BUTTERFLIES AND PUPPIES, OH MY!!

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome to our blog site for Butterflies, (Pre-K), and Puppies, (Toddlers and Children transitioning into Pre-K)!!

Perhaps I will begin by adding a little something to Kelly's first post -- the little ones are doing beautifully!! The minimal amount of separation anxiety that we have experienced, thus far, is beginning to diminish, already, and, we must all continue to be patient with parents as well as children -- yes -- parents(!!) -- a friend that is a middle-school teacher at my daughter's school, said that he began to tear-up as his youngest son headed-off to his "junior" year of college!! They are always our babies . . .

Well, now -- the first week . . .

The kids have been very accepting of all of the change that is taking place, in fact -- awed -- by some things, such as the building of the playground.

We have spent a great deal of time outdoors, exploring our new surroundings, having already taken a walk along the path that leads to the High School, to Kelly's great joy!!

We have started to utilize riding toys, hoola hoops and balls, engage in sensory activities and play a myriad of games -- Mrs. (Tammy) Goell continues to be our best hoola-hooper, although I have taken many photos of the competition!!

I rarely walk around, inside or outside, without at least one book in my hand, so, the children have heard many stories, which have been linked to discussions and simple art projects.

Once our new copier is delivered, we will be distributing daily reports to all of our students, which detail the highlights of their days -- in the meantime, you will find many hand-written comments on festive papers -- I trust that all of you received cut-outs of pastry-chef hats noting that we made some truly delicious raspberry muffins on Thursday!!

Our theme for the month of September is Family and Pets/Animals, although we will continue to spend the second week touring the school, becoming familiar with the routine and getting to know each other -- we have been learning songs containing the names of our new playmates and some new friendships have begun to blossom in just the very first days!!

As one large group, initially, we are learning about colors and combinations of said, shapes, letters and numbers.

On Tuesday, you will find Scholastic Book Orders in your mailboxes -- Scholastic offers a wonderful and inexpensive means to building home libraries for your children, as well as to earn additional books for our Center!! (I, of course, have already submitted my order, as there still exist a few picture books I do not yet own!!)

Among the vast array of offerings are some delightful choices for the Fall, "The Kissing Hand" and a five-verse version of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Tuesday morning, you will notice significant improvements to our space, such as gates that have been painted, boards that have been hung and a deck full of new learning centers, to name a few!!

Next Thursday, which is Family Night, our "theme" will be "Making Your Mark", inspired by "The Dot", written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, and will entail each of us painting a dot on the wall of the Cubby Room, to commemorate the great beginning at Minuteman's Child Development Center.

Please know that my schedule is generally from 08:30 - 01:30, Monday - Thursday, and that I make myself very available to families.

Have a stellar Labor-Day week-end, and, we all look very forward to seeing you, beginning Tuesday morning!!

Love Miss Peacock, on behalf of Miss Downing, Mrs. Goell and Miss Sashi, as well!! XOXO