Fall Is Upon Us....

and it's time to bundle up again. So, before you read on, please take a moment to write yourself a reminder to change your child's extra clothes at Oak Lane. As soon as it stops raining we will go outside again and want to make sure that everybody is dressed appropriately. An extra sweater in the cubby is always a good idea as temperatures can fluctuate quite a bit at this time of year.

Scholastic Book Clubs

The Scholastic Book Club catalogs went out last week and if you haven't placed your order yet, there is still plenty of time. Orders are due on Thursday, October 14. For those of you not familiar with the book clubs, here is how it works. Every couple of months, you will find the catalogs in your child's cubby and you can order books for at very good prices. For every book you order, the day care gets points and can redeem those points for books for our library. You can convienently place your order online and pay with a credit card. The activation code for online orders is HCKQF. It ensures that orders will be credited towards Oak Lane's account. The books will be delivered to Oak Lane and we will place your order in your child's cubby. Questions? Contact Noreen.

Giant Gift Cards

Last year, Oak Lane enrolled in the Giant's gift card fundraiser and raised $281. It was an easy and straightforward way for the day care to raise some extra funds and parents didn't have to spend any extra money. The day care purchases gift cards at a 5% discount and then resells them to parents that do their grocery shopping at Giant. So, instead of paying with a credit or debit card, you simply use the gift card. We place an order once a month and parents let me know how many gift cards they would like. There is no obligation to place an order every month and you can stop anytime. So, if you are interested in purchasing gift cards, please let me know by Friday, October 8. The following denominations are available: $25, $50, $100 and $250.

For all of you that shop online, we have another way of raising money for Oak Lane without spending an extra penny. Last year, we raised $165.76. Here is how it works: Online stores that have partenered with goodshop.com (almost all of them) donate a percentage (1% to 20%) of your purchase to a charity of your choice. We hope it's Oak Lane. :) All you have to do is go to goodshop.com, select a store, which will take you to the store's website and shop as you always do. No personal or credit card information is stored by goodshop. You can also earn money for the day care by using their search engine goodsearch.com, which is powered by Yahoo.com. 

Fundraising Meeting

The first parent-fundraising meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 26 at 6 p.m. It will be a brain-storming session during which we will gather ideas and decide, which fundraisers to go forward with. So, join us to share ideas and help with the decision making process.

 Teacher's Wishlist

• Child-sized table and chair for the pretend kitchen area
• Child-sized aprons (Home Depot and Lowes may donate them) and a row of hooks to attach to the wall to hang the aprons
• Kitchen accesories (e.g. from a dollar store) - oven mitts, kitchen towels, spatulas, etc.
• Baby doll accesories - car seats, baby carriers, cribs, bottles, etc.
• Child-sized sofa or chair - something small for the children to sit and read books

Gently used items are great!!! Thank you!

Monday, October 11 - OLDC Closed Columbus Day
Tuesday, October 26 - Fundraising Meeting @ 6 p.m.
Friday, October 29 - Halloween Party @ 3:15 p.m. for the Older Toddlers and Preschoolers

 Thank You's

Fruit for Snack: Gasiewski Family

Cleaning the playground: Wardell Family

Aside from a nasty stomach bug, the Infant and Young Toddler class has gotten off to a great start. There has been a lot of growth and walking milestones. Here is what our group looks like:

Brooke (3-31-09) - Walking, running, adding words to her vocabulary and BFF with Pearl.

Senna (5-19-09) - Eagerness and energy to spare.

Pearl (5-24-09) - Always smiling, happy and playful and of course, BFF with Brooke.

William (7-5-09) - Recently learned to walk and is doing very well.

Jocelyn (8-8-09) - Tries to chase mom (Noreen) down all day.

Maxwell (9-20-09) - Crawling like a pro!

Caroline (9-24-09) - Crawls, laughs and smiles all day. BFF with McKenna.

McKenna (12-17-09) - Bouncy, happy and always ready to go. BFF with Caroline.

James (2-01-10) - Super strong, determined and ready to roll...literally!

Please remember to bring jackets and possible layers for your child, so they will be nice and warm when we got outside.

T. Sheila and T. Alex

Older Toddlers 

The Older Toddler Class has had a great year thus far. All the children are adjusting well to the new classroom. We started off with the letter A, the colors red and yellow and thinking about apples and autumn. We enjoyed many books, including "Ten Apples Up on Top", "Amy Loves the Sun", "Leaves" and "Our Apple Tree". During art time we painted apples, made apple prints and colored autumn leaves. The children helped cut up apples to make our homemade applesauce. We enjoyed the good weather on walks to the "Three Bears' House" and to the Westtown tennis courts.

This past week, we learned about the letter B and the color blue. During art we made the letter B out of beans, finger painted, and used the dot paints. We played on the tennis courts with tennis balls on the nice days and played upstairs with bouncy balls on the rainy days.

The kids enjoyed playing bean bag games to music. We practiced passing, throwing and catching, naming body parts, slow and fast rythm's and marching. On Friday, we baked blueberry muffins. Thanks to the parents for bringing in ingredients when needed. Every week, I will post a sign-up sheet for the cooking ingredients that we will need.

T. Suzanne joined our class two weeks ago and we are excited to have her with us. All the children warmed up to her very quickly and we hope you will get to meet her soon. Her hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

T. Rachel and T. Suzanne

Preschoolers

We have had a great start into the new school year and I hope you have been enjoying the daily sheets. Please refer to the October calendar in your child's cubby for upcoming activities.

T. Margaret