October Overview
Now that the month of Halloween is wrapping up, we’d like to share all the fun, festive things we did to celebrate the season! We kicked things off with a Pumpkin Patch field trip, where students visited a local pumpkin patch to check out all the harvest season’s produce like gourds and apples. Friday, Oct 25th we held a carnival to raise funds for the Learning Center. At this event students from each class were tasked with creating carnival games for guests to play. Parents attended this carnival event and we were able to meet our fundraising goal with the help of our students and their families. Way to go team! Last but not least to celebrate Halloween our preschoolers visited a local retirement home for a trick-or-treat field trip. Students dressed in their Halloween costumes and visited the residents door to door to foster community connection and get some sweet treats!
We had a lot of fun last month, now lets look forward to all the fun we will have in November!
This month at ESLC
There are a few important dates for parents to remember this November.
The first of which is Parent Curriculum Night tonight, November 4th from 6:15 pm – 7:15 pm. This event is for parents of currently enrolled students to come see what their children have been learning by actually experiencing a day in the life of their students at Early Steps. There will be free refreshments for parents at this event, as well as a gallery of students’ art projects which will be up for sale! Proceeds from art sales will be donated to a Breast Cancer Research group.
The second important night for parents this month is parent-teacher conferences. Similar to curriculum night, parents will get a chance to discuss their child’s learning plan with teachers and staff. But Parent-teacher conferences are held in one-on-one meetings so parents can be comfortable addressing any concerns directly to a staff member. Students are also welcome to attend conferences with their parents so they can be aware of their own progress and involved in the discussion. If you are unable to attend conferences on this date, please contact the Early Steps location you are enrolled in to schedule a meeting at your convenience. Information about this event will be going home with students soon, so keep an eye out!
November Activities
The month of November is mostly known for Thanksgiving feasts and parades. But there are tons of other important days to acknowledge this month, and we’re going to how you a few ways to celebrate!
Did you know the entire month of November is good nutrition month? Good nutrition is an important part of a child’s growth, and as they get older and more independent we want to be sure they make healthy choices. Do they know about the food pyramid and the benefits of every food group? A great way to teach the importance of a healthy diet is to simply start a conversation with your child about food. Every kind of food has a benefit to your body, even some desserts, so when discussing food with your child be sure not to add any labels like ‘junk food’, ‘fattening’, or ‘bad for you’ to avoid any association with food and shame. Instead these ‘bad’ foods can be seen as a treat to have once a week if behavior around the house is worth a reward.
In just a few days we will be honoring the veterans of our country who have dedicated their life to serving in our military. A popular symbol of Veteran’s Day is the poppy flower. Making poppies is a simple and fun craft you can use to teach kids about this important day and lightly introduce the concept of honoring those who have been lost. You can either use red cupcake liners or painted egg cartons to shape the petals of the flower. Once your petals are looking good, glue a flat, black button in the center, then add a smaller yellow button on top of the black one. There you have yourself a poppy flower! You and your child can hand these out to friends, family, and neighbors or simply use them as decoration.
Shortly after Veterans Day is America Recycles Day on Nov 15th! This is a less popular holiday, but still a great opportunity to connect and learn with our kids. There are many great resources online about making arts and crafts with recycled materials, like milk carton planters and water bottle maracas. Go online with your child and think of some fun ways to recycle household items into beautiful works of art!
