Children's Center Preschool Serving the Los Feliz, Hollywood, Silverlake , Atwater communities
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  • Jul13

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    Favorite Books- Green Room Request

    Posted in: From the Director, literacy

    The Green Room had its first parent coffee (an every other week chance for parents to get together and talk about raising children). There was lots to discuss but one subject lead me to start talking about some of my favorite books, especially the ones that deal with children’s emotions. Not the big issues like divorce or death( I have those too) but rather the ones about more routine life things like sharing, bedtime, anger, and separation. They asked me to share some of the titles. Amazon has them all except perhaps the Badger series.

    While I could talk for hours about why books help children with their feelings, I am going to confine this article to the books themselves.

    1. The Bear Who Shared ( delightful take on sharing) by Catherine Rayner
    2. The Llama, Llama series starting with Is your Mama a Llama?, Llama, Llama, Misses Mama (separation), Llama, Llama, Red Pajamas ( bedtime separation anxiety), Llama Llama, Mad at Mama. by Anne Dewdney
    3. Big Wolf, Little Wolf  (friendship and sharing) by Nadine Brun- Cosme
    4. Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems, 3 wonderful stories about a girl and her special bunny. She grows up from toddlerhood to girl who is old enough to give away her bunny to a new baby that needs it.
    5. Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Fly, and Diary of a Spider, books by Juanita Hill about friendship and appreciating differences.
    6. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown about separation and trust between a parent and a child.
    7. Badger’s Bring Something Party, Badger’s Parting Gifts, and Badger’s Bad Mood by Hiawyn Oram and Susan Varley. These  are fabulous books about friendship and coping with feelings and loss. Hard to find but so worth it.

  • Jul11

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    Snack menu and fruit parfait recipe

    Posted in: Weekly Snack Menu

    Summertime brings us back to one of the children’s favorite recipes- Berry and Yogurt Parfaits. We will be making them  this Friday and then freezing some yogurt mixed with the fruit for frozen treats next week.

     1. Mix plain yogurt with a bit of honey. Stir until smooth.

    2. Prepare the berries by gently washing and drying them; this week we are using strawberries so the children will cut them into small pieces.

    3. Break up Oat and Honey granola bars into little pieces.

    4. Using a clear glass or cup, layer the fruit, yogurt, and granola twice, ending with the granola.

    Enjoy this healthy and yummy treat. Fruit mixed in yogurt also makes wonderful frozen treats. Simply mix the yogurt, a touch of honey, and the berry of your choice and freeze them with good sized sticks in them. We use tongue depressors to ensure every one comes out.

    Snack Menu

    July 11- 15th

    Monday morning

    Wh. wheat lavash with hummus and melon

    Monday afternoon

    Grapes, String cheese, wheat thins

    Read More

  • Jul11

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    July Newsletter

    Posted in: Newsletter

    Dear Parents,

    I hope you are all enjoying the 4th of July. We are looking forward to being back with you tomorrow. As you know, we are  past June gloom and are into some lovely warm weather.
    Outdoors are curriculum will feature water. We will be using the water table, the wading pool, and the hose in the big sandbox. There will be bubble blowing and frozen juice bars. Our garden with its beans, tomatoes, gourds, strawberries, and herbs needs watering everyday.
    The water theme continues inside with science experiments, the installation of our fish tank, and a pouring table.
    Summer Necessities
    We need a few things in order to be ready for all of this fun. Some of you may have brought them.  Please label everything.
    1. Very important, please put sun block on your child, body as well as face before they come to school. Waterproof kind is the best. It is very difficult for us to do while we supervise 18 kids.
    2. Send a bathing suit if you already haven’t. LABEL IT. The kids often don’t recognize their own suits.
    3. Check and ensure that we have two complete changes of clothes, labeled please.
    4. Sunglasses and hats are great but please label them.
    5. Safe shoes. While it is summer, the loose sandals, clogs, and flipflops are not safe. Please send children in good shoes for playing.
    Volunteers
    We would love some parent volunteers this summer. Readers are always a big hit. Cooking, be it making a fruit salad or perhaps some ice cream with our ice cream maker. Bring you own ideas. We have some kids who are ready to tackle elementary sewing or the simplest knitting. Anyone? Also, it would be great to have some one who loves to build trains or build with blocks. Those are hot areas. We have a lot of boxes. Does anyone want to come in and cut them for creations and help the kids make them what they want? We have the tools. Other ideas?
    Thank you to the parents who recently read as well as the bringer of the toads.
    Traveler’s Wall
    We have a traveler’s picture page on the first door  of the children  who are away for a portion of the summer.  It helps the kids who are in school; they  see what their friends are doing and are reminded  that their friends will be coming back.
    Our Classrooms
    The Green Room has begun successfully with Aracely Jimenez and 6 children. She has created a welcoming and lovely space. The group will grow to 16 per day in September and 18 in the November. We have one remaining space for a girl.
    The Yellow Room, the original class, will be sending 3 children off to kindergarten, one to Franklin, and two  to Citizens of the World. There is one girl space available.
    We wish you all a great July!
    Deborah, Ty, Maya, Marilyn, Aracely, and Allison

  • Jun16

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    The Green Room is Open

    Posted in: From the Director

    On June 10th, the Green Room opened at the preschool. With Aracely Jimenez as the Head Teacher and 6 families, it was reminiscent of the beginning of the preschool when 4 families trusted us to provide a quality, developmental program to their children. This year, we will graduate the remaining children from that group and send them off ready for kindergarten.

    Aracely was a wonderful find. All of us liked her from the moment we met her and she has excellent education and experience with preschool children. Her bio is posted on this site.

     

    The Green Room looks great and for those of you who have visited, it has been transformed. Cubbies with children’s  pictures and names greet the children as do the balloons with their photos and birth dates. The reading area has book covers of some of our favorite books  along the back wall and a comfortable rug and pillows. The window wall is filling up with art supplies and science activities. The center table is always changing from animals and people with magna tiles to bristle blocks to wooden “blocks” made from tree branches.

    The most recent art project was very big paper  and green and blue paint rolled on with brayers. Aracely cut them to create an earth and our diverse group of  children are talking about their families and their backgrounds. They also have made handprints to go around the earth in the many shades of skin. There is chocolate, caramel, ivory,coffee, tan, copper, almond, cream and many more.

    They have read a great book to go with the project. Shades of People by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly. The book has many beautiful photographs of children and families of all shades along with the message that “our skin is just our covering, like wrapping paper. And, you can’t tell what someone is from the color of their skin. ”

    This new group of children have banded together and with Aracely and are having a great time. In the fall, they will be joined by other children to make 17 children per day. In November, we will be up to our  limit of 19.  There may be a space or two left and we have a couple of spaces for 3 or 4 year old girls, and perhaps 1 boy,  in the “original” Yellow Room. We look forward to sharing the Green room with them.

     

  • May8

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    Mother’s Day- an Inclusive Way

    Posted in: Child Development, From the Director, Holidays, Parenting

    Happy Mother’s Day!  We are going to have a Mother’s Day celebration at the preschool on Monday. Here is the note sent home explaining to our  parents how we celebrate Mother’s Day in a more inclusive way.

    Dear Parents,

    Below you will find our plans for tomorrow morning.

    First, though we wanted to explain why we are celebrating this day and later Father’s Day in a more inclusive way.  We have invited mothers, grandmas, aunts, and other important women in children’s lives to be with us.

    One of the most important  goals of Children’s Center Preschool is to help children to understand  and appreciate not only their own family’s heritage, culture, and makeup, but those of other children’s families.  We want to develop more than tolerance in children, which is a passive state.  In addition we seek to develop understanding, acceptance, and appreciation. When a child sees the value of his or her family as well as the value of families  who live differently , they develop an active belief that each person matters and that there are many different ways to live life positively.

    Mother’s Day was originally a Hallmark Card marketing opportunity that seems to have evolved into a National holiday. But life is not the same as it was 50 years ago, and our children and their families need to find new ways to approach this holiday (because it is so ubiquitous). Children are no longer raised only in traditional mother and father households.  They are also being well raised in single parent, same sex parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, or other caring people households. They also have several other important women who participate in meaningful ways in their upbringing,  nannies, babysitters, grandmas, aunts, neighbors, and friends.

    Tomorrow we will celebrate them all!  We hope that celebrating in this way, we will help your children redefine Mother’s Day in a new and more inclusive way and value the many women who enrich their  lives.

    We look forward to celebrating with you.

    The Morning Plan Read More

  • May6

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    May Newsletter

    Posted in: Food and Cooking, Newsletter, Projects, The Garden

    Dear Parents,

    It was great to be back with all of the kids and their stories of bunnies, trips to San Diego, New York and the Bay Area as well as visiting relatives.
    We started fresh with making new playdough and mixing pastel spring colors for painting.
    We also did a lot of harvesting both before the break and today. We have been so fortunate and our radishes, carrots, beets, lettuce, potatoes, blueberries, and peas did extremely well. Today’s harvest was the last of the carrots, the potatoes and the beets. The website will have lots of photos and the story of our garden and harvest after tonight. Next week, we will begin planting out tomato plants and get ready for the summer garden..
    Parent Coffees

    Thursday, May 5th at 9 am in the office.
    Friday, May 20th at 9 am in the office
    Stone Soup
    We are going to use the carrots and potatoes in a special soup that we are going to make on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We will be reading the book Called Stone Soup, an old folk story about three men who come into a village searching for food. At first the villagers hide all of their harvested vegetables, but once the men set up a pot over a fire and heat the water, they surprise the villagers. They say that they can make soup out of just stones.  As they stir the stones, they comment that the soup will be good as it is  but it would be much better if they only had a few carrots. One of the villagers runs off to bring a few from her home. And so it goes until the soup is filled with fragrant vegetables and the men are helping the villagers set the tables for a wonderful feast. that they all share.
    We will be making stone soup with our carrots and potatoes but we ask you to help your child bring ONE vegetable that is good for a soup. We love the wonderful mix that comes. On Monday and Tuesday, we will chop the vegetable, put it in the pot and cook the soup. We invite all noon pickup parents to come a few minutes early to join with us in a brief soup feast. Parents who pick up at 4 may also stay for a feast.
    Parent volunteers for cutting help on Monday and Tuesday needed- sign up sheet on the table. Thank you! Read More

  • Apr30

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    LA Times Book Festival@ USC

    Posted in: Family events, literacy

    The Annual LA Times Book Festival will be held this year on April 30th to May 1st on the campus of USC (rather than the traditional UCLA which is easy to reach from Los Feliz, Silverlake, and Hollywood.

    First the facts:

    Dates & Location
    The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held:
    Saturday April 30, 2011 from 10am – 6pm
    Sunday, May 1, 2011 from 10am – 5pm at:
    University of Southern California
    Click here for map.
    To locate USC on Yahoo! Maps or similar mapping software, you may use the intersection of Exposition Blvd and S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90089.

    Tickets & Admission

    General attendance is free! Parking is $10 if you want to be quite near the festival.

    Now a glimpse of the wonderful experience:

    If you are not familiar with the Book Festival, it is the Granddaddy of  all book festivals with hundreds of booths featuring a established book stores and many small presses. There are stages with authors reading from their books, and panel discussions on many genres and topics. It covers most of the USC campus.

    The very large children’s area is wonderful and not only has an amazing selection of books but also has booths with self- publishing authors and specialy catgories.  There are performances and book readings for all ages of children.

    Take your children and have a day the whole family will enjoy!

    Check the LA Times, the sponsor, for details.

  • Apr19

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    Together at Morning Meeting

    Posted in: Weekly Happenings in the School

    Every morning at the preschool, children and their parents arrive at the preschool between 8:45 and 9 am. They join the others in the classroom; parents, children,  and teachers say hello to one another; children then find activities they want to do, be it drawing, puzzles, dough, or books.

    At 9 am, we flick the lights and the children call out “Morning Meeting”, say goodbye to any remaining parents, and make their way to the rug. Morning meeting starts our morning together as a school community. We sing a name song in greeting  and camaraderie.

    Good morning Julia, how are you? And who is next to you?

    The children call out the names of their friends as they make their way around to everyone. Then a quick check of whose missing to illness, a trip, or something else. The last child counts how many teachers are there that day and names them. If we have visitors that day, they are introduced. We have joined together for another morning or day.

    This month is book sharing month; Ty asks all of the children with books to come up one by one, sit next to her , and and introduce their book. The children have been bringing books from home to share with the others in honor of  the Dr. Seuss/ Read Across America reading program. The books will be available for listening to in the reading area after meeting is over. We have been having quite a few parent and grandparent volunteer readers and it has been great.

    The schedule of the day is then reviewed. Children feel more comfortable when they know what to expect in the day; anything different about the day is discussed. Read More

  • Mar27

    1 Comment

    Snack and Cooking

    Posted in: Food and Cooking, Weekly Snack Menu

    COOKING WITH OUR CHILDREN

    Children love to eat what they make. The children are going to be cooking twice this week.  We will gather around the round table and take turns adding the ingredients step by step. Even the pickiest eaters enjoy mixing and stirring.

    This week,  we will make whole wheat waffles with fruit and bread pudding with a bit of raspberry jam. I suspect they will be big hits.

    Snack Menu

    March 28th- April 1st

    Monday Morning

    Apple slices, cheddar cheese, sandwich thins

    Monday Afternoon

    Pears, wheat thins, string cheese

    Tuesday Morning

    Sugar Snaps peas, cream cheese and crackers

    Tuesday Afternoon

    Apple slices, child made Waffles with butter and syrup Read More

  • Mar27

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    California Science Center

    Posted in: Family events, Fun with Preschoolers, science

    The California Science Center in Exposition Park is a great Los Angeles asset that is well within reach of Los Feliz, Silverlake, Larchmont, and Hollywood. The California Science Center offers fun and informative permanent exhibits presented in interactive worlds. Through hands-on experiences in their galleries, you’ll learn about human inventions and innovations, the life processes of living things and more. The Science Center also features fantastic special exhibits that change all the time, so visit often to find out what’s new!

    It has just opened a new exhibit that is really fabulous;  the interactive Ecosystems. The Ecosystems exhibit explores eight different systems and the exhibits aren’t what you expect; they are better! Here is a glimpse:

    • The exhibit about the Extreme areas of the earth (desert, polar ice cap, deep sea vents and rocky shores)  allows you to  explore and touch sea animals in tidal pools on the roof of the building. )
    • In  the Forest Zone,  you will walk under a 188,000 gallon tank of a live kelp forest.
    • In the River zone, you can dig a channel, build a dam and see how the flow of water changes as it travels across the sandy landscape you’ve created.

    This is the kind of Center that makes Los Angeles an exciting place to be. Take your family and enjoy the experience over and over again.

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