-
Executive Positions Available We are fast approaching our Executive Elections, taking place at the General Meeting on May 6. We are pleased to report that there are families who have expressed an interest in just about all the positions, however there are a few that no one has indicated an interest in: Secretary – takes minutes at the executive and general meetings. This is a great position for someone new to the school – you get to be a part of the decision making process at the school, but in a position that requires little additional time outside of the two meetings. Class Representative 3PM and 4PM – organizes and distributes duty schedules for her/his respective class; acts as a liaison between her/his class and the executive. It is a great way to meet all the families in your class, and help everyone feel connected. Orientation Coordinator – oversees the orientation of new parents to the preschool and the New Parents’ Coffee Party. As this position runs from January to December, it is the perfect position for someone coming into the 3 year old class, or who will be returning again the following year with another child. The bulk of […]
-
Jo’s Tidbits Thank you…..Thank you…..Thank you! My message is simple this month… I want to take the time to thank everyone who helped out with the silent auction. It was a great success and we could not have done it without the hard work of so many people 🙂 The membership, the teachers and most importantly our kids appreciate it! Healthy Easter Treats We always battle with too much candy at the Easter time of year (grocery stores with Cadbury displays have become the thing to avoid!) – so imagine the thrill at discovering this terrific little list of 7 healthier Easter treats. This is a post from the blog, Eat Drink Better, and the ideas are pretty great, plus it’s just in time for the “big day” – if you celebrate with treats! 1. Play Dough Eggs – Skip the food all together and give a fun activity instead! 2. Raw Truffles – Instead of refined sugar, these raw truffles are sweetened with whole fruit. 3. Fruit Leather – Another whole fruit treat, kids love fruit leather! Use mini cookie cutters to cut them into cute shapes, and eat the leavings yourself! 4. Raw Cadbury Eggs – Do your kids like those cream-filled chocolate eggs? Check out this unprocessed […]
-
Jo’s Tidbits – Building a sense of Community A couple of weeks ago the city of New Westminster awoke to the news of a horrible fire. An entire apartment had burned to the ground. Those in surrounding buildings had been evacuated and sent to Centennial Lodge – above the preschool. Several young children were among the evacuees. Jessica got a phone call at home asking if it would be alright if the preschool was used for the children until they could go home. Our teachers jumped into action and made sure that the kids felt welcome in our preschool and went above and beyond. The teachers offered to call parents and get clothes and toys for the kids, offered food in the preschool, and offered for the kids to stay as long as they needed. The children felt welcome and we received a letter from Ron Booth from the City of New Westminster thanking us for opening our doors and offering help to ensure the families felt as comfortable as possible in such a hard time. You can read the letter here: QPPS City of New Westminster Thank You. Our family spent the Saturday after the fire going through the […]
-
From the President Wow! February already. I hope you are all as excited as I am about a night out on March 8! The team is doing a great job organizing the Silent Auction and I would like to thank those who have offered to help the fundraising team, it is much appreciated. We had an open house on January 23 and it was a big success. We are all feeling very positive about enrollment this year as we have a Marketing Coordinator who has put together posters and flyers that have been seen all around the city. Thank you Frances! The open house had a lot of volunteers and I would like to thank all of them for helping out so much. The teachers appreciated your help and had commented on how we came together as a preschool community and made the event happen 🙂 Finally, I wanted to provide some feedback about the Survey Monkey that was put out a couple of weeks ago. Our kids go to an amazing preschool with terrific teachers and this was echoed throughout the survey. My favourite comment was simply put….’I heart QPP”. Thank you teachers for being you and thank you membership […]
-
Holidays are fast approaching and we are getting very excited with a ton of wintery/holiday activities planned. One of the signature events for the year are the Christmas parties that each class will get to enjoy. This year at all the Preschool Christmas Parties, the preschool will be collecting non-perishable food items that will be donated to the local food bank. Please take a minute to bring something down to help the families in our community. Parent Education News The parent education topic for this month is “outdoor play”. There will not be a guest speaker attending the general meeting, but instead we will be reading and discussing an article in small groups. The article “When every day is a field trip day” by Catherine McClean (p. 98-102, May 2013 edition, Today’s Parent magazine) was e-mailed to members a few weeks ago and there are also a few paper copies available in the parent education folder at preschool. Please read the article before the meeting so that you come prepared to participate in the discussion. The parent education portion of our meeting will be shorter than usual, recognizing this time spent at home. You are also encouraged to visit the […]
-
Jo’s Tidbits Wow, how time flies, its November already. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving celebrations and had a safe Halloween. Josh went as a goalie this year (surprise surrise), Joey dressed up as Eeyore, my husband Eric was Heisenberg (Walter White) and I took the easy way out and went as a Hockey mom with my Tim Hortons in hand 🙂 I am happy to report that things are running well at the preschool and I do not have a lot of information to pass on this month. We do not have a general meeting this month and so parents have the option of doing homework or attending the workshop “Teacher Tom” put on by the council on November 14. The teachers will in attendance at the workshop as well. Have a great month and I shall see most of you at the beginning of December! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns Johannakswanson@gmail.com Count down to Christmas…….jingle bells jingle bells!!!!!!! When is it not considered too early to put my tree up? We Want to Hear from You! How did you find out about Queen’s Park Preschool? We want to do a […]
-
Jo’s Tidbits – From Our President Welcome to the 2013/2014 School Year! I hope the start of the school year has been an easy transition back to routines, early bedtimes and watching hockey 🙂 As I write this, Josh our oldest is negotiating a later bedtime so he can finish watching the Canucks preseason home opener. I love this time of year when you can go for a walk in the leaves on a sunny crisp day with a pumpkin spice latte in hand and then come home and watch hockey or football. Some of you may have already completed your first duty day and I hope you enjoyed it. I was in Josh’s class today and loved seeing how much the kids have grown since June and how quickly their abilities are changing. I was stationed at the climber today and saw some incredibly strong kids monkeying across the bars. Wow, I was impressed! I think the best moment however, was when one girl was cheering on her friend to keeping trying so she could make it across. Most of the times our kids learn from us, but it’s those times that we learn from them that really put […]
-
Registration Update It’s almost summer time! Families will be frolicking at the beach, vacationing in the sunshine and building memories with their preschoolers. But wait – we still have some spaces available in the 3s and 4s classes that need filling. Work your magic QPPS parents – let’s get these spaces full before everyone disappears over the summer. Tweet it out, post it on Facebook, spread the word, chat with friends and family. Direct anyone you know that might be interested in attending to call the preschool (604-526-1153) or the enrollment coordinators at Enrollment@QPPS.CA. Sapperton Days Festival Queen’s Park Preschool will have a booth at the Sapperton Days Festival on June 9 to help promote our preschool. We will have face painters, bubbles and playdoh. There is a volunteer sheet circulating with a list of time slots where your family could help out. Here are the details: Location: 400 Block of E. Columbia St Date: Sunday, June 9th Time: 11 am – 5 pm Set up: 9am Take down: 5 pm More about the festival: The 2013 Sapperton Day Street Festival is a non-profit community event put together by the Sapperton Business Association with some help from both the McBride Sapperton Business Association and Wesgroup Properties. This will be the events 10th consecutive year, after returning from a short hiatus. Sapperton Days […]
-
President’s Note We were just shown to a booth at Boston Pizza. Before even glancing at the menu, my ten year old quickly began to work on the BP kids’ page of “Draw A Picture of You and Your Mom”. My eight year old was writing out her own menu, while my four year old kept poking holes in a Ziploc bag containing pencil crayons. After ordering my comfort food – spaghetti and meatballs, I casually glanced at my big girl’s ‘Mommy and Me’ masterpiece. She drew two figures, both smiling and holding hands. The taller figure was looking out and telling whoever is looking at the picture, “We are a Pair!” Then she filled the rest of the picture with beautiful background colours of green and brown – similar to a nature trail. My heart melted and I was filled with gratitude. I was so happy to be a pair with her, my first born baby! Wasn’t it just 10 minutes ago that I impatiently asked her to not leave her book in the waiting area at Boston Pizza? Didn’t I yell at her that afternoon about her mess in the room? Wasn’t my stomach churning with acid because I […]
-
A Note from the President Spring is HERE!! I know I am not the only one excited about the warmer temperatures, sunshine and blue sky. My kids have been having great time out in the backyard during the last week without me nagging them to put on their coats. Our neighbours have quite a selection of plants and flowers to be added in their front garden and hearing the motor of the lawn mower brings a smile to my face. Believe it or not, I actually opened some windows in our living room today! Nothing quite excites the whole neighbourhood than the coming of spring. We shred our winter jackets and dare to venture out with just one layer of fleece. We enjoy strolling a few blocks down the streets for coffee instead of driving an extra 10 minutes in search of the nearest drive-thru Starbucks. Somehow, the message “it is possible” blows through the air in the warm breeze. What is possible? Items on my list include SUCCESSFULLY potty-training my youngest child, de-cluttering the two storage (aka “junk”) rooms in the basement, and – oh yeah – attempting to get into an exercise that I look forward to doing […]
