Ms. Christy's Class

Birthdays

Hello All!

As mentioned earlier, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day Tuesday & Wednesday. Everyone is still encouraged to bring snacks and valentines (if you wish) to share. The other two days this week will be spent discussing and learning about Birthdays. This theme was inspired by yours truly because my birthday is this week! :) I know the kids will love learning about these two special occasions.

On that note, if anyone would like to donate some (6 if possible) big car washing sponges for an activity this week, it would be greatly appreciated! We will be using shaving cream to "ice our sponge cakes"!

Hope everyone had a nice, looong weekend & see you Tuesday!

~Christy

Sealed With a Kiss

Hi Parents!

Just wanted to send a message out about the plans for our "Sealed With A Kiss" themed week. The main difference will be that we're having Valentine's Day Parties on Thursday & Friday this week. The schedule will be the same with just a long, Pot Luck Snack and lots of valentine inspired activities throughout the day.

The Snack Sign Up for T/TH looks something like this:
-Cheese: Rebecca Boling
-Fruit: Lindsey Milne
-Grain (goldfish, crackers, etc..): Amanda Hipo
-Sweet Treat: Gaby Martinez & Ayumi Maeda
*Amanda Bernal- since Donovan was not here today, would you be in charge of bringing a tasty drink, please? :)

I'll have a Sign Up for MWF tomorrow (Wed.) Or you can let me know what you would like to bring through email.

MWF kiddos need to make sure to bring boxes for the Valentine mailboxes we will be making (most of you should be aware of this already). I'll have extras in case anyone forgets.

We will be making valentines during the parties, but if you want to send pre-made cards with your kids, that's fine too! We'll have plenty other things to do!

On a final note- I would just like to thank you all for being so supportive and helpful during the past month!  I am feeling fantastic about being the teacher in the 2's and 3's class and am really enjoying bonding and getting to know you & your amazing children! Coming to Cornerstone everyday is a pure joy and could not be happier with my new career! :)

Please never hesitate to email me with any ideas, questions, concerns, or updates! I appreciate you all!

~Christy

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Cornerstone in 2010!

 

As all of you know, I am due towards the end of January and Ms. Christy Beck will become the new 2's-3's teacher. We have a great transition plan which will begin tomorrow.

 

I will be the main teacher this week and this allows Ms. Christy to see how all of our classes work. Then starting on the 11th, Ms. Christy will be the lead teacher and I will be a support person in the room. The bonus of this is two fold--one, the children will have a solid working knowledge and comfort level of who will be in the classroom and two, we get an extra set of hands! I know that is always welcomed for our room! I have written a story which will be read every day that explains the change also. The regular classroom routine is staying the same or very similar to what the children are already used to.

 

As for themes, we are following the same as the big kids' room: transportation, travel & vehicles for the month. If you have anything that will help us out for books, posters, etc. we would love to borrow them.

 

Thank you again for all your support & we are both very excited about 2010~!

Ms. Mary & Ms. Christy

 

Thanksgiving

We are celebrating family, friends and Thanksgiving over the next two weeks. It will be so much fun to hear about our families from the children's perspective. While I do have a picture of each child with one of their family members, it would be wonderful if every family could provide a picture of their entire nuclear family. I would love it if each child recognizes each member in their family. I will return these before Thanksgiving. We are going to be making a Thankful Tree and these pictures will be used for decorating the tree with our blessings.

 

If your family has a special way of celebrating family, please let me know. I would love to incorporate this if you are the helper parent or if you want to take a little extra time during your day to stop in & help out.

 

Also, a huge thank you to our families for making the pancake supper & silent auction such a success! It was great to see everyone there!

 

 

 

October

October has been a fun and busy month for the 2's class. We've had a few new friends join us and they have just blended into our room beautifully.

 

We have wrapped up our fire safety theme and did several fun activities. The children were able to crawl under "smoke", paint fire and make a paper smoke detector. It was delightful to see the transfer of information from a real smoke detector to the craft one. I can't wait to get the pictures printed to make a fire fighter/fire safety book for the room.

 

For the last week of October, we'll be talking all about Halloween & pumpkins. We'll sing lots of songs, read books and make some "spooky" art.

 

Don't forget to sign up for the parent teacher conferences next week.

 

Mary Michaud, BS, M.Ed, CD(DONA)

We Made it!!

Parents, cue the Rocky theme here...

We have had a great first two weeks of school. I couldn't be happier! The children are learning, playing and most importantly having fun with their new friends. My parent helpers, need a huge pat on the back too. I wouldn't be able to do my job without you.

 

This week we are discussing friends & friendship. We'll be making a friendship salad on Thursday & Friday of this week to celebrate sharing & caring. Please have your child bring one piece of their favorite type of fruit to school (one apple, one banana, a small bunch of grapes). The parent helper & I will help the child wash & prepare their special ingredient for our salad. We did this last year & it was a huge hit with the kids! We'll serve the friendship salad along with regular snack.

 

As always, any questions or concerns, please feel free to email or call me!

 

Hello Families!

We are off to an exciting beginning. It was wonderful to meet you today during our open house/registration event at Cornerstone. I am looking forward to our first week together.  I can almost guarantee that it will be a bit hectic the first few days. We will all have a lot of fun playing together though~

 

I had several questions about snacks today. I'll do a quick address here & then if you would like more details, please speak to me when you get a chance.

 

On M/W/F, the parent helper will be providing the snack & drink for the entire class. Please bring healthy snacks that will promote optimal nutrition for our little ones. We always save the sweets for birthdays and special events during the year. Please provide at least one gluten free option also. This could be fruit or another item that isn't made from wheat products. It is a fun idea to have your child help select the items for snack. They can be homemade or store bought.

 

On T/TH, each parent is providing their own snack & drink for their child. Again, the options brought from home need to promote optimal nutrition for our growing toddlers. Please make sure that your snack bag & drink are clearly labeled. These totes will be placed in the child's boxes in the hallway.

 

I am really looking forward to this special week. It marks a huge step in each family that is attending Cornerstone. For many, this will be the first time their child will be separated from them. I promise I will have extra boxes of tissues around the room.

 

Mary

Hello Summer

The time has come to say goodbye for the summer. This year has been amazing for me and I have learned so much from your children. I hope that they have enjoyed the year as much as I. 

 

I have been doing a lot of thinking these past few weeks and have narrowed down my two favorite aspects of Cornerstone...the attitudes of the parents and, of course, the kids. I don't think I could have asked for better families!! I love how involved you are with your children's lives. Some parents don't seem to have the time nor energy, but the families here are really something special.

 

For those families that are leaving Cornerstone and heading out to the big world of Kindergarten...enjoy! Kindergarten is a wonderful and exciting chapter in your children's lives. It is a great time to make new traditions and celebrations that are pertinent to your family. Oh, and it is totally okay to cry after you realize how grown up they have become.

 

I couldn't have been more blessed this year! Thank you again for sharing your child with me. It has been one year that won't be easily forgotten.

WELCOME to March!

It is hard to believe that spring break is next week. We will be discussing transportation over the next two weeks. My main objective will be to discuss the variety of transportation available to us and then explore "work" vehicles the following week. If anyone would be interested in coordinating a field trip (one for each section of classes), please let me know this week and I will fill you in on what I am looking for.  

 

I also want to say THANK YOU to the parents who made our classroom so sparkly clean during the cleaning day. It was very nice to come back to such a put together room. Now, I did learn a great lesson with our sensory table, too. Sensory table is great, bird seed, well...not so great. If you had the dirty job of cleaning up our mess -- an EXTRA HUGE thank you goes to you.

 

Again, if you have any questions, please let me know! You can speak to me during class or via email/telephone.

It's February!!

We'll be discussing mail/post office and St. Valentines's Day for the first two weeks & the last two weeks we will focus on animals & how to care for them. I will set up a field trip to a local pet store for each class towards the end of the month also.

 

For St. Valentine's Day, we are asking each parent to bring in an empty, round, oatmeal container with the lid by the 9th. We'll decorate & design our mailboxes so they are ready for our valentines. An updated class list will go out via email on the 9th.

 

We are keeping our holiday very low key and I am asking parents to come early on the 12th & 13th to help their child open up their valentines. 11:40 will be perfect - it gives us some time outdoors and then we can come in to open.

 

As always, feel free to call or email me with questions, concerns or compliments. : )

 

Mary