BRIGHT BEGINNINGS PRESCHOOL


Experienced Quality Child Care Since 1984


www.brightbeginningsva.com  

Millcreek Newsletter


April 23, 2010

Upcoming Events:

Wednesday, April 21st Staff Appreciation Day

Friday, April 23rd Children’s Night Out, “Singing in the Rain!”

Friday, May 7^th, Children’s Night Out, “Down on the Farm”

Monday, May 10^th, Spring Semester Evaluations distributed

Sunday, May 16^th, Family Picnic & Art Show: 4-6 pm

 School Notes and News

 We had a wonderful but hot week here at Bright Beginnings. The children have been playing in the garden a lot during their outside time. They are getting ready to plant more flowers, vegetables, and herbs. Everyone is really looking forward to this. Drop off time can be a little crazy since all of the classes are combining into single classrooms and kids are seeing friends that they do not normally see. We are helping by making sure that activities are happening during those times but we have something that you could do to help us out! Please make sure that you drop off your child(ren)’s stuff in their classroom first and then bring them to the classroom they are usually in at drop-off . It makes it easier for the teachers so that they do not have to keep track of whose stuff is whose and also it makes it easier at the end of the day when you need to get all of your child(ren)’s stuff! Thanks so much for your help! Also, do not forget to sign up for CNO with Ms. Danielle and Ms. Erin!

Financial Memo

 Spring cleaning? Children’s Night Out is a great way to have some extra hours to yourself to get things done around the house. Check out the yearly calendar for upcoming dates and sign up at the front desk!

 Simplify your life with Automatic Credit Card payments for tuition.  Complete an authorization form and we'll take care of the rest!

 Speech Weekly

 Toddlers and young 2’s

We began by reading “Moo Ba La La La” and “Barnyard Dance” while focusing on animal sounds.  We “read” sentence strips with pictures of animals and sounds.  The children were encouraged to “read” the sentence strips (3 pictures).  We cut up pretend fruit and gave it to our doggy.  We worked on sign language throughout the entire session.  The bubble machine was used at the end of our session. 

Older 2’s

We also began by reading “Moo Ba La La La” and “Barnyard Dance” while focusing on animal sounds.  We utilized sentence strips with pictures of animals and sounds.  The children were able to read the “sentence strips” (3 pictures).  We cut up pretend fruit and gave it to our doggy while using 4 word sentences.  We also focused on categorizing animals and shapes with puzzles.  The bubble machine was used at the end of our session.   

3’s and 4’s

  We began buy reading “The Very Quiet Cricket” while learning lots of new vocabulary such as rummaged, ambled, scurried, slithered, gigantic etc.  We also worked on opposites throughout the entire story.  Next we focused primarily on /s/ words in the initial, medial, and final position.  We then colored snakes and made “thick” and “thin” tongues.  In some classrooms we were able to play sound bingo.   

I hope everyone has a fantastic spring break. 
 

                                    Stacy Torrence M.S. CCC-SLP

Reading Weekly

On Tuesday, March 23^rd, the book My Crayons Talk, by Patricia Hubbard, was read to facilitate a discussion of how colors are used by illustrators to help the reader understand more fully the meaning of the story.  The students then used visual literacy skills to help them better understand and appreciate two paintings.  Children who can orally communicate what they visually see or observe are developing language skills that will transfer into writing skills in Elementary school.

Edith H. Fisher

Class Notes

Sea Turtle

Hello, nice to see you all again. This month has gone by very fast; I cannot believe it is almost May! This week we continued to practice counting. We used M&M’s, sea turtles, and cars to count from 1-10. We learned more about bugs! Everyone had a blast counting spots on ladybugs, slithering like a snake, pretending to be a caterpillar, and then becoming butterflies. They also enjoyed playing with sand in the water table. For art, we made ladybugs, snake paintings, made a caterpillar, made our own sand castles, and made a rainforest collage. Since we learned about bugs, everyone enjoyed reading, Little Miss Spider. Also, I want to wish our Sea Turtle Eva, a very happy birthday! I hope everyone has a fast and fun weekend! See you all on the Monday!

Ms. Erin

Penguins

We had a blast in the Penguin room this week! We talked more about the letter “Ee,” and worked on our songs for the family picnic that will be held on May 16^th. For art, we made a red ladybug, a snake out of a paper plate, a caterpillar, and painted a rainforest picture. We read some great books like, Sam’s Lamp, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Tough Chicks, and Get to Work Trucks. We went on a nature walk around the playground and talked about what we saw. We worked on moving bodies like high marches, waving arms, and turning our heads from side to side. We also sailed a boat in our water table. We had a great week! Have a wonderful weekend.

Ms. Danielle

Starfish

We had such a fun time this week. We started off our week with ladybugs. We counted the spots, read books, and made a three part ladybug red body, black spots, and a black head.

We also pretended to fly like ladybugs. We also made snake art and talked about what a snake sounds like. We practiced for your family picnic we are doing How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You. 

The picnic is on a Sunday May 16^th from 4-6; there is a signup sheet on my door so I know who will attend. We talk about caterpillars, made caterpillars with pom-pom, and read the Three Little Caterpillars.  We talked about what we like to drink when we are thirsty, it displayed on the classroom door. We finished up the week with sand castle art, which they loved making. We also reviewed the class rules, listening ears, lining up, and we also played in the gross motor room this week. We played bubble catch, which is their favorite. Have a great weekend from the starfish class.

Ms. Jennifer

Seals                                                                                                                                                   

Hello again from the Seals! This week we had another fun week! We practiced the skill of walking in a line and I must say the Seals are getting better and better at it! Keep it up Seals! The Seals also practiced their listening skills, fine motor, gross motor, and following directions. We reviewed shapes, colors, counting, and opposites. The children learned about sea animals and reptiles. They also learned a new rhyme, called “it’s raining its pouring.” The seals also read a story about caterpillars and another one about animals in the rainforest. These were just a few of the many things we learned and skills we practiced this week.

In art the children had a lot of fun. We practiced using our fine motor skills to grasp and draw. We made ladybugs with wiggly eyes. We made a snake picture using a yarn and some paint. Then we had some fun with circles and made caterpillars. Then the children pretended we were at the beach and made a sand castle picture. Then we practiced using the information about rainforests by making a picture about them. In the picture the children included animals that live in the rainforest.

In gross motor we practiced blowing bubbles and popping them.  We also pretended we were different animals by playing follow the leader. The Seals love pretending so we pretended we were playing at the beach. Since it is spring still the children tried to catch flower petals falling down. They practiced the skills of hand eye coordination, jumping, and walking.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! See everyone next week! Here are some reminders:

                         May 7 Children’s Night Out Down on the farm

Sunday May 16 Family Picnic 4-6pm 
May 28 Children’s Night Out Fairy Tale Night

May 31 CLOSED for Memorial Day

Ms. Cheri

Dolphin

This week, the Dolphin Class has hopped into a whole bunch of spring things! We have done everything from sorting ladybugs, to having speech class, to painting with dandelions, to learning about American coins. We have had such a blast!

One of our favorite times during the week is Show and Tell! It is a great time to bring in toys from home and show them to our friends. However, because we have so many friends in our class, and everyone wants to have a time to share, we have decided to implement the one toy rule. Please only allow your child to bring in one toy for Show and Tell so that we can get through everyone!

For math/science, we graphed our favorite bugs, talked about patterns, discussed recycling plants, sorted ladybugs, and counted ladybug spots.

In letters, we read books, wrote “E’s” in our journals, had speech class, did letter groups, and then learned a nursery rhyme.

During art, we painted with dandelions, made red ladybugs, made egg carton caterpillars, created sand castles, and did rainforest art.

For social studies, we talked about the American coins. We learned about the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter, what they look like, and how much they are worth.

In humanities, we played a lot, had inside/out day, talked about what makes us thirsty and created a rainforest drama.

Overall, it has been a fantastic, rowdy, fun week! We cannot wait to find out what we are going to do next week!

Ms. Kimberly & Ms. Missy

Walrus

Hello! The Walrus Class had a fantastic week.  There was a ladybug theme. We had ladybug spots that we had to count and write the number next to our ladybug, we made ladybugs in art, which helped us more with our cutting and pasting skills. We also matched up ladybugs that had the same number of spots on them. The children also learned about coins. We discussed the names of them, the sizes, and the amount of each coin, the people that are the coins, and the dates that the coins were made. The students continued reading our “E” words and writing a few in their journals. There was a game of sound bingo, and we found all of the periods and underlined all of the words in our ready reader, “A Kiss.”  We made a lot of different animals this week in art. Besides our ladybugs, we made a caterpillar, painted snakes, and drew rainforest animals! The book mobile came this week to help fill our classroom with brand new books! We now have books about dinosaurs, butterflies, big machines, chickens, hamsters, and a dinner running off a young boy’s plate! We talked about animals that are extinct and saw some pictures of the fabulous animals of the rainforest. Everyone had a great week and we are looking forward to the weeks to come! Have a wonderful weekend.

Ms. Ryland and Ms. Emily