Director’s Corner by Lisa Wenz “Be careful what you wish for” –I remind myself now when I complained about the hot summer we had!! What a snowy January it has been and it seems there is still more to come. The children however have been enjoying the snow and we thank those families who send appropriate clothing. Outdoor play is so important to young children’s experiences and gross motor development. Throughout the school these outdoor experiences have been extended and built upon with cardboard box snow caves, art that reflects the climate, bins of snow in the water tables and literature about winter, cold, snow and arctic animals. There has also been lots of warm cooking like pots of soup or hot cocoa after being outdoors.
Our plans, if they are not hampered by continued snow, are to begin getting out into the community for a few local and perhaps one or two not so local field trips. Classes (depending on their theme of study) will be visiting the library, the grocery store, the pizza shop and other very local destinations. The goal of these trips (and some of them may be to places your child is already familiar with) is to seek further or specific experiences. At the pizza shop children will have an opportunity to watch the pizza man make a pizza; he will share his expertise with them and show them the equipment he needs to do so. Children may have specific questions they want to ask about the process or children will be looking for particular materials found on a check list the teachers have provided. Back in the classroom, this shared experience will lead to discussions, dramatic play scenarios, storytelling (via a class experience book) and enriched block or art experiences.
We had a great turnout for our January Maintenance Weekend. The school got a good cleaning and a few repairs. Thanks to all the families who were able to attend. Remember each family is responsible to work at two maintenance sessions during the school year. We will be having another one evening “make-up” session early in March for those families who could not attend the past two sessions and then a final one on June 24th.
This past Sunday was Parent Child Sunday. I’d like to thank all the families who came out on to spend time with your child in school. It was nice to see everyone. Thanks to Juan Antonio Perez (Valentina’s Dad), for once again leading us in song. Please also try to come in as “Parent of The Day” in our three year old and UPK classes. It can be a fun, enlightening experience for parents (or grandparents) to spend time with your child in the program. Do not feel you need to come with an activity, or that you need to stay all day. Visit, meet your child’s classmates, get a sense of the curriculum, and enjoy! For Little Hands families, having parents in the room sometimes begins separation issues for your child or another who is missing their families – so although it may be fine for some children we do not have “Parent of the Day” for this age group.
I’d like to remind families that it is time to register for the next school year. Internal registration, that is registration for children that are currently in the school is going on now until February 14. On February 15th, registration will be open to children who live in the Co-op who do not currently attend the school. We give priority to our current families, but cannot do so after February 14th, so please be sure to register on time.
Please remember to check your child’s cubbies for extra clothing. In all this snowy weather, children often get wet and extra clothing gets used. PLEASE label everything with your child’s name. I’m sure you know how hard it is to keep track of 2 or 3 children’s clothes at home. Here we have 20 children dressing and undressing and often things get separated from their owner. It is so much easier to get look inside a pair of snow pants and see a child’s name and quickly get them back to their child.
Thanks again for sharing your children with us!
Lisa
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Halloween Party by Andria Laurie Whited
The Amalgamated Nursery School’s Halloween Party fundraiser was held on Sunday, October 24th at Vladeck Hall in the Bronx. Families of the nursery and of the neighborhood were invited to attend this annual celebration. As with all the fundraising events for the school, students’ families contributed food, activities, and one of their most valuable assets, their time. Family members donated prepared food to the Halloween party including baked ziti, arroz con pollo, peas and carrots, macaroni and cheese, and sausage and pepper sandwiches. Fruit, hot dogs, bagels, and baked goods were also provided.
The children were treated to several arts and crafts activities including decorating frames, cookies, and pumpkins. This year the pumpkins were generously donated by Mickey Shuback of Shuback Farms in Warwick, New York. Other activities included a bone dig, press-on tattoos, and the maze, a particular favorite for the kids year after year.
The event was attended by several members of royalty, witches, creatures large and small, and an abundance of super heroes. Heroic acts abounded during the Halloween Party. The author witnessed acts of kindness like sharing cupcakes and acts of bravery like helping a timid friend through the maze. Clearly, this is the type of behavior modeled at home by the families, at school by the teachers, and in the neighborhood by the community at large. Thanks to all for making the Annual Amalgamated Nursery School Halloween Party an event for which to be proud!
The children were treated to several arts and crafts activities including decorating frames, cookies, and pumpkins. This year the pumpkins were generously donated by Mickey Shuback of Shuback Farms in Warwick, New York. Other activities included a bone dig, press-on tattoos, and the maze, a particular favorite for the kids year after year.
The event was attended by several members of royalty, witches, creatures large and small, and an abundance of super heroes. Heroic acts abounded during the Halloween Party. The author witnessed acts of kindness like sharing cupcakes and acts of bravery like helping a timid friend through the maze. Clearly, this is the type of behavior modeled at home by the families, at school by the teachers, and in the neighborhood by the community at large. Thanks to all for making the Annual Amalgamated Nursery School Halloween Party an event for which to be proud!
Barnes and Noble Bookfair, 2010
For the third year in a row, the Nursery had its annual fundraiser at Barnes and Noble. The fair was held at the bookstore on Central Avenue in Yonkers on Sunday, November 21st. It was an afternoon of fun for children and parents alike. The children listened to stories read by Amalgamated staff members and students’ family members. They also made some crafts and ate some healthy snacks.
The goal of this fundraiser was to raise money through the purchase of books, games, and snacks at the Yonkers store. If you mentioned the Amalgamated Nursery School’s name at the cash register, a portion of the sale profits from your purchase were donated to the nursery school. This is the first year that purchases made on line could also be credited to the school’s fundraising profit!
We would like to give a special thanks to those who attended and helped to make our fundraiser a success both by reading, making purchases to help raise money for the school, and by showing our children that reading is fun.
The goal of this fundraiser was to raise money through the purchase of books, games, and snacks at the Yonkers store. If you mentioned the Amalgamated Nursery School’s name at the cash register, a portion of the sale profits from your purchase were donated to the nursery school. This is the first year that purchases made on line could also be credited to the school’s fundraising profit!
We would like to give a special thanks to those who attended and helped to make our fundraiser a success both by reading, making purchases to help raise money for the school, and by showing our children that reading is fun.
Our Annual Pancake Brunch
The Nursery’s Board of Directors started the school year off right with the best of the best pancake brunches! The goal of this annual beginning of school year event is to welcome in the new school year as continuing families and new families get a chance to meet and greet. It is also a chance for our students to include their families in the school community as they see each other outside of the classroom and enjoy a bit of food and fun.
We hope that all families who attended reunited with old friends and made some new ones too! Those families that were not able to attend were missed and we would like to encourage you to attend the many other school events that are listed on your Amalgamated Nursery calendar of events.
We hope that all families who attended reunited with old friends and made some new ones too! Those families that were not able to attend were missed and we would like to encourage you to attend the many other school events that are listed on your Amalgamated Nursery calendar of events.
Conversing helps language development more than reading alone
UCLA study finds that activities that get children 2 months to 48 months talking are most conducive to language acquisition
By Sarah Anderson June 29, 2009
Adult-child conversations have a more significant impact on language development than exposing children to language through one-on-one reading alone, according to a new study in the July issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"Pediatricians and others have encouraged parents to provide language input through reading, storytelling and simple narration of daily events," explains study's lead author, Dr. Frederick J. Zimmerman, associate professor in the Department of Health Services in the UCLA School of Public Health. "Although sound advice, this form of input may not place enough emphasis on children's role in language-based exchanges and the importance of getting children to speak as much as possible."
The study of 275 families of children ages 0-4 was designed to test factors that contribute to language development of infants and toddlers. Participants' exposure to adult speech, child speech and television was measured using a small digital language recorder or processor known as the LENA System. This innovative technology allowed researchers to hear what was truly going on in a child's language environment, facilitating access to valuable new insights.
The study found that back-and-forth conversation was strongly associated with future improvements in the child's language score. Conversely, adult monologueing, such as monologic reading, was more weakly associated with language development. TV viewing had no effect on language development, positive or negative.
Zimmerman adds, "What's new here is the finding that the effect of adult-child conversations was roughly six times as potent at fostering good language development as adult speech input alone."
Each day, children hear an average of some 13,000 words spoken to them by adults and participate in about 400 conversational turns with adults. More conversations mean more opportunities for mistakes and therefore more opportunities for valuable corrections. Furthermore, they also provide an opportunity for children to practice new vocabulary.
Parents should be encouraged not only to provide language input to their children through reading or storytelling but also to engage their children in two-sided conversations, the study concludes.
"Talk is powerful, but what's even more powerful is engaging a child in meaningful interactions — the 'give and take' that is so important to the social, emotional and cognitive development of infants and toddlers," says Dr. Jill Gilkerson, language research director at LENA Foundation and a study co-author.
"It is not enough to speak to children," Zimmerman adds. "Parents should also engage them in conversation. Kids love to hear you speak, but they thrive on trying speech out for themselves. Give them a chance to say what's on their minds, even if it's 'goo goo gah.'"
The UCLA School of Public Health is dedicated to enhancing the public's health by conducting innovative research; training future leaders and health professionals; translating research into policy and practice; and serving local, national and international communities. For more information, see http://www.ph.ucla.edu/.
For more news, see UCLA Newsroom.
By Sarah Anderson June 29, 2009
Adult-child conversations have a more significant impact on language development than exposing children to language through one-on-one reading alone, according to a new study in the July issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"Pediatricians and others have encouraged parents to provide language input through reading, storytelling and simple narration of daily events," explains study's lead author, Dr. Frederick J. Zimmerman, associate professor in the Department of Health Services in the UCLA School of Public Health. "Although sound advice, this form of input may not place enough emphasis on children's role in language-based exchanges and the importance of getting children to speak as much as possible."
The study of 275 families of children ages 0-4 was designed to test factors that contribute to language development of infants and toddlers. Participants' exposure to adult speech, child speech and television was measured using a small digital language recorder or processor known as the LENA System. This innovative technology allowed researchers to hear what was truly going on in a child's language environment, facilitating access to valuable new insights.
The study found that back-and-forth conversation was strongly associated with future improvements in the child's language score. Conversely, adult monologueing, such as monologic reading, was more weakly associated with language development. TV viewing had no effect on language development, positive or negative.
Zimmerman adds, "What's new here is the finding that the effect of adult-child conversations was roughly six times as potent at fostering good language development as adult speech input alone."
Each day, children hear an average of some 13,000 words spoken to them by adults and participate in about 400 conversational turns with adults. More conversations mean more opportunities for mistakes and therefore more opportunities for valuable corrections. Furthermore, they also provide an opportunity for children to practice new vocabulary.
Parents should be encouraged not only to provide language input to their children through reading or storytelling but also to engage their children in two-sided conversations, the study concludes.
"Talk is powerful, but what's even more powerful is engaging a child in meaningful interactions — the 'give and take' that is so important to the social, emotional and cognitive development of infants and toddlers," says Dr. Jill Gilkerson, language research director at LENA Foundation and a study co-author.
"It is not enough to speak to children," Zimmerman adds. "Parents should also engage them in conversation. Kids love to hear you speak, but they thrive on trying speech out for themselves. Give them a chance to say what's on their minds, even if it's 'goo goo gah.'"
The UCLA School of Public Health is dedicated to enhancing the public's health by conducting innovative research; training future leaders and health professionals; translating research into policy and practice; and serving local, national and international communities. For more information, see http://www.ph.ucla.edu/.
For more news, see UCLA Newsroom.
NURSERY RHYMES - NOV 2010 - Little Hands 3
As the staggering schedule took affect the children were becoming familiarized with the classroom, looking around, pulling things from the shelves, and sitting momentarily at the different work stations that were available. Once the full days of school finally began the children were beginning to learn the daily routine.
At 9:15-10:15 it is open play time. There is a sand table, art table, easel, house keeping area with play dough, puzzles and other manipulatives, and a train set on the rug from which the children can roam from area to area.
Following at 10:15-10:25 it’s clean up time. We have a clean up song played on the CD player that indicates “Oh, Oh it’s time to clean up”. All the children participate by either putting the play dough away, picking up the train set, etc. Once everything has been put away each child receives a sponge and proceeds to wipe down the tables.
After cleaning down the tables the children are taking trips to the bathroom to use the “potty” and wash their hands.
It is now 10:30 we have a delicious snack consisting of juice or water, crackers, fruit, or something we have cooked in the morning.
The children finish up their snacks and proceed to the carpet to sit for sing alongs and story time.
The time has arrived now, at about 10:45 and we head outside to the park.
Hopefully you have seen our books that have been sent home titled “My Friends” and “All About Apples” and enjoyed them. The children explored apples: smelling, feeling, eating, and evening painting with apples.
Artwork has also gone home. A key point to remember is don’t ask the child “what is this?,” but rather ask “how did you make this?” Little Hands work is not about the outcome, but rather how did they get to the outcome depicted on the paper.
As you can see we have a very busy schedule in such a short time span and these little ones are tired and hungry at pick up.
Therefore, a few things to keep in mind:
1) Please make sure that your child gets a good night sleep the night before and a little something to eat in the morning.
2) Also make sure that your child uses the bathroom before entering class (if they are trained)
3) Remember to keep a full change of clothes in their cubbies (Especially pull-ups)
4) The weather is getting colder please bring in every day mittens, hats, and scarves.
5) Always check cubbies before going home.
We have a lot of fun and exciting things to do in the next couple of months. Keep your eyes open for all the wonderful art work to follow.
Great big welcome to Little Hands III class, Ava, Celine, Valentina, Paz, Mary, Kol, Amani, Nicolas, and Dylan.
Luz, Jean, & Lynn
At 9:15-10:15 it is open play time. There is a sand table, art table, easel, house keeping area with play dough, puzzles and other manipulatives, and a train set on the rug from which the children can roam from area to area.
Following at 10:15-10:25 it’s clean up time. We have a clean up song played on the CD player that indicates “Oh, Oh it’s time to clean up”. All the children participate by either putting the play dough away, picking up the train set, etc. Once everything has been put away each child receives a sponge and proceeds to wipe down the tables.
After cleaning down the tables the children are taking trips to the bathroom to use the “potty” and wash their hands.
It is now 10:30 we have a delicious snack consisting of juice or water, crackers, fruit, or something we have cooked in the morning.
The children finish up their snacks and proceed to the carpet to sit for sing alongs and story time.
The time has arrived now, at about 10:45 and we head outside to the park.
Hopefully you have seen our books that have been sent home titled “My Friends” and “All About Apples” and enjoyed them. The children explored apples: smelling, feeling, eating, and evening painting with apples.
Artwork has also gone home. A key point to remember is don’t ask the child “what is this?,” but rather ask “how did you make this?” Little Hands work is not about the outcome, but rather how did they get to the outcome depicted on the paper.
As you can see we have a very busy schedule in such a short time span and these little ones are tired and hungry at pick up.
Therefore, a few things to keep in mind:
1) Please make sure that your child gets a good night sleep the night before and a little something to eat in the morning.
2) Also make sure that your child uses the bathroom before entering class (if they are trained)
3) Remember to keep a full change of clothes in their cubbies (Especially pull-ups)
4) The weather is getting colder please bring in every day mittens, hats, and scarves.
5) Always check cubbies before going home.
We have a lot of fun and exciting things to do in the next couple of months. Keep your eyes open for all the wonderful art work to follow.
Great big welcome to Little Hands III class, Ava, Celine, Valentina, Paz, Mary, Kol, Amani, Nicolas, and Dylan.
Luz, Jean, & Lynn
NURSERY RHYMES - NOV 2010 - Little Hands 2
Little Hands 2 class is well underway. The children made a wonderful transition into our program and are quickly making friends. This year we are eight children strong, Elielle, Michael, Diana, Deven, Ana Maria, Emmanuel, Nico and Paz, with teachers Jean, Meg and I.
Each day we begin with “work time”, when play dough, art activities, easel painting, puzzles, table toys, trains, blocks, dramatic play and a texture activity are available to the children. Following our work time, children listen for our clean-up song and really get involved with putting the materials away. This routine helps builds a sense of ownership of the classroom, responsibility as well as learning to treat materials with care. After cleaning up the children wash hands and enjoy a snack. Recently we baked banana bread together and enjoyed eating it for our snack. From the enthusiasm of our first baking experience, I believe this class will really enjoy cooking. Following snack the children come to the rug and have begun to sit for a group story and sing a song and do a finger play or two. Then it is time to get on jackets to go outdoors in the Tire Park to play on our brand new playground equipment, or in the sand. When 11:10 rolls around it is time to head back to school and sing our Goodbye Song.
Play dough is popular with children – especially the Little Hands age children.
Here is our recipe so that you may make it at home:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup salt
3 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar (found in the spice section of the supermarket)
2 cups water
3 Tablespoons cooking oil
Food color of your choice – or without the dough will be white.
Mix all ingredients in a pot. Place on medium flame on stove, stirring constantly. The dough will thicken – when it just reaches play dough consistency – turn off heat and turn onto a surface to cool. Knead into a ball and enjoy!
I’d like to remind parents to dress their children with appropriate outdoor clothing for the weather. As the weather gets cooler please plan on mittens (no gloves please) and hats, and remember we do go out if there is a little snow on the ground – so plan ahead with snow pants and boots.
Happy Fall!
Lisa, Jean, and Meg
Each day we begin with “work time”, when play dough, art activities, easel painting, puzzles, table toys, trains, blocks, dramatic play and a texture activity are available to the children. Following our work time, children listen for our clean-up song and really get involved with putting the materials away. This routine helps builds a sense of ownership of the classroom, responsibility as well as learning to treat materials with care. After cleaning up the children wash hands and enjoy a snack. Recently we baked banana bread together and enjoyed eating it for our snack. From the enthusiasm of our first baking experience, I believe this class will really enjoy cooking. Following snack the children come to the rug and have begun to sit for a group story and sing a song and do a finger play or two. Then it is time to get on jackets to go outdoors in the Tire Park to play on our brand new playground equipment, or in the sand. When 11:10 rolls around it is time to head back to school and sing our Goodbye Song.
Play dough is popular with children – especially the Little Hands age children.
Here is our recipe so that you may make it at home:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup salt
3 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar (found in the spice section of the supermarket)
2 cups water
3 Tablespoons cooking oil
Food color of your choice – or without the dough will be white.
Mix all ingredients in a pot. Place on medium flame on stove, stirring constantly. The dough will thicken – when it just reaches play dough consistency – turn off heat and turn onto a surface to cool. Knead into a ball and enjoy!
I’d like to remind parents to dress their children with appropriate outdoor clothing for the weather. As the weather gets cooler please plan on mittens (no gloves please) and hats, and remember we do go out if there is a little snow on the ground – so plan ahead with snow pants and boots.
Happy Fall!
Lisa, Jean, and Meg
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