Head Start /
Early Head Start News
February 2013
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear Parents and Children,
Parents/Guardians & Friends
of Head Start/Early Head
Start:
Head Start /Early Head Start is
always recruiting!
Please recruit your family &
friends’ children for the Head
Start/Early Head Start Programs!
For information and/or applications please call…...
301-783-1730 for
Well, hopefully Spring will be upon us soon and we will be able to say goodbye to the
snow and cold weather. Although the weather hasn’t been too bad this year, I’m sure
we are all ready for some warmer temps! I can’t believe we have almost completed
another year! It seems as if time just flies by. We still have a few more events coming
up before we end the year that I hope everyone will take part in. Everyone always
seems to have a good time at our social events and I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out.
Please remember if you ever have any ideas you’d like to share to let us know.
~Michele
Every February, the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National
Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral
health. This year’s slogan is “Get a Gold Medal Smile,”
Stacy Funkhouser
It is important to develop good habits at an early age as well as schedule regular denUPCOMING EVENTS/
tal visits to help children get a jump start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT
February 7th: Cooking Night
February 12th: Parent
Involvement Committee Meeting
February 18th & 19th: Half Day
Centers closed-Midyear Parent/
Teacher Conferences
February 20th: Policy Council
March 11th: Centers Closed
March 16th: School Readiness
Fair-Country Club Mall
The ADA offers TONS of materials on their website that you can download for FREE
to promote healthy teeth, as well as many activities to encourage kids to brush!
Here are couple great ways to make sure good dental
habits are formed in your household:
1. Start early. Before you ever buy baby’s first toothbrush, you can wipe new baby
teeth clean with a soft cloth. Toddlers who are already used to having their teeth
cleaned are often far more receptive to the idea of brushing their teeth later on.
2. Model the habits you want to see. You are your child’s first teacher and role
model. Let them see you brush and floss daily, or better yet, make brushing and
March 28th-April 1: Easter Break flossing a family affair.
March 20th: Policy Council
Half Day Centers Closed
March 29th-April 1: Easter Break 3. Don’t underestimate the power of fun. Sometimes, all it takes is a toothbrush
with a favorite character or one that lights up and plays music to encourage a child
Full Day Center Closed
April 2nd: Centers Closed
In this issue…
Page 1:
Program News ,
Information & Parent
Education
Page 2:
News from
Cumberland Street
Page 3:
News from CBST
Cont., Oldtown
Road, & EHS-HB
Page 4:
News from Frostburg,
Bel Air, & Susan K.
Westfall
to brush. Singing special songs can also make the ritual a lot more fun!
4. Choose the right toothpaste. Whether you’re for or against fluoride, looking for
the most natural product or just the cheapest, there’s one thing you have to consider:
taste. A child who enjoys the flavor of his or her toothpaste is more likely to enjoy
brushing.
As a reminder, notices are going out to families of children who need a
dental follow-up. Please ensure that a follow up is being completed with
your child’s dentist and that you are sending in all paperwork to
Mary Beth Preston, Health Services Manager!
NEWS FROM 1A: We hope that everyone had a fantastic holiday &
NEWS FROM 1B: We kicked off the New Year with a study on
Bears where the children loved learning about all the different kinds
of Bears, where they live, what they eat, and the sizes and weights of
the different kinds of Bears. Most of the children found it completely amazing that bears hibernate all Winter and they don't wake
up to eat or use the bathroom until Spring! From Bears we moved on
to a study of Snow...which has proven to be an all time favorite. Especially since we have been fortunate to actually get some real
snow for them to experiment with and play in. The children have
really enjoyed doing many art, music, and dance activities related to
snow but most of all they LOVED the indoor snowball battle! As we
finish up our study of Snow and kick off the month of February,
which is Dental Health month we will begin a study of Teeth. We
will be going on a field trip to Doctor Romaine's Dental Office for a
tour and a lesson on how to take care of our teeth to keep them happy
and healthy. On Thursday, February 14th we will be going to South
Penn Elementary School for a music show performed by The Milkshake Group; and then on Friday, February 15th we will be having
our classroom Valentine's Day Celebration. We will wrap up the
month of February with a study of Firefighters and the much anticipated field trip to the Cumberland Fire Station. Please keep up all
the hard work that you are doing at home with your children, continue to complete the Home-School Connection activities and be sure
that you are ready to your child on daily basis....EVERY little bit
makes a difference!!!
has started their New Year off right! We have returned in 2013 &
jumped right back into the swing of things!! We began our New Year
with a study on Healthy Bodies, where we talked about ways to keep our
bodies healthy & learned some new exercises to help keep our bodies fit!
We have just begun a SNOW study, which the children are really
enjoying. We have been matching mittens, playing “winter dress up,” &
experimenting with Insta-Snow in our sand & water areaJ We will be
holding a “Winter-Get-Together” to celebrate our study for our families
where we will be sharing “quality time” and having some hot cocoa &
muffins!! Following our study of Snow we will “BLAST OFF INTO
SPACE!!!” We will begin our Space study & the children will be
learning about planets, constellations, galaxies etc.!! This is always a
very exciting study & the children are looking forward to learning about
the world outside of planet Earth!! Some of our other upcoming studies
for February will be Teeth (for dental health month), & Cats!! Please be
sure to continue returning your idea planning sheets so that we may have
parent input on our lesson plans!! Thank you to all of our parents who
continue to complete homework & literacy bags with their children &
attend field trips & special happenings in the classroom!! We are looking
forward to a great second half to our Head Start Year 
NEWS FROM 2A: Our class began the new year learning about boxes.
The children enjoyed building things out of them. We are now learning
about dogs, and have invited the parents to bring their dogs in to share with
the class. We will be having a Valentine's day party on February 14th,
info. will be sent home at the beginning of the month. The children have
voted, and the next thing they want to learn about are balls!
NEWS FROM 3A: We focused on learning about snow in
December and were disappointed that we never received much
to actually play in! During our snow study we talked about all
NEWS FROM 2B: Ms. Jessica and Mr. Jeremy hope that everyone
the different things you could do in snow, what happens when it
had a fantastic holiday break. We are back in action and ready to get
melts and how long it takes for it to melt! When we returned
back to work! We've spent most of the month of January studying fish. from Christmas break we started to learn about transportation by
We've had the most fun learning about sharks! Did you know that the studying trains and then trucks. As we were studying about
smallest sharks are only the size of a pencil? And not all sharks have
trains we visited the two different train stations, and were able
big, sharp teeth, some have tiny little teeth and can only eat plants!
to watch a train engine being connected to the box cars behind
Right now, we are studying bears. We even have a real life bear skin
it! The kids had a great time being up close to a real train! In
in our science center! Ms. Jessica says we can go on a bear hunt
February we will be learning about bears and hibernation and
around our school...we're gonna catch a big one! We're also going to
keeping our teeth healthy!
have a Teddy Bear Picnic with all of our friends!
We would also like to say WE'LL MISS YOU! to Mr. Jeremy- Good
NEWS FROM 4A:
luck with your new job! We are really excited to welcome Ms. Taryn
It's been a chilly time in 4A! We have been exploring Penguins
into our classroom. Lots of changes for our friends!
since the start of 2013. We have been going on adventures to
Antarctica and Australia, discovering all different species of our
NEWS FROM 3B:
feathered friends! We loved trying all different ways to make
ice melt and how to make it solid all over again. We shared in
During the month of December we learned about everything snow. We cut
singing and dancing to our Penguin songs; and performed them
snowflakes, and made all kinds and types of snowmen. Each child made a
for family members at our Black and White Day where we all
snowman at home and brought it in to share. We had snowmen made from light
dressed up like penguins and carried "penguin eggs" on our feet
bulbs, socks, poster board, and toilet paper rolls.. In January, we studied pizza.
and raced across the room. It sure wasn't easy but it was
The pizza study was one of our favorites this year. We visited Fox’s Pizza Den in fun! Dinosaurs will start to roam in our room while we discover
Frostburg for a tour, and each child made their own pizza. In the classroom we
how they lived and what they ate so many years ago!
made English muffin pizzas with Ms. Patsy’s kids. We had fun making them; but
the muffin pizza was not as good as the Fox’s pizza.! To conclude January, we
will be studying ice cream and planning a trip to the Queen City Creamery.
In February, we will be visiting Dr. Romaine’s office for dental health month.
NEWS FROM 4B: Brrrr it’s been cold! But that didn’t stop the children from CBST 4b from enjoying a field trip to the Heaven’s Gate horse
stable. We have been learning about horses and ponies, so a field trip to a stable to see horses and ponies in action was the perfect way to end our
study. Kina Davis talked to the children about where horses live and how they play. The children brushed a pony and watched a horse jump jumps
in an arena. We had a great time and want to thank Kina Davis for having us. We have started our rabbit study and will learning about different
breeds of rabbits. Did you know the largest rabbit is a Flemish giant and it can be as big as a medium size dog? We will be learning about how
rabbits move, where they live, and what they eat. We are looking forward to a visit from Louie, Ms. Patsy’s rabbit.
NEWS FROM OR1: Hello Everyone,
NEWS FROM EARLY HEAD START:
It’s hard to believe that February is already here. In January we kept
busy with visiting the Library and learning about penguins and polar
bears. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot of interesting facts about
both. We are very excited about starting our dental health unit in a
couple of weeks. We will also be having our Valentines celebration
in our classroom as well as visiting our friends at the senior center.
It’s sure to be a fun filled month!
Missy, Amy, and Daphne's Class:
The children in our classroom have had alot of fun this winter! The kids
especially loved bringing the snow into the classroom and playing with it in
the water table. We used scoops to play in it, made a snowman out of it,
and also changed it different colors by adding food coloring to it! They are NEWS FROM OR2:
The gang at OR2 began the new year with a bang by digging deep
also eager to help clean any messes they have made along the way with a
into our study of volcanoes. We are excited to welcome our new
towel! Another exciting project were our homemade birdfeeders. This
friend, Kali to our classroom and hope she enjoys all of our fun acconsisted of us making the feeders, going for a walk to hang them on the
tivities for the coming year. The flu bug has tried to knock the wind
fence outside our window, and watching as different color birds enjoyed
out of our sails, but we intend to soldier on into February and our
the seeds daily. All of our friends are becoming so independent and help
Valentine's Day celebration. We wish everybody an awesome 2013!
each other out when necessary. We will miss our friend Mika as he moves
on to Head Start. He has been fun to have in our class and we know all
Ms. Andrea and Ms. Mindy’s EHS Class
the friends will miss him too! Upcoming events include a visit to the
dentist and a Valentine party!
It has been a busy, fun time in EHS. With the weather being cold and
snowy, the children have been making some “chilling” crafts. They
enjoyed finger painting a blizzard and playing with snow in the sand
and water table. We then talked about what we put on in the mornings
to go outside, from that they made mittens and toboggans. Other
activities have included, riding bikes, playing on the computer, and
having music parades through the center.
During the month of February, we will be making lots of crafts related
to Valentine’s Day. We will be focusing on the shape of a heart and
the color red. We will be taking a field trip to Dr. Romaine’s dental
office in Frostburg on the 7th. The children will be learning about
dental health and hygiene. Before we know it, March will be here and
we will be learning about a new season. More exciting times are to
come.
NEWS FROM EARLY HEAD START HOME BASE:
The Early Head Start Home Based Program will be starting the EFNEP Nutrition Curriculum for the upcoming socials. The Feeding for
Healthy Eating Program looks at role modeling, cooking together, eating together, and new foods. The program will run through January to
March Socials. Also, parents if you attend both socials for the month your name will be entered into a Gift Card Prize Drawing! ReminderPlease reschedule home visits if there is a sick family member in the house. Please allow 24 hours before letting a Family Advocate in your
home. With this hard hitting flu season, the FA’s want to reduce the risk of spreading germs. Also, parents you can still earn Inkind. You
can help plan socials, take home observations, or help out in any other way. Talk to your FA about ways you can help.
NEWS FROM BA: At BAHS we have been busy learning about
bears! We loved exploring the bear pelt, skull, paw prints and even
plastic skat! We learned that there are different types of bears; black,
brown, polar, panda, and koala. Our favorite thing to see was the
video of bears and see how tiny the cub bears are. We will soon start
a unit on snow and even try to have a snowball fight. Hopefully we
will have real snow and we can observe the snow hands on! In
February we will be taking a trip to Dr. Romaine's Dental office to see
all the dental tools and learn about brushing our teeth! Dental Health
month is also in February, so remember to brush and floss everyday!
Incase it is too cold outside here is a recipe to make "Frosty Fluff" that
you can play with inside:
Frosty Fluff
2- 16oz boxes of corn starch/corn flour
1- can shaving cream
OptionalIridescent "Snow" flakes
Peppermint Extract (to make scented)
NEWS FROM FA:
Puppet Show at Frostburg State University
Dr. Lyons’ class performed a series of classical music puppet shows. The
students gave a synopsis of the puppet show, performed and then engaged
the children by asking questions. All of our students enjoyed the
performances and listening to the music
Crafty Corner…
Homemade Applesauce Ornaments
One cup of Applesauce and one cup
of ground cinnamon and mix until a
dough like consistency. Roll out and
cut with favorite cutters, hearts would
be nice for Valentine’s Day. Poke a
hole in the top and let dry over 2
nights flipping them over. They keep
their wonderful smell for quite some
time.
Upcoming Events:
Heart Healthy Valentine’s Day Party
Author Study
NEWS FROM SKW 1: Miss Keri and Miss Valerie’s class
have been busy learning about snow! We are waiting for some
fresh snow to go outside to play in but until then we have been
enjoying our time in the classroom. We have had “snowball
fights” in the classroom using balled up magazine pages, have
NEWS FROM SKW 2: There have been big changes for SKW2 this month. “ice skated” in our socks and played pass the ice cube. We have
been busy learning how snowflakes are formed, why snow
Miss Stephanie has taken a position with Garrett County Head Start. She was
very sad to leave all of her friends but wishes them a wonderful year. Miss Becky melts and will be making an indoor snowman next week by
freezing filled up water balloons overnight and using the ice
has taken over as Lead Teacher for SKW2. Miss Becky was the long term
balls to form a snowman. We will predict and observe how long
substitute for Miss Keri last spring when she was on maternity leave. Miss Becky he takes to melt! We have focused a lot on the letter Ss and are
is very excited to be back at SKW. Miss Becky and Miss Martha’s class have
practicing writing our names everyday by signing in during
been studying snow. We have made snowmen and snowflakes for the cold month small group time. We are busy bees at school!
of January. For the month of February, we will be studying the author, Eric Carle. Next month we will be learning about bears. We will focus on
We will be making caterpillars from egg cartons and conducting a seed
polar bears and grizzly bears; how they are alike and different.
experiment. We will also be celebrating Valentine’s Day. We are excited for the We will learn about how and why bears hibernate and how they
stay warm in the freezing winter weather! We will read lots of
big change and welcome Miss Becky to SKW2.
bear books including the “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” series. We
will visit Miss Nancy at the library and will have a Valentine’s
Day party at school. We want to welcome our new friends
Savannah Irene and Kylie to our classroom and say “Happy
Birthday” to our February birthday boys Zachary and Korbyn!
Also, we want to welcome our new afternoon teacher Miss
Becki to our Head Start center!
Thank you to our incredible parents that make our classroom a
success. We hope to see you in February. Stay warm!!