Welcome back from our annual Summer Break!  I hope you all had a fun 4th of July holiday!

July’s Learning Theme: Hogwart’s (Harry Potter) Summer Camp

STEM will be “Potions”, Arts and Crafts will be “Care of Magical Creatures”, and Music and Theater will focus on imagination and expression.

While the children probably haven’t seen the Harry Potter series, we will still enjoy the story’s themes of magical wonder, problem solving, and bravery.  Circle Time will have a selection of fantasy-themed stories I’ve selected from our local library with beginning comprehension exercises based on each child’s developmental objectives.  Last month the children began practicing (with great success!) appropriate Circle Time behavior such as sitting with respectful space and listening, raising hands to share, and participation in conversation when called on.

STEM’s “potions” period will help children with dexterity and use of tools as they pour, measure, and select amounts of ingredients.  We will have, as usual, a mix of group and individual projects.  Slime, sensory bottles, baking, brewing sun tea, and homemade play-doh are some of the fun activities we will be doing.

For Arts and Crafts, we will practice literacy concepts: book parts, order and method of reading such as left to right, page turning, and identifying letters and words.  We will also be creating our own books on “The Care of Magical Creatures”, which will be a mix of both process and product art with simple text.

For Music and Theater, we will be working on forms of expression: physical movement, volume, and using music and song.  This will help children apply movement to music and is the foundation for performance.  We will also move our ABC Yoga literacy and movement activity from Circle Time to this period as a transitional starting activity.

For Sports and Recess 101, I have noticed ALL of the children enthralled with playing catch with our beach ball, soccer ball, and foam baseballs, so I will be putting together some fun catch games this month to help them develop this interest!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Now that the children have had a chance to transition into their new environment, I will begin setting up the conference times for our initial meeting to discuss learning objectives for your child.  Both parents (preferred) or just one parent can attend; the meeting will be about 30-minutes long.  We will review family goals and needs, discuss and set academic and socio-emotional leaning objectives, and review the observations I have made for your child.

Conference appointments are available for Fridays at either 1pm or 1:45pm on Aug. 16th, Aug. 23rd, Aug. 30th, Sept. 13th, and Sept. 20th.  I will have a sign-up sheet posted on the chalk board starting Monday.

These are formal assessments that will be held semi-annually in Aug/Sept and again in February, so I will be using both my own assessment matrices in addition to California’s Department of Education’s DRDP-SR (Desired Results Developmental Profile: School Readiness) report tool that will be modified for your child’s age.

Starting this month, I will be providing end-of-month assessments after your child has completed the month’s learning theme and objectives. As always, I am available any time to talk about your child if there is a concern. 

Announcements:

My application to the 4C’s (Community Child Care Council of Santa Clara County) food program, CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) has been accepted. This program provides a subsidy for healthy meals provided and continued nutritional training for me. There is no cost or direct enrollment for you. I will have a Child Enrollment Report form from the program for each parent to sign acknowledging that I have enrolled in the program and am providing nutritious meals to your child. The intent of this form is to provide transparency for my participation and equal opportunity for all children to receive healthy meals.  This does not change the healthy meals or portions I am already providing. Participating in this program helps me manage the food costs, which is passed along in savings to you by keeping my tuition lower than the county’s average rates.

Reminders

1. Please fill out the Food Program form (at sign-in area).
2. Please RSVP for the Family Field Trip this Saturday, July 13th at 11am for Big Basin if you plan on attending.
3. Please sign-up for your P/T conference – appointment listings are on the blackboard.