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Lakeside Presbyterian Church Weekday Preschool

November Newsletter

November 2008

School News
Happy Face Photography
Our friends at Happy Face Photography will be here to take individual portraits of the children on November 13th and 14th.  There is no prepayment or obligation to purchase.  Picture packages will be sent home within 10 days.  You may purchase all, part, or none of the package. The photographers must know by Monday, November 10 if a younger sibling is to be photographed or if siblings are to be photographed together so they are prepared with the appropriate equipment.. Please call or email the preschool office. A reminder “sticker” will be sent home the day before your child’s picture day.

Pre-K Dumbarton Library Performance
Our very own Pre-K children have been invited to be the “opening act” for the program “Sesame Street Party” at Dumbarton Library on November 18th. The children will ride the bus to the library. Families are definitely invited! If you plan to come please meet us there no later than 10am. Please call or email the preschool office if you have any questions.

Annual Lamb’s Basket Turkey Dinner Drive
Once again we are celebrating Thanksgiving with “turkey dinner” donations to the Lamb’s Basket , a food pantry serving the Lakeside community established and supported by area churches including ours. Each classroom is putting together a “turkey dinner” box. Your child’s item for their class’ “turkey dinner” box will be attached to this months calendar. All items are due on or before November 21st. The Pre-K children will deliver our “turkey dinner” boxes to the Lamb’s Basket on November 24th. Please feel free to send extra items for the box or the Lamb’s Basket.

Pre-K Thanksgiving Feast Program
The Pre-K children will hold their annual Thanksgiving Play and Feast on November 25th at 6:00 pm. Information has already been sent home with the Pre-K children about participating in the program.  If you haven’t sent in a t-shirt for your child’s costume, please do so as soon as possible. An RSVP will come home in your child’s folder on Monday, November 17th to be returned on your child’s next day. Thank you for returning it on time!

Caring and Sharing Day
We will celebrate our annual Caring and Sharing day on Wednesday, November 26th. Each child is asked to bring in an “ingredient” for a special snack mix they will make together and share.  We will send a note home the week of November 17th with suggestions.  Please help your child pick an “ingredient” to bring in by Monday, November 24th. 

Thank you
Our program is that much better because you care enough to make a commitment to be here.  Your involvement makes a powerful statement to your child.  Many thanks to parents who chaperoned the Pre-K pumpkin patch field trip, parents who sent in items for and volunteers who helped with the pumpkin parties.

Happy Birthdays
1: Nick Hosey, 9: Mrs. Skaggs, 10: Booklynn Bowen, 11: Jacob Ashworth, 13: Mrs. Oliver 16: Emery Troxell, 22: Julianna Anderson, 26: Nathaniel Cooke, 27: Addison Harris, 29: Devyn McGuinn, 30: Fischer Kendrick

For Your Thoughts and Prayers
The Holtz family - Lily (Playgroup) and Seth’s (Mrs. Porter) grandfather died October 30th
The Lawton family - Jack (Mrs.Parent) and Max’s (Mrs. Porter) great grandfather died November 1st
Skyler Benincasa’s (Mrs. Hudson) mom is recovering from back surgery

Reminders
Folders and Backpacks
Please check your child’s folder every day for not only important notes from us, but also for things your child has done while they were here. Take time to talk about a “scribbly” paper, an art project or worksheet. When you are taking that folder out please do a quick look through of the backpack and remove extra stuff you might find. Please discourage your child from bringing toys and special items in their backpack to school. Many times even though the promise has been made to leave them there those things find their way out or are shown to just certain children.

Substitutes
If you or some one you know would like more information about being on our sub list, please call or email me.

Henrico County Schools - Half Days
Just a quick reminder that we will be on a regular schedule on Tuesday, November 11th and Wednesday, November 26th, when Henrico County Schools are having half days. We will be closed for Thanksgiving on November 27th and 28th. Please check the calendar on the front page of our website should you ever have questions regarding days the school is closed. Thanks!

Lakeside Presbyterian Church Website
The church website is now up and running! Feel free to browse the site at http://lakeside-presbyterian.org. If you do not have a church family, I encourage you to check the site out and consider visiting with us! There is a special section on the preschool with a link to the preschool site. 

Box Tops 4 Education
LPC Preschool is continuing to collect Box Tops 4 Education this year. Look for a collection sheet to come attached to your November calendar. We sent in our first submission for reimbursement and will receive a check for $244.00. That’s double this time last year!  If you have any questions about the program please go to Boxtops4Education.com. All box top’s money goes to buy new outdoor play equipment.  Last year we were able to purchase 4 new bikes!

Label Your Coats!
Please label all outerwear with your child’s name. Thanks!

From the Director’s Desk
Just a couple of things to share about the Fall Festival
A 2008 Fall Festival Wrap Up special edition newsletter is being put together with the hope of getting it out by Friday, November 14. I apologize for the delay.  It was a wonderful festival from the start on Friday evening to the finish on Saturday afternoon. If you missed it I hope you will make sure it is on your calendar for next year! If you have suggestions please offer them. If you would like to help plan #4, please let Mrs. Lawton know. To all those who helped make Festival 2008 a success I offer my personal, sincerest thanks. The visible, as well as invisible, efforts and contributions of so many have raised just over $2,000 to help with 2008-09 God is Good Scholarships.

This year 8 of our 55 families have requested financial assistance. Reasons for assistance vary, but no family is ever turned away because they can not pay full tuition whether it is at the time of enrollment or sometime during the year. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt through my experience with God’s grace during my 25 years as Director, that He will provide what is required to meet the needs of those He sends to us, whatever those needs may be.

One of the families that will benefit from the GIGS Fund this year has no permanent home or reliable transportation. Our child is one of 4 being raised by a single parent working full time and then some. Food is not always plentiful so several people here are making sure snack and lunch happen every day for our child. Another parent and I are making sure that our child gets to the place where the other siblings are being cared for after school for one pick up. On one of my days as we passed another childcare center, I heard our child say, “I went there. I got kicked out. I can’t go back. My momma can’t pay.” This child is just shy of 4 years old. As my heart broke, I was reminded that God knows us! He knows why He has sent this family to us - because we have never discarded a child because a parent can’t pay. We don’t turn our backs on a family when they need us the most. This struggling parent and this child need to trust again, feel secure again. God knew they needed us - all of us! You, me, all of us together right here in this place right now!

Thank you for sharing what God has blessed you with and know that if you ever walk in one of these family’s shoes you will not have to walk alone.
God is good! All the time! - Ann

Classroom Updates
Toddler’s Morning Out: We are really having a great time in the Toddler program. This past month we started Creative Movement with Miss Mandy. The playgroup and toddler group dance and move to music together on Thursday mornings. It is a favorite activity. All the children are singing and moving to the songs during the class. Miss Mandy gave us a copy of the music she uses and we play it at least once each morning.  You should see the children light up when they hear it....read more.

Playgroup: This week we talked about the color orange and we made pumpkins that are being displayed on our “playgroup pumpkin patch”. We also used leaf stamps to make pretty collages.
We read Five Ugly Monsters and It’s Pumpkin Time. The kids are still having a great time with Mrs. Gill in music and Ms. Mandy in Creative Movement. We also enjoyed our visit on the Bookmobile where we read Baby’s Bellybutton and Five Little Pumpkins. ...read more.

Preschool:
Mrs. Hudson’s Class: We have completed working on letters B, C, D, E and F. With each letter we do a piece of art work such as for D we did Dot the Dog and for E we made eggs. Their artistic abilities are wonderful and they are all very creative. We will end October with the letter G and hopefully make Ghosts with our feet. We have also had some snacks to go with the letter of the week as well. For example, the week we did F we had fruit. They all loved it! ... read more.

Mrs. Parent’s Class: We are talking a lot about Fall, Halloween, and cooler weather. We are reading some great books, singing some neat songs, and doing cool crafts. This past week we worked on the letter E by painting Earth, making eggs,elephants, and of course trying to work on what else starts with the letter E...read more.

Pre-K:
Mrs. Porter’s Class: In preparation for our upcoming visit to the Hanover Vegetable Farm, we spent time learning about pumpkins.  We read “Pumpkins”, “The Pumpkin Book” and “The Littlest Pumpkin”.  We learned how pumpkins grow on a vine on the ground and then sequenced the life cycle of a pumpkin.  We finger painted with yellow and red and then cut out pumpkin shapes....read more.

Mrs. Oliver’s Class: We looked at pumpkins this week.  Mrs. Oliver cut two miniature pumpkins, and we made pumpkin patch pictures by “stamping” them into paint and making designs on our papers.  We also checked out the inside of a larger pumpkin.  Everyone had a piece to work with.  We scooped out all the seeds and then dried them to use in another pumpkin art project.... read more.

Extended Hours: Our PM group has added several new children this month. It is nice to have more children to play with!  During quiet time we watch a movie, and this year the favorites so far have been Aristocats, Rapunzel, and The Fox and The Hound. We have been very busy doing a lot of different types of “pumpkin”art. I will be sending the art work home at the end of the month.  ... read more.

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions!

Highlights This Month