MERRY CHRISTMAS

I just noticed that the december newsletter never updated.  I apologize for this!  Please review and let me know if you have any questions.

Our new theme this Month is WINTER WONDERLAND.  Last week our lesson started with water and the different things it can become.  We learned about snow flakes and icicles.  We made colored icecubes and painted with them!  We attempted to make a Christmas tree with our fingerprints but we had so much fun that we ruined it in the end but had lots of fun>LOL   We also made designs with soap and painted over our designs with the colored ice cubes to see our designs magically appear!

We have been learning two Christmas dances and learning fun classic carols.  we will be posting our dances this Thursday!!  Please dress your child in holiday colors on this day.

We also are still learning about healthy nutrition and our food groups.  The children have begun separating the food out of their lunch boxes into the proper food groups.  We have been encouraging trying new foods and have been happy to see changes in the lunch boxes!  Our younger ones are learning to speak in sentences and a variety of different food every day helps build vocabulary.

November curriculum

For the month of November we will be focusing on friends and family, health and nutrition. Please go to this site for information pertaining to what your child will be learning www.choosemyplate.gov

The cold weather is fast approaching!  Below you will find many friendly reminders as we move forward in our school year.  This is a general newsletter so if something doesn't pertain to you or your child please disregard.

• Ms Amanda and I recently attended an Early learning NH teaching conference.  We attend these regularly to keep up with the state regulations and to learn creative and knowledgeable information to teach your child/children.  I attended a technology class and i learned about the recent research pertaining to children and learning.  With this I have decided to adjust our daily schedule to a minimum of ½ hour of television a day.  I have also removed computer time from our curriculum because with the invention of tablets and handheld learning devices, professionals have come to the conclusion that children are being inundated with technology.  The academy of pediatrics also recommends that children over 3 do not have more than an hour of Technology a day.  THIS INCLUDES, TABLETS, VIDEO GAMES AND TELEVISION. If your child is having more than this at home, please rethink and adjust their schedule.  Here is a link to a website that amanda found with some startling info.   www.babysleepsite.com/toddlers/how-tv-affects-toddler-preschooler-sleep/   
• Learning under the age of six happens best when a child is engaged with a parent or an adult having quality time.

Fun ways to learn the alphabet phonics:

memory game(matching upper and lowercase using flashcards)

Go fish also using flash cards.

alphabet lotto games

finding letters in old magazines

READING BOOKS

playing eye-spy but give just the beginning sound of the item first.

Fun ways to learn numbers and math skills:

setting the table for dinner(counting how many of each item needed)

matching socks

helping you cook dinner or bake

game of war but use pennies, buttons or cheerios to count our the number so your child can visually see.(first start with 1-5)  This is called one-to-one correspondence.

using a ruler to measure how deep the water in the bathtub is.

• Cold weather gear is needed asap. PLEASE LEAVE A SET AT THE DAYCARE

1. please dress your child in layers in the morning
2. a pair of slippers or shoes that are just used for inside
3. 2 pairs of gloves/mittens. knit mittens are good for now but please supply us with a pair of insulated mittens also.
4. sweatshirt for colder days
5. 2 pairs of extra socks
6. snow boots that can accommodate two pairs of socks or wool socks
7. snow pants(these are worn on cold days,not just snow days
8. 2 hats(one thin hat to be worn under helmet for sledding

• We welcome parents to come and hang out at the end of the day!  With this does come the challenge of dayschool rules vs home rules.  Please make sure you adhere to the rules of the Dayschool while you and your child are on school property.  This not only confuses your child but also the additional children in our care.  We strive to be consistent and fair to all children in our care.  If you are unsure of certain rules please ask and we will gladly clarify.
• Please make sure to sign your child in and out daily and to sign at the end of the week.  This is a state mandated law.  We are also requesting emails again so please write your in the signature spot on this weeks attendance sheet.
• Finally, we will be open on Veterans Day.  We will be closed instead for Thanksgiving and the day after.
• Lastly, the children will be making a class wish list for toy donations instead of teacher gifts.  We will post this at the last week of November.

Monthly Newsletter- Halloween Parade and Potluck

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A NEW LINK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE WHERE YOU CAN ACCESS THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER, IT IS ALSO POSTED HERE. THIS LINK IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE UNDER "MORE INFO"

HALLOWEEN PARADE AND POTLUCK

Our 12th annual Halloween Parade and potluck will be October 30th from 4:00-5:00.

• The children will walk down the driveway in their halloween costumes. On their return trip back down the driveway is when we pass out the halloween candy to the children.  In order for this to go smoothly please follow the routine and rules as follows.

• Sign up list for potluck will be posted on the parent wall inside the dayschool.  We are open for any creative ideas!  We do however want to offer a balanced meal.  We will have spots open for meals, desserts and drinks.  All parents are encouraged to bring candy or a special treat to place in the trick or treat bags.
• Please send in your childs costume the DAY BEFORE our party in a labeled bag.  we can apply face make-up or paint as long as you supply it. also if you sign up for party ware please send this in the day before.
• make sure you send your child a treat or trick container for collecting their special treats and candy.  If forgotten we will supply a market basket bag but the children tend to lose these bags after the party and become distressed.  With their own special bag labeled with their name their will be no confusion.  
• Please arrive for the parade 10 minutes before march.  This will allow time for you to put your potluck items on the tables.  We have a small group this year so please line up after the shed.  smile and way but please do not yell out.  This causes our quieter children to run to their parents and they miss the parade.
• ON the walk back is when you may pass out the special treats you have for the children.  It is much easier for the children if the parents line on on the same side.  This way the children only have to walk in a straight line to achieve success!
• Potluck is self serve. We hold off on the sweet stuff until after some main dishes are eaten.
• Seabrooks trick or treat night is also this night.  We have found it helpful to feed the children a meal before you head out on the town.  
• Finally please supervise and watch your child/children during this event.  Make sure your child is following the daycare rules.  If you become unsure of a rule please ask

SEPTEMBER 29TH- OCTOBER 3RD

We continue to learn about our 5 senses and four body parts!! We made eye balls using ping pong balls and looked in the mirror to observe our unique eye color!  We learned about air and wind and the sense of touch.  How we can feel wind but can's see it.  We discovered that we can see the things the wind moves; like trees, clouds our hair!  We all agreed that we can FEEL the wind with our sense of touch.  Sarah actually told me she could feel the air with her tongue and I was IMPRESSED.

For art exploration we did leaf print and leaf rubbings.  We also free painted using red and yellow to discover the color orange is made!

Fun songs this wk were the monkey song and I'm so wonderfully made. Our poem was WAY UP HIGH IN THE APPLE TREE.

Jacob and Ricky have had a great week potty training!  KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.

Next week we will be doing a mini fire safety unit.

Our field trip to Charmingfare farm is next Friday Oct. 10th.  Please review our field trip link for items needed and our departure and arrival back times.  We will not be able to wait for tardy children on this day because we have quite a long drive.

Fall is in the air!

With Ms. Melissa on vacation this week we have Ms. Liza with us again! Fall is in the air at Over the Rainbow especially after our field trip to cider hill. This week we learned about our 5 senses pertaining to fall. Things such as weather, leaves, apples etc. We also decorated the daycare for the season with our weekly projects and it looks so festive! The kids really enjoyed cutting, coloring, painting, gluing and getting messy. We hope everyone has a great weekend, see you Monday :)

My amazing body

With ms. Amanda on vacation, the children were so excited to have ms. Liza back with us!! 

We are continuing our body theme and also doing a small apple unit with the apples we picked on Friday.

The children observed x-rays and learned about their bones in their bodies. They also did apple lacing and started making a scarecrow.

We had fun dancing to HOT POTATO, HEAD SHOULDERS KNEES AND TOES AND HANDS ON MY HEAD.

Field trip day!

This morning we went to cider hill farm bright and early so we were the first ones there! The kids had the whole orchard to themselves and loved eating apples that they picked. We also had yummy cider doughnuts and fresh apple cider. We saw and fed goats, pigs, ducks and chickens and went on the swings. A big thanks to Ricky's mom and Jacob and Matthew's mom for helping out today, we had so much fun!

My amazing body! Arms

We learned that we need our arms to help us hold, catch and throw. The most important thing we learned was that arms are for hugging!

We did the wheels on the bus and head shoulders knees and toes!!

Reminder: Apple picking on Friday. Please read the field trip page for more info.

Week 2 of my amazing body

Today we got to lay on the table and Ms. Melissa traced us! It was fun to see drawings of ourselves with our different outfits, colors and heights. We also learned about what it means to have manners and to be polite. Ask me about my "I am polite" bracelet that we got today while being polite during a story about good manners.

Amazing body day 3

The question of the day today was,"what can I touch to my head?" 

It was fun to try to touch different body parts to our heads. We again counted the different body parts on our head. We used a Mirror to see the parts we knew and the parts who's names were new to most of us: forehead, eyebrows, chin, and neck.

We danced to, I CAN WIGGLE MY FINGERS, HEAD SHOULDERS KNEES AND TOES AND HANDS ON SHOULDERS.

My body day 2

Today we looked in the mirror at our faces. We noticed that we all have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears etc. We also saw that sometimes our friends have different color hair, eyes and shades of skin. We drew our heads on paper plates to put on our "look how much I've grown!" Project.

My body!

We are back to a great school year. 

We began our unit on my body!! We traced and painted our arms and hands. We make "me puppets".

The color of the week is brown. We flew brown birds around the room to find something brown.

To reinforce our body parts we played STAY AWAY ALLIGATOR! .

Fall registration

We are now accepting registration for the fall. We currently have openings for 4 full time 3-4 year olds. We are also taking registrations for spring 2015 for 6wks-2 years

VACATION WEEK

We will be having special days all next week to help with the winter boredom!  We will be awarding prizes for each day that they participate.

MONDAY:    P.J. DAY/ wear your favorite sleep wear to school all day!! We will be having breakfast for lunch.  Ms. Melissa will be making pancakes and waffles.( you may always send in lunch still if you want a healthy lunch for your child)

TUESDAY: FIELD TRIP TO MONKEY JOES:

Departing at 11:30

Returning at 3:30

Cost $20.00

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING A CAR SEAT

WEDNESDAY: MOVIE DAY/ bring in your favorite movie and dress like your favorite character from the movie!  We will be having popcorn, movie candy and sprite.

THURSDAY: backwards/ silly day. Wear your clothes, backwards, inside out and mismatched with silly hair!!

FRIDAY:  Favorite color day. Dress in just your favorite color!,  we will be doing face painting and tattoos.