PJ Day

What makes a Monday a little easier?  PAJAMA DAY!  Kids got to come in their PJ's and we made pancakes for afternoon snack.  Pre-K Two even got to flavor their own pancakes with fresh blueberries or chocolate chips.  It's been such a fun Monday!

Skeleton PJ's are super cool!

 Look at those smiles with Ms. Ayanna

 PJ day makes me sleepy!

Pre-K Two

 Even our babies got in on the PJ fun!

 There's a monkey on my PJ's!

 Pre-K One

 Putting in our pancake mix-ins

A Day In Infant Two

It's more than just diapers and bottles in Infant Two.  We are learning and exploring in every way possible...books, new food, mirrors, sensory play and MORE!  Watch out because we are learners on the move!

 Story time!

 Learning lots with our friends.

 Exploring new books!

 Early readers

 Music time!

 New foods!

 Sensory play!

 This feels soft

 Mirror play

Who's that baby?

The Importance Of Play!

Ms. Sebrina and Ms. Maya do an amazing job each day to encourage the children to engage in open center play with their peers.  Please read the article below on the importance of play!  It may look like it's just fun but the kids are building a foundation for so many skills needed later in their education and life in general!

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Play is the business of childhood, allowing your child free rein to experiment with the world around him and the emotional world inside him, says Linda Acredolo, professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis and coauthor of Baby Signs: How to Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk and Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love.

While it may look like mere child's play to you, there's a lot of work — problem solving, skill building, overcoming physical and mental challenges — going on behind the scenes. Here are some of the things your child is experiencing and learning, along with ideas on how you can help boost the benefits of his play.

Play builds the imagination

Pretending, or imaginative play, is one of the cornerstones of a young child's world. Kids begin demonstrating this behavior around the age of 2.  Almost anything can spur your child's imagination, including everyday objects.

This is because he uses them as symbols, says Acredolo: He's learning that one thing can stand for other things. Using his new ability to pretend, he can transform a block of wood into a boat, a few pots and pans into a drum set.

Everyday objects aren't the only things that are transformed in your child's make-believe world. So are the roles he assumes in his play.

He'll move from superhero to daddy to police officer with ease. By experimenting with diverse jobs and identities, he's able to explore a variety of scenarios and outcomes. Sometimes the stories he acts out reflect issues he's struggling to understand, says Patty Wipfler, founder and director of Hand in Hand in Palo Alto, California, a nonprofit organization that helps parents and childcare professionals develop listening, childrearing, and leadership skills.

If he's coming to terms with a new sibling, for example, he may incorporate a lot of nurturing behavior into his play, mimicking your interaction with his new brother or sister. Imaginative play gives your child a sense of control as he interprets the dramas of everyday life and practices the rules of social behavior.

How you can encourage imaginative play: Keep a box of everyday items that your child can use during pretend play. Kid versions of adult objects, such as play telephones and plastic dishes, help facilitate role playing, and open-ended objects (toys that can have more than one use), such as colored blocks, stretch the imagination with unlimited possibilities.

Play promotes social skills

As toddlers, children play side by side without obvious communication (this is called parallel play). During the preschool years, they start to interact with each other by creating complex story lines together.

As they do this, they learn to negotiate, cooperate, and share (though some kids don't master the art of sharing until they're 4 to 6 years old). When children disagree about who gets to be the daddy or who will wear the purple dress, they're actually developing important social skills, says Sara Wilford, director of the Art of Teaching Graduate Program at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

How you can boost social play: Once your child settles into preschool, he'll find playmates there. But he'll need your help to extend those relationships outside of school.

The easiest way to build newfound friendships is to schedule playdates or set up a play group for your child and his friends. Get the ball rolling by introducing games or activities and then unobtrusively monitor the children's behavior and progress. After the playdate, you'll know which social skills your child is mastering (sharing, cooperating, or being assertive, for example) and which he may need some help with.

Play advances physical development

Different types of physical play help develop different skills: For example, skipping takes balance, climbing monkey bars builds strength, and sports activities involve coordination. Large motor skills, such as running, throwing, and pedaling, improve first, but fine motor skills aren't far behind. A 3-year-old carefully stacking blocks into towers is not only learning about gravity and balance but also developing hand-eye coordination.
And the dexterity your child develops during play carries over into everyday life:

After some practice, a 3-year-old will be able to help dress and feed himself, which gives him a sense of independence.

There's a nonphysical benefit of physical play too: It helps kids work through stress and crankiness. In fact, without adequate time for active play, your child may become grumpy or tense (not to mention possibly obese).

How you can promote physical play: The best way to get your child moving is to set a good example. This starts at home by engaging in physical activities rather than sedentary ones such as watching TV.
Indoors, you can play hide-and-seek, toss beanbags, or play some danceable music. Outdoors, build a castle in the sandbox, kick a soccer ball back and forth, ride your bike/tricycle together.

Play helps kids work through emotions

Long before children can express their feelings in words, they express them through physical play, storytelling, art, and other activities. When children have experiences that are hurtful or hard to understand, they review those experiences again and again through play.

For example, says Wipfler, if your child is pushed or has something snatched away from him at school, he may not understand what just happened. If, the next day, you're playing with him and he aggressively pushes you, he may be trying to work out what he experienced the day before.

How you can help: During play, your child will expose little bits of behavior he needs guidance with or doesn't understand. You can respond in kind, mimicking the right type of response. And try to get your child to laugh, which will help ease tension, Wipfler says.

Your role when playing with your child

Wipfler says it's helpful to allow your child to lead during play. "Let your child determine what to do and how to do it within the limits of safety and time constraints," she says. "This lets him try out his judgment and allows him to show you what he's delighted in."

Join in your child's play, but only when invited to do so. As he lets you into his world of make-believe, give him complete control. In real life, you may be in charge, but this is his world.

The attention you show your child when you play together is key to building his self-esteem, says Wilford. For example, when you pretend along with him, you're showing him that you accept his make-believe world, that something he's interested in is fun and important to you, too

How Pretend Play Helps Children Learn

Pretending is important in child development. Through pretend play: 

• Children learn about themselves and the world. Dramatic play experiences are some of the first ways children learn about their likes and dislikes, their interests, and their abilities. They experiment with role playing and work to make sense out of what they’ve observed. Just watch children playing with dolls to see examples of this. Dolls often become versions of the child himself and are a safe way for children to express new ideas and feelings.
• Children work out confusing, scary, or new life issues. Have you ever witnessed children pretending to visit the doctor? One child dutifully holds the mock stethoscope as the others line up for a check-up. More often than not someone gets ‘shots’. This is a child’s way of exploring an experience that is common and sometimes confusing or scary. Through these role plays, children become more comfortable and prepared for life events in a safe way. Children often use pretend play to work out more personal challenging life events too, whether it is coping with an illness in the family, the absence of a parent or divorce, or a house fire.
• Children develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills. Pretend play is much more than simple play activities; it requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles, and synthesize different information and ideas. In this creative play description, we could just as easily be describing the skills needed to successfully manage a work project for an adult as describing children’s pretend play.
• Children cultivate social and emotional intelligence. How we interact with others is key to our lifelong success and happiness. Knowing how to read social cues, recognize and regulate emotions, negotiate and take turns, and engage in a long-term activity that is mutually beneficial are no easy tasks. There is no substitute for creative and imaginative play when it comes to teaching and enhancing these abilities in children. 
• Children synthesize knowledge and skills. Because learning and child development doesn’t happen in discrete pockets of time or during isolated activities, children need opportunities to blend their skills and knowledge together. Pretend play is an ideal way to do this. Think of children playing ‘grocery’ store. They sort by attributes as they group similar foods in sections of the store, use math concepts to tabulate amounts as they determine prices and calculate grocery bills, use writing to communicate by making signs, experiment with shapes and weights as they organize the store, work collaboratively as they assign roles and play together, and much more.

- See more at: http://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/e-family-news/2013-importance-of-pretend-play-in-child-development/#sthash.495PUyAI.dpuf

How Pretend Play Helps Children Learn

Pretending is important in child development. Through pretend play: 

• Children learn about themselves and the world. Dramatic play experiences are some of the first ways children learn about their likes and dislikes, their interests, and their abilities. They experiment with role playing and work to make sense out of what they’ve observed. Just watch children playing with dolls to see examples of this. Dolls often become versions of the child himself and are a safe way for children to express new ideas and feelings.
• Children work out confusing, scary, or new life issues. Have you ever witnessed children pretending to visit the doctor? One child dutifully holds the mock stethoscope as the others line up for a check-up. More often than not someone gets ‘shots’. This is a child’s way of exploring an experience that is common and sometimes confusing or scary. Through these role plays, children become more comfortable and prepared for life events in a safe way. Children often use pretend play to work out more personal challenging life events too, whether it is coping with an illness in the family, the absence of a parent or divorce, or a house fire.
• Children develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills. Pretend play is much more than simple play activities; it requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles, and synthesize different information and ideas. In this creative play description, we could just as easily be describing the skills needed to successfully manage a work project for an adult as describing children’s pretend play.
• Children cultivate social and emotional intelligence. How we interact with others is key to our lifelong success and happiness. Knowing how to read social cues, recognize and regulate emotions, negotiate and take turns, and engage in a long-term activity that is mutually beneficial are no easy tasks. There is no substitute for creative and imaginative play when it comes to teaching and enhancing these abilities in children. 
• Children synthesize knowledge and skills. Because learning and child development doesn’t happen in discrete pockets of time or during isolated activities, children need opportunities to blend their skills and knowledge together. Pretend play is an ideal way to do this. Think of children playing ‘grocery’ store. They sort by attributes as they group similar foods in sections of the store, use math concepts to tabulate amounts as they determine prices and calculate grocery bills, use writing to communicate by making signs, experiment with shapes and weights as they organize the store, work collaboratively as they assign roles and play together, and much more.

- See more at: http://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/e-family-news/2013-importance-of-pretend-play-in-child-development/#sthash.495PUyAI.dpuf

How Pretend Play Helps Children Learn

Pretending is important in child development. Through pretend play: 

• Children learn about themselves and the world. Dramatic play experiences are some of the first ways children learn about their likes and dislikes, their interests, and their abilities. They experiment with role playing and work to make sense out of what they’ve observed. Just watch children playing with dolls to see examples of this. Dolls often become versions of the child himself and are a safe way for children to express new ideas and feelings.
• Children work out confusing, scary, or new life issues. Have you ever witnessed children pretending to visit the doctor? One child dutifully holds the mock stethoscope as the others line up for a check-up. More often than not someone gets ‘shots’. This is a child’s way of exploring an experience that is common and sometimes confusing or scary. Through these role plays, children become more comfortable and prepared for life events in a safe way. Children often use pretend play to work out more personal challenging life events too, whether it is coping with an illness in the family, the absence of a parent or divorce, or a house fire.
• Children develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills. Pretend play is much more than simple play activities; it requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles, and synthesize different information and ideas. In this creative play description, we could just as easily be describing the skills needed to successfully manage a work project for an adult as describing children’s pretend play.
• Children cultivate social and emotional intelligence. How we interact with others is key to our lifelong success and happiness. Knowing how to read social cues, recognize and regulate emotions, negotiate and take turns, and engage in a long-term activity that is mutually beneficial are no easy tasks. There is no substitute for creative and imaginative play when it comes to teaching and enhancing these abilities in children. 
• Children synthesize knowledge and skills. Because learning and child development doesn’t happen in discrete pockets of time or during isolated activities, children need opportunities to blend their skills and knowledge together. Pretend play is an ideal way to do this. Think of children playing ‘grocery’ store. They sort by attributes as they group similar foods in sections of the store, use math concepts to tabulate amounts as they determine prices and calculate grocery bills, use writing to communicate by making signs, experiment with shapes and weights as they organize the store, work collaboratively as they assign roles and play together, and much more.

- See more at: http://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/e-family-news/2013-importance-of-pretend-play-in-child-development/#sthash.495PUyAI.dpuf

How Pretend Play Helps Children Learn

Pretending is important in child development. Through pretend play: 

• Children learn about themselves and the world. Dramatic play experiences are some of the first ways children learn about their likes and dislikes, their interests, and their abilities. They experiment with role playing and work to make sense out of what they’ve observed. Just watch children playing with dolls to see examples of this. Dolls often become versions of the child himself and are a safe way for children to express new ideas and feelings.
• Children work out confusing, scary, or new life issues. Have you ever witnessed children pretending to visit the doctor? One child dutifully holds the mock stethoscope as the others line up for a check-up. More often than not someone gets ‘shots’. This is a child’s way of exploring an experience that is common and sometimes confusing or scary. Through these role plays, children become more comfortable and prepared for life events in a safe way. Children often use pretend play to work out more personal challenging life events too, whether it is coping with an illness in the family, the absence of a parent or divorce, or a house fire.
• Children develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills. Pretend play is much more than simple play activities; it requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles, and synthesize different information and ideas. In this creative play description, we could just as easily be describing the skills needed to successfully manage a work project for an adult as describing children’s pretend play.
• Children cultivate social and emotional intelligence. How we interact with others is key to our lifelong success and happiness. Knowing how to read social cues, recognize and regulate emotions, negotiate and take turns, and engage in a long-term activity that is mutually beneficial are no easy tasks. There is no substitute for creative and imaginative play when it comes to teaching and enhancing these abilities in children. 
• Children synthesize knowledge and skills. Because learning and child development doesn’t happen in discrete pockets of time or during isolated activities, children need opportunities to blend their skills and knowledge together. Pretend play is an ideal way to do this. Think of children playing ‘grocery’ store. They sort by attributes as they group similar foods in sections of the store, use math concepts to tabulate amounts as they determine prices and calculate grocery bills, use writing to communicate by making signs, experiment with shapes and weights as they organize the store, work collaboratively as they assign roles and play together, and much more.

- See more at: http://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/e-family-news/2013-importance-of-pretend-play-in-child-development/#sthash.495PUyAI.dpuf

 Barbie play center

 While children are playing in their centers, Ms. Sebrina can focus her attention on a smaller group for fine motor/handwriting practice.

 Science center

 Block center

 Dramatic play center

 Block center

 Math center

Block center

October Calendar and Menu

My Time with ACE

Winston was our student of the week in PK2 so he got to keep ACE (our school pet) home with him all weekend.  And boy, did they have a big weekend!  Here's what Winston and his mom had to say about their weekend with ACE...

Ace and I ran a lot of errands this weekend, but we did get to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas on Friday with ACE and Turtle. Saturday morning we ran the St. Jude 5k on together! We won the race (Ed. Note, no we didn't). Ace and I got to dance with a big cow, and we got lots of stickers! It was the best.

Back 2 School Bach

Thank you to Exodus Chiropractic for inviting us to attend their annual Back 2 School Bash.  The weather was so nice and families enjoyed a bounce house, games and activities, and free tattoos from AoCS.  Thank you to Ms. Rebecca for hosting this event.  We know she represented AoCS well.  We even saw a couple AoCS families there!  We can't wait till next year!

 Ms. Rebecca ready to go!

 They had a fire truck there!

 And a police car!

We even got to see the Jhamb and Gray families there!

#titanup

Football Fridays continue with our special Titan's edition!  We wore our blue and red to show our Titan's pride.  #titanup

Monkey Joe's

It's our BIGGEST event of the year...BOUNCE NIGHT!  Every September we close down Monkey Joe's just for Academy families to promote our annual program "Fall is for Your Family!".  We serve pizza, dessert, and drinks for everyone.  Best part?  Everything is FREE!  We had such a fun time last night with 63 families in attendance!  Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate family togetherness.

 Brother/sister love!

 It was hard to get a clear picture cause the kids were moving so fast!

 Someone help me up!

 Woah!

 Fun, silly times with friends.

 ACE, our Academy frog, even came!

 PIZZA!

 ACE is def. a favorite!

 Ms. Taneshia got in on the fun!

 These three are best buddies!

 It was a great time for AoCS families and staff to mingle together.