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FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER
2012
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DEAR PARENTS
January was relatively uneventful weather wise here in New England. Unseasonably warm weather
conditions made the playground a very busy place this month. One could not find the typical snow pants
and snow boots of past winters. I am going to venture a guess that February will not be so nice to us!
THANK YOU
I would like to thank all the parents who donated and participated in the holiday K-Cups gift this past
December. The teachers enjoy choosing their coffee and tea from the variety of choices we now have in
the pantry. During gym and music class one can often smell the delicious aroma of flavored coffee
flowing from the Keurig throughout the building!
A special thank you to the Varriale Family for organizing this gift!
Preschool Updates
Butterfly Classroom
Incredible as it is that we are into the 2nd half of the year, we have been happily involved in the business
of enjoying our school days and each other as we prepare for our next step up the educational ladder.
We have enjoyed old friendships, made new ones and continue to practice and perfect our social skills
as we go about our daily routine. We are pleased to see an ever-increasing level of comfort and trust
that the entire class experiences and enjoys with one another and with the teachers.
At the start of the year, our days began with signing in with our first names. We have now progressed to
both first and last names and the Butterflies are doing very nicely with practicing this attendance activity.
We are all familiar with our classroom routine now and as we start our day with our morning meeting, we
find that everyone is eager to see who has been assigned Helping Hand jobs for the week. Our Calendar
person and Meteorologist both lead us in songs and then they contribute their all important daily updates
for us. We have exposure to numbers, patterns, days of the week, months of the year. We have been
working on our “Letter of the Week’ and as this newsletter goes to press, we are celebrating the Letter
“P” as well as learning the equivalent in Sign Language. The children have done a super job preparing
each letter at home and presenting with increasing pride and confidence to the group. As we move into
our weekly theme, we get into some great discussions. We are often surprised by how much information
the children know and recall on a wide variety of subjects.
After Circle time, we have snack. It is always a highlight for the children and a good time for us to watch
and listen to the children engaging with one another. Whether it is a creation that we have made as a
cooking or baking activity in class, birthday celebration or a selection from our variety of healthy snacks,
we not only enjoy the nourishment but the social exercise and good manner reinforcement that it offers
our Butterflies.
Story time follows our snack and then our Butterflies are always ready to enjoy their choice time. They
head to their favorite areas of the room, check out the art activity of the day and spend time involved with
friends practicing skills, being creative and learning new things everyday. Bella, Violet, and Gianna are
happily found at the writing table working on their journals or busily preparing detailed colorful pictures.
Aarohi’s choice would be to use her cutting skills at the writing area and create artwork. Sasha and
Hannah love dramatic play, and are lovingly engaged with the babies and the kitchen/ housekeeping
area. Matty, Cole, Spencer, Alden, Alex and Luke head for the manipulative rug to play with cars and
Legos, or to the big rug working cooperatively in the wooden block area building some mighty
engineering structure. Makenzie, Audrey and Sophia love to do floor puzzles and often request certain
favorites. Whatever the activity or choice, the Butterflies are practicing social skills: communication,
interactive and cooperative play as well as perfecting their fine motor and cognitive skills.
Music with Ms. Irene on Monday, and gym with Mrs. Kagan on Friday are always happily anticipated by
our children. We are fortunate to have these two professionals that provide regular experiences with
music, instruments and gross motor activity. We end our days, weather permitting, with outdoor play.
This is high on the priority list and the outdoor enthusiasts head for their favorite equipment. You can
catch our Butterflies pumping high to the sky on the swings, climbing apparatus and monkey bars as well
as enjoying the soothing qualities of the sandbox. We pack a great deal into our mornings and the time
certainly flies by for us!
Our Mystery Reader activity has been really super this year as we welcome family members from far and
wide. We appreciate everyone’s patience as they wait for their opportunity to surprise their Butterfly and
look forward to the continued enthusiasm, favorite stories and new titles that we enjoy during these
visits.
We began our year with “All About Me” and Friends as a unit and then moved into “Autumn”
activities. We spent November learning about “Recycle” and then “Community Helpers’. We had
several in-house field trips: Dr Colm Scanlon, Marie’s Dad (Cub) and Veterinarian; Lieutenant Blaise
Tersoni from the Framingham Police Department that graciously spent their own time talking with us
about their important jobs in the community. We also enjoyed and learned important information at an all
school visit during Fire Prevention Month in October from Firefighter Sue. Our school location provided
us with walking field trips. We were off to the Mc Auliffe Library where we happily accepted rave reviews
from Ms. Robin, the librarian for our attention and good behavior during many great stories that she
chose to read to us. We went to the local post office and learned about the mail and delivery system. We
mailed off our prepared letters and artwork to our homes to fully understand the ‘travel’ cycle of a letter.
We also loved the dramatic play areas that we set up that provide endless opportunity for peer
interaction, conversation and imagination: our Butterfly Farm Stand; Post Office and Veterinary Hospital
were big hits in the first part of the year.
We have been working on our Winter theme: Hibernation and Migration. Next we will be taking an
imaginary trip to the Arctic and Antarctica to learn about those areas of our world: the habitat, weather
conditions and animals that are able to survive in these extreme areas.
We thank you for all your acts of kindness, time, support and communication. Here’s to a continued
smooth running and fun-filled remainder of our school year!
Ellen Salsbury and Kayla Chagnon
Little Chicks – Room 7
The Little Chicks have been busy making new friends and seeing old friends since our first day in
September. We begin each day by placing our Little Chick names on our attendance chart and anxiously
go to the helping chart to see who will be line leader, cup helper, snack helper or weather calendar
person. Everyone has had a chance at these activities and they enjoy doing them again and again.
Then it’s off to the playground where everyone enjoys starting their day by running, climbing, sliding and
learning to use the swings. Our sandbox is a favorite area where many try to balance themselves along
the perimeter and create music using pails and shovels as their instruments.
After outdoor play we have snack time. Everyone enjoys singing “Open Shut Them” before we eat our
snack.
During circle time, we enjoy sharing our ideas and experiences. We read books every day and
encourage each other to participate when questions are asked.
During free play, everyone has an opportunity to choose from many different activities. Gavin, Jeremy,
Will and Andrew spend time building with cars, animals and blocks where many wonderful building
structures are created. Our housekeeping area is always a favorite with Jaime, Kellen and Jax who
create many delicious imaginative recipes. Lauren, Maggie, Lara and Alessandra enjoy dress up. We
have many beautiful princesses. Julia, Sophia, Grace, Rhea and Somerby take wonderful care of our doll
babies. Many doll babies have been visiting the dentist and the doctor’s office. Other activities to choose
from include our art table, sand table, easel for painting wonderful masterpieces, the manipulative area
for creating intricate structures, creating many fun shapes at our play dough table and our writing area
where everyone experiments with scissors and markers.
We end our morning with sing-along time. Everyone especially enjoys this activity, when we use our
instruments while listening to music.
Mondays and Thursdays are music days with Irene. Everyone enjoys using puppets and various
instruments while learning new songs. Tuesdays and Fridays are gym days with Mrs. Kagan when we
enjoy basketball, hula-hoop activities, exercises with songs, and bubbles!
In these last few months we’ve learned about autumn; discovered seeds in our pumpkin; learned about
shapes, colors, numbers, counting and sorting snacks; discussed night-time and the hibernation of some
animals; and learned to measure, pour and mix ingredients to create delicious recipes. Our class is filled
with very talented bakers!
In January, we learned about winter, discussed what we wear in winter time, learned about winter animals,
discussed and made snowflakes.
In the next few months we will learn about Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, The Five Senses and Spring
Time.
We welcome anyone who would like to come to our class to read or share an activity.
We have a wonderful class! Pat, Kayla and I thank you for sharing your children with us.
Bunnies
The Bunnies have completed three units this fall: All about Me, Fall, and Family. For most of the bunnies
it is the first time they have been in a school setting, so much of our time in the beginning of the year is
spent helping them to feel safe, comfortable and happy being away from their parents and teaching them
about the expectations and procedures of a school setting. Each time the children come to school they
are busy discovering and exploring the varied materials that we provide to assist them in learning about
the current theme we are studying. Here are some of their favorites:
Ava Lombardo: Enjoys playing with the dollhouse, the rice table and art projects.
Danny McAuliffe: Enjoys playing with the cars, the dollhouse and the building toys.
Timmy Burke: Enjoys playing outside, the dollhouse and blocks.
Leo Novak: Enjoys puzzles, playdough, and story time.
Matthew Treacy: Enjoys the playground, art activities and blocks.
Zoey Gonzalez: Enjoys the rice table, housekeeping, and the dollhouse.
Julieta Garcia: Enjoys play dough, painting, swinging and housekeeping.
Madison Steenburgh: Enjoys outside time, painting and housekeeping.
Emily Fung: Enjoys art projects, housekeeping, and working at the writing center.
Julia Schneider: Enjoys painting, playing dolls, swinging on the swings and the rice table.
Caroline Larson-DiPalma: Enjoys playing at the dollhouse, the rice table and swinging on the swings.
Puppy Class
What a wonderful time we've been having in the Puppy class so far this year! We've all learned and
grown so much! The children began the school year by exploring all the areas of our classroom, learning
our daily routines and classroom jobs, and by getting to know each other. They have had many different
experiences with building toys, various puzzles and manipulatives, books and other language activities,
music, art, sensory activities, cooking activities, science and math activities, lots of dramatic play, and
more. They have enjoyed taking turns having classroom responsibilities, especially taking care of our
guinea pig, Penny. And they are forming friendships and learning how to play and work together with
their friends.
The different themes we've focused on so far have been Learning About Me, Families and Homes,
Apples, Fall, Safety, Pets, Hibernation, Night, Transportation, and Winter. While all the children do the
different theme related activities, everyone has their favorite area of the classroom.
Max, Ryan, and Noah love to play with cars, trucks, trains and building toys. Jonathan
also enjoys playing with trucks but also likes the challenge of matching and sorting games. Alex likes
building (and knocking down!) and likes to see how things work. Summer loves the art activities and
helping the teachers. Charlie and Jason both like to play in the dramatic play area. Connor also likes the
housekeeping area, often cooking up a delicious meal! Nicole enjoys making puzzles and Garrett likes to
play in the rice table. The first half of the year has been great and we're looking forward to more learning
and more fun in the months ahead.
Cubs
Happy 2012! Wow, the first part of the school year has gone by all too quickly. Our classroom has been
a very busy, exciting, happy, and productive place. The Cubs have made progress socially, emotionally,
and academically. Our curriculum, as well as the different Learning Centers in our room (Writing Table,
Blocks, Dramatic Play, Small Manipulatives, etc.), are designed to help the children develop new skills
and to foster their curiosity and interests. The children use each and every nook and cranny of our
classroom
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The Cubs participate in an art activity or project of some sort every day. One never knows what will
appear on our project tables: cardboard tubes and gravel to fashion rain sticks, collage materials, “junk”
to transform into fantastic “peace sculptures,” scented dough to make “air fresheners” – you name it, we
do it! Currently our Dramatic Play area is a rain forest, complete with vines, rain forest sounds and a hut
to play in
Cooking is another way that we expand our units. In addition to being fun and “yummy,” cooking provides
wonderful opportunities to explore math (measuring) and science (“what will happen when we combine
these ingredients?”), and to encourage cooperation and following directions. Each week we create or
bake a fun new snack to share. Cooking is a very popular activity with the Cubs and everyone loves to
join in. We are adventurous in our selections, and with great success. Every Cub is encouraged to “take
a polite bite” of what we have made. The children are often surprised to discover that they like foods
they have never tried before.
Friendship is an on-going theme in the Cubs classroom. At Meeting Time we sing various friendship
songs including “Hola Todos” and “Come and Join Us.” We are learning to sing in the different
languages that the Cubs speak at home. The children love to share their “news” with the group during
Meeting. Meeting activities also help to increase the children’s attention spans, teach the importance of
taking turns, and encourage respect for each other’s ideas. We also use it as a time to review the days
of the week and months in the year, and to expose the children to a variety of math concepts (counting
by 1s and 10s, patterns, etc.).
If you were to glance into the busy lives of the Cubs right now, you would see a lot of fun and learning
taking place. Aubrey, Cora, Maya, Marie, and Zoe love to collaborate on fantastic block structures for
our plastic animal families. They "decorate" them with all of the small manipulatives. When not building,
they can be found at the Writing Center, creating beautiful artwork. Conor, Michael, Noam, and Owen
love to role play - especially outdoors. We are always safe when those "Good Guys" are around!
Brendan, Danny, Evan, Jacob, and Sam have been busy building vehicles with the large Legos. They set
up races for them, complete with trophies. This group of Cubs loves to sing and make music. They will
often make up songs and chants to sing while they play and clean up, and, in their hands, everyday
objects become instruments. It is truly a joyful noise. All of the children are kind to one another and
genuinely enjoy being together. If we let them, they would spend an hour sitting around the snack tables
and chatting every day!
Three cheers for the Cubs!! They are all working hard, having fun, and learning and growing. They
make Room 5 a happy place to be each day. Thank you for sharing your children with us.
Nancy Ward and Lynn Meltzer
2-Day Ducklings
As we find ourselves midway into the year, we reflect on the growth and progress of each child. The
children have settled into our routine and have bonded together as friends. The excitement begins each
day at nine AM as each child enters the room. The two questions of the day are “Who Is The Leader”
and “Who Has The Share Bag”.
We begin our morning with art activities and free play. As each child heads off to their first destination of
the morning. Daniel and Jack can be seen pulling out the trains and tracks. We can see and hear the
excitement of Evan, Henry and Julia as they are pretending to be pirates. Sydney, Sarah, Priya and Ali
are busy gluing, stamping and cutting at the writing area. Benjamin and Venuja are busy constructing
roads in the block area. There is much teamwork that goes on in our room. There are many other areas
in our room that are well used. The sand table, art easel, play dough and housekeeping areas are
always buzzing with excitement. Last, but not least, voices can be heard saying “ME” running to our
round table where all our many works of art are created.
Baking, gym and music are important parts of our weekly program. Before snack time, the children focus
on the helping hand chart. This is a daily rotating chart, where each child has a turn as daily leader, who
does the calendar, weather and feelings chart. We also have a cup, napkin and snack person. The
children pour their own juice. After each child excuses themselves from the snack table, they proceed to
their labeled round mats. The children look at books and socialize together until morning meeting
begins. This is where great minds meet. We read literature, have great discussions and plan our art
activity for the day. The children are very excited to share their knowledge and important happy events
in their lives. Of course, we cannot leave out the most important event of the day, “SHAREBAG”. At the
close of our meeting, we stand in a circle, chanting friends, share, care and stay together.
As we find ourselves in midmorning, the race is on to the round table, to begin our art activity of the day.
We wrap up our morning with outside play, weather permitting. This is a much anticipated end of the
day. We look forward to our future units, which will include family, hibernation, life cycles, the night skies
with a pajama party. We will also have a unit on planets within the solar system. I would like to thank the
parents for sharing your most precious possessions, your children, with us. We look forward to a second
half of fun filled year together.
Wishing you a happy, healthy New Year. Thank you, Kathy, Aly and Alison
The cooking provides wonderful opportunities to explore math (measuring) and science (“what will
happen when we combine these
ingredients?”), and to encourage cooperation and following directions. Each week we create or bake a
fun new snack to share. Cooking is a very popular activity with the Cubs and everyone loves to join in.
We are adventurous in our selections, and with great success. Every Cub is encouraged to “take a polite
bite” of what we have made. The children are often surprised to discover that they like foods they have
never tried before.
3-Day Ducklings
As we find ourselves midway into the year, we reflect on the growth, successes and accomplishments
each child has made. The children have settled nicely into our routine. They bring a burst of energy into
our classroom each morning as they anticipate the coming activities of the day. The first question of the
day is “who is the leader”; the second question is “who has the share bag”. The third is “are we going
out”. Some even remember to feed OLIVE, our good morning pig.
The three day ducklings begin each morning with outdoor play, weather permitting. Once we settle in for
the morning, we prepare for snack time. This is the time we focus on the helping hand chart.
Responsibilities rotate daily. Each child has a turn begin leader, handing out snacks, cups and napkins.
The children each count out their snacks and pour their own juice. After each child excuses themselves
from the table, they proceed to their own personalized sit upons. They will look at books together and
engage in social conversation. This is a very special time of the day where we all come together to plan
our activities, read literature and brainstorm on our theme for the day.
The children are very proud and excited to feed back all the information they have learned from each of
our units. We close our daily meetings in a circle, chanting “friends share, care and stay together.” At
this time the children circulate to their favorite area of the room.
Sydney, Julia and Sarah can be found knee deep in glue, tape and scissors at the writing area. Priya
and Kaitlyn are creating works of art at the paint easel. Avery, Charlie and Jack are doing their own
creations at the play dough table. Benjamin, Henry, Michael and Owen, our own engineering team, are
busy at work building roads and bridges in the block area. These scenes can change several times
daily, as all our areas including the sand table, doll house and the puzzle area are very popular. The
Pirate ship should also get an honorable mention. The round table is also a very popular spot. We do
our art projects of the day, games and science and math disguised as cooking projects.
We look forward to our future units: which will include family, winter, hibernation, life cycles and the night
skies with a pajama party. We will end our year with a bang, with a unit on planets within the solar system.
THE CHILDREN CENTER
In the Children’s Center, the Ladybugs have been talking about winter and all the changes this season
brings. The Ladybugs were sad to say goodbye to Ruby last month, but have welcomed Kojo with ease.
The Penguins are enjoying their new chalk board and brightly painted wall. Thank you to Linda,
Rebecca, Alex, Krissy, and AJ for sharing your time to make that happen! It looks great! Ailie is the first
of our older infants to make the transition to toddlers and Maya and Rayna are happy to have someone
else to share their baby dolls with. Almost all of our infants are on the go and it is starting to look like a
toddler room in there. The Penguin room is sure to be hustling and
bustling this spring as our older infants get ready for their new adventures in toddler-hood.
Over the next month, teachers will begin work on their assessments/progress reports of each child. This
means that during the day, our teachers will observe and gather information about what your child is
doing and how he/she is progressing in relation to developmental milestones. When there is a question
or concern regarding a child’s growth and development, the results of these observations can help us
provide a focus to address the concern. As teachers, assessments also guide us in how to plan and
design our curriculum to best meet individual needs. If we find that the children are very responsive and
interested in a certain activity we can design the curriculum and environment to support this interest.
In closing, we would like to add another reminder to label, label, and label! At times we will have
substitute teachers in a classroom and many children’s bottles, cups, containers, and clothing are
similar. Once brought out of bags they may be dropped or moved and we’re left wondering
whose it is. Thank you for your cooperation and assistance.
The Children’s Center Staff
Lunch Bunch
Lunch bunch has been a success as we had many friends stay for a delicious pizza lunch and some extra
“friend” time.
This month Lunch Bunch will be held on Monday, February 6th and Thursday, February 16th.
Everyone is welcome to attend! Lunch Bunch is from 12:15-1:15 and costs $20.00 to participate ($2.00
for any child who would like to participate and is enrolled in the full day program). The Coupon Books
are available for purchase. If interested, please see Maria Cosgrove.
Dental Health Month
February is Dental Health Month and we are looking forward to two visits from the office of Dr. Deborah
Himelhoch, Pediatric Dentist of Framingham. A representative from the Dr. Himelhoch’s office will be with
us on Wednesday, February 15th and Thursday, February 16th.
During these visits the children will learn all about regular cleaning appointments, the instruments used
and proper dental hygiene.
Clothing, Backpacks, and Lunch Boxes
Part of our goal at school is to help children become independent and self sufficient. You
can help in this endeavor by sending your child in clothing that is easy to manipulate
as well as a backpack and or lunch box that is more manageable for him/her to handle. By making
available more manageable items the children can be less frustrated and feel more confident here at
school!
General Reminders
Our extended day program is still accepting new members so please feel free to request
more information if you are interested with either Maria or myself.
Also, if you are in a jam and need some extended day hours at the last minute please feel free to check
in with me here at school. If the staffing is available we can accommodate for last minute schedule
changes. Rates and fees for drop-in days as
well as the extended day program are available in the office.
President’s Day and February School Vacation
As a reminder, the building will be closed on Monday, February 20th for President’s day. The
building will reopen on Tuesday, February 21st for Full Day Care.
Also, our Morning Only Preschool Program will be closed for February School Vacation from
Monday, February 20th through Friday, February 24th.
The building will be open for children enrolled in our Full Day Care program.
Summer Program
A brochure for the summer program is attached to this newsletter. We are anticipating a fantastic summer
filled with lots of fun!
More flexible program options are available including 2, 3, 4 and 5 day options or any
schedule that works best for you and your family. Enrollment will not be limited to a Monday, Wednesday,
Friday or Tuesday, Thursday or Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.
All full day children are automatically enrolled in the summer program on their regular days and program
hours. Any Pre-K full day student who will not be attending through the end of August needs to let us
know in writing by May 1st.
NOTE TO PARENTS:
For those of you who don’t know Carol Kagan, she currently works as our Gym and Yoga teacher here at
CoF. Her entries in our Newsletter will be a new piece to each monthly Newsletter.
Carol is not a medical physician; however, she was educated in the area of holistic/healthy
living/nutrition/physical education. Her hope is to offer CoF families some fun and interesting ways to get
and keep our children healthy and active.
We are excited to feature her articles in the Newsletter and want to offer parents a unique perspective
while including some fun and creative healthy living ideas. As always, CoF encourages parents to speak
to their child’s medical physician before
making any major changes to their child’s regular routine.
Health Tips From Carol Kagan
Being a parent is hard work! Kids are
always picking up germs and bringing them
home. I have two teenagers at home and have learned many things along the way to keep them
healthy. I'm happy to say that in all the years they've been in school, each has only been on antibiotics
once, and each has only had a handful of sick days (knock on
wood!!)
Here are some ideas to reduce colds, viruses and infections in your home:
Wash hands frequently, but anti-bacterial soaps are not always necessary.
When you, or your child feels a sore throat coming on, gargle with warm, salty water. Sea salt tends to
work better. To reduce
congestion, try cutting back on dairy products for a few days, you may notice a difference. Sugar may
also contribute to congestion, so try reducing that as well.
Drinking lots of fluids is important, but the quality of the fluids is also important. Sugary drinks and juices
can actually make things worse! Water, tea and soup are better choices. Chicken soup is often touted
for its medicinal properties, and while it can be soothing, another soup with healing power is Miso Soup.
Miso is fermented soybean paste that has been shown to boost the immune system; it
can ward off colds, viruses and many other illnesses. It's very quick and easy to make (much faster than
chicken soup, and lower in sodium.) I make Miso Soup at least twice a week and it keeps us strong and
healthy. For a simple miso soup recipe, visit www.pintsizeyoga.com and check out my
health tips page.
In Closing
I hope you all have a healthy and safe month of February!
Sincerely,
Cara Chase
Program Director
PARENT BOARD NEWS
Happy winter! The Parent Board has some exciting activities lined up for the month of February, see
below for details.
Curious Creatures is coming to Circle of Friends. Please come and join us for a live hands-on
educational animal show on Monday, February, 20, 2012 @ 10 AM. The cost is $15.00 per child (adults
of children are free). Guest animals will include a snake, baby alligator, spider, chinchilla and skunk
among others for viewing and
touching. This great fundraiser event will enable us to learn interesting facts and stories about different
small animals and the world they live in. We held the same event
last year (it sold out) and everyone present had a great time. Please sign up at the front desk to reserve
your seat.
Kelly's Roast Beef for Wednesday, February 8th. Join your COF family at Kelly’s Roast
Beef Natick for a special Kids Night. Don’t miss the giant fish tank, amazing face
painting, and arts and crafts between 5 and 8 PM. There is a great kids menu and lots of
options for parents. Kelly’s will donate 15% of your food purchase to our school all day long! CoF will
have coupons at school to present when placing your order. Please feel free to share these with friends.
We held this event last year; it was a success in regards to fundraising, but also, a great community
event where parents and children got to spend some time together outside of school.
The Parent Board is also busy trying to recruit volunteers for next year’s board, the fall festival and other
Parent Board sponsored events. Please join us at our next meeting February 9th at 7:30 pm. In addition
we are looking to put together a Playground Committee to address the long term and short term needs
of our playground, to develop an improvement plan and research possible grants for this purpose. If
anyone is interested in leading or joining this committee, please email Maria Cosgrove at
circleoffriendsMC@rcn.com. Ideally, we would like this committee to have parent and teacher
representation.
Best,
Jaime Klippenstein & Katie Keane
Parent Board Co-presidents
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