June 2014

June 3, 2014

chicks

Our preschool outdoor space has been changing over the last few months thanks to the New Westminster City Childcare Grant, and donations of time and materials from our families and the New Westminster Community. The children and teachers have really been enjoying the rejuvenated space! Some of the new additions include :

  • A footbridge
  • 12 planters….one which is a sensory garden, as well as two mobile planters for veggies
  • A huge variety of perrenial plants and small trees/bushes
  • A fairy garden planter and bench
  • Rain Barrel
  • A HUGE water wall area including two new water tables
  • A Bird House Post and Mason Bee House
  • A lovely shade umbrella
  • Outdoor rugs and tables
  • Worm Composter
  • New child-sized rakes and garden shovels
  • MORE SAND!!!
  • Fresh Fibar for under our climbing structure
  • More stumps for climbing on
  • Outdoor mirrors
  • An outdoor music experience area
Check out the link in The Record Newspaper about the changes to our outdoor space:
http://www.royalcityrecord.com/community/new-wet-and-wild-preschool-playground-1.1072811

On Tuesday, June 3 we will be having a celebration to say thank you to the City of New Westminster, the preschool families, and the many members of our community that made this project possible. There will be “tours” of the outdoor space between 3:00-4:00pm. Then at 6:30pm there will be an ice cream bar followed by a thank you presentation at 7:15pm.

IMG_0537 - Version 2Our Last Family Event of the Year

Will be on June 8! Join the QPPS Parents for a Pot Luck Picnic in Queens Park & Adventure Play
Come on out and enjoy some time with your preschool friends. We will be set up under the big checker tent down by the bandstand. An Adventure Play course will be set up by 3:30 pm. Visit all 6 stations get creative at the art areas, play some games with the kids and have a super fun afternoon.
And…. a Pot Luck dinner starts a 5:00 pm. A sign up sheet is on the desk as you enter the school, so don’t forget to sign up. We are looking forward to coming together for our last year end event.

Clean Up and Take Down Night

This is a mandatory event for all current families with children in the 3’s. On Tuesday, June 17 at 7pm one family member must attend to help us clean up the preschool and move furniture so that the floors can be polished. And a heads up – some heavy lifting is involved so you will require to have some strength 🙂

ants_mugging_caterpillarParent Education News

Coming up for the June 3 Meeting
Get ready for summer! The theme for our last meeting of the school year is summertime fun and safety. A Recreation Programmer with the City of New Westminster Parks & Recreation will join us to talk about some of the activities for preschoolers and families happening in our community this summer. I will also give a brief presentation on some of the invasive alien species (like the European fire ant) and some more familiar species you should be on the lookout for this summer to keep your family safe. As the school year comes to an end in a few weeks, please return any resources that you may have borrowed from the parent education library at the preschool.

Looking Forward to Next Year
I will be working over the summer to book the majority of our parent education speakers for the 2014- 2015 school year. Popular speakers get booked early! If you have any suggestions for a speaker or topic, please let Tasha know (tashamurray@outlook.com)

Betty23-Year Old Class Information

It is hard to believe that it is already June! We had a wonderful month of May that included having a Family Tea Party, hatching chicks and planting bean seeds. Inside/Outside days have been enjoyed by everyone. One child exclaimed at group time “Those are the best kinda days!”…..and we agree! The children have been thrilled to explore the new “Water Zone” at preschool, along with the sand. There have been many “construction sites” and children creating cement, and incredible concoctions of chocolate milk. Some children have also explored the enchanted fairy garden, and have made homes for the many pretend frogs that were put there. We finished off the month with a delicious day of making fruit salad. Some children had three bowls full!

During this last month we will hope to have more inside/outside days, have a snail race or two and do a few more creative experiments and painting projects. We would also like to create pet rocks with the children on June 3, so each child will need to bring a smooth rock about the size of a small apple that day. On June 10, OWL Bird Refuge will come to our preschool. They will talk about the birds that they rescue, as well as bring along two birds (one will probably be a small owl).

Our last special event will be our “Fun in the Sun!” Last Day Party on June 12. All the children and their parents/grandparents/nannies and siblings are invited to attend. (Please note that there will not be a regular preschool class that day – just the party.) As there will be no duty parents we ask that each child come and stay with a parent/grandparent/nanny. We will have some fun activities and we will have a sign up for bringing food to share at the general meeting. The party times are:

  • 3am class: 10am – 11am
  • 3pm class: 1pm-2pm

We would like to thank you all for being a wonderful part of our preschool year. We appreciate all the time that you’ve spent on duty and doing other preschool jobs. We have loved getting to know you, your children and your families. Thank you for the kindness and support that you have shared with both of us and how you have cared for each other. We wish you a safe and fun summer!

Your teachers, Teacher Barb and Teacher Eleanor

Things to Remember:
• Please bring a smooth rock the size of a small apple on Tuesday, June 3
• OWL Bird Refuge will visit on June 10
• Thursday, June 12 is the 3’s Fun In the Sun Last Day Party (3 am class from 10-11 am, and 3pm class from 1-2pm)
• Take Down Night – Tuesday June 17 7pm…..at least one parent from each 3‘s family is asked to come and help us “take down” the preschool and do a final clean-up.

pizza34-Year Old Class Information

Hooray for inside-outside days!

Leaving the double doors wide open has doubled our play space as the children are free to move in and out. This makes it easy to make full use of the new outdoor equipment. Lots of construction zones have been set up as the children make their own improvements to the outdoor play area. The bridge is often barricaded off for various reasons, you’ll have to listen to their traffic report to learn more. And the water station! We are lucky to live in a corner of the world where water can be explored so freely! Up, down, and all around water is being transported down the tubes on the water wall, into the sandbox or up in the sky! (One of our favourite things this time of year is finally pulling the clothes out from a child’s backpack only to find they have grown out of them! But it’s all good, who needs long pants on sunny days like this anyway?!) The fairy garden another is a quiet place to explore, and the plants are lovely to look at. Go ahead and touch them, many of them smell amazing too! The mason bees are still very busy and we have butterflies hatching out of their chrysalises! Down the hill, the salmon berries are almost ready to eat and if you look under them, you might spot a cave or two that the children have created right inside the bushes.

We ventured out into the park to check out the Queen’s Park Rose Garden. With little dentist mirrors we looked under and behind plants and found bugs, buds, and even…a Zamboni! Behind a tow truck! You just never know what you will discover on a walk in the park.

Our pancake breakfast was very successful! Jessica and I ate pancakes with over fifty of you! Thank you to our QPPS family who made it happen, and thank you to the 4’s families for spending your morning with us, we were very happy you could come.

We made pizzas this month too, everyone brought a topping to to share and I don’t think there were two pizzas that were quite the same. It’s possible every combination of toppings were put together. If we had had a menu, the choices would have included:

  • Pizza- with cheese, meat and/or vegetables
  • Pizza- with cheese, vegetables and/or meat (the specific order makes a difference)
  • Pizza- with no cheese
  • Pizza- with just cheese
  • Pizza- with no sauce
  • Pizza- just the shell
  • Pizza- with a gluten-free shell
  • Pizza- with no shell
  • “Tower Pizza” (packed with as many things as a girl can get on a three inch shell!) … and we gobbled them up at snack time. I think there will be a few more rounds of Charlotte Diamond’s song “I am a Pizza!” at circle time in the future.

We said good-bye to our practicum student Brian and hello to our volunteer, Taryn. She will be joining us until the first week of June as she collects the volunteer hours needed to start the Early Childhood Program at Douglas College. Come say hello!

We also said good-bye to the chicks as they needed more space than their brooder could offer them. Farmer Marga came and the children had words to send to her in a thank you card:

Dear Farmer Marga,
Thank you for bringing the chicks to our school. They’re cute!
I liked petting them.
They were gentle and I could hear them.
They cheep and make loud noises.
They made loud noises and I could hear them from the carpet.
I saw cows and goats today.
I have a pink chick.
I liked playing with the chicks.
I liked putting the stuffy chick up to the side so they could see it.
And I like how they have big feet.
I wanted to see if they were gone yet.
On the farm, they’re going to run around a lot.
It was nice of you for bringing them.
I like the chicks so much I’m going to miss them.
I wish they could come back another time.
They will but we won’t see them because we’ll be in high school.

Sincerely,
The Children of Queen’s Park Preschool

We have lots planned for June! We’ll be adding lots to your children’s year-end books and our woodworker Dad, Jeff Walker, has made each of the 4’s children their own car to decorate and take home at the end of the year.

Things to remember:

  • June 4th- Petting Farm: please bring a quarter for the donation box
  • June 9th- Hume Park Day: *Weather Depending*. If sunny, your teachers will be waiting for you (both 4am and 4pm classes) at Hume Park. Please come anytime from 10am-2pm. Bring a picnic for your family, a blanket to sit on, sunscreen, kids bathing suits, and hats. Stay and do some crafts, play in the spray park, and have fun!
  • June 13th- Year-End Party!
    4am- 10-11
    4pm- 1-2
    Bring your family to celebrate your child’s last day of Preschool! We will sing their favourite songs and revisit some of their best remembered activities with a twist! Not a regular class! Look forward to a great last day!

Your Teachers, Jenny and Jessica

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