The Learningden Preschool

January, 2010

Did you know?

Welcome back, we all hope that you had a great holiday season with friends and family. Here’s the latest from the school.

Ms. Amalie is going to remain the Purple Shark teacher and Ms. Molly will come on a very part time basis in the afternoon occasionally in February.

We have several openings for children 18mo-3 yrs old, so if you know anyone looking for preschool, it would be great if you let them know about our program. We are also starting a waiting list for fall.

We are taking recommendations for field trips for the rest of the year if you have any ideas feel free to let us know.

Gary spent his day off of work to help set up the computer in Karin's office and plant some plants for us.

P.E is in full swing and the children are giving Shevon a positive review, the children act engaged and are really happy with the program.

2010 Holiday schedules are out, check in front of your Childs class for more information.

The Flu Season

We are cleaning and sanitizing the classrooms and bathrooms very well to keep the flu away from our school. Please help by staying home with your child you suspect that either of you are sick. We will be strictly enforcing our sick policy in an effort to keep all students and staff healthy! Thank you for your support and understanding.

Upcoming Events

Learningden will be doing projects at the Seed Swap at Alameda Park Jan 23rd. This is a community swap and free. We will be making bird feeders and art projects. If you are interested in Volunteering please let Erika or Karin know.

Family Festival in February - Panels for parents, live music, kid’s activities, parent resources, pregnancy resources and much more! Look in Feb Newsletter for more info.

Valentine’s Day is coming and we ask that Valentine cards not have candy and not have individual children’s names on them. Have your child sign their name and make sure that there is at least 20 cards to ensure that all children get one. We will be having a celebration and making Valentine bags, this will really help us distribute the cards. If you are interested in bringing a special snack or treat please let Erika or Karin know. Let’s make this Valentine’s Day fun and special for the kids. We appreciate your help.

Blue Dolphins

As many of you have seen, the pre-k room got a much needed facelift. A few weeks ago before the parent night out Ms Karin, Ms Viviene, and Ms June worked hard at creating a special new space to inspire the children for the New Year. While keeping the functionality of the classroom, they designed a space that the children can feel even more at home. We hardly use lights in the classroom but due to the winter weather and it getting darker earlier it becomes more necessary to use lamps. With that in mind we decided to put lamps in the room because of how harsh the fluorescents can be for some children. We also made great collage pictures so all the children feel apart of that room even when they are only in there part of the day. We hope that you can take some time to look around the room if you have been gone for the break.

We will be welcoming in some new Blue Dolphins this month as well as finishing our travelling unit which the children have been having a great time with. There is a scrap book by the sign in sheets with documentation of the traveling unit; the kids have enjoyed learning about places, people and food from other countries.

Purple Sharks

Purple sharks got a remodel as well, the goal of this room was to create more separate spaces for the children to create and explore, as well as to design a larger dramatic play area. We are still working in this room but so far the response has been positive.

Purple sharks have also been working on letters and learning about public service workers. Ms. Amalie and Ms Mali have missed all the children and look forward to having a full group in January.

Rainbow Fish

Rainbow fish class has also been redone and the children worked on many seasonal activities last month. Now that the holidays are over, we will continue to do stations and explore what the children are interested in learning about for the New Year.

This group is still discovering how to get along with peers, and interact in a social setting; we are also working on Potty training and really having fun being a rainbow fish family. We are going to introduce new books this month, as well as do a few more cooking projects.

Green Turtles

Green turtles have been busy this month doing seasonal projects and getting to know one another better. We will be having new Green turtles in the coming months so we took some time and really designed a room that facilitates more group interaction and more colorful and sensory play spaces.

Our art area was a big challenge because it was on an easel but the children were really too small for that to be the best art area we could provide, so we transformed the room and put the art area on the floor. This has been great so far and we look forward to using it much more in the coming months.

Wish List

Area Rugs - Large for light room
Antibacterial cleaing wipes
Seven large packs of multicolor construction paper
Washable blue paint - gallon and liquid watercolors

Thanks to all Parents who contributed to our wish list last month! It is greatly appreciated.

Other News

• The Learningden Preschool is completely funded by your tuition and to make sure that the school is successful for years to come we ask that you pay tuition by the 5th of every month. Because this is so important to the school we are going to start enforcing a $40.00 late payment fee for tuition received after the 5th. If you are having a hard time and need extra time we need to know before the 5th. We also accept credit card payments, as well as automatic payments for tuition, please ask Erika for more information. Non- payment may result in your family needing to find alternative care arrangements until past due is paid.

Past Newsletters:
October
November
December