2016
Dear Families,
The Week of the Young Child™ is
an annual celebration sponsored by
the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
celebrating early learning, young
children, their teachers and families. April 11-15, 2016.
We’ve got two school field trips that
week, but do all of these things
here at school throughout the year.
I wanted to pass the information
along to you so you can participate
at home as well if you’re looking for
some fun things to do!
Music Monday! April 11th
Sing, dance, celebrate,
and learn
Through music, children develop math, language, and
literacy skills - All while having fun and
being active! This year’s song is “One
Love,” as performed by Aaron Nigel
Smith and the One World Chorus. You
can record the song with the official
lyrics, or make up your own unique
version and share it on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the
hashtag#woyc16.
TRY THIS: Find the beat to connect
music, movement, and math. Practice
clapping, drumming, or stomping to the
beat of the music while counting.
Taco Tuesday April 12th
Healthy eating and fitness at
home and school
This fun, food-themed day is about
more than just cheese and salsa.
Cooking together connects
math with literacy skills, science, and more. With the
rise in childhood obesity,
you can encourage healthy nutrition
and fitness habits at home by creating
your own healthy tacos.
TRY THIS: Measure your ingredients
while making your tacos! Ask children
if they’d like the same or different
amounts of each ingredient
Mt. Hebron Nursery
School is dedicated to
fostering an environment that develops
caring children who are
life-long learners with
inquisitive and creative
minds.
Inside this issue
From the Director .................. 1
Two Day Twos....................... 2
Two Day Threes .................... 3
Three Day Threes .................. 3
Three Day Fours………………….4
Four Day Fours…………………...5
Five Day Fours…………………….5
Work Together Wednesday April 13th Work together,
build together, learn together
When children build together they explore math and science concepts and
develop their social and early literacy
skills. Children can use any building
material--from a fort of branches on the
playground to a block city in the classroom, or a hideaway made
from couch pillows at home
TRY THIS: Practice organizing blocks by size! Try
building a block tower with
large blocks on the bottom and little
blocks on top!
(continued on next page)
Parent Group News……………...4
Enrichment………………………...6
Parent Group ……………………..6
Front Office………………………...8
Important Dates
4/1
Tuition Due
4/1
Spring Break
4/4
School Re-opens
4/6
Wildlife Adventures /2d2s
(M/W) and 3d4s EXT
4/7
Wildlife Adventures / 2d2s
(T/Th), 4d4 EXT & 5d4
EXT
4/13
Zoo Field Trip, 4s Classes
4/14
Farm Field Trip, 3s Classes
4/26
No School/Election Day
4/30
32nd Annual Spring Fair,
11am-3pm
Rain or Shine!
(continued from first page)
porting our youngest learners. NAEYC applauds family
Artsy Thursday April 14th
members’ role as young children’s first
Think, problem solve, create
and most important teachers. MHNS
Children develop creativity, social skills and fine motor
does too! Share pictures and stories
skills with open-ended art projects where they can make about your family with your child’s class
choices, use their imaginations, and create with their
as we celebrate the unique role families
hands. On Artsy Thursday celebrate the joy
play in their children's learning and develand learning children experience when enopment.
gaged in creative art making. Use any materials
- from crayons to paint, clay to crafts!
NAEYC is a great resource for early childhood professionals and families alike! Feel free to visit https://
TRY THIS: Bring art outdoors! Offer dark and light pawww.naeyc.org/woyc for more information!
per, chalk and pastels, and suggest children create their
Warmly,
own versions of the day and night sky!
Family Friday April 15th
Sharing family stories
Amy C. Schroeder
Director
Engaging and celebrating families is at the heart of sup-
Two Day Twos by Sarah Willey
In March we did a lot of talking about the
weather: from sunshine to rainbows. We
explored puddles, worms and wind while
learning about our weather unit last
month. April brings us fully into spring as
we start out with one of our favorite units on animals. We will be hosting an in-house field trip with
Wildlife Adventures. They will be bringing furry, scaled and spikey friends for
us to meet us the first week after
Spring Break. We will get to meet a
rabbit, hedgehog and snake just to
name a few. We will continue the month with units
about zoo animals and farm animals. April will end
with an introduction to flowers and maybe even
planting some of our own. Look out Mother Naturethe 2 Day 2s are getting green thumbs!
Miss Sarah would like to thank: all the families
who brought in birthday snacks to celebrate this
spring! As well as the birthday flowers and treats for
Miss Sarah's own birthday. What a fun way to start
off the season!
Miss Karen and Miss Andrea would like to thank:
the parents who sent in the green treats to celebrate
St. Patrick’s Day. They would also like to thank
Ethan for providing a birthday snack this month
Miss Karen, Miss Andrea and Miss Sarah want to
give a HUGE thank you from the bottom of our
hearts for the kindness you showed us during
Teacher Appreciation Week. We are honored to be
with your little ones each week and thank you for all
the things you did to make that week and the entire
year extra special. Both 2 Day 2 classes would like
to thank all the families for contributions to the
Spring Celebration.
Two Day Threes by Mary Olds
The weather is finally feeling like spring! The 2 Day 3s have
been enjoying getting outside and playing on the
playground. We will begin the month of April with
a unit on spring. We will focus on the season
with many activities including observing the
changes outside, planting seeds and watching
them grow, learning about farm animals and taking a field trip
to Clark's Elioak Farm. Our farm trip
is scheduled for 4/14 and the students will have the opportunity to ride
on a school bus! After our trip, we will
create barns and tell about our experiences at the farm. April will be a
busy and fun-filled month!
Miss Mary and Miss Terry would like to thank: Michelle
Hoy (Harper's Mom) for helping us make a new batch of
playdough, Kelly Smith (Carly's Mom) and Johnson So
(Joshua's Dad) for helping us make our Easter baskets, and
Katherine Mortensen (Connor's Mom) and Kristen Sprout
(Lucas and Carson's Mom) for helping us with our Spring
Celebration! Thank you also to all the parents who were able
to attend the Parent/Teacher conferences and the trip to
Toby's Theater!
Miss Kim and Miss Barb would like to thank: Meghan
Jones (Ellies mom) for helping us with our Nursery Rhyme
and Number book; Laura Stepanek (Ryan's mom) for putting
together our Nusery Rhyme/Number books, Jenn Vizcarrondo (Leah's mom) for helping us on Green Day to make
turtles; Amanda Olias (Haylee's mom) for helping us during
our spring celebration. We would like to thank Angela
Hetzner (Ryan's mom) for making the popcorn bowls for
each class. They were a big hit at the gala and we greatly
appreciate her taking the time to make something so special.
A BIG thank you to our wonderful parents and children for all
of our very special and thoughtful gifts for teacher appreciation. And to our MHNS Parent Group for the delicious
brunches and lunches!
Three Day Threes by Molly Entrot
April is here, “Happy Spring”!
Spring has finally arrived and
so has the month of April.
Now it is time to go outside
and explore the signs of
spring. We start the month of April with
spring break from March 25 -April 4th.
We hoped all of our families had a happy, healthy and safe spring break.
When we return from break, the children
will be starting our farm unit. We will be
completing activities that include talking
about baby animals and learning about
life on the farm. A trip to
Clarks Elioak Farm is scheduled for April 14th. The children will have the opportunity
to ride on a school bus to the farm
where we will see and visit many farm
animals. After our trip, the children will
discuss and create their own farm experiences. As April begins, so does our
special class activity of planting flower
seeds. We will be discussing and observing the growth of flower seeds each
and every day. Science in action! Mark
your calendars, April 19th is PJ Day.
The children will be coming to school in
their pjs for a fun-filled day of
special activities. We will be
reading the book, Goodnight
Moon. We end the month of
April with our unit on insects. We will be
discovering and exploring insects and
lady bugs. Spring has sprung and so
has the insects! Parents, please remember to mark your calendars that
there are no classes on April 26th, due
to Primary Election Day. Also, remember to join us at the Annual MHNS
Spring Fair on April 30th. Don’t forget to
stop by the teacher’s booth
(Fishing booth) and say HI!
transportation pictures. What wonderful
pictures we made! Sally Marshall
(Jesse’s Mom) for making beautiful
green play dough with our class. Chris
Hong (Maddie’s Mom) for helping us
with decorating our train cars. “Where
did your child want to take a trip to?”
Thank you Karen Mattingly (Sage’s
Mom) for helping us explore with blue
and yellow paint. WOW, we made the
color green and also terrific turtles! Look
for our turtle pond in classroom three!
We would also like to thank all of our
parents for attending their child’s conferences. We really enjoyed visiting with
everyone and loved discussing your
Miss Molly and Miss Sharon
children with you. We would also like to
would like to thank the folthank all of our families for joining us on
lowing parents for volunteerour field trip to Toby’s. We hope you
ing in our classroom: Sally Marshall
(Jesse’s Mom) for helping us make and enjoyed the entertaining Peter Rabbit
bake delicious cookies for our “Desserts play. Lastly, we would like to thank our
class and the Parent Group for our wonfor Dads” night. They were yummy!
derful Teacher Appreciation Week. We
Kate Ferguson and Grammie (Finley’s
had so many delightful surprises all
mom and Grammie) for helping us with
week long. We truly appreciate each
our Nursery Rhyme books. Jen Black
and every one of them. Thank you!
(Brigston’s Mom) for helping our class
Thank you! Thank you!
during Art time. Michelle Chang (Olivia’s
Mom) for helping our class with our
Three Day Fours AM/PM by Denise Eastham
After a refreshing Spring Break, we ses take us to the Maryland
hop into the month of April. What
Zoo in Baltimore. Who doesn’t
glorious adventures await the 3 day love a ride on a school bus?
4s?
To get ready for our trip, we
will make word webs about
This month we will review the numbers 10
zoo animals. What is your favorite animal?
and 11 and the letters Pp and Zz, as well as
What do you know about it? We will make
the oval shape.
animal masks, animal rubbings and animal
We will finish an on-going project we’ve been games. Our zoo books will have unique stoworking on that includes secondary colors –
ries of our zoo adventures.
our BIG flowers. We will discover
A very exciting project occurs later in the
what colors make purple and how
month when we observe real caterpillars and
to make pastel colors. Look for
their metamorphosis. We will also make pomour flower book which explains
pom caterpillars, make sequence stories out
what happens to a seed. Will your child
of pasta, paint caterpillars and wrap them in
choose to grow lettuce or carrots? We will
their “cocoons.” A few weeks after that, our
discover what makes them grow, while we
paper caterpillars will emerge as colorful butpredict what will happen and observe the outterflies as we talk about symmetry.
come.
How amazing will it be to see our
“We’re all going to the zoo tomorrow…” That
real caterpillars turn into real butterwill happen on Wednesday, April 13th as busflies at our release party?!
We will end the month reviewing ovals with
“Humpty Dumpty” and make our own endings
to the famous nursery rhyme.
Parents, don’t forget to mark your calendars
for the annual MHNS Spring
Fair on Saturday, April 30th.
Good food, fun games and
activities are the order of the
day. Look for former MHNS
families and check out the
teachers’ fishing booth!
Miss Denise, Miss Barb and Miss Kimmy
would like to thank: Sri Siva for Making
playdoh for room 5, Cassie Storrer and Stephen Wood for helping us determine what
sinks and what floats, Sri Siva and Melissa
Lescht for doing a fabulous job reading Dr.
Seuss books to us! To Cindy Kim and Kerrie
Botticelli for helping us bake 8s, they were
yummy! Michelle Hoy and Cameron Krause
for helping us make the rainbow.
Three Day Fours EXT by Susan Knoernschild
Welcome to the month of April and all of the explorations and growth of springtime! During the month we
will incorporate these explorations with learning about
the letters “Pp” and “Zz” as well as the number 11. We
will begin the month by discovering which two colors
mix together to make purple and we will also learn how to create
pastel colors. We will experience wonderful springtime literature,
including an author study of the beautiful books written by Jan Brett.
This month we will also focus on learning how plants grow. We will
learn about the different parts of a plant and discover what they
need to grow. We will plant seeds early in the month and each week
we will observe how they are growing. We will compare the colors
and shapes of the leaves of our different plants.
We will observe how some plants grow very tall
while others show lots of growth underneath the
soil. Each week we will record our observations in
our plant journals. Included in our explorations with
plants will be learning all about sunflowers. We will
plant sunflower seeds and learn about the life cycle of a sunflower. We will also read fiction and non-fiction books
about sunflowers. Please look for our very special sunflower house
to appear in the hallway! Also during April, we will experience the
excitement of learning about animals as we prepare for our field trip
to the zoo on Wednesday, April 13th. We will learn about the various characteristics and traits of a wide variety of
zoo animals. The children will create their own
“Zoo Tales” books to describe their experiences at
the zoo. Please also look for these special stories
to be displayed in the hallway. As part of our
springtime discoveries, we will also learn about the
life cycle of butterflies. We will display each stage as
we make a “pasta sequence story.” We will have the
opportunity to observe each stage occurring as we will
welcome an inside butterfly garden to our classroom.
Our butterfly adventures will continue into the month of
May! One additional important date on the calendar is Saturday,
April 30th. That is the day of the Mount Hebron Nursery School
Spring Fair. The Fair is from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and is a wonderful chance to enjoy all of the activities and spend the day with Mount
Hebron families and friends. We hope to see you
there! We are looking forward to welcoming springtime
and experiencing the wonders and growth of the season!
Miss Susan and Miss Janel would like to thank: Laura Brogno
(Milania's mom) for helping us fly our wonderful paper airplanes and
experiment with ramps, Jessica Thomas (Claire's mom) for helping
us discover which two colors mix together to make green, Heather
Wilkerson (Wesley's mom) for helping us make our fantastic windsocks for Wind Day, Gina Valerio (Matt's mom) for helping us learn
all about the number 10 and Luke Davis (Nick's dad) for helping us
with all of our special Easter celebrations. We would also like to
thank the Taylor, Burch, Van Lanen and Stewart families for sending
in supplies for our very fun St. Patrick's Day party and the Wilkerson, Reinsfelder and Lee families for sending in supplies for our fun
Spring Party. Thank you to all of the parents and families for their
help and support! Thank you to all of our families and the Parent
Group for thinking of us during Teacher Appreciation Week and for
all of their support.
Four Day Fours by Laurie Turner
Spring has officially sprung! We are so delighted to
be outside on the playground and playing with
friends. April is full of exciting themes about the
zoo and dinosaurs! The most special day of the
month will be April 20th. It is our 100th school day!!
Stay tuned for more information about this day of celebration.
The month begins with the letter Gg and a science activity
making green goop. Our friend Pastor Pratt will also stop by
to play his guitar for us on 4/8. Then the letter Zz will be introduced with a concentration on animals
and the zoo. We will categorize zoo animals
according to their body covering and habitat
and build a zoo in the block center. The field
trip to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will be
on Wednesday, April 13th. Next we will introduce letter Rr
and discuss the importance of recycling. Earth Day is April
22nd. The children will learn about our precious planet Earth
and brainstorm ways to keep it clean and beautiful.
Finally, the last week of the month is letter Dd and
a popular and exciting unit about dinosaurs. The
children will explore these creatures from long ago
through books, imaginative play, songs, art projects, writing
and math activities. Each child will also research a fun fact
about dinosaurs at home then bring it to school to share with
the class. Yes, that’s right…a research assignment!
The children will also be introduced to numbers 16,
17 and 18 this month. Don’t forget about the fabulous Spring Fair put on by the parent group on Saturday,
April 30th. Hope to see you there!
Miss Laurie and Miss Val would like to thank: Jennifer
Porter (James’ mom) for baking cupcakes and helping the
children decorate them for Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Katie Thorn
(Jake’s mom) for working with the children on their Very Hungry Caterpillar bookmark and for making green playdough
with sparkles, Kiran Sherazi (Momin’s mom) for helping with
art class, Kelly Baumgartner (Max’s mom) worked with the
children on their toothpick train tracks for number 14, Julianna Smith (Jackson’s mom) helped the children stamp 15
pieces gold on their black pot and Leisl Edwards (Heidi’s
mom) was our art helper. Thank you Jen and Michael Molinari (Lexi’s parents) for cutting and supplying all of our wood
scraps!
Five Day Fours by Marielena Garbark
Fabulous news! Spring has arrived and the 5
Day Four Year Old boys and girls are so happy
to finally be outside playing with their friends.
The month of April is just about here and it is
hard to believe our year is flying by. Letters G,
Z, R and D along with numbers 17 and 18 will be our guests
this month. As we head back to our daily routine following
spring break, we begin a unit on gardens complete with outdoor exploration, planting, writing stories and creative play. A
study of zoo animals follows with an exciting opportunity to
visit the animals when we travel to the
Maryland Zoo in Baltimore on Wednesday, 4/13. During our recycling unit, we
will enjoy and explore the beauty of the
rainforest with its glorious plants and animals and focus on the importance of recycling. We end our
month with a popular and exciting unit – Dinosaurs. The children will explore these interesting creatures from long ago
using books, imaginative play, songs, art projects, writing
and math activities. Each child will be asked to share a dinosaur fun fact with the class. We always enjoy learning about these cool creatures!
Please check your child’s bag for information regarding the upcoming field trip
along with information about the dinosaur fact sharing and
our Spring Fair on Saturday, April 30. We are off and excitedly running as we begin the wonderful month of April. Happy Spring from the 5 Day Four Year Old boys and girls!
Miss Marielena, Miss Anne and Miss Melissa would like
to thank the following parents: John Slade, (Eli's dad),
for helping us build in the block area, Tammy Kunkle,
(Camden's mom), and Alexandra Cratin, (Zach's mom), for
helping us during our 100th Day celebration, Lynn Lepson,
(Colin's mom), for making us a special 100th Day snack Jenn George, (Teagan's and Tristan's mom), for making us
cupcakes in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and for giving us
special coloring books for our classroom, Captain Denny,
(Miss Anne's dad), for teaching us about airplanes, Shane
Kunkle, (Camden's dad), for donating wood pieces for our
wooden structures, Bonnie Krill, (Quint's grandmother), for
making blue play dough with us, Ryan George, (Tristan's
and Teagan's dad), for helping us build our wooden structures, Karen Wagner, (Michael's mom), for helping us paint
our Easter eggs - all our parents who generously sent in party items for our St. Patrick's Day and spring special snack.
Thank you to all of our families and the Parent Group for
thinking of us during Teacher Appreciation Week and for all
of their support.
Enrichment by Andrea Muirhead
During March, the Enrichment class completed the
How Things are Made theme by reading about
how sneakers were made. This month,
the class has begun working on learning
about animals and creating
an ABC book with facts about
the animals we learned
about. Some animals we
have learned about are giraffes, monkeys, and foxes.
We also had fun practicing patterns while making
rainbow necklaces for St. Patrick's Day.
Next month we will be continuing to learn about
animals and add pages with facts to our class Animal ABC book. We will also talk about spring as
well as read poems and fairy tales.
Parent Group News by Melissa Oak
Next Year’s Parent Group Board
If you are interested in a Board Member
position on the Parent Group Board or
would like to find out more about how
April will bring our 32nd Annual Spring Fair! We need lots of
volunteers to make this event happen, look for volunteer
opportunities soon! If you cannot make our planning meetings but would like to help, let us know. We have many
things that can be done right from home.
[email protected]
you can be involved please email current
32nd Annual Spring Fair
Parent Group President: Melissa Oak at
11am-3pm
[email protected]
Saturday, April 30th
Rain or Shine
MHNS would like to send a big thank you to
Leisl Edwards, Sri Siva and Melissa Oak! Thank you for all of your
hard work and dedication. Your hosting of the Jeans, Jerseys and Jewels
Gala was stupendous! It was a great success. Bravo!
Thank you to all of the families who joined us that evening,
all of the volunteers that worked tirelessly to create such a wonderful
event and everyone who donated items for the auctions.
We’re so glad you were able to join us for the Jeans, Jerseys and Jewels fundraiser, to celebrate Mt. Hebron Nursery
School! We would like to thank all of you who have provided such wonderful donations. Future generations of MHNS
children will benefit from your generosity. In addition to our parent donations, so many local and national businesses
have supported our efforts through their giving. Please remember our donors and advertisers as you shop and do business. They appreciate your support!
We would like to thank our loyal Gala Committee members, Parent Group, teachers, and parents
who have worked tirelessly to create such a fun event. We couldn’t have accomplished this
without all of you.
As Co-Chairs, we are proud to have had the opportunity to help plan a fundraising event that we
know will enrich the lives of the children, teachers and parents of MHNS for years to come. We
hope we created an evening for all to enjoy. Please know that Mt. Hebron Nursery School is
truly grateful for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Leisl Edwards, Sri Siva and Melissa Oak
All-Star Fundraising Committee Co-Chairs
All-Star Fundraiser Committee
Committee Co-Chairs
Leisl Edwards, Sri Siva and Melissa Oak
The Jeans, Jerseys and Jewels All Star Fundraiser Committee consists of many people who donated their time and
efforts on the different committees that contributed to this
evening’s fundraiser. Many of them worked on several committees. Our biggest thanks to all of you!
Individual Committee Chairs
Kelly Baumgartner
Joanna Paterson
Class Basket Committee Co-Chairs
Katie Davis and Jessica Smith
Joanna Borowy
Carmen Pfeifer
Amanda Brooks
Patti Taylor
Kathryn Calton
Katie Thorn
Nicole Chaudhury
Jen Molinari
Alexandra Cratin
Barb Sawyer
Donations Committee Co-Chairs
Leisl Edwards, Sri Siva and Melissa Oak
Tracy Cogdill
Jessica Smith
Katie Davis
Julianna Smith
Entertainment Committee Co-Chairs
Leisl Edwards and Sri Siva
Molly Entrot
Laura Stepanek
Program Committee Chair
Joanna Borowy
Jenny Gillis
Evan Stewart
Angela Hetzner
Sarah Willey
Kate Martiyan
Jessica Wuenschell
Class Projects Committee Chair
Angela Hetzner
Decorations Committee Co-Chairs
Julianna Smith and Leisl Edwards
Invitations & Marketing Committee Co-Chairs
Melissa Oak and Melanie Facchiano
Slide Show Committee Chair
Melanie Facchiano
Teacher Liaison Committee Chair
Patti Taylor
Ticket Sales Committee Chair
Melissa Oak
Volunteer Committee Chair
Melissa Oak
Dessert Committee Chair
Nicole Chaudhury
From The Front Office...
The MHNS Teachers and Staff would
like to thank the Parent Group and
Parents who put on such a wonderful
Teacher Appreciation Week Celebration!
Everything you did made us feel
VERY special! Thank You!!
MHNS
Leave A Legacy
Thank you to the
following students
and their families
for donations to
our library in honor of their March
birthdays!!
Jackson Smith
Recipe for a Butterfly Snack

Place a bed of lettuce on a small
plate.

Use a carrot stick for the body.

Add a grape on top of the carrot for
the head.

Cut one pineapple ring in half and
place rounded parts against the carrot to form wings.
Finley Ferguson
Natalie Miller
It’s a wonderful
MHNS tradition!


Drop raisins, craisins or chocolate
chips on the wings for decoration.
Add 2 thin licorice pieces for antennae.
Enjoy!
Please Save The Following
Items For Us:


adult-sized shoe box lids
small smooth rounded rocks
about the size of an egg

wood scraps
WE REALLY NEED THESE
ITEMS~THANK YOU!
Kim Boodin
2 day 3 Teacher and 3 day 4 Assistant Teacher
MSDE Credential Level 3
Kim has been teaching at MHNS since 2010 and has
a daughter who is an MHNS Alum! She has over ten
years teaching experience in grades Pre K-5. Kim
holds a degree in Elementary Education N-6 from
New York University and has a 90-hour Early Childhood Certification from Baltimore Hebrew University.
She is married with two children. Kim loves spending
time with her family, watching her children play soccer and reading.
Mt. Hebron Nursery School
2330 Mt. Hebron Drive
Ellicott City, MD 21042
Phone: 410-461-273
Fax: 410-461-2773
www.mthebronnursery.org