School Announcements

By ACA

Screenings and Assessments: Update!

The teachers of A Child's Academy have been assessing each of the children (excluding VPK). We were very proud of the results. These assessments check for any obvious developmental delays or concerns that may need to be further evaluated and of course, we are also looking for advanced mastery of skills.

We will be sending these results home the first week in December. There will be an opportunity to discuss these findings and ways parents can partner with teachers to further develop these skills.

During parent-teacher conferences, please ask questions and feel free to request meetings throughout the year whenever you need to talk with your children's teacher. Building stronger partnerships with parents, helps better prepare us for caring for your child. Thank you for all of your support!

Our Book Fair is Coming!

The whole school is excited about our upcoming Book Fair. An amazing
selection of books is headed our way!

At the Book Fair you will find the latest and finest titles for kids, as well as books of interest to parents. Mark your calendar for our Cuddle Up & Read Event where the whole family can join in the fun. And, you can contribute books to your child's classroom library.

The Book Fair is a great way to get everyone excited about reading.

See you there!

Cuddle Up & Read Program

Our first Cuddle Up & Read was a huge success. The parents read stories with their children individually. We then all joined together and listened to the story Turkey Trouble. The children thought it was so funny when the turkey tried to disguise himself as all the other farm animals to keep from being the main course at Thanksgiving Dinner. It ended with the turkey ordering and having delivered a pizza to the farmer and his wife. Awesome problem solving skills! We finished up the night with an "I'm thankful" craft. Make sure and take a peek at the pictures from that night!!

The date for the December Cuddle Up & Read will be on December 15, 2011 and we will have a special guest...Santa!! There will also be a photographer here to take pictures. Please plan on attending!!!!

ACA Christmas Caroling

To finish out the night after our Cuddle Up & Read program, we would like to invite everyone to join us in going Christmas caroling.

Christmas Caroling is a dying tradition. And let's face it; it's almost fair to officially call it dead.

But even though Christmas Caroling is not an activity regularly undertaken anymore, it's still a fun one and has roots in the American dream.

You see, Christmas Caroling is all about the joy that Christmas brings and the love of sharing that joy with others. So what makes it American? The sense of community it brings. Singing Carols for your neighbors isn't just about sharing a holiday song, it's about being neighbors. It's about knowing the people who live around you and setting out into the night with some friends to offer up some cheer to all within ear shot.

Christmas Activity: Handprint Family Tree Skirt

You will need stretch velvet, glued-on trim, and gold glitter paint for this project. However, there are countless fabrics and paints your fmaily can use to make your own handprint creation (see website for some other easy suggestions).

Whatever you choose, this handmade project is sure to be the most treasured gift underneath your tree each year.

See website for futher directions.

A Child's Academy "Giving Tree"

We have a Christmas Tree in the lobby with star ornaments containing the name, age and wish list for a child that is involved with the Partnership for Strong Families located here in Gainesville, Florida. This organization deals with families that have been thru an ordeal of some kind where the child was removed from the home. These children are in foster care waiting to be adopted or the Partnership is working with the family on services to help reunite the family.

Please help by choosing a star (child), purchasing the requested items and placing them under the tree by December 9, 2011, so that the Partnership can pick up and deliver the items to the proper child.

Jimmy Wayne, country music star, and author of Paper Angels knows how it feels to be a child "in the system." In this feature story, he discusses his life and his reasons why we should all participate in this method of giving. Check it out! (Click Image Below)

ACA Parent's Night Out

How would you like to go to dinner and a movie? Maybe catch up with some old friends? Babysitters are hard to find - especially ones that you can trust. ACA heard parents and their concerns. We are offering the opportunity for parents to enjoy an evening out or just relax. Every 3rd Friday of the month, from 6:00pm - 10:30pm, we will care for your children, feed them dinner, create a special craft, and then watch a movie until you arrive. The cost for this service is $25 per child with a discounted rate of $65 for a family of 3. Look for the sign-up sheet in the office a week prior to the event. (Note: We are hosting the shopping day in place of Parent's Night Out in December).

Theme Calendars

We are implementing a change in our style of teaching. In addition to the A Beka program we have always used, we will also be teaching using a theme based approach. We feel that this change will give the parents a chance to be more involved in their child's education by knowing what exactly is being taught and having something to discuss and expand upon at home.

We also wanted to extend activities to continue the learning process throughout the day. With activities to complete in the afternoons and giving the children more freedom to be creative and explore concepts child directed with the teacher available to offer assistance and ask open-ended questions, we shall accomplish this task.

The themes for December are Christmas and Winter. Look for a calendar depicting the month's themes.

"The Outdoor Classroom"

ACA has inspired to create an Outdoor Classroom.

The Outdoor Classroom responds to a pressing need to rethink past and current approaches to early care and education by providing an approach that effectively and comprehensively addresses the changed landscape and reality of childhood today.

This reality, accelerating rapidly over the past 30 years, includes such challenges to children's physical and mental health, learning, and socialization as obesity, diabetes, hyperactivity, and limited skills in communication and peer relations "? challenges that are interrelated and interdependent.

The Outdoor Classroom provides for physical activity, hands-on learning, social learning through peer interaction, and multifaceted approaches to cognitive development that maximize children's learning success. It can be utilized with nearly any curricular model and is appropriate for any population of children.

Thirty-One brochures have been sent home and orders are due December 9th (for Christmas delivery). We will make a percentage of each item sold. Funds raised will be put towards this project.

Also, please feel free to make a monetary donation or a donation of your time to help make this project a success. Thank you!!

Websites of Interest

http://www.toddler-troubleshooting-tips.com/ Potty training tips, etc.
www.parenting.org/ Parenting tips, etc.
www.holidaycook.com Holiday menus and cooking tips.

Thanks and we are looking forward to the New Year!!

Roli Polies (Infants)

By Ms June & Ms Gail

Our little infants have had a great November! The babies love the new sights they get to see during our daily nature walks, especially the colorful fall leaves. They also had a fun and messy time during pudding play.

All of us in the infant room are looking forward to the Christmas holiday season. We know it will be extra special for our parents as they will get to experience their baby's first Christmas. One of the great activities we are looking forward to is decorating Christmas cookies! It would be a huge help if parents could help us by sending in some plain cookies, frosting, or cookie decorations.

We wish all our parents and babies a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! If anyone has any ideas for activities that our babies would enjoy doing in the new year, please let us know.

See November Pictures here.

Busy Bees (Toddlers)

By Ms Sabrina, Ms. Virginia, Ms. Kathryn & Ms. TJ

November has been a great month! Our toddlers enjoyed learning about fall and how to give thanks. We had a great time learning about fall colors, leaf shading, experimenting with fall items such as acorns, making hand turkeys, and learning new songs like "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" and " If You're Happy and You Know It"

December is upon us and we couldn't be more excited! The Christmas season gives us so many great things to learn and explore. As we spend this month discussing Christmas with the toddlers, we cannot wait to explore this season further during art time by making snowmen and Christmas tree ornaments. We will also be learning some Christmas song classics such as, Jingle Bells and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Parents can practice singing these songs at home with your little one.

We hope all will join us at our Christmas party on December 7th. Please bring in one small gift for a child.

Please feel free to stop in anytime to observe your kids. If you have any concerns or suggestions, please feel free to come and talk to us. Our door is always open!

See November Pictures here.

Itsy Bitsy Spiders (Twos)

By Ms Ana & Ms Amy

As the months get colder, this is a great opportunity to discuss the changes in weather. The two's are moving into their winter wonderland theme! We had so much fun learning about Thanksgiving, pumpkins, and scarecrows, but now we are going to share Christmas with you. So bring on the snowflakes and Christmas cheer because we have been very good all year!

This month, the two's will focus on the letter Gg and Hh, as well as the numbers 5 and 6. We will also spend time on shapes and colors. Parents, you can continue counting from 1-20 with your children, as well as singing your ABC's. Remember, practice makes perfect! Also, if you have been practicing with potty training, keep up the good work! We are really working hard in the two's classroom to master the potty. If you have any questions about potty training, come see me, I am glad to help.

Arts and crafts for December will be centered on our Winter Wonderland theme and, of course, the reason for our Christmas season! Don't forget about our Christmas Party on December 7th. If any parents would like to come in and celebrate with us, please feel free! Also, anytime you would like to come in and volunteer or just visit, don't hesitate to ask!

See November Pictures here.

Creative Caterpillars (Threes)

By Ms Monica and Ms Darlene & Ms Liz and Ms Ana

We had a lot of fun in October learning new letters and numbers, discovering things about animals we didn't know, and then ending the month with Halloween fun! We had a blast at our Thanksgiving luncheon! It was a lot of fun making our hats and hand turkeys.

This month we will start off learning the letter Ff, then review E, F, G and H, and end the month reviewing A-H. Parents, to help your child at home; you can go over the concept and sound of the letters we are learning each week. Our focus for numbers this month is 4-6. Again, go over the concept and count groups of 4, 5, and 6. We are also practicing learning numbers 1-15 on flashcards. You can help your child write their own name by tracing it and knowing the letters (in the right order). The Amber Lamb stories for the month are "Sharing is Fun", "A Trip to the Grocery Store "and" Amber is a Helper." The children love these stories and the puppets.

Ms. Liz and Ms. Ana

We have been having fun with science and learning about flowers, weather, making a healthy book, the trees, and seeds (there was a homework assignment on that one). I'm collecting one can per child. The ones that peas, beans, etc. come in is the size I need. I need these by December 12th, but bring them in as soon as you have them. Also, I'll be sending home a letter about the Christmas party soon. Please check your child's folder.

We are looking forward to the Christmas concert. Ask your child what we are singing in the concert and help them practice. We are going to have a lot of fun making Christmas projects and gifts.

If you have any question, please feel free to come in and talk with us.

Ms Monica and Ms. Darlene

I am very happy to announce that I have a new assistant in my classroom. The children will greatly benefit from Ms. Darlene's background as a Special Needs teacher in a public school setting. She has worked with children for over 17 years.

I also wanted to remind parents about our upcoming Christmas party and Production on the 7th. More information concerning the party and a sign up sheet will be posted in the classroom soon.

We are very excited about the many Christmas crafts we will complete, Cuddle Up & Read this month with Santa and going Christmas Caroling. Hope to see everyone there!

See November Pictures here.

Our Fantastic Fours

By Ms Vickie, Ms. Kathryn & Ms. Aimie

With the new winter season brings a few exciting changes. We will be adding a theme based approach to our curriculum in addition to our A Beka program. The themes for December will be Christmas and Winter.

We also wanted to make sure that all the parents knew about our change in the Christmas program from the 8th to the 7th. The time will remain the same with it being held at 6:30. We would like all of the children here at 6:00 for last minute prepping. If your child will not be attending, please let your teacher know as soon as possible, so they can make other arrangements for your child's speaking parts. All of the children have been working so hard and are very excited about the opportunity to perform.

Ms. Vickie & Ms. Virginia

We have been talking about enjoying pets and how to take care of them. The following activity might extend your child's understanding of the concepts we explained: with your child, cut out pictures of animals from magazines. Ask your child to sort and classify the pictures into groups either by species of animal or where the animal lives (farm, zoo, or house). After sorting the pictures, your child may want to make a poster of his favorite animals to hang in his/her room.

This month is our celebration of Christmas and the celebrating of Jesus who came to earth to bring us life and the gift of His love. The children are working hard to dramatize this wonderful night when the Light of Joy came to the world.

Ms. Kathryn & Ms. Jenna

We were thrilled to see so many of our parents in attendance at the Thanksgiving luncheon in November! We hope everyone enjoyed the food and our "Five Little Turkeys" song. This age group is always so much fun, but especially this time of year with all the holiday projects and opportunities to teach our students what it means to be thankful and how rewarding it can be to give to others.

In addition to our usual curriculum, this month we will be adding a special "Creative Arts" portion to our lesson plan"?rehearsing for our Christmas Play and making props. The individual lines each student will need to practice along with the songs we will sing as a group have been sent home for additional practice. Thanks for all your support at home- you are your child's first teacher!

Ms. Aimee & Ms. Pat

November has been a great month! We traveled around the world, learning about different cultures from Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands and ending with England, we had many great travels.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving luncheon. It really turned out to be a great success and we would like to thank everyone that came to share this giving time with your children.

This month we will be learning many new things, we will be covering the letters Ss, Cc, Dd, Gg, Rr and we will also be adding the numbers 9 and 10 to our numbers that we practice daily. We will be talking a lot about Christmas and the meaning of the holidays and why it's such a wonderful celebration.

In addition, we will be making new Christmas ornaments to hang on your trees and baking sugar cookies and other festive yummies.

Parents can help by practicing numbers and letter recognition at home. Also, it is always helpful to read to your child every night at least 20 minutes. It helps them learn to read words when you allow them to follow along. We are learning how to blend letters together. You can practice by sounding out words with them and having them sound out the letters back to you in order to make words. Also, you can count everything (how many apple slices at snack, how many people for dinner, etc).

If you have any questions, please feel free to come by my room anytime. We will do our best to help with any concerns that you may have. 

See November Pictures here.

December 10th - ACA Shopping Day Out - 10am - 3pm

December 16th - One for Books Deadline

Are You Documenting Your Child's Growth?

Winteris here and that means cooler weather, holidays, and outdoor fun! Think of all those memories that will be captured by photography this fall.

Learn & Master Photography is the newest course in an award- winning line of Learn & Master courses produced to take those flat, dark, blurry photos and make them come alive!

Reminder #1 Parent Involvement

We always want to make sure parents know they are welcome at any time. We always need parents to read books to children, participate in our fun activities or stop by to eat lunch with us!

Reminder #2: Tuition

A friendly reminder that all tuition is due on Fridays even if your child is out. (To avoid a late fee)

Reminder #3: Jackets and Layered Clothing

Please remember that even though we live in Florida it still gets cold outside in the winter. We need all of our children to bring their jackets otherwise it can limit playground and fun time outside. Thanks for making sure we always have warmer clothing on hand!