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Looking Ahead To Summer
Water
Play Items to Bring
The
children do a lot of water play at Whistle Stop during
the hot summer months. Please bring the
following items (that you can leave at Whistle Stop) for your
child:
-swimsuit
-towel
-water
shoes (optional)
-insect
repellent
These
should each be labeled with your child's name. Whistle
Stop will provide the sunscreen – please sign a permission slip if you would like your child to use it.
Summer
Program
We
still have openings in our summer
school age program.
This program offers a
variety of fun and interesting activities for children ages 6-12. The
program begins on Monday
June 8 and runs through August
14, 2009.
It is offered 5 days a
week, and participants can attend either full- or part-time. Please
contact Toni if you would like to register. Also,
if you refer someone who registers their child for the program, you will
receive a one-time 10% discount from your tuition that week.
Summer
Activities
The
ice cream truck visits will begin Tuesday,
June 16 (for all rooms except Sweet Peas). The ice cream truck will come
every other week in the afternoon throughout the summer. The average
cost of treats will be about $2.00 each. A sign up sheet will be
coming out soon.
We
are also looking into doing catered
lunches again on Wednesdays. We'd like to start these on Wednesday,
June 10. We're considering a pasta theme and would like the cost to be about
$3.00 per child. If you know of anyone who is able to do the
catering for us, please contact Toni.
Also, Pizza
Mondays will continue through the summer for all rooms.
On
the rest of the days your child comes to Whistle Stop, please pack
a picnic-style lunch for him or her (sandwiches, fruit, etc.). Many times during the
summer the children go on hikes or bring their lunches with them
to the meadow. Picnic-style lunches make these outings more
fun and easier for everyone!
Summer
Staff
Returning
to work at Whistle Stop this summer are Lindsey
Addington and Katie
Tyson. Lindsey
Vedder will also stay on to
help out. Jen Metz and Marian Russell will
oversee our summer school
age program.
Position
Open
We are in need of a lifeguard for the school age program this summer. Days and
hours needed are: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from
12:30 to 3:30 PM. Please
contact Toni if you or someone you know is interested in this
position. Applicants must be 18 years of age.
Staff Birthdays and Anniversaries
May
Birthdays
Lisa Freybler – May 3
Sue Zimmerman – May 10
June
Birthdays
Amy VanDerMeulen –
June 19
June
Staff Anniversaries
Lindsey Addington –
2008
Welcome
New Families
We welcome the following
new children and their families to Whistle Stop:
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Sweet
Peas
Diego
Medina (Derek & Sarah)
Roman
Nelson (Richard & Sara)
Andrew
Owings (Mark & Francesca)
Catherine
Rizor (David & Molly)
Dylan
and Wyatt Stein (John & Katie)
Jelly
Beans
Emma
Akulli (Alex & Amy)
Young
Explorers
Emma
Risinger (John & Tracy)
Arriving
soon to
the Sweet Peas room will be Anna Collins (Stew & Emilie). Her brother Joey
Collins is a Jelly Bean.
New
Siblings
We are happy to announce
that the following children have a new sibling:
Rex
Blakely (Sweet Peas) has a
new baby brother Harry.
Nate
Hart (Jelly
Beans) has a new baby sister Teagan.
Charlie
Seufert (Jelly Beans) has a new baby brother Henry.
Staff
Training Update
In April, Kathleen
Reeves attended a training seminar held at Helen DeVos Children's
Hospital. She attended two sessions – one entitled “Helping
Children Cope Through Play” and the other entitled “Disaster
Preparedness”.
In
May, all staff received their annual
CPR/First Aid training and re-certification.
Great
News!
Whistle Stop has just
received word that our annual report was received by the NAEYC
Academy for Early Childhood Accreditation and that we have successfully
maintained our accreditation for the year. We will continue to make
ongoing improvements to our program in order to provide high
quality care and education for the children and families we serve.
FYI - Parent Handbook
Toni is also in the
process of updating our parent handbook in order to maintain our
NAEYC accreditation. We plan to have the parent handbook eventually
posted on our website.
Thank
You
A
special thank you to all the parents who helped out with our spring
garden project.
Thank you to all who donated plants, tools, and supplies. Be sure to
stop by and check our progress!
Staff
Appreciation
Week
Thank
you also to all the parents who are taking part in our Staff Appreciation Week (May 11-15). Your
contributions, help, and support are so very much appreciated.
Thank you!
Reminders
Please
note that Whistle Stop will be closed on Friday,
July 3rd for Independence Day. Please make alternate child care
arrangements for that day.
Also,
if you have any changes in your home address, cell phone number, e-mail address, or emergency
information, please notify Toni via e-mail at toni@whistlestopchildcare.net
High/Scope
Program
Highlights
The
following is the next segment in our High/Scope Program highlights.
Cleanup
Time
When
work time is over, children participate in cleanup time. Putting
materials and toys away provides
children with many learning experiences as they sort, match, classify
and solve problems. The adults in the classroom assist the children
by pointing out labels and pictures of where the items should go.
This process helps the children become more aware of their
environment and more familiar with the work areas in the room.
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Article
“Fun
In The Spring
Time”
Caterpillars
and Butterflies:
On your walks outside,
look for caterpillars. Let them be, but follow their life cycle if
you can. You can find a non-fiction book at your library to read and
learn more about
the caterpillar's life cycle. Then read
the book The
Very Hungry Caterpillar by
Eric Carle and compare the story to what you have learned from your
non-fiction source.
You can also make
butterflies with the following materials:
Get one clothes pin (not
the pinch type), one black pipe cleaner, and one circular coffee
filter for each child. Mix a very watery paint and let the child
use an eye-dropper to “paint” the butterfly's coffee filter body.
When dry, scrunch the coffee filter in the clothes pin and twist the
pipe cleaner around the top for the antennae. Hang from a window
and enjoy.
Changes in Spring
Use
your digital camera to capture the changes in trees and plants from
bare winter branches to buds to leaves to flowers.
Print out the pictures and post them in a sequence. Talk about the
changes with your child.
Plan and start a
vegetable garden. Even if you don't have a good-sized plot of land,
you can garden in containers. Find a book, nursery catalog or
look
on-line
for directions to plant the different types of vegetables. One
on-line resource is www.gardenersnet.com.
Of course, harvesting
and eating what they have grown is the highlight of the project.
Children can learn:
-
the parts of a plant
- what it takes to grow a
vegetable
- how to use their
fingers and tools when planting, weeding, and harvesting
- the satisfaction of
having planted and grown their own vegetables
- basic math and science
principles in planting the seeds and cooking the vegetables
Article adapted from:
News
& Views,
April-June 2009
Kent Regional 4C
233 E. Fulton, Suite
107
Grand Rapids, MI
49503
Article
Developmental
Benefits of Sand/Water Table Play
Cognitive: Children
play with a purpose and build cognitive skills like sorting, problem
solving, investigating, exploring, explaining, critical/creative
thinking, classifying, comparing, volume and measurement properties
at the sand/water table. Dig for treasure, pour water/sand through
funnels and mills and watch the brain work begin!
Physical-motor: Standing
at the sand/water table facilitatesthe use of fingers,
hands, arms, and trunk while maintaining overall balance and
coordination of the body. Playing and digging with shovels, funnels,
and scoops in sand or water provides resistive activity, which
improves body awareness. Skills of eye-hand coordination and
grasping skills needed for future writing are practiced at the
sand/water table through play.
Sensory: Playing
in sand, birdseed, or water allows children to feel different
textures through their hands. This in turn gives the brain the
opportunity to process a variety of tactile experiences to help
understand different sensations (i.e. grainy, smooth, dry, wet,
etc...). The ability to comprehend an item by touching only develops
when children feel and identify items that they cannot see (i.e. toys
hidden in the sand).
Social: Interactive and pretend play is how children learn and develop the
social skills of verbal communication, sharing, helping, compromising
and requesting, offering, and friendship building. Consider the
sand/water table a smaller version of the beach!
Speech
and Language: The
gathering of children around an emotionally engaging activity like
sand and water promotes the use of spontaneous speech and language –
a must for all young children for reading and writing!
From: Gibbs, Marianne, MOT, OTR. “Hands-On Tips for Teachers and Parents – Developmental Benefits of Sand/Water Table Play”. Write Out of the Box. 21 Apr. 2009.
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