March 2018 Early Learning Center Where Families Connect to Learn, Grow and Play!

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March 2018

Dates to Remember Dear ELC Families, Usually at this time of year the children are always the first to notice any and every change and perhaps most especially those like the first signs of Spring. After last weeks snow surprise it looks like Spring may be coming a little late this year. I know with the snow surprise it was stressful for some families as they tried to get their children to school by 9:00am but we do appreciate every effort that you made to get your child here on time. Please make sure you notify the office of any emergency phone number changes so that we can get in touch with you as soon as possible in the event of early college closures. There will be an opportunity to help advocate for the ELC as we present to the S&A Fees budget committee in April to thank them for how they have supported the ELC in the past, and to ask for their continued support. We need families who would be willing to write a letter or come to our 15 minute appointment to share with the committee what the ELC means for your family. I know the parking situation can be a challenge during drop off and pick up times. I appreciate every effort families are making to keep children safe. I am working with HR to come up with a solution that will alleviate some of the challenges. I’m sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Warmly,

Lisa Director, ELC

3/2/18 Early closures CANCELLED until further notice.

Do you know someone who would be a great Early Childhood teacher? The Early Learning Center is looking for a creative, compassionate person with a passion for working with children! In addition to joining an experienced team and serving great families, as state employees, ELC staff are eligible for a wide range of benefits, including reduced college tuition. Learn more here: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/jobs/

3/6/18 Professional Development Day BC and ELC CLOSED

3/23 — 3/30/2018 BC Spring Break ELC Open

Kindergarten Readiness Parent Packet

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March 2018

This month, in our infant classroom, we are creating cause and effect opportunities for each of the infants to explore their independence. By facilitating these opportunities throughout their daily routine at school, infants are beginning to grow their self-confidence, develop focused attention in their body movements, and trust in their self-help skills.

Cause and effect opportunities can take place while playing peak-a-boo as a child recognizes that they can remove an obstruction from their sight, also when moving a container with balls inside it causes the balls to move and make noise, or when a mirror is moved in their hands they

see in the mirror changes.

Other opportunities to learn, outside of play, are during mealtimes when teachers can model what self-help, feeding looks like. Now that we are all eating in the kitchen we have had so much opportunity for the children to also learn from their friends' different styles of feeding themselves.

We are looking forward to the continued growth that these children will each make in their gross motor skills (large muscle movements) and fine motor skills (hand and finger movements) in the coming month as we change their environment to grow with their developing physical interests and abilities.

Infant 1 Teachers: Liliana, Mahboobeh - Infant 2 Teacher: Giselle, Rachel

What's New in the Infant Room?

Giselle - giselle.torres@bellevuecollege.edu * Mahboobeh - mnasroll@bellevuecollege.edu Lilliana - lmartell@bellevuecollege.edu

Specialist for Infant and T1 Rooms: Linda Boyd

Jordan manipulates the balls as he moves the cylinder.

Kenji studies his reflection in the mirror.

Audrey plays Peek-a-Boo!

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March 2018

What Have the Young Toddlers Been Learning?

T1 Teachers: Brian & Lisa Ann

Brian - bcooper@bellevuecollege.edu * Lisa Ann - lowens@bellevuecollege.edu

Specialist for Infant Room and T1 Rooms: Linda Boyd

What a busy month we have had in T -1! February had us welcoming many new friends and parents to our classroom! We have been busy growing and exploring our world. Nature and the great outdoors have been fascinating!

We experienced and learned about cold and snow and have been fascinated with birds as well! We often hear them up in the trees and turn to track the sounds. Some of our older friends have been delighting us with their expanding language skills.

Everyday we hear more new words and sounds from the children. We are looking forward to this month with all the new discoveries and experiences!

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March 2018

What have the T2 Toddlers been learning?

Teachers: Rita, Parisa and Darrell

In the month of February our children had a chance to experiment with lots of different art activities, which they have all showed a great interest in participating in on a regular basis. We finger painted with shaving cream and added food coloring to it while the children mixed it together. Continuing with our baking theme, we made pumpkin pancakes as a group project. The children had the opportunity to measure the dry and wet

ingredients and mix them together creating a dough. They all did a great job using their small muscle control and eye-hand coordination to be able to stir and mix the ingredients together. They were so excited to eat the finished product and they even wanted more pancakes.

While the children were participating in the cooking activity it gave the them a chance to expand their vocabulary by hearing comparative words. We have also noticed that the children have developed more small muscle strength because they have been practicing mixing/stirring/baking in our house keeping area.

The children are showing a lot of interest in airplanes so we are going to focus on learning about things that fly as well as float and sink during the month of March. We plan on making our own bubble solution to blow and float outside. We are also going to be making some paper kites to fly in the sky outside. Science activities will be provided for the children to experiment with such as things that sink and float in the wet sensory tub.

Rita - rruffin@bellevuecollege.edu * Parisa –pmohamad @bellevuecollege.edu

Specialist for Toddler Rooms: Vanessa Von Papp

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March 2018

What have the T3 Toddlers been learning?

Teachers: Yen-Chiu, Diane and Darrell

The children have really been enjoying many new experiences in our classroom, one for example is making berry smoothies. Ask your child what kind of smoothie they would like to make next time. The children have expressed an immense interest in books after the King County Library Bus came. We have even incorporated a story table in our room. The children are able to retell the book using props from the story. Check out what story we have this week!

The children in T3 have also had a chance to experience Kinetic Sand. It looks like regular sand and feels like wet sand but you can squeeze and mold it into different shapes and even make into a ball! We made some new playdough this week for the children to manipulate and develop their fine motor skills. Play dough is also great for strengthening muscle tone in little hands by squishing, poking, rolling and flattening it which in turn encourages pre-writing, cutting with scissors and holding a pencil.

Next month we are going to introduce clay, which is similar to playdough but harder to manipulate. By doing this it will strengthen small muscles.

Yen-Chiu—yong@bellevuecollege.edu * Diane—desparza@bellevuecollege.edu

Specialist for Toddler Rooms: Vanessa Von Papp

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March 2018

What have the T5 Toddlers Been Learning?

During these winter months we have had some very cold and rainy days and we were not able to go outside, where we can work on our physical development. The ability to be physically active influences social well- being and mental health, and helps children to maintain healthy bodies. We try to be creative by finding other physical activities to do in the classroom and in our large motor room - P5.

Our toddlers love to sing the song “Wheels on the Bus”. Acting out all the actions from the song helps them to identify directions: round and round, in and out, up and down. We like to sing the song “ Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. The children enjoy performing the actions: rowing, forward, backwards and sitting in a boat.

Other activities we are doing in the classroom are tunnel and climber games where the children practice their large motor skills as well as their social skills such as taking turns, sharing materials, following directions. They are also building their vocabulary with words like jumping, climbing, start and stop.

We introduced “Kids Yoga” to the children. it is a quiet, physical activity that allows them to stretch their bodies and follow the teacher’s directions. Physical development is very important for toddlers, it affects other areas of the child’s development so every day we will provide time for outdoor or indoor physical play.

Iryna - iryna.antonyuk@bellevuecollege.edu *Paula- paula.bourgeois@bellevuecollege.edu

Specialist for Toddler Rooms: Vanessa Von Papp

Teachers: Iryna, Paula and Khazal

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March 2018

What have the T6 Toddlers been learning?

Teachers: Annie, Megan and Khazal

This month, we are working on making choices during free play time. Free time allows the children a chance to build their independence and social skills.

Most of the time when toddlers’ play they are playing side by side (parallel play) and may be using similar materials and actions. As they get older and develop their social skills they will start interacting and working more as a group.

In our classroom, we are developing these social skills by encouraging group play as well as giving the appropriate words to use when they want to play with another child or when they want some space. To help develop these social skills we are working on how to enter and leave a group peacefully as well as learning how to be patient and wait our turn. We are building this foundation so the children can strengthen

these skills as they continue to grow.

We are also developing the children’s independence by allowing them to make choices on where and who they want to play with.

Next month, we will be continuing to work on making choices as well as learning

about the season’s change to spring by planting some seeds.

Annie - ygu@bellevuecollege.edu * Megan - meganl.russell@bellevuecollege.edu

Specialist for Toddler Rooms: Vanessa Von Papp

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March 2018

What have the P4 Preschoolers been learning?

Teachers: Nikki, Wendy and Naghmeh

Wow where did February go?! This month we finished up our tree study and started our new study about tunnels and tubes!

The children have been busy looking for different tube and tunnel like items around the classroom and at home with their families. We even got to look at pictures and videos of the infamous tunneling machine “Big Bertha,” that was being used to make the new tunnel in Seattle! Thank you to all of our families who have helped their children find tubes and tunnels around their homes to share with the classroom, we have been able to create a variety of art creations and building structures.

At the end of our tree study, the children made bird feeders using pinecones with sun butter and bird seed. This sparked a new interest in learning more about birds.

Our science area has been turned into bird discovery galore, where the children are able to explore different shaped bird feet and what they’re used for. Where different birds live and what nests are made of.

The children are being encouraged to build their own nest for the birds using things around the classroom and outside. In a couple weeks will be exploring the different types of beaks that birds have and how that affects the food that they eat!

Wendy - wendy.cote@bellevuecollege.edu * Nikki- nikki.holt@bellevuecollege.edu

Preschool Program Manager: Susannah Halliburton

Retaj builds a nest on top of our jumbo magnifying glass for a “mama bird to protect

her eggs.”

Aiden, Pierce, and Theo work together gluing on various tubes and tunnel like

objects on our classroom “city”

Ethan and Momo communicate while constructing a ramp using different tubes for

balls and cars to roll down

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March 2018

What have the P3 Preschoolers been learning?

Teachers: Karen, Ali and Naghmeh

Preschool Program Manager: Susannah Halliburton

Hi P3 Families, Recently, we’ve noticed an emergent interest of the children. They have all been talking about and noticing, differences A LOT. We decided to follow their lead and scrap the original lesson plans we had prepared. As a classroom community we learned what makes each of us special. Each of us is different but we are all share some similarities. As a prop we used white and brown eggs as an experiment to demonstrate these differences and similarities.

Teacher Ali brought brown eggs from home and teacher Karen brought white eggs from home. We then asked the children which teacher they thought brought which egg. They all guessed that Teacher Ali had brought the white egg and Teacher Karen the brown egg. They were so surprised when we revealed the opposite. We had the children guess what each egg would look like on the inside. Most guessed the brown egg would be brown inside. When we cracked the two eggs and the children looked at the insides they said “they look the same” and “both yellow inside.” We also explored skin tone paint, created “I Am Me” collages, made an all about me book, read the Elmer story and created an Elmer literacy center. The children are learning that there is no one like me “I AM SPECIAL”!

Our next focus in P3 is literacy, which the children have been very interested in. We have been practicing writing our names and recognizing the letters in our names. We will begin to learn the sounds of each letter and objects that begin with that letter. This is an important skill in school readiness. Lastly, we are collecting items for our beauty shop dramatic play area as well as nature loose part objects.

Thank you for your support in all we do, P3 Teaching Team

Karen - kcarpent@bellevuecollege.edu * Ali - allison.beckvold@bellevuecollege.edu

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March 2018

What have the Pre-K classes been learning?

Teachers: Mala, Donna, and Margarita

The children in Preschool Two have been using steps from the Scientific Method to participate in a number of child led and teacher directed experiments, some of which have been inspired by winter weather.

When ice was recently discovered on the playground during the morning outside time (10:00am), the children gathered it up in a pail and brought it into the classroom for observation in the science area.

After making observations about the ice, in regard to the size of the chunks, were they rounded or jagged, etc. they thought of an interesting question: how long will it take for the ice to melt inside the classroom? Some of the children’s predictions were very specific, such as “sixty” minutes, while others were more general, ranging from “nighttime,” to “seven days.”

On another occasion, we applied the same procedure to an experiment involving growing salt crystals. After mixing Epsom salt in

hot water to which green food coloring had been added, the solution was then put in the refrigerator to see what would happen, the formulated question being “What do you think is going to happen to the solution?”

Again, questions ranged from very specific “It will turn into big cinnamon and great big, big, big, green,” to “It will be ice,” and “The green water will become heavy.” Children are naturally inquisitive and eager to see what the end results of their experimentations are, fertile ground in which the Scientific Method can flourish.

Mala - mkrishna@bellevuecollege.edu * Donna - dflanner@bellevuecollege.edu

Preschool Program Manager: Susannah Halliburton

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March 2018

What have the Pre-K classes been learning?

Teachers: Page, Brianne and Margarita

Page - pknapp@bellevuecollege.edu * Brianne.Miles@bellevuecollege.edu

Preschool Program Manager: Susannah Halliburton

In our classroom, music is an important part of our curriculum. Young children love sound. Music activities and experiences help children practice important skills, including thinking, language, motor coordination and understanding emotions. In PreK 1 we are focusing our time toward making and moving with instruments. Making shaker eggs, straw harmonica instruments, ribbon straws and musical castanets made from jar and bottle lids are

some of the fun instruments we have created. We have found if children are encouraged to express themselves vocally while they are playing an instrument, their language skills are also enhance. Thinking and math skills are enhanced through the playing of musical instruments, which have led us to see a big interest in math and games.

If you would like to give it a try at home, try folding paper airplanes. Being able to follow directions that include folding paper in “half”, “in fourths” etc. are all another form of math, and who better your child to learn it from than you, their first teacher! Page, Brianne, Margarita