SUMMER SAFARI

Summer Safari is just beginning to swing through the jungle. Each week we have a different theme to help us as we explore the jungle around us. This month we will begin our very busy summer of many adventures including field trips and water activities. Please watch the calendars closely as each group will be heading out daily for an adventure and we don’t want anyone to miss out on the fun!

If you have not done so, please take a look at our parent board. This is where you will find pictures from recent adventures, details of upcoming explorations, and reminders.

If your child would like, he/she may bring a family picture and we will laminate it and put it on their locker. Sometimes, even as old as we are, we miss our families and having a picture to look at helps!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask one of us! We will help to the best of our abilities or find someone who can help you!

Thank You!
Miss Marissa, Miss Sarah, Miss Sophia, Miss Ariel & Miss Jacquee

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

FIREFLIES

Welcome to our classroom! We are so happy you’re here! This summer is going to be a busy one so bare with us as we transition into our new building! As exciting as that is going to be we are still going to try keep to our normal summer schedule.

With a new building means new faces. In the new building we are doubling in size with the addition of another classroom of 20 children. In preparation for this change we will need to double our staff. In the Firefly room this summer will be Miss Amy (Lead Staff), Miss Kaitlin (Lead Staff), Miss Alison, Miss Laci, Miss Brittany, Miss Kara, Miss Jackie and other Miss Jacqee. We will do our best to introduce everyone and make this transition an easy one.


We will nap every day so please remember your child needs a pillow and a blanket. We furnish nap bags. On Thursdays we will be swimming at the YMCA. Your child will need a swimming suit and a towel in a backpack on these days. Walking shoes are a must. We will be leaving the Learning Tree at about 10:15 to walk to the Y.

Make sure your preschoolers name is on everything! Children tend to put things down where ever they want and names make finding things much easier. Also, the children like to play outside a lot so they need to be dressed according to the weather. We will also be splitting the children into small groups and taking them to the waterpark for a day instead of napping for a day. Please remember a swimming pool pass on this day or $5.00 to get into the park.

Tuesdays, beginning mid-June, we will be going to Storybook Land Theatre. Please watch the calendar for sack lunch days.

Other important dates: June 28th will be our class trip to the Children’s Museum in Brookings, SD. Please note there will be a small “trip fee” to help pay for our bus and driver. Your child will also need a sack lunch, water bottle, change of clothing and a swimsuit and towel. All of these things need to be in one bag (backpack) and labeled. If you choose not to send your child on this trip you will need to provide alternative care for the day as all staff will be going on the trip.

We are going to have a great summer!!
Miss Amy , Miss Kaitlin , Miss Alison, Miss Laci, Miss Brittany, Miss Kara, Miss Jackie and other Miss Jacqee

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

GRASSHOPPERS

Change is harder for some than others. What may be fine for us as adults can produce anxiety in children. Here are a few tips to help your child with all the new changes he/she may be and will be going through. Acknowledge that change is hard and make sure to validate their feelings. Try to break down transitions into smaller steps. Keep consistency where you can. Eventually transition stress does settle down and by using these steps we can help ease even the simplest changes.

Welcome to the Grasshopper Room. Along with a room change you may have also noticed a lot of new faces of children and adults as we prepare to move to our new building. All of us are excited to be working with your child. Our hours are as follows: Shelley 6:15-2:15, Amanda M. 7-3, Shannon 9-5, Karly 9:30-5:30, and Amanda S. 10-6.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We are here to help!! We would like to Welcome Dylan, Preston and Joseph to our classroom. We are glad you are here! We have lots of fun things planned for the coming month as we will learn about everything “Under the Sea”. We will also be going to the park and Storybook Land. Watch your calendars for those days!

Have a great Summer!!!
Miss Shelley, Miss Amanda M, Miss Shannon, Miss Karly & Miss Amanda S

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

CATERPILLARS

Welcome to the Caterpillar Room! We are excited to start the summer. We have lots of fun things planned already and look forward to adding even more activities. Our swim days are planned for the 13th and the 27th. Please make sure your child is here by 8:30 am. We also have planned two park days for the month; one on the 6th and another one on the 20th. Please bring a sack lunch for your child on the 20th as we plan to have a picnic in the park on that day also. Storybook Land Theater also begins and we are looking forward to getting to go to that.

We have new faces in our room, but you may have seen them around the building. Additional staff is in preparation for our move to our new building in July where we will have a group of 20 children! Miss Trisha and Miss Robin, who has joined us from the Grasshopper Room, are the new lead teachers in the Caterpillar room. We also have three other full time staff. Miss Meghan has joined us from the Dragonfly room. Seeing her familiar face has made the transition much easier for everyone. We are excited Miss Jennie and Miss Mackenzie are staying with us full time this summer also. Miss Erica is continuing to join us on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. During the month of June, we will be making an ocean on our wall room. We will be talking about learning about different sea animals and creating fun craft projects of those animals. Be sure to ask your child about their favorite sea animal.

We are looking forward to warm days and summer fun!
Miss Robin, Miss Trisha, Miss Jennie, Miss Mackenzie, Miss Meghan & Miss Erica

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

DRAGONFLIES

We have lots of new changes happening in our room. We have welcomed new friends from other classrooms and also added additional staff. In our new building we will be able to take 20 children so we have prepared for that change by putting staff into place now. Having familiar faces when we move will alleviate some ‘change anxiety’. Other things you can do to help your child with change (which we will have a lot of this summer) is to keep your routine as routine as possible, acknowledge that it is hard to make changes, tell your child that everything will be ok even if it is different and be aware that with any kind of change children’s behaviors can become erratic. Some children may cry for reasons they have not cried about in the past, become fearful of things and people that are familiar to them and other children may even have changes in sleeping and eating.

As adults, we think we can handle change better but sometimes due to the stress involved we can also experience mood swings, sleep disturbances and become unsure of ourselves. Hopefully we are all aware of these things and can practice some deep breathing or take long walks or engage in vigorous exercise to alleviate our anxiety. It’s a good thing we have to Y to help with those things!!

We have fun things planned for the summer including going to the park as often as possible. We want to take advantage of the nice weather when we have it!! Watch your calendars for any upcoming adventures we may be taking!

We are glad you chose us as your child’s care provider! We will do our best to help make sure you and your child have a positive experience with us!!
Miss Shana, Miss Dana, Miss Kayla, Miss Niki, Miss Sarah, Miss Karen & Grandma Karen

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

HONEYBEES

We said goodbye to most of our Honeybee friends: Carson, Blake, Evan, Brody, Emma, Carter P, Carter L, Zach and Chloe Cherie who have “graduated” to the Dragonfly Classroom. We gained new Honeybee friends who were are excited to get to know and teach. We want to welcome Brylee, Hayden, Jake, Talon, Maeve, Manali’i, Cole and Hayden!!

We have also changed staff in preparation for our move into our new building in July! Hopefully you have met everyone!! We are all looking forward to a fun summer of learning and growing! We do try to go outside when the weather cooperates! Children at this age love going for walks in our quad strollers. There is always so much to learn about the world around us and going outside really brings learning to all of our senses! Happy 1st Birthday to Cole on the 10th of June.

Welcome to our room!
Miss Melissa, Miss Savanna, Miss Deanna, Miss Tia, Miss Jamie & Grandma Mae

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

LADYBUGS

Welcome to our summer session! Soon we will be enjoying our new building! Please bring a small tube of sunscreen to leave in your child's cubby as we will try to take walks as often as possible this summer.

I would like to share a little information on baby massage with you this month. Baby massage is very beneficial to infants because it encourages interaction between you and your baby, it helps your baby relax and sleep, it positively affects hormones that control stress, and it has been known to reduce crying.  First make sure your baby is happy when you begin. Start by laying your baby on their in front of you either on the floor, bed or changing table in a warm, comfortable room. Next remove your child's clothing and if you would like you can use oil to lessen the friction between yours and your babies skin. Gently rub each of your baby’s areas (head, neck, shoulders, back, arms, thighs, feet, hands) for one minute each, extend and flex each of your baby's arms and legs then both legs at the same time. As you do this make sure to talk to your infant in a soft, soothing voice. You can tell them what body part you are massaging and also say your infants name and "relax".

Next roll your baby to their tummy and rub their head, neck, shoulders, back, thighs, and feet. If your baby is not enjoying their massage stop and try again later. It may take a few tries before you and your baby get the hang of infant massage but be patient. With a little practice, infant massage can be a healthy way for you and your baby to relax and bond.

Miss Brandi, Miss Amber, Miss Nicole, Miss Megan & Grandma Arlene

FOR OUR CALENDAR THIS MONTH, CLICK HERE.

SUMMER UPROAR

In the picture above, the Summer Uproar children are enjoying a beautiful day outside! They have absolutely loved being able to get outside and do some activities at all the different parks. We are ready for school to be out and summer to start. We have many fun activities and camps planned for the children.

During the summer the children will be sent home brochures, where they will then make choices, along with parents, of what activities they want to do for the week. Children will make choices every week of summer so that they feel that they control of what they are doing each day. This is an important developmental step for school age children.

One of the principles of developmentally appropriate practice reads, “Following their own interests, children choose among various activities…” (Bredekamp & Copple, 1996, p. 127). Why is choosing important? When making choices, the children get to have a feeling of control, they build their own self-esteem, they learn problem solving skills, and responsibility. This helps them to develop many different physical and mental skills that will help them in the future.

JUNE CAMP THEMES:
June 3-7:
1. Hands Across the Community – Participate in several community service projects
2. Hollywood’s Stars – Feel like you are in Hollywood for a week doing many different “Hollywood” activities
3. Battle It Out – Ready for a challenge, this camp will consist of many different team and solo battles.

June 10-14:
1. Be a Hero – See what it means to be a hero and tour many different places where “heroes” work
2. Splish, Splash, Blast – Summer Water Fun – Balloon fights, slip and slide, and several other water activites
3. Get In the Game – Participate in many different sports games and also get to tour Northern and the Barnett Center

June 17 - 21:
1. Artist Week – A SD traveling sculpturist will be coming to show us how to make different things with our hands
2. Extreme Weather Fanatics – Learn about all the different weather and storms that we have here is SD
3. Y-Kids are Strong – Ready to show us your muscles? Participate in many agility and endurance activities

June 24 – 28:
1. Super Soakin’ Safari – Look forward to another week of fun and exciting water activities.
2. Just Do It – Love sports? This is just the camp for you to participate in many different sporting games. We will also learn how to play lots of different games.
3. Delectable Delights – Feel like cookin? If you like to cook this is just the camp for you! Enjoy cooking many different desserts and also going on a field trip to a bakery!