June 2017 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome to all our families – new, continuing, and returning.  We have a wonderful group of children for our summer session and are enjoying getting to know one another.  A new mix of children always invigorates us with the possibilities of new interests, talents, and friendships.

We are excited as we plan for the upcoming summer months. Throughout the summer various activities will be set out each day with children of all ages in mind.  Teachers are always enthusiastic for our change in curriculum format for the summer.  Preparing activity centers for in-depth exploration based on interests rather than ages seems to allow for new creative energy and limitless ideas.

We are starting June off with WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?. We will be reading a variety of children’s books and asking small groups of children to tell us what they see as a “problem” in the storyline.  Each group will work together to come up with ways to solve the problem(s) the children identified…and then gather materials to see how they can put those solutions into action.  Critical and creative thinking, art, engineering, communication, working together – all of these areas of development, and more, will organically generate in the solving of problems.

It is always fun to watch and see how doing one thing sparks an idea or suggestion for something else.  We will continue to watch and listen to see what other interests children are talking about during play that might guide us on our adventures and explorations this summer.  As we plan our summer days, we will try to post activities on the front bulletin board for you to see what we are going to be up to these summer days.

We may take an occasional walk around the block or a walk to the rock park 5 blocks East of us on Simpson Street for a morning of outdoor activities.  We will always communicate with you to let you know if we will be planning to leave the building!

We hope you enjoy your summer with us.

~ Janet, Jane, Katey & Kara

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SUNSCREEN 

Feel free to apply sunscreen to children before they arrive at school. We have sunscreen and will reapply it throughout the day.  If your child needs a specific brand, please send it (labeled with your child’s name) and with a signed note indicating this is your preference. We use Banana Boat #50.

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Father’s Day “Breakfast Cafe”

Thursday, June 15 & Friday, June 16

We will have a breakfast cafe set up in the morning during drop-off for the children to spend some special time with their Dads.

We’ll have coffee & Santiago’s breakfast burritos for the Dads, and juice, fruit and a breakfast treat for the kids.

Come enjoy a special morning with your child(ren) before you head off to your day.

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Tornado Emergency Plans

June is typically our stormiest month – and we need to be prepared for any emergency.  We have emergency plans posted at the front door.  Should there be a tornado watch, where we are asked to seek shelter, we will take the children downstairs to our cellar where we have blankets, flashlights, water and stuffed animals.  You might need to have our cell phone numbers in case of such an emergency.  If you don’t have Jane or Janet’s cell phone numbers, let us know and we’ll give them to you.

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Vacation schedules

Please let staff know, when possible, of times that your child will not be attending.  This will help us in our staff scheduling, space availability for our friends from the school year to be able to come spend some time with us this summer, as well as letting children know when their special friends are returning after vacations.

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IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday/Friday  JUNE 15/JUNE 16                    Father’s Day Breakfast Cafe: We will                                                                                     have a “breakfast cafe” during drop-off                                                                                 time with Santiago’s Breakfast Burritos                                                                                 for the Dads

Tuesday, JULY 4                                                   Closed for Holiday

AUGUST 17/18                                                    Last days of Summer Session

AUGUST 21 – 25                                                 Friends ‘n Fun closed for cleaning,                                                                                       sprucing, prep, and planning for new                                                                                   school year.

AUGUST 28/29                                                  Beginning of Fall Session

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PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGN YOUR CHILD IN & OUT EACH DAY IN THE SIGN IN NOTEBOOK