QUARTERLY PARENT NEWSLETTER
LESSARD DAYCARE & OUT OF SCHOOL CARE
QUARTERLY PARENT NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2020 – MAY 2020
WWW.LESSARDDAYCARE.COM
NEWS FROM THE ROOMS….
Toddler Room
In the months of December, January & February 2019, we have been busy engaging in lot of learning experiences & fun activities.
Our celebrations included Holiday Celebration with our families & the biggest surprise was the visit of Santa with a bag full of gifts…., also he let us to sit on his lap…. we were so… excited., Chinese New Year Dragon Dance Parade, Family Day Celebration with Family Potluck & Our favorite Valentine’s Day Celebration & parade by wearing Valentine’s hat which was a lovely gift by our neighbor room…., Junior Leader friends.
We learned some new songs, finger plays and read some stories and had a group talks about other celebrations like Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Our special activities were Crazy Hair Day, Ice Cream Day, Movie & PJ Day, Baking Day etc.….
We have been enjoying outdoor activities like community walk, playing in our playground and running up & down the hill. When the weather did not permit us to go outside, we had lots of inside activities like balance beam & tunnel, basketball by using little hoops & soft balls, loose parts play, soccer by using soft soccer balls, freeze dance & much more… Also, our Toddler program plan is the reflection of children’s emerging interest & it includes enough opportunities for open- ended exploration & fun…
As time flies and spring is so closer, we will enjoy more outdoor activities & we highly recommend all the parents to send your child with appropriate clothing for the ever-changing weather. Also, we encourage you all to check the monthly calendar for the special activities & special day and send your child with a special book on their special day please…. You are always welcome to join us with anytime…
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the parents for your cooperation, support and your kind words… really that is our inspiration to move forward… If you have any questions please feel free to talk to Janice and Marjie.
Janice & Marjie
Preschool Room
Over the last three months of Dec 2019 to Feb 2020 we have been very busy engaging in several meaningful learning activities covering all our developmental domains. In December, we talked about baking, all about Mommy, animals and insects that live under the snow, and All about Christmas. We tried real cooking and baking activities that turned out quite delicious. We took ETS bus trips to West Edmonton Mall as part of our community involvement experience and we enjoyed special PJ and Movie days. We also spent some time talking about Holiday Celebrations and preparing for our winter concert. The children worked very hard in making gifts for their parents. We finished the month of December with our Annual family seasonal celebration which included song and dance productions, lots of good food and meaningful engaging conversational time with our daycare families.
January and February 2020 found us just as busy with so many activities. We explored and learned more about My Family, Family activities, Community workers, Firefighters and Doctors. We also had the children experienced indoor camping and picnicking in winter. We celebrated Chinese New Year with yummy Chinese noodles for our snacks and a dragon dance parade where we wore red shirt as a sign of good luck and good fortune in Chinese culture. We celebrated Valentine's Day sharing chocolate and cards with our peers and family. We also celebrated Black History Month to remember important people and events in the history of African diaspora. In line with this, the staff wore African dress, brought Jamaican uncooked food and served Jamaican water cracker and chocolate milk for snacks. It was a day full of fun and dancing to the tune of Jamaican reggae and ska music
Even though January and mid-February have been so cold and kept us indoors most of the time we still enjoyed our outdoor activities including carpet sledding, snow mountain climbing, walking around the community and playground activities. Over all we really enjoyed our time spent in a warm and safe environment. March promises to be an exciting month full of wonderful learning activities and we are looking forward to that with much anticipation. We truly thank you so much for all your kind invaluable support and input into our program. You are highly appreciated. Enjoy a lovely spring when it gets here….
Eunice and Janice S.
Kinder Room
The month of December 2019 was great and busy with our kindergarten children. We talked about the December holidays. We went to the mall to see Christmas decorations and busy shoppers. Holiday songs are heard and Santa was the thought and sentence of the children.
They learned colors, plants, symbols, sounds, foods, activities that are associated with the Christmas season. We did pinecone painting, seasonal stencils, snowman painting, and candy cane craft making.
We also celebrated our Christmas Musical Winter Concert were children participated and enjoyed. It was full of a fun day of dancing and sharing foods with our daycare families. Santa Claus came to our room to give a gift to our children and all of them were so excited to open their gifts. Of course, it was a priceless opportunity for the children to learn how to respect different cultures and beliefs.
January 2020 was an interesting month for us. We talked about Zoo Animals and Farm Animals, did a lot of activities & crafts and it was quiet interesting. The children became familiar with the names, needs, kinds, and homes of different Zoo Animals. They also learned that Farm Animals have many different ways that help us, also became aware of the difference between pets and farm animals.
We had our trip to Safeway to visit the dairy section to look for dairy products in which farm animals produce milk, eggs, and meat. We had a movie day too! We watched the "Good Dinosaur" a heartwarming story about friendship. We also baked muffin cupcakes were children helped and mixed all the ingredients and it turned out yummy and that served us for our snacks.
February 2020, we explored and learned about Families, Friends, and Winter. Children developed an understanding of various family patterns. They learned what family members do for each other, as well as activities that families can participate in together. They also learned that they are making new friends at schools with whom they are taking turns, cooperate, work and play.
We also talked about Winter. The children learned about the coldest season by taking a look at winter clothing, weather characteristics during this season, indoor ,outdoor and winter sports. They developed an awareness of winter activities. The children also learned to identify the winter holidays and animals that hibernate during the winter. We celebrated the Chinese lunar new year with a dragon dance parade and Chinese noodles for snack , prepared by one of our teachers, which was so yummy. Valentine's Day and Family Day are both in February. We wore a red shirt, made "hearts wreath" and the children experienced the value of sharing by giving chocolates and cards with friends and family. We also had breakfast muffins for Family Day, And I would say thank you so much for all the parents who came and spent their time with us.
We discussed about Dental hygiene and visited a Dental clinic and learned more about how can we protect our teeth from decay, it was a part of our weekly topic of interest. Also we visited Lois Hole library and participated in the story hour , which is our favorite outdoor activity for ever. Yummy… we enjoyed our room’s multicultural Potluck Lunch and I use this occasion to express our sincere thanks to all the families for the delicious food.
We had lots of snow and very cold weather that kept us indoors most of the time but we still enjoyed our outdoor activities including sledding, snowman making, snow mountain climbing, and playground activities. Spring is almost there! we are excited about learning & enjoying more wonderful activities that we are looking forward to. We truly thank you for all your kind support in our program. If you have any concerns regarding your child, please feel free to contact me.
Raquel
OSC Room
Happy 2020.. A fresh start to a new year.. But before we tell you how we started the year with fun stuff let us recap on our December activities. The OSC had a wonderful winter Concert where children stepped up by doing most of the planning and the practices of the dances, songs and hosting the event. It was a great chance for them to be able to be creative and responsible and they definitely put up a great show. Another wonderful year of donations were given to struggling families this year. Big thanks to our staff, parents and children for bringing in food items winter gears as support for our humanitarian project. It was a great way to spread love and joy during the special holidays.
Then comes January where we braved the cold and enjoyed sledding activities at Centennial park. It was a bit chilly when we did sledding but that didn’t stop children from enjoying and loving the outdoors. February is quite busy as we had a couple of things happening . Valentines celebration and family day appreciation were done on the same day. Since we didn't have Store bought decorations , the Jr. leaders innovated by cutting and tracing heart mobiles to be used as our room decorations . It was such a great way of using up their skills and creativity...
One of the highlights of our Feb activities is our trip to EATON industries where children did a lot of Science and Technology , Engineering and Math related activities (STEM) . They got to do hands on activities to understand basic concepts about magnetic fields , rocket science, squishy circuits and Archimedes screw. It was such a fun day for our OSC children. Big thanks to ROHINI KALADARAN and the EATON management for accommodating us and feeding us with yummy Pizza & Juice. Also we enjoyed a POTLUCK LUNCH on our no school day and we use this occasion to express our sincere gratitude to all the families who brought delicious dishes to share. And lastly children did get a fun and relaxing activity through YOGA. Where they get to meditate and enjoyed physical literacy.. If you have any questions, please feel free to speak to the room teachers.
Thank you,
Hazel & Janice
CENTRE INFO – UP TO DATE AT A GLANCE
CENTRE CLOSURE- GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 10TH &
EASTER MONDAY, APRIL 13TH.
MOTHERS DAY TEA PARTY – THURSDAY , MAY 7th
(3:30 TO 5:30)
CENTRE CLOSURE- VICTORIA DAY-MONDAY, MAY 18TH .
DAYCARE & OSC RE-ACCREDITATION
Accreditation is a voluntary program that recognizes a daycare or After School Care as a high-quality service provider. The process is very intensive and the program must meet the six Accreditation Standards & a specific set of criteria which are above and beyond the Government of Alberta Childcare Regulations. It will be done every three years.
We have received the two weeks window of Daycare & OSC’s Re-accreditation Site – Visit , it will be from March 30, 2020 – April 09, 2020. All the paper works have been done already and all the child care rooms have been getting ready for the site visit. We really appreciate your support & cooperation
Spring/Summer CENTRE FUNDRAISING INFORMATION
Ø We will offer parents the option of selling chocolate almonds to help subsidize summer fieldtrip fees… we will provide you with more information as we move closer into May.
KINDERGARTEN 2020– 2021
Dear Parents,
The following schools will be on our schedule to transport kindergarten children as of September 2020.
Centennial School – Morning and Afternoon Kindergarten
Good Shepherd – Morning and Afternoon Kindergarten and 100 voice
Michael A Kostek – Morning and Afternoon Kindergarten
Our Lady of the Prairies – Morning and Afternoon Kindergarten and 100 voice
Callingwood – Morning and Afternoon Kindergarten and Early Learning
Lymburn – Morning & afternoon Kinder Garden & Early Learning
SUMMER 2020 / SEPTEMBER SURVEYS
As usual, we will be sending out parent surveys that will ask families if their child (children) will attend through summer and continue into September. The surveys will be sent out beginning of May. We appreciate this information because it allows us to plan more efficiently for our summer program as well allow for staff vacation.
Once again, we hope that our families find our newsletter informative and helpful. If there is any information that you would like to see in our newsletter, or you have any questions about our program, please speak with the Management or your child’s room teacher.
We thank you for your support at Lessard Daycare & Afterschool care.
