Simon Says
The Official Newsletter of the
Robert E. Simon Jr. Children’s Center
May 2017
12005 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 120, Reston VA 20191
Established 1990
simoncenter.org
Nursery 2
Monkeys
We are very excited that the weather is warming up and we can spend more time outdoors. The
Monkeys love going on stroller walks, chasing bubbles
in the wind and pushing push/pull toys around the
playground.
Volume 27, No. 5
(703) 834-5880
April was a busy month. We celebrated Nina
and Maya's first birthdays. We also celebrated many
"first words" and "first steps."
Week of the Young Child was very special. We
shared some friendship fruit salad, painted a masterpiece together with Bio-Colors and had lots of fun
dancing, dressing up and singing.
During the month of May we will plant flowers, celebrate our mothers and play with all things
"buggie." It promises to be another exciting month!
Agata, Alicia and Hirut
Senior 2
Giraffes
Nina on Pajama Day
This spring is like a combination of winter and
summer, weather-wise. Anyway, we, the Giraffes, easily adapt to changes.
We came to school and continued learning as
we played. We read books and discussed how to take
care of Mother Earth. We learned the song: Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle and we cited some examples to understand the meanings of the words in the song. We talked
about different kinds of animals, like pets, farm animals
and those in the forest. We made artwork for each topic
as well.
We had Creative Art with Ms. Tracy; Music for
Life with Mr. Travis; yoga with Ms. Vasanthi; Spanish
with Ms. Lourdes; and Mother Goose's interactive story
telling.
These are our themes for this month: Animals
in the Zoo, Birds and Ocean Animals, Insects and Spi-
ders; and Math In Our Everyday Life. We're having our
spring one-on-one parent/teacher conferences in the
second week of this month. Thanks for signing iup!
Here's to another great month!
Pompeii
Junior 1
Dolphins
What a great month in the Dolphin room! It's so
hard to believe that summer is just around the corner.
We sure have been enjoying the warmer days and
spending as much time outside as possible.
In April we talked about flowers and made all
kinds of different kinds. We even made a vase full on
our window. We also talked about the rain. We made
some umbrellas out of paper plates and did some
stamping of raindrops too.We also celebrated Week of
the Young Child. We did a bunch of sensory play and
painted our little hearts out!
We have been having a great time dancing and playing
instruments. One of our favorite songs to listen to is
called "Walk and Walk and Walk and Stop." We also really like to get the parachute out in the classroom and
play games with it.
Next month we will be celebrating our mothers, more about flowers, babies and a special activity
each day of May Day Week. It promises to be another
exciting month in the Dolphin room.
Noi, Susan and Sameey
Staff
Spotlight
Sameey Reha, Floater
Q: How long have you been at RESCC?
A: 11 years
Q: What's your favorite color?
A: Pink
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: Walking and reading
Q: What's your favorite food?
A: Anything spicy
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Q: What's your favorite
kind of music?
A: Afghani and Hindi
Q: What's your favorite
children's book?
A: Hug
Q: Do you have any children?
A: Yes, 2 boys, Jawad, 25 and
Jalal, 21.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: No
Q: Where would you go on a dream vacation?
A: To the home I grew up in.
And from the
Assistant
Director . . .
My “Top 5’s” continue this month with a musical twist as I share my Top 5 favorite children’s songs.
Enjoy!
1) 1 year olds: This age group is crazy about simple
songs like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Baa Baa Black
Sheep. They love to open and shut their fingers to "twinkle" and then later ask for the song by name with a
short but sweet “baa-baa.”
2) 2 year olds: At this point in a child’s development
he or she is beginning to name colors. My favorite song
to sing with twos is The Rainbow Song. I like to add
hand movements like we are painting the arc of the
rainbow in the sky, one color at a time. I learned this
one from one of our specialists:
Rainbow purple, rainbow blue;
Rainbow green and yellow too.
Rainbow orange, rainbow red;
Rainbow shining over head.
3) 3 year olds: With this age group, I love to see them
use songs to introduce and reinforce counting skills.
They’ll start the year with 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on
the Bed and later “graduate” to There Were 10 in the Bed.
(Both these songs are also fun to act out!)
4) 4 year olds: Now that the children are a bit older,
they can appreciate some humor in the song lyrics. My
favorite is a fun, but not widely known song called The
Crocodile:
May 2017 Newsletter
She sailed away on a bright and sunny day
On the back of a crocodile
"You see," said she, "he's as tame as he can be,
I'll float him down the Nile.
But the croc winked his eye as she waved them all goodbye
Wearing a happy smile
At the end of the ride, the lady was inside,
And the smile was on the crocodile!
5) 5 year olds: My favorite song for kindergarteners
is one I remember from my own childhood. I first heard
it on the show Sesame Street when they did a skit for
the song There’s a Hole in the Bucket. This song and the
puppets Henry and Liza taught my kindergarten self
the meaning of the word “exasperated.”
When it comes to singing, I’m not shy. Let me
know if you need me to sing a verse or two to any of the
songs mentioned until you can learn the tune.
Leila
Junior 2
Goldfish
The beauty and freshness of spring were experienced in the Goldfish room as we continued to take
part in numerous exciting and enjoyable spring-related
activities in April. We welcomed Julius to our class.
Our first April theme was Baby Animals. We
read several books, did fun activities like “Fetch the
Bone” and looked at photos of different kinds of kittens, puppies, piglets and baby ducks. We sang several
baby animal-related songs and enjoyed a flower art activity. Special feature for the week was Music for Life
with Mr. Travis.
The theme for the following week was all about
the Colors of the Rainbow. We read a number of books,
sang rainbow songs and had various rainbow-related
activities like “Parade of Colors.” During this week, we
did hand-print rainbow art using paint with different
colors and had Music for Life with Mr. Travis.
Farm Animals was our central theme for the
third week of the month. We read books and sang “Old
McDonald Had a Farm and the “Farmer in the Dell.”
We also did several farm-related activities like making
pig art using paper plates, glue and construction paper.
Special features for the week were a yoga session with
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Katelyn doing some spring cleaning
Ms. S, Music for Life with Mr. Travis and interactive storytelling with Mother Goose.
The Week of the Young Child was the main
theme for the fourth week of the month. This is a weeklong celebration hosted by NAEYC, celebrating early
learning, young children, their teachers and families.
We had several activities that included a musical parade, making a delicious fruit salad and tower building
as a group. Highlights for the week were Ms. Tracy’s
vase art, Music for Life with Mr. Travis and a yoga session with Ms. S.
For the month of May, we will be concentrating
on the following themes: More Farm Animals, Gardening, Mothers, Bugs and Butterflies.
Enjoy the rest of Spring!
Elinor and Gladys
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May 2017 Newsletter
Nursery 1
Penguins
Trees begin to grow their leaves back, flowers
begin to bloom and warmer days are on the way, too.
All these things mean that spring has finally sprung.
Mackenzie is the new leader of the Penguins.
She is exploring the play area by scooting. She wiggles
her fingers when she is very happy, always has a big
appetite at meal time and soothes herself during nap
time.
Alex pulls up on all the furniture now. He likes
to sit in the big boy chair at the table during meal times.
He also really enjoys the shakers when we have Music
For Life.
Rainier started eating finger foods, like Puffs.
Most of the time he will put himself to sleep. He likes to
scoot around while sitting instead of on his belly. His
smile is contagious!
Chloe is becoming more independent and she
likes to hold her own bottles. She also likes to take her
socks off and play with her feet. She enjoys music time
and can shake all the shakers.
Leo is napping better during the day and likes
to put his fingers in his mouth and has started to eat
solids likes cereal and pureed apples, bananas and
pears.
Gavin is doing better with his tummy times.
Lately he has been taking his full six ounces at feeding
time. He is very independent when putting himself to
sleep. He continues to use his charm and smiles on
everyone.
Hannah is adjusting well to the Penguin class.
Her pacifier is a great soother at nap time. She loves to
be cuddled and rocked. She has discovered that if she
rubs her feet together, she can get her socks off.
We would like to welcome Beatrix as the newest
addition to the Penguin class. We're glad you're here!
We have read through all of our Eric Carle "The
Very . . . " collection of books. We painted some tulips
using our baby's fingerprints. We also did some dip and
dab painting for the raindrops on our big umbrella in
the window.
For the month of May we are planning to do
some coffee filter painting, paint frogs by spreading
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and sliding paint and marble painting a big mouthed
fish. We will also do a special Mother's Day activity
with cornstarch.
Please remember to bring in some sunscreen
and appropriate changes of clothes for the upcoming
summer season.
Here's to another great month!
Celia, Rosanete and Arline
Senior 3
Stars
Hopefully, all these April showers will bring
May flowers . . . or, at least some sunshine! Despite all
the rainy, chilly days in April, the Stars still managed
to have a fun month.
Yoga with the Stars!
We kicked April off with bugs and insects. We
learned the different characteristics of insects and how
they are different from spiders. We also easel-painted
our favorite bug and made a class book together.
We talked about planting and gardening as
well. Everyone planted flower seeds and we have been
watching them grow! We talked about the life cycle of
a flower and what plants need to grow.
The Stars had fun celebrating Earth Day! We
talked about how we can help keep the Earth clean and
how to protect it. We made Earth Day posters to hang
up around the school and made a collage using old
scrap paper, newspaper and random scraps we found
in our classroom; it turned out great!
We finished out the month with frogs. The Stars
learned what an amphibian is and the four stages of a
frog's life. We illustrated our own book about the life
May 2017 Newsletter
cycle of a frog and did a lily pad counting game. Our
letters this month were "J," "Q," "X" and "Z,” finishing
up the alphabet!
This month we will talk about butterflies,
Mother's Day, reptiles, kindergarten and graduation!
Happy May!
Jenna and Shatara
A Note
from the
Director
I have found it to be true that the older you get,
the faster time goes. I cannot believe that it's May already. Before we know it, the next group of Stars will be
graduating and we will be getting ready for summer
camp.
I remember as a child waiting for, well, ANYTHING! It always seemed to take forever. We would go
to Florida every year to see my grandparents and I remember being so excited from the moment I found out
when we would be going.
Waiting is SO hard for children. They are all
about instant gratification. They don't really understand the concept of time, which makes waiting all the
more painful for them. I always tell parents to prepare
your child for changes like moving, a new baby or a
trip. But there is a fine line between preparing them and
making them wait. It's a very difficult balance. My best
advice is to tell them a day or two in advance of the
event as opposed to weeks or months before, especially
if it's something really exciting that would make waiting even more difficult. Like I said it's a crazy balancing
act to make the waiting less painful.
And for the record . . . I'm still a terrible waiter!
Have a great month!
Jen
Every Friday is
Simon Center
T-shirt Day.
Wear yours with pride!
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Sim
o
Cen n
ter
Senior 1
Bears
In the month of April we were very busy learning about our solar system. We learned that the sun is
the biggest star in our solar system. We learned that
Earth is the third planet in our solar system and it is the
perfect place to be. One of the last things we learned
was that Saturn's rings are made of ice and some of the
ice that spins around is as big as a house. These are just
a few interesting facts we learned last month. The children also cut out and decorated pictures of what they
thought the earth looked like. They are very nice.
The two other topics we discussed during April
were zoo animals and pets. In our discussions about the
zoo, we learned that many places are trying to have
more natural habitats for the animals to enjoy. In our
discussion about pets we learned that animals are a big
responsibility, that people need to be able to handle
feeding, giving them water, exercise and, most important, love.
In the month of May we will talk about Moms
(and make a special surprise for them), preparing for
the summer months, and safety, especially water safety.
We also look forward to our special visitors coming in
the month of May especially Mr. Bill and Mother Goose.
Have a great month!
Judy and Geetha
The Birthday Corner
May 1 - Connor
May 2 - Ms. Lakeisha, Sarah and Erik
May 10 - Elle and Eleanor
May 19 - Russell
May 21 - Sophie
May 23 - Ms. Pompeii
May 24 - Henry
May 26 - Joseph
May 2017 Newsletter
Junior 3
Pandas
The Pandas had an excellent month of April!
For the most of the part we talked about spring.
The first week was about spring cleaning. We
had a lot of fun painting with small brooms, washing
our dishes at the sensory table and playing with the
cleaning stuff.
The following week we learned about baby animals. We made baby bunnies, baby ducks and baby
chicks. We also played with baby animals at the sensory table.
Spring vacations was the third theme we
learned about. The Pandas colored vacation tickets and
decorated suitcases. During this week, along with
Music For Life and yoga, which we have every week,
Mother Goose came to visit.
For the last week of April we did a special
"Week of the Young Child" theme. The Pandas easel
painted while listening to their favorite music, made a
delicious banana pie, worked together as a group to
make an art project and made play dough.
It was a great month and we look forward to
May being just as exciting!
Wendy, Lakeisha and Yvette
Senior 1.5
Kangaroos
What a busy month for the Kangaroos! We had
lots of math, science and art!
Our first theme for April was ladybugs. We discussed the life cycle of a ladybug, made potato stamp
ladybugs and ate “ladybugs” using raisins for spots.
We are even watching our own ladybugs go through
metamorphosis (a big word that the Kangaroos
learned). Right now our ladybugs are in the pupa stage.
Because the Kangaroos know how much farmers love ladybugs, we planted our own seeds for our
gardening theme. We read books like "The Tiny Seed"
and "Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash." The KanPage 6
garoos had fun with science this month as well. We
planted seeds in a jar using kidney beans and water.
The Kangaroos also made greenhouses and watched
their beans sprout. We called it "planting seeds without
dirt."
Last month we discussed Earth Day and recycling. We made coffee filter and marble earths and trash
collages. The Kangaroos learned how to save energy
and water. We also learned how to take care of our
ocean and the meaning of a "litterbug."
We ended the month with numbers. The Kangaroos learned to recognize numbers 1-10. We played a
number matching game and counted with pipe cleaners and beads. We also played "Roll and Cross" and "10
Giant Frames."
This month our letters were D, E, F and G. We
worked on letter finds and letter books. In May ourletters are H, I, J and K. Our themes include shapes,
Mother's Day, snakes and frogs/toads.
Sounds like another great month in the Kangaroo room!
Tasha
Calendar of
Events
May 2
Family Night at Gregorio's (All day)
***
May 5
Mr. Bill visits for Cinco De Mayo
***
May 12
Child Care Provider Day
***
May 15
Parent Survey
***
May 23
Mother Goose
3
Check out our Facebook
page and like us at
facebook.com/simonchildrenscenter
May 2017 Newsletter
From the Board of Directors
Happy May everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather recently. For our family, it's a
great opportunity to get out of the house and run off
some of our son's boundless energy!
We have an exciting family event upcoming on
Tuesday, May 2 at Gregorio's Trattoria (in the North
Point shopping center). From 5 to 8 p.m., many families from the Center are gathering to have dinner and
socialize. For those who have been to these events before, you already know how excited the kids get when
they see each other outside the Center, so we hope
you'll join us if you can. As an added bonus, a portion
of the proceeds from our meals at the restaurant will be
donated to the Center.
The board would also like to encourage parents
to help out the Center by posting a positive review of
RESCC on websites like Yelp. As you may recall from
your own family's search for childcare, online searches
and review sites are a great resource for this. Jen often
asks families who tour the Center how they heard
about RESCC and the overwhelming response is from
online searches.
Of course, if you know someone looking for a
word-of-mouth recommendation, we hope you'll mention RESCC. If that family enrolls a child, you would
Join us for Family Fun Night!
Tuesday, May 2 at
Gregorio’s Trattoria
(North Point shopping center)
Stop in anytime between 5 and 8 p.m.
for good food and socializing with
Simon Center families. A portion of all
proceeds benefits the Simon Center.
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See you there!
receive a $250 credit towards your own tuition payment!
Enjoy the nice weather and hope to see you at
Gregorio's!
Matt Miller
Board President
May is . . .
` ALS Awareness Month
` Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month
` Barbecue Month
` Better Hearing and Speech Month
` International Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month
` Bike Month
` National Blood Pressure Month
` Brain Tumor Awareness Month
` Burger Month
` Celiac Awareness Month
` Chocolate Custard Month
` Community Action Awareness Month
` Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month
` Date Your Mate Month
` Egg Month
` Electrical Safety Month
` Foster Care Month
` Garden for Wildlife Month
` National Golf Month
` Haitian Heritage Month
` Hamburger Month
` Hepatitis Awareness Month
` Jewish American Heritage Month
` International Mediterranean Diet Month
` Loaded Potato Month
` Mental Health Awareness Month
` Military Appreciation Month
` Mobility Awareness Month
` Moving Month
` Older Americans Month
` National Osteoporosis Month
` Photographer Month
` Salad Month
` Salsa Month
` Skin Cancer Awareness Month
` National Smile Month
` Strawberry Month
` Stroke Awareness Month
` Water Safety Month
` World Trade Month
May 2017 Newsletter