May 2014

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 the work is in Jan – April, with some planning needed at the beginning of the school year, so it is a great role for someone who wants more hours in a shorter time period (versus having responsibilities spread out evenly over the whole school year).

As always, nominations for any position are always accepted from the floor (during the elections). However if you are interested in one of the positions it would be lovely if we knew in advance, as this helps make the elections a smoother process.

If you would like more information about any of the Executive Positions, please do not hesitate to contact Shelley Stevenson at shelley.s@shaw.ca.

Fundraising – Garage Sale

Well – Spring appears to be here…maybe…and with that it is time to get to your spring cleaning. To help in that regard, Saturday, May 10 is the 19th Annual Queens Park Community Yard Sale. This is a great community event, and last year preschool parents cleaned out their garages to help out both the preschool and Canuck Place. It was a great effort, and everyone that helped out had a lot of fun. So, we’ve decided to get at it again this year. Here are the details:

• The yard sale runs from 9am until 4pm or so on Saturday, May 10.
• Mona Boucher will once again be hosting this for the preschool this year at 233 Third Street. Thanks again Mona.
• Please bring your used clothes to the May general meeting. Rather than going to Big Brothers, we will first be saving all clothes for the Yard Sale. Kids’ clothes sold very well last year. Anything that does not sell will go on to Big Brothers.
• Any other items that are “Yard Sale Worthy” can be dropped off at Mona’s house the night before (Friday May 9), or early Saturday morning.
• Pretty much anything goes. OK – almost anything. Kids’ toys are great and are always in high demand. The only thing I can think of that is out of bounds are tube TVs. They’re heavy, and nobody wants ‘em. Anything that does not sell will be taken to the Salvation Army at the end of the day. If you have anything that you want to take back if it does not sell, we can certainly make arrangements.
• We will need some volunteers for the day of, 2-hour shifts beginning at 7:30 Saturday morning. A signup sheet will go up at the upcoming May meeting.

Helping out local businesses that help us…

We have a couple of great offers from Stephen Beattie, a grandparent of one of our preschoolers. Stephen owns Artisan Landscaping, and donated the much needed sand for our playground earlier this year. Stephen will be offering any of the products on his website at a contractor price, and will reduce his usual delivery fee of $75 (to New West) to $65, with $10 going to the preschool. Stephen’s contact info is on his website at www.artisanlandscaping.biz. Keeping with the spring gardening theme, Stephen’s wife Ingrid owns It’s About Thyme Nursery at 7509 Meadow Ave in South Burnaby (www.itsaboutthyme.ca). The nursery is having an Artist in the Garden party on May 11. Feel free to come by and visit. Queens Park Preschool parents will receive a 10% discount on all purchases, with an additional 5% going back to the preschool. This offer will be in place until Dec 15th, 2014. The code word for purchasing for both of these offers is “Conner”.

Any thoughts, questions, or concerns? Feel free to contact garth.r.graham@gmail.com.

Parent Education News

Coming up May 6 – Promoting Peer Competence

This seminar helps parents understand how they can support and promote their young children to form and maintain peer friendships, and how this skill is connected to emotional self regulation – a keystone to their development.

Christopher Burt (www.christopherburt.net) is a Parenting and Family Development Specialist with over 20 years of professional experience working with children, youth and families. Christopher is a trained family counselor who provides therapeutic and educational services to families, and training and clinical support to services to other professionals, organizations and Government Agencies. He has provided seminars and training for many parent groups, teachers and childcare professionals, and social workers and child welfare managers. Christopher holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. He lives in North Vancouver with his wife and two children who further his education every day.

Coming up June 3 

Get ready for summer! Learn some summertime safety tips and ideas for great free and local activities. If you have any questions about parent education, please contact Tasha at 604-526-5527 or tashamurray@outlook.com.

3’s Class Information

Spring has sprung in the preschool! This past month we welcomed the chick eggs, and the children are anticipating the day that they start hatching. We have had great discussions about what comes out of eggs, and what we HOPE would come out of an egg. The list is on the classroom bulletin board. We introduced the “snail garden tank” and the children have enjoyed watching and carefully handling the snails. The snails will stay in our classroom until the end of this preschool year and we will do some snail races, watch for snail tracks on black paper……and we are hoping that they will lay some snail eggs.

While waiting for the eggs to hatch, we will continue to explore various types of instruments. A big thank you to our performers, and also to Shelley for making arrangements to borrow the amazing drum collection. We have had several drumming circles, outdoor parades, and enjoyed the simple pleasures of an accordion. We have set up a stage area, above the playhouse, so the children can enjoy performing and dancing. (A very fun new song “Sticky Sticky Marshmallow” has been created by one of our three year olds).

As the weather turns warmer, we will also do some planting of seeds. We hope to use various recycled containers, as well as fibre pots. If you have small containers at home or fibre pots that you wish to share with us, please do so.

During this month we have a very special event planned. On Thursday, May 8 we will be having our Family Tea Party. We would like to invite each child to bring at least one adult member of their family to come to the party. Siblings are welcome too. The children will have a regular preschool session until tea party time. The party will start at 10:30 am for the morning class and 1:30 pm for the afternoon class. Family members coming, should be there a few minutes early, so that we can start on time….as the children will be excited for the party to begin. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Have a wonderful month!

From Teacher Barb and Teacher Eleanor

Things to Remember:
• Family Tea Party on Thursday, May 8
• Victoria Day May 19 – the preschool is closed

4’s Class Information

Many, many, many things were planned for the first month of Spring! Like the mason bees we now have flying around us, we busily enjoyed them all.

First, we welcomed Brian into our classroom. Brian is doing his final practicum as a student of Early Childhood Education. He has been working with the children discovering their interests as well as giving them new experiences with some materials we have around the room. One of the major things he has been working on is paper folding. Trying to make a paper airplane can be tricky, so he has broken down the task to explore different ways of folding different types of paper. In this way, the children can openly and creatively build new skills. Look for his documentations around the classroom. He plans to reintroduce clay in the near future, stay tuned…

Mr. Trevor’s dance classes have been a burst of fun for all of us! With his exuberant personality and the musical accompaniment of Mr. Duane’s drums and guitar, the children have been eager to see what awaits them with every coming Wednesday. A little unsure at times, even just watching your peers participate is an engaging way to learn new ways of moving your body through space in all the many shapes your body makes. Mr. Trevor has been teaching children creative dance for many years and continues to teach at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby if anyone wants to continue dancing with him.

Eggs, eggs, eggs! We have been learning about farms and the animals who live on them in hopes of being good hosts to Farmer Marga’s eggs. We read stories about bulls, cows, chickens and sheep and learned the sign language for them. We worked with sheep’s wool and felted pieces with Teacher Eleanor. When Farmer Marga came with her eggs, she taught us things about them none of us knew. (Did you know the chick does a complete 360 degree turn inside the egg before hatching?) The eggs are now very quietly nestled in an incubator in the corner of our room. We have candled them and we think that all twelve have been fertilized. We will continue learn about farming and care for the eggs as they start hatching in May. The chicks will stay with us until they are too big for their brooder, then they will go back to the farm.

Take a peek at our mason bee hive on the front of the toy shed. We have seen the bees multiple times around the play yard, but were still pleasantly surprised to see they have filled a whole tube in their hive already! Laying their eggs in the tubes, they leave the (soon to hatch) larva some pollen, and then seal that section of the tube with clay. The bees will continue to go through their life cycles in the tubes all summer long. They’ll chew their way out again next Spring.

To Derrick, Sharon, and a very proud big brother, Congratulations! Axton is finally here, and Evan would love to introduce you to him, so please come take a peek at the newest member of their family.

We hope you found your invitations for:

Our traditional Mother’s Day Tea will be held on Friday, May 9. Please come dressed for the occasion (hats and white gloves permitted) and please bring a tea cup (saucer optional).

4 am Class Tea: 10:30-11:30
4 pm Class Tea: 1:30-2:30

We will also be hosting a Pancake Breakfast Saturday, May 24. Come to the preschool anytime between 7:30-9:30 and plan to stay with your family for about half an hour. More info at the General Meeting.

Moment of the Month:

“Teacher Jenny! I saw you outside again!”

“You did? Was I walking my dog again?”

“Yes!”

“And were you walking with your mom again?”

“No, I was walking my dad!”

Your teachers,

Jenny and Jessica