Rex and Polly

Today two friends brought their pet in to share!

Lilly's 10 year old dog Rex came for circle time. He was very mellow and allowed all of the kids to pet him. We read a book about puppies and how they grow into dogs. We were able to compare the book to Rex. Thank you Gwendy and Matt for taking time out of your busy day to bring him in.

Alana brought her guinea pig Polly! Polly loves dandelion greens and was very happy to sit and let the kids pet her while she nibbled on them. 

Little Veterinarians and Bunnies Day 2

Today the Red Birds became veterinarians. Learning to care for others is a trait we want to instill in our next generation and caring for animals is just as important as being a kind friend. 

First job of the day was to make their name badges (not just anyone can be a vet!) 

We then gathered up the animals to be seen, opened the clinic and used our check-list to give each a thorough exam. 

First up was Beau the Bulldog 

Then Fred the Frog 

Bears ears were checked

Pete's heart was found to be beating well  and strong (but not too fast ... Pete had a calm body)

Just like yesterday the bunnies joined us for circle and everyone got an opportunity to pet and feed them

They weren't too sure of the strawberries 

Even Pete got a turn

Godzilla and MooMoo

Today we had two wonderful rabbits spend the morning with us. Ruby brought Godzilla and MooMoo to share. Every child had several opportunities to touch and feed them. Both rabbits were very gentle and outgoing. We hope they can come again tomorrow :) 

After a bit Ruby wasn't too sure she really wanted everyone feeding her bunnies but then I told her that she could introduce them at circle time and she was OK 

$75 refer a friend promotion

I wanted to find a way to say thank you to you, our families, because you are our biggest asset in building our community. Thankfully we have a wonderful community of families and kids this year. 

From now until May 31st  I am pleased to offer a "Friends & Family" incentive for sharing the good news about our school -- starting with $75 off of your June tuition. Use these incentives to your benefit -- we'll accept unlimited referrals. 

Feel free to post to online parent forums, parent or mothers clubs, Facebook or I can give you a flier to two to post.  

We currently have several T / Th morning preschool openings for toddlers 16 months and up and a few M / W/ F openings for kids 2.9 and older. Also, FT care from 8 am to 4 pm. 

Let's make the 2013-2014 school year the best yet!

Charlie the Service Dog

Today 11 year old Patrick brought in his service dog, Charlie. Charlie has been Patrick's service dog for many years. They were featured on Discovery Health channels show  Pets and People: The Power of the Health Connection a few years ago. 

http://www.discoverychannelcme.com/programs/watch/pets

It can be found in Part 2 at about 4 minutes and 40 seconds. 

We took a video of Charlie "reading" commands but it didn't turn out :( The kids learned that service dogs are "working" and that if they see a dog with a vest on they need to ask before touching (and most of the time we will be told "NO" they can't pet while the dog is working). The kids were all great and very respectful of Charlie and Patrick. 

Patrick was joined by his teacher Mary 

Summer and Fall Enrollments

It’s that time of year again…. time to plan your child’s summer and fall enrollment. Sadly, we will be losing several Red Birds who are going to Kindergarten.

Please take some time to consider your families desired schedule.This years schedule worked very nicely (Blue Birds on T / Th and Red Birds on M/W/F). Although challenging for working families it really is best for the kids as well as our ability to create an age appropriate curriculum. 

To ensure everyone has the schedule they need we as that each family do some advance planning.

Please make completing and returning this form a priority. It will determine our true availability to newly enrolling families. Schedules are first come first serve (see the board for availability).

Remember:

• “Summer” is June 3 to Aug  16th.

• If you want to make a change, add a day or extend (stay for nap) now would be the time to do it.

• Please indicate the HOURS as well as days you are requesting.

• If your child will not be returning please indicate the month that will happen. You must still give 30 day written notice when your child leaves (the attached form does not count).

• We will do our best to accommodate schedule requests but your current schedule can not be guaranteed. If possible, we ask that 2 day / week families choose T/Th and 3 day / week families choose M/W/F. Non-traditional schedules will be considered depending on availability. 

April Theme: Pets

Our April Autor is David Shannon. He is well known for his NO, David  series but he also has a book called Good Boy, Fergus! Our April theme will be based on this and other books about pets. Kids love to talk about things that are going on at home and since pets are a very important part of many families we thought it would be a fun theme. We will be talking about how to care for animals, different kinds of pets and we will have a service dog visit to share how they help people. 

A few ways your family can participate:

• We will be making a photo album like we did with the Pete the Cat's Adventures. Please bring in (labeled on the back with their name) 3x5 or 4x6 photos of your families pets. If your family doesn't have a pet and your child wants to bring in one of them with grandmas cat or aunties dog that is welcome too! It would be great if every child had a photo in the album. 

• If you want to bring in your pet to share we will have a calendar sign up sheet out front after Spring Break. 

• Bring in books that are pet related.

• We will be making a pet picture collage and will need magazine pictures of various pets.

• We are also collecting paper egg cartons (or flats if you happen to get eggs from Costco)  for a caterpillar to butterfly project.