Judy's Little Gems December 2015 Newsletter

Hi Everybody!  The lights are up, the decorations are hung.........let the crafts and baking begin!!
We have some fun days planned this December and we are hoping that the kids have so much fun creating gifts for those they love <3   We will be learning some Christmas songs, thinking of others and spreading joy and light wherever we go!

Dec 1:  Snowflake day :)
Dec 2:  Christmas Trees
Dec 3:  Ornaments
Dec 4:  Home made Gifts

Dec 7:  Elf Day
Dec 8:  Gingerbread Cookies
Dec 9:  Wreaths
Dec 10: Candy Canes
Dec 11:  Snow Globes

Dec 14: Christmas Cards
Dec 15:  Reindeer Day
Dec 16:  Santa Beards
Dec 17:  Snow Dough
Dec 18:  Stockings

Judy's Little Gems will be closed Dec 19 to Jan 3.  for holidays.

Wishing you and your families a wonderful and happy holiday season!!
Judy and Keanna.

November 2015 at Judy's Little Gems

We have had a fun and busy Fall so far!  We've made new friends and enjoyed some really beautiful fall weather.  Dress up was so much fun last month!  Face Painting, crafts, Judy's Little Gems 4th Birthday, nature walks and Halloween were definitely a highlight for us. 

 This month we will be exploring the following themes:

• Mammals: rabbits, bears, wolves, whales, dolphins, deer, bats, beavers, squirrels
• Time: day, night, morning, afternoon, evening, bedtime, clocks
• Healthy eating: soup, salad, sandwiches
• Kitchen safety
• Grocery store
• Magnets
• Months of the year
• Types of art: portraits, still life, landscape, drawings
• Poppies

As the weather gets more wet and cold this month, please ensure that your child has:

• rain gear including rain pants
• rain boots
• hats and mittens

Wishing you a happy November with your families.  Thank you so much for bringing your little Gems to me

<3  Judy.

September 2015 at Judy's Little Gems

It's amazing how fast the time goes when you are having fun!  Here we are mid September and rolling into Fall with lots of Joy and Enthusiasm.  It has been so enjoyable getting to know our new children.  We are all settling into a nice routine and spending time enjoying the last days of summer weather.   What an amazing Summer!!
Thanks to Linden for installing our new outdoor Tire Toy.  The kids are busy exploring different ways to play on it.  It has been great for jumping, climbing and recently as a car race track, using the mats around the outside.  Thanks Keanna for taking this neat video of the kids!

This month our themes are Back to School, Nursery Rhymes, Outdoor Preschool Activities, Friendship and Team Work.  We will be playing Board Games, learning new sight words, Practicing our Good Manners, learning about the Changing Seasons and listening to Classical Music.  We have some fun new activities to try for developing our fine motor skills.  Our cooking activities are Banana Muffins   (They turned out super moist and yummy!)  and this week we are going to make Apple Pie!

I will be sending home a Kindergarten Readiness Checklist this week.  It is an overview of the skills that we will be working on throughout the year.  We approach these skills in a playful and relaxed manner, using fun games and activities.  

Thank you to my amazing Families.  I love you and appreciate your support in providing the best care  possible for our little Gems!  Every year it becomes more and more clear to me how lucky I am to do the work I do.  <3  Judy.

   

August at Judy's Little Gems

I am so excited to be back after a lovely trip through the Rockies, an awesome day at the West Edmonton Mall and then checking out gorgeous Banff and Lake Louise.  Canada has some truly stunning natural scenery!  

Since we had so much fun last month with the theme days, we decided to try some more!! Some of the days were such a hit that a re-do is a must!  (ICE CREAM DAY!  Picnics, Playground trips, Nature Walks, Art in the Park and Water Days)  We will also keep adding to our word wall in both French and English.  We have been having fun incorporating our themes into our letter and number of the day.  I can't wait to try some new outdoor activities!  YoYo painting, Ice Chalk creations and Water Squirter Paintings sound so much fun!!

This month we will be doing some Walking Trips to various parks, playgrounds and trails.  Running Shoes will be the best foot wear for these outings since the kids will be walking/playing on different surfaces and we need to protect their feet!  Bathing Suits and Towels will be needed for our Water Days. 

Here are this month's Special Summer Days:

Tuesday August 4:  Safari Day/Walk
Wednesday August 5:  Sports Day
Thursday August 6:  Wacky Watermelon Day/Water
Friday August 7:  Snow Day!

Monday August 10:  Friendship Day
Tuesday August 11:  ICE CREAM DAY!/Water
Wednesday August 12:  Super Hero Day/Face Painting
Thursday August 13:  Airplane Day/Playground
Friday August 14:  Eye Day/Art in the Park

Monday August 17:  Blue Day.  Wear Blue?  Share Blue?  Hair Blue?!
Tuesday August 18:  Carnival Day!
Wednesday August 19:  Minion Day!
Thursday August 20:  Doll Day/Water Play
Friday August 21:  Pet Day/Field Trip to Woofy's

We will be closed Monday August 3 and August 24 to 28 for holidays.  (Judy's Staycation!)  We do live in the best place in the world!!

I can't wait to see everybody on Tuesday.   I wonder if your little ones will notice what is different about our front yard when they arrive?!  I hope you all have a super fun long week end!

Judy.

July 2015 at Judy's Little Gems: Fun Theme Days of Summer!

Hi Everybody!  I hope you have been having fun in this amazing summer weather.  This is the sunniest June that we have experience in many years!  We are loving the extended hours of play outdoors and have really enjoyed bringing a couple of our indoor activities outside:  Snack and Art.

I would like to Thank all of you for being so flexible and patient as our renovations were being completed.  We once again have a great play space and nap room for our little ones.  Please use the downstairs door for drop off and pick up.  The sign in/out sheets are back and so are the coat hooks :)
Thanks also for providing your kids with sunscreen, hats, running shoes, sandals, and extra clothes.

 This month we will be doing some Walking Trips to various parks, playgrounds and trails.  Running Shoes will be the best foot wear for these outings since the kids will be walking/playing on different surfaces and we need to protect their feet!  Bathing Suits and Towels will be needed for our Water Days.

July will be all about Fun Theme Days! 

Wednesday July 1:  Closed for Canada Day.
Thursday July 2:  Crazy Hat Day.  Bring your own and make a Fabulous Hat at Craft time.
Friday July 3: E's Birthday!!.  Water Day! Bring your bathing suit and a towel.  We will be getting Splashy today!!
Monday July 6:  Sunglasses Day. Bring your Shades and we will head to the Playground today.
Tuesday July 7:  Closed
Wednesday July 8:  Face Painting and Snack Making.
Thursday July 9:  Tie Dye Day.  We are going to create some awesome Field Trip T-shirts.
Friday July 10:  Picnic/Playground Trip
Monday July 13:  Fruit Salad Day.  Bring a fruit to share :)  Water Day.  Bring Bathing Suit and   Towel.
Tuesday July 14:  Smiley Day.  Smiles and Friendship today :)  Trip to the Park with Organized  Games.
Wednesday July 15: N's Birthday!!  Ice Cream Day.  Yay!!
Thursday July 16: Nature Soup at the Playground.
Friday July 17:  Orange Day!!  Do you have anything Orange to Wear, Put in your Hair or Bring to Share?
Monday July 20: Show and Tell Day.  Water Day.  Bring your Bathing Suit and Towel.
Tuesday July 21:  Wacky Hair Day.  Stories in the Park.
Wednesday July 22:  Pajama Day
Thursday July 23:  Camping Day.  Making Trail Mix today.
Friday July 24:    Dinosaur Day!!Nature walk. 

July 27 to August 3:  Closed for Holidays.
August 24 to 28:  Closed for Holidays.

Happy Summer and Thank You So Much for Bringing Your Little Gems to Me,
Judy.

June 2015 Newsletter Judy's Little Gems

Hi Everyone!  I am super excited to get started with June activities.  I have missed my little Gems so much!!
First of all Thank you so much for your Patience and Kindness over the last couple of weeks, starting with our downstairs flood and then my time off for surgery.   Your families are amazing and I truly appreciate it!!

 I am all fixed up and ready to go, but our downstairs is not!  Insurance claims and restoration are a process and I am super thankful to have a great team getting our house put back together.  These things take time.  I am so grateful that we still have upstairs and outside to use for childcare, so we are still up and running!!  Please bring your little people to the front door for drop off and pick ups.  I will put the sign in/sign out sheet on the wall inside the door.

Since the weather has been so fantastic, I thought we would try some new outdoor games:
Hula Hoop Fun: Put colored hula hoops on the ground. Give instructions such as “run to the red hula hoop and pretend to be a car,” or “hop over to the green hula hoop like a bunny.”
The Run-Around: One person gives directions such as “run to the sandbox, and come back,” or “run over to the slide, go down one time, and come back” or “hop on one foot to the fence.” Great not only for gross motor skills, but for listening and following directions.
Balloon Toss:  Blow up several balloons and toss them back and forth. Try using different body parts or blowing the balloon up in the air. See how many times you can bounce the balloon up before it falls to the ground.
Doggy Doggy Where’s Your Bone:  In a circle take turns hiding the “bone” from the doggy, who tries to find it. It helps to have a defined hiding area, and be sure to offer hints if the child gets frustrated finding it. Chant:Doggy, Doggy, where’s your bone?Somebody stole it from your home.Guess who! Maybe you . . Maybe the monkeys from the zoo.  Wake up doggy, find your bone.
Egg Races:  Using plastic eggs, race from one end of the yard to the next holding the egg on a spoon. See how far you can get without dropping/breaking an egg. Try not to focus on “winning,” but on having fun while walking with the egg. A fun alternative is to have the children push the plastic eggs from one place to another using only their noses!

Themes and Ideas we will explore this month are: Outdoor Games, Ocean, Father's Day, Farm, Canada and Summer.   We will also be learning about Money, Patterns, creating a Word Wall, Science: Sinking and Floating.

Special Days: June 1, Donut Day.   Thursday June 18, Picnic Day.  Wednesday June 24: Field Trip to Hands on Farm. June 25: Eric Carle's Birthday, Outside Circle Time.  June 30:  Canada Day Backyard Parade.  Happy Birthday to A, C and Judy this month.  Happy Graduation to: Z this month.  So excited for you that you are starting Kindergarten in September!!

I would also like to formally welcome Keanna, who will be assisting me with our preschool program in the mornings, Tuesday through Friday.  She is wonderful with the kids and we all love the time that she spends with us.

Thank you for bringing your little Gems to me.  

Judy.

We have a whole lot of celebrating to do this lovely month of March!

Dr. Suess Day March 2

Rainbow Days March 5&6

                                                                                                                  

Pocket Day March 10

Wear Green on March 17

First Day of Spring, March 20.
Yay! Let's Celebrate!!

Hoppy Easter!

March Preschool Lessons

• Letters:  P,Q,R,S,T
• Numbers:  11,12,13,14,15
• Shapes:  Oval, Raindrop, Shamrock 
• Colors: Colors of the Rainbow
• Character Education: Patience

Wishing you so much fun and happiness this month as we celebrate literacy, curiosity and wonder, beauty, nature and new beginnings.  

Thank you for bringing your little Gems to me.  They brighten my days with their smiles and laughter.  They show me that Every day is brand new and exciting.  I love their singing, the characters they play, the things they say, their bouncing expressive ways.  I love their stories, their creations, their enthusiasm and especially their hugs!!!  Your children are absolutely amazing.

Fabulous February

  When talking to the children about February themes, Valentine's is certainly exciting for our Gems!  "My Mom loves flowers!" and "My Dad makes heart cookies!" are a couple of the sweet comments I heard.  I quite regularly hear the children say "I love you" to their friends at daycare.  What a kind and loving group of kids we have!  A list of the children's names will be e-mailed to you soon so that your child can share Valentine's with their friends.  We will also learn about Ground Hog Day, Chinese New Year and Dental Health this month.

Our Academic learning themes will use our number line, focusing on counting to 60, letters L, M, N, O, and numbers 10,20,30,40. The colours  will be Red and Pink.   I have been so impressed with our preschoolers!  We have been working on our scissor and pencil grip skills as well as our pre-k worksheets with so much enthusiasm.  We have also recently begun playing board games :) 

 Self Help skills are coming along.  It is great to see kids learning to master skills like putting on/taking off their coats and boots, zipping zippers and opening snack containers.  

OUTINGS:
  Story Time at the library on Wednesdays.  We will leave around10am.  Our first trip to the library was a hit last Wednesday, we loved listening to Stella's songs and had fun listening to some great stories.
Now that we have a new set of wheels, I see some fun trips to the playground in our future!

  IMPORTANT DATES:
Feb 2  Ground Hog Day
Feb 14 Valentine's Day (Please bring in Valentine's On Feb 12 and 13th.)
Feb16 Daycare CLOSED for Family Day
Feb 19 Chinese New Year
April 3-10 Daycare CLOSED for Easter and Spring Break

Thank you so much for the parental support of our theme days at Judy's Little Gems.  It is really meaningful to the children to connect home and daycare this way.
Feel free to share any local Family Day activities or events that you have heard about on our Facebook page.

Wishing you a Fabulous February :)
Judy.

December 2014 Memories. January 2015 Newsletter

On Jan 1 it is really nice to reflect on the past year.  Wow!  So much happened in 2014 and it was so much fun!!

Working Together

Welcome to our Daycare Family!!

We had fun with Guinea Pigs!

 Artists Creating

Our Alphabet Game.  We know our Letters.

Will Mommy recognize me?

Easter Art

Strong and Healthy and Jumpy.  Spring :)

Thanks for sharing your Show and Tell.  

So proud of our accomplishments!

Ribbon Dancing!

Outdoor story time.  Look at these sweet faces looking at me <3

Table Toys

First Painting

Fun Learning to Play a Song with our Bells :)

Father's Day Gifts

Happy Birthday!

Our visit to the Farm

So glad you love it at my house.  

Thank you 

Berries!  So yummy.

What a great way to start the morning in the Summer.

Sharing, Problem solving, Summer fun.

You are so Generous!!

Thank you for the cupcakes!

One of the big kids now.  

September.  We lucked out and got to spend some extra time with our graduates this year due to school starting later.  This was the first day of Ballet for the girls and Kaiya and I did their hair :)

We made our own ball pit.

Zoom!  kicking up dust and making Smoke!

A great sensory experience.  So glad we built this sandbox in 2014.

Face Painting Day.  So Cute!!

We have got to do this again.  So free, creative and beautiful.

Developing Cognitive, Fine Motor and Self Help Skills

Making Thanksgiving Corn with Lego.  

Happy Halloween.  We are all smiles.

Making Planets during our Solar System Unit.

We love our new big Sensory Table.  So glad we added this to our Playroom in 2014.

Marble Planet

Halloween Free Dance Party

Pyjama Day was exhausting!  JK!

Cards, Wrap, Stickers and Ribbons

Santa Beards!

Mixing up the dough for our Salt Dough Ornaments

Making Cakes, Soups and other goodies

White Navy Beans and Corn that I dyed red.  A little peppermint and Voila....Candy Cane Sensory Table.

Rolling out the dough to make a Christmas Tree.  

Such Good Friends!

Carefully Crafted and Counted

Surprise!  What a lovely Christmas Present!

Very fancy Reindeer Hat

Thank you to our extremely Generous Families for putting together this Christmas Hamper.  

Snow Ball!!   Cornstarch Snow Dough 

Aww, such sweet little feet.  We made a MistleToes Gift for our Families.

Getting Comfy at DayCare and Discovering New Toys!

So Glad You are Here!!


Thank you for all of the wonderful memories in 2014! Working with your precious children and your amazing families has taught me so much about love, kindness and happiness.  Every day is so special and I am so thankful for these days with our little Gems.

January 2015: This month we re-introduce the Helper of The Day. This child will put out the place mats for morning snack, carry the name tags to circle, put the numbers on the calendar and use the pointer for counting, days of the week, months of the year and the alphabet. Children will learn new skills such as putting scraps in the compost, setting and clearing the table, pouring water into their cups, sweeping  up crumbs etc.  Our focus with helping is on fun and I can't wait to help the kids learn to dust with socks on their hands and play a tidy up game with our new timer :)   Being a helper is a great way to grow self esteem. It is amazing to see the confidence that comes with doing these important jobs and the happiness that both the helper and those she/he has helped, receive.  Snowflakes, Ice, Winter Animals and Homes, Home made Toys, as well as Winter Sports and Activities will be some topics we will explore.  Our Academic learning themes will use our number line, focusing on counting to 50, letters H, I, J, K, and numbers 8,9,10,11 and the colours Blue and Silver.   

Special Days:   Snowflake Party January 5 ( wear something Blue or Silver),  Penguin Day January 23(practice your penguin walk), Australia Day, January 26(get out your sunglasses and summer clothes....it is summer in Australia!), Mozart's Birthday, January 27, Puzzle Day, January 29.  

I am so excited to get started, See you soon!  This is going to be a super fun month :)

Wishing you a really Happy 2015!!

Judy.