way' or magic formula for success. Remain patient and hang in there when the going gets tough. Keep your sense of humor about you. Support your child, but be firm about your behavioral expectations. If needed, talk with teachers, counselors, doctors and other parents for support, advice and suggestions.

We wish that everyone will have a safe and happy month. As always our phone lines and inboxes are open!

Best Regards,

Moilan Manning
Executive Director
Pride and Joy Preschool

Mark Harrington
Administrative Manager