open arms

Dear parents

Just a reminder that we will not get together this Saturday, as I previously wrote in the last e mail, instead we will have a parent night here on Tuesday 9/30 at 7:00 to 8:30 pm.

Our fall picnic/pot luck, will be held here at 11:00 on Thursday 10/16.

More details about the picnic later, but please let me know if you can come to either event.

The topic for the parent evening will be the challenges we have raising our children. I hope we can talk of some of the challenges we have as parents and also come up with some ways to help. I feel we can support each other and help one another so even if you are not feeling particular challenged at the moment your experience can help someone else. I learned a lot from everyone who came to the last parent evening. we will also experience water color painting, an activity the children do here at school.

Have a good weekend

I look forward to see some of you in the morning and next week

warmly

Maayan

Open Arms Newsletter 8/26/14

Dear Parents     8/26/14

The first 3 days of the school year were very successful; the children are renewing their friendships and meeting new friends. Thanks to everyone for the well planned and fast goodbyes in morning drop off, it has helped the first few days of transitioning back to school be smooth for most children.

We will not have a parent evening on Saturday the 6^th, we will have a harvest picnic instead, with the children, on a Thursday in October at 11. This will be a fun get together for all of us to meet each other and new families, similar to the picnic at the end of the year in May.

I will find another evening for a parent evening here at my home and let you know soon. And In November we will celebrate our evening lantern walk again at the park, more on that in another e mail.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about our day, your child or anything else. Open communication between myself and parents has always worked in the children's favor since we both love the children and spend much time with them.

Please remember to pay for august as September invoices will be e mailed out soon. There is a once a yearly $50.00 material fee for supplies, due in September as well.

I am looking forward to see the rest of the children in the coming weeks and want to remind us that it takes time for some children and adults to create strong friendships with other children and with teachers, especially now that some of their friends moved to kindergarten. One of the most important pieces of preschool is the process of learning to create theses friendships.

The story I am telling the children this week is about little fawn who is sitting under some trees on a patch of dry soft grass. A Robin red breast fly down to see him and asks: little fawn, little fawn are you lost and all alone? And little fawn says:  no, mother said to quietly wait, she will come back and will not be late. And so more animals gather and ask the same question and each time Fawn answers the same.  Bear comes yawning from his den, squirrel is looking for nuts for winter, Rabbit and lamb come too. They all gather round fawn who begins to wonder when is mother going to come back, and did she really say that?.

Robin sings Fawn a song:    

Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. 

The circle is round it has no end, that how long I want to be your friend.

Bear tells Fawn a story, squirrel shares his nut and lamb keeps him warm and cozy.

Then mother comes back and gives fawn a kiss, and if things have not changed she always comes back when she makes a promise, (Mother stands for a loving parent).

I hope this story can help the children, during these first days of school remember that parents come back and give validation to their emotions. Next week we will try and act it as a play.

Thanks again for bringing the children here

best

Maayan

Summer and Fall

Dear Parents

We have Had a lovely Summer together with play, crafts and our wonderful hikes twice a week.

The children are very strong and able to hike well together.

On the hikes and at our Playgarden the children play was very imaginative and rich, I was so happy to see that.

As you well know we are taking a break and will return on Thursday 8/21.

Those who will return in August will receive a bill for August, please mail a check or drop it off here at my mail box.

I have attached some pictures from our summer together. Unfortunately I lost some when I had some problem with my phone. I am sorry but the memories of our wonderful time together will last a lifetime.

I would like to continue the hike days on Fridays in the fall, weather permitting. it is lovely to experience the changing seasons in the same place out in nature. Those of you that are signed up for Fridays please let me know what you think about it.

I will send you all a confirmation of the days your child is enrolled in the fall, before we get back on 8/21.

Have a great rest of your summer.

With Much Love

Maayan

Re: open arms news letter 5/13/14

Dear Parents

I want to thank you and the children for the love, attention and gifts for my birthday.

I felt very cared for, just spending the day with the children was a wonderful way to spend my birthday.

you were all very generous and kind.

Please remember our end of year picnic on Thursday may 29th at 11am here.

It is a pot luck lunch so please bring something to share and plates and utensil for yourself.

I will tell the children a story followed by a small gift and the children who move to kindergarten will receive the end of year book. All the rest may order one from me they are about $30, yes they get more and more expensive every year. I will place the order in the next 2 days so please let me know soon.

I will have a copy for us to keep here that the children can look at.

I attached some reading material if you would like to look at. (one attachment two links)

http://movingtolearn.ca/2014/ten-more-reasons-why-handheld-devices-should-be-banned-for-children-under-the-age-of-12

http://movingtolearn.ca/2014/ten-steps-to-successfully-unplug-children-from-technology

With much gratitude and Love

Maayan

  

Open Arms newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and celebration last week.

Here at Playgarden we have sung spring songs and planted seeds in the garden, we baked bunny bread last week, and I told them how I saw so many hares coming out of the ground in the meadows now that spring is here.

The children are playing with water and can finally take off their shoes when the weather permits, they love the feeling of their feet in the sand and grass.

Our new play house is a great addition as well.

Thanks to Neko's family for the new swing, wheel barrow and digger also wonderful additions to inspire the children's play.

I would like to welcome Neko to our play garden he will start this week.

Our beloved rabbit Mr. Buttons passed away while on break. I did all I could to help him with the vets help but he was too sick.

I told the children a story and it seemed to help. In the story, however, Pippin, our little bunny, takes on the responsibility of looking after the garden and sitting still for the children to pet him. This might take some work as he is not as patient as Mr. Buttons was. But he promised Mr. Buttons (in the story) to do his best.

This week I am telling the story of Briar Rose. It is a Grim fairytale. I chose to tell this story because this year we have a lot of older children that are going to kindergarten. Usually these stories are told in kindergarten but this group really needs the challenge. Another reason I chose to tell the story is because many of the children watched the movie Frozen. They have been acting it out and singing the theme songs over and over as is very common after watching a movie. The children try and process and retell the story in order to understand it. When the story comes in a form of a movie though it leaves a great impression since at this age they learn through creating images and are developing their imagination. Hence why we suggest as little media as possible.

The story of Briar Rose, when told close to the original form, is full of symbolism and messages about childhood and growing up to maturity. Theses are not messages the children perceive consciously but are told to as "soul food". As an example, when the princess pricks her finger at age 15, and falls asleep only to wake when the prince comes, it speaks of the letting go of early childhood and taking on the transformation to adulthood. The princess and prince marry and live contented together can be seen as the unity of the masculine and feminine in each of us at maturity.

Please remember our end of the year picnic here on May 22 at 11:00 here at playgarden. Please bring something to share, it is a pot luck.
Also I will be making photo books with pictures of the children.

Those that are moving to kindergarten will receive one as a present; however, the rest can buy it at cost price. I will let you know the price before I order.

If you object to have your child's picture in the book please let me know. I use Shutterfly to create the books.

Happy Spring.

Warmly,

Maayan

open arms news letter

Dear Parents:

As most of you saw, we have one baby goat (kid) and one lamb to care for for a few weeks.

Their bleating can be heard throughout the yard.  It is a new experience for all of us.

They still drink from a bottle 3 times a day and the children have watched me feed them.

The children are very careful and kind to the new babies.  It is wonderful to see. 

Please remember to come to the parent evening next Thursday at 7:30 here at Play Garden.

I would like to have our end of year picnic here at 11:30 on May 22.  It is a pot luck, so bring a dish to share and your own plates and utensils.

Happy spring

Maayan

open arms newsletter

Dear parents,

The garden is beginning to bloom and there are birds and bugs to hear and see in the garden. Butterflies and bees are busy waking up from winter's sleep and working in the garden.

The children are very active and with the time change this week we are spending more time outside.

We ate morning snack on the grass, picnic style, yesterday and continued to play outside immediately after.

One of our songs at circle time reflects what we see around us in nature every day:

Spring is coming, Spring is coming

Birdies building their nests.

Weave together straw and feather,

each one doing their best.

Another verse we say:

A caterpillar crawled to the top of the tree

I think I will take a nap said he.

So under a leaf he began to creep,

to spin his cocoon and fall fast asleep.

He slept and he slept all winter long,

until spring came along one day and said:

Wake up wake up sleepy head

Wake up wake up and get out of bed.

So he opened his eyes that sunshiny day,

and lo! he was a butterfly and flew away.

We crawl on the floor like caterpillars and then fall asleep only to wake up at spring time and fly like a butterfly and then repeat it again.

The crawling movements and then laying still are very healing for the children. It is also important to know how to fly around without bumping into friends and then calming down and becoming a caterpillar again.

Here are some dates to remember:

April 3rd Parent evening here at 7:30 (Parents only, please rsvp if you are coming unless you already did).

April 7th to 11th we are closed for spring break.

Coming up in May is our end of the school year picnic.

Enjoy the wonderful weather

Warmly

Maayan