MARCH 2025
We are MARCH-ing out of Winter and into SPRING this month so let’s get this party started!!! Woot! Woot!
North Vancouver’s weather is famously unpredictable—it can change from sun to rain, snow, hail, fog, or wind in just hours! March is no exception, bringing a mix of everything Mother Nature has in store.
Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for preschool, with suitable clothing and footwear. If they wear boots to school, pack a pair of safe indoor shoes. If they arrive in a t-shirt and light jacket, keep a sweater in their cubby. Even on sunny days, our play yard can be quite chilly!
EASTER SERVICES
The Children have begun to practice for the Easter Services happening on APRIL 9TH & 10TH at 1:00pm. There will be emails sent out a little closer to the time, outlining what will be happening in each class.
SCREEN TIME - How Does it Affect Children?
In today’s digital world, screens are everywhere, and while technology has its benefits, too much screen time can pose challenges for young children. Excessive use of tablets, phones, and TVs can impact sleep, attention span, and social skills. Young children learn best through hands-on play, face-to-face interactions, and real-world experiences, which help develop their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and emotional regulation.
For families, too much screen time can also mean less quality bonding. Shared activities like reading, outdoor play, and conversation strengthen connections and create meaningful moments. While screens can be useful in moderation, setting limits and encouraging active, engaged play supports healthy development and well-being. Simple changes, like creating screen-free mealtimes or setting daily outdoor play goals, can make a big difference in helping children build healthy habits for life.
PRO D DAY WAS A SUCCESS!
The teachers successfully completed their Professional Development Day on Friday, February 14th. During the day, we engaged in two insightful webinars: "Calming Terrific Toddlers: Evidence-based Strategies that Promote Self-Regulation" and "The Happiest Preschool: How to Foster Playful Learning and a Curious, Cooperative, and Joyful Classroom."
The day began with hot beverages and treats, setting a warm and collaborative atmosphere as we reviewed the agenda. We delved into the webinars, discussing various strategies and exploring why some approaches resonate with certain children while others may not. Our teachers are dedicated to enhancing the experiences of the children in our care, striving to create a joyful and productive classroom environment.
We discussed recognizing the challenges educators face, particularly in the field of childcare where burnout can be prevalent, and concluded that it is essential for teachers to prioritise self-care. By maintaining their well-being, our educators can continue to provide the best possible support for our young learners.
Licensed Early Childhood Educators must get 40 hours of Professional Development hours every five years to renew their ECE license. This requirement ensures that educators stay current with best practices, new research, and developments in early childhood education. Opportunities for professional development include workshops, webinars, and courses in areas such as First Aid. Engaging in ongoing learning not only enhances the skills of the educators but also ultimately benefits the children in their care by providing a high-quality educational experience.
SPRING BREAK : March 17-28
Spring Break is coming up this month and the preschool will be closed for two weeks.
If you are travelling for Spring Break and you plan on leaving before Spring Break starts, and/or staying away longer than the two weeks, please let us know as it really helps us plan the activities in the classrooms.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Check out what happened in the classrooms in February! It was a short month but a lot of great things happened!
RAINBOW ROOM
Danielle, Carol, Mary, Monica, Vibha
Hello, Rainbow Room Families!
It feels as if we’re at least a little bit closer to Spring, but that’s a topic for next month.
During February, we had two main themes: Valentine’s Day, and Transportation.
We started the first theme by focusing on friendship, families, love, and kindness. We asked the children, who do we feel love for, and how do we show that love? We covered thoughtful and kind behaviours as a way to show our love and friendship to the people around us.
Some of the songs we sung were: The More we Get Together, One Love, Three Little Birds, and I Love You. Our books included: I’m a Good Friend, I Care About Others, How to Grow a Friend, I Need a Hug, Kiss Kiss, and Hands Are Not For Hitting.
For art, we did a lot of painting and collaging of hearts, lots of pinks, purples and gold. We also completed our beautiful sponge paintings and stamps for the artwork that we are submitting for the Card Project. This is a fundraiser for the preschool that allows you to purchase cards and other small items made with your child’s artwork. More details on that later.
During the snowy weather, we brought some snow into the class room, and had a great time adding water colours to it, slowly, using pipettes ( a fun way to practice and perfect a pinching motion with thumb and forefingers.) We watched as the snow turned into gorgeous colours and gradually melted. A lovely impromptu science lesson.
We had two wonderful Pajama parties on the 12th and the 13th. We played games, sang songs, danced and of course enjoyed delicious party food, all together at one big table. Thank you once again, to the families that provided the food this time around.
In the house corner, we had a florist’s shop, with bouquets, vases, watering cans, and most popular, cash registers.
For the second half of the month, we looked at all things transport related. If you can drive, fly, or ride in it, we did it!
We discussed what is involved in riding on a bus or flying in an airplane. If your child hasn’t spent much time on public transport, it’s a fun, educational and inexpensive way to see our city; bus, boat and train within an hour!
We spent lots of time developing gross motor skills by pretending to either be the vehicles themselves, or to drive them. We flew like airplanes, drove firetrucks, row row rowed our boats, played in our big Thomas the Tank Engine, and had lots of fun lining chairs up in lines to simulate being on a train.
We sang: Down By the Station, The Wheels on the Bus, Zoom Zoom Zoom and many more songs.
For art we made buses, trains, planes, cars and space ships. We used paper plates, sponges for painting and silhouette paintings, collages and used toy cars to make track marks across the paper. We practiced cutting for some of these projects and helped Vibha tear up little pieces of paper for a collage.
We changed the house corner into Ground Control/ A Space station, with a one or two person rocketship, jet packs and computer terminals for ground control. Lots of fun! The children were thrilled to have the cars and garages back out, as well as the large building blocks and diggers and dump trucks. Our wooden trains and tracks are always out and very popular.
In the music programme this month we have started rehearsing our songs for the Easter Services, to be held during the day, on April 9th and 10th. You will receive more details about this closer to the time, but mark your calendars now!
Most of the songs we’re learning for the services are new to the children, so it’s a good challenge for us all. They love the idea of parents, grandparents, other family and friends, coming to see and hear them perform.
We can’t believe we’re already in March; we will be looking at Farms and Farm Animals for two weeks and then we’ll be off for Spring Break for two weeks. Do let us know if your family is planning to be away either before or after Spring Break, just to help us with programming and staffing.
As always, if you have anything you’d like to ask the teachers, please feel free.
The Rainbow Room Teachers
M/W/F: Danielle, Carol and Mary
T/Th : Danielle, Vibha and Monica
TREEHOUSE ROOM
Gabi, Karen, Catriona, Mary
Hello Treehouse Families,
Though January and February are often seen as the quieter months, we want to assure you that in our world, with your children, nothing is ever slow! Quite the opposite! Questions are answered faster, little bodies are always on the move, and the ideas and imaginations of these little minds are constantly coming up with creative, sometimes mind-bending challenges that keep us on our toes.
One of the most interesting things year after year is how much the children love playing "Bad Guys vs. Good Guys." The game has countless variations, but it always involves one group chasing the other. The "chased" players can be anything from chickens to dinosaurs, robbers to flowers (yes, flowers!). It’s always a fun and exciting game to watch. Sometimes, I like to imagine ourselves as the "police" and the children as the "law breakers". They’re always a step ahead of us, but it’s a game we’re always learning to keep up with (now you know why we look a little different at pick-up time—it’s a lot of work!).
As the months progress, we notice more complex behaviors, but we also get even faster, funnier, and more creative explanations from our little "suspects." This February, we saw such tremendous growth in so many areas of their development! Kindergarten, get ready—these children are ready to shine!
We've been practicing essential kindergarten readiness skills like public speaking with "Echo" and "Show and Share," fine and gross motor skills, pre-writing and pre-reading skills, and even completing more complex tasks. We’ve also spent time discussing how to handle big emotions, which, as you know, is tricky at this age (and sometimes even as adults!). February gave us endless opportunities to talk about friendship, family, showing kindness, resolving conflicts, and expressing appreciation. Our Valentine's Day party was a huge hit—thank you so much for your contributions!
We also had an unexpected snow day, which was such a fun surprise! It gave us extra chances for outdoor play, painting snow, conducting science experiments, and creating art with snow. Another memorable moment was when the earthquake happened. Luckily, our little ones blissfully missed it, continuing their play under tables as they practiced their "turtle" drills. We regularly practice fire and earthquake drills, and when we shout "turtle!", the children know exactly what to do—drop, cover, and hold on, just like little turtles! It turned out to be perfect timing!
As we wrapped up the month, we delved into learning about dinosaurs, a topic that is always a big hit with our students (and sometimes a little bit of a challenge for us teachers!). Many of our little ones are already experts on the subject, while we try to keep up with the complicated names and endless facts. Plus, we juggle challenges like English as a second language, misplaced reading glasses, and books with too many or too few words—but we always manage to share and learn together!
A few quick reminders: Please dress your child in layers, as we take every opportunity to play outside or in the gym when the weather allows. Also, we kindly ask that children leave their toys at home or in their cubbies. We have a fantastic selection of toys and games that we rotate weekly (or more frequently) based on our themes. Small toys from home have a way of disappearing, especially when little ones have pockets—so we appreciate your understanding!
Thank you for being such an important part of our Treehouse family!
RESOURCE ROOM
Marion
After experiencing the 5.1 earthquake on Friday, Feb 21st, we want to reassure our families that the staff are all trained in Child Care First Aid and are familiar with the Church’s and School’s Emergency Plan.
We practice monthly Fire Drills. At the beginning of each year all the classes take part in the “Play Safe, Stay Safe” program. They learn about Stop, Drop and Roll and Crawl Low under Smoke.
During our Fire drills an Admin staff will blow a whistle while walking through the school and notify the staff where the fire is located. There are several scenarios for leaving the building depending on where the fire is and we practice them throughout the year. The children are told to stop playing when they hear the whistle and are directed to line up with a teacher at the designated Exit door.
The teachers are trained to support the children in staying calm and ensure that all the children are accounted for. Another teacher will get the backpack with emergency contact cards and make sure everyone is out of the room. All classes gather in the designated gathering area in the small parking lot, next to the Memorial Garden. This area is posted in our Emergency Plan and is where parents are instructed to meet their children in the case of an Emergency. The drill is recorded with the time, number of children and number of adults. This report is posted in the office for Licensing.
For earthquake drills, we have instructed the children that when a teacher calls “TURTLE”, they need to pretend to be turtles, cover their heads with their arms and crouch under a table.
The safety and well being of all the children are our highest priority.