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Lakeside Presbyterian Church Weekday Preschool

February 2010 Newsletter

February 2010

Emergency Openings and/or Closings Policy**
If due to inclement weather Henrico County Public Schools: 
* Do not open, we will not open.
* Open 1 hour late, we will open at 8:45am, no AM Extended Hours
* Open 2 hours late, we will open at 10am, no AM Extended hours
If due to inclement weather Henrico County Public Schools dismiss early please check our web site, your e-mail and with the preschool office for information about how this will effect our dismissals and PM Extended Hours. No refunds are given for days missed due to inclement weather nor will a child be allowed to make up a day missed due to an unscheduled closing, delayed opening or early dismissal by coming on an off day.

**Putting the established “Unscheduled Closings, Delayed Openings and Early Dismissals” policy aside and closing our programs for Monday, February 1 as I did on Friday, January 29 was not an action I took without considering many factors nor is it something I have done very often in my 27 years as Director of this program. Rest assured, I will not set aside the policy unless I determine that it is in the best interest of my staff and the children in our care. Thank you for trusting in my judgment - - aamrhein

School News
Teddy Bear Clinic
Thursday, February 11 Pre-K and Kindergarten we will be holding our annual Teddy Bear Clinic. The clinic will be coming to us this year because of the H1N1 Visitor Policy that remains in effect at St. Mary’s Hospital where the clinic is normally held. We are very grateful that the nurses who run the program have chosen to take the program “on the road” instead of canceling it. Each child will need to pick a stuffed animal to bring that day to be their “patient”. Look for more information to come home with your Pre-K or Kindergarten student closer to the date.

Valentine Celebrations
Playgroup classes will celebrate on Thursday, Feb.11 and Friday, Feb.12 by exchanging valentines with their classmates. Please send in a valentine for each child in your child’s classroom. A current class list will be attached to your February calendar or here is the link to access all the class lists on our website. Playgroup teachers are planning a special treat for their children and ask that parents please not send any extra goodies in for this event.
Preschool classes will celebrate on Friday, Feb. 12 at a Heart to Heart Tea Party with their special guests. All guest invitations have been mailed. If your child’s guest has not received theirs, please let us know. Refreshments for the tea party are being provided. Please do not send extra goodies for this event unless requested to do so. Preschool classes will exchange their valentines on Friday, Feb. 12. A current class list will be attached to your February calendar or here is the link to access all the class lists on our website. 
Pre-K and Kindergarten classes will celebrate on Friday, Feb. 12 at a Heart to Heart Luncheon with their special guests. All guest invitations have been mailed. If your child’s guest has not received theirs, please let us know. Lunch is being provided. Please do not send extra goodies for this event unless requested to do so. Pre-K and Kindergarten classes will exchange their valentines on Friday, Feb. 12. A current class list will be attached to your February calendar or here is the link to access all the class lists on our website.

Dental Health Day
On Wednesday, February 17, all classes will have a special guest! Kaitlyn Foster’s mom, Jamie Foster from Boyle Dentistry will be here to talk with the children about proper dental hygiene including how to keep our mouths healthy by brushing and flossing properly. Ask your child to share what they learn with you!

Scholastic Book Fair
From Thursday, February 25 through Wednesday, March 3 we will be holding our first Scholastic Book Fair! Featuring the latest and finest titles for all ages, come shop for your family and friends and even contribute books to your child’s classroom library. We will be having a “Sneak Peak” on Thursday, February 25 and Friday, February 26 from 9am to 5pm for our parents. Come shop while your child is in school! Click here for more information about the Book Fair. This is not a money fundraiser. Points are earned for books sold and those points will be used by classroom teachers to “purchase” books and other fun things for their classrooms. 

“Breakfast and Books”
On Saturday, February 27 9:00-11:00am, we’ll be serving pancakes - all you can eat - for only a $1.00 donation per person and the Book Fair will be in full swing! We hope you will bring as many “extras” as you want - family, friends, neighbors. Look for a breakfast reservation form to come home with your child on February 15. Please return your reservation form on your child’s next day! 

Summer Adventure Series
Our Summer Program is a whopping 7 weeks long: June 7 - July 30. Enrollment begins February 1. We will offer a Toddlers Morning Out, Playgroup, Preschool, and Pre-K class this year staffed by our current teachers. Children will be placed in the appropriate class based on their current age. Parents who requested information about the summer program on their 2010-11 Enrollment Intent will find the information packet attached to their February calendar. If you did not request information on your intent form, but are now interested in receiving an information packet, please call the Preschool office or visit our website “http://www.lakesidepreschool.org/index.php/page/summer_adventure_series_weekly_schedules/#” title="website">website. A child does not have to be enrolled in the current or upcoming regular program to attend.

Hugs for Haiti
We are teaming up with the church to provide hygiene kits for Haiti earthquake victims. We are asking each child to contribute 2 of the items needed for each kit:
Playgroup, Preschool or TMO are asked to send in one wide toothed comb and one washcloth.
Pre-K and Kindergarten are asked to send in one pair of fingernail clippers and one bar of soap. 
Boyle Dentistry has donated 100 toothbrushes for each kit, thanks to Jamie Foster (Kaitlyn’s mom - Pre-K) who is one of their hygienists. Your child’s donation must be received by February 8. Pre-K and Kindergarten children will be putting the kits together that morning so the kits can be delivered by February 10 to the truck that will take them to Church World Services for shipment to Haiti.
We participated in a similar effort for tsunami victims. The response of our parents and the staff then was overwhelming and we have no doubt it will be so again - thank you!

2010-11 Enrollment Update
Toddlers Morning Out, Playgroup, Preschool and Kindergarten have a few openings still available. If you know someone who is interested encourage them to call now, to not wait. Pre-K classes are full but we will take children on a waiting list. Spaces will be held until May 15 only if an Intent form has been returned. Enrollment Packets will be sent home May 1 and are due back with the nonrefundable enrollment fee no later than May 15. 

February Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Mrs. Dunkelberger (TMO) - Feb. 6, Averie Abernathy - Feb. 7, Carter Wyatt - Feb. 8, Bliss Hays - Feb. 10, Kristen Wilkes - Feb. 12, Ms.Mandy (Music) - Feb. 17, Ms.Jill (Extended Hours)- Feb. 28,

For your thoughts and prayers
Duncan and Alden Carlson’s grandfather, Mrs. Hudson’s father (Lily Holtz’ grandfather), Mrs.Gill & Mrs.Spalding’s mother (Mrs. Dunkelberger’s grandmother & Leah Dunkelberger’s great-grandmother), Mrs. Porter’s mother-in-law (Katie Porter’s grandmother & Garrett Mattox’s great-grandmother), Pastor Dick’s son Russell stationed in Germany, a former student Christopher Wade stationed in Afghanistan

Thank you
We would like to thank all the Pre-K parents who contributed items for our daily snack supply. Also many thanks to the parents for donations of books and toys cleaned out to make room for new ones! Lastly, Mrs. Parent’s Dad for computers for our “coming soon” computer lab on the 3rd floor. 

Reminders
Scheduled “No School” Days
Our upcoming closing are as follows: Monday, February 15, Friday, March 19, Monday, April 5 - 9. Please make note!

2010-11 God Is Good Scholarships
Applications must be received by Friday, February 5. Applications received after that date will not be considered.

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!

2009 Tax Preparation
Please email or call the preschool office if you need a 2009 account statement. One will be sent home in your child’s important information folder.

Box tops
Thank you for continuing to send in those boxtops!  We received a check for $388.80 for our October Boxtops submission. Our next boxtops submission date is February 28 so keep them coming! Look for a collection sheet attached to your February calendar. All proceeds from the boxtops go to fund additional outdoor play equipment. Currently we are working on our “riding fleet”.

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
Sharing information about even minor changes at home helps your child’s teacher and your child more than you can imagine!
I have always encouraged teachers not to hesitate talking with parents when a child’s behavior has suddenly changed or has become consistently disruptive or inappropriate and strategies to correct or redirect are not working. In most cases there is information that the parent shares that helps to explain, not excuse, the behavior. Many times it involves a change at home as minor as one parent being out of town. While the parent might not think the information significant, it actually is. In some cases the parents are experiencing the same behavior at home and the conversation opens the door to working together to help the child.
I encourage you to do the same. Do not hesitate to let your child’s teacher know when something changes at home or when you have concerns about behavior in places outside of school. Communicate directly with your child’s teacher by phone, note or email. The information will help all the adults involved look at the child’s behavior with a “new” eye resulting in a different, more helpful and appropriate approach. What a great gift for everyone involved - especially your child! 

From the Church
Wednesday, February 10 Worship On Wednesday Dinner & informal Worship beginning at 6:00pm
Sunday, February 14 Scout Sunday 11am Worship
Wednesday, February 17 Ash Wednesday Service Dinner & informal Worship beginning at 6:15pm
Thursdays Brown Bag Bible Study 12noon led by Pastor Dick. Bring a lunch and if you need childcare to attend please call the Preschool office and we’ll help with that. 
Lamb’s Basket, the food pantry serving the Lakeside area needs volunteers to help with stocking and distributing weekdays 9:30am-1:15pm and with clean up on Saturdays 10-11:30am. Please call Janet Jones(364-1841) to volunteer yourself, your family or a group you belong to that’s looking for a service project.

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 Morning Out: - We had a wonderful start to the week with the beautiful weather, the kids enjoyed some time playing outside. We recently changed some toys out and the kids have enjoyed discovering and rediscovering the new ones. Next week we look forward to Valentine’s Day crafts. Watch for them to come home in the next few weeks! - ...read more

Playgroup:
Mrs. Bobbie’s Class - Last week we talked about Arctic animals, mostly penguins. We had a lot of fun making penguins using paint and potatoes. We also made little storybooks about penguins and painted the ice in the story with glittery paint. We read Where is Home, Little Pip? and we made a special project to go along with it. ...read more
Mrs. Jackie’s Class - January is making it’s way to an end!  We learned about appropriate dress for these cold days.  Our Artic Animals unit was so much fun (the kids love penguins!) and our week of snow, snowflakes and snowmen followed....read more.

Preschool:
Mrs. Hudson’s Class - It is hard to believe we are at the end of January. We have been so busy in the red room.  We have completed working on letters K, L, M., N, O & P.  With each letter we talk about the sound and what words start with that letter.  We have made kites, light bulbs, mittens, noodle necklaces, an octopus and pepperoni pizza.  The art work is awesome!  Some of it comes home and I am saving some of it for our art show in the spring. ...read more
Mrs. Johnson’s Class - This past week we started with Letter L, stamping Ls on paper and making light bulbs.  We read The Little Lamb and The Lamb Who Laughed a Lot.  We added Letter M mid-week and stamped Ms on paper, made marshmallow paintings, and made mittens.  We read The Mitten, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, The Monkey’s House, and How Many Mice?  We even ate some marshmallows for snack.  read more.

Pre-K:
Mrs. Oliver’s Class - Marshmallow painting, magnets, maps, and Little Miss Muffett were just a few of the things we focused on this week.  We read “Monkey’s Miserable Monday,” and “If You Give a Moose a Muffin.” We learned the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffett and had a great time taking turns being Miss Muffett and the spider and acting out the story.  During Community Time on Wednesday, the Pre-K had a treasure hunt for “gold” coins using treasure maps they made themselves.  You would not believe how much they got into this activity!...read more.
Mrs. Parent’s Class - This month we have studied the letters L, M, N, and we will start O this last week of January. For the letter M we read The Mitten by Jan Brett, and even acted out the story in the classroom. We did a craft where we made our own white mittens and laced them together to put the animals inside. Hopefully your child was able to tell you the story and use their mitten to act it out....read more.
Mrs. Riley’s Class - We have been very busy working on the letter O this week.  We are learning the differences between vowels and consonants, as well as learning about opposites.  The children have enjoyed playing different games with opposites.  We continue to work on blends and rhymes.  Busy, busy, busy!!  EVERYONE has learned their phone number, which makes me so proud (as I am sure you are)....read more.

Kindergarten: We spent some time talking about sentences and punctuation (i.e., periods, exclamation points, and question marks).  We will begin to talk about verbs, describing words, and also long and short vowel sounds.  We will also begin word families and rhyming words.  We will complete the alphabet with the letters Yy and Zz. In Social Studies we read the book “My First Biography-Martin Luther King, Jr.” and talked about his life and his dream. ...read more.

Extended Hours: January has been a short but busy month in extended hours. We have had several new students sign up this month. Our enrollment has now reached capacity for the Wednesday and Friday lunch bunch ( this is the playgroup and preschool group lunch at 12 noon) We will not be able to enroll anymore regular Wednesday or Friday children for lunch bunch… read more.

God is Good Time/ Music with Mrs. Gill - Who made the morning?  Where does God live?  What is God’s name?  These are some of the concepts we have been exploring during God is Good time this month.  We are also learning a fun song that incorporates laughing AND praise ...read more.

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions!

Highlights This Month