APRIL 2024

Spring is here! Time to get outside and take advantage of the extra sunlight we are getting. Go for a walk in a forest, at a beach or around the neighbourhood. Fresh air and exercise is good for the body, mind and soul.

If you can’t get outside, how about a fun activity to get everyone up and moving! Try this oldie but goody:

I’m a Little Teapot
By George Harold Sanders

I’m a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle (one hand on hip)
Here is my spout (other arm out straight)

When I get all steamed up
Hear me shout
“Tip me over
and pour me out!” (lean over toward spout)

I’m a clever teapot,
Yes, it’s true
Here let me show you
What I can do

I can change my handle
And my spout (switch arm positions)
Just tip me over and pour me out! (lean over toward spout)

The Card Project Fundraiser

Orders open on Tuesday, April 2 at www.TheCardProject.ca

Our school access code is ST98

The order deadline is Sunday, April 14

Orders will be delivered in the week of May 3-8 – just in time for Mother’s Day!

Click the link above and go online to see the beautiful products made with your child’s art: greeting cards, mugs, tote bags, mouse pads, tea towels, notebooks, sketchbooks, art prints, and canvasses. Also available: T-shirts and stunning aluminum panels!

This is a wonderful fundraising opportunity for our school. We receive 20% of the sales. Thank you for your support.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Marcelle at Marcelle@TheCardProject.ca

**JEANS WEEK - APRIL 22-26**

Look for the Umbrellas at pick up and drop off times and throw your Loonies & Toonies in! We are collecting donations for the BC Children’s Hospital and your support would be greatly appreciated!

MOVIE CREWS & CHURCH PROGRAMS

PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAILS REGULARLY!

Due to the Church holding their Harvest Project Food Donation Program on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, as well as the various Movie Productions that have rented space at the Church, we are having to move our Pick Up/ Drop-off spots from time to time.

Also, please make sure you are reading the White Board at the drop-off and pick-up doors. They will have the most UP TO DATE information. If you come late and you bring your child down, make sure you walk past the board so you do not miss out on important information. And please tell your spouses, nannies and all pick-up & drop-off people to do the same.

IMPORTANT DATES AND SCHOOL CLOSURES

APRIL 22-26: Jean’s Week - Collecting donations for BC Children’s Hospital

MAY 20: Victoria Day - PRESCHOOL CLOSED

JUNE 21: 4’s Graduation

JUNE 21: Last Day of Preschool

JUNE 26: Picnic - All Classes

Spring is in the air! My walk to work is so much nicer these days! Challenge yourself to get outside more and get ACTIVE WITH YOUR CHILDREN! Get them used to walking and keeping their bodies active and healthy! Inactivity is bad for us all!

CHECK OUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CLASSROOMS IN MARCH!!

RAINBOW ROOM - Danielle(Tu/Th), Rebecca(M/W), Vibha(M-Th)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Spring break. March has come and gone in a blur of Easter service, the arrival of Spring. And now, here we are already in April!

Our children did a fantastic job performing at the Easter service! It was a memorable and heartwarming experience.

For Art, we made adorable paper plate chicks and cows. We had a great time creating charming little bunnies with pink tissue paper. We also got creative with marble painting Easter eggs by adding colourful paint and glitter for extra sparkle. Our sheep designs featured fun polka dots stamped with white paint and we had fun gluing tissue paper onto cut-out roosters.

Children are naturally drawn to stories that come to life through action and movement. Cows in the Kitchen book, Five Little Bunnies, See The Bunnies Sleeping and Hop Little Rabbit, are great examples that captivated our young listeners from start to finish.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. We’re excited for the upcoming month of April.

Vibha, Danielle and Rebecca

TREEHOUSE ROOM - Carol(Tu/Th), Catriona(MWF), Gabi (M-F), Karen(M-F), Mary(M-F)

This month, as we say goodbye to Winter and hello to Spring, we’re also taking a two-week break at home

for Spring.

We celebrated the Persian New Year, Nowruz, with our children. We set up a special table called

Haft-Seen, told stories, played music, and danced. It was a fun way to welcome Spring!

The children learned about Nowruz through the storybook “Gala and Her Friends Celebrate Nowruz.”.

We also had a felt story about the Haft-Seen (the seven S items), did art activities, and dressed up in Persian

costumes. Every child participated in planting wheat sprouts in their own small pots. We also watched the

animated movie “Lili’s New Year”. (sidenote* One of our parents is the voice actor for Lili!!)

We held our Easter service this month, after practicing Easter songs for a few months. The service took

place on March 12th and 13th at the church, and parents were invited to attend. During the service, the

children sang the following songs:

“The More We Get Together”

“I Plant the Little Seed”

“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”

“This Is the Day”

Rev. Sharon Smith, our Vicar, shared a children’s story.

Additionally, there were performances of “Teddy Bear Teddy Bear” and “Mister Sun” by the Discovery 2s. They finished with “One Love, One Heart” by Bob Marley.

The event concluded with a dance to “Rockin’ Robin”.

For Easter, the Treehouse room hosted a variety of activities for the children, including the following:

* Reading books such as “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick” and “How to Catch

the Easter Bunny”.

* Singing The Bunny Rhyme Song.

* Engaging with the felt stories “5 Little Chicks” and “Find the Easter Bunny Behind the Egg”.

* Reading The Golden Egg book.

* Decorating egg-shaped cookies.

* They watched “Aaron’s Hair.”

Additionally, we had a Crazy Hair Day on Thursday and Friday, March 14th, and 15th. All children and teachers in the Treehouse came with creatively styled hair. And then we welcomed Spring break to enjoy time with our families.

SUNFLOWER ROOM (MWF) - Carol, Danielle, Monica

Hello Sunflower Room Families,

March was a short month at Preschool, but we packed lots of learning and fun in none the less.

We were working our way through the alphabet: E to O, to be precise.

The children who had turns to take home the Alphabet box did a great job of hunting out things starting with their chosen letter, and then reporting back to the class. Everyone will get a turn, so no worries there.

We found out that “E” is for elephant, eagle, emu and Easter, and made cute elephant hand puppets. We glued small Canadian flags onto the letter “F” and talked about foxes, friends, frogs and families.

“G” had us making G-shaped giraffes, then stamping hippos with the letter “H”.

We had gears to build and play with, as well as knights and castles and a Preschool Corner, where the children could take turns pretending to be teachers or students, doing the calendar, telling stories, singing our circle songs and practicing identifying each other’s names. This was a very popular area!

We glued Igloos, and made beautiful Jellyfish, then painted Koalas and decorated Lamps.

In the midst of all our alphabet work , we were busy learning and practicing the new songs for our Easter Service. The children are always excited to show parents what we get up to at Preschool, and this was no exception. I’m sure you heard them singing the songs at home and in the car, we practiced them every day at Preschool! Thank you, Parents, for attending the Service in the middle of your busy days…the children and teachers really appreciated your support.

We had a lovely time learning about Easter: hiding and finding eggs, playing at being bunnies and working on great art projects, like Easter baskets, Easter rabbits and marble painted eggs.

We hope you all had a restful Spring Break as the teachers did, and are ready to start the new Term: we will be finishing the alphabet (although it’s an ongoing learning process at this stage), welcoming caterpillars to our school to watch them become butterflies, discussing the books of Eric Carle and getting outside more and more as the weather becomes warmer and drier.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to speak to any of the teachers.

Thanks again for your continued support,

Danielle, Carol and Monica

RESOURCE ROOM - Marion

Happy Spring!

I hope everyone has had a good Spring Break. These next few months will be filled with so many exciting new learning opportunities for the children. The classrooms are springing into Spring.

I will pick up our Butterfly Kits on May 15th. The caterpillars are 5 to 7 days old when they arrive. They will spend their entire larval stage in their food containers in the office. The children can come in small groups to see them eat and grow. This stage will take an additional 8 to 14 days. When the caterpillars are ready to pupate, they will begin hanging from the top of the container in a J shape. Within 24 hrs they will form a chrysalis. Once they are ready to turn into butterflies, they will be moved into the Treehouse room and put in a glass aquarium with netting so the children can watch them emerge as Painted Lady butterflies. Little containers of Gatorade will be placed in the aquarium for them to feed from. The children will enjoy observing the butterflies for a few days or so, then it will be time to release them into the garden. We have been doing this since 2013 and it is always a fun time.

We are working on Kindergarten Readiness skills with the 4s and encouraging them to be more independent. Printing their own names, counting and sorting items, listening at circle time and asking and responding to questions are all skills needed for Kindergarten. All the children are taking out their snacks and lunches in the morning and putting things away afterwards. Some children are putting their own jackets on and zipping them up.

Please mark the week of April 22 -26 on your calendars. It is our annual Jeans Week. During this week we collect donations for the BC Children's Hospital. Please save up your loonies and toonies and toss them into the upside down umbrellas that will be out at drop off and pick up times. Children are encouraged to wear jeans dresses, jeans and jackets. Thank you so much for your kind donations.