LESSARD DAYCARE AND AFTERSCHOOL CARE www.lessarddaycare.com info.lessarddaycare@gmail.com Quarterly Newsletter – December 2018 A WORD OF GRATITUDE It is the right time to express our sincere gratitude from the bottom of our hearts to each and every single family for your continued support over the last two years . Yes, when we look behind, whatever we could achieve throughout these years is only because of your support and co-operation. Again, we appreciate your continued support for our future endeavors. Here, we promise you to maintain the excellence in safety, cleanliness and healthy environments which are nurturing and respectful that incorporates the value and importance of play. UPCOMING EVENTS HOLIDAY CELEBRATION A month of celebration ahead of us with a lot of holiday activities in all the rooms. THE HOLIDAY CELEBRATION AT THE CENTRE FOR OUR FAMILIES WILL BE ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13,2018 FROM 3:30PM TO 5:30PM. TODDLER AND PRESCHOOL WILL BE GATHERING TOGETHER IN THE PRESCHOOL ROOM (CONCERT @ 3:30PM) , OSC AND KINDER WILL BE IN THE OSC ROOM(CONCERT@4:00PM) . This year in the OSC room , we will arrange some games for all the parents and of course some awesome gifts are waiting for the winners. Another attraction – SANTA WILL BE VISITING US AND DEFINITELY ALL OUR KIDS CAN EXPECT GIFT FROM SANTA….. PLUS TREATS, COOKIE DECORATION FOR SMALL KIDS, CONCERTS ETC…. So please arrange your schedule , be here by 3:30pm and enjoy with our children. We really appreciate your valuable presence on time. CENTRE CLOSURE OVER THE HOLIDAYS Monday, December 24th,[ Christmas Eve] we are opening until 4:00pm. So please make sure to pick up your child/children before 4:00pm and we appreciate your cooperation. The center is closed from December 25th, 2018 to January 2nd, 2019 – we will return to work on January 2nd. FRIENDLY REMINDERS WITHDRAWAL POLICY The Center requires ONE FULL MONTH WRITTEN NOTICE prior to your child’s withdrawal. NOTICE WILL “CAN ONLY BE ACCEPTED FOR THE BEGINNING OF A FOLLOWING MONTH” – The Centre will not accept notice for middle of the month. If the required notice is not provided to the Centre, the full month’s fees will be payable. If fees are not paid, the Centre will enforce the process of collecting the funds through a second party (a Collection Agency). Fees will be collected based on “full” amounts outstanding, including subsidy amounts. For various reasons, some children and/or families have difficulty adjusting to the child care environment, in such cases our Centre management will ask that you withdraw your child immediately. If Centre staff are treated disrespectfully by parents or guardians, the family will be provided with immediate termination from the Centre by management immediately, without notice. Immediate termination may be given to the family verbally, a written letter will not be required. We uphold a high standard of environment which serves many families. We thank you for your understanding of our policy. LATE PICK - UP POLICY The Centre closes at 6:00 pm. For casual lateness, a late pick-up fee of $1.00 per minute will be levied for every minute past 6:00 pm. In the case of lateness, the $1 per minute (*past 6pm or other specified closing time) charge is due as soon as possible (either that day, or the next day), and the late fee collected will be fully payable to the staff member(s) who stayed with the child to ensure their safety beyond the Centre’s operating hours. ROOM NEWS TODDLER ROOM Here in the toddler room, we have been very busy! Because we are newer staff, we wanted to thank each family for their patience and kindness as we continue to work hard at getting to know each family while building trusting and nurturing relationships with all the children in our care. Teaching every one of your children continues to be a true blessing in our life and they make it so easy to love coming to work every morning. We have explored so many different and fun themes over the past few months. The children were introduced to the many different modes of transportation that are used every day in our cities, such as airplanes, helicopters, emergency vehicles like ambulances, police cars, fire trucks, taxis, trains, bikes and buses, and construction vehicles. They love anything about cars and were extremely interested in the books, crafts, and firetruck props we did. We discovered farms – and the animals that live on them. We focused on matching farm animals to the sounds they make (the toddlers loved making cow sounds!) We also learned about what the animals do on the farm, like cows make milk, chickens give us eggs, and sheep give us wool. As summer turned to Autumn, we began discussing themes like Canadian animals, where we read stories and made crafts about the type of animals (and their habitats) that we find in Canada, and Halloween, and discussed all the changes we could expect in the new season. We went on scavenger hunts, ladybug hunting, made leaf piles to jump into, the toddlers collected leaves, gutted a pumpkin, and enjoyed a “spooktacular" Halloween dress up party. Now as autumn fades into winter, our recent themes have reflected the change of temperature as we learned about snow, something the children were able to get lots of hands on sensory fun out of lately! We have already learned a bit about snow, using finger plays and action songs, and making a few snow angels along the way. We had fun with our Colours theme, and the children especially loved the Crayon book, making playdough, and playing with food colouring and snow. Right now we are delving into numbers up to 10 and shapes! We are excited to be entering the holiday season soon, and are busy creating themes to go with the season of celebration. We are looking forward to sugar cookie baking and decoration, ornament decoration, New Year’s crafts, and a bunch of new stories and action songs! We are excited to continue on this wonderful adventure of hands on learning, in the new year! Thank you, Gabby and Blaise PRESCHOOL ROOM September, October and November have been very busy months for our preschoolers. There were lots of special activities that kept us fully engaged. September, We had a great start. First of the highlights, we went on a field trip over to Lessard Dental Clinic. The children were taught about dental hygiene such as brushing and flossing etc. They were given the chance to tour the facility as well. Afterwards, they were handed loot bags with some goodies that are related to dental hygiene. Some fine days in September we also did several activities such as, wearing our shirt backwards, we called it "backwards day ". We did movie and PJ day and we had a super hero parade day inside the daycare. October has been a busy month with fall and Halloween activities. Children enjoyed our nature walk and observed all the changes that this time of the year brings. We also enjoyed our Tattoo Day, ETS bus ride to West Edmonton Mall. We made craft for Thanksgiving day and spent time at Lois Hole Public Library listening to stories and reading books. We also enjoyed our Halloween Party and spooktacular parade. It was so much fun seeing all our preschoolers wearing their Halloween costumes. The best part was the trick or treating fun. The children had a blast. In November, we enjoyed baking cookies, PJ and Movie day, carpet sledding at centennial field, Indoor Soccer day and wearing our favourite Jersey. We also had Zumba dancing and yoga, and now we are busy practising our Christmas dance for our upcoming Christmas Party. Thank you so much for your whole hearted support of our program. We look forward to our upcoming Christmas Party with all our preschool families. We know that it will be a lot of fun. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to speak with us anytime. Thank you so much. Eunice and Janice KINDER ROOM The months of September, October and November 2018, our kindergarten children have been busy for our memorable activities and learning experiences. September 4, we visited Lessard Dental Clinic. The children were able to meet with a Dentist and they learned that a dentist is a person who helps keep our teeth healthy. The dentist discussed the dental instruments, functions and characteristics. They spent time learning about the importance and techniques of proper tooth care. October is a fun month filled with family events like Thanksgiving and Halloween. The day of Thanksgiving gives families more time to get together and had fun. Talking with the children about what their families does to celebrate is a chance for me to teach them language. October 31, we had a Halloween costume parade where the children dressed up and pretend. Acting like their favorite character encourages their imagination and their language skills. Also, we had our yummy multicultural potluck lunch where our children enjoyed the foods. I would like to say thank you to all the parents who brought foods, dessert and fruits. Our special activities like nail paintings, crazy hair day, corn meal playdough making was great and all of them had so much fun On November 4, we visited APEX VISION OPTOMETRIST, Dr. Bassam Hamdam, eye doctor discussed to the children on how to ensure their visual system function properly. The best way to ensure proper visual development is for your child to have regular eye exams. November 22, we had a trip to LOIS HOLE PUBLIC LIBRARY, where the children enjoyed playing the computers and listening to family story time. We have many exciting upcoming activities that will be posted in your monthly calendars. I will be teaching child's attentiveness during classroom activities and her or his ability to interact with other friends while respecting the classroom rules. If you have any concerns, please feel free to speak with the kindergarten staff at your convenience. Raquel C. OSC ROOM In September we welcome new friends in the OSC room such as Halbert, Ayman, Maya, Tatenda, Amy, Nihita, Nishita, Maggie, Danielle, Cassidy, Kalub, Aryan, Armaan & Atharva. Our mainstay OSC children were very accommodating and made the new ones feel comfortable. This month children were reminded of the routines and rules in the room and the van. October was a fun time for everyone. We had a stuffy day and children showcased their lovely stuffy toys and more cute Pajamas on that day. On thanksgiving, the OSC showed gratitude by writing on the giant sheet of the things they are grateful for. Most of the things they are thankful for their family, friends, pets and toys. During Halloween children wore their beautiful costumes and they helped decorate web by making their own DIY ghosts and spiders. During the Halloween party children had fun playing “cover me Mummy” &pass the eyeball game. It was a great time for them. In November ,there were a lot of PD days for public schools, so children could visit three different community parks, such as Lymburn, Ormsby &Wedgewood park. They had a blast making DIY Toothpaste mouth model and egg experiment .They had a visit to the nearby Lessard Dental Clinic and learned a lot of thing on how to take care of one’s teeth .We did a lot of beading work and children shared their creativity by making heat stuff using melting beads. This month we have started doing humanitarian project by collecting toque’s and mitts and food for the food bank A big thanks to Maddie, Jack, Amy, Sarah, Danielle and Isaac for bringing stuff in. Please take note that our Daycare Christmas concert will be on Dec 13,2018 @ 4:00PM.Please let your child white or Red shirt on that day. Thanks Hazel & Janice B. WE WISH ALL OUR FAMILIES A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND HOPE THAT AS WE MOVE INTO 2019 .ALL ENJOY A NEW YEAR WITH HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND LOT OF FUN. Enjoy the next few months… Our next news will be in March.