Chestermere Community Playschool Newsletter
201 West Chestermere Drive, Chestermere, Alberta, T1X 1B2
Phone: 273-9208
www.chestermereplayschool.com
November 2015
Issue 3
Teachers News
The month of October has just flown by! We enjoyed reading books by some of our favourite
authors and making some great crafts to go with them. The three year olds loved making our
Gerald the elephant puppets with noisemakers for trunks and the four year old classes did a great
job making our D is for David craft, based on the David books. November is our Space month, one
of the teachers’ favourite themes, and the students always enjoy learning about all the different
planets too. At the beginning of the month, Emily and I will be going to an Early Childhood
Educators Conference, and are really excited to bring all the new things we learn back into the
classroom. Due to this conference, the school will be closed on Thursday, Nov 5 and Friday, Nov 6.
This month your child will also bring home their first report card. We will be assessing the children
in five key areas: Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Following Directions, Adjusting to the Classroom
Routine, and Sharing. The four year olds are working more towards kindergarten readiness and
will be assessed differently than the three year olds. If you have any questions or concerns about
your child or our reporting systems prior to the report cards feel free to make an appointment to
discuss this with the teachers.
Scholastic Book Orders will be due on Monday November 23rd. For every order that comes back,
the classroom receives a percentage back in Scholastic credit to order books, toys, games, and
craft supplies that you find in the classroom. We use this credit to order books for our Random
Acts of Kindness reward system. Each class has a sticker chart; students earn stickers for sharing,
helping friends out, listening to the teachers, inviting friends to play and cleaning up at the end of
centres. Once a student reaches the end of the sticker chart, they receive a book that they keep,
and then they begin collecting stickers again.
If you have any questions, just let us know. Have a great month!!
Miss Emily and Mrs Natasha
Events
School Closed
Nov 5 & 6 (PD Day)
Nov 11
(Remembrance Day)
---------------Skating Day
Mon/Wed/Fri class:
Nov 19
Tues/Thurs class:
Nov 18
---------------Book Orders Due
Nov 23
---------------National Kids Day
Nov 20
Sick Kids
What are Emergency Volunteers?
Sniffles and colds are part of growing up, but there are some days
when children should be kept at home. Children should be excluded
from playschool if they have an illness that has required antibiotic
treatment (ie. strep throat, pink eye) – it is generally recommended
to keep your child away for at least 24 hours after starting antibiotics,
but please confirm with your health professional. Children
experiencing vomiting or diarrhea or fevers within the past 24 hours
should also be kept away until the symptoms pass (dosing with
Tylenol doesn’t count!). Sometimes a child can appear just fine while
at home, but then becomes ill while at school – when the situation
merits it, the teachers will call you to come and pick your child. If
your child needs to miss playschool, please phone and leave a
message at 403-273-9208. Please DO NOT email absence alerts.
Emergency volunteers are those volunteers who
are requested by the teachers on super short
notice (usually the call for volunteers goes out on
the same day the volunteer is required). These
messages can come out either by email or in the
hallway before class. These volunteers are
needed if school is at risk of closing because of
adult / child ratios. If someone agrees to step in
as an emergency volunteer, they will get 5 hrs of
volunteer time. These spots are awarded on a
first come, first serve basis. If you have
questions please email Katherine at volunteer
[email protected]
Page 2 of 3
Snacks and Treats for
Celebrations
We know that healthy food is needed to grow
strong bodies. To help model healthy behaviour,
we ask that any snacks provided for parties
include fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers – no
sweets.
******
We love celebrating special days and birthdays in
the classroom, but please ensure that all treats
are individually wrapped and nut free as they will
go home with the children at the end of class.
Cupcakes sit nicely in Styrofoam cups or with
cellophane wrapped around them and cookies
work great in Ziploc bags! If you do not wish to
bring a treat in for the class that is ok,
alternatively you can have your child bring in a
favourite story to read with the class on their
special day.
Volunteers Needed
In the Classroom!
Our playschool uses classroom volunteers to lend
a helping hand to manage flow and activities in a
room full of busy little people. Some of our
classes are particularly lively this year, and as we
work through different classroom management
strategies, including more work in smaller groups,
the role of the volunteer will be particularly
important. If you’re able to help, please sign up
on the sheets on the Parent Board outside the
classroom. If you would like to sign up to help in
classes in future months, please email Katherine
volunteercoordinator@chestermereplayschool.
com
To Clean Toys!
Our number of toy cleaners is really low this year.
If you can help once a month, in an evening or on
weekends, contact Katherine at the above email.
Celebrate National Child Day!!
Our playschool is one of multiple organizations
participating in the annual play day in the main
gym of the Rec Centre on Nov 20. All kids 0-5 are
welcome to stop in for some fun…bouncy houses,
activities, crafts – something for each domain of
learning and good times for everyone! Our Friday
morning school kids will attend. See you there!
Playschool Newsletter
PUF in the Classroom
Nope, not the magic dragon…but equally powerful!
What is PUF?
The Government of Alberta believes that the first six years of a
child’s life are key to their future development. It is for this reason
that they developed an early intervention program that helps
address delays in development of school readiness skills. One
aspect of the program is Program Unit Funding (PUF) which helps
children with disabilities or delays access additional support above
what is offered in a regular Early Childhood Services program.
Children who are assessed to have needs that qualify for PUF can
receive up to three years of supported programming, depending on
age of the child at the time of assessment, severity of the
disability/delay and its impact on the child’s ability to function
within their environment.
What does PUF mean to our playschool?
Children who qualify for PUF are sometimes provided with aides
who provide the specific student with additional support to succeed
in the classroom. These aides provide social, cognitive and language
development to the children they are supporting, using play as their
primary teaching activity. The early intervention available through
PUF has the ability to make a dramatic improvement in a child’s
ability to succeed in the classroom. Throughout the year, you may
notice aides supporting students in some of our classes. These
aides work with specific children, providing support with daily
routines, speech and occupational therapy, as well as providing
support and solutions for behavioural needs.
How does this impact our classroom?
While the aides are focused on the specific child or children they are
supporting, they are part of the community of care that supports all
our children in the classroom. The inclusive nature of our
classrooms teach children that everyone learns differently, and
some people require support, above a teacher, for this learning to
take place.
The aides, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists,
and behavioural strategists, may occasionally work with the entire
class to work on skills they see need additional support. They will
usually use play for this therapy as play stimulates development of
language, making it possible for children to adopt roles and
negotiate the rules and goals of play. Pretend play forms an
important foundation for conceptual thinking, literacy and
numeracy.
Our school partners with Big Plans for Little Kids to deliver these
services. If you have questions, please contact Meghan Clark at
[email protected] or visit www.bigplans.org
Page 3 of 3
Playschool Newsletter
Pick Up and Drop Off Protocol
Guests in the Classroom
It has been working really well to have children
line up outside the classroom before entering
everyday – thank you for helping make this
process work! As a reminder, for pick up,
parents get to be the ones who line up so we
can send the children out. Our hallway doesn’t
have much space, so your cooperation is
appreciated.
This month Andrea from the Chestermere Public Library came in
and read some silly stories to all four classes – one of the school
favourites was ‘Are you ready to have some fun’ by Jan Thomas.
The library is a great resource for the community; did you know
you can take out items like the Tag Readers we use in the
classroom? They also have great preschool backpacks to borrow
and these have books, games, and activities in them – we know
there is a princess themed one. A super big thank you to the
Chestermere Public Library for all they do to build our children’s
love of reading.
Flubber
Looking for something to amuse small hands?
Try making the strange goo that is flubber!!
What you need:
3/4 cup cold water
1 cup Elmer’s glue
liquid food coloring
1/2 cup hot water
1 teaspoon borax (you can find this in a box in
the laundry aisle)
Directions:
1: In bowl 1 – mix together the cold water, glue,
and food coloring. Set aside.
2: In bowl 2 – mix together the hot water and
borax, until the borax is completely dissolved.
3: Slowly add glue mixture to borax mixture.
Mix well to make a smooth magical elastic. Pour
off excess water. If this is kept in a covered
container, it lasts forever!
The four year old morning class also received some Ninja
Training from ‘Ninja Mommy’, Courtney Cassidy. The kids had a
blast practicing their ninja skills, and even doing burpees!
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
The evenings are growing cooler - is it too soon to start thinking
about Christmas?? Please mark your calendar for our school’s
annual Christmas concert. We will do two concerts, one on Dec
16 and the other on Dec 17. Both events will run from 11am to
1pm, in the MPP Room (small gym by the Rec Centre office). The
concerts will feature a short performance that involves the
children from both our morning and afternoon classes, and then
families and children are invited to enjoy a community meal
together. Danny Cecchetto from Roma Catering has once again
offered to donate a delicious meal so a bit of socializing can
happen following the Christmas parties. Last year’s meal was a
feast, so if you’re new, you are in for a treat!
Why Won’t My Child Eat?
Young children, especially toddlers go through picky eating stages. It’s a normal stage that most children have. Also,
right around the age of two, children start eating significantly less than they had been over the past year. They aren’t
growing as fast, and they don’t require as many calories as before. Keep that in mind.
Is it a hunger issue?
How long has it been since your child ate? If he had a big snack an hour before dinner, he might not be hungry enough
to eat. So, plan out snack times so that they are set parts of the day and won’t interfere with mealtimes.
Is it a sensory issue?
Sometimes certain textures make it harder for children to eat. For example, my older son refuses mashed potatoes,
but loves whole roasted or broiled potatoes. My other son won’t eat loose kernels of corn and will only eat corn on the
cob. So practice with different textures of foods to see what your child likes and doesn’t like.
Is it a control issue?
This is the biggie. There are really very few things in a child’s life that they have full control over. But the two big ones
that we, as parents, have no control over are eating and going to the bathroom. So, when a child feels a loss of control
or power in their lives, they will often times control those two things.
To see the rest of this article visit: www.dirtandboogers.com
For more information contact Kidz 1st Network Parent Link Centre (403)207-7060.