May 2016

The school year is flying by and we are looking forward to some warm weather and good playground time. Our rain barrel is full of water and the children have been making wonderful mud concoctions. Hopefully we’ll see more signs of spring and begin to find worms, toads, and other creatures in the soil and under bushes.

We’ve set dates for summer camp. This year we are going to try to offer two 3-day camps. The weeks will be June 28-30, Tuesday- Thursday and July 18-20, Monday-Wednesday.   You can sign up for one or both weeks –$55/week. Enrollment is limited to 14 children, so register early. Any child currently enrolled at TCNS can come to camp.

We will be working on teacher evaluations this month. TCNS does this every other year and we ask for parent’ input with the process. Evaluation forms will be available at the beginning of the month. We appreciate any feedback yoou’d like to share.

TCNS Rummage and Bake Sale (June 11^th): here’s a great chance to go through your attics, basements, and garages and hoe out! Combat your hoarding and benefit TCNS at the same time! Anyone who wasn’t able to help with either Fun with Santa or the Rongo Silent Auction should be planning to help with the sale. We will need people to sort, price, help clean up and take stuff away. There will be a sign up for bake sale item at the end of May.

Dates to remember:

The last parent meeting of the year will be Wednesday May 18^th at 6 pm. Torey Compton will be on hand to talk about the transition to kindergarten and answer questions about what to expect. It’s a great opportunity to share your ideas and concerns with other parents.

Last scholastic order due – 20^th. Shipping seems to be taking longer this year than previously so we want to be sure everything is back before the end of the year.

No school on May 30^th for Memorial Day. Our end of year dessert social will be June 1^st at the Elementary playground.

Preschool activities: This month we’ll be talking about farms, growing things, mother’s day and the local community. We will be reading Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, Are You My Mom? by Julia Donaldson, Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming, Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds, The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson and A Good Night Walk by Elisha Cooper.   We will be working on Mother’s Day presents, making barn sculpture, garden collage, sprouting seeds, making salsa and cookies. Fieldtrips: This month we’ll be hiking to the falls with both classes; Wednesday May 11^th and Thursday May 26^th – weather permitting. On those days, we’ll meet by the park office to begin, but return to the playground after the hike. Parents and siblings are welcome to join us.   We are also working on scheduling couple of other trips – watch for details to come. Sibling Night will be Wednesday, May 25^th and Thursday May 26^th from 6:30-7:30 pm. This is a time when your child can bring their siblings (yes, all of them) to school with them. Parents DO need to stay with us, but it’s a lot of fun.   We will have a special project, snack and playground time.  

Terrific Twos: May will bring flowers, blossoms and warm weather! Watch for our room to bloom with spring!  We begin the month with mothers and their babies in Little Chick’s Mothers & All The Others by Mildred Luton and Where’s My Mom? by Julia Donaldson. Our classroom will fill with birds of all shapes, sizes and colors while we read Feathers For Lunch by Louis Ehlert and Birds by Kevin Henkes.  We also explore the farm with Cock­a­Doodle Doo! A Day on the Farm by Venice Shone.  And we will plant a garden along with Zoe Hall in the Surprise Garden.  We have a busy month planned bursting with mixing, cutting and creating with farms, animals and planting and growing. Circle time is stretching to include name and letter recognition, weather conditions and counting. We are constantly engaged in conversations, always looking to expand our play and amazed by their thoughts and developing vocabularies. Our days are busy and filled with fun!

Please join us for an Open House

Wednesday March 23rd from 6:30-7:30 pm

Come and learn about our program meet our teachers, and see our classrooms!

 For more information call 387-5235 or email Deb Austic austicloz@hotmail.com.

Many Thanks to all our supporters and those who helped make our silent auction fundraiser at the Rongo such a successful and fun event!

The Gunpoets, Rogan’s Corner, Honda of Ithaca, Trumansburg Wine and Spirits, Cate Kriner, Buttonwood Grove Winery, Andy Moore, Red Feet Wine Market & Spirit Provisions, Wild Apple Toys, Regional Access, Moosewood, Cece & Lulu, Nicole Hubbell, Julie Johnson, Giving Ground Farm, Gothic Eves, Transformations, Maxie’s Supper Club, T-burg Shur-Save, Science Center, Mama Goose, Bells Design, Bel Canto Farm, Melanie Andrew, Gimme Coffee, Creekside Café, Glenwood Pines, New York Pizzeria, Silver Line Taproom, Bags by Andy, Atlas Bowl, Greek Peak & Cascades Indoor Waterpark, State Theater, Mahogany Grill, Emoticakes, Hanger Theater, Alphabet Soup, Italian Kitchen, Hector Wine Co., Americana Winery, Sarah Brainard, Millspaugh Brothers Inc., Julie Prisloe, P&S Excavating/Cayuga Compost, Ithaca Agway, Avelene Wellness, Sundrees, Black Diamond Farm, Jackie Puleo, Jillian’s Drawers, Rob Kaplan, Iron Kettle Farm, Maguire Family of dealerships & Maguire Family Insurance, Hazelnut Kitchen, Lakshmi Living Arts, Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival, Cornell University, Crumbs of Joy, Finger Lakes Estate and Auction, Ithaca Vintage Appraisal, Deb Austic, Ithaca Bakery, Ithaca Community Acupuncture, Mary Kay, Rose Millspaugh, Hannah Kuhn, Agard Farms Furniture, Meyers Distillery, Stone Cat Café, Costello Acupuncture, Red Byrd Cider, Ithaca Bakery, Joel Frank Carpentry, Lucas Winery, Hosmer Winery, Iron Kettle, Life So Sweet, Island Health & Fitness, Dragon Village, Finger Lakes Cider House, Schrader Meats, Bet the Farm, Hilton Garden Inn, Fitzgerald Brother’s limousine, Bellwether Cider, Ovid Big M, Durand’s Forge, Laura Nelkin Designs, WordPro, Kinney Drugs, Good to Go, T-burg Rent-a-flick, TFD, Purity, Emilie Rawlings, Rongo, Ken Zesserman & the band, Sweetland Farm, Mary Spicer and Many Trumansburg Families.

March 2016

“In like a lion, out like a lamb!” — we hope!  Welcome March! Spring is on its way, although we never really had much winter this year. Perhaps we’ll just have a really long mud season this year – remember that wind or snow pants are still useful to keep clothing clean. The children in all classes are making great strides in all areas of their development. They are developing new friendships and creating imaginative play scenarios, recognizing many names in the classroom and working hard on their drawing and writing skills.

2016-17 Registration: we will be starting to register children for next school year by mid-March. Registration forms will be in cubbies soon and we’d like them all back by April 8^th so we can open registration to new families after that. We will be having an evening open house sometime this month. Once we have a date, please share it with any families who might be interested. Two’s families are also invited to join us if they’d like a chance to visit the classrooms or talk with the teachers.

This month we’ll continue working on assessments with the children in preparation for parent-teacher conferences at the end of the month – watch for a sign-up to come. Your child might talk about ‘playing games’ with individual teachers. At the parent meeting we will share our assessment process and progress reports and answer any questions.

Thanks for everyone’s hard work on our Rongo/silent auction. It turned out to be a wonderful event enjoyed by many friends and family and we raised over $6000 for TCNS.

Dates to remember:

March 2^nd & 16^th: story time with Ms. Jackie at 10:30 in the two’s room

March 14^th: No school

March 22^nd: 6 pm. Parent meeting with pizza! We’ll explain how we do student assessments and conferences.

March 25^th: Scholastic orders due

March 31 & April 1^st: parent-teacher conferences

Preschool Activities: We’ll continue with penguins in the beginning of the month, then move onto our pets, weather and spring. We’ll be reading Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon, Three Cheers for Tacky by Helen Lester, Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup , and I Want a Dog by Helga Bansch. We will build penguins and packing peanut igloos, do a cityscape, make dog biscuits, cats and wanted posters. We will also be graphing our pets and weather and compare our snowy days to rainy days as spring gets closer. We’ll have pajama day in the preschool classes on March 10^th & 11^th. Let your child sleep in and don’t waste time getting dressed!

Two’s Class: With the disappointing lack of snow this year, we will adjust our circle time books. We will focus on books themed on shapes and colors and hopefully throw in a snowman book when we get a blizzard!  We will read Good Luck Bear, by Greg Foley and Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na to welcome spring. We will explore with our senses, looking for signs of spring and winter leaving us.  We will enjoy finger painting and water colors. Our play doh will be blue and yellow, exploring with mixing to make green.   Our year is moving with huge strides in all our children.  We are seeing growth in language and social skills. All children are taking more of an interest in inviting others to join in play.  We are adding more yoga and continuing sign language to our daily activities. Please continue to encourage independence in dressing by helping the children choose easy comfortable clothes to manipulate.

Spring is a rainy season, spring is a rainy season,

spring is a rainy season, when the flowers bloom!

February 2016

So far this winter we’ve enjoyed very mild weather so we’ve been able to get outside most days – even if our snowmen are only 6 inches tall. We’re still hoping for a few good snowfalls for sledding and snowball-rolling. But if the weather doesn’t cooperate we will enjoy our time moving upstairs with the obstacle course and music.

Hopefully everyone has fully recovered from everything that’s been going around. Remember to give your child plenty of rest before they come back so they will be better able to fight any germs their classmates bring to school.

Since we won’t be in school on Valentines’ Day this year, we are not going to exchange valentines in class. Instead, we will be working hard to make valentines for parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors. There will be plenty of opportunities for glue and glitter and you can help your child think of someone who might like a valentine!

Our Rongo Fundraiser is at the end of the month. Please make sure any last minute silent auction donations are in by February 10^th so the committee can get stuff organized. We will also be asking families to help us sell tickets, hang posters, and pass out invitations for this event. This is a new fundraiser for TCNS and different from our more child-focused events. We hope it will be successful raising funds for our school and lots of fun for everyone who comes. It will be a great chance to socialize with other parents and community members.

Important dates:

• No school from February 15^th through February 19^th for winter break.

• Jackie will continue toddler/ baby story-time in the two’s room on February 3^rd at 10:30.  

• Fundraiser at the Rongo on Sunday, February 28^th 2-5 pm.  

 

Terrific Twos: As we welcome February we look forward for healthy, snowy days!  We will go outside when the weather cooperates, so please keep sending those warm clothes!  And remember to keep our class healthy, we ask you to keep sick kids home. Germs spread quickly with 2yr olds. TCNS policy is 24 hours fever free without Tylenol or other fever reducer. At circle time we will reads books about Arctic animals, snow and friends.  Look for penguins and special valentines coming home!  We will be busy baking, painting, matching, reading and playing — always fun at “happy school!” Thank you for your continued support in our classroom!

Preschool: We have a lot of holidays this month – groundhogs day, Chinese New Year and Valentines Day. We’ll be reading a number of class favorites: Go To Sleep Groundhog by Judy Cox, The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker, Love Monster by Rachel Bright, and Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. We’ll do a few shadow projects and make chinese dragons. We’ll be cutting and glittering valentines to give to our families and friends and making a special baked treat to share. We’ll also make mitten patterns and start a weather graph. After the break we’ll read about arctic animals and their habitats and make penguins.

Ways to get creative this month:

• Build a cushion fort or sheet tent
• Have a dance party or an indoor picnic
• Make sock puppets
• Make puzzles from holiday photo cards

 

 

“When people are playing, they take risks they would not ordinarily take. They experience failure not as a crushing blow but as an idea they tried that didn’t work. Play transforms problems into challenges, seriousness into fun, one right answer into any number of possible outcomes.” Bruce Nussbaum, Creative Intelligence.

January 2016

It’s hard to believe it’s the start of another new year. I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday break. We’re all excited to get back to school!   January is usually one of our favorite months at TCNS – the children are settled into the routine and we have a good stretch time to explore our classroom interests. We’ll continue to go outside everyday – it’s rarely too cold to get outside! Lets hope for a winter full of good snow and comfortable temperatures!

Winter has finally arrived so make sure to send warm outdoor clothing for your child. In the classroom we use outdoor play as an opportunity to practice self-management skills. Independent dressing is an important skill for all our children.   It’s a big step for them to identify and begin to manage their own belongings and you can make this easier by labeling.

Fundraising: we’ll continue to collect fall and winter clothing for our Gemm Shop account. We’re also continuing to collect donations for our February 28^th silent auction. We’ll have an updated donation list ready by mid-month. If you were not able to get business donations before the holidays please let me know.

Sock Collection: we’ll be collecting new and gently-used socks for Catholic Charities this month. This is a great time to pass on those socks your children don’t like (itchy, bunchy, or wrong colors) and help others at the same time.

TCNS parent survey: Later this month we’ll be sending a link to our annual parent survey. Please take the time to share your thoughts so we can continue to improve our program.

Dates to remember: Monday January 18^th no school – Martin Luther King Jr Day. Scholastic orders will be due January 25^th. This will be the only order for January and February and should be back before winter break. Toddler Story Time will be the 6^th and 20^th this month at 10:30.

Preschool Activities: Our books and projects this month will be full of preparing for winter, winter weather, and snow people. We’ll start off with The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, followed by A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke, You Make Me Smile by Layn Marlow, The Snowy Day by Anna Milbourne and Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. We’ll be making different snowflakes, snow kids paper dolls, winter collages, and snow people out of many different things. We’ll also experiment with snow and ice in the sensory table.

Two’s Class: The Twos will start the month with Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin and John Archambault. We will identify and move our body along with the book at circle time.  We will move onto Under My Hood I Have A Hat by Karla Kuskin and The First Snowfall by Anne Rockwell and end with a book about arctic animals. We will explore with sand in our sensory table and add glitter to our playdoh.  We will decorate snowflakes, make a winter tree with our arms, trace our bodies and dress a snow person.  We will be matching shapes and colors.  Yes, we are busy! Each day we will continue to work towards independence in the bathroom with using the potty and hand washing.  Please remember that pull ups and comfortable clothes are important tools for this process

Play “Hot or Cold” with your child this month. This is a fun way to practice following directions and a quieter alternative to hide and seek. Children also enjoy giving directions to help other find something hidden. Other classic games you can share with your child are “I Spy” and “Mother May I”.

 

Winter is a cold, cold season

Winter is a cold, cold season

Winter is cold, cold season

When the snow falls down.

 

April 2015

The children have really been enjoying their developing friendships and stretching their imaginations.   We’ve been watching for signs of spring and exploring our five senses. The children really enjoy sharing their ideas at circle time and practicing writing.   They have all grown so much since the beginning of the school year!

Please continue to send boots and snow pants (or rain pants) with your child. With the weather warming up we’ll continue to go out every day and our playground can be muddy. A second outdoor layer protects pants and allows children to comfortably sit on the ground and dig in the sandbox.

Thanks to everyone for turning in next year’s registration forms. You’ll get a confirmation letter in your cubby by the end of the week. Let me know if you have any questions.   April is a short month, but we have a lot going on!

With the longer days and warmer weather I always feel like it’s a good time to remind families of the importance of sleep for young children. As spring activities pick up it’s easy to forget how much better we all feel when we get enough sleep – and how much more smoothly things go.

Fundraising: We’re collecting clothing for our Gemm Shop fundraiser this month and our rummage sale will be the end of the school year. Bring in the results of your spring cleaning to benefit TCNS!

Important dates:

Parent meeting will be Wednesday April 15^th at 6 pm with pizza

Scholastic orders are due by Friday April 17^th

Parent-teacher conferences will be April 27^th and 28^th. We hope every family will sign up for a conference. If the days set aside aren’t convenient we can schedule for another time, or on your parent helper day. It’s important that we get the opportunity to meet with families and share our observations about your wonderful children. Watch for details to sign up for conference spot. We may try an online sign-up to see how it works out.

Preschool Activities: This month we’ll continue talking about spring, as well as birds, eggs and farm animals at the end of the month. We’ll be reading reading Minerva Louse and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Morgan Stoeke, Everything Spring by Jill Esbaum, Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathon Emmett, Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin, and Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clark. We’ll decorate eggs, make handprint ducks, a forsythia collage, and spring tree pictures. We will also make our own pizza snack at the end of the month. We’re still working on arranging a couple of walking fieldtrips this month. Details to follow.

Terrific Twos: Welcome spring! Or rather, welcome mud!  In our classroom, we will create spring!  We will dive into spring books: It’s Spring!, The Golden Egg, Home For A Bunny, Little Chicks Mothers And All Others. Look for rainbows, buds on trees, seeds sprouting, robins, worms and sunshine.  And outside we will search for all these and more. Remember, boots and snow pants still keep our little bodies clean on our playground.

Fine Motor Skill Activities: below are some fun ideas to help improve fine motor strength and control without the pressure of “writing”

Play with chopsticks, tweezers & mini-tongs. Try picking up and moving small items. Increase difficulty by dropping items in a jar with a small opening.

Play with eye-droppers, basters & small sprayers

Beading, lacing, sewing, weaving

Play with nuts & bolts

Scratch art, etching, rubbings, tracing, mazes

Use spring clothespins to hang up clothes or pick up objects

Play with dough & clay. Encourage your child to roll small balls between thumb & finger

Knead dough, roll meatballs, decorate cookies – spread sprinkles by pinching between fingers

Draw, paint & write on vertical surfaces to increase wrist and shoulder strength

Five little duckies went swimming one day, over the pond and far away

Mama duck said, “Quack, quack, quack!” 

But only four little duckies came back.

Four little duckies went swimming one day….

Three little duckies….

Two little duckies…

One little ducky went swimming one day, over the pond and far away

Daddy duck said, “QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!” 

And all five little duckies came swimming right back.

March 2015

Welcome March! Spring is on its way! Let’s hope the weather starts to turn more spring-like as well. We’ve had plenty of snow and cold weather this winter. We’ve gotten out as much as possible and the children enjoy climbing the hill and sliding down, but it would be nice for the temperatures to warm up enough to make snowmen!

We will be starting to register children for next school year by mid-March. Registration forms will be in cubbies soon and we’d like them all back by spring break so we can open registration to new families after that. We have a very small group of children leaving for kindergarten this year, so our MWF spots are likely to be filled by current preschoolers.

This month we’ll begin working on assessments with the children. Your child might talk about ‘playing games’ with individual teachers. We expect assessments to continue through April and will be scheduling parent-teacher conferences in the end of April.

Jackie will continue toddler story time this month on the second and fourth Wednesdays (March 11^th & 25^th). This has been a great program enjoyed by toddlers and families.

If you haven’t had a chance to fill out our online parent survey, please do. We really value input from our families and many of our current programs have developed from survey suggestions. This is any easy way to let us know what you think. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XKHK6QS

Dates to remember:

March 10^th: 6 pm. Parent meeting with pizza! We’ll explain how we do student assessments and conferences.

March 13^th: Scholastic orders due

March 30-April 3^rd: Spring break

Preschool Activities: We’ll start off the month with arctic animals, then move onto our bodies, weather and spring. We’ll be reading A Flower in the Snow by Tracey Corderoy, Penguins by Liz Pichon, The Colors of Us by Karen Katz, and We are all Alike, We are all Different. We will build penguins and packing peanut igloos, do self-portraits and trace our bodies. We will also be graphing the weather and compare our snowy days to rainy days as spring gets closer. On March 25^rd and 26^th we will have Special Person’s Night when your child gets to bring a special adult to show them around preschool.

Two’s Class: “In like a lion, out like a lamb!”   We will enjoy starting the month with All You Need For A Snowman by Alice Schertle.  And continue our snow theme with Hello Snow by Hope Vestergaard.  Next we will read Good Luck Bear, by Greg Foley.  To finish the month we will end with Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na.

We will explore with our senses, looking for signs of spring and winter leaving us.  We will enjoy finger painting and water colors. Our play doh will be blue and yellow, exploring with mixing to make green. We are adding yoga and sign language to our daily activities.

Our year is moving with huge strides in all our children.  We are seeing growth in language and social skills. All children are taking more of an interest in inviting others to join in play.  Please continue to encourage independence in dressing.  We encourage independence in the bathroom and in dressing for outside play.  As a parent you can help by helping the children choose easy comfortable clothes to manipulate.

February 2015

We’re fortunate that we were able to get outside most days last month and are hoping for more outdoor fun. If the weather doesn’t cooperate we will enjoy our time moving in the big room with the obstacle course and music.  All of the children are making great strides on dressing themselves for outdoor play.

There seem to be a lot of runny noses and coughs going around the classrooms. We just want to remind you to keep your child home if they’re sick. And please give them plenty of chance to recover before they come back so they will be better able to fight any germs their classmates bring to school.

Since we won’t be in school on Valentines’ Day this year, we are not going to have students exchange valentines. Instead, we will be working hard to make valentines for parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors. There will be plenty of opportunities for glue and glitter and you can help your child think of someone who might like a valentine!

We’re running low on drink cups for snack. If anyone can provide an extra box of 5 oz. cups it would be greatly appreciated!

Important dates: 

• No school from Friday, February 13^th through February 20^th for winter break. 
• Jackie will continue toddler/ baby story-time in the two’s room on February 11^th and 25^th starting at 9:30.
• Pajama Day (preschool class) – February 4^th and 5^th.   No need to get dressed – just come to school in your pj’s!

Terrific Twos:  As we welcome February we look forward for healthy, snowy days!  We are continuing with our winter arctic animal themes with Slippity Seal by Betty Preston.    We will move onto Mouse’s Valentine by Laura Numeroff to celebrate love for our family and friends. Look for a special valentine coming home!  After a week off for winter fun, we will end February and start March with You Make Me Smile by Layn Marlow.  Thank you for your continued support in our classroom!

Preschool:  we’ll start the month pajama day on Wednesday & Thursday the 4^th and 5^th.  We’ll be reading The Mystery of the Missing Red Mitten by Stephen Kellogg and A Snowy Surprise by Amy Hest.  We’ll be cutting and glittering valentines to give to our families and friends and  making a special baked treat to share.  We’ll also make mitten patterns and start a weather graph.  After the break we’ll read about arctic animals and talk about animal habitats.

Ways to get creative this month:

• Build a cushion fort or sheet tent
• have a dance party or an indoor picnic
• Make sock puppets
• Make puzzles from holiday photo cards

“When people are playing, they take risks they would not ordinarily take. They experience failure not as a crushing blow but as an idea they tried that didn’t work. Play transforms problems into challenges, seriousness into fun, one right answer into any number of possible outcomes.” Bruce Nussbaum, Creative Intelligence.