ODYSSEY NURSERY
JANUARY NEWSLETTER, 2015
Inside this issue:
Welcome to Odyssey
1. Infants Class
2. Toddlers Class
3. Preschoolers Class
4. Nursery Class
5. All About Me Music
6. January Calendar
Everything We Do, Is Designed for Learning
Dear Parents,
Happy New Year! It’s great to see everyone back with smiles on their faces. We hope
you all had a wonderful holiday. We sure enjoyed our family time!
When I think of January and what it brings, I always seem to think of resolutions. Most of
you have probably set your resolution for this New Year, but consider taking on one
more. Our children are so important and sometimes as a parent, we find it easier to just
do things for them, but by doing this we aren’t allowing them to grow. Empower your
children by giving them a choice and a chance. Let them learn to make their own
decisions when appropriate, and learn to trust their feelings. Let them become more
independent by walking into their classrooms and saying good bye to you at the door.
Allow them the space they need to grow and learn to socialize without you. Allow them to
carry on conversations with other peers and adults without you jumping in to correct or
help them. We want to do everything for them as their parents. The truth is, we are not
helping them become independent and critical thinkers. You’d be surprised at what they
can actually do. Taking risks and making decisions are the number one ingredients for
building positive self-esteem.
This year our resolutions at Odyssey Nursery are;
1 To help our children become independent observers, thinkers anddecision
makers.
2 To practice effective teaching
3 To provide our young learners with tools that are tangible and directlyaccessible
to their senses-visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic-which will help them grow
in their ability to understand abstractconcepts, manipulate symbols, reason
logically and generalize.
This is demonstrated through our various center teaching which provides children with
opportunities to be actively involved in learning and making choices in a variety of ways.
We intend to successfully implement our curriculum in order to meet the needs of the
WHOLE CHILD and not just the number in the class. We are determined to teach in a
fun, exciting and meaningful manner. The classrooms, which are subtle, warm,
welcoming and spacious, help the learning process and enhance listening and critical
thinking skills.
We look forward to welcoming each and every one of you for a prosperous 2015.
Sincerely,
Odyssey Team
INFANT CLASS We are starting our New Year exploring “All about me”.Our babies will explore what their tiny hands
and feet can do. We will concentrate on the colour red and incorporate this into many activities.
Using salt dough we will explore foot prints and mark making, all whilst we tune in to baby Mozart
music.
Our time will be spent studying and interacting with our faces using mirrors. We will look at
photographs of ourselves and our family members to see who we can recognize.
“Tummy time” will be a chance to explore sensory mats and treasure baskets. To exercise our brains
we will play ‘Peek –a-boo’. We will adventure to our outside area, strolling along the paths and
crawling amongst the fresh grass.
TODDLERS CLASS ‘All About Me’ will be our theme to start the year. We will begin by learning each other’s names and
identifying our belongings.
We have exciting activities creating our family members using pine cones and bottles. Our outdoor
play area will be full of fun, searching for our own photographs hidden in different places.
Our circle time will add additional fun by singing the ‘Finger Family’ song together. We will be singing
more of our favorite songs during our circle time and listening to stories as we settle in.
Investigating body parts by using magnifying glasses and getting to know how different we are will
also be an exciting part of our day.
Moreover, our classroom will feature various sensory centers such as water, sand and playdough
with a role play area to stretch our imagination.
Brain gym will help us stay focused and of course we will be encouraged to drink plenty of water
between cross crawls, hook ups and pace.
Preschoolers Class All About Me’ in the Twiglets class will be a bustling environment full of discovery. We will sing and
dance the ‘Hokey Kokey’ labelling the parts of our bodies. We will explore our faces and
photographs using magnifying glasses to look closely at our facial features.
Whilst learning to appreciate Mozart we will use our body to create exquisite, personalised,
masterpieces of our own. We will make a paper plate face mirroring our own, choosing our hair
and eye colour.
Every child is unique and the name is the first way to identify this. Each child will decorate their
name, count the letters in each name and display the beautiful, individual art work.
We will concentrate on looking at our family and the people around us we live with. Looking at the
names of our family members and discovering our family trees.
The body is one of the most important topics we can teach our children about. We will be busy
making an outline of ourselves and then decorating the inside. The question is…will you be able to
guess your child?!
NURSERY CLASS The children in the “Pebbles” (3-4 yrs) class will explore the “All About Me” theme and look closely
at family members, where we live and the five senses. We will discuss family trees and discover
the similarities and differences between diverse families from around the world through circle time,
language and vocabulary activities.
In addition, we will emphasize body care and the importance of proper cleanliness and selfhygiene. From that perspective, the children will enjoy presentations on hand washing, tooth
brushing, dishwashing through the role play center activities.
In order to enhance their communication and language skills, the children will explore letters and
sounds from the “Jolly Phonics” program. Children will happily and effectively learn letter sounds
in a playful way through songs and movement. The children will also have the opportunity to
discover their written name and trace their very first letters.
In order to develop their fine motor skills, children will be exposed, through our unique graphic
program, to tracing different dots and lines. Vertical lines will be the focus for this month.
Mathematical and logical reasoning skills will be explored through age-appropriate and themerelated activities such as: counting family members, puzzle solving and pick-and match games.
Children will review how to count from 1 to 5 this month.
Finally, the children will explore gross motor skills through outdoor and gym activities.
All About Me Music
At Odyssey Nursery,
We believe that music is a language that must be experienced
like any other language.
During the month of january, the music focus will be placed
upon mozart's masterpieces as we celebrate his birthday on
the 27th of this month.
The children in the "seashells" (1-2 yrs) class will explore the universe of the musical
genius through a lovely storybook entitled "my little mozart". they will also discover
the "a, b, c" song whicth was composed based on one of his famous melodies.
beautiful nursery rhymes and songs related to our theme will be performed while
clapping and dancing.
As we are exploring our "all about me" theme, the children in
the “twiglets” (2-3 yrs) will discover that their own body is their
very first musical instrument to start with. they will investigate
the "human beat box" experience that involves clapping,
tapping on the thighs, arms, and singing.
In order to enhance their communication and language skills, the children in the
“pebbles” (3-4 yrs) class will enjoy different musical games such as: “rhythmic echo”,
“sonic ball”, and “silent round”. music-making is one of the most beautiful ways to
express one’s personality and natural talents. children will explore the keyboard and
different percussion instruments for the pleasure of their senses.
JANUARY
Colors: Red, Yellow, Orange and Blue
Numbers:
1-5
Shape: Circle, Square
Letters : S,A, T,I
Theme: All about Me 2015 ACCEPTANCE
Calendar
This time of year brought very long and cold nights.
Storytelling
filled the hours.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Friday Thursday 1 1 International
Day for peace
Saturday 2 3 4 First Day of
School
11 New Year’s
Resolutions Day
5 6 7 12 Charles
Perrault's
Birthday
1628-1703
8 Elvis Presley
Birthday 13 14 9 15 Parent Secret
Reader 10 16 17 A French writer
famous for the
fairy tales known
as "Tales of
Mother Goose"
18 19 Martin Luther
King’ s Day 20 21 22 23 OPEN DAY
9-11 AM 25 26 Chinese New
Year Begins 27 Mozart’s
Birthday 28 24 29 Toy Collection
Day for the
RED CROSS 30 31 Monthly
Progress
Report