Director’s Note:
Hello to all our Mill Creek families. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support of our teachers and the classes. If you were unable to make a conference with your child’s teacher and still would like to meet, let us know. Everyone will be receiving a copy of the teacher form so you may see the strengths and areas that the teachers are supporting your children’s growth and development. We will be scheduling conferences in the spring as well, so there is another opportunity to meet with the teacher. All the staff is available to follow up with any questions or concerns that you may have regarding your child’s day.
The colder temperatures seem to be sticking around for a while so please make sure that children are wearing coats, gloves, and hats. We like to utilize the playground and offer an opportunity for fresh air whenever possible.
Reminder- We have a 24 hour “symptom free” without medication health policy. Our goal is to create a healthy environment for all of our familiesJ
Thanks,
Amy Ramsey
Interim Director
Octopus Class
Our infants this week have been busy, busy, and busy! There is a lot of crawling, pulling up, talking, and rolling over. We continue to work on our infant curriculum. Pounding and banging toys together is one of Owen’s favorite games. Ben has mastered holding more than one toy in his hands. A favorite of Aryan’s is Peek-a-Boo. Greyson has had a lot to talk about this week! He pretty much has had something to say about everything. My little Krish is doing very well sitting up by himself. Everyone has been doing a great job with the skills we have been working on. My one challenge is keeping them on the carpet and listening at circle time- just joking! I can’t wait to see all my boys next week!
Ms. Danielle
Hello again toddlers and families! It was has been another great week here at Bright Beginnings! Our social studies this week was centered on “The Gingerbread Man” story. We went through the stages of the story by mixing the gingerbread man, decorating the gingerbread man, baking the gingerbread man, chasing the gingerbread man, and eating the gingerbread man! It was a really fun activity for all of us! We worked a lot on counting this week, as well as reviewed our colors, shapes, and body parts. The children are doing so well with all of these, quiz them at home and see how much they have progressed! We also discussed opposites such as big and small, tall and short, etc. and tried to find them around the classroom. We continued our window scene by making a class Christmas tree, decorated Santa’s sleigh, a gingerbread house, gingerbread men, and made snowflakes. For arts and crafts, we made Reindeer by painting our foot to make the nose, and hands to make the antlers. They turned out great and the kids loved having their foot painted for a change! We made cards, holiday place mats, pine cone ornaments, and Santa hats as well! A couple of our favorite books this week were “Who’ll Pull Santa’s Sleigh Tonight?” by Laura Rader and “Gingerbread Baby” by Jan Brett. We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! We look forward to seeing you all again on Monday! J
Ms. Ashley and Ms. Stephanie
Our theme this week is Holiday crafts. We introduced the number 9 and the letter “Rr”. We talked about family and friends. We are also doing a lot of crafts for art such as handprint/footprint reindeer, picture ornaments, gingerbread men, gingerbread house, and snowmen. We have benn been practicing our numbers, shapes, colors, days of the week, manners, friend’s names, and how to walk in a line holding hands. We have been doing a really great job with all of these things and We look forward to next week
. Ms. Shanna
The Seal Class
This week in the seal class the focus was on literature to open doors to activities, to discussions, and to pure enjoyment of reading. Taking favorite authors rich subject matter and colorful artistry, we practiced basic reader response strategies like making predictions. We used books like Dr. Seuss’, “My Many Colored Days” and related colors to how we feel.We reviewed fruits and vegetables along with the alphabet in “Eating A to Z.” One of the successes of the past few weeks has been the introduction of visual and auditory cues to signal transitions. For example, one of the targeted goals is for the students to respond to seeing their own cardboard circle and knowing it’s time to come to the rug. Provided with their own space in this way, the focus can be wholly on the material presented. What fun it is to read to this group of attentive listeners! We have continued to incorporate difficult fine and gross motor tasks with accuracy and hand-eye coordination skills tested in the beanbag/hula hoop toss, the stringing of bell necklaces, and the tearing and pasting of styrofoam “snow” on winter trees. It’s been a great lot of fun!
Ms. Beth
This week in the Dolphin class we have been talking about the community and how we can help others. Once we began discussing what we could do for our friends in our community, they knew what they would do: bake cookies, take dogs for walks, give big hugs, make soup, watch TV with friends, and much more! We also talked about what we would donate to help others. The children listed the following items: shoes, clothes, hats and gloves, coats, toys, and food. My friends really were thinking hard with this tough question. AWESOME JOB DOLPHINS! We are also having our class participate in a food drive for the food bank Friday, December 17th. Please have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Miss Michelle
The Walrus Class
Happy Holidays from the Walrus class! We hope that everyone has a great holiday and they stay safe this season! This week we are really focusing on our holiday concert. We have been working really hard on learning the words and the movements for our songs. We hope you can all comeJ For math this week we are working on the number 9. We used our journals to write the number 9 and the word nine. We played number BINGO and worked on putting puzzles together that had no outside boarders. For Project green this week, we talked about the Holly Bush. We learned that the berries are not safe to eat, they have jagged edges, and the leaves are very shinny. We also made a holly wreath out of paper plates. Our letter of the week remains to be “Nn.” We reviewed our letter “Nn” words. Our ready reader this week was entitled “My Top.” We also learned a new nursery rhyme entitled “ Kookaburra”. We did alphabet worksheets, sight words, and read aloud. We read a lot of Christmas stories this week. Art was all about the Christmas season as we made cotton ball Santa, Rudolph, and our holiday gifts for our wonderful parents. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE HOLIDAY CONCERT AND COOKIE EXCHANGE IS MONDAY DECEMBER 20TH AT 11AM. I NEED A COMPLETE INGREDIENT LIST FOR THE COOKIES DUE TO THE MANY ALLERGIES. NO UTS OF ANY KIND PLEASE!!!! Thanks!
Ms. Missy and Ms. Patrice
Experienced Quality Child Care Since 1984
Bright Beginnings Preschool
Babble
December 6, 2010
Upcoming Events:
We are proud to host two nights of holiday fun during the month of December with our Children’s Night Out. Each night has a different theme: Traditions of the Season and Holiday Crafts. It’s a great opportunity for you to get some shopping done! See the front desk for more information and to sign up.
Please remember to sign in and out on the new system in the lobby.
Octopus Class
We have had some milestones occurring over the last couple of weeks that I am excited to share. Grayson is holding his bottle, lifting his head while lying on his back, as is rolling from back to stomach and back again. Ben is crawling like crazy and pulling up on everything. We haven’t introduced yoga to the group yet, but he and his friend Owen do a mean “downward dog.” In addition Owen is crawling with his belly off the floor and is trying very hard to stand. Krish is rolling from is tummy to his back and is talking a lot more recently. Aryan is the last crawler in the group and is starting to interact with Ben and Owen.
Ms. Danielle
Hi toddler families! Although the weather has gotten chillier, we have still enjoyed our outside time. We pretended to fly like reindeers; shook like sleigh bells, and spun around like a dreidel. In the gross motor room, we pretended to float like a snowflake, pretended to jump in a pile of snow (the ball pit), and took a Santa walk- an obstacle course. Our theme this week in practical living was “cleaning house.” We practiced washing dishes, seeping the floor, and wiping the counters. For Math and Science, it was all about sensory. We felt flour and muffin mix after sharing the ‘Muffin Man” story. We also took time to count the number of sprouts and leaves as our plants continue to growJ For Art, we continued with our holiday theme, making handprint holiday wreaths, cookie cutter stamp painting, and finger painted stockings. We enjoyed reading holiday stories including The Mitten, the Hat, and The Grinch That Stole Christmas. If you have any holiday books at home, please feel free to share.J
Ms. Ashley and Ms. Stephanie
Our week has been spent getting to know my new friends and establishing clear expectations as a whole. We have been working on using our words, manners, and gentle bodies with our friends. Alphabet Counting and shapes have also been a big part of our week. Please notice that I will be using a daily note as well as a supply note when we are running low on diapers and wipes. Please let me know how you feel things are going and share any questions and concerns. Thanks!
Ms. Shanna
The Seal Class
With an eye to the changing season, the Seal Class engaged in several winter weather activities this week. We were able to listen and watch rain travel down the gutters and into the drains while speculating on where it might be going next.
The very next day, we talked more about water as we encountered several examples of water in its frozen state while playing on the equipment outside. We added two new words to our vocabulary, icicle and frost. We talked about characteristics of both as we used our eyes, hands, and mouths to deepen our understanding. What a great and completely organic Science lesson! In art this week, we manipulated playdoh several ways with popsicle sticks, the palms of our hands , using blocks to make impressions of alphabet letters. Miss Stephanie introduced some new cutting techniques. We can now make fringe, shapes, and “negative space” in a snowflake. Look for more holiday arts and crafts this month as we transform the classroom into a haven for good cheer and merriment!
We would like to take this opportunity to in traduce our new classmate in the Dolphin room. His name is Wyatt! I am very proud of how welcoming the group has been to Wyatt. He is fitting in very nicely and we love having a new friend. This week has been all about “Winter.” We talked about what you can do in the winter like play in the snow or make ice cream. We also talked about trees and how they change in winter with leaves changing color and falling. We learned that an ever green tree does not change color and if well watered will keep its needles throughout the year as well. The class as a group has been working on “partner puzzles.” We have graduated from the wooden puzzles to creating them from start to finish. We begin with the border and then work with our partner to fill in the rest of the puzzle.
The Walrus Class
This week in the Walrus Class, we focused on the letter “Nn.” We made a word list, wrote in our journals, and made a nest for art. In Math, we worked on estimating and number assessments. Social Studies was all about Spain. We learned where it is located, what the flag looks like, what they like to eat, how they dress, about their culture. In art, we made gingerbread people, cotton ball snowmen, and nests. In Project green, we learned about evergreen trees. They got their name because they forever stay green. We learned about the different things we could use them for. We made ornaments from pine cones. We also enjoyed a visit from Ms. Melissa, the music specialist.
Ms. Missy and Ms. Patrice
434-823-7129
1645 Park Ridge Drive