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Lakeside Presbyterian Church Weekday Preschool

April 2010 Newsletter

April 2010

***We are closed April 5 - 9 for Spring Break*** .
April tuition payments are due no later than Friday, April 2

School News
Summer Session Enrollment
It is time to start looking ahead to summer if you haven’t already done so! We have spaces available for our Summer Adventure Series for Playgroup and Preschool classes in all 7 weeks. Check out all of the fun stuff we have planned! You can sign up online here. Sorry, the TMO and PreK are full all weeks. Reminder: Payment of the balance for the summer session is due in full by May 3 unless other arrangements have been made with Mrs. Amrhein.

2010 -11 Enrollment
Enrollment Packets will be sent the last week of April and are due back with the non-refundable enrollment fee no later than May 15. it is very important to get these filled out and turned in because no spaces will be held after May 15th unless prior arrangements have been with Mrs. Amrhein. Thank you for notifying the office immediately if your plans have changed so we do not send an enrollment packet if it is not necessary. Available openings: Toddler Morning Out class - 1 or 2 every day, Playgroup - 1 MWF, Preschool - 1 MWF, 3 in PreK, 2 in Kindergarten. Our next Open House is Tuesday, June 1 from 9-11am.

Annual “little hands-BIG ART” Show & Spaghetti Dinner
Our annual fundraiser for the God is Good Scholarship Fund will be held on April 24. Mark your calendar now and be here to see awesome art created by your child, bid on wooden trays decorated by each class for the Silent Auction and enjoy great fellowship while eating the best spaghetti in town. We will have 2 seatings for dinner, 5:30pm and 6:30pm. Each dinner will include baked spaghetti, salad, bread, dessert and a beverage. For each meal we are requesting a donation of $5 per person for 12 years and older; $2 per person for 3-11 year olds and no charge for under 2 years. This year’s silent auction items are trays that have been decorated by the children in each class. All of the proceeds from the dinner and the silent auction will benefit the God is Good Scholarship Fund. ~Ticket information will be sent home April 12 & 13.~ Once again it will be the parents volunteering to help with this event that will ensure it’s success. If you would like to volunteer to help, please let us know on your ticket order form.  As a thank you, all volunteers and their immediate family will eat free.

D.E.A.R. Day
Our Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten children will celebrate Drop Everything And Read Day on Monday April 12.  This event encourages families, friends, and communities to come together for 30 minutes and read. We are asking each child to participate by bringing in a favorite book to read in their classroom.  For more information about the program please visit this website.

Library Appreciation Luncheon
Our favorite librarian “Mr. Rob” from Dumbarton Library has been invited to lunch by the Pre-K and Kindergaten children on April 14 in honor of Library Appreciation Week.

Happy face Photography
On Friday, April 30, Happy Face Photography will be here to take Spring portraits and class pictures. The Kindergarten, Pre-K, and Preschool classes will take traditional pony pictures. The Playgroup and TMO classes will take their pictures with a live bunny. Happy Face has asked that parents who want to have any siblings photographed let the Preschool office know beforehand so they are prepared with the appropriate equipment. Please let us know no later than Friday, April 23.  A reminder will be sent home with your child on April 21 & 22.

Lambeth Petting Zoo
To help us celebrate Farm Week our Petting Zoo friends will be here on Wednesday April 28 from 10 - 11:30am. They will bring some of their animals for the children to see and pet. Children who do not normally attend school on Wednesdays are invited to come for the petting zoo during their classes scheduled time. They must be accompanied by their parent or other responsible adult. A schedule for the petting zoo will be sent home with your child on April 22 & 23.

Thank you
We would like to give a big Thanks! to all of our Easter Party volunteers: Mary Brooke Maher, Leah Belcher, Jessica Collins, Traci Anthony, Gwen Carlson, Blaire Wyatt, Mandy Maughan, Michelle Ashworth, Jan Lawrence, Margie Benko, and Teri Chester(& Jenna).  We appreciate that you gave your time not only for your own child’s class, but for all the other classes as well. It was lots and fun and we couldn’t have done it without your participation.

VAECE Conference
As you know the Preschool was closed on Friday, March 19. What you may not have known is that it was so the staff could attend the Virginia Association for Early Childhood Education Annual Conference. We spent not only Friday but also Saturday attending workshops on all sorts of subjects related to what we do starting at 8:30am and ending at 4:30pm each day. Attending events such as this conference is always good for the soul and ones’s mental health! It is always good to spend time with others who do the same work you do, face the same challenges you do. It offers wonderful opportunities for sharing ideas, learning new approaches and checking out new resources. Many of the teachers have written a small recap of their time at the conference here.

Reminders
School begins at 9am!
We intentionally begin arrival at 8:45am for Playgroup, Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten so those teachers can begin their morning meeting by 9am. It is during these meetings that they set the tone for the day with their children talking about what has been planned for the morning, sharing “news”, perhaps reading a story. When you bring your child late they miss that and there is a disconnect. We understand that there are those times when arriving late is unavoidable, but when that is not the case please help your child get the most out of their day by bringing them on time through the arrival line.
Arrival for TMO begins at 9am.

Arrival & Dismissal Safety
Again we ask that you PLEASE:
start a second line if when you come into the parking lot you see that you are nearer the entrance than the curve you come around just before reaching the drop off/pickup spot so no one will have to sit out on Hermitage Road. This is a safety issue. Please respect the other drivers and take turns entering the drop off/ pick up turn.
make sure to leave your child in their car seat for us to take out when it is their turn.
turn off cell phones and DVD players when we come to your car for arrival and dismissal.

Kindergarten Registration
Henrico County Public Schools will hold their registration on April 27, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm or 6:00-8:00pm. For more information on what items to bring to registration please visit http://www.henrico.k12.va.us

Shoes
Children must wear socks and a shoe that is secure on the foot. Flip-flops, crocs and slides are not acceptable. A child will not be allowed to go outside or to Creative Movement if they do not have on appropriate shoes. Parents will be called to bring appropriate shoes if they have not been sent with the child to change into. We do understand the battles that occur at home. So if need be, pack alternate shoes in your child’s backpack and we will take care of it for you. Thanks!

Box tops
Thank you for continuing to send in those boxtops! Look for a collection sheet attached to your calendar. All proceeds from the boxtops go to fund additional outdoor play equipment. Currently we are working on our “riding fleet”, hoping to add scooters this year.

Aluminum
Don’t toss ‘em! Bag ‘em and send ‘em to us! Ask family, friends, neighbors, co-workers to save too. All proceeds go into the building maintenance fund which we use for minor repairs like repairing toilets, replacing light bulbs, etc.

From the Director’s Desk
I love attending professional conferences and during my 39 years as an educator I have attended my share. I love the exchange and interaction with my peers and professional colleagues. During this last conference I had an opportunity to attend a workshop specifically for directors of programs like ours. This workshop was unique in that it was devoted to letting attendees share concerns and challenges we have in common. The focus quickly narrowed down to one common concern and challenge - how to get parents to pay attention to and really read notes and newsletters and other communications we send home; how to impress upon our parents that when they don’t read or ignore a note, a memo, a newsletter, it sends a powerful message about the value they put on what we and their children are doing. We find ourselves wondering why bother, why spend the time to keep parents informed? I found myself wondering what a parent’s reaction would be if the reverse were true. What if your communications were treated the same way, just glanced over or ignored all together, if you had done everything you could to let your child’s teacher know what your child needed only to get no response at all or to get a response that was not at all what was asked for? Unfortunately, we failed to come up with a solution except to just keep at it for the sake of the children entrusted to our care. Maybe one of you can help . . . Perhaps you can tell me how you decide what deserves your attention or more specifically why what we send home to you doesn’t.

Monthly Happenings:
For your thoughts and prayers
*The family of Edna Ruth Fleming - Mrs. Fleming was a teacher and the Director of the Preschool before Mrs. Amrhein. She died Friday, March 26. She nurtured, loved and had a profound impact on so many children and their families for 28 years. A Memorial Service will be held at the church on Monday, April 5 at 2pm followed by a reception in the fellowship hall. 
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*Mrs. Dunkelberger and her family as they await the birth of their new baby. She will be induced on Monday, April 5 if the baby doesn’t arrive before then. Mrs. Anderson will be taking over for her for the remainder of the year with Mrs. Cooke, Mrs. Johnson and Ms. Hodges continuing as classroom assistants.
*Aidan Greer’s family - his maternal grandfather was in the hospital

Congratulations
Luke Altman - he has a new brother, Braxton!

Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Rhys Baker on April 15, Mia Helmlinger on April 17 and Kaitlyn Foster on April 29! 

This Month at Lakeside Presbyterian Church
**Thursday, April 1: You and your family are invited to our Maunday Thursday Service 7pm in the church sanctuary.
**Sunday, April 4: Our Easter Sunday activities include two worship services: 8:30am and 11:00am and our annual Easter Breakfast will be at 9:15am in the fellowship hall. Bring your favorite breakfast dish to share and flowers to decorate the cross after breakfast.

Classroom Updates
This section will regularly feature a snippet from your child’s teacher’s monthly updates that are featured on our parent discussion forum. The Discussion Forum is here to allow parents more access to their child’s preschool day. It is open to parents and family members of currently enrolled students only.

Toddler’s Morning Out:
The week after Spring Break we’ll be learning about many different animals like farm animals as we get ready for the Preschool Petting Zoo on Wednesday 4/28 and Happy Face Photography Bunny Pictures on Friday 4/30. Also, there will be plenty of beautiful artwork from our toddlers in the ‘Little Hands, Big Art’ Show and Spaghetti Dinner Saturday 4/24. We’re so happy Spring is here!...read more.

Playgroup:
Mrs. Bobbie’s Class - This week we will be learning all about rainbows and clouds....a very exciting, colorful theme! During the last week of March we will talk about Easter and more about Spring. As much fun as these weekly themes are, they are also introducing and reinforcing important concepts such as number/letter/shape/color recognition, fine and gross motor skills, as well as social skills such as sharing, cooperating, being patient and of course HAVING FUN WITH OUR FRIENDS!...read more
Mrs. Jackie’s Class - Dr. Seuss Week was a big success! We spotted One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, sampled Green Eggs and Ham (yummy!), and read about the mischievous Cat in the Hat!  Also, helping us with all the book fun were our Mystery Readers!  Thanks to: Keygan’s mom, Sawyer’s grandma and grandpa, and Josephine’s mom and dad for coming in different times this week to read to our excited group! ...read more.

Preschool:
Mrs. Hudson’s Class - The Book Mobile visited us on Monday, March 22nd and the boys and girls heard two Dr. Seuss stories Ms. Carolyn read.  They all love the Book Mobile.  We have also had a visitor from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts come to the preschool to do art with us.  Most of the art we make will be displayed at our Art Show/Spaghetti Dinner in April.  Be sure you come so you can see your child’s beautiful and creative art work. ...read more
Mrs. Johnson’s Class - For Letter V, we made a basket of vegetables picture and talked about eating our vegetables to grow big and strong.  This week we will be making watermelon pictures for Letter W and begin working on some Easter crafts.  Don’t forget that next week we will have our Easter Party and our Egg Hunt! read more.

Pre-K:
Mrs. Oliver’s Class - We have started Easter activities during center time with “Easter Bunny Bowling,” “Easter Egg Match,” and “Easter Egg Letter Match.” We will be reading an assortment of spring-themed and Easter-themed books.  We will also be making Easter egg “chicks.” ...read more.
Mrs. Parent’s Class - Right after St. Patrick’s, we jumped into spring. We are talking about the changing of seasons, and what we can look for to tell us that spring is here. The children have done so well with describing what we see, new colors are showing up, animals are showing their heads, flowers are showing sprouts. I think they are ready for spring and all the new discoveries we have been talking about. ...read more.
Mrs. Riley’s Class - I told the kids to keep their eyes peeled for “signs of spring”.  When we walked outside, several kids pointed to a parking sign and said, “Look Mrs. Riley, a sign for spring!” I then clarified that we weren’t looking for actual SIGNS.  Your children continue to make me smile on a daily basis, and I feel very blessed to have them in my life....read more.

Kindergarten: We are still working on word families. This week we worked on the –op family. We also worked on rhyming words and counting syllables in words. We have started working on spelling phonetically.  I want to have them start writing in their journals and want to encourage them to try sounding out words and writing them the way they sound. We will be working on this next week....read more.

Extended Hours: When we come back from spring break we will be starting a new schedule with the afternoon program. Pre-K and Kindergarten children will be staying in the PreK classrooms until quiet time is over. They will have a quiet time of their own, but it will be shorter.  After quiet time all the children will gather in the extended hours room for snack, then we will go outside if the weather is good or have centers inside if the weather is uncooperative...read more.

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions! 

Highlights This Month