Toddler

Ms. Christy's Class

Hi Everyone!

The 2's & 3's class had a great time last week as we welcomed our friends to their new learning environment! I was pleasantly surprised by how the smiles seemed to outweigh the tears! We did lots of exploring of the classroom and backyard and practiced our daily songs and routines! We even had a special visitor, Ms. Emer, come to the rescue to fill in for me while I was ill on Friday. (Luckily, I had a long weekend to fully recover and will return tomorrow :) ) 

Beginning on Tuesday, we will begin learning about the things most near and dear to our hearts- Our Friends, Family, Home & Pets. I would greatly appreciate it if the 2's & 3's parents would begin bringing in BABY PICTURES and PET PHOTOS to expand on this topic. Please place them in
your child's cubby. Look out for Me Dolls and a Friendship Mural this week as we focus on these projects during art time.

Looking forward to a great week and beautiful weather!

Christy

My Fabulous Feelings

This week's theme is "My Fabulous Feelings." Like the big kid class, we will have a puppet theater out. I can't wait to see their creative minds at work in this center- I know they will love it. Feel free to send feelings related books and any puppets from home for your child to share! We will be singing songs, matching and mimicing emotions, creating a feelings book, and reading stories to reinforce the topic.

I hope everyone enjoyed today's beautiful, fall weather!

See you all soon!

Pets!!!

Last week's family theme and Ice Cream Shop were a big hit! The kids enjoyed sharing ice cream and making treats for their friends.

This week's theme in the 2s and 3s class is Pets. We will be learning about different kinds of pets, distinguishing pets from other types of animals, and hopefully we will be enjoying a visit from a special guest. :)

Throughout the week, I encourage you to send a picture of your own family pets with your children to share with their friends.

Thanks!

Me & My Friends

In the 2's and 3's class this week, we will be focusing on "Me & My Friends." Two special things that I had in mind for us to do is to all work together to prepare a snack (if the parent helper is able to plan accordingly :) ) and to have the kids bring in their favorite toy to share/show in class- both on Thursday and Friday. I'll have a note on the sign in sheets as a reminder to send a toy to school, aswell.

Next week, during "My Home & My Family," I am hoping to set up an ice cream shop dramatic play center and I would greatly appreciate any donations of cleaned out ice cream tubs this week and next. Thank you in advance, I know it will be a hit with your children!

Looking forward to seeing you all this week!

Space

Hi Everyone!

We have wrapped up our unit on Oceans and I will be introducing the kiddos to our 2 week unit on Space tomorrow! I know they will love learning about all the planets, stars, astronauts, and space shuttles! I will attempt to make the dramatic play center into a space station- and I plan for the 2s & 3s to help with it all! I have a wardrobe box I plan to use, but if anyone has access to BIG boxes (like a refrigerator box?), please let me know!

On that note, it would be VERY helpful if you guys could bring a plastic milk jug with your child throughout the week (we will be making astronaut helmets out of them). ALSO, if anyone would be willing to make some more play-doh I will be eternally grateful :)

Lastly, I would like to say THANK YOU for all who attended the brunch on Sat. or added to the collection of thank you cards. I am so glad my path in life has lead me to Cornerstone & could not be happier to be surrounded by such supportive and kind people at work! The past (almost!) year interning or teaching here at CCP has been so enjoyable and has made me a better & more confident teacher thanks to all of you :)

~Christy

Spring Cleaning

Attention Beloved Parents!

This week in my class, we are focusing on Spring & Things That Grow. I need a little help from you all to help make my dramatic play set up really great...

I decicided to dedicate my dramatic play area to "Spring Cleaning." I know (most) kids at this age are fascinated by cleaning and cleaning supplies. I was hoping some of you could loan me some kid friendly cleaning tools for the kids to explore the spring cleaning idea. Some more brooms, rubber gloves, play vacuum, scrubbies, EMPTY kitchen cleaner bottles, etc. would be really wonderful for the kiddos to explore with! Just bring anything we could borrow with your child in the morning the next time you come to school. Hopefully this week will create little housekeepers to lighten the load of duties around the house! ;) THANK YOU!

~Christy

Nature

Hello All!

I hope everyone made the best of their spring break and are getting back in the school routine! My class will be continuing on the trees and birds theme but adding an emphasis on nests and eggs. This will serve as a good review of the topic and make the transition from break to school a little smoother. On a side note, I will be needing a few things to make this week extra great!:

-3 empty egg cartons
-a batch of playdoh (to make nests)
-rubber duckies
*Thank you in advance!*

I am excited about the next few weeks as we will be learning about farms and farm animals and spring and things that grow! These themes are seasonally appropriate and will allow me to plan a lot of fun and educational things for the kids.

I look forward to hearing about everyone's Spring Break!

~Christy

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