July 2008

Greetings

Dear Parents,

We just finished our PITC training Module II. Our center was very fortunate to have had this in-house state funded training conducted by Martha Pratt. Most of the staff met every other Saturday to cover subjects that give us a better understanding of the children while sharing new ideas on how to better serve our families at the center. I would like to thank Martha Pratt for her commitment and effort to make this center a better place for everyone.

The staff and I would like to wish you a Happy Fourth of July!

Rossana Broll

Activities for the month of July

4TH OF JULY ART WORK—7/2-7/3

Our toddlers will have lots of fun making fireworks pictures.

SCHOOL CLOSED—FRIDAY 7/4

The school will be closed in observance of Independence Day.

CREATING AN “OCEAN LIFE” SCENE 7/7—7/9

This month our focus will be ocean life. All the children in the toddler room will participate in creating art work related to this topic and have lots of fun learning about sea creatures.

NATURE WALK—FRIDAY 7/18

We will take a walk to the park, observe and talk to the children about the trees and the changes of the season.

VISIT TO THE PET STORE-MONDAY 7/28

We will visit the pet store in Corte Madera. Our toddlers will be able to appreciate the aquariums with different kinds of fish.

Curriculum

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.

Small Groups

In our toddler program, we divide the children in small groups and expose them to art, movement and fine motor activities, they rotate every 10 minutes. Our goal is to provide an opportunity for the children to interact with different peers and participate specifically in other areas of the curriculum while getting individualized attention from the teachers. This is a daily activity done after snack time at 10:30 am, except for Wednesdays.

Art

The children in the toddler room will enjoy a variety of art activities such as finger painting, dot painting, pasting, etc. The toddlers will have a variety or art projects related to Spring.

Summer

This is a great time for the children to go out and enjoy the nice weather, however, we need to be protect them from the sun. We would like you to consider applying sunblock to your child before bringing him/her to the center. Also, please remember to sign the release form that allows us to apply sun block on your child as well as leaving the sun block container with his/her name clearly marked with us. This is the time to bring their hats!

It is important to check your child’s basket periodically and make sure we have a spare outfit for him/her, this outfit should be for warm weather.

Quotation of the Month

“The liberty of the child should have as its limits the collective interest”.

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.