Dear Parents,
We have such a wonderful group of children this summer! A new mix of kids always invigorates us with the possibilities of fresh interests, talents, and friendships.
Our curriculum format changes for the summer as we move from small group to centers and all school projects. This style makes it easier for children to come in and out of activities without feeling like they missed something when they are away for vacations. We continue to plan activities and explorations based on interests the children have that allow for new creative energy and limitless ideas.
If you have not yet heard – we have begun our summer by galloping into all things HORSE! Everyone started by creating a cover for what will become their journal for documentation of our horse explorations. The children will add to their journal as we go along and have a representation of everything they were a part of in this journey. We explored the parts of the horse in two different ways: the older children collaboratively drew and labeled a horse on the bulletin board in the Studio while the younger children had the challenge of piecing together horse puzzles that they glued on to a piece of paper for their journals. Next, Katey, who has a horse named Shoshone, helped us all learn about HORSE COMMUNICATION. She trained all of our young “foals” how to move their ears, the sounds to make, and how to hold or move their bodies to communicate: happy/content, scared, mad, playful, curious, itchy and sleepy. As we continue on with our Horse theme, we’ll set up some (saw) Horses with saddles, mess around with the tools used to care for horses, and have some sensory explorations (sound, smell, touch). There could be more we haven’t thought of yet. Eventually we plan to have each of the children work with us to make their own hobby/stick horse!
It is always exciting 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 their play that might guide us on our adventures and explorations this summer.
For Summer we have renamed our end of the week activities. “STUDIO DISCOVERY” becomes “FRIDAY FUN.” An anchor for our summer Friday experiences will be SCIENCE experiences. So far there have been Airplane Antics and predictions for Sink & Float. Check in with your kids as the summer goes on to see what other scientific explorations that have excited them.
We hope to share a wonderful Summer together!
~ Jane, Janet, Katey & Kate
Tornado Emergency Plans
Should we be instructed to take shelter due to a tornado warning, we will bring the children downstairs to our cellar where we have blankets, flashlights, water and stuffed animals. You might need to have our Janet & Jane’s cell phone numbers in case of such an emergency. If you don’t have our numbers, ask and we will make sure you have them!
Vacation Schedules
If you haven’t already, please let us know your vacation schedules. This will help us let children know when their special friends will return to school!
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IMPORTANT DATES
FRIDAY JULY 3rd Closed in observance of July 4th Holiday
AUGUST 13/14 Last days of Summer Session
AUGUST 17 – 21 Friends ‘n Fun closed for cleaning, sprucing, prep and planning for new school year.
AUGUST 24 Beginning of Fall Session
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