The Children’s Greenhouse
The Child Care Center at Nassau Community College
Sponsored by the Faculty Student Association
FROM THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE__________________________ ______
Dear Parents:
Welcome to the Spring Semester! The rest of the semester will certainly be a busy one at the
Greenhouse. There are many fun themes and events planned for the next few months, one of
which began this week: Our Favorite Books and Authors Theme. This gives parents the
opportunity to read a favorite book to their child’s class. Please stop in the office to schedule a day
and time that is good for you – take it from me, the children love it when their parents come to
read!
There are so many other exciting events planned for the Spring Semester including Family Night,
Picture Days, and the Week of the Young Child. Additionally, the Greenhouse holds our annual
Ice Cream Social in June. This is our largest fundraising event and a really enjoyable activity for
the whole family—there will be fun activities, food, face painting and much more. In order to
make the event a success and to raise as much money as possible for the Greenhouse, parents
make donations for gift baskets (please see sign-up sheets in classrooms in April), and they also
ask local businesses for charitable donations. Please consider requesting donations from local
businesses--stop in the front office for a gift letter and for more information.
In addition, we are always looking for new parents to join the Parent Advisory Committee. The
Committee meets monthly to carry out the work of the center that includes but is not limited to
planning fundraising events, determining fees and salaries, discussing center events and activities
and more. In the coming weeks, you will receive information in your child’s mailbox about the
Advisory Committee. Joining the Committee is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the
Greenhouse and help it continue to provide outstanding childcare to our children. If you have any
questions, please feel free to speak with me or with someone in the front office.
I hope we’ll see you all this Saturday, March 4th at 11 am at the MATT THE MUSIC MAN
concert in CCB Multipurpose room; tickets are on sale in the Greenhouse office or at the door on
the day of the concert.
Sincerely,
Stella Apostolidis Jarrell
On behalf of the Greenhouse Advisory Committee
We love books and reading so much that we have dedicated an entire month to the curriculum topic of Favorite
Books and Favorite Authors! Each group has dedicated a week to a favorite author and has illustrated a page from
their favorite book that will soon be displayed on our mural. Some of the favorite authors we’ve selected to focus
on this month include:
Dr. Seuss…Audrey Wood…Oliver Jeffers…Mo Willems…Eric Carle…Todd Parr… Eric Hill
Laura Numeroff…Karen Katz…Margaret Wise Brown……Eric Litwin and James Dean
While you might enjoy reading some of the books by these authors to your children, reading any book is a good thing!
Take a moment to read to your child’s group – it’s fun and
they will love it! Please speak with caregivers about it
and sign up in the office!
Photographer Joyce Bayer will be at the Greenhouse on March 28, 29 and 30
to photograph the children, individually and with their groups. Although this
is a fundraiser for the Greenhouse, there is no obligation to purchase photos;
when the proofs arrive you will have the opportunity to decide if you want to
order. We have used Joyce for more than 15 years because she gets great
results. Watch for more details in your child’s mailbox and please stop in the
office if you have any questions about picture day. Thank you!
Please take a few moments to read our curriculum, posted on our website and on bulletin boards
in each room!
SPRING SEMESTER THEMES:
 Feb 27 to March 17……...FAVORITE BOOKS AND FAVORITE AUTHORS
 March 13 to 17…………...TODD PARR WEEK
 March 20 to April 7..……..IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
 April 17 to 28……………..EARTH WEEKS AND WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD
 May 1 to 15…………..…..MOTHERS AND SPRING
The Children’s Greenhouse has a new website, thanks to
Lorie and Sacha, who worked with the College Information
Technology Department to set it up. There are two ways to
get to it:
1. Go to NCC.edu, click on Campus Services, click on
Child Care
2. CTRL+Click to follow this address or paste in your
browser
http://www.ncc.edu/campusservices/greenhouse
Please check it out and let us know what you think!
 PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE CROSSWALK AT ANY TIME!
 PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE AREA WHERE YOU SEE THE CONCRETE BARRICADES!
 Please be certain your contact information (cell phone number, daily location, email) is up-to-date. We use
this information to contact you in an emergency involving your child.
 If we call you while your child is here and while you are at work or in school, and you miss the call,
please call us back as soon as possible. We will only call if there is something very important we
need you to know about your child.
 Please drop off and pick up children as scheduled on sign-in sheets. Staffing is arranged according to the
number of children scheduled. Extra hours may be requested at any time by stopping in the office and
speaking with Janet, Lorie or Jackie. You will be billed at your usual hourly rate for any time used beyond
your regular schedule.
 If you are not going to be in your usual location on any day, please stop in the office (or call) and tell us where
you will be so that you can be reached in an emergency.
 Please notify the office and your child's caregiver if someone other than you will be picking up your child.
 Please call the office at 572-7614 if your child is going to be absent for any reason and especially to let us
know if your child is ill.
 PLEASE SIGN YOUR CHILD IN AND OUT EACH DAY! The sign-in sheets are our only attendance records
and in an emergency, the only way we know which children are present.
 PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING YOU BRING FOR YOUR CHILD! To help us avoid losses and mix-ups,
please write your child’s first and last name on all items you bring each day. This includes lunch bags, cups,
bottles, food containers, pacifiers, clothing, etc.
 Please check your child's mailbox each day for notices from the office and more importantly, for your child's
artwork!
 Please refer to your Parent Handbook for guidelines if your child needs ANY medication administered while
at the Greenhouse.
 Please make tuition payments according to the schedule on your bill and stop in the office if you have
questions about billing.
 And, by all means, please stop in the office if you have questions about anything involving your child or the
program!
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear Parents:
I am pleased to report that the Spring Semester is going very well! I hope that you and your children have
settled into your routines and that everyone has adjusted to coming and going each day. Each day it is a
pleasure to see the children happily playing, learning and participating in all the activities of the day – even
lunch time is fun!
So often parents ask, “What do the children do all day at the Greenhouse”? The answer to this question is the
foundation of the center’s philosophy. The program is designed to provide the children with many opportunities
to learn in a comfortably structured environment where they are encouraged, both individually and in groups, to
explore and make discoveries. Each child in our program has his or her own schedule and the children come
and go all day, which is why our staff offers a variety of ongoing activities.
Throughout the day, the children are free to choose from a variety of centers, which offer many learning
opportunities and are well stocked with materials that help develop their cognitive skills and encourage them to
interact and communicate with their peers and with adults. Examples of these are block center, art center,
math center, puzzle center, dramatic play center, discovery/science center (which includes water and sand
play) and book center. The Preschool Two group has the additional kindergarten center where the children
work in small groups learning the basic skills needed to prepare them for the next step in their education. In
addition to all of these, there are group activities such as circle time, when the children learn through music,
movement and sharing ideas and experiences, and story time, when they listen to and discuss favorite books.
At the beginning of each semester, the full time staff meets to plan monthly curriculum themes and special
events for the center. The head caregivers then plan their daily activities around these themes, adjusting them
to the developmental levels of the children in their groups. The daily plan in each group is broadly structured
and allows for flexibility for the children in groups, as well as for individual children within a group. Each day’s
activities include regularly scheduled snacks and lunch, indoor and outdoor play, and routines of physical
caregiving that promote a child’s health, comfort, and self-esteem.
As you read through this newsletter you will learn a bit more about curriculum, activities and events that are still
to come this semester, all of which we hope you and your children enjoy!
As always, please do not hesitate to stop in the office and speak with Lorie, Jackie or myself if you have any
questions or concerns regarding your child or any aspect of our program. Have a great semester!
Sincerely,
Janet Walsh
The Greenhouse will be open on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of
Spring Break – April 10, 12 and 13 and
closed Tuesday and Friday, April 11 and 14.
Child care will be available Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for any
parent working on campus or doing school-related work.
Child care request forms will be available in the office on March 6 and
requests must be submitted by Friday, March 24. Thank you!
From the Infant One Room
Welcome to the Spring 2017 Semester! I would like to take this moment to welcome everyone back and to
welcome the new infants to the Greenhouse. January and February just flew by and now we are already in
March. We have tons of things planned for this semester and as always look forward to watching your
infants reach new milestones!
For January, our curriculum was Winter/Winter Clothing and the babies had fun
learning about cold weather, snow and warm winter clothing. We made a snowflake
for the Winter Mural and a pair of mittens for the Mitten Tree in the Preschool Gym.
Our curriculum in February was Friendship and Valentines and we had fun
introducing the infants to Valentine’s Day and talking about the friendships we make at the Greenhouse.
Everyone made a special valentine and a handprint on a heart for our Greenhouse Friendship Quilt.
Our day-to-day curriculum is filled with themes and projects but it’s more than
that. We also incorporate math and science concepts into our daily activities. You
might wonder what kind of math and science concepts we can teach children at
such a young age. Science for example is much more than basic experiments; it
involves everyday learning and discovery of new things and objects. Infants love
to explore with their mouths and because of this, I like to use Discovery Tubes.
This way the infants can see different items and textures that normally wouldn’t
be ideal for them to put in their mouths. For our winter curriculum we had a
“snow” discovery tube. The infants were able to see how snow falls down when the tube was held in an
upright position or how it moved around when shaken. It is also great for gross-motor development
because they can roll the tubes back and forth and crawl after them. For our February curriculum we
made Valentine Discovery Tubes. They had hearts, glitter, and water in them and the infants were able to
see the cause and effect of shaking them to see how the glitter moves in the water and how some items
float and some sink. For math concepts we use stacking cups. We classify the cups from largest to
smallest and bang them together to see what noises different sizes make. We learn patterning by playing
drums when Matt the Music Man comes and we introduce numbers by singing songs like “Five Little
Monkeys”. Everyday interactions with different objects and even music helps the infants to develop the
basic concepts needed for math. Yes, there are many different ways little children can learn and it’s never
too early to start!
Our staff is excited about this semester and we hope you are too! As always, if you have any questions or
concerns feel free to speak to Kathy or myself.
Ali Gonzalez
Head Caregiver
From the Infant Two Room
I must say Infant Two is off to a great start this semester! The babies are adjusting well to their new setting
and our staff. We have been very busy getting to know the children and their schedules. While doing so, we've
been having a great time in the classroom. Children are natural scientists and mathematicians who love to
explore the world around them. This semester we started to incorporate more science and math exploration
into each day.
Science is all around us! Children wonder, discover and explore through play
naturally. Here's how we brought some science into Infant Two! As part of our Winter
curriculum topic we spoke about snow and snowflakes. We made sensory bottles
filled with styrofoam snowballs and paper snowflakes. The babies enjoyed shaking
the bottles, seeing the different textures, and listening to the different sounds the
objects made. The babies love looking out of our classroom windows especially when
they could watch the snow fall. We talked about the snow being cold and how it falls on the trees and ground.
We watched some icicles form outside our windows. We haven't had much snow but we were able to get a
few children to play in a snow-filled table with different toys and shovels. We saw how the snow melted and
turned to water. Going forward, we plan on reading our touch and feel books and having a sensory table in our
room with different objects and textures. The babies will look at themselves in the mirrors in our classroom and
explore themselves. We will also make playdough to squish and pound, and fill ziploc bags with rice and hide
objects inside for the babies to feel the texture and search for the hidden objects.
Children develop math concepts and skills very early in life. From the moment they are born, babies begin to
form ideas about math through everyday experiences. When we talk to the babies we are using words like
"more" and "empty". We use comparison words such as "big" and "little" to describe different toys in the
classroom. When we sing songs like "Five Little Ducks" and "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" we use numbers
and counting. Some of the babies’ favorite toys are the stacking rings and cups that we help them stack from
biggest to smallest. They also love listening to music and playing the drums to the rhythm of the music which
is the beginning of learning patterning. We are incorporating more math activities this semester and are going
to make colored sorting trays. We will have two colored trays and match all the items on each tray to its color.
Infant Two also plans on playing a matching game in the classroom. We will place cards on
different areas of the wall in the classroom with different pictures such as a duck, drum, or a
ball etc. and we will show the children these pictures. I will then hold up one of the same
pictures and we will encourage the children to find the matching picture in the classroom. It
will be lots of fun!
Make sure to check out our curriculum hanging on our classroom bulletin board to see what math and science
activities your child will be engaged in! We will be taking lots of pictures of your children for you to see just how
much fun they have in the classroom. Make sure you check their mailboxes. Thank you for sharing your little
ones with us this semester. If you have any questions or concerns please let Tricia or myself know. Thanks
again!
Danielle Cerna
Head Caregiver
From the Toddler One Room
The Spring 2017 Semester is well underway and we are all having so much fun and are learning new things!
Our first curriculum topic was Winter and the children learned that it is one of the four seasons and it is the
coldest one. Even though the weather outside hasn’t been too wintery at times, we learned about snow and
how when water freezes it turns into ice! The children decorated snowflakes and learned how each snowflake
is different, just like they are! The children worked together to make a snow person and in the process learned
about small, medium and large circles as well as the location of eyes, nose, mouth and arms. As Valentine’s
Day approached, we talked about love and friendship and the children had fun painting with friends to make a
“buddy painting”.
This semester, we are beginning to incorporate more math and science in our curriculum
topics. So often we hear about the importance of math and science and introducing these
topics in an early childhood program like ours, sets the foundation for future learning. For
toddlers, science is just an extension of their everyday world. We don’t have to teach
young children how to wonder, discover and explore through play because they do it naturally. We mix colors
while painting and learn what color blue and yellow or blue and red make; while playing outside on the
playground we see our shadows and observe the changing seasons - this is all science! We use basic math
language all the time, without realizing it. For example, when we separate clothes by color, we’re using the
math concepts of sorting and classifying. Things that you wouldn’t think are math-related such as sorting
shapes and colors, simple organization of toys and counting the number of steps it takes to get from the
Greenhouse to the playground are all math. We will soon have a growth chart in our room and we will
measure the children now and again at the end of the semester to see how much they have grown; a perfect
combination of learning math and science.
As we move along through the rest of the Spring Semester there are some exciting things to look forward to:
 we will read stories from our favorite books and authors
 we will learn about some important places and people in our neighborhood
 we will learn about taking care of our world during Earth Weeks
 we will celebrate the Week of the Young Child with special events and
activities
 we will learn about spring and things that grow
 we will talk about animal mothers and make something very special for all the moms for Mother’s Day!
Thank you for trusting us to care for your child while you are busy with school or work. We love them all and
enjoy watching them grow and learn each day! As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your
child, please speak with Jen or myself. Thank you!
Kat Pluto
Head Caregiver
From the Toddler Two Room
Welcome to Spring 2017 in the Toddler Two group. February is over, March is beginning and the semester is
going great; there are several children new to our group as well as several new staff and everyone is settling
in nicely.
We started the semester with the theme of Winter and the children learned about what clothing we need to
wear in the cold weather - hats, gloves or mittens, coats, boots and about winter weather - cold, snow and
snowflakes, no leaves on the trees and no flowers growing. Each day at circle time we talk about the weather:
is it sunny, raining, snowing, cold, warm, hot or windy and what we need to wear and we enhance the learning
by dressing our weather frog appropriately for the weather of the day.
We started February talking about friendship, feelings and Valentine’s Day. We read stories about friends,
caring, sharing and feelings. The children each made a one of a kind valentines and then made special
valentines to exchange with our friends in Toddler One – it was so much fun! In our discovery box we had red
and pink artificial rose petals to sort by color, count and play with.
This semester, we are beginning to incorporate more math and science into our
curriculum topics. So often we hear about the importance of math and science and
introducing these topics in an early childhood program like ours, sets the foundation for
future learning. Children learn mathematical and scientific concepts in the activities
they encounter every day. They count things they play with, create patterns with different colored toys, build
towers with blocks and during play activities we encourage them to comment on bigger or smaller, colors and
shapes, soft or hard, rough or smooth and more. As time goes on the group will be doing more activities and
experiments like learning what sinks or floats in the water, planting seeds and watching them grow and baking
which involves counting and measuring and more.
We are now into our Favorite Books and Authors curriculum theme and we invite you to
be a part of it by taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule to read a favorite book
to our group. The children love hearing moms and dads read to their friends and it’s fun.
Just stop in the office to arrange a day and time that is convenient for you.
We are looking forward to planning more fun, learning activities for the children this
spring and we welcome your comments. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
speak to Sam or myself. Thank you.
Carey Zinn
Head Caregiver
From the Preschool One Room
Hello everyone! We are in full swing of the Spring Semester and Preschool One is definitely on a roll. The
children came back ready to get busy. Our new friends who have joined us this semester have certainly
acclimated to our room, our daily routines and their schedules. It is wonderful having a mix of children who
have been in Preschool One since the Fall Semester along with children new to the program. It has given all
of us an opportunity to make new friends and learn new social skills, especially helping our new friends
become familiar with routines and getting comfortable with the staff. I look forward to watching them grow
and learn together in the coming months.
Spring Semester is always a fun time for Preschool One and the Greenhouse. Although we have been inside
because of the cold weather, we have the chance to expand our learning given the
extra time we have in the classroom. This semester we are bringing more science and
math learning opportunities into our curriculum. Math and science skills are an
important aspect of the children’s educational development and adding them to the
curriculum for a three-year-old group is not as hard as it sounds. There are many
activities we do in small groups where they don’t even know they are learning math and science. Something
as simple as a felt board story that requires counting pieces or sequencing parts of a story is
math. Watching the snow fall from our window turned into a science lesson when the very
next day the snow that had fallen was gone. What happened to the snow? Why is the ground
wet? Something solid changing into a liquid (ice to water) turned into a mini science lesson.
We took it one step further and added ice cubes to the water table. Those are just small
examples on how simple it can be and how much the children can learn in a simple lesson.
The staff and I have been working together to add more math and science to the daily activities, especially
when the children are having free play time in each classroom center. Engaging the children in their play is
one of the main priorities in the classroom. Once they are engaged, they are interested, and once they are
interested, they can take their play to another level and truly get the most out of what they are doing. Helping
them along and asking them questions keeps the door open to learning math and science skills that they will
hold on to and which will be a foundation for more learning. Some materials we are using are new which has
been exciting for the children and there are many materials we have on hand that we are using in different
ways. A blast from the past are View Finders; they have been a great addition to our science activities. The
beautiful and colorful pictures of animals and nature are fun to look at, even for the staff!
There are many things happening this semester at the Greenhouse. My favorite is watching
the children grow and learn. Be sure to stay up to date with our curriculum as we’ve moved
on to a very big theme of Favorite Books and Authors. Each week we will focus on an
author and invite you, our parents, to come read to the children. Reading is fundamental
and we would like to make it fun and developmental! We read to the children each day and we encourage you
to let your child to bring a favorite book to share with our group. We definitely look forward to the warmer
weather that will be coming and all the fun that brings. Thank you for trusting us with your children and, as
always, please speak with Nancy or myself if you have any questions or concerns.
Dina Guarino
Head Caregiver
From the Preschool Two Room
On behalf of the Preschool Two staff, welcome all of our new and returning families to the Spring Semester at
the Children’s Greenhouse. The children have been meeting new friends as well as becoming reacquainted
with old friends, they have been settling into the routines and they are all adjusting very well. As the children
have become more comfortable with our daily schedule they are becoming more involved in their play and it is
through this process that your children begin to learn new skills.
We are all looking forward to a semester filled with new and exciting discoveries. Our themes for the Spring
Semester include Winter, Friendship, Books and Authors, In Our Neighborhood, Our Earth and Spring. Once
we select our themes, each one is then carefully planned with activities reaching into each area of the
classroom with specific learning goals in mind.
As we begin our semester we think about what those goals are for the children and some of these include
developing socialization skills, cognitive skills and fine and gross motor skills. Socialization skills develop
through activities such as circle time, team time, dramatic play and free playtime. During these times children
are learning to express their ideas and feelings to one another, they are learning to take turns, to listen to each
other and when conflicts arise, they learn to problem solve. Cognitive skills are the stepping-stones for future
learning experiences and building children’s cognitive abilities encompasses all
the centers in the classroom. Every game, toy, art and music experience has a
component that helps with this area of development. Fine and gross motor
skills are developed with a variety of activities including playing with play dough
and clay, building with small toys such as Legos, painting, gluing and other types of art experiences.
Developing fine motor skills is the foundation for writing skills; they build strength in their fingers so that they
can learn to correctly hold and control a pencil. Gross motor skills develop by the children moving their bodies
and challenging their abilities to climb, jump and run and outdoor playground time and gym play give them the
opportunity to build body strength, learn to balance and to coordinate themselves.
This semester we are implementing some new and exciting science and math
activities in our curriculum. So often we hear about the importance of math
and science and introducing these topics in an early childhood program like
ours, sets the foundation for future learning. We love science and math in
Preschool Two!
In the preschool classroom science activities help young children develop
problem-solving and critical thinking skills. When we introduce children to the
wonders and mysteries of the natural world, we spark curiosity and imagination! Engaging them in science
encourages them to explore, wonder, observe, predict, take risks and ask questions.
During team time the children have an opportunity to engage in some fun science
activities including experimenting with magnets where they’ve learned that magnets
repel and attract; they move objects with the magnets and discovered that some
magnets can attract through trays or even the tables. The children enjoy discovering
the magical force of magnets. Another fun activity is learning about water. We froze water in many different
shaped containers and even in balloons. We experimented with objects that sink or float, and we have also
brought snow inside and learned why it melted in our hands. Taking nature walks has given us another way to
learn about our scientific world. During our walks we collect objects, we stop to listen to what we hear and we
observe. After returning to the classroom we use magnifying glasses to explore the objects we collected and
discuss our findings. Science is everywhere but most of all its fun!
As children manipulate objects, explore, and make choices, they experience a series of learning processes
and begin to develop the foundation for abstract and logical thinking; the keys to higher level math skills.
We’ve been able to implement math into our classroom in some exciting ways. During circle time, we take
attendance and count how many children are present and how many children are absent. Then we discuss
which number is greater and which is less. During team time the children are involved in a variety of activities
that encourage sorting, counting, sequencing, matching, creating patterns and recognizing numbers; we also
use tape measures, scales, timers and more. Math is even incorporated into snack time as the children enjoy
discussing and counting how many friends are drinking milk and how many are drinking water…math is
everywhere!
As you can see, the children are busy all day exploring, experimenting, and learning in groups and individually.
They are making new friends and learning to cooperate with adults and with one another and they are learning
to share and to problem solve. The Preschool Two staff truly enjoys spending time with your children and
watching them grow and develop – it is a pleasure being with them each day! As always, if you have any
questions or concerns, please feel free to speak with Maureen or myself. Thank You!
Sandra Horan
Head Caregiver
SAT, MARCH 4 AT 11 AM
NCC - CCB
MULTIPURPOSE ROOM
CHILDREN’S CONCERT WITH MATT THE MUSIC
MAN – TICKETS AVAILABLE - $6 EACH OR
4 FOR $20
Wed, March 8
Matt the Music Man at the Greenhouse 10:30 and 11 am
Thu, March 9
NCC Registration for Summer Sessions Begins
Mon, March 13
Matt the Music Man at the Greenhouse 10:30 and 11 am
Thu, March 23
Matt the Music Man at the Greenhouse 10:30 and 11 am
Fri, March 24
Campus Thank You Breakfast 8:30 am to 11:30 am
TUE, WED, THU
MARCH 28, 29, 30
CHILDREN’S PHOTOS (details to follow)
Mon, Wed, Thu, April 10, 12, 13
Spring Break, No Classes, Greenhouse Open
Tue and Fri, April 11 and 14
Spring Break, NCC and Greenhouse Closed
Join us for a fun filled family concert to benefit --------._
The Children's Greenhouse at Nassau Community College!
Saturday March 4th from 11:00am-12:00pm
The one and only Matt the Music Man will be performing
family friendly tunes that big kids, little kids and kids at heart will enjoy.