BRIGHT BEGINNINGS PRESCHOOL
Experienced Quality Child Care Since 1984
Millcreek Newsletter
February 26, 2010
Upcoming Events:
Friday, March 5th, Children’s Night Out, 5:30-8:30
“Over the Rainbow”
“Shining Shamrock”
School News and Notes
The children have had a blast here at Bright Beginnings this week! Nothing could be better than playing in the snow with your friends! Please continue bringing extra clothes, socks, and shoes. Make sure to sign up for Children’s Night out with Ms. Cherie and Ms. Ryland! “Over the Rainbow” is the theme and it is going to be a blast! We are having a BROWNIE BAKE OFF on March 9th! Please sign up at the front desk if you want to participate! The Octopus Room is being turned into a gross motor room for the older kids and we already have some great things in it but we are always looking to add more! We would love any donations. Some of the things we are interested in getting are hula hoops, a small basketball hoop, a keyboard, and a tent.
Speech Weekly
Toddlers and young 2’s
We began by building our vocabulary by reaching into my function bag and naming objects and talking about the use of the specific object. We discussed around 25 items as well as their functions including a spoon, chair, bed, cup, phone, comb, etc. We also read another noisy story and worked on the sounds /m/, /s/, /n/, /r/, /e/, and /w/. We also reviewed sign language as well.
Older 2’s
Each student reached into the function bag and had to name the object and tell their friends the function of each object. We also read a noisy story and focused on the sounds /m/, /s/, /n/, /r/, /e/, and /w/. Finally we worked on oral motor skills to exercise the muscles in our mouths by blowing cotton balls across the table with straws.
3’s and 4’s
We worked on rhyming sounds and used our rhyming houses. Each student had 2-3 cards in front of them and had to match their cards with the specific rhyming house. We also addressed the use of objects and were able to list 6 things you can do with a ball, discussed the use of keys, quarters, phones, bikes, and several others.
Stacy Torrence M.S. CCC-SLP
Sea Turtle
Hello! Welcome back! This week, we learned about the dentist and we pretended to be one! We also learned more "Bb" words like bumble bee and boat! Learning our numbers is always fun, and we read "Skippy Jon Jone's 1,2,3's" to help us out! We were able to learn the numbers 1-10. This week for art, we made cotton ball art, sponge art, marble art, toothbrush art, and Q-tip art. We used many different materials this week and if was fun to explore the different techniques! Parents, we have a new diaper cream form that is right above the changing table. So, if your child needs diaper cream, you no longer have to see Ms. Amy for a form. You can simply sign your child's name, the type of cream being used, and you signature! The signature is very important. We cannot apply the cream without a signature. Have a wonderful weekend, see you Monday!
Ms. Erin
Penguin
The Penguin Class had a great week! We worked on our colors with this really fun matching game. Everyone did a great job match the color cards together. We worked on using our words, learning more about out body parts, taking turns, recognizing animals and their sounds, and more! We pretended to listen to our hearts with a toy stethoscope, discussed words that started with the letter “Bb,” and made fairy wands! The children loved our toothbrush art activity, q-tip painting, and free art. We also did a floor puzzle and exercises in the gross motor room. Pushups were not as easy as we thought! We had lots of fun this week and the best part was having our friend Ming Ming join us again! She took a wonderful trip to visit her family and friends and now she is back! Welcome back Ming Ming! We missed you! And just as a reminder, do not forget to sign up for the BOWNIE BAKEOFF. It is on March 9th at 5:30 and the signup sheet is at the front desk. And now for the best news ever! We have a new form for the diaper cream. It is much faster and there is less writing. You do not have to ask for a form at the front desk; just sign your child up on the form in the Penguin Room on the wall by the changing area. Please be sure to put the cream in your child’s cubby with their name on it. We will see you next week!
Ms. Danielle
Starfish
We spent a lot of time this week talking about our teeth, the dentist, keeping our teeth clean and the tooth fairy! We made sparkly fairy wands and sprinkled them with "fairy dust" (glitter). We used toothbrushes to make two different paintings--the first, a rainbow collective and the second, a pink-painting to match the color of our tongues and gums! In science, we made "bubbles" by mixing baking soda and vinegar--this was a big hit. We also listened to and felt our hearts using a stethoscope, our ears and our hands. The Starfish were introduced to classifying this week, a skill they already utilize as they pick up their toys and that can be reinforced with the card-game we have been playing. Upon Ms. Stacey's recommendation, we have also been building our vocabulary through the same game and another activity involving naming the functions of particular objects. We used straws to blow cotton balls around the table top (a good oral motor activity), and it was much fun! On Monday, we used our play fruits and vegetables as a means to classify and understand healthy foods. We had a toss and threw fruits into one basket, vegetables into another. In humanities, we did lots of exercising songs and activities--jumping jacks, pretending to be bicycles, hopping on one foot and even jumping rope! Using a rope ladder, we played jump-over-the-ladder-rungs (like hopscotch). We have been reading a lot of books and will have a new book of the week for Monday. Thank you parents for making that program a success in our classroom!
Cheers!
Seals
Hello again from the Seals! This has been another great week. This week we learned” I’ve been working the railroad.” We reviewed the letters J, I and a few others. This week we talked about teeth and how to keep them health. The children discussed the tooth fairy. Since we talked about the tooth fairy we made tooth fairy wands. The children also sorted food into groups. During this week we practiced the skills listening, following directions, walking in a line, learning our letters, and placement of body parts. Great job seals on the skill walking in a line. You did an awesome job, keep it up! :) In art we made Fairy wands and a train picture. For the fairy wands and train picture they practiced fine motor skills. For the fairy wands they had to peel the stickers off the back of the foam stickers. For the train picture they had to use crayons and draw a background for the train. We also made soap prints using bubbles and paint. The children used straws to spread the paint. We also finger painted and with white paint on black paper. The children made a picture using tooth brushes and paint. The last thing they did was make a picture using Q-tips and paint. They activities practice fine motor control of a object to make designs on paper. In gross motor we played follow the leader, dance, pertained we were driving a train and riding on a train. For the follow the leader we pretended we were wolves, tigers, lions and dogs. Pretending we were lions and tigers helped them to practice their R sounds. Being the wolf let us practice our ou sound. We also used the gross motor skills of crawling and stomping. I hope everyone enjoyed our fun week! I will see everyone next week. Until then have a great weekend! Remember: There will be a CNO (Children’s Night Out) on March 5. I will be hosting it along with another teaching. Be sure to sign your child up before it fills up!
Ms. Cheri
This week, the Dolphin Class has really "hit the books," and definitely had fun doing it! We have done everything from making a food pyramid poster, to learning "Old Mother Hubbard," to drawing with stencils, to learned dances from different cultures!
These next month’s are going to be a little crazy with Scholastic orders. They are going to come up quickly so we n catch up and get them out as fast we possible. The March catalog is online already and will be available in the lobby around March 1st. They will be due March 10th. I will keep you updated about April! I will be sending out an email with all of these details soon! Thanks for understanding!
In math/science, we made a food pyramid poster that is on display above our sink, listened to our hearts with a stethoscope, talked about trees making oxygen, compared different measuring tools, and had group recognition activities.
In letter's time, we read books, had reading class with Ms. Fisher, wrote "B's" in our journals, did the "B" scavenger hunt that we missed last week, and learned "Old Mother Hubbard."
In art, we made soap painting, drew with stencils, made fairy wants, created toothbrush paintings, and painted with Q-tips.
In social studies, we read a book about people's differences, looked in the mirror to talk about our differences, looked at pictures of people and picked out differences, played games from different cultures, and danced dances from different cultures!
In humanities, we had free play in centers, played in the gross motor game room, played with Ms. Kimberly, and played with puzzles.
Overall, we really enjoyed this week! I loved playing with your children and I cannot wait to see what next week brings!
Ms. Kimberly
Walrus
The Walrus team had loads of energy this week and we tried to get outside as much as we could! Please make sure the children are still bringing extra pairs of shoes, socks, and other clothes for next week. We looked at an old painting this week with Ms. Fisher and compared it to today’s art by showing one of the student’s drawings. This was a great activity for them to really look at the differences of each picture and what key things they might look at to see if a painting is from centuries ago or from today. Ms. Stacey worked with them on rhyming words and used a cute activity that involved little houses. We continued to work on our lower case letters and teen numbers. We have started a new thing where I have two students whisper a word to me that I then write down and we all try to sound out the word together. We start out by sounding out each letter separately and then trying to blend them all together. They have done a great job with this activity. The Walrus Class has the month of March for the creativity board so we have been preparing the decorations for that. Please be on the lookout when entering the school! The children continued working on their number book and wrote 7, 8, and 9, leaving us only 10 to write! We estimated how many teeth we have in our mouths and our predictions went between 13 to 1002 teeth! They wrote more "Bb' words in their journals and we are excited to move on to our next letter next week, “Dd.” I hope everyone has a great week and we will see you on Monday!
Ms. Ryland
434-823-7129
1645 Park Ridge Drive