Sproutlings Newsletter: Week of September 7

Reminders and Upcoming Events:

• Please be sure you ask for an updated Universal Health Record for Sproutlings at your child’s annual well visit.
• If a child visits any of the states on the New Jersey restricted travel list, they are required to stay home for 14 days prior to returning to Sproutlings. Quarantine begins on the first day a child returns to NJ after travel. As a childcare center, we rely on parents’ complete transparency in order to keep our young and vulnerable population safe. Please plan vacation time accordingly.
• At pick up, please stay by your vehicle and teachers will walk your child to you. We ask that you maintain at least 6 feet distance from other parents and our teachers and make sure you are wearing a mask at all times. Thank you for your help in making sure that pick up is as smooth and safe as possible!
• Sheets and blankets for napping will be sent home over the weekend for parents to wash. Please be sure to wash everything before sending it back on Monday. This is an essential part of keeping everyone healthy!
• All students are required to get a flu shot no later than December 31st. Please bring documentation to Sproutlings. You can also send us an email with the picture of the documentation.
• Moving forward, children may bring in pre-packaged, store bought treats for birthdays. Examples include fruit snacks in individual pouches, individual packs of goldfish, or something similar. Please do not send in food that was prepared at home.
• Please make sure you send in extra masks for your child, especially as we approach cold season. It is important for children to be able to switch into clean masks if they sneeze or cough.
• Sproutlings is organizing a fun and safe Halloween celebration on October 30th. Children will be allowed to wear costumes to school but they must be clothes that the children can comfortably stay in all day. Extra accessories (hats, masks, gloves, etc.) will not be allowed. Further information will go out as we approach October.

Peapods I and  II

What a fun week in the Peapods! We all love bubbles and always enjoy trying to pop them. Our favorite song this week was “The Wheels on the Bus.” Some of our friends can do some of the motions! Our Peapod II friends enjoyed the last of the hot, summer weather out on the playground.

Seedlings

The Seedlings had a great week following the holiday.  We tried to enjoy as much outside time as possible. We just love going to our playground to run around and play with the cars. Of course, we love getting our picture taken on the mushrooms for our teachers.

We made tissue paper apples this week.  We were very excited to use glue and see what it can do! We also made some rainy clouds with our sponges and love to see what designs they make.

While in our classroom, we are always making towers with our different blocks and items. We’re just fascinated seeing what we can use to make a tower and how high they can be.  During circle time, we  read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and sang “I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee.”

Little Sprouts

We hope everyone had a great long weekend for Labor Day! We had such a fun week in Little Sprouts! Our theme this week was community helpers. We read I Love Trains by Philemon Sturges and Big Fire Engine by Kay Barnes. During circle time, we sang “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and “Wheels on the Bus.” For art, we continued to tie dye our clothing and painted using tooth brushes! Next week we will be talking about scarecrows. Just a reminder to please continue to label all of your child’s belongings.

Beanstalks I and Beanstalks II

This week the Beanstalks got back into the school year routine! We went over classroom rules and talked about how to make our classroom a special and safe place. We are practicing our letters and shapes.We love dancing and end almost every day with a dance party!

Our Beanstalks II friends welcomed Miss Amanda to their room this week. They explored lots of new puzzles and enjoyed learning new circle time songs.

Saplings

This week has been a week of new beginnings in Saplings (Pre K 3). It is the officially start to your new school year!  We have been working hard at reviewing our rules. For fun this week, we have been matching shapes, finding letters around the room to put on our tree and practicing counting our numbers. Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault are two of the books we are reading this week.
Saplings friends are looking forward to an exciting school year!

PreK 4

This week in Pre K 4 we explored new letters and numbers. We practiced identifying letters and sounding them out. We worked our fine motor skills by practicing writing numbers and letters. The children also practiced writing by writing in their journals. We practiced our shapes by talking about where we can find them (a door is a rectangle, a table is the shape of a circle and a box has sides made of squares).

Some of the books we read this week were Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.