Child Care Services March 2019 Newsletter

Child Care Services Newsletter INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Child Care Services Supervisor Update

Supervisor Update

1

Sunshine Room

2

Welcome to March – I sure hope Spring is coming!!

Green Room

3

Rainbow Room

4

Gold Room

5

Kinder Room

6

The SAS had a licensing visit on February 20th that went great! The Licensing report will be posted as soon as it is received.

We are excited to be hosting our first parenting workshop on March 2nd. Child care will be provided, Please RSVP to Jodie if you will be attending.

May 29th will be our second annual Professional Development Day, thank you for supporting us with this day. More information will be sent out closer to the date.

ELCC Snack Menu

7

SAS Update

8

SAS Snack Menu

9

SAS Pictures

10/11

Positive Interactions

12

2019 Fees and Charges

13

Child Care Services Supervisor Jodie

Vesso 780-929-1263 jodie.vesso@beaumont.ab.ca ELCC Room Cell Phones Sunshine 780-399-2156 Green 780-399-2475 Rainbow 780-862-9046 Gold 780-863-7386 Kinder room 780-862-3207 SAS Contact: Phone: 780-929-2190 Cell :780-862-7803

Upcoming Closure Dates April 19 & 22 May 20 & 29 July 1 August 5 September 2

Staffing Update: We sadly said goodbye to Amy in the kinder room on February 28th as she is starting maternity leave. Jodi will be filling in for her 18 month maternity leave position and working in the kinder room with Sarah.

Melissa will be covering in the gold room until the end of April and Lyndsey will be covering in all rooms.

Resources: Here is a link to an article about the benefits of risky play that is interesting. https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/risky-play-for-children-why-weshould-let-kids-go-outside-and-then-get-out And, in that article there is a link to a tool to help parents and caregivers gain the confidence to allow children to engage in more outdoor play. https://outsideplay.ca/ Have a great Month!

Jodie

Sunshine Room Early Learning Child Care

Tendai—Early Childhood Program Coordinator Stephanie—Early Childhood Program Assistant

The month of February started and ended with the cold snap but we pulled through. We are so proud of the children as it takes a lot for a toddler to be stuck indoors for such a long period of time. We kept them quite engaged as we ex-plored Cause and Effect.

Destruction was the favourite as the children got to stack big and small blocks and knocked them down, ripping and tearing paper , peeling tape off the table , hitting using hammers on play dough and punching on pillows. The children also seemed to want to explore sound so we went with Sound Making as well .There was lots of clanging using pots , pans and spoons. We realized we could actually have some musicians in the making as the chil-dren created loud but unique sounds with anything and everything they could get their hands on. The love of sounds led us into doing lots of action songs and having dance parties . It was priceless listening to the children sing along , dance and clap to the many songs .While following the concept of Cause and Effect we did quite a bit of mixing as well. For this learning experience the mixing of baking soda and vinegar was the biggest hit. The expressions on the chil-dren's faces as they realized what would happen each time they added baking soda to the vinegar was out of this world , we heard lots of giggling , laughing , and saw lots of jumping up and down with excitement. Now that it has warmed up again we are looking forward to spending as much time as we can enjoying the outdoors. That being said please kindly make sure your little one has the appropriate clothing , especially water proof gloves.

Thank you Tendai and Stephanie

Green Room Early Learning Child Care

Laura—Early Childhood Program Coordinator Kristi—Early Childhood Program Assistant

February was filled with lots of inside days and we were able to explore lots of different experiences! We introduced the children to a sensory bin full of straws a provided them with three different types of scissors to explore cutting. The first type of scissors we used were just regular ones, then we introduced loop scissors for the children who were-n’t able to place their fingers in the proper holes and the third type that we put out were double handle scissors for the children who need some help squeezing the handles together . We chose to put straws in the cutting bin because when you cut them they making popping sound and this gives the children the feedback they need to kept cutting and to keep trying if they are unsuccessful. We also got to explore some really fun sensory experiences like goop, the children loved the way it melted through their fingers and also the way it turned hard when they tried to scoop it up with spoons.

We are continuing to explore building and we have noticed that the children are now using both the wooden hollow blocks and the foam blocks to create vehicles. Some are building trucks, while others are building cars and trains. We’ve also observe a different style of building that is starting to emerge with the hollow blocks, last month they were using these blocks to build towers by stacking them on top of each other. Now they are standing the blocks up so they stand tall and creating what seems to be fences in the block corner. The children have been navigating this type of building by either finding an open space to squeeze their bodies through so they are able to keep building or to grab other toys, this turned out to be not so successful of a tactic as the blocks were falling down and knocking the other blocks over too. After a few times of knocking down the blocks they figured out if they moved the blocks closer to each other they would create almost a door way where they could come and go without knocking all the other blocks down. With all the cold weather this past month we are so happy to welcome March. We are hoping for some warmer days so we able to get outside and have some fun exploring in our park.

Rainbow Room Early Learning Child

Beth—Early Childhood Program Coordinator Tammy—Early Childhood Program Assistant Simran—Early Childhood Program Assistant

February was a long, cold month but we survived! We had many dance parties, created obstacle courses in the room and looked forward to our gym time. The children enjoyed pretending to drive a variety of places in our car. We went to the beach, on picnics, to visit family and to the zoo. Our indoor picnic was a lot of fun and we have already talked about having more outside in the spring and summer. Once the weather warmed up we had hot chocolate and granola bars outside in our park, the children loved the mini marshmallows. In March, we will be focusing on dramatic play specifically role playing. We have set up a stage area and put out a variety of clothing, hats, jewelry and other props. In March we have two friends turning 4 on the same day, Happy Birthday to Jaxon and Gabby!

Thank you, Simran, Beth and Tammy

Gold Room

Joanna—Early Childhood Program Coordinator Lorena—Early Childhood Program Assistant Melissa—Early Childhood Program Assistant

Time is flying by as we approach beautiful spring! February kept us indoors due to very cold temperatures, but we are full of hopes that March will bring some warmer breezes, so please make sure your children are prepared for the outdoors every day, as we do go out, weather permitting. It is a good idea to have two pairs of gloves and a pair of pants, as enjoying snow and mud is fun but messy.

We are still focusing on science and nature, as well as the miniature worlds of Ninja Turtles, Pokémon and all kinds of mini creatures. The children create stories, plots and dialogues based on their experiences with literature and imagination, using provided props such as mega blocks, wooden planks, ramps, paper figurines, etc.

On February 7, we learned some facts about China as we celebrated Chinese New Year. Valentine's Day was full of sweet sur-prises for everyone and on February 15 we honored Canada National Flag Day, researching new facts together.

During the month of February, we welcomed a second year Grant MacEwan student, Sean, who will come back for his four-week block placement in March. Sean will be learning, observing and preparing some fun activities, play spaces and provoca-tions for the children.

We wish him many happy moments with us in the Gold Room.

Our skating is steadily progressing, with the children requiring less support, and we still have one more Skating Day before the end of the season. The date will be Wednesday, March 20th, from 10:30am to 11:30am. Parents are always welcome to join us. To continue our involvement in the physical aspect and the gross motor skills of the early development of our chil-dren, I booked three bike days in the following months, starting April 17. More info will follow.

Simple ways to get ready for Kindergarten: • • •

Encourage your children to persist in tasks when encountering a problem by giving them tasks slightly above their current ability level.

When they cannot find a solution on their own, encourage them to calmly ask for help.

Read to them for at least 20 minutes each day.

Play board games to practice taking turns.

Happy Birthday to Dane, Kaylee and Jackson!

Kinder Room

Jodi —Early Childhood Program Coordinator Sarah—Early Childhood Program Assistant

March is bringing lots of changes in the Kinder Room, first we said goodbye to Amy, and welcomed Jodi as the new Kinder Room Coordinator! The children are all very excited to have her in our room! The weather has also turned around and we are finally able to get outside after what felt like ages, and we are all very happy for our daily doses of fresh air! March is also bringing spring break, in which we have some exciting things planned for the children. Please make sure you are checking the calendar on the door regularly for any special days that may be coming up. Just heads up that we have booked the lower arena for March 22, from 10-11:30 am. If anyone would like to volun-teer to join us that would be wonderful.

We would also like to kindly ask that you please check your child’s locker periodically and ensure that it is tidy. We understand and encourage the fact that many of you are giving your children the independence to get themselves ready to go home at the end of the day, however we are finding that our locker room has become quite cluttered with artwork, extra clothes, and even lunch dishes and drink containers that are being left behind. If you could maybe help your child once a week to ensure a tidy locker that would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

March has also brought on a new play interest for the children! We found that in every aspect of their play they were trying to make things bigger, taller, faster, and in very way possible...“colossal”! We are hoping to follow their lead and find some very exciting ways to explore ‘colossal play’ in our room. Stay tuned for our upcoming docu-mentation on all of the ways we have explored the concepts of biggest, tallest, heaviest, fastest, and many more!

ELCC SNACK MENU—MARCH 2019 Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday 1

*All snacks and lunch are serve with milk and water

4 Apple sauce with teddy grahams Trail mix (cheerios, pretzels, shreddies, craisins, mini marshmallows) 11 Frozen fruit and rice krispies

Tortilla chips with salsa & sour cream 18 Eggo’s with syrup

LEFT OVER FRIDAY

5

6

Raisin toast with cheese

Canned fruit with animal crackers

Melon with arrowroot cookies

Pita, cucumber with hummus

12 Rice cakes with jam & apples slices

Ham, cheese & Ritz crackers 19 Fresh berries & yogurt

8

7 Yogurt and bananas LEFT OVER FRIDAY Pasta with sauce or butter and cheese

13 Bagels with cream cheese

Granola bars with grapes

15

14 Oranges with cheerios

LEFT OVER FRIDAY

Frozen yogurt sandwiches with graham wafers

20 Apples, pea butter & raisins

21 Eggs & toast

22 LEFT OVER FRIDAY

Mini pizzas on english muffins or bagels

Pretzels with cream cheese & cucumber

Veggies & dip

25 Shredded with craisins

26 Cinnamon toast with seasonal fresh fruit

27 Applesauce with arrowroot cookies

Fruit kabobs with Teddy Grahams 28 Cheerio’s & raisins

29 LEFT OVER FRIDAY *Birthday Snack PM

Jam & pea butter sandwiches

Meat, cheese, pickles & crackers

Peppers, peas & hummus

Cereal bars & melon

SCHOOL AGE SITE

Program Coordinator, Shirley Webster Program Assistant, Jasmine Henkel Program Assistant, Ariunaa Tsend Program Assistant, Ingrid Holtz

Thankfully February is over. What a cold spell we went through, but we have all survived and now we can get outdoors more.

While we could not go outside due to the weather, our focus in the room turned to physical activity. We no-ticed that many of the children have fitbits and they were always checking to see how many steps they have done and comparing their steps with their friends. We created an exercise room where the children can do their stretches, exercises, yoga poses, balancing and other strengthening maneuvers. We have also created a Health and Wellness Board with tips on healthy eating and physical activity tips. There was a hospital area where the children practiced caring for babies, as well as each other. They booked appointments, examined and prescribed medicine to those who needed medicine.

Games continued to be an interest and kept everyone busy by challenging each other in board games, dice games and card games.

In the room there is also a Parent Resource Board. For February the topic was on “Empathy.” Make sure you come and check out what next months’ topic will be.

World Vision Child, “Benjamin” has his 8th birthday on March 18 and the children have been busy drawing him pictures and making Birthday cards for him.

Congratulations to Padraig and Jessica for winning this months’ Book Club. Everyone keep up the great work reading.

We will keep you posted on what the activities will be during Spring Break.

Have a great month.

SAS

Birthday wishes go out to: Eva—March 2 Adrian—March 12 Connor M—March 14 Owen—March 23 Kinley—March 26

Gracie Z—March 10 Taylor L—March 14 Isabella—March 20 Sophie—March 24

Happy Birthday to you! We all hope that you have a fantastic day!

School Age Site March Snack Menu Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday 1

All snacks served with milk, water Fruit & Veggies

LEFT OVER FRIDAY

4 Cereal

5 Cinnamon toast with apple slices

Pudding

6

7

Oatmeal

Yogurt & Bananas

Soup

Nacho & Cheese

8 LEFT OVER FRIDAY

Muffins 11 Cereal

12 Bagels & Cream Cheese

Meat, Cheese, Pickles & Crackers

13

14

Scrambled Eggs

Eggos & syrup

Veggies & Dip

Triscuit Pizza

15 LEFT OVER FRIDAY

Fruit & Crackers

18

19

20

21

22

Cereal Bagels & Cream Cheese

Quesadillas

Toast & Jam

Canned Fruit

Yogurt

Cereal

LEFT OVER FRIDAY

Fruit & Arrowroot crackers 25

26

27

28

Cereal

Oatmeal

Raisin Toast

Cereal

Meat, Cheese, Crackers & Pickles

Fruit & Dip

Jello & Fruit

Nachos & Cheese

29 LEFT OVER FRIDAY

SCHEDULE VII CHILDCARE FEES Effective February 1, 2019 2019

Item

Local Fees

%

Non-Local Fees

SCHOOL AGE SITE (Monthly Fees) Before & After School Care: September – June Before & After School Care Summer Care: July & August Child Care Services Bus Fee/Child

$

555.00

3.93%

$

694.00

$

772.00

3.76%

$

965.00

$95.00 $65.00

Community Rider Bus Fee/Child

EARLY LEARNING CHILD CARE CENTRE (Monthly Fees) 12 months 13 – 18 months 19 months – 3 years 3 – 4.5 years 4.5 years and up/Kindergarten Care: Year round Bus Transportation User Fee/child

$ $ $ $

1,094.00 1,066.00 1,015.00 976.00

1.96% 6.71% 4.64% 7.37%

$ $ $ $

1,368.00 1,333.00 1,269.00 1,220.00

$

875.00

7.23%

$

1,094.00

2 Days/Week: Tuesday/Thursday 3 Days/Week: Monday/Wednesday/Friday

$ $

485.00 605.00

$95.00 0.00% 0.00%

$ $

606.00 756.00

DROP-IN FEES: ALL PROGRAMS Half Day – up to 5 hours of care/day Full Day – between 5-8 hours of care /day

$35.00 $53.00

OTHER FEES Late Pick-Up

Waitlist Registration Fee (Will be either refunded or applied to the first month’s child care fees if the child is accepted into the program, but otherwise is non-refundable)

$1.00/minute/child

$50.00/child