Clever Kids Learning Center, Utah, Colorado

 

 

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY LITERACY

From Birth

 

Listening comprehension predicts reading comprehension. Comprehension is the most important aspect of reading. Comprehension begins when babies first begin to understand the words they hear. At four months a baby recognizes his or her own name. The journey to reading begins at birth when parents speak their first adoring words to their baby.

Excerpt from Read to Your Baby-Literacy Begins At Birth, http://www.readtoyourbaby.com/read_literacy.html

Checklist For Toddlers

I read with my child every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

I encourage my child to bring his favorite books to me so that we can read together.

I point to pictures and name them out loud, and encourage my child to point to pictures while we read.

I watch to see if my child sometimes makes eye contact with me when I read aloud. That tells me she is paying attention to me and the story.

I talk with my child throughout the day about things we are doing and things that are happening around us.

I try to be patient when my child wants to read the same book over and over again.

I encourage my child to “play” with books—pick them up, flip them from front to back, and turn the pages.

Sometimes I listen when my child “pretends” to read a book—he holds the book, goes from page to page, and says words, even though they’re not the words on the page.

I give my child paper and crayons so she can scribble, make pictures, and pretend to write.

Checklist for Preschoolers

I help my child hear and say the first sound in words (like “b” in boat), and notice when different words start with the same sound (like “boat” and “book”).

I help my child hear words that rhyme (like moose, goose, and caboose).

I introduce new words to my child, like “bow” and “stern,” which mean the front of a boat and the back of a boat.

I talk with my child about the letters of the alphabet and notice them in books, like “c” for canoe.

I point out signs and labels that have letters, like street signs and foods in the grocery store.

I encourage my child to find the joy and fun in reading. Usually, I let my child choose the books we read.

I let my child pretend to read parts of the book when we read together.

I talk with my child about stories and make connections to things that happen in our own lives.

I ask “what,” “where,” and “how” questions when I read with my child to help her follow along and understand the stories.

I help my child write notes or make books (like an alphabet book), even if his writing only looks like scribbles or marks.

Excerpt from the National Institute for Literacy Website-http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/Literacy_Home.pdf

 

Theme of the Month

Friends and Family

Center Closed  February 15 for Presidents Day

Special Events

Parent Activities:

Infants             February 10th      3:00           

Toddler’s         February 23rd      3:00

Two’s              February 25th      3:30

Preschool 1      February 17th      3:30

Preschool 2      February 11th     11:30

Preschool 3      February 24th      3:30

 Happy Birthday

 Henry-PS3                               February 1st

Ms. Malinda                             February 4th

Addison-PS3                            February 9th

Ms. Tonya                               February 9th

Ms. Mallory                             February 12th

Aidan-PS1                               February 15th

Taylor-PS2                               February 18th

 

 

A Message from the Director

 

Dear Parents,

January has certainly been a cold month.  So many of our families dealt with the challenges of seasonal virus’ this past month.  We do our very best at CKLC to keep the children well by doing thorough cleaning of classrooms, soft materials and toys whenever we have sick kiddos.  We also work hard to enforce our illness policy so that sick children are able to recover at home and well children have the chance to stay well.  We sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation.

We are very excited about our special event set for February 26th.  Doctor Julie McDonald, DDS, will be visiting our center and will be performing Look/See Exams for the children in Preschool 1, 2 and 3.   A signed Permission Slip, which will be distributed next week, will be required for each child.  This is a wonderful opportunity to teach the children about good dental hygiene during National Dental Health Month.  We hope your children will enjoy this event.

Your children really enjoy bringing and sharing their toys from home with their friends in class.  As a reminder, Clever Kids Program Policy states that toys should not be brought from home unless the teachers request items to enhance an activity or for a scheduled sharing event.  Children are never permitted to bring toys associated with violence to school.  Also, please remember that certain items, like electronic toys or toys with small parts that could be swallowed are not allowed at the center.

In this issue of our center newsletter, we will be focusing on our monthly Parent-Child Activities.  These opportunities to take part in your child’s day here at Clever Kids, and to see them learning through play, is invaluable to you as parents.  We hope you’ll enjoy our recap of last month’s activities and plan to attend those scheduled for February.

Best Wishes, Debbie Freitas

 

In Classrooms Around The Center . . .

Each month, our classrooms feature a Parent-Child Activity.  These events are a wonderful opportunity for you to observe your child in their classroom environment, and to see first hand how the children at Clever Kids learn through play.  Of course, our parents are invited to join us in the classroom at any time, but these special activity events are such fun.  The children are so excited on event days; they can’t wait to let their parents into their world at school.

In February, we have some fantastic activities focused on our theme, family and friends.  I hope that you all will be able to attend.

            Infants Activity-Baby Gymnastics-Feb. 10th @ 3:30pm

            We will exercise our large muscle groups while doing baby gymnastics on mats and will talk             while we work-out to help develop our listening and early  language skills.

           

            Toddlers Activity-Create a Friendship Quilt           -Feb 23rd @ 3:00pm

            We will be decorating paper squares and tying them together to display in our classroom.  This fun activity will help us in building our fine motor skills.

           

            Two’s Activity-Parent & Family Picnic-Feb 25th @ 3:30pm

            Join us for a get together to meet our families and peers while we practice our language skills by having conversations with adults.

           

            PS1 Activity            -Create Family Photo Page-Feb 17th @3:30pm

            We will create photo pages of our families and then put the pages together to make a photo            book    for our classroom.  It will be so nice to be able to see pictures of our families whenever we want to.

           

            PS2 Activity-Family and Friends Luncheon -Feb 11th @11:30am

            Join us for this special luncheon featuring a Friendship Taco Ring.  We will make our taco’s just             before our parents arrive and will enjoy serving them.  We love to have lunch with our parents.

           

PS3 Activity-Create Our Favorite Family Recipes Book-Feb 24th @ 3:30pm

            We will be asking our parents to bring in family recipes this month.  On the 24th, we will create a special page for each recipe which will become part of a Family Recipe Book for our classroom.

 

In January, our parent-child activities featured the creation of snowmen using lots of different materials.  We had such a wonderful time sharing these events with our families and can’t wait until next month!

 

Be a Building Parent-Teacher Partnerships

 

The day-to-day reality of many families is different today than a generation ago. Family members spend far less time together and adults often face an on-going struggle to balance the demands of their families and their jobs. While these pressures can cause parents to participate less in their children’s lives, there remains a great need for them to be involved in their children’s education.

Recent studies show that when families are involved in their children’s education in positive ways, the children achieve higher grades and test scores, have better attendance at school, complete more homework, and demonstrate more positive attitudes and behavior. Reports also indicate that families who receive frequent and positive messages from teachers tend to become more involved in their children’s education than do parents who do not receive this kind of communication. Family and school represent the primary environments in which young children grow and develop, and good schools value parental involvement.

As their children’s first teachers, parents and families can:

Read together. Read with your children and let them see you and older children read. When adult family members read to their children or listen to them read on a regular basis, achievement improves. Take your children to the library to get a library card and help them find books to suit their interests and hobbies.

Establish a family routine. Routines generally include time for completing homework, doing chores, eating meals together, and going to bed at an established time. These daily events are important to make life predictable for children and satisfying for all family members. Encourage your child’s efforts and be available for questions while she is engaged in academic work and spend time discussing what she has learned.

Keep in touch with the school. Stay aware of what your children are learning, what their assignments are, and how they are doing. Make a point of visiting the school and talking with the teachers through parent/teacher conferences or family nights. If you can’t visit, schedule a telephone call to discuss your child’s progress.

Offer praise and encouragement. Parents and families play an important role in influencing a child’s confidence and motivation to become a successful learner. Encourage them to complete assignments and introduce them to outside experiences that will enhance their self-confidence and broaden their interests.

In the effort to connect schools with parents, educators can:

Involve parents in classroom activities. Teachers can let families know how they can be helpful and can ask for their assistance with specific activities. Parents can participate by preparing classroom materials, attending parent-child activity events, and by sharing information about their careers or hobbies. The more involved parents are in what goes on in the classroom, the more likely they are to understand the teacher’s goals and practices.

Give parents a voice in decisions. Parents’ viewpoints should be considered in making decisions about their children’s schooling. Programs can open options for families to become involved individually and collectively in making decisions about goals and standards for their children.

Foster good communication during parent/teacher conferences. When meeting with family members, create a comfortable environment in which parents feel free to share information, ask questions, and make recommendations. Point out the projects that involved their child and share information in a way that encourages respectful two-way communication. Be careful not to make assumptions about a family member’s level of knowledge, understanding, or interest. Schedule an adequate amount of time for the conference so that parents do not feel rushed.

 

 

Taken from NAEYC Website, Early Years Are Learning Years, Building Parent Teacher Partnerships, www.naeyc.org

Center Closed  January 18th for

Martin Luther King Birthday

Parent Activities:

Infants            January 12th    9:00 

Toddler’s        January 19th    3:00 

Two’s              January 20th    3:30

Preschool 1     January  21st   3:30

Preschool 2     January 22nd    9:30

Preschool 3     January 13th    3:30 

 Happy Birthday

Averie-PS2                 January 4th  

Isaac-Two’s                January 6th

Ms. Kristen                January 15th

Megan-Toddler’s       January 23rd

Ms. Amanda              January 26th

Lauren-PS3               January 27th

Hanna-PS3                 January 29th

 Ms. Raney                 January 29th

 

 

 

A Message from the Director

 

Dear Parents,

Our first parent newsletter for 2010 is also my first opportunity to formally greet you as  Center Director.  I want to thank you all for the warm welcome and say how much I am enjoying getting to know your families.  My door is always open and I hope that each of you will feel comfortable to approach me with any questions or concerns.

I am so thrilled to be working with our fabulous CKLC staff.  As the new year gets under way, we have made some changes in teaching assignments.  Ms. Jessica is moving over from our Two’s classroom to PS1; Ms.  Mallory will be helping out in PS2 & PS3; and Ms.    Michelle has been assigned to Two’s.  We are also happy to welcome Ms. Marla as a new Co-teacher in our Infant room.

End of Year Child Care Tax Statements for 2009 are ready and available for you to pickup in the office.  Please feel free to stop by and pick yours up.

Please join us in congratulating Ms. Gloria in our    Infant room, with 10 years of continuous service, and Ms. Tonya in our Toddler Room with 6 years of service, who have achieved their Training and Longevity Awards through the Child Care Professional Development   Institute.

I hope that each of you will be able to attend the parent-child activities we have planned for this month.  There will be many snowmen constructed from a variety of materials.

Finally, many thanks to those of you who generously donated hats and gloves for the children at the St. Anne’s  Homeless Shelter.

Best Wishes,

Debbie Freitas

 

 

In Classrooms Around The Center . . .

Our theme for January is Winter Fun and the weather is certainly   cooperating with us.  Each of our classrooms has some wonderful parent activities planned for this month and we hope all of our parents will be able to attend.

In the Infant Classroom, our little ones have been busy putting their handprints on snowflakes.  They’ve had fun crawling under our sheet tent finding the objects hidden under a blanket.  We have enjoyed seeing the growth in each child.  Adam interacts with everyone by smiling and cooing and has such a contagious laugh.  Chance “army” crawls to get where he wants to be, and Ambree is learning to sit up with support.  Damon is quite the talker (lots of babble), and Larenz is learning to grasp toys.  Kylee can hold her head up steadily now, and Ashlyn can roll back to front.  Barrett  gets on his hands and knees and is getting ready to crawl.  We see so many new skills developing each week as our infants learn more about themselves and the world around them.

In the Toddler Classroom, the children enjoyed the new book, “The House That Jack Built”.  They painted with tractors and trucks, and learned that they can be builder’s too when they built block towers, and then knocked them down.  This month, the children will be talking about snow.  They’ll learn how it melts, how cold it is, and how to build with it.  They will be matching mittens, gloves and boots, and learn about how winter clothes keep us warm.  All of the children love books, and this month they will learn about winter clothes, and arctic animals through books.  They will also be making some juice snow cones.  As always, music and song will be a big part of the children’s day.  The children will learn the new song “Once There Was A Snowman”.

The children in our Two’s Class had a wonderful time in December learning all about construction.  They made many towers and castles out of blocks during which they were building their fine motor skills.  Everyone in the class was able to stack at least 4 blocks!  The kids also worked on their gross motor skills while building snowmen and going on winter walks.  They worked on their cognitive skills while observing and discussing the construction going on around our building. 

As always, language skill development was a big part of every day as the children talked with the teachers and each other.  This month, skill development will continue as the children learn all about snow and ice and where they come from.  There will be several scientific projects that will help the children to understand more about snow and ice, and many discussions about these topics.  They will also learn about winter clothing and use their gross motor skills to practice dressing themselves.

In our Preschool 1 classroom, the children had a wonderful time learning all about construction.  They built roads and buildings with blocks, glued houses together and then counted all of the buildings they put together.  The children made clay and then cut out shapes that they painted once they had dried.  The children also did activities designed to teach them more about shapes and colors as worked on puzzles, peg boards and string blocks.  All of these activities helped the children to build their cognitive and fine motor skills.  This month the children will learn more about snow.  They will talk about where snow comes from and what it is made of.  They children will brings snow inside and watch as it’s changes into water.  They will construct snowmen out of snow and play dough and will talk about the different shapes they are using to do it.  In the last week of the month, the children will talk about baking.  They will learn that recipes have directions to be followed.  Each child will participate in baking cookies and will help to add ingredients and to decorate the cookies once they are finished baking.  They will enjoy eating their finished cookies.

The children in Preschool 2 had a great time learning about construction in December.  They had fun constructing snow scenes, and building houses out of graham crackers, frosting and marshmallows.  The children also made special holiday presents for their parents that taught them how to construct a box, and how to make yummy fudge.  This month, the children will be learning all about snow.  They will look at it, feel it and use it as inspiration for artwork.  They will also learn about ice and will work on a number of scientific experiments.  All of the children will enjoy constructing their own snowmen.  They will work on this in the 3rd week of January and parents are invited to bring in items to decorate or “dress” their child’s snowman.  The children will also talk about sledding and skiing, and will be making sleds and skis from popsicle sticks.  All of the kids will enjoy pretending to ski across the country while learning how to enjoy the winter while staying safe.

In Preschool 3, the children also enjoyed learning about construction.  They talked about building, read stories about construction, and did several art projects that involved construction.  The children are learning to write their first and last names, are writing in journals and working on recognizing numbers.  They really enjoyed using play dough to create masterpieces, and learning about cause and effect while playing with shaving cream.  This month, they will be building their fine motor skills when putting on their winter clothes.  They will head outside for winter time fun in the snow.  They will continue writing their letters and numbers.  Some of the children will build on their fine motor skills by sorting objects and doing puzzles.  All of the children will learn more about respecting books and remembering to turn pages from right to left.  They will learn how to predict a story’s end and to put the part of a story in sequential order.  The children will really have fun baking some yummy treats while learning to follow directions and measure ingredients.

 

Be a Is Play More Than Fun?

We know that play is good for children; we see it in their smiling face.  Watching your child have fun brings joy and satisfaction to you as well. What you may not always know is that play is really helping your child to develop.  Play is how children learn, and it is the essential basis for the skills your child will develop and use later in life.

Through play, children learn about and understand the world around them and how they fit into it.  Different types of play impact your child in terms of their social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. Here are some of the activities your children will take part in while at Clever Kids, and with you at home, and what they are learning while doing them.

 

 

Age Group	Type of Activity	What’s Being Learned
Infants & Toddlers	Play and Interaction with Others	Peepeek a boo and other interactive games: Children learn “object permanence” - that objects do not mysteriously disappear into thin air just because they cannot be seenBacback and forth interaction: Children, adults making sounds, imitating baby, singing, talking back and forth, is amusing for babies-They learn language and the give and take of being social
	Play with Objects (rattles, mouthing toys, toys that make noise)	Children learn that their actions get a response - shaking, squeezing, tapping objects can produce sound or make objects move (cause and effect)
Toddlers	Finger-play and singing games (”Itsy Bitsy Spider”; Bubble Gum Song”)	Children learn rhythm, counting, and eye-hand coordination. These types of games also teach cultural norms and childhood songs and games many young children usually know by the time they are in preschool or kindergarten
Preschoolers	Blocks	Block play teaches many math concepts and skills such as: counting, length, height, patterns, symmetry.
	Manipulative Toys	Materials such as Play-Dough, threading beads, and stacking and nesting toys help children with their fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.
	Sand and Water Play	While being fun and soothing to the touch, sand and water play teaches math skills such as measurement and helps children practice pouring skills.
	Puzzles	Puzzles help children with abstract thinking skills and visualizing space and how shapes fit together.
	Dramatic Play	Older children love to pretend they are heroes, parents, or other adults doing “grown-up” things. Dramatic play helps children with their language skills, and can be a creative outlet. Children can practice life skills like grocery shopping or having a party. It’s a good way for children to learn to cooperate with others as well.

Courtesy of Volume 50 of Child Care Aware Newsletter, National Association of Child Care