DIRECTOR’S CORNER
There is a Chinese proverb that says, I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. That is why we go on field trips. Ok.... I know you are thinking what is she talking about? I love field trips. I have ever since I was a child. I can vividly recall being so excited the day of a trip. It didn‟t matter that I always got “carsick” on the bus. Nopemy mom taught me to bring crackers with me and I was good to go. One of my favorite trips was to the Silver Cup Bread Factory in Astoria, Queens. I was in second grade. I was fascinated by the size of the mixers and bowls. I am still jealous of a boy named Robert. He was chosen to hold a loaf of hot white bread and he got to keep it. All the rest of us got were these cute little loaves of wrapped white bread. I know that in today‟s world that bread is frowned upon -- not healthy. But let me tell you when it was baking the aroma was intoxicating! On Wednesday, October 17th the Chestnuts, Walnuts and Coconuts will go on their first field trip. It is to the Outhouse Orchards. We always choose this type of trip for the first one because it is an easy one for the children. For many of the children it will be their first time traveling without their parents and on a big yellow school bus. As it is with all first experiences, sometimes it is a bit unnerving. That is why we do this trip first. When we get to the orchard the children can relax and walk through the pumpkin patch and choose one for them. They take a hayride through the orchard and see and smell all the different types of apple trees. When they return from the ride we have a great snack of fresh made doughnuts and apple juice/cider. Then it is back to Oak Lane. This type of trip stimulates all of a young child‟s senses. They see they hear they touch they taste and they smell the fragrance of the apples and pumpkins. As the children move about the orchard they are using all of their senses to learn from this experience. They are making the knowledge that they are acquiring. Of course we provided the setting for this to happen. We also counted on the abilities of these young children to be able to make use of the “materials” that were offered to them. I fundamentally believe that the best knowledge a person can have is the knowledge that one gains by first hand experience. It is that knowledge that stays with him/her because the individual developed it by their investigation.
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Oak Lane Child Care Center Newsletter The curriculum that is designed and offered to the children at Oak Lane is prepared by a group of teachers who share my view of what fine early childhood education should look like. It is emergent curriculum that is set in a developmentally appropriate practice environment. It is age appropriate and entirely open-ended. Ostensibly the children are encouraged to take their exploration as far as their interest takes them. Since there is an abundance of time at Oak Lane the children often have the opportunity to revisit experiences that they enjoyed and want to know more about. That is the enrichment piece that adds so much to a child‟s education. I was very pleased to see so many of you at our Back to Center Night. The event is meant to provide a relaxed setting where parents and teachers can share and gather information. As those of you who attended learned there is a rich curriculum planned and being implemented to peak your child‟s interest and stretch their imaginations. When I was speaking at Back to Center Night I overlooked an important element that I will share with you now. It is about communication. The key to a successful relationship any relationship is communication. The staff and I do this all day with each other and the children. It is vital for the success of the program. I would strongly urge you to communicate with any/all of us regarding any matter. Your child‟s teachers are always available and indeed are quite knowledgeable. I can always be located and am happy to provide any additional information that you feel you need. There is an answer for every question that you might have. As I sit here with the air conditioning on it is hard to believe that it is October. I believe that Mother Nature never gets mad but rather she gets even so I know that we will pay dearly for this weather. But until then we can enjoy the time outdoors. Halloween will be here before we know it! Have a great month. See you „round the center. Ronnie
IMPORTANT DATES Oct. 8 - Closed – Columbus Day Oct. 17 - Trip- Outhouse Orchards Sat. 11/3/07 - Parent Service Day Nov. 22 & 23 – Closed Dec. 24, 25, 26 - Closed Dec 31, Jan 1 - Closed Sat. 6/7/08 - Parent Service Day Fri. 6/27/08 - Pot Luck Supper and Coconut Graduation
NOTES AND REMINDERS It‟s getting chilly – please check your child‟s cubby to be sure we have extra clothes that fit and suit the weather. The sun still shines brightly at Oak Lane. Please remember to apply your child‟s sun screen before you come in. We‟re a nut free center. We have children with allergies in the house. Please be sure the ingredient labels are on any food products you send in. Our website, http://www.oaklaneccc.com , has a plethora of useful information.
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Oak Lane Child Care Center Newsletter
taking a bite out of them – but we do keep a close watch just to make sure! With the beautiful weather we are able to get outside and make full use of our backyard. Our senior toddlers are very quick on the bike path. Kaden enjoys speeding on the motorcycle with his friends Richik and Trey fast beside him. Annika and Emma enjoy climbing on the giant climber and have been very good at climbing up the side ladder, over the wall and quickly sliding down the slide. Peter and Alex enjoy riding leisurely in the coups. Our younger toddlers enjoy the smaller climbing apparatus in the backyard. Julia, Aidan, River, Megan, and John climb the stairs, scoot through the tunnel, and slide down the slide. They follow each other over and over again and squeal with delight about their accomplishments. They pat each other ever so gently (most of the time) when one isn‟t moving fast enough. They are a riot to watch and make us laugh so! Lily and Maddie are the girlfriends who enjoy the sandbox making cakes and pies and singing Happy Birthday. They enjoy walking hand in hand chatting to one another as they walk around and around the backyard. As you can see your child is adjusting beautifully. Our little Acorns are physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially involved as they busily go about their day. In just one short month they are trusting that Oak Lane is a nice place to be. They are making friends, trusting their new teachers to take good care of them while mommy/daddy is away. They are exploring their new environment and learning through play each and every new day. They are constantly in motion. Their language skills are rapidly advancing. The one thing that they all love, young and older toddlers, is BOOKS! They enjoy the opportunity to choose a book they like, sit and read in a group, in a teacher‟s lap,
FROM THE BOARD Thank you to everyone who helped make our carnival a smashing success! A lot of people worked hard to pull it off, but our efforts succeeded in providing enjoyment for all who attended, reaching out beyond our immediate community, and raising some funds for the center. Thank you again. For those who were not able to attend our Back to Center Night I have included my remarks from that evening. As was discussed at Back to Center Night, we are listing the members of the board in this newsletter for your information. If you ever have any questions, concerns, or ideas, please feel free to communicate them to Ronnie, your teachers, or any board member. Have a happy fall and a sweet Halloween! Patrick Hayes, President Darius Powell, Vice President
ACORN NEWS
My favorite season has begun and the children are so enjoying Fall and the changes it brings. They have been very busy collecting the many different colored falling leaves of red, yellow, green, and brown. Annika‟s favorite color leaf is red. She collects them by the bucketful. The children have also noticed all the fallen pears. Trey, Richik, Emma, Peter and Alex get very busy collecting them early in the morning when we first go outside. We teachers tell them that they have been eaten by the animals and are dirty so we throw them away. They are very good about not
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or just sit solo to read. They observe and comment on the pictures and ask questions about how many, what color, what size is it! Books are available to the children inside and outside throughout their day and is a favorite pastime for the little ones. We were so pleased to have the opportunity to speak with our parents on Back to Center Night. It gave us time to go over what we need from one another to afford your child a rich learning experience. Teachers and parents communicating about a child‟s needs is crucial to their successful learning. It is so much fun to share stories about your little ones. They are truly amazing and it is truly our pleasure to share in the joy of their development! Our unit for the month of October will focus on Harvest Time and the Farm, Foods, Farm Animals, and Halloween. We do not dress up in costume on Halloween but we do ask any parent who would like to send in a treat. The children would enjoy it. We ask that all foods have a label with the ingredients as we are a peanut/nut-free center. Enjoy the Fall season and all its glorious colors! Maureen, Nancy, Maria and Rosa After colors we moved onto shapes and are spending two weeks creating shapes, cooking with shapes and turning ourselves into shapes to reinforce the concepts. Everyday has been a new experience for the children. Another area we are working on is manners: please and thank you, how to use a fork, what to do with a napkin, how to wait for a turn, and how to play nicely with peers. Some of this takes time, but we reinforce manners each day. In conjunction with manners, class rules are being practiced. Some examples are: a teacher opens the door, holding the banister is a must, washing hands after using the bathroom is mandatory, keeping the room clean is part of the daily routine, and being nice to others is a big rule we practice. Other rules will evolve as we go through the year, but these are the basic rules we follow. The children are already reminding their friends of the rules as the day goes on. Quite a few of the Walnuts appear "ready" to take on toilet training. We don't push this as it works only when the child is ready, but several appear ready. We will work together with you on this venture. Consistency is key. If you are trying at home and are having success, we will try here as well. Accidents happen and we will be prepared for this if you bring in lots of extra clothing. We will just change your child and not make a big deal about having an accident. Talk to us when you are ready and we will take it from there. Last weekend I was visiting with one of my brothers who had just returned from a business trip to Los Vegas. He was amazed by the four miles of lights, action and amounts of money being spent. He also mentioned how surprised how many children were at the casinos with their parents and how many dropoff day care centers were available!! Can you imagine placing your child with strangers and
WALNUT NEWS
The Walnuts have been very busy discovering colors in their world around them. They have mixed yellow and blue to make green. They have mixed blue and red to make purple and have dabbled in many other colors. We have read lots of books about colors and have had fun finding things at Oak Lane in different colors. The children really know their colors very well.
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going off to bet? It is so scary to me as a mother and a professional!! We also talked about parenthood and how complex it has become: kids are over-scheduled, everything is electronic, and nobody seems to connect these days. I recalled when my children were little and when we visited Grandma, they loved to sit on the kitchen floor, pull out all the Tupperware tops and plastic pitchers and have so much fun with them. They had a room for kids that had crayons, paper, scissors etc. so they could create. It was terrific and each grandchild remembers his/her time in the "painting board" as it was and still is called! My point here is that although life has gotten more complicated in some ways, it can still be simple. When shopping for gifts think of the ageless gifts (art projects, Lincoln logs, blocks) that transcend time and require no batteries! Enjoy with them! We have our first field trip on Wednesday, October 17 to Outhouse Orchards. We have two helpers for the trip. We will talk to the children about the trip just days before we go. They need to know what will happen, that they will ride the big yellow school bus in their own car seats, and that we will be back at Oak Lane before lunch. The first trip is fun as some of the Walnuts have waited a long time to climb aboard the bus for destinations unknown! The look on their faces is so precious!! The seasons are changing (I think?) so we will need warmer clothing in the extra clothes boxes in the bathroom. Please take a look to see if your child has what he/she needs for a colder climate. Thank you for sending your children to us! Marty, Margarita and Juliet
CHESNUT NEWS
The Chestnuts are growing! We had a new addition to the class earlier this month. Welcome, welcome to our new student, Sarah Chen. The Chestnuts are so caring and sharing with our new friend. I can recall on the second day for our new Chestnut another child was arriving and saw her crying. He turned to me and asked, “Why is she crying?” I told him that “She‟s new and she misses her daddy.” Right away, he began to comfort her, rubbing her back, saying “Don‟t cry! Do you want to play?” and guiding her over to the table where markers and paper waited. She went along and in no time she was happy and playing. It was priceless to see how this little boy stepped forward to help her! Betty and I would like to thank all the parents who came to Back to Center Night. As we go into the school year, our children are making the transition between daily routines, developmental skills, social interaction and imaginative play. They are building self help skills such as taking care of their own needs in the bathroom and assisting at mealtime by setting the napkins and forks on the table. They are developing language skills, using language to ask for what they want. For example, we hear “May I have the purple crayon, please?” The use of polite words like “please” and “thank you” is increasing. The children are participating more. We are also encouraging listening skills. This week we are learning about colors. Children get to participate by seeing, touching, and by experimenting with painting. This year is going to be fun and exciting. Finally, I would like to remind parents about our upcoming trip on Wednesday, October 17th. Also, your child has a journal in his or her
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cubby and we encourage parents to read it. It is written in once each week. Halloween is this month and you are welcome to bring in nut-free goodies. Thank you! Leslie, Betty, and Doreen class. I know that Kindergarten classroom is very similar to the Coconut classroom, only physically larger and with fewer teachers. I hope that when you drop off your child in the morning or pick up in the afternoon you take some time to notice the actual classroom. Your children's names are everywhere (it's the first word they'll read). Toys and items around the room are labeled. Writing utensils and paper are always available. The book shelf is overflowing. The calendar has numbers, symbols and pre-reading skill built in. There is a list of what it means to be a friend and another with all the feelings we could think of. There is music...from Mozart to Miley Cyrus. They also created their own rules. All the pieces are there for your child to grow emotionally, socially, physically and intellectually. The wonder and joy of the pre-school classroom is that your children will learn at their own pace, as they are ready and interested in the world around them and at a level they are capable of...with no tests. They will be ready for Kindergarten but will Kindergarten be ready for them? Maura, Stacey, and Isabel
COCONUT NEWS
October is great month. Hockey starts, baseball is still underway, Back to Center Night has come and gone and it is a time when the school year really gets started. As I mentioned at Back to Center Night, the children and the teachers have spent the past month getting to know each other, the classroom routines and the expectations, both for us as the teachers and for the children. Expectations may sound like a scary word but I think it is important that we understand that we have expectations for the children and they in turn have expectations for us. They expect to be safe, loved, respected, valued and, for this class in particular, laughter and dance music! Our expectations for them are quite similar. We also expect to be respected, be safe with their friends as well as kind and friendly. We also like to see dancing and hear the peals of laughter throughout the day. The reason I bring this up is that a very typical question was brought up at Back to Center Night. "What does my child need to know for Kindergarten?" "What do they expect from a child when they walk through the door?" My immediate response is, “Nothing” and “Everything” because that is the reality. Knowing what we do about the expectations that are placed on young children when they reach Kindergarten, we provide a curriculum that meets the needs of the children in our
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BACK TO CENTER NIGHT REMARKS
FROM PATRICK HAYES, PRESIDENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
My apologies for not being here in person, but I would like to share a few words on behalf of the board of directors by proxy. First, a few pieces of business. As discussed in the parent handbook, we have two parent service days, one in the fall and one in the spring. There is a certain amount of work needed to prepare the center for the change of seasons; rather than hiring outside help for these tasks, we harness the efforts of parents to control costs and to foster community. These work days are a great opportunity for parents to get to know each other; you can bring the children, too – they have a great time “helping out.” We are all very busy; we understand that not everyone can make it on any given day. If you can‟t make a parent service day, you have two options: you can pay a nominal fee to cover the cost of the work (although we‟d much prefer that you participate in helping to build and maintain the community). Occasionally, there will be additional tasks which can be performed in lieu of the parent service days. Please understand that logistically, we cannot come up with 50 tasks to be performed individually, so we do need parents to come to the scheduled days if at all possible. Secondly, as you are no doubt aware, there are fundraising efforts under way here at Oak Lane. As the parent of multiple children, I am well aware of how overwhelming fundraising can feel, with the requests for money and the solicitation of money. The
fundraisers are an important component in our efforts to keep costs down; we realize you are all very busy, but we appreciate all efforts you make in fundraising. If you have any additional suggestions or comments regarding potential fundraising ideas, please feel free to discuss these with me, the staff, or any members of the board. Lastly, on a related note, there are sometimes opportunities for funding or grants for Oak Lane, either through matching funds from corporate sources or through foundations of which we are not aware. If any of you has any ideas or leads about these opportunities, please share them with us. Having dispensed with business, I would like to spend a minute on what Oak Lane means to me. Oak Lane is an independent, not-forprofit corporation. What this means is that no one owns Oak Lane. But, while none of us owns the physical center, we are all “owners” of the community we represent. There are opportunities for all of you to participate in the center: through field trips, being class parents, special events. If any of you have a special talent, experience, et cetera that you would like to share with the children, please speak to your teachers. We will be posting a list of the members of the board in the next newsletter; if you ever have recommendations, concerns or questions, please speak to the staff or any member of the board about them. Please take ownership of your place in this community; you will find, as I have, that your efforts will be repaid in multiples.
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Oak Lane Child Care Center Newsletter
2007 – 08 Oak Lane Board of Directors
Michelle Asch 21 Ledgewood Commons Millwood, NY 10546 Stuart Beeber 175 King St Chappaqua, NY 10514 Maggie Christ 48 Prospect Dr. Chappaqua, NY 10514 Steve Cohen 1 Salem Rd . Chappaqua, NY 10514 Elana Gardiner 30 South Church St. Bedford Hills, NY 10507 Evan Glassman 581 Quaker Rd . Chappaqua, NY 10514 Alice Huang 30 Ledgewood Commons Millwood, NY 10546 Patrick Hayes 62 Bedford Rd. Pleasantville NY 10570 Jennie Hickox 50 Glenside Place Chappaqua, NY 10514 Bernadette Kelleher 26 Ann Chambers La. Katonah, NY 10536 Michelle Krusko 14 Aldridge Rd. Chappaqua, NY 10514 Larry Koved 12 Cedar Lane Pleasantville NY 10570 Debbie Lenaghan 41 Calam Ave. Ossining, NY 10562 Daruis Powell 150 West Main St. Mt. Kisco, NY 10549 Joy Puleo 54 Begg Drive Chappaqua, NY 10514 Joanna Rizoulis 2 Kittle Rd. Chappaqua, NY 10514 Karen Roth 105 Cross Ridge Rd. Chappaqua, NY 10514 David Sandor 75 Leland Ave. Pleasantville, NY 10570 Ronnie Weinberger 11 Baldwin Road Scarsdale, NY 10583 914-432-8696 914-238-8550 (W) 914-238-7101 914-238-1216 914-242-4946 914-238-2989 914-923-7433 914-769-0772 914-238-8496 914-767-0188 9147-902-4563 914- 747-3830 (H) 914-923-8395 914-242-0632 914-238-0212 914-41-4904 914-238-2884 914-741-6126 914-238-3756 (W)
President: Vice President: Secretary: Executive Director:
Patrick Hayes Darius Powell Jennie Hickox Ronnie Weinberger
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