Provocations!

Believe it or not, summer is right around the corner.  It's hard to fathom since we had snow flurries this week but it will be here before we know it.  Returning this summer is our award-winning program, The Power of Play!  We again will focus on development through the powerful method of playful learning.  New to this summer's program will be Literacy Provocations.  Don't know what these are?  No worries!  You will soon find out and be able to explore provocations as a family with our weekly Provocations Stations starting in June.

In preparation for this new addition to our already outstanding program, our educators met together last night to learn about provocations and do a little exploring themselves.  Their only complaint was they wanted more time to play!  Check out the pictures below from last night's meeting.

 Resources and freebies to get them started and spark ideas!

 Literacy prompts!

 Books galore!

 Play time!

 Exploring the books were half the fun.

 Nothing like hands-on training.

 They started to really get into it!

 Full engagement.

Who's Afraid of a Little Paint?

We're not!  We know at AoCS that painting is extremely important to a child's development.  Check out seven benefits of finger painting below and see just one of our many painting adventures we completed this morning.

Benefits of Finger painting include:

• It is an excellent tactile experience.
• It stimulates your child’s senses. (Touch/feel, sight, smell, edible finger paint= taste)
• It helps a child’s intellectual development. The mixing of colors teaches your child about their colors and how to create new colors
• It allows them to use their imagination and create
• It is emotionally soothing (in most cases).
• It encourages cognitive development.
• It strengthens the hand and fingers which helps with fine motor skills.
• Most importantly, it is FUN!

 Starting to paint our butterflies.

Things got a little messy, and a whole lotta fun!

 Paint everywhere! Even on Ms. Kaitlyn!

 But it caused a lot of smiles.

 Good thing it's washable paint!  ;)

 The beautiful aftermath.

A Little Sunshine!

We have had a great time enjoying the sunshine today!  We've gotten to run around, play with chalk, and simply sit and soak up some sun! Did you know there are healthy benefits of enjoying the sunshine?

Here are the top 3 benefits of enjoying the sunshine:

-Strong bones for better bone health. Vitamin D boosts calcium absorption for strong bones, which  means you’re less likely to develop bone disease and fractures.

-Boost immunity. Researchers believe that Vitamin D helps with the proper function of T cells— the immune system’s first line of defense.

-Sleep better. Daily time in the sun helps to regulate circadian rhythms for a better night’s sleep and makes you feel better and ready for the next day!

 Running in the sun!

 Enjoying the sun along with a little shade! 

 Practicing the letter T with chalk! 

Painting away! 

 Weeeee!!!!!!!

Guess That Theme!

It's time to play GUESS THAT THEME!  Look at the pictures below.  Can you guess what our students were learning this week?  Hint - it's a nursery rhyme. 

 Rolling in the "mud".  Did you know the mud cools down pigs when they are hot?

Learning Focus: GROSS MOTOR

Specific Goals: 

Develops control of large muscles for movement, navigation and balance

Develops increasing ability to change positions and move body from place to place

 Search for "pig tails" in the bucket.

Learning Focus: FINE MOTOR and MEMORY

Specific Goals:

Uses hands or feet to touch objects or people

Develops control of small muscles for manipulation and exploration

Coordinates hand and eye movements

Searches for missing or hidden objects

 Painting "mud".

Learning Focus: CREATIVITY

Specific Goals:

Develops skill and confidence with processes of art, such as drawing, collage, painting and constructing

 Blowing feathers like a big, bag wolf would. 

Learning Focus: IMITATION AND MAKE BELIEVE

Specific Goals:

Uses objects in new ways or pretend play

Uses imitation in pretend play to express creativity and imagination

You guessed right!  We were learning about the Three Little Pigs. We are fortunate to use an award-winning curriculum, Frog Street Press, to help our classroom come alive with learning through play!  We instruct a variety of activities to help your child's cognitive, social, emotional, physical and language development.  We focus on the following developmental domains for our toddlers and young preschoolers:

Health and Well-Being

Gross Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills

Trust and Emotional Security

Self Awareness

Self-Regulation

Relationships with Others

Listening and Understanding

Communication and Speaking

Emergent Literacy

Exploration and Discovery

Problem Solving

Memory

Imitation and Make Believe

Creativity

While learning we look for the following approaches toward learning: 

curiosity, persistence, attention and communication

For more information on our curriculum visit www.frogstreet.com

Ms. Sara's Gender Reveal!

Today is a day I couldn't wait to share with my school family...my gender reveal!  I'm so happy to be expecting my first child and sharing this experience with the teachers, kids, and parents already at AoCS has made it that much more special. 

Today everyone wore either pink or blue to show if they think it's a boy or girl!  Later we will have one last special egg hunt where the kids of Pre-K Two will hunt for a special pink or blue egg that has the reveal in it.  Then all kids will enjoy a pink or blue snack this afternoon.  Our teachers will also enjoy some yummy pink or blue treats.

Check out our Instagram later today to hear the exciting news and watch the video of the egg hunt!

 Noah was smart and wore pink AND blue just in case!