Licensed Home Child Care

The weather is getting colder. If you are not sure how the weather is going to turn, please send your child with a sweater, warm jacket, and a winter hat. When it snows please bring in a snow suit, snow gloves, snow hat, and snow boots.

This month we will be learning about the farm, Native Americans, Pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, and a little about the seasons and why bears and other animals hibernate. We will be doing art, activities, songs, flannel boards, and cooking around these theme. For the farm theme we will grow seeds, “milk a cow”, and do other fun activities. For Thanksgiving we will be making our own costumes for our feast and pretend to be Pilgrims and Indians. We will also discuss Veteran’s Day. Other things we will be learning are the letters P, D, and F (older children will be going over letters they need to work on); shape of the rectangle (parallelogram too for the older children); the color yellow; the numbers 3 and 13 and counting to 10; rhyming and beginning sounds (older children); the veterinarian (community helper); the shape of Antarctica (which we will learn more about in December when we learn about polar animals) for the older children; read at the older children’s levels; some sight words for the older children, and listening to country music. We will also be learning more sign language and spanish words.

The toddlers will be learning along with us and working on the fine motor skills by spooning and transferring objects; the above themes and activities for the themes; counting to 3; singing the A, B,C’s; the color yellow; names of body parts; animal names, and sounds.

Special Days:

Tuesday, November 1st: Monica’s 4th birthday.Happy Birthday Monica!

Friday, November 11th: Veterans Day Activities

Friday, November 18th: Thanksgiving Feast (I will make a sign up sheet the week before.)

November 24th and 25th: CLOSED Have a great Thanksgiving!

Things to do together: Read books about Thanksgiving and the farm together. Visit a farm. Make a card for a friend or family member together (let your child dictate or write/copy what he/she wants to say). Tell your child about your Thanksgiving experiences when you were a child. Have Fun!

Happy fall! The weather is still nice and warm for now. I hope to get a few more park days in before the weather gets cold. Please make sure you have warm extra clothes for when it cools down.

This month we are taking a week to learn about the Circus. Just in case you did not know the circus is in town. We will learn the basics about the circus, about some of the jobs they have, some of the animals, and pretend to run a circus. Fall is upon us and we will be learning about fall an doing fall activities. The concept of day and night will be taught and we will learn about the creatures we will encounter durning the day and night. We will also be learning about the police man, the fire fighter, and how to have a safe Halloween. We will be learning the numbers 2 and 12; colors are orange and black; the shapes are the triangle and the curvilinear triangle; the shape of North America; letters B, J, and L; listening to pop music; the concepts of over, under, trough and identifying and comparing. Character education traits we will work on are being honest and respectful. We will also be doing flannel boards, finger plays, songs, movement activities, art, science, and much more.

Special Dates: Columbus Day activities October 10th.

Wear Orange Day: October 13th. Savannah’s 6th Birthday

 Pajama Day: Bring a favorite book or Halloween DVD and come in pajamas.

Halloween Party: October 31st, please have the children wear a costume, halloween shirt, or the color orange. I will put out a snack sign up sheet the week before.

Things to do with your child: Go to the circus. Sing a favorite song together. Go for a walk and watch the leaves fall together. Make up a story together. Read at least 15 minutes a day together.  Books: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (my favorite), Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. (awesome book), and Good Night Moon by Jane Yolen .

Wow! The summer went by fast. Please bring in warmer extra clothes for cooler days. It is time to begin our fall preschool program. Please have your child here by 8:15am so we can get ready to start our day and welcome our friends at group time. If your child gets here after 7:45am please feed your child breakfast before you come so that he/she will not miss out on any activities and we can start our day on time.

This month will be all about getting back on schedule, but still leaving a day or two a week where we can spend the morning at the park while the weather is still warm. This year we are doing a few new things. We are going to be listening to a different type of music each month (swing, jazz, classical, etc.); learning about each president and the state they were born in as their birthdays come up; learning the 7 continents one each month starting next month, and character education (obey, respect, kindness, etc). I will be doing this as a bible study with MY GIRLS in the evening. I WILL NOT be doing bible study with the kids or using scripture for the character education. If you would like you can do the bible study lessons at home in the evening with your child as a bedtime routine or on the weekend ( I got them from hubbardscupboard.org) it is called Joyful Heart Character. The themes this month are Health and Nutrition, Apple and More Apples, and All About Me and My Body. We will be learning about our 5 senses, the parts of the body, apples, healthy food verses food that should only be eaten as a treat, the dentist and how we need to brush or teeth, the doctor and washing hands to stay healthy. We will also introduce the letters A, C, N; the numbers 1 and 11; colors will be red, yellow and blue; and the circle. The concepts of patterns and matching will also be introduced. We will also be listening to Swing music this month and learning and working on the character traits of being orderly (putting away things away and in the right place), attentive (listening when someone is talking), teachable (following rules), obey (doing things the first time asked). **Please bring in a copy of a family picture and a copy of a picture of your child. These will be used to make an all about me book that will be glued and possibly cut. We will start this the second week of September.**

Dates to Remember: September 5th: Labor Day - CLOSED

September 12th: Grandparents Day we will be sending home cards to send out to grandparents on the 2nd.

 September 23rd: Fist day of fall. We will talk about fall and collect fall leaves to make a leaf rubbing (our tradition).

September 26th: Johnny Apple Seeds Birthday. We will be learning about Johnny Apple Seed and doing activities with apples. Bring in your child’s favorite apple to share.

September 28th: Rosh Hashanah. We will be learning about the Jewish holiday and trying food that they eat.

Things to do with your child: Take a nature walk and collect fall leaves, look for their differences and similarities, and talk about the changes that are going on. Bake together. Read a book about what we are learning this month. Work on character traits by making up games.

Summer Fun is here! We have lots of fun things planed. Since we will have the water table out a lot, please remember to check your child’s clothes supply every week and replenish as needed. Please bring in a new tooth brush. If you would like you can bring in toothpaste too. Children under 2 1/2 need to have trainer toothpaste and children over 2 1/2 please use your discretion. This is a time where they can practice brushing their own teeth with supervision and a little help if needed.

The rest of this summer we are going to be learning about the ocean. We will learn about the different ways we get around in the water, on the water, and on the beach. We will also explore under the sea and discover the different sea creatures, exploring the beach and tide pools, camping on the beach, having a Luau or two, and discuss water safety. We will also learn about pirates and their ships and have a treasure hunt. There will be an “ocean and tide pool” (water table) and “the beach” (sand table) to explore and have fun with.

In July we will be having a 4th of July celebration. We will start off with an intro to summer and the fourth of July and making ice cream. We will also be having a teddy bear picnic; reviewing shapes, numbers, and letters; math concepts of matching, counting, and sorting ( July 29th we will be using M&M’s for math); science experiments around water and air; the concepts of biggest to smallest and sink or float; arts and crafts; music and movement; games; playing at the park and other fun activities.

If you have a book, game, magazines, dress up clothes (beach theme) or other props for dramatic play that go with our theme please bring them in to share or donate.

I also plan to take 3 Fridays this summer visit the Zoo, Butterfly Pavillion, and the Aquarium. Deltails will be posted.

Events and Closures:

July 1st:  Independence Day celebration

July 4th: Closed Happy 4th of July!

July 8th: Teddy Bear Picnic (please bring in a favorite teddy bear).

Saturday, July 23rd: In honor of Parent’s Day (Aug. 24) we are hosting a parents night out from 5pm- 10pm. We ask for a $3 cover charge for food and the night is FREE. Please RSVP ASAP.

August 15th - 22nd:  Summer Vacation: Closed (the 22nd is a Monday, so we will see you Tuesday)

Monday, August 29th:  Savannah’s first day of school: Closed (I am taking 1 less vacation day and using it for Savannah’s 1st day of school).

We will also be observing other wacky month and day observances to break things up and create more fun like chocolate day, watermelon day, various presidents birthdays, and Colorado Statehood to name a few.

**Our Fall preschool program will start September 1st.**

Ideas: Exercise With Your Child Week is August 8th - 13th so plan picnics, hikes, walks, swimming, park, etc. Go to the library and get books about our theme and read them together under a tree. This time of the year is an amazing time to get outside with your child and explore.

 Finally warm weather! Summer is on it’s way. Please remember if your child comes in open toed sandals they need to be wearing socks to protect their toes. Also please swap out you child’s winter clothes with short sleeves and shorts. I would still keep a pair or two of long pants for cooler days. It is that time of the year. If you have not turned in your new contract or handbook please do so by Wednesday, June 1st along with your renewal fee.

This month we will be celebrating Father’s Day (June 19th) by making a gift, card, and sweet treat for Dad. June 14th is Flag Day and we will be learning about the American Flag. We will also be celebrating the incoming of summer this month, which begins officially June 21st. June is National Dairy Month and we will learn about products that come from cows. Since June is great for baseball we will be working on our large motor development skills of catching and throwing and do activities about baseball. We will also be learning about the life cycle of a frog, dinosaurs, numbers 1-10, playing with playdough, fingerplays, music and movement, flannel board stories, and rhymes. We will start water play Fridays on June 3rd (as long as it is warm enough). Please bring in a bathing suit, water shoes, and a towel. You may bring them each week or keep them at child care. We will have fun in the little wading pool, run in the sprinkler, “paint” with water, have “car washes,” play in the water table, spray water bottles, and anything else that will get us wet on these days. Water tables will be used on most days for the summer.

Special Days: June 2nd we will be pretending to “go on a vacation.” If you have pictures of one of your vacations or a souvenir from a vacation please have your child bring it in. Also dress your child in a Hawaiian outfit or “tourist outfit” if you have one. Be creative. We will be making a flower lei to wear and have fruit kabobs of summer fruits for snack.

June 3rd we will be having a picnic outside. The day will be focused on the fun summer activity of having a picnic. Of course we may have picnics any day this summer.

June 16th-17th Father’s Day Sweet Treat the children will be bringing home their special treat that they made and a card.

Fun Ideas: This is time of the year is great for evening walks, picnics, and trips to the park. Take your child out to an open space and fly a kite together. As always reading to your child for at least 15 minutes a day is a great way to bond.

The weather is so up and down so please make sure your child has warm and cooler extra clothes. On warm days, if you send your child in sandals, please make sure they are closed toe to protect their toes.

This month we will be learning about the farm and the animals that live on the farm. We will be planting more seeds too. In contrast we will also be learning about cities. Transportation and what kinds are in the air, water, and on the land will be explored. Nursery rhymes, talking about going to the grocery store will be other topics. The letter Z; colors red, pink, black and purple; and teaching about first, second and third. As always their will be large and small motor activities as well as finger plays, songs, rhymes, and flannel boards. We will also do activities for Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day. We will be creating a grocery store for the third week of May. Please start bring in coupons (to play with and collage), clean boxes of food, butter tub, note paper/ grocery list paper, food adds (to play with and collage), magazines with food in them (for collage), etc. so we can have fun with “shopping” for dramatic play.

May 6th we will be having our Third Annual Mother’s Day Breakfast at 7:30am. I hope we will have a turn out like last year. It was so much fun. We will be serving eggs, pancakes, and juice. Please let me know if you will be attending ASAP. Happy Mother’s Day!

May 5th and 19th Mr. Marty 4:15pm for 1/2 hour

Friday the 20th we will have a discussion and activities around the grocery store and discuss how food gets to the grocery store from the farms. Anything you want to donate or share wold be appreciated. If your child has a farm book to share that would be great too. We will bring out the farm Little People too for added dramatic play.

May 27th we will be having Memorial Day Activities.

May 30th is Memorial Day and we are CLOSED. Have fun!

Things to do with your child: Have them help you make a grocery list by looking through the kitchen for food you need to buy and then bringing out the grocery adds so they can circle the things they think you may need. Then write it all down in front of them or if your child can write letters let them try to write as you dictate the letters (a letter guide may help) or they can try to draw the pictures. Tell your child a story about yourself and/or your family when you were a child. If you have your favorite children’s book when you were a kid read it to them or go to the library and get it together. Have fun!

 As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” I love this time of year it warms I and we get to see everything slowly grow. It is an amazing and beautiful time of the year. Please remember to start bringing in short sleeved shirts and maybe some shorts for extra clothes just in case your child gets messy on a warm day or they get hot. Please include long sleeves and pants for cool days. If your child wears sandals please make sure they are closed toed (or your child wears socks) and have a strap on the back for safety. Also sunscreen needs to be replenished yearly, so please bring a new one in if you brought one in last spring (SPF 30 or greater and preferably fragrance free). Thank you in advance.

This month we are going to focus on growing things, baby animals, and pets. Earth Day, Passover, and Easter will be observed and discussed. We will also learn about the letters B, G, R; the shape of an oval; and the concept of On and Off. We will also review numbers 1-10.

Special Days: April 18th Passover: We will be discussing passover and trying Matzo bread at snack time.

April 22nd Easter Celebration: Easter egg hunt. Please bring in a basket and wear pastel colors. There will also be a sign up sheet for our Easter celebration snack.

April 25th Earth Day (it is actually on April 22nd): We will be talking about the Earth and how to keep it clean. We will have a nature walk where we will pick up trash together.

April 29th: We will be CLOSED so my family can get our yearly check ups out of the way. Thank you to those who re-arranged their schedules to make this possible. As a thank you I am offering a free night out (5pm to 10pm on an evening of your choosing as long as we are not busy. Please let me know so we can set this up). 

Ideas of things to do with your child: This month talk to your child about recycling and not littering to keep our earth beautiful. Also take your child to the library and bring in a book to share about one of the topics we are discussing this month. Go on a nature walk with a magnifying glass and discover a world of bugs, textures, smells, and sights. Read daily together for at least 15 minutes. Count and sort things together. Enjoy! Happy Easter !

 Spring is on it’s way. What happened to winter? This month we will be learning about the weather, seasons, and how things change. This is a great time to learn about this because the trees are still bare and we will still have some snow. Soon we will see little green sprouts and buds. As it warms up we will be taking more nature walks and recording the changes in our own special journals. I am excited to see what they write or draw. It will be titled “My Outdoor Journal”. This will be a great science project. We will also be learning about butterflies, and how plants grow. We will also be doing activities surrounding St. Patrick’s Day.

Basics will be more fun ways to graph; reviewing numbers 1-5 and introducing numbers 11-15 (for those who are ready for bigger numbers); the letters L and T; the colors green, brown, yellow, and pink; and the shapes of the rectangle and diamond. As always we will be working on small and large motor coordination, singing, reading together, finger plays and other fun activities.

Special Days: Thursday, March 3rd: Mystery bag and National Pig Day. Please put something in the brown paper lunch bag I will be sending home on Wednesday for the kids to guess what is inside. On the outside write a clue to help us guess. Also have your child wear something pink (optional).

Friday, March 4th: Hat Day. Wear your favorite or goofy hat. We will be doing activities with the hats.

Sunday, March 13th Daylight Savings: SET CLOCKS FORWARD.

Thursday, March 17th St. Patrick’s Day: Wear Green. We will be having shamrock shaped sandwiches, and kiwi for snack with the shamrock cookies we will be making together on Wednesday. The day will be centered around the color green and a hunt for the Leprechaun “gold” and “shamrocks”. 

Sunday, March 20th First Day of Spring! Monday, March 21st We will be making egg carton flowers, discussing spring, and doing a spring dance.

Things to do together: Take a spring walk and note differences in the trees, grass, etc. Sing songs about spring together (look online there are a lot).  Show pictures to your child and discuss how they have grown (great subject since we are talking about how living things grow).

We are now in the month of love and giving. We will be learning about people who gave to our country and about loving and caring for our friends and family.

Themes for this month: This month we will be talking about Ground Hog Day; doing activities with shadows; Valentine’s Day; activities with the color red; the heart shape; how our letters are delivered by the postman; the presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln; and famous inventors. Since it is black history month we will also be learning about famous black Americans. Math activities will include patterning, graphing, and the numbers 6 through 10. The letters H and V will be introduced and the colors Red, Blue, and White. Concepts we will work on are Open-Closed and Above-Below.

Special Days: February 2nd: Groundhog Day: February 12th: Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday February 14th: Valentine’s Day February 21st: President’s Day February 22nd: George Washington’s Birthday February 28th: Arianna’s 3rd birthday!

**We will NOT be closing for any of these events.**

Valentines Day: Please bring in Valentine’s cards by February 11th so we can exchange them on Monday, February 14th. We will also have a Valentines day party in the afternoon on the 14th. I will put out a sing up sheet for the party.

Happy 3rd Birthday Arianna!

Things to do with your child: Write a letter to a friend or family member and send it in the mail. This letter can be a drawing or written words or a combination of the two (even our littlest one can make a few marks on a card). Read together about Valentine’s Day or other book about our themes this month. Do something kind together for a neighbor. Make heart shaped cookies together and count them. Work on the concepts, colors, numbers, and math we are learning this month. Have Fun!