Bright Horizons @ CentraState
December 2013
From the Director
As 2013 winds down we would like to thank
you for entrusting your child’s care and early
education to us. We are lucky to have on board
a Staff that truly loves their chosen profession.
They bring that love to their classrooms each
day which is evident is the smiles, laughs and
giggles heard from your children as they engage
in activities planned for them each day. It has
been our pleasure to partner with you this year
as we work together in providing quality care
and education for your children.
A few end of the year reminders:
1. Proof of Flu shot is required by 12/31/2013.
2. All immunizations are to be updated and
documented here at the center for the Board of
Health. Their representative will visit our
center in the month of January. Any child found
not in compliance will be excluded from care
until a care plan can be submitted by their
doctor or proofs of immunizations are
presented to the center.
3. Annual Universal Child Health Records are
required by State Licensing. If you have not
submitted your child’s most current physical
information please ask for a form at the front
desk or download a form from our website at
Important Dates
Winter Holiday Celebration, 12/18 at 2:30 in
your child’s classroom.
Wednesday, 12/25- Christmas – Center Closed
Wednesday, 1/1 – New Year’s Day – Center
Closed
Annual Flu Shot must be documented by 12/31
Food Drive, now to 12/19. Please drop off non
perishable food items.
If you are planning time off around the
holidays please let us know so that we may
grant requested time off to staff members.
Thank You!
Reasons to Celebrate
Happy Birthday!
Ms. Hope, Ms. Lindsey, Ms. Allison
Angelina, Joey, Dylan, Evan, Morgan,
We wish everyone a very Happy Holiday and
look forward to spending 2014 with you and
your child!
Gianna, Olivia, Zosia
Michelle and Debbie
Connect with Bright Horizons
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Classroom Highlights
Infants
Here comes the Holidays, a very busy and festive time has arrived all around us!
Language Works: The children gathered around Ms. Debbie and Ms. Maureen to listen to the story
“The Turkey Ball”. As we read the story we talked about the turkey and the sounds it makes along with
the many different colors we could see. In the story there is a bus that led us right into a favorite song,
“The Wheels on The Bus”. The infants love to explore our picture board and cloth books. They
explore the texture by rubbing their finger and hands across the pages.
Art Smart: The Infants had so much fun doing a Holiday Art project this month that was also a
sensory experience for them. Using a small amount of brown each child’s hand was painted brown and
then placed on a piece of paper to create a print that resembled a turkey’s body.
Movement Matters: Balls are tossed, bounced and rolled all around the room. Blocks are built up
and knocked down, and there’s lots of rolling, crawling and climbing going on. Tummy Time activities are
planned to build and strengthen motor skills.
Dramatic Play: Our baby dolls provide pretend play for the Infants. They are rocked, patted nightnight and given hugs and kisses. In the kitchen area we have a variety of foods and use words like yummy
and good.
Happy Holidays Wishes to All of You!
Happy Birthday to Joey!
Welcome to the Infant Room Ms. Diane! We look forward to getting to know you and sharing the care
and education of the children with you!
Toddler 1
November was such a busy month, it just flew by! The Toddler 1 Class concentrated on learning more
about shapes, colors & fall while incorporating the Thanksgiving and Hanukkah holidays that were
celebrated during the month.
Art Smart: Throughout November the children were offered many different art activities. They
painted using pine cones to spread their paint onto their papers and were able to use tooth brushes to
mix red, yellow and blue paint together creating new and different colors. When we created fall leaves
the children were given a leaf shape cut from a brown paper bag, paint and cotton swabs to use as their
paint brushes to decorate their Fall Leaf Project. Glitter added to glue then painted on created our
Sparkly Dreidels. The children’s handprints contributed to making Handprint Menorah Prints as well as
our Fall Wreath. The children’s hands were traced then cut out of fall colored paper. The class was
then able to add their handprints to their wreath shape as they liked. Rounding out the month we used
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
markers to decorate coffee filters then sprinkled them with water. When they were dry we added a
turkey body and head. Last the children made their own Indian Headdresses by gluing construction
paper feathers onto their paper headbands. Everyone loved trying theirs on.
Math Counts: To encourage our pre-math skills the children were offered to sort by color. They
were given a cup with Fruit Loops and a rainbow piece of paper. They were then instructed to match
the same colors to each other. A turkey count game was also introduced. The class was shown 5
turkeys all with a different number of feathers (1-5). As a group we counted how many feathers there
were then enforced the concept by looking at the corresponding number that was written on the
turkey’s belly.
Science Rocks: The class explored a lot of interesting things this month. We made bubble dough and
pumpkin pie play dough to explore. We also added more beans and seeds to our terrarium which now
has several plants all the way to the top! The children also did an experiment with cotton balls. We
made a paste out of flour, water and food coloring. The class was able to dip the cotton balls into the
paste to create a collage. When we were done, we baked the collages in the oven. The next day we
examined our results and were excited to see that the outside of the cotton balls had a baked crust on
the outside yet were still untouched on the inside.
Well Aware: Thanksgiving offered a variety of foods for the children to taste and try. An unsuccessful
first try, was when we tasted butternut and acorn squash. The class did not like either. The
Thanksgiving Feast that we shared with Toddler 2 was so much fun and everyone found at least one
thing on their plate to gobble up! We also made our very own Pumpkin Pudding Pies and almost
everyone loved theirs. There were no leftovers!
Dates to Remember:
December 25th - Christmas Day - School Closed
January 1st – New Years Day – School closed
Toddler 2
This Fall has been lots of fun for our Toddler friends! They have been into many neat things such as
sorting, matching, sensory & tasting. This is what we’ve been up to the month of November…
ArtSmart: The Toddlers have been busy making many neat art projects this month. They loved
helping collect leaves outside on the playground to make neat Fall wreaths. The children used
paintbrushes to spread glue onto a cut out paper plate and then they stuck on many different types of
leaves. The Toddlers also liked using their finger tips and paint to make fingertip print corn. We also
made neat handprint turkeys for Thanksgiving. The kids got to pick what color feathers they wanted to
make their fingers for their turkeys. The Toddlers also enjoyed making feather hats and pilgrim hats to
celebrate Thanksgiving.
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Math Counts: This month we worked on sorting, matching, counting, shape recognition and color
recognition. The children loved participating in many different matching games with our colored turkey
match, leaf match and shape match. Our friends are mastering matching similar colors. We are starting
to work on patterns and finishing sequences. The children love putting together the color caterpillars as
we are learning about patterns and alternating colors. Our animal parachute match was a big hit! The
kids loved matching different colored animals to the coordinating color on a parachute.
Language Works: This month we worked on fine motor skills and pre writing. The children really
enjoyed using crayons to practice hand eye coordination to practice tracing their names. It was very
impressive to see how well the children were able to follow the dotted lines to make some letters. We
are also in the process of working on letter recognition. The children enjoy learning about letters with
our alphabet blocks and with a letter matching game. Finger puppets were a great addition to our
language center this month. The Toddlers have been singing songs and doing finger plays with the
puppets. Another activity that the children enjoyed was learning about feelings with our emotion bowl
faces. We asked the children to point out the emotions happy, sad, mad and scared as we talked about
what those feelings mean.
Science Rocks: This month our friends enjoyed tasting and using their senses. They enjoyed exploring
the outside of an orange as they felt and smelled it. After we explored the outside, we opened up the
orange and tasted it. The orange tasting was a success as many of the children liked them and asked for
more. In the sensory tubes this month we put pinecones, leaves and grass in them. The kids were very
excited to see and explore the new sensory tubes. In the sensory bin, they enjoyed exploring potato
flakes, potato peels and pinecones and leaves. They used funnels, bowls, containers, spoons, and cups to
explore these things. They especially loved using their hands to crumble the leaves as it made a neat
crinkling sound.
THANK YOU SO MUCH: To all the families who provided something for our Thanksgiving feast! The
children had so much!
A VERY HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY TO: Gianna (12/7) & Olivia (12/22)
Preschool
I can’t believe that the holiday season is here! We have so much to be thankful for in life! I hope that
all of the Preschool families had a wonderful Thanksgiving. In the Preschool room this month we talked
a lot about Thanksgiving and caring for each other. We also had the chance to make a really neat house
for our Dramatic Play Center.
Some of the things we talked about this month were……
*Caring for our friends
*Pets
*Thanksgiving
*Construction
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Art Smart: Our big art project for the month of November was creating a house out of boxes for our
House Keeping Center. The children had fun painting the boxes first. After that was done we added a
roof, windows, and a chimney with smoke. The children had fun pretending to walk in and out of a
house. In honor of Thanksgiving we made handprint turkeys, pilgrim hats, and Native American head
dresses. Displayed on our window you will see our stained glass turkeys and on our blue board our
Native American corn.
Math Counts: New manipulative toys are always a big hit. This month Ms. Melanie introduced the
children to the geo shapes and the pattern cards. They had fun recreating the pictures on the cards and
then they had the opportunity to create their own structures using the blocks. The children made a lot
of neat things like chicken nuggets, a playground, trees, and a rocket. We also worked on simple
patterns using the colorful foam cube blocks. The Preschoolers had fun playing two games that involved
numbered turkeys and feathers. In the first game the children rolled the dice and placed that many
feathers on their turkey. During the other game the children identified the number on the turkey and
then placed that many feathers on it.
Science Rocks: Play dough is always a big hit in science. This time Ms. Melanie made a batch of play
dough and then allowed the children to use scissors to cut the play dough. We also took time out to
smell various spices that we would use on the Thanksgiving holiday. We smelled Cinnamon, Allspice,
and Thyme. It was fun to look at the children’s faces when they smelled each scent. During our
Thanksgiving Feast the children tasted apple pie. Some of them were willing to try it and the other
made the cutest faces.
Language Works: During circle time we read a variety of books that were about self esteem; caring
for others, pet care, and Thanksgiving. We did our Weekly Reader through the month also. Various
ones on Thanksgiving and Fall. We talked about how we can care for our pets and how to care for our
friends. Making a list of the various foods to eat on Thanksgiving was fun to do. The children really had
some great ideas on what you eat for Thanksgiving. While we were building our house we read various
books on construction and we talked about what we need to build a house.
Our World, Our Backyard: On the playground we practiced balancing moving one foot in front of
the other. We also had fun blowing bubbles and drawing with chalk on the sidewalk.
Kindergarten Prep
November was quite a busy month for hands-on activities, highlighted by the growing interest shown by
the children in learning about: (just to name a few) magnets, transportation, Native American Indians,
the Pilgrims and the holidays of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. We were busy –bees making projects to
support our themes. It was so cool to observe how the force of a magnet underneath a metal tray,
control the movement of a paperclip on top of the tray.
We made models from boxes, foam trays and other materials, to represent the various means of
transportation.
Learning about Native Americans was a big hit! We focused on their lifestyle, foods and some of the
various tribes. Everyone was proud of their Native Indian name drawn randomly from a list of names in
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
a basket. Because of the children’s interests in our Native American theme, we will extend our theme
into December.
We celebrated Thanksgiving feasting on traditional foods. Each child was dressed as a Native Indian or
as a Pilgrim. Hanukkah was celebrated with the spinning of the dreidel, singing songs, and reading
stories. Ms. Lindsey spoke to us about the true meaning of Hanukkah. Thanks, Jordan’s mom, for
reading to us.
Art Smart: Our projects reinforced our theme for each week, for example, representing our Native
American theme, we used natural dye from plants (we used the stems from beets) to make prints.
Dreidels were made from paper and cardboard boxes, foam trays and construction paper were used in
building our various means of transportation. Our Pilgrims and Native Americans head-dress were
made of construction paper.
Math Counts: We practiced writing and identifying numbers, problem solve simple addition and
subtraction, estimation, counting by two’s, and used standard and non-standard measurements.
Science Rocks: We learned the importance of good nutrition and exercise, and made a food pyramid
based on choosing a variety of foods from each of the various food groups. There were many hands-on
activities using magnets. Cooking was fun! Everyone was engaged in preparing the cornbread and sweet
potato dish.
Language Works: We continue to use the letter of the week to build words and to form sentences.
With daily practice,
we have improved skills in writing and letter recognition. In Spanish, we continue to memorize the days
of the week and the months.
Our World, Our Backyard: The children role-play as Native Indians and Pilgrims. We recognized
and celebrated Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. On the playground, we are
always engaged in activities that help in the development of large motor skills. Now that the trees are
naked, the class finds it easier to observe the pesky little squirrels and birds as they forage for food and
shelter.
Upcoming Themes:
Migration: Land and Sea Animals
Mittens
The Joy of Giving
Holidays Around the World
Upcoming Events:
12/02 – 12/19
- Holiday Food Drive
12/18 - Winter festival
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Kindergarten
We started November learning about magnets and the significance of Election Day and voting. Then we
turned our focus to transportation where the children created 3-d vehicles and Native Americans. We
concluded the month learning about Thanksgiving where they shared what they are thankful for and
enjoyed a Thanksgiving Feast!
Art Smart: The children had the opportunity to make road signs (including stop signs, yield signs,
cross walk signs, and speed limit signs), traffic lights, and their own 3-d vehicle of their choice while
focusing on transportation. The vehicles that were made were a car, a cruise ship, and three airplanes.
The children also Thanksgiving placemats/cards, and Native American/Pilgrim hats as well as Native
American crafts including dream catchers and clay bowls.
Language Works: We have been focusing on nouns that name people, places, animals, and things,
sequence, and signs/labels. We have also been focusing on the letters Tt, Aa, Dd, and Gg, their sounds,
and corresponding sight words. Next we will focus on Uu, Ii, and Ee. In our Wiggleworks program, we
have read level B and C books, based on the children’s levels, including “In The Woods”, “My Garden”,
“In The City”, “What Lila Loves” and “Kites”. Level A books are still available for the children who are
comfortable at that level. We will continue to read new stories as well as focus on the word families –in,
-op, and -ot. In Spanish, we have focused on foods, common words, and numbers 16-20. We continue
to incorporate different languages into our good morning song by saying hello in Spanish, Hawaiian,
French, Italian, and Chinese among other languages. While learning sign language, we focused on the
letter of the week as well as how to sign basic words including hello, yes, no, please, thank you, boy, girl,
and help. The children liked Native American storytelling. We sat in a circle and each child had the
opportunity to add to our story. In their journals, the children have been basing some of their entries
on the Wiggleworks stories we have been reading as well as creating sentences for our word families.
They also recorded their own Native American name that they created along with a picture in their
journals.
Math Counts: This past month we have been focusing on estimation, symmetry, counting by tens, and
teen numbers as well as exploring the pan balance. The children had fun with our teen partners activity.
They chose a partner and worked together to show teen numbers using their fingers showing ten and
some more. We also learned the concept of symmetry through art /nature and explored the pan
balance which allowed the children to compare weights of different objects. To reinforce number
recognition we played the monster squeeze game where the children had to guess a mystery number
and move two monsters toward each other until there was one number between them. We also used
dominoes to count, use one-to-one correspondence, and match the sets of dots on them to number
cards. We will now continue to focus on numbers and number lines, measurement, probability, and
addition and subtraction.
Science Rocks: The children explored magnets gaining an understanding of attraction and repelling as
well as how magnets work in water. In cooking the children made sweet potato fries, corn bread, and
apple pie. During transportation week, the children observed cause and effect while making vehicle
tracks as well as making and testing out rafts and airplanes. Our craft stick rafts were a success and the
paper airplanes that were created traveled different directions and distances around our classroom.
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
The children continued learning about cause and effect during our theme on Native Americans when
they created sand paintings and explored natural dyes.
Our World…Our Backyard: The children learned about the importance and significance of Election
Day and voting. We had our own vote in the classroom on our favorite dessert. Their choices were
cupcake or ice cream. Ice cream got the most votes. We also learned about transportation in our
community. The children enjoyed creating a land, sea, and sky chart. Playing with our 3-d vehicles in
blocks center was a lot of fun. We used the computer to learn about Native American culture including
the names of the homes different tribes lived in, the tradition of story telling, pow-wows, instruments
they used, and games they played such as the basket game. We also listened and danced to Native
American music and role played as Native Americans in our dramatic play center where we built a teepee and wore head dresses and vests. Outside on our playground, we explored vehicles making tracks
in the sand and flew our airplanes.
Upcoming Events:
12/18-Winter Festival 2:30pm
12/21-first day of winter
12/25-Christmas-school closed
12/26-Kwanzaa Begins
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
READY for SCHOOL News
READY for SCHOOL Parent News: Building Responsibility
The season of giving is upon us, but children often interpret this as a season of getting. A great way to help
children understand their ability to make a positive impact and give to others, is by teaching them responsibility. You
will be building Ready for School skills as well.
A key skill that children need in preparation for school is developing a sense of responsibility –
understanding that the completion of specific tasks is their job. Developing goal-orientation is part of this.
This will help children later in school when they have homework to complete or are trying to figure out
how to manage time for a longer term project to be completed over weeks.
Unlike many adults, most children have not yet built a sense of obligation or drudgery around
work. They love the idea of being involved in meaningful tasks. They are intrigued by getting to do some
of the things they see the adults around them doing. What could be more fun for a toddler than trying to
manage a push broom, or for a preschooler to don his/her bathing suit and get to help a grandparent wash
the car. While miniature versions of rakes or brooms are fun, children also really enjoy getting to use the
real thing. Involving children in real work from an early age helps build a sense of competence and
responsibility.
The language of goal orientation and task completion may be helpful to children as they move
towards school. Giving choices is always a plus. For example, on Saturday morning, you could say, “Today
I have to buy groceries, clean the bathroom and weed the garden. I would love your help. Would you
like to check off (pictured) items on the grocery list as we find them or find the items on the shelf?” Or
“I’ll show you which ones are weeds. Then you can find ones like that and pull them out.” For some of
us, a “to do” list keeps us on track. You could help your child make his/her own “to do” list to build
writing and organization skills. Others may not want or need the structure of a “to do” or family job
chart. The pleasure of doing will be enough.
Modeling is a plus. While we may not always feel enthusiastic about work ourselves, if children
sometimes get to see us showing enjoyment in the work of daily life, they are more likely to adopt a
similar attitude. Talk to children about how you plan your life. “I have a big project that I am doing for
work. It doesn’t have to be done for 5 days, but I started on it today so that I will have enough time to
get it done.”
And while the word “responsibility” has a serious tone for most of us, find ways to incorporate fun.
The floor your toddler sweeps may look worse after he is done but what a great photo opportunity! Or
while washing the car, be prepared for the hose to wander from the car to you occasionally. Part of
learning about responsibility is coming to understand that responsibility does not have to be a hardship but
can be a wonderful way to help our lives go well.
© Bright Horizons Family Solutions – Reprint or use with permission only
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Bright Horizons News
Join us for a Virtual Holiday Social… and win exciting prizes!
We're having a Virtual Holiday Social on the Bright Horizons Facebook page! Beginning on November 25th, join us at
www.facebook.com/BrightHorizons, click on the 'Virtual Holiday Social' tab and share your favorite recipe,
homemade gift, activity or anything else holiday related.
Upload your photo for a chance to win one of many amazing prizes, including an iPad Mini, Growing Readers Holiday
Book Pack, Amazon.com gift certificate & more!
Help a Homeless Child with Your Holiday Shopping
The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children is a special part of the Bright Horizons family that helps brighten the
lives of children and families in crisis. There are many ways that you can help support the work of the Foundation
throughout the year—but this holiday season, it’s as easy as clicking a link.
When you buy books, toys, music, and more from Amazon.com using this link, 7% of your purchase will be donated
to the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children. The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children is a nonprofit
organization focused on brightening the lives of children, youth, and families in crisis, especially those who are
homeless.
Just click on this Amazon link and shop as normal. Make sure to save this Amazon page as a favorite and then share it
with your family and friends! It works all year.
For more information about the work of the Bright Horizons Foundation, visit www.brighthorizonsfoundation.org.
691 W. Main Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 | P: 732-303-5300 | [email protected] | Mon-Fri, 6:30 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.