YOUNG CHILD ACADEMY
November 2012 Newsletter
Perhaps it goes without saying….but it’s hard to
believe we’ve reached November already. The
first two months of our school year were
certainly filled with fun and lots of learning
opportunities. October was especially exciting
for the kids (and teachers) with the culminating
event of our annual Fall Costume Party. A big
thanks goes out to all the parents who
contributed and/or joined in the festivities.
Thanks also to the teachers for all of their hard
work and creative planning. We are all fortunate
to be a part of such an outstanding learning
community of students, parents, and educators.
Infants – Lyle & Marcus
Pre-K One – April
Important Dates!
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Nov. 9th – Class Photo Day! Pictures will be taken in the
morning.
Nov. 12th – Veteran’s Day. YCA is closed.
Nov. 21st – Early Closure. YCA closes at 3pm.
Nov. 22nd-23rd – Thanksgiving Break. YCA is closed.
Join the Fun!
Young Child Academy recognizes the importance of a strong partnership between home and school. We encourage
parent involvement and invite you to share whatever time and talents you are willing. November’s topic is FOOD! Any
chefs among our parents? Any nutritionists? Does your family have a traditional food you’d like to share? Or even a
fun story about food? Please talk with your child’s teachers about ways in which you can contribute this month.
Classroom Updates
October was a whirlwind month in the Infant Room as many of the babies have begun "practicing" in the Toddler One room.
It's so exciting to see how quickly they learn and grow. Some children are standing up without assistance and even taking
their first steps! The teachers will continue to help our youngest students on their path of learning to crawl, scoot, and
walk. Recently it was sweet to watch the babies delight in the fall decorations hanging from the ceiling. Some gazed at the
paper leaves while lying on their backs and others pointed and babbled!
Toddler One students enjoyed a special visit from Ella's mom, Kristine. She was the "guest reader" at circle time and helped
lead the tots in some singing. The kids - especially Ella - had a great time. The children are improving a lot in their use of
sign language and parents are even practicing with them at home. Each afternoon the teachers suggest some "Dinner Time
Talk", such as “Where is your NOSE?” so the parents can reinforce vocabulary learned at school. These kids are so smart!
October found the Toddler Two kids talking all about the different parts of the face. They used apples to create "smiles"
complete with sunflower butter "gums" and marshmallow "teeth." Yum! They also used paint to explore and talk about the
different shades of skin color. With paper plates and orange paint, the class made some very cute jack-o-lantern faces.
These toddlers are growing fast and definitely developing their self-help skills. Now that the weather has turned cool, they
will get lots of practice putting on their own coats!
Preschool One has fun every day, but October’s Pajama Day and Sports Day were extra special. Projects last month included
“flip” faces and paper puppets. They also talked about different body parts, feelings, and emotions. Of course, no October is
complete without some messy pumpkin exploration!
The topic of FACES inspired lots of creative activities in the Preschool Two room. Magazine faces, Egyptian art inspired
profiles, masks, face painting, face bingo, emotion charades, and fruit faces were just part of the October fun! Since
November’s focus is on FOOD, the dress up area will be decked out for some creative restaurant/café/bakery play.
Pre-K One kept busy making symmetry masks, painting their faces, and doing some body tracings and self-portraits. With so
many “face” projects, the teachers noticed an improvement in face drawing skills by the end of the month! The kids really
enjoyed using their own photos (laminated and glued to a stick) as masks and puppets during dramatic play. They are looking
forward to taking on a few cooking projects this month.
Next door inRethe Pre-K Two room the students drew portraits of themselves and each other, and painted them Warhol
style. They also learned a bit about cubism by looking at some artworks of Pablo Picasso and Jacob Lawrence. Academically,
the class is making wonderful progress. All the students are writing at least one word in their journals each day and are
getting very skilled at estimating and using their visual ability to differentiate groups of objects.
“Nurturing Growth Through Literature and the Arts”
If you get a chance, check out the book Hello, Fruit Face, by Claudia Strand.
Preschool One had fun looking at the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo!
Heard Around Campus
“I never met a bean I didn’t like, Andy.” – Henry
“Elephants don’t live in the castle, they live in the jungle.” – Oliver
“My favorite color is daddy.” – Brighton
“When it gets dark, the trees turn black.” - Helo
*****Reminder*****
As the weather gets wet and chilly,
please make sure your child comes
dressed in weather appropriate
clothing. We DO go outside in the
rain. Rain coats, boots, and hats will
help keep your kiddos dry. Also,
please keep your child's cubby
stocked with plenty of extra clothes to
change into.
Of Special Interest…
Here are a few links to articles about teaching kids healthy eating habits.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025074_child_children_food.html
http://www.superhealthykids.com/index.php
http://www.authenticparenting.info/2010/03/how-to-teach-your-children-healthy.html
Special Class Report……
Music Exploration with Rachel
Storybook Drama/Special Art
The kids learned lots of seasonal songs such as “Farmer
Dan” (aka Deedle, Deedle), “Fly Little Bats”, and “I’m a
Pumpkin.” Using scarves and pom-poms they danced to
such classics as “Monster Mash”, “Thriller”, and “Purple
People Eater.” The older classes sang a few spooky songs
like “The Ghost of John” and “The Ghosts Go Flying,” with
several students taking on solos. It was a fun month!
Storybook drama in October involved the kids in dramatic
readings of Where the While Things Are as well as acting
out various versions of The Three Little Pigs. Special Art
classes focused on “shape”. Projects included some shiny
foil shape designs, using shapes to make faces, learning
about negative and positive space by cutting out shapes,
and shape collages.
Sign Language with Kelsey
Music with Lisa
In October the kids learned to sign two finger plays - Five
Little Pumpkins and The Five Stuffed Scarecrows. They
even made their own scarecrow masks. Reading the book
Mouse Paint was a great way to review the signs for
colors, and the kids had fun with a primary color matching
art project. Learning a new song - When It's Cold Outside helped the kids practice the signs for coat, hat, boots, and
mittens.
This month, the students enjoyed singing fun fall themed
songs like the "Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. They heard
some Japanese stories about the "Oni Robot" who had to
try to make a happy face to not scare the children and a
story about celebrating the harvest moon. The students
did a great job singing "head shoulders knees and toes"
in Japanese. Here are the words if you'd like to try it at
home! "Atama (head) kata (shoulders) hiza (knees) ashi
(feet)"-sing this 2 times! Then "meh (eyes) toh (and) mimi
(ears) toh kuchi (mouth) toh hana (nose)" Then repeat
the first line! Have fun!
Rhythm with Rachel
Students learned a new African dance called “Kye Kye Kule.”
It is similar to “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” The kids
“felt” the rhythm in different parts of their bodies with the
song “Hey, Mr. Knickerbocker” and “Who’s Got the
Rhythm”. Students had fun experimenting with our new
claves and even caused a “rainstorm”!
Spanish
In October the kids enjoyed reading scary
stories like “Nico y Los 100 Lobos Feroces.” They
played “Una Bruja Mala” and chased each other
around. They loved that! Another game
involved pointing to different body parts while
following instructions in Spanish. On math days
Angela had the kids exercising while counting. A
special project that was especially “sweet”
involved building towers with toothpicks and
marshmallows (bombom).
Movement with Jean
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember.
Involve me and I understand."
- Chinese proverb
Jean took on Special Class again! The kids just love the music
and props she brings in. This time they did yoga, played
musical statues, and danced with “magic wands”.
Ma
YCA Gallery of
Faces
Sweet Face
Purple Face
Masked Face
Baby Face
Toothy Face
Smiley Face
Sunny Face
Frosting Face
Lantern Face
“The face is a picture of the mind with the
eyes as its interpreter.”
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
Monster Face
Birthday Face
Sad Face
Painted Face
Hidden Face
Happy Face
Silly Face
“Ancient” Face
Pumpkin Face