JUNE 2024
Although we often call it JUNE-uary because of the cold weather, June is perfect for getting outside to enjoy the better weather…well, drier weather anyway!! Take advantage of the longer days and take your child out for an after-dinner walk. It is a great way to wind down after the day and to just stop and smell the flowers…literally! And the exercise will do everyone some good! Remember, inactivity is not healthy so teach your little ones to get out into nature and MOVE!
GRADUATION for the 4s
The Treehouse and Sunflower classrooms will be holding their Graduation Ceremonies on Fri. June 21st. Notices will be sent home with specifics.
Sunflower Room: 11:45 am
Treehouse Room: 1:15 pm
The Butterflies are almost here!!
The Caterpillars arrived and they have already begun their transformation into Painted Lady butterflies!! They have eaten all the food they need and now they have attached themselves to the top of the container and have begun to form their chrysalises! Only a little while longer and they will emerge as butterflies and they will eventually be released into the Memorial Garden! The children have been filing in to the office to have a few sneak peaks!
St. Catherine’s Community Pop-Up Garden
Check out our Community Pop-Up Garden in the big parking lot! The preschool has adopted two boxes! One will have flowers and one will have vegetables! How exciting! There is nothing better tasting than food grown in your own garden!!
THERE ARE STILL A COUPLE BOXES LEFT! Contact the Church office at scadmin@shaw.ca to adopt a box for the Summer/Autumn. There is a lot of learning to be had in gardening with children.
WORD OF MOUTH
Registration for September is going slow so please help us to get the word out about our FABULOUS Preschool!
Please think about stopping by the preschool office to pick up some of our postcards and put them up around town for us! (Make sure you always ask permission before posting on community bulletin boards)
Thanks in advance for supporting our amazing preschool!
IT’S PICNIC SEASON! And our picnic is coming up!
Our time at preschool for this year is almost over but we need one last HURRAH to bring in Summer with a BANG! Grab your picnic lunches and your swimsuits and join the children, parents and teachers of St. Catherine’s at Mahon Water Park on Wednesday, June 26th from 11:30 - 1:30, RAIN OR SHINE!!
Marion will be doing her WORLD’S FAMOUS ANNUAL CANDY TOSS! Sorry, parents…not for you!!
Bring your park toys, blankets and sunscreen and we will all say Goodbye to School and Hello to Summer!
FUNDRAISING
We have done quite a few Fundraisers over the school year and we want to say THANK YOU so much for all your support!
We have raised quite a few funds that will be used for helping to keep our gym and outdoor play spaces and equipment in tip top shape! Here are a few totals to date:
Samosas - $784.42
Purdys Chocolates - $1323.07
Pizza Night - $1070
Little Kitchen Academy - $210
Class Photos - $230
Card Project - $396.20
Scholastics Books - $124.91
Return It Bottles - $362.20
Donations - $1250
LOOKING FOR BOARD MEMBERS
We have board members leaving at the end of this year and so we are asking for some others to step up and fill their spaces. The commitment is 5 or 6 one hour meetings throughout the school year. Usually we meet on the second Tues or Wed of the month. The Executive Board meets during the day (1pm-2pm) and the Board usually meets in the evening (6pm-7pm).
We are looking for a TREASURER. This should be someone with the ability to understand Balance Sheets and Profit & Loss statements. The Treasurer will attend the Executive meeting and receive the Financial Reports from the Preschool Manager and will then report those Financials at the Board meeting. Easy-peasy!
We are looking for two Parent Board Members. You will sit in on the evening meetings and take part in the discussions and voting on the important issues that concern the preschool.
We may also have Members at Large who can come to the evening Board meetings and will help with discussion input, helping during preschool events and helping to coordinate Social Nights/ Parent Education Nights etc. Members at Large are not able to vote.
If you are interested in being a part of our Board, please contact the Preschool Office! Board Members get to attend the Teacher’s Year End Party and BOY OH BOY! you don’t want to miss that!!!
Spending time outdoors with your children is crucial for promoting better health and overall well-being. Fresh air and physical activity help children stay active and reduce the risk of obesity. Sunshine also provides essential vitamin D, important for bone health. Outdoor play encourages imaginative thinking, creativity, and social skills development. So, make it a priority to get outside with your children regularly to support their physical, mental, and emotional growth. And don’t forget to take off your socks and shoes and feel the Earth with your toes once in a while! We all need to get GROUNDED to keep us healthy!
Mosquito Creek is more like a RIVER after all that rain!! Take a walk and spend some time outside and experience our beautiful city! Foster a love of outdoors in your children! They will be healthier for it!
THE LAST WORD FROM THE CLASSROOMS…
RAINBOW ROOM - Danielle, Rebecca, Vibha
There’s a rumble in the jungle,
There’s a whisper in the trees,
The animals are waking up.
And rustling the leaves.
By Gikes Andreae & David Woitowycz
We had an incredibly fun and exciting month of May learning about Jungle animals. For art the children made adorable monkeys and tigers, decorating them with strips and orange tissue paper. They also created stunning gorilla silhouettes using sponge painting. Next, we made a beautiful jungle collage using watercolours and glued on pictures of jungle animals. We made colourful toucans with watercolours and adorable tree frogs, which added a vibrate touch to our jungle theme. Additionally, the children enjoyed making elephants using a fun mix of shaving cream and glue, which provided a great sensory experience.
At circle we asked the children, what do monkeys do all day? Here are their responses:
-Eat watermelons and bananas
-Swing on trees and play with their friends
-Monkeys like to climb, sleep and jump around
-Make noises
It was wonderful to hear the children's imagination and curiosity with their answers. We read many exciting jungle books and here are our top picks!
Rumble in the Jungle
I Don't Want to Go to Bed- story about Little Tiger.
Tails in the Jungle
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Walking Through the Jungle
Goodnight Gorilla
Felt, songs and games:
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Five Green Speckled Frogs
Monkey See, Monkey Do- action game
Memory game- guessing which jungle animal was missing. Lastly, we stomped our way around the classroom like gorillas, monkeys, tigers, frogs and elephants. All of the animal were adapted into yoga poses.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing us the privilege of teaching your precious children. It has been a joy to get to know each child’s unique personality and to share in their growth and learning. We look forward to watching them grow over the next two years in the 3’s and 4’s.
Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing summer!
Vibha, Danielle & Rebecca
TREEHOUSE ROOM - Carol, Catriona, Gabi, Karen, Mary
The time to say goodbye to our students seems to come faster each year. Here we are again! Congratulations to us all making it to the end of the school year! I know there were some stress and struggle to getting your precious cargo to the parking lot, (or through the classroom door), but we did it! Very soon, you can let your little people sleep in more, go to Costco less for snack food, ( although I’m sure you will miss time shopping without your children) , spend more time outdoors as we are about to enjoy the longer, sunny summer days.
May, to our pupils’ delight, was not particularly warm or sunny, so we spent most of our free play in the gym. (For some weird reasons they prefer to be indoors?!) Speaking of weird, this time of the year is when we all, teachers and students, feel all sorts of emotions so wild, that oftentimes we switch roles. The little people feel more comfortable and confident, they want to run the class. Us, the teachers want to hide or hug our Moms! :) The older children feel excited, happy to start Kindergarten, but some are also a bit anxious about starting a new school with new faces in September. We are always a little sad to see them leave, but having the opportunity to witness their amazing successes mastering new skills and the growth in so many aspects of their lives is joyous. ( I think I’ve just used descriptive phrases of emotions of a teenager’s life in an hour).
In the past weeks the students were creating gifts for their two, most cherished family members,
Mom and Dad. We hope that you liked your presents as they were made with love and care!
Both classes visited the library, and again, the children enjoyed stories and songs, behaving beautifully while walking and enjoying story time.
As for our themes, the teachers chose a favourite character or author to share their enthusiasm with the students. We started off with Dr Seuss and the silly rhythm of his lines and the silly illustrations delighted us all. The Cat in the Hat was followed by a blue cat, Pete. To close the theme, Eric Carl’s simple stories and beautifully illustrated books inspired some great art.
June was filled with stories, games, arts and crafts around Sea Life, enjoyed by all of our friends.
Once again, we would like to THANK YOU for your support, generosity and kindness towards us, and for trusting us to teach and care for your children.
We wish you all a wonderful summer and all the best for your future adventures with your wonderful children!
SUNFLOWER ROOM - Carol, Danielle, Monica
May has been such a fun and busy month. We started with Mother’s Day, and lots of secret art and talk about how important our mothers are to us. The children so loved to make cards and presents for their family members. Dads, you won’t be left out; Father’s Day is just around the corner, and we’ve all been working on the preparations.
Most of the past month has been spent on our Trip Around The World: each child shared with the class interesting pictures and details about a country or area that is important to their family.
We started in Australia when Danielle told us all about her country; so many amazing animals to learn about, and we did art inspired by Aboriginal artists and culture, and featuring Emus.
From there we imagined flying to South Korea where Jio told us about the country his parents are from. We looked at beautiful pictures of the cities and countryside as well as a lovely picture of Jio in a traditional outfit. Jio gave us candy to try, and some Korean stickers and Lego.
Next we went to China with Audrey, learning so much about her family connections to Taiwan as well. She brought us mango sweets to taste and some red envelopes with a surprise. We stayed in that part of the world with Carrianne and learned about the small village in China that her parents are from. We tried out Chinese calligraphy and saw the books containing her family tree.
Mabel told us about India: we saw pictures of beautiful buildings and scenery. She told us about Bindis and gave them out to put on our foreheads; she shared traditional cookies with us and Teacher Vibha also shared some roti with us that day.
Ethan brought his grandparents to preschool, and they helped him tell us about Tanzania. We saw tea plantations, traditional foods and heard that it can be quite cold there. Ethan gave each of us a woven bracelet from Africa.
Malek and his sister told us all about life in the Middle East, specifically Lebanon and Iraq. Interesting facts and pictures about horses and life there.
Jacob K took us to Germany where we learned about old castles, fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and we then tasted delicious apple strudel .
Alexander also treated us to pastries from Czechia and more castles, flags and European football.
Elliott’s family hails from England, and he told us about their government, royal family, double decker buses, and we got to try cups of tea and scones! We had Scottish scones from Carol (not as tasty) and we tried Highland dancing to the bagpipes.
Monica showed us how to do Irish dancing and told us stories about Leprechauns, the Blarney Stone and horses in Ireland.
Then we were back to Canada, specifically French Canada, as Maelle’s family is from Quebec. We heard some French spoken by Maelle and her Mom, read a French book, and tasted wonderful maple sugar Lollies.
Jacob W. told us all about his family cabin in San Juan Island, U.S.A. We saw pictures of the family enjoying the beach, campfires, night walks and local wildlife like foxes, orcas, eagles etc. We got to enjoy some s’mores with our snack…Yum.
Peter took us to Alberta, where we learned about the Calgary Stampede, ranchers, cowboys and we tried on a cowboy hat. He brought us a sticker page of a horse, and a dinosaur egg from the Badlands/Drumheller.
Georgia also told us about her family cabin in Hedley B.C. Lovely pictures of the river, the cabin, the surrounding hills, and we heard that Hedley was built in a goldmining area. Georgia gave each of us a traditional prospector’s bag of gold!
On our last day of this theme, we were taken to Hornby Island with Jack and his family to do some very Canadian camping. We learned that it takes 3 ferries to get there, and they use sleeping bags in a tent for camping. They ride bikes, play on the beach and have chips for a treat (and sometimes ice cream!) Jack shared chips with us for snack time.
We then learned all about another part of B.C. with Leo. His family is from North Vancouver, and spend a lot of time at local beaches, as well as taking the “Sea to Sky” to go to the forests of Squamish and the mountains of Whistler for skating and skiing. We tried local salmon berries and Leo brought in colouring pages for us to take home. He also gave us each a bag of Sea Glass that his family has collected over the years.
So, we’re finally back home in North Vancouver! The children all learned a lot about their friends and about different parts of the world.
A huge “Thank you” to you parents for sharing your family’s story with us and for putting so much effort into preparing your child to present to the class. It was a great learning experience for everybody.
In the midst of this fantastic trip, our class was gripped by the Canuck’s fever for the Stanley Cup. They lead themselves in marches and chants of “Go Canucks, Go!” Lovely to see that team spirit, including talk of other teams we support and other sports we enjoy.
The month of June is going to be over before we know it; we have a visit to our local library planned, and we are busy preparing for end of year parties and for some of our class to graduate from Preschool to Kindergarten.
It has been a great year in the Sunflower Room; the teachers are very proud of the progress our children have made in such a relatively short time.
We hope you have a restful, fun and safe summer, and for those of you that are moving on, we wish you well and hope that you’ll come and visit us.
All the best,
The Sunflower teachers,
Danielle, Carol and Monica
RESOURCE ROOM - Marion
Another wonderful school year is drawing to a close. When I started at St. Catherine's my boys were 14, 13 and 11. Now they are 40, 39 and 37, you do the math. My youngest lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and our two grandchildren Freddy and Leyla. The older two live in Winnipeg and my middle son will be getting married in July. He is Dad to our 3rd grandchild, Ivy. A lot has changed in my life since then, but my love of my job continues to be enriching. So, NO, I am not retiring.
After 40 years in the ECE field I feel that there is a lot to be said for the social and emotional development of young children. Children need to play well with others. They learn to negotiate, problem solve, take turns, share and experiment. You can help your child build these skills by making time for free play with other children. They need to be supervised but not instructed by the adults around them. You can help your child problem solve by asking your child what is happening and by saying "What do you think you could do about that?" Children who can label and recognize feelings are better able to get along well with others.
As we break for the Summer months remember that children need to interact face to face with their peers. Picnics in playgrounds are a great neutral place for children to play together. Often in their home settings children may find it difficult to share their toys. Spending time with family and friends is so important at this young age.
I never say good bye, but "See you around the Village". Have a great Summer and all the best to the children who are off to Kindergarten.
Thanks again for an amazing school year!
Have a relaxing Summer!
We will see you in Autumn and if not, good luck in all your new adventures!!
Sincerely yours,
Christina (Tina) Spencer, Manager