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CALENDAR
FEBRUARY
Saturday, 2/5 WorkDay, 9:00am-2:00pm
Monday, 2/14 Valentine Potluck, 11:30am-12:30pm, Families Invited!
Monday, 2/21 President’s Day, School Closed
Tuesday, 2/22 Board Meeting, 7:30-9:30pm
New Staff Member!!
With the start of the New Year comes a new face to Children’s Corner!
Hillary is the newest member of the Children’s Corner Teaching Staff.
She will be teaching Monday-Friday with a floating schedule in Room 5, 6, and C as needed this school year. We appreciate her flexibility.
She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Rollins College in Florida as well as previous teaching experience at the Tabernacle of Praise.
She enjoys writing short stories, reading, and Military History.
Join us in welcoming her to Children’s Corner
Room 5 (Terrific 2s &3s) Update
Hope everyone’s New Year is moving along well so far. The weather has been cold and wet, but we’re still having lots of fun at school. We’ve been singing rain songs, reading books about winter weather, and enjoying the wet sand and puddles outside.
We’ve also begun our daily Group Times! Just before each snack time throughout the day, we call the children together for songs, stories, and movement activities. Circle time is a chance for young children to focus on a teacher-initiated activity together with all their classmates, it’s a chance to practice listening and turn-taking skills, as well as an opportunity for verbal expression in a group setting. The children seem to truly look forward to circle time and have been enthusiastic participants.
It is our policy to offer outside play every day, when possible, which might mean a few minutes outside between rain showers. Because of the cold, wet weather please be sure to label coats and boots and to provide a full change of clothing (including socks) for your child daily.
Finally, a special thank you to the following people for donations to Room 5: Kyra’s family for the train track accessories and castle blocks, Julia’s and Marifer’s families for wipes, Madison’s family for homemade cupcakes, Adrian’s family for delicious gingersnaps, and Luca’s family for oranges!
ROOM 6 (Thrilling 3s and 4s) Update
What a fun month February is! A great opportunity to talk about different kinds of love and how we can be kind to each other. We will be reading special books and making “valentine” projects at the art table. Join us for the Valentine Potluck on Monday the 14th.
At group time we have been working on the concepts of behind, above, in front of, to the side, etc. We have been using songs, movement activities, and puppets. Rhyming and counting activities have been popular too.
Thank you for all the donations of film and art materials. We appreciate all of your support.
Please label jackets and sweaters. We have had a lot left in the room and with no names we are unable to put them in a cubby or offer a reminder to take it home.
Teacher Irina has called and she and her family are settling in to their new home. She says hello to all parents and kids and she misses everyone.
Have a great month!
- Room 6 - Laura, Jeff, and Pauline
Referral Program Winner
Congratulations to our December winner, Muriel, Luca’s mom in Room 5.
The prize for February is a Family Entertainment Pack. This includes a pair of tickets to the movies, a 4-pack of tickets to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo, and a gift certificate to Baskin Robbins.
Room C (Fabulous 4s & 5s) Update
Fabulous 4s and 5s (previously Room c) would like to THANK parents for their support and help with our “wish list” items. Sarah’s family donated construction paper and some little plastic boxes, Robert’s family donated film, Jake’s family donated paper, and Callum’s family donated pumpkin bread, yummy!
Before entering kindergarten, children should know how or begin to: write/recognize their own name, identify colors/shapes, identify some numbers and count, know how to hold a pencil/marker/crayon, know how to use scissors. Our curriculum incorporates all of these skills during: grouptime, art projects, tabletime, and storytime opportunities.
We’ve had a couple of incidents when children’s coats got mixed up and went home with the wrong child. This is very upsetting for children. Please help your child to identify their own coats by labeling clothing with their name.
Teachers would also like to remind parents about our sharing policy. Sharing is the first full week of each month: February 7-11, March 7-11, April 4-8, May 2-6, and June 6-10. We prefer that toys stay at home but if a toy does come to school and it’s not the first full week of the month, your child will be asked to keep it in his or her cubby or take it home. Sometimes toys from home are too tempting to keep in their cubbies and they get taken outside, other children play with them, or they get broken and sometimes lost. We would like to ask that toys stay home or in the car unless it’s sharing week.
- Ada, Iris, Lynn, and Chris
Young Fives
Happy February! January has been a very busy month for Big 5s. We have been learning about New Year’s Festivals, Martin Luther King Jr, Winter/snowmen, and rocks, fossils and minerals. Our highlight for the month was learning about the artist Paul Cezanne. We even became artists by painting and signing our very own “The Blue Vase” Our classroom looks like an art gallery! We also learned about the letters Kk-Kayo Kangaroo, Ll-Lizzy Lizard, and Mm-Missy Mouse. Our math concept was “patterning”-we had lots of fun seeing how many patterns we could make with our bodies (clap, snap, tap, blink, etc).
In February, we will be celebrating Chinese New Year, President’s Day, and Valentine’s Day when we will join all the other Children’s Corner families for our Valentine Potluck Lunch. Our letters for February will be Nn-Nigel Nightowl, Oo-Olive Octopus, Pp-Peewee Penquin, and Qq-Queeny Quail. We will also be celebrating our 100th day of school in Big 5s. We will be collecting and counting 100 cans of food (soups, stews, chilis, tuna, etc.) to donate to a local charity. We will have a box outside the Children’s Corner office if you would like to volunteer cans of food to help us reach our goal of 100 cans. In addition to celebrating 100 days of school, we will be helping less fortunate members of our community.
- Gini, Sharon, and Josette
Gifts that Help Children’s Corner
Wouldn’t it be great if you could make a difference in the life of a child every time you bought groceries or a gift for someone, at no additional cost to you?
Through eScrip, various local and national merchants have agreed to donate a percentage of your total purchase price to Children’s Corner every time you buy merchandise from them. Simply visit www.escrip.com and register your debit and/or credit cards, selecting Children’s Corner to receive the merchant donations and then use your registered cards each time you shop at participating stores. Some of the Northern California stores participating in the eScrip program include Safeway, Andronicos, Draegers, Cosentinos, Mollie Stones, PW Super, Whole Foods, Piazza’s, AG Ferrari Foods, Macy’s, Eddie Bauer, Sierra Trading Post, Spiegel, Payless Shoe Source, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Office Max, and Orvis.
Or, if you prefer doing your shopping online, visit the eScrip Online Mall at eScrip.com and shop from more than 700 national retail stores including Old Navy, Gap, Target, Brookstone, Kohl’s, PETCO, Tower Records, and Sur La Table.
To get a complete list of local and national participating merchants please visit the eScrip website. For questions regarding the eScrip program, please contact Rebekah at 650-948-8950 or email at childrens_corner@sbcglobal.net.
Children's Corner is Looking for....
Do you have any old cell phone or old laser/inkjet cartridges? Recycle them at Children’s Corner and eScrip will make a donation to our school!
Director's Corner
18 Ways to Show You Appreciate Your Child’s Teacher
I am often asked by parents, “What can I do for the teachers? They are so
wonderful.”, or “They’ve helped my son or daughter so much.” Teaching (especially pre-
school) unfortunately is a very low-paying profession, and even more unfortunate is the fact
that some parents don’t recognize or treat pre-school teachers as professionals. More and
more people are becoming aware of the importance of the early years for children and the
impact their experience has on later schooling. Because of this, more parents are beginning
to realize that pre-school is important for children and that good teachers are crucial.
With the loss of jobs in the Silicon Valley, schools are finding it increasingly difficult
to fill their spaces which greatly impacts their ability to make their budgets. This impacts
teachers and pre-school staff as schools are unable to provide cost of living or merit raises
while expenses such as medical insurance and other benefit costs have gone up significantly.
Naturally these increased costs impact people in lower paying professions more than higher
paying ones.
Whether or not you give your child’s teachers a holiday or end of the school year gift,
you can let them know all year how much you appreciate them. Here are some ideas to start
with:
1. Smile: Say hello and smile, even when you’re in a hurry.
2. Talk: You can brighten up a teacher’s morning simply by passing along your child’s
enthusiastic comments. Sometimes children will tell their parents about something they
liked at school, but never mention it to their teacher.
3. Label: There are few sights more welcome to a teacher on a hectic day than jackets,
shoes, and lunchboxes with a child’s name clearly marked on them.
4. Write: After parent-teacher conferences are over, send a note of thanks for all the time the
teacher has put into preparing for them.
5. Tell a friend: Say something positive about your child’s teacher or caregiver to another
parent in or outside of the class. Positive comments have a way of spreading and can bring
in new students.
6. Tell a boss: Make time to say something complimentary about your child’s teacher to the
director or program director. Most administrators will pass compliments along. Besides,
directors enjoy hearing from satisfied parents—sometimes people only go to them with
complaints.
7. Tell the teacher: Stop in and say something nice about your child’s teacher to—who
else?—the teacher.
8. Copy it: Write a thank-you note to your child’s teacher for all she or he has done. Then
make a copy and ask that it be but in her or his file.
9. Watch: Here’s something teacher might not mention, but considerate parents do anyway:
If you bring younger brothers, sisters, or friends into a classroom, always keep an eye on
them yourself.
10. Cook: Try fixing a special lunch treat or coffee break snack for the teacher you want to
thank. Do it as a surprise on an otherwise ordinary day. Your child can decorate the box,
bag, or napkin the night before.
11. Fix it today: If the zipper on your child’s jacket is broken or sticks, fix it. It’s a small
matter that makes a big difference to a teacher who is getting 20 young children ready to
go outdoors.
12. Make a card: Find out when the teacher’s birthday is and send a card. Home-made
cards from your child are always the best ones.
13. Help out: Pitch in when something special is going on at school. Offer to lend a hand
whenever you can.
14. Check the time: Make it a top priority to arrive on time at the end of your child’s
contract. Your child’s teacher, like everyone else, has family, appointments, and errands
to get to.
15. Support Fund Raisers: The Fund Raisers provide more materials for teachers and
children to use and enjoy.
16. Share: Let teachers know important information about your child (if their morning was
different, if he/she didn’t sleep well, etc.). More information helps teachers better help the
children and therefore makes the job easier.
17. Keep sick children home: It’s better for your child and also lets the teachers know you
care about their health and the health of the other children in the classroom.
18. Smile again: Say good-bye and smile, even when you’re in a hurry.
Please remember #15 when you receive your requests for contributions to our Annual Spring
Fund Drive. Working together we can support our teachers and keep Children’s Corner the
wonderful place it is. Consider thoughtfulness as a way of saying “Thank you” to your
child’s teacher. It may not cost anything—but it means everything.
Thanks to all for your continued support.
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LA-MVCC
Newsletter
Current Quote
"Tis education forms the common mind;
Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."
- Alexander Pope
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