Download Bright Horizons Child Care Center Of Ministry Saint Josephs

2016 | June Newsletter
Bright Horizons Child Care Center
Of Ministry Saint Josephs Hospital & Marshfield Clinic
From the Director
Important Dates
We can feel the excitement in the air as school
comes to a close and summer camp is upon
us! For those families utilizing our Camp
Xtreme this summer, we look forward to an
amazing summer full of fantastic adventures
and memories to share for years to come.
June
A few reminders for all our families:
6/19-Father’s Day
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For safety purposes we ask that your
child /ren have closed toe shoes while
here at the center. Flip flops or open
toe sandals are not allowed.
Also, with the increase in outdoor play
and the summer sun, please ensure
your child has a sunscreen permission
form on file. We do offer Rocky
Mountain Sunscreen or you can elect
to bring in your own. No aerosols are
allowed, so please ensure it is in lotion
form.
Throughout the summer we will be
celebrating various special events and we
encourage and invite you all to join us
whenever you are able! Watch the Lobby
Monitor or your child’s classroom for more
details!
**Summer Camp families see the monthly
calendar for specific events!
6/3- Last Day of School; Early Dismissal at 1130am
6/6- First Day of Camp Xtreme
6/6- Norwex Fundraiser
6/20- Debut of new Breastfeeding space
July
7/4-Center Closed
Reasons to Celebrate
Our center is blessed with 61 dedicated
staff that truly are the reason for the
excellent care and love your children
receive each and every day!
This month we are honored to share with
you that we have achieved our NAEYC
(National Association for the Education of
Young Children) Accreditation! Many
hours of hard work went into this process
and I couldn’t be more proud of our team!
Tonya Glamann
Director
Bright Horizons at
601 N Pine Ave, Marshfield, WI 54449 | P: 715-387-7555
Mon-Fri, 5:30 a.m. – 7:45 p.m.
http://child-care-preschool.brighthorizons.com/WI/Marshfield/saintjosephshospital/
© 2016 Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC
CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS
Infant
Infants begin to engage in simple role plays by using
props such as textured hair rollers. They are beginning
to demonstrate an ability to use their imagination and
express it through play. By exploring the hair rollers and
looking at themselves in the mirror, the children are
engaging multiple senses and learning to identify
themselves in a mirror.
Toddler
While exploring silk flowers toddlers are able to explore
different parts of a flower. Teachers use this time to
expand the children’s vocabulary by labeling parts of
the flower. “Look at the stem.” “Here is the petal.” The
children used a sticky mat to make a flower collage and
spent time exploring the mat with their hands. With this
activity they are increasing their vocabulary, increasing
their small motor skills, and exploring textures that are
sticky.
Transition
In the transition wing the children participated in a
recycling challenge. For this challenge, each room was
given a different recycled item to explore and be
creative with. Many classrooms began by exploring
within the visual art area of their classrooms. By
participating in this challenge, the children were
embracing the concept of reusing items and showing
stewardship for the environment in which they live. This
enabled the children to explore and compare materials
they see within their physical environment. They also
gained a sense of accomplishment when seeing their
finished product, such as the musical instrument shown
in the picture.
© 2016 Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC
Preschool / Kindergarten Prep
Preschool children explore the properties of varied
art materials such as clay. The children used their
fingers to break off pieces of clay to squeeze in
their hands. By adding clay to the sensory area the
children were able to explore physical properties
such as shape and texture. The children described
what they were feeling and compared it to other
materials.
School Age
In school age children learn to problem solve and
work with other children of various ages to
complete a task. The children work to see how long
they can keep the beach ball off the ground. This
requires the children to use positive
communication and teamwork to figure out
strategies to keep the ball up for longer periods of
time.
© 2016 Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC
READY FOR SCHOOL NEWS
Phonological Awareness: Ideas for Home
Maybe you’ve heard of phonological awareness, and are left wondering what it really means? Phonological awareness
is more than letter and sound recognition; it is the awareness of groups of sounds or individual sounds within words.
Several studies suggest that children who enter school with strong phonological awareness skills tend to become
better readers (Adams, 1990; Snow et al., 1998). Literacy experts, V. Susan Bennett-Armistead, Nell K. Duke, and Annie
M. Moses, consider the following phonological awareness skills critical to later reading success:
1. Separating words into syllables or beats
2. Recognizing rhyming words
3. Generating (coming up with) rhyming words
4. Recognizing words that start or end with the same sound
5. Generating words that start or end with the same sound
6. Blending sounds into words
7. Segmenting words into sounds
8. Moving sounds around to create new words
Children who can recognize patterns and beats in words, rhymes, and beginning and ending sounds use these skills
later to break down and decode words, spell words, and even figure out new words.
Every child is different, but children typically learn to separate words into syllables or beats before they can rhyme,
blend sounds, or segment words. Children can typically recognize words before they can generate them. Blending
words, which means sounding out a written word, such as c-a-t to spell cat, typically comes before segmenting
words, or breaking a spoken word apart to spell it.
Fostering your child’s phonological awareness needn’t be time-consuming or difficult. Try playing word games in the
car or establishing a nightly bedtime reading ritual. Below are a few strategies to try:
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Sing every day. Music almost always contains patterns, rhythms, and rhymes, making it a perfect introduction
to phonological awareness. Try leaving the ending word out of a phrase and see if the children can remember
it. Silly songs like “Down by the Bay” and “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” (both available from Raffi) encourage
rhyming and even allow children to generate their own rhymes.
Read Mother Goose rhymes and poetry to the children. Read tongue twisters and stories with alliteration.
Picture books with repetitive, rhyming texts, such as “I Went Walking,” by Sue Williams and “Brown Bear,
Brown Bear,” by Bill Martin Jr. build confidence and encourage participation.
Play word games. Say a word and then break it into syllables, using one of two techniques. Clap each syllable
or place your hand under your chin and count the number of times your mouth opens to say a vowel. Play
the “rubber band” game. Say a word and then stretch it out, stretching your hands apart as you say and
prolong each sound. Then snap your hands back together, saying the word quickly.
Chances are, you’re already doing many of these things intuitively. With just a little intentional effort, you can create
rich phonological awareness experiences for your child.
© 2016 Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC
CENTER MARKETING NEWS
Learning at Home Activities
Our Learning at Home ideas offer parents fun ways to extend their child's learning opportunities beyond the
classroom. These activities cover key developmental and academic areas, including social skills, language
acquisition, science, math, learning to read, and more.
Infant: Peak – A - Photo
Glue six to eight photographs onto a poster board. Attach pieces of cloth to the board by gluing along the top
edge of each photograph. Hiding each photograph, say to your baby, “Let’s find Aunt Agnes;” then lift the
cloth and comment, “Oh, here she is!"
Toddlers: Color Cards
Show your child one color at a time and have him or her find something in the area that is the same color, or
think of something that is that color. Having the card to look at while you say the name of the color is a great
help for toddlers who are learning their colors.
Preschool: Creating Science Collections
Talk about collecting with your child and ask what kind of things your child would like to collect. If your child
likes rocks, go to an area where there are many rocks. Go outside and start collecting. Have your child put each
object into the container to add to his/her new collection. Display the collections in the home.
K-Prep: Grocery Shopping
This activity encourages children to assist in shopping and helps with reading skills. Make a list of needed
shopping items. Prepare a visual list ahead of time or have children help cut pictures of items out of
newspaper, magazine, or ads and glue onto paper. Go to the grocery store. Have children use child pencil,
crayon, or marker to mark off items when found.
Kindergarten: Family Culture Collage
Have children help select the photographs and items. Ask them why that particular photo/item was chosen.
Write what your child says. Keep small pieces away from younger siblings. If your child selects heavy objects to
attach, you may need to provide heavier paper or cardboard for the base or have your child turn it into a 3dimensional sculpture.
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© 2016 Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC