Mushroom Family
Learning Center
1240 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
(412) 531-1225
[email protected]
mushroomfamily.org
IMPORTANT DATES / INFO
SEPT. ‘12 TUITION DUE
MAY 1
This will secure your child’s
space in next year’s class,
along with the payment of
any outstanding balances.
Also please turn in your
directory listing. Thank you!
HAVE YOU TURNED IN YOUR
SCHOOL SURVEY?
STUDENTS, FAMILY AND
STAFF ICE CREAM SOCIAL
MONDAY, MAY 7, 6 PM,
MUSHROOM PLAYGROUND
(Rain date May 9.)
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
TUESDAY, MAY 22
MUSHROOM FAMILY PICNIC
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 11AM,
MT. LEBANON PARK
PLAYGROUND
Bring your blankets and
lunches as we say goodbye
to the 2011-2012 school year.
(No rain date.)
(Teachers’ in-service 9-11am
5/23, also 9am-3pm 5/24.)
WAYS TO HELP MUSHROOM
- United Way agency # is 885339.
- Giant Eagle's Apples for the
Students program # is 5245.
- Save Labels for Education (bin in
the stairwell).
- Help other families by donating
to the MFLC Scholarship Fund.
Welcome our newest Mushroomer!
Dina Rose Kateeb
Born April 2 at 5:50pm
7lbs., 12oz., 21 inches
Big Sister: Lylah Kateeb, 3s class
MAY 2012
A Big Thank-You to…
- Hannah Walker and family for their donation of a baby stroller for
Ms. Theresa’s room.
- Olivia Wriede and family for their donation of books to our
Mushroom Library.
- The family who donated the picnic table for our playground.
From the director...
S
o much to do...so lile me...The school year is quickly coming to a close, and there is
lots to do before we say goodbye for the summer.
As we end the school year, I would like to take a moment to thank each of you for the part
you played in making this a great year at MFLC. To the many parents who volunteered in
the classroom, donated snacks and supported our school in so many ways, thank you.
Thank you to our wonderful board of directors, Erin Bignell, Kelly Loer, Amy Garces, Julie
Connolly, Melanie Johnston, Jamie Geisler, Amy Dombosky, Joelle Schultz, Diane Raay,
Toby Sirota, Cindy Nairn, Susan Sarkis and Cara Williams, for the me they spend each
month making wonderful and wise decisions on behalf of our school.
Thank you to the superb staff who each and every day create wonderful experiences for
your child to grow and learn.
This is always a biersweet me for me. The thought of a relaxing summer full of fun
and special mes with your family and friends brings a smile to my face. However, the
realizaon that many families have completed their years at MFLC saddens me. We have
watched your children grow and have come to consider you part of our preschool “family.”
We wish our oldest students much success as they make their journey on to kindergarten
and first grade. I want to thank you for entrusng our staff at MFLC with your precious
possessions, your children. You have touched our lives with your help and support over
the years. Thank you.
To the students and families returning in the fall, have a great summer and we look
forward to seeing you in the upcoming school year.
Please look for your 2012-2013 beginning-of-the-school-year informaon the first week
of August. The first day of school is September 10.
- Joan
Joan Harrison
When I Play I Learn …
When I am stringing beads I am learning:
•
eye hand coordination.
•
concepts of color, shape and location.
•
number concepts, as well as “more-less” and “longer-shorter.”
•
to create and reproduce patterns.
•
pride and accomplishment.
Mushroom Family
Learning Center
1240 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
(412) 531-1225
[email protected]
mushroomfamily.org
From the president of the board...
I
t’s the final newsleer of the school year, and it is going to
have a LOT of important informaon in it! We have a lot
going on this month and I’m going to keep it short, so I don’t
detract from the important stuff! Here are the important
highlights that you need to know:
May 1:
September tuion is due. If tuion is not received by this
date, your spot in the class will be forfeited to children on the
waing list. I’m sorry, but we cannot make excepons to this
rule.
Family surveys should be returned to the box in the lobby this
week. These are soooo important as we would like your input
and feedback as much as possible when making important
decisions for our school. So please take a few minutes and
let us know what you are happy with or would like to see
improved at our school. We want our kids to get the most
possible out of their me at Mushroom.
May 7:
Ice Cream Social at MFLC from 6-7:30pm. There is no cost for
this event, but we will have a collecon jar to benefit our
scholarship fund.
May 9:
Ice Cream Social rain date, 6-7:30pm.
May 22:
Last Day of School for all children.
May 23:
School Picnic at Mt. Lebanon Park, 11am-1pm. No rain date.
Bring a lunch; we’ll provide the cake and have fun with the
staff and other families and celebrate a wonderful year!
Teacher Appreciaon Dinner. Drop your food items off, prior
to 6:30pm, at the Sarkis family’s home at 125 Slwell Court.
Food sign-up sheets will be posted in the lobby in early May.
June 1:
Slice of Summer payments due.
MAY 2012
Page 2
We welcome new Mushroomers!
There are still openings in some of our
classes for next year. Please tell your
family, friends, acquaintances and others (!)
looking for a preschool. Thank you!! You are
Mushroom’s BEST advertisement.
June 11 through July 20 (excluding July 4-5):
Slice of Summer camp! See Theresa Rosenberg for more
details or call 412-531-5298.
Thank you again for such a wonderful year at Mushroom! My
oldest son will officially be a Mushroom graduate at the end of
this month (other than for Slice of Summer) and I’m not sure
who is more sad…him or me?! At least I sll have one more
year to go unl they are both done. As Joan would say…I guess
it’s me to have another baby, huh?!!
Have a happy and safe summer and we hope we’ll be seeing
you all again this summer or next fall (hopefully both)! You
make my job as president an absolute joy and I thank you for
that!
- Erin
Erin Bignell
News from the Early Learners class from
Theresa, Debbie and Marlene…
I
s it May already? Where did the me go? It has been an
excing year for everyone. All of us have made new friends
and accomplished new things. As we close out the school year,
we would like to reflect back on some of those accomplishments.
We remember the lile ones who clung to moms during the
first weeks of school. Now they are independent preschoolers,
confident and secure in their environment. We watch with
pride as the children use the correct words (or at least try to)
when they want a turn with a toy. We jump with joy as we
observe how the children have come together as a group and
yet maintained their own individuality.
It has been a year of growth for everyone. The children may
not have learned to recognize all the leers this year, or even
learned to write their names but they did discover something
prey valuable. They discovered that school is a
fun and interesng place to go. Hopefully, this
love of learning and this good feeling will follow
them throughout their educaon.
Mushroom Family
Learning Center
1240 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
(412) 531-1225
MAY 2012
Page 3
Is your child asking to stay longer
at Mushroom?
Sign up for enrichment
and/or “Munchin’ Lunchin!”
[email protected]
mushroomfamily.org
Supervised lunchtime is $6 per day for kids 3+. In enrichment, the
children have fun making crafts, cooking, learning Spanish and reading new stories. Classes are available for those 4+ on Mondays and/or
Fridays each month; $14 per class. Sign up for however many you
like! Contact Jamie for more info at [email protected].
As we spring into our final month, we will move slowly. We’ll
paint and glue just for the sheer joy of doing it and we’ll sing
and dance to our favorite songs. Of course, we do have a
special giN planned for that someone special in your house
this month.
students adopted a special pet, made homes for
their pet and wrote a detailed story about their
pet. We celebrated in the evening during our
Open House. Each child received a blue ribbon
for taking such good care of his/her pet.
Marlene, Debbie and I would like to take this me to thank all
of you for your support throughout the year but most especially for your wonderful children. They have been an absolute
delight. Our lile room this year has resembled
the cocoon of a buerfly. Inside it, the children
have been changing and growing and spreading
their wings. It will be hard for us to watch as
our lile buerflies take flight. Each child has
leN us with a giN. It is the giN of a year well spent enjoying the
wonderful moments of their childhood.
We started learning about worms, caterpillars, buerflies and
ladybugs. We also learned about spring and planted some
seeds ourselves. We connued to enjoy the beauful weather
and expanded our interests to soccer, climbing and searching
for insects.
News from the 3s class from Jamie, Betsy
and Liz…
T
his me of the year always brings mixed emoons for me.
I am excited to spend the summer with my children
without the hassle of busy schedules or late night homework
assignments. I look forward to our vacaon to the beach and
vising family in the summer months. I will however miss you
and your children deeply. It is amazing how strong of a bond
forms between student and teacher. Preschool teachers have
that extra luxury of really geOng to know the parents each day
at drop off and pick up mes. I hope you know how much I
have enjoyed geOng to know you as well as your children.
The children in our class have grown so much throughout this
year. They have strengthened their social skills and can
now idenfy their friends and create their own play.
They have grown in their academic skills whether they
are learning their leers, wring their names or
counng blocks; they have all improved in one way or
another. My favorite area of growth is their confidence.
They are proud of the craN they make in class and are
able to make independent choices in their classroom. They
realize they belong in our classroom and are important
members of that group.
We spent the month of April working on our Pet Show. The
We have many favorites in our classroom. We love the stories
Knuffle Bunny and Bark George. We love the songs “Five Lile
Pumpkins,” “Pepperoni Pizza” and “1, 2, Buckle My Shoe.” We
love playing in the sand, creang with play dough, making
messy art projects and cooking. Finally, we love our nursery
rhymes, looking for Mary, shaking our fingers at the pigs and
giving three good kisses!
It has been a wonderful school year. I can’t thank my parents
enough for all of your support, encouragement, posive words
and funny stories told by your children. You and your children
have made Mushroom school a wonderful place to be.
News from the 3/4s class from Liz, Brian,
Marlene and Sheila…
I
n April, we welcomed spring and the new life it brings. We
observed some of the many examples of transformaon in
the natural world and learned a lile about the unique role
each living thing plays in its ecosystem. We used the tradional
counng song “Over in the Meadow” to set the stage.
We marveled at the beauful blossoms which appeared
on the bare trees. We learned about animals that
undergo major changes in appearance (caterpillars and
tadpoles) and compared them to similar looking
creatures that maintain the same form throughout their
lives (worms and fish). We met the ny and adorable aquac
frogs, Annie and Aggle-Flaggle-Klabble. It was fascinang to
look at them with a magnifying glass, and we enjoyed watching
them swim throughout the month.
Mushroom Family
Learning Center
1240 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
(412) 531-1225
[email protected]
mushroomfamily.org
MAY 2012
Page 4
Summer Fun!
~ Make your own bubbles ~
½ gallon water
½ cup of Dawn/Joy dishwashing
liquid
¼ cup of glycerin
Mix the ingredients together in a wide container. Be careful
that the solution does not become too foamy, wait a few
minutes to let the solution settle, store in a sealed container.
We had a special visit from Verna McGinley, who shared her
collecon of living and preserved insects and arachnids. Our
beauful playground offered our lile sciensts the chance to
observe some of these changes firsthand.
We found “helicopters” which fell from the
trees and learned how to make them fly.
We picked beauful flowers (dandelions
ARE prey!) for our parents. We even
found real, live worms to examine! All this
natural beauty inspired some gorgeous
artwork. Our bullen board became a colorful, indoor meadow
with fishpond, trees, flowers, grass, and buerflies.
Spring seemed to give all of us a boost of energy. The children
are bigger, stronger, faster, and more energec than ever.
Most have turned four now, or will soon, and we can see why
Louise Bates Ames subtled her book about four-year-olds
“Wild and Wonderful.” This month we played some cooperave games meant to foster a sense of shared purpose. As they
enjoy their newfound power, it is fun to enjoy some acvies
that change the focus from “I win” to “We did it!”
In May we will connue to enjoy the giNs of spring as we
invesgate plants. We will look at how seeds are dispersed and
how plants grow. We will finish the year by enjoying acvies
related to some of my favorite books for children. While I love
using a themac approach to planning lessons, I always seem
to have a few really special books that don’t quite fit in any of
our themes. We will use the last few weeks to e up loose
ends and possibly revisit some favorites.
Although the children have not undergone changes as
dramac as a caterpillar, tadpole, or seed, their transformaon
over the course of the year has been excing for us to behold.
They have made friends, gained independence, and learned
new skills. We are so proud of them! As the year draws to a
close, I would like to thank all of you for your support, and for
the privilege of working with your marvelous children.
News from the 4s class from Cathy, Melanie
and Kim…
E
veryone was so happy to see each other aNer the long
spring break! Right off the bat, Ms. Verna visited to talk
about insects and shared some examples, both living and preserved. Most of the kids were willing to touch each one. Next
came the Big Beach Bag with items for U week and an umbrella
project. We also pracced wring our names on lined paper,
which you can also pracce at home, and worked on unicorns
and sharing me.
In ancipaon of our trip to the dairy farm, we learned about
cows, their bodies, how they were milked in the past and how
they are now. V week brought violets in a vase, The Velveteen
Rabbit, and the making of a erupng volcano outside!
We sponge-painted whales and the surrounding water and did
watercolor pictures during W week. A special treat in
movement class was a big parachute. We had all kinds of fun
with that! Invitaons were also made for the Mother’s Day
Tea coming up.
Of course the big highlight of the month was the trip to SpringHouse dairy farm. The weather was great and everyone had a
wonderful me, with yummy ice cream to top it all off. The
kids already being armed with a lot of farm facts enriched the
experience even more. Thanks to all who made the effort – I’m
sure you’ll agree it was well worth it!
May will see us geOng to the end of the alphabet starng with X and Y the first week. As
menoned earlier, the Mother’s Day Tea is
coming up and will take place on Friday, May 11.
Make sure you get dressed in your “fancy-dancy” clothes!!
Also, if your child has a summer birthday and you would like to
celebrate it in school, we will do that on the last day of school
(May 21). Please let me know so we can coordinate with other
people in class.
Finally, thank you all for a terrific school year. It has been so
rewarding to watch your children grow. Enjoy the summer!
News from the Pre-K morning class from
Jane, Debbie and Brian…
Even though, due to spring break, April was a short month at
school, it was filled with many highlights. Verna brought her
live bugs for us to examine, we e-dyed t-shirts, we viewed
Mushroom Family
Learning Center
1240 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
(412) 531-1225
[email protected]
mushroomfamily.org
MAY 2012
Page 5
I scream, you scream, we all scream
for ice cream!
May 7, 6:00 – 7:30pm
Please join us for our annual Ice Cream Social held in
the playground area. Please note rain date of May 9.
Family Picnic May 23, Mt. Lebanon Park, 11am
Bring your blankets and lunches as we say goodbye
to the 2011-2012 school year. No rain date.
dental x-rays, completed our family trees, started working on
Mother's Day, and almost finished the alphabet. The weather
cooperated enough for us to get outside almost every morning
and we are geOng even beer at prinng!
It is hard to believe that we only have 3½ weeks of school leN,
but I promise to make May as acon packed as possible. Please
note the new "Word Wall" I hung in the gathering room during
"W" week. We will spend many of our May gatherings READING color words, number words, small sight words, and rhyming words. The more experience children have
looking at words, the easier reading becomes and
the more confident they are about tackling sentences, paragraphs, and enre books! I recommend connuing such acvies over the summer
so that your children will already be familiar with
these types of games once they start kindergarten. Remember
to always try to make it FUN!
We will complete the alphabet with Y & Z, finish our Mother's
Day surprises, then, rather than a specific theme, accomplish
some of my favorite acvies for which we did not have me
throughout the year! If your child has a summer birthday and
would like to celebrate it at school, please talk to me about
seOng that up. Thanks to our fabulous room mothers, we will
be having an end-of-the-year party. And, if any parents would
like to share their occupaon, a musical instrument, a craN or
favorite story with us, we would love to have you join us for
just a few minutes or for the enre morning.
As we reflect on the school year, we feel proud of the
progress your children have made listening to and
following direcons, forming relaonships, exercising
paence and cooperaon, displaying their manners,
and enthusiascally parcipang in our teacher directed acvies. They have experienced many pre-reading and
math skills and are working hard on leer and number recognion, counng, and beginning sounds.
Over the summer, I recommend frequent trips to the library,
daily reading, listening to books on CD, lots of craNs, cooking,
and outdoor acvity. Connue a bit of academics so that your
children won’t forget what they have learned, and have play
dates to encourage interacon. Your children ARE ready for
kindergarten, a giant step for both parents and children.
As you leave the warm cocoon of Mushroom Family Learning
Center, know that we will connue to be here for you if you
need us. Yes, it is OK to give me a call five years from now if
your child is having difficulty with mulplicaon! Seriously, I
am only a phone call away and would be happy to offer advice
if there are any difficules adjusng to the new, "BIG" school.
In the meanme, relax and enjoy the summer as well as the
ancipaon of the beginning of your child's formal educaon!
News from the Pre-K afternoon class from
Cathy and Melanie…
A
Ner a joyous return from spring break, more fun awaited!
It was day 100 of school and we made a big poster as well
as an ice cream treat to celebrate. Who knew science could
taste so good?!
U week brought umbrella artwork as well as pracce wring
the word. Then we had a special visit from Ms. Verna who
brought insects and helped us learn a lot about the parts of
their bodies and what they can do. Next came sharing, a game
of number Bingo, and more pracce with sounding out words.
Please keep praccing these important skills at home.
The following week we started work on our spring project for
the hallway: big, beauful buerflies and flowers, and even
some bumblebees. Hopefully you've had a chance to
check out their awesome work. Speaking of bumblebees,
music class featured the classic song “Flight of the Bumblebees” and the kids buzzing around the room with
their scarves.
The bees would certainly have liked our violets in vases
for V week! We started our first chapter book, My Father’s
Dragon, two chapters each day using good listening skills and
paence. The highlight of the week came when we got to go
out to the sandbox and create our own volcano! Everyone had
a chance to make it erupt.
Our wonderful W week started off with making our wooden
structures and preparing for Wednesday’s field trip with lots of
facts about cows. We invited Ms. Liz’s 3/4s class to see our
rooms upstairs and share an acvity together.
Mushroom Family
Learning Center
1240 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
(412) 531-1225
[email protected]
mushroomfamily.org
MAY 2012
Dropoff and Pickup Reminders
Thank you for your diligence in following our parking lot rules
and keeping our school families safe. A reminder of the key info:
−
−
−
−
Our field trip to SpringHouse dairy farm was fantasc! Thank
you for making arrangements to be there early – I’m sure you’ll
agree it was well worth it. Being prepared with our cow
knowledge really helped too.
We finished up the week learning about and making whales
and having fun with a parachute in movement class.
The focus of May will be our Mother’s Day Tea, scheduled for
Thursday, May 10. Get out your “fancy-dancy” clothes!! The
kids will be busy preparing food, songs and presents. Our last
day of class is May 22 and we will celebrate summer birthdays
then for any parents who would like. If so, let me know so we
can coordinate with others in the class.
We have had a wonderful year and thank you for the
opportunity to watch and guide your children as they’ve
grown so much. Have a terrific summer!
News from the K-Too class from Marilyn…
I
can’t believe this is the last newsleer of the year. The
children have had a wonderful year of exploraon and have
formed warm friendships. K-Too was meant to
foster the enjoyment of learning in a social
environment, and I think it succeeded. Both
classes were always ready and willing to learn
new things and worked well together. I will miss your children.
Please come back for a visit this summer and in the fall.
In April I decided to change plans for our unit on me and
money. We talked a lot about mothers, fathers, and the many
combinaons that make up a “family.” We read classics like
Make Way for Ducklings, a newer book called Mama Talks Too
Much, and a non-ficon story of a boy raising a baby duck
called The Li)le Duck.
We also worked diligently on our Mother’s Day presents which
required thoughZul, and somemes humorous, wring about
mommies. We also laid the foundaon for our May
simple machines building project by working with
hammers, nails, levers, pulleys, and wedges. The
children will build their own machine in May aNer
Page 6
Our lot is one way, entering from Washington and exiting onto Sunnyhill.
Drive slowly and carefully, especially when backing out, and be observant
of the cars and people around you.
Don’t leave other children unattended in the vehicle during dropoff or
pickup. Stay alert and keep kids close to you when walking in the lot.
Please be sure that your children are properly secured in the back seat
before moving.
extensive study of Leonardo Da Vinci’s contribuons to the
science of moon and work.
Enjoy your summer!
Lots of love, Marilyn
Some Fun Things for Kids to Do
Over the Summer
From Homeschool.com
Make a scrapbook of everything you do this summer
Have a picnic
Make dinner for your family
Go to a camp
Visit a farm
Take a walk and record the sounds
Cut up an old greeting card picture to make a puzzle
Make up a new kind of sandwich
Go outside and find 10 different kinds of flowers
Go camping
Invent a new dance
Visit the zoo
Make an obstacle course in your backyard
Make up a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt
Have a winter theme party
Help clean up a nature trail
Set up a lemonade stand
Attend a concert (especially an outdoor one)
Make a collage from magazine words and pictures
Go canoeing
Go to a museum
Plant something
Visit a tourist spot near your home
Fly a kite
Make a bird feeder
Dig for “fossils”
Make something from recyclables
Make homemade ice cream
Start a collection
Visit a National Park
Watch the birds
Create your own holiday