March 2005

SPRING, SPRING SPRING.......IT'S COMING !!!!!!!!!!

We are hoping that we have seen the last of the snow.
We will be sending slippers and snow gear home the week
of March 21^st, It's time to check your child's extra clothes
box and replace clothing as needed. The children have grown
and the fall clothes probably won't fit. We will be outside
on a daily basis and ask you to dress your child appropriately.
Proper shoes are very important for the safety of the children.
Gym shoes are the best.

ST PATRICK'S DAY NEWS...

We will have our St. Patrick's Day celebration
on Thursday, March 17^th.

The teachers and I attended
Insights 2004 on February 26^th.
Insights is a conference sponsored
by the Illinois Childcare Association.
We attended workshops
during the day as part of our
in-service training.

The fours and fives will be attending the play,
"Little Red Riding Hood"
at St. Patrick's High School
presented by the
Chicago Children's Theater
on Friday, March 11^th.


	REMINDER: We will be closed on Friday, March 25, 2005

March is National Nutrition Month
It is a good time to look at the importance of healthful eating, especially for young children. According to a December 30, 2004 report by the American Heart Association, more than 10% of US children, ages two to five, are overweight. This is up from 7% in 1994. The 10% figure comes from 2002 figures so that today things are probably even worse.
According to the Boston Globe (December 31, 2004), experts blame three things for this. (1) Junk food is being marketed directly to young children in TV and print ads.(2) Children watch too much TV which keeps them from getting enough exercise to keep their weight down. (3) Fewer families sit down to eat meals together.
It is our responsibility as caregivers to help children learn about healthful eating and exercise. Feeding children healthful foods in appropriate portions and sharing information about nutrition with each other is an important part of our everyday lives.
-Everyday TLC, March 2005

March Birthday List

Miss Michelle March 1^thKatelyn M. March 7^th Miss Lori March 8^thAlex D. March 10^thKevin C. March 10^thMakenzie F. March 23^rdAnthony V. March 27^thJ'Lyn W. March 30^th
^{HAPPY
BIRTHDAY!!!}

Easy Organization Tips

By organizing the items and toys in your child's room or play area, you're helping her becomes more independent and resourceful. Here are four of our favorite ideas:

	•	Save plastic baby-wipe containers to store art supplies like markers, crayons and brushes. Your child can help decorate and label each container.
	•	Hang hammock-like, stretchy material in a corner to store stuffed animals or dolls in. Hang it low so that children can reach the toys.
	•	Use a clear over-the-door shoe organizer to store your child's collections. label the dividers with fun facts about the contents.
	•	gWhen it's time to get rid of an old dresser, save the drawers. Attach wheels to the bottoms to create roll-away, under-the-bed storage bins.
** from Scholastic Parent & Child, February/March 2005

WHAT'S HAPPENING...

Our Teddy Bears, the two's ...
during Circus Week, each child painted a circus animal train car
using the rolling marble technique when all the cars were finished,
the children added pictures of circus animals and pipe cleaners.
The children used red, white and pink paint to decorate these beautiful
Valentine's Day flowers. The children also enjoyed gluing red, white and pink
rice onto heart cutouts. During Colors Week the children used all different colors
to paint their coffee filter butterflies. During Dental Health Week we used toothbrushes
to paint their yellow teeth white. We really enjoyed making pictures with shaving cream.
After talking about how dinosaurs hatch from eggs we used paint and glitter to decorate
our own baby dinosaur eggs.

The Bunny Bunch, the threes ...
during Valentine's Week we decorated our room with love bugs.
We also created tissues paper collages.
We have a great time playing games and passing out treats at our Valentine's Party.
For Groundhog's Day we made groundhog puppets using brown fur and yarn.

Our 4's, our Junior Kindergarten ...
did an experiment during Dental Health Week to see how pop and coffee satin your teeth.
We used toothpaste and a toothbrush to clean the eggs.
The pop came off with brushing, the coffee was much harder.
We cut out train engines and finger-painted them with red, brown, orange and blue paint.
Our Junior Kindergarten loved getting messy during the finger-painting activity.
Our heart people were made with lots of love and sent home on Valentine's Day.
We also enjoyed making these three-dimensional heart paintings.

Our 5's, our Kindergartener's...
made a 100th day poster on the 100th day of school.
We also had a number scavenger hunt and numbered 100 items in our room.
We also practiced counting by 5's. For Valentine's Day was sponge painted hearts
and painted a big heart. We put a doily on it with our picture. During transportation
week we sorted different vehicles into land, water and sky.

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