February 2016

It is that time of year again! The Queen’s Park Preschool Annual Silent Auction is just around the corner, Saturday, March 5th, to be exact. We are very excited that this year’s auction will be held again at the Glenbrook Park Amenities Centre, a gorgeous hall right in our own neighbourhood, just a 2 minute drive from the preschool. The Silent Auction Team is busy working to make it a very memorable and fun night full of food, music, drinks and great company.

Details:
Saturday, March 5th, 2016
7:00pm – 11:00pm
Glenbrook Park Amenities Centre

Just a friendly reminder, every family is required to donate something that we can auction off that helps pay for such an amazing little school for our young ones. Keep an eye on your child’s cubby box during this last week of January, you will be receiving a family donation form. Please fill out this form carefully so that the Special Event Team can correctly price and sort your item. What can you donate you might be asking… gift certificates, gift baskets, hand crafted items, services, or any type of new item. If you are still unsure as to what you can donate, ask one of the other parents, look online for ideas, use your imagination. Traditionally the evening includes a very lively Live Auction where some of the larger donations are auctioned off. If you have an item, or service that you think would work well for this, please contact Nigel at fundraising@qpps.ca

As well as having great items to bid on, there will be other exciting activities. We will be selling ‘Early-Bird tickets’ at both the Feb. and March General Meetings; this is your chance to win a free, ‘First-Pick’ of any item in the silent auction portion of the event for the low price of only $20 per ticket! Volunteers will be walking around selling 50/50 tickets, there will be a table for snacks and of course, the bar. Please ensure that you have a safe ride home in the off-chance you have one-to-many.

Each family will receive two tickets in your child’s cubby box mid to late Feb. and extra tickets will be available free-of-charge on a first-come-first-served basis via a sign-up sheet that will be posted in the entrance of the school around the same time. Numbers are limited so if you know ahead of time that you won’t be using both of your tickets, please return to ’Tobin Lutz’ 3PM Class so that we can pass it on to somebody else.

This event is a lot of fun so please, get dressed up (semi-formal) bring your chequebook or cash (no credit cards) and lets make an evening of it! How often do we all get to have a night out together away from the kids!?! And again, please plan for a safe ride home.

Happy Bidding,

Nigel Lutz (Tobins Dad)

2016 Important Tax Information

Did you know you can claim your preschool fees on your tax return? The person with the lower net income may claim preschool tuition as childcare provided that they have earned income. CRA’s current stance on this (per Income Tax folio S1-F3-C1) is that payments made to an educational institution for a child under the compulsory school age (e.g., preschool) are generally considered child care rather than education, unless facts indicate otherwise. As such, preschool tuition would generally qualify (unless facts indicate otherwise).

If the lower income spouse does not have any earned income, or any income at all, then tuition can be applied to the arts credit by the higher income spouse. Also, if the preschool tuition paid exceeds the childcare deduction limit for the individual, you can apply the excess, up to $500, to the child arts amount. Here is a link to describe what a prescribed program is and criteria to be claimed for the child arts amount:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns360-390/370/prgrm-eng.html

QPPS meets the required criteria of a prescribed program, so you can claim tuition fees under the arts credit.

If you have further questions or would like a receipt for tax purposes please send an email to qpps.receipts@gmail.com.

 

 

Nutrition Column – Chocolate!

Ah chocolate…you’ve probably heard that eating chocolate can be beneficial to your health but scoffed at the idea, as life can’t be that good, but it is! February is heart health month so love your heart by treating it to some dark chocolate or by enjoying the last two weeks of Vancouver’s 6^th annual Hot Chocolate Festival on Family Day.

Not all chocolate is created equal, so look for these criteria when grabbing your next treat:

• 60% cocoa
• Made from cocoa butter instead of fats such as palm and coconut oils
• Made without the use of ‘hydrogenated’ or ‘partially hydrogenated’ oils

The benefits of dark chocolate:

• Lots of antioxidants; specifically the phytochemical flavonoid, which is also found in tea, red wine, and various fruits and vegetables. But be aware that milk chocolate does not contain any flavonoids as the milk binds to the antioxidant making them unavailable
• Heart health – decreases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and increases blood flow in our arteries and heart
• Great source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron

Unfortunately, eating too much chocolate, like any high-calorie snack, can have harmful effects, but the research strongly suggests a potential health benefit from regular consumption of dark, flavanol-rich chocolate as part of a healthful diet. How much? Up to 7 ounces per week.

For a great February heart healthy snack try this easy on the go smoothie:

Beet Red Velvet Smoothie

In a blender combine à ½ medium raw beet, washed and peeled, a couple of dates for sweetness, raw cacao powder, frozen strawberries, milk, vanilla extract and some hemp seeds.

Enjoy!

Your Nutrition Columnist Jess Pirnak

Family Day New West

Brochure: http://www.newwestcity.ca/database/files/library/2015_CCC_Family_Day_Brochure.(1).pdf

3-Year Old Classroom Information

The three year-old class is in full swing as the children have a strong understanding of the preschool routine and are getting busier and busier doing what they do best of all- playing! They are enjoying circle time more and more as well- we are reading longer stories and singing more songs- there is a real feeling of togetherness between the children as they make new friends and are more interactive in their play.

The Gamelan Musicians, Michael and Ann, came with their unique instruments for us to interact with and explore. (Prior to their visit, we talked a lot with the children about different instruments and being respectful towards them.) We learned about Indonesian shadow plays and looked closely at the intricate designs and patterns the puppets make and listened to traditional music played on genders (metallophones, similar to large xylophones) before we got to try them out for ourselves. We also played metal kethuks, kenongs, and a huge gong! It was a colourful addition to our preschool day to have Michael and Ann join us. The children were able to play with them and their instruments, or play elsewhere in the room and listen as the music played around them.

We had one day of playing in the snow, so families brought us containers of ice frozen at home to play with. Ice is interesting! Especially when you add it to the water table or try to paint it. Thank you to everyone who brought some in, we had fun!

We revisited dinosaurs the latter half of the month as they have been consistently popular with many of the children. It was fun creating our own fossils and ice age specimens just so we could rediscover them. Adding used coffee grounds to your favourite playdough recipe makes it rough and brown, like dirt, and when allowed to dry, very hard. We’ve hidden some dinosaurs in the balls of “dirt” for the children to excavate in February.

The month of February will bring us Chinese New Year and numerous rounds of Pete the Cat stories. Please bring a piece of fruit on February 11th as we will be making Friendship Fruit Salad for everyone! Each child is welcome to have a guest or two join us for snack time the last half hour of class. (Siblings Welcome!)

Quote of the Month:

Child gets a stamp from Teacher Jenny as he’s leaving preschool.
Teacher Jenny: “There you go, it’s a violin stamp today.”
Mom: “Do you even know what that is?”
Child: “A violin!”

Your teachers,
Jenny, Donna, and Jennifer (in the 3pm class) too!

Parent & Teacher Meetings for the four year old families will also be held this month. These will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18. The meetings are not mandatory, as we realize that we often have “informal meetings” with you on your duty days. We offer these meetings so that we can share and discuss how your child is developing, in a more formal way. There will be a sign up at the Sign-In Desk. If you are attending a meeting please arrange for childcare for your children, as there will be preschool classes in session.