February 2010

Greetings

February is here and with it many touching moments for all our Valentines! We also anticipate more rainy days. Even though it’s a little chilly we are very thankful with mother nature that we are getting the rain we need.

February’s new adventures for our little ones will include working on lots of fun projects such as: painting, dramatic games, singing, cooking and baking.

We want to make Valentine’s Day fun for all our children, so we plan a book exchange. We will invite all our families to send a book (age appropriate) to school which your child which they will exchange with another friend. A reminder with more details will be posted in the next days. Our children will embrace the concept of sharing and express love and care to others.

Zenaida Alberto

February Activities

Wednesdays
Every Wednesday morning, the children walk to the Corte Madera Library (right next door) for their storytime. They enjoy these trips and it helps with the child's language development and listening skills.

Curriculum

This month, the toddlers will be introduced to upper and lower case letters “V”, “W”, “X”, “Y”. They will also learn about the color PINK.

Circle Time
This is a teacher directed activity that takes place at 9:00 am in the infant room and at 9:30 am and 4:00 pm in the toddler classroom. During circle time children learn to listen and follow direction, focus and concentrate, share and participate in a group setting while getting useful information in a fun and age appropriate way. The toddlers are exposed to the calendar, numbers, letters, stories, songs, or a topic of the day such as a special holiday, etc. The infants sit together and with the use of flashcards, they are introduced to letter sounds, colors, and objects that will help them develop a vocabulary; they also enjoy songs, rhymes, music and movement.

We would will like every child to be part of the group activities, especially circle time. This begins at 9:30 a.m. in the toddler room, and 9:00 a.m. in the infant room. If possible, please bring your child before 9:00 a.m., it will be very beneficial for them.

Art
Pasting, painting, cooking, baking and play dough are some of the art projects for the month.

Music
Once a month, our friend, Victor visits us and shares his instruments and musical rhythm with the kids. On a daily basis, our staff sings songs with the children and share different types of music with them. Movement and dance are done in conjunction with music.

Lunch menu for February

Mondays: Hot soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, veggies / water or milk.

Tuesdays: Pasta w/ground beef & red sauce, steamed broccoli / water or milk.

Wednesdays: Mac ’n cheese, mixed veggies, fruit / water or milk.

Thursdays: Chicken w/cranberry sauce, rice, veggies / water or milk.

Fridays: Cheese pizza w/pineapple, vegetables / water or milk.

Quotation of the Month
I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.

Alice Walker

Reminders
School Closed: MLCC will be closed Monday, February 15th in observance of President’s Day.

Rainy Days:Our rainy days are here! Please do not forget to bring your child’s rain coat and boots. When the rain stops we take the toddlers for walks and they are good at finding puddles to splash in. It’s lots of fun and good exercise for them.

Check folders: Parents, please remember to take a minute to look in your child’s folder (placed beside the sign-in/out sheets) for important information about your child, letters from MLCC or to take home the wonderful art work that your child created. They love to make Mom and Dad proud of what they can do! Again thank you for your support.


Flu Season
The flu season is here. All children are at school and “sharing” things with each other and their families. We continue to hear about the H1N1 virus (swine flu) on the news. With all strains of flu, we need to be vigilant in helping to prevent its spread.

Here at the center we practice universal precautions (handwashing, coughing into our elbows, cleaning, etc.) routinely, but we are extra vigilant during flu season.

We ask for your help as well. Our goal is to keep one child’s illness from spreading to other children. If your child is sick, please keep them at home. If they become ill at the center, we will notify you to come pick them up. Please see below for our health policy.

Health Reminder
It is extremely important to adhere to the program’s illness policy. All of us, parents and staff, have a mutual interest in the children’s health and welfare. We cannot give sick children the one to one attention they need nor can we allow other children or staff member to get sick. Please keep your children home if they have the following symptoms:

1. A fever of 101 or more.
2. Two diarrhea stools in one day.
3. Watery, mucousy or pink eyes.
4. A runny nose with green nasal mucous. Green mucous for more than 4 days may indicate a secondary infection has set in and needs to be checked by a doctor. A clear runny nose is acceptable when not accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, cough, vomiting or listlessness behavior.
5. A cough with mucous secretions (a wet, wheezy cough) which could be spreading symptoms or when persistent.
6. All rashes except diaper or heat rashes.
7. Vomiting.
8. Difficulty in breathing.
9. Ear ache or drainage.
10. Listlessness behavior to the point of being unable to participate in the program.