Oak Lane Day Care

Oak Lane Day Care October '09

Welcome!

It is mid-October and the teachers, children and families have all settled in nicely. Drop-offs are getting easier and less teary. Teachers have established routines in their classrooms creating a safe and predictable environment for the children. But, in the world of children, even the best routines never last very long. With cool fall temperatures suddenly upon us, children are now wrestling with heavier coats. They still believe that simply because it is sunny they do not need one. I'm sure you have all experienced what I'm talking about. Though it won't be long before the children master flipping on their coats and putting on their hats and mittens.

Please make sure your child has an appropriate change of clothing in his or her cubby. This includes children that are potty trained. Your child may get dirty or wet
during art projects, outdoor play time or lunch. A warm coat is a must-have every day because the children go out to play every day except for when it is raining or very, very cold.

This year's Back-to-School Potluck Dinner was a successful, fun event with delicious food provided by parent volunteers. Surprisingly, the dinner was exclusively attended by Oak Lane's international families. Did you know that some of the Oak Lane children speak Spanish, Portugese or Dutch? It was exciting to hear that parents are raising their children bilingual. The fact that we have such wonderful diversity at Oak Lane this year makes me believe that we have many resources among our families that can enrich our program. Do you celebrate Hannukkah, Kwanza or another holiday? Could you share your traditions one morning with the children or bring in a special food or prop? Do you have a special talent or interest that could be of interest to the children? We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to approach the teachers with any ideas you may have. Our curriculum is flexible and we are happy to make accomodations.

We Need Your Fundraising Ideas!

Parent Fundraising is a crucial part of Oak Lane's annual budget. We have learned from previous years that fundraisers where parents have to sell goods do not yield as much money and are not as popular with families. So, we need your help in identifying activities that are fun and raise money for Oak Lane at the same time. Last year we held two benefit nights at Isaac's Restaurant in Westtown and Stadium Grille in West Chester, both of which were very popular. If you have an idea for a fundraising activity that would be enjoyable, please let us know! There is also an abundance of information on the internet. Could you spare a few hours helping research or develop fundraising ideas?

In the past, Oak Lane has held an auction every two years. This year would be an auction year. Organizing an auction requires tremendous help and the coordination of many parent volunteers. This provides a challenge because this year we have a much smaller number of families at Oak Lane compared to previous years. Alternatively we could have a fundraising event that requires less work but potentially be just as succesful. Or we could host a series of smaller events that would bring the Oak Lane community together throughout the year. If anything comes to mind, please let us know.

A tentative Fundraising Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28 @ 7 p.m. Please let me know if you can attend or if a different day or time would work better.

Parents - Please Remember...!

...to help your child put away his or her coat and lunch box at drop off. If your child is wearing boots because it is raining or snowing, please change them into regular shoes when you arrive at Oak Lane. It is not very comfortable for children to play in boots and they are more likely to trip and fall.
...to not bring toys from home to school - except for "Show and Share" on Wednesdays in the Preschool Class.
...to make sure your child has cleaned up what he or she was planning with before leaving Oak Lane at the end of the day. The teachers are working very hard to teach every child to clean and the more consistent we are in this effort the faster the children will learn.

Calendar

Saturday, October 24 - Fall Clean-Up Day
Tuesday, November 10 - Jitterbugs
Wednesday, November 25 - NO Pizza
Thu. + Fri., Nov. 26 & 27 - OLDC closed - Thanksgiving

Thank You's

Fruit for Snack: Rebecca Rakes, Kelly Gasiewski, Stephanie Walkup
Cleaning Toys: Rebecca Rakes

Infants and Young Toddlers

The new infant and young toddler class is up and running - well maybe not all of them. Some of our new class members are still quite young. But it won't be long before they will be on the move as well.

Our class members are:

Jocelyn Greimann (8-8-09) who just happens to be our Director's first born and is doing great.
William Suttell (7-5-09) who has a great personality.
Pearl Spaulding (5-24-09) who is cute as a button.
Brooke Sidorsky (3-31-09) who is always happy as a lark and loves to move her arms and legs.
Scarlet Potter (8-18-09) who loves to dance and is doing well walking.
Eric Borror (4-19-08) who loves all aspects of school.
Charlotte Perrin (3-20-08) who also loves to be at school and play with her friends.
Ainsley Sullivan (2-5-08) who never turns down a good book.

Scarlet, Eric, Charlotte and Ainsley also had some fingerpainting fun this week and made scary ghosts for Halloween.

TTFN,
T. Sheila and T. Savannah

Older Toddlers

September was spent getting to know one another. We also did a unit on the book "From Head To Toe" by Eric Carle. This book explores following directions and identifying body parts. Each day, we made an animal from the story using various materials.

Next we read "The Leaves Are Falling One By One". We talked about Fall and how leaves change color in the fall. The children painted at the easel with fall colors and made beautiful pictures. We also painted pumpkins and made leaf rubbings on Science Day.

This week we are studying apples. We sliced apples in half and made apple prints and we also made apple trees using our fingers and red paint to make the apples. Then we tasted different types of apples, including Honey Crisp, Granny Smith, Red Delicious and McIntosh. Yummy! We examined the seeds of the apples. And last but not least we made apple sauce. The children thoroughly enjoyed mashing the cooked apples.

We are learning to wash our hands properly, which is especially important as we are entering the cold and flu season. We are also working on cleaning up when we're done playing.

T. Margaret and T. Christy

Upcoming units

10/19 to 10/30 - All About Halloween
11/2 to 11/13 - The Farm
11/16 to 11/27 - Harvest - Fruits and Veggies

Preschoolers

We are off to a great start in the preschool class this year. We began with the letter-of-the-week curriculum. During "A" week, I introduced the letter-of-the-week bag. The children take turns picking toys and other items from the bag and we learned words that start with the letter A. We also painted our alphabet tree and made apples to go on it. We read "Ten Apples Up On Top" and had fun stamping apples. We baked apple oatmeal bars and apple butter cookies.

Next came "B" week. We made bees for the alphabet tree. We read "Teddy Bear Picnic" and "Can't you sleep Little Bear?" and the children enjoyed making teddy bears. On Friday, we baked delicious blueberry muffins. We also did a touch and feel science activity during which we covered the children's eyes and they felt objects in the dark and had to figure out what each item was.

During "C" week we ate as many Cheerios as we glued onto the letter C. We read "If you give a mouse a cookie" and made chocolate chip cookies out of construction paper. They were almost good enough to eat. On cooking day everyone helped to make orange-flavored cupcakes and buttercream cake.

By "D" week the children had grasped the concept of the letter of the week and were excited to find out what was in the D-bag. We read "Go Dog Go" and "Moon Dance". The children had a great time mixing Lime Jello and pudding mix to make dinosaur eggs. For science we learned about Japanese maple, ginkgo, hackberry and oak leaves and made some beautiful leaf prints.

We are enjoying our travels through the alphabet and are looking forward to many more delightful months to come.

T. Rachel

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Oak Lane Day Care October '09
Welcome! It is mid-October and the teachers, children and families have all settled in nicely. Drop-offs are getting easier and less teary. Teachers have established routines in their classrooms creating a safe and predictable environment for the children. But, in the world of children, even the best routines never last very long. With cool fall temperatures suddenly upon us, children are now wrestling with heavier coats. They still believe that simply because it is sunny they do not need one. I'm sure you have all experienced what I'm talking about. Though it won't be long before the children master flipping on their coats and putting on their hats and mittens. Please make sure your child has an appropriate change of clothing in his or her cubby. This includes children that are potty trained. Your child may get dirty or wet during art projects, outdoor play time or lunch. A warm coat is a must-have every day because the children go out to play every day except for when it is raining or very, very cold. This year's Back-to-School Potluck Dinner was a successful, fun event with delicious food provided by parent volunteers. Surprisingly, the dinner was exclusively attended by Oak Lane's international families. Did you know that some of the Oak Lane children speak Spanish, Portugese or Dutch? It was exciting to hear that parents are raising their children bilingual. The fact that we have such wonderful diversity at Oak Lane this year makes me believe that we have many resources among our families that can enrich our program. Do you celebrate Hannukkah, Kwanza or another holiday? Could you share your traditions one morning with the children or bring in a special food or prop? Do you have a special talent or interest that could be of interest to the children? We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to approach the teachers with any ideas you may have. Our curriculum is flexible and we are happy to make accomodations. We Need Your Fundraising Ideas! Parent Fundraising is a crucial part of Oak Lane's annual budget. We have learned from previous years that fundraisers where parents have to sell goods do not yield as much money and are not as popular with families. So, we need your help in identifying activities that are fun and raise money for Oak Lane at the same time. Last year we held two benefit nights at Isaac's Restaurant in Westtown and Stadium Grille in West Chester, both of which were very popular. If you have an idea for a fundraising activity that would be enjoyable, please let us know! There is also an abundance of information on the internet. Could you spare a few hours helping research or develop fundraising ideas? In the past, Oak Lane has held an auction every two years. This year would be an auction year. Organizing an auction requires tremendous help and the coordination of many parent volunteers. This provides a challenge because this year we have a much smaller number of families at Oak Lane compared to previous years. Alternatively we could have a fundraising event that requires less work but potentially be just as succesful. Or we could host a series of smaller events that would bring the Oak Lane community together throughout the year. If anything comes to mind, please let us know. A tentative Fundraising Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28 @ 7 p.m. Please let me know if you can attend or if a different day or time would work better.
Parents - Please Remember...! ...to help your child put away his or her coat and lunch box at drop off. If your child is wearing boots because it is raining or snowing, please change them into regular shoes when you arrive at Oak Lane. It is not very comfortable for children to play in boots and they are more likely to trip and fall. ...to not bring toys from home to school - except for "Show and Share" on Wednesdays in the Preschool Class. ...to make sure your child has cleaned up what he or she was planning with before leaving Oak Lane at the end of the day. The teachers are working very hard to teach every child to clean and the more consistent we are in this effort the faster the children will learn.
Calendar Saturday, October 24 - Fall Clean-Up Day Tuesday, November 10 - Jitterbugs Wednesday, November 25 - NO Pizza Thu. + Fri., Nov. 26 & 27 - OLDC closed - Thanksgiving	Thank You's Fruit for Snack: Rebecca Rakes, Kelly Gasiewski, Stephanie Walkup Cleaning Toys: Rebecca Rakes

Infants and Young Toddlers The new infant and young toddler class is up and running - well maybe not all of them. Some of our new class members are still quite young. But it won't be long before they will be on the move as well. Our class members are: Jocelyn Greimann (8-8-09) who just happens to be our Director's first born and is doing great. William Suttell (7-5-09) who has a great personality. Pearl Spaulding (5-24-09) who is cute as a button. Brooke Sidorsky (3-31-09) who is always happy as a lark and loves to move her arms and legs. Scarlet Potter (8-18-09) who loves to dance and is doing well walking. Eric Borror (4-19-08) who loves all aspects of school. Charlotte Perrin (3-20-08) who also loves to be at school and play with her friends. Ainsley Sullivan (2-5-08) who never turns down a good book. Scarlet, Eric, Charlotte and Ainsley also had some fingerpainting fun this week and made scary ghosts for Halloween. TTFN, T. Sheila and T. Savannah

Older Toddlers September was spent getting to know one another. We also did a unit on the book "From Head To Toe" by Eric Carle. This book explores following directions and identifying body parts. Each day, we made an animal from the story using various materials. Next we read "The Leaves Are Falling One By One". We talked about Fall and how leaves change color in the fall. The children painted at the easel with fall colors and made beautiful pictures. We also painted pumpkins and made leaf rubbings on Science Day. This week we are studying apples. We sliced apples in half and made apple prints and we also made apple trees using our fingers and red paint to make the apples. Then we tasted different types of apples, including Honey Crisp, Granny Smith, Red Delicious and McIntosh. Yummy! We examined the seeds of the apples. And last but not least we made apple sauce. The children thoroughly enjoyed mashing the cooked apples. We are learning to wash our hands properly, which is especially important as we are entering the cold and flu season. We are also working on cleaning up when we're done playing. T. Margaret and T. Christy Upcoming units 10/19 to 10/30 - All About Halloween 11/2 to 11/13 - The Farm 11/16 to 11/27 - Harvest - Fruits and Veggies

Preschoolers We are off to a great start in the preschool class this year. We began with the letter-of-the-week curriculum. During "A" week, I introduced the letter-of-the-week bag. The children take turns picking toys and other items from the bag and we learned words that start with the letter A. We also painted our alphabet tree and made apples to go on it. We read "Ten Apples Up On Top" and had fun stamping apples. We baked apple oatmeal bars and apple butter cookies. Next came "B" week. We made bees for the alphabet tree. We read "Teddy Bear Picnic" and "Can't you sleep Little Bear?" and the children enjoyed making teddy bears. On Friday, we baked delicious blueberry muffins. We also did a touch and feel science activity during which we covered the children's eyes and they felt objects in the dark and had to figure out what each item was. During "C" week we ate as many Cheerios as we glued onto the letter C. We read "If you give a mouse a cookie" and made chocolate chip cookies out of construction paper. They were almost good enough to eat. On cooking day everyone helped to make orange-flavored cupcakes and buttercream cake. By "D" week the children had grasped the concept of the letter of the week and were excited to find out what was in the D-bag. We read "Go Dog Go" and "Moon Dance". The children had a great time mixing Lime Jello and pudding mix to make dinosaur eggs. For science we learned about Japanese maple, ginkgo, hackberry and oak leaves and made some beautiful leaf prints. We are enjoying our travels through the alphabet and are looking forward to many more delightful months to come. T. Rachel
Forward this message to a friend \| www.oaklanedaycare.org