School Announcements

By ACA

School Spirit
Help your child show their ACA school spirit by participating in our monthly Spirit Day being held on the last Thursday of each month.

On spirit day everyone wears their ACA t-shirts to school and it's a chance for our school photographer, Elise Kersey, to get great photos and for each class to have lots of fun sharing their school pride.

Don't let your child miss out on our ACA spirit day coming up on October 26th!

(School Tshirts can be purchased in the front office for $10 if you don't already have one)

Change in Director
On October 17th we will officially be changing our school director from Ms Pat to Ms Jackie. We are really excited about moving Ms Jackie into this position and feel really fortunate that Ms Pat was able to serve as our Director for so many years.

This came as a request from Ms Pat during the past year and we have spent a lot of time preparing for this transition. Do not worry, Ms Pat is staying on with us to serve in our classrooms but had felt that the stress of the director position was becoming too much for her.

Please congratulate both Ms Pat and Ms Jackie when you see them. From working with Ms Pat so closely I can tell you that she is a truly wonderful person with a really big heart that loves children and I am really excited that she will continue to be with us!

Ms Jackie will bring a new energy to our school and really be able to assist ACA with implementing some of the positive changes that parents have given us feedback about!

Back to School Breakfast
We also had a really successful 1st day of school breakfast for the preschool age "back to schoolers"!

Click here if you want to see photos of "back to school"

Community Photos
We are looking for photos of our kids being active in the community wearing their ACA shirts. If you have any you can send to us, please reply to this email with the photo attached.

Parent-Teacher Conferences
We are discussing implementing Parent-Teacher conferences and wanted to get feedback from our parents first. What type of information would you like discussed? What children's ages would it seem beneficial? How often? Etc. I want to personally thank one of our parents for writing an inspiring letter about some of our teachers and including this great recommendation.

If you have some feedback you would like to provide please email Jackie back by replying to this email.

Holiday Fundraiser
Now that fall is officially here, it's time to start thinking about the holidays.
This year ACA will participate in Operation Christmas Child!

For those of you who haven't heard of it, every year thousands of shoe boxes, filled with gifts and a story about God and His love, are shipped across the world to kids in need to help bring joy and spread the word of Jesus.

We will be asking each child to donate a box. We feel each child should learn the gift of giving as well as receiving and this is certainly an opportunity to do so.

Click Here To Learn More About Getting Started

Promoting Early Reading

By ACA

Calling all preschool families to begin reading to your children, daily, starting today!!! Children's books help newborn babies and toddlers up to 2 years of age to discover the joy of reading.

As parents of young children, we should all strive to achieve the positive effects of reading aloud to children by reading to our children for at LEAST 20 minutes a day. Twenty minutes equals about 2-4 stories, so use the list below as a guide and begin reading to your children today.

Please follow this link to see the "Kids Recommended Reading List" by age group provided by the American Library Association.

Also, please join special guest:

• Max City Dog
• Plato the Pulixaurus
• The UF Jugglers
• The Chick Fil A Cow
• and many more

at the 23rd Family Literacy Festival on Saturday, October 8th, 2011 from 10am to 12pm at the Alachua County Library Headquarters on E University Ave. You can visit their WebPage for more details and we hope to see you all there. (Have the kids wear their ACA t shirts to show off our school spirit!)


PS - Also we encourage our parents to come in and read to the classrooms at story time. If you would like to show off your story telling skills please let your teacher know so that we can get that scheduled ASAP!

Mommy Day Out Program

By A Child's Academy

Do you know a Busy Gainesville Mom that doesn't need full time care but wishes they could find more time in the day?

We have created a new drop in care program that allows our Gainesville Mom's to get their to do lists checked off!

Click here to find out more and to get on our priority list

We also would love your help getting the word out! Please use the link and either forward by email or post on your facebook wall!

Roli Polies (Infants)

By Ms June & Ms Gail

With the fall season finally upon us, we can now start to explore the changes around us. On our walks, we will be looking at the different color leaves and flowers. We will also be reading little stories of the autumn season.

A couple of our little ones have graduated to the toddler room. We miss them, but we are having fun with our new arrivals!

Click Here for Photos from September

Busy Bees (Toddlers)

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

It's Halloween this month and we'll have loads of fun carving pumpkins and celebrating fall with a party. Last month, we dressed the children in cowboy and cowgirl hats and sat them on a rocking horse. They had such a great time and really enjoyed the wild wild west theme.

This month we'll be making pumpkins, ghosts, and witches. We'll also be taking the kids outside to find spider webs. The letters of the month are "B" and "O." We'll be learning the number "1" and making funny faces and finding spider webs.

There are many ways you can help your child learn the activities at home. When you are out on the town, point out and identify pumpkins or other Halloween related objects to your child. Point out the colors black and orange wherever you may be. Repetition like this really helps your child learn so much more quickly.

We will be celebrating Halloween this month and parents can help by bringing a Halloween snack for the children and dressing their child with their favorite costume and coming to any events we have to support and enjoy our children.

Don't forget to please bring your child to come in their favorite costume and we hope everyone enjoys a spooky Halloween...BOO!

Click Here for Photos from September

Itsy Bitsy Spiders (Twos)

By Ms Ana & Ms Amy

We're closing the farm gate on September's theme of farm animals as we move into October! We had a hay day on the farm, but now it's time to move onto colors!

Although we had a lot of fun learning all the names and sounds of farm animals, we are so excited to focus on colors this month. We'll learn all about primary colors as well as colors associated with fall. We'll reviews numbers 1-2 and move onto numbers 3-4. We also will keep counting to 20. The letters we'll be focusing on this month will be "B, C, and D."

Make sure to count 1-20 at home with your child and continue to sing the "ABCs." Just a few minutes every evening can make such a big difference! Parents can also ask their child what colors various objects around the house are.

Parents are welcome to come in and help with any daily activities as well as with our Halloween party at the end of the month.

October will also bring us many fun fall activities including fall colors, painting pumpkins, and our Halloween party! Please feel free to contact us with any questions or if you would like to come in!

Click Here for Photos from September

Creative Caterpillars (Threes)

By Ms Monica

We're off to a great start this year! We are learning our letters, numbers, and manners, so let's keep up the good work! Last month, we were getting ready for school by learning the school rules as well as how to line up. We had lots of fun making school buses!

This month is exciting as we will be talking about the weather and celebrating fall! We'll be making fall art with leaves, going on a nature walk to collect different leaves, playing hide and seek with leaves, and playing fun outside games like kickball and tag!

We will be learning the letters "C, D, and E" as well as the sound each letter makes. We'll also learn our numbers 1-10. You can help your child learn at home in many ways. Ask your child about Connie the Cow for the letter C, Dexter the Donkey for the letter D, and Ellie the Elephant for the letter E. Help them sound out each letter and look for the letters when you are out and about!

Don't forget about our fall party! We are so excited to celebrate fall and would love your help. There will be a sign up sheet for refreshments for the party, so please be on the look out. Speaking of helping out, please feel free to come by whenever you like to see the activities we're doing as well as the behavior chart.

We would love to see all of our parents!

Click Here to see Photos from September

Brilliant Butterflies (Older Threes)

By Ms. Liz

The school year has started off with a bang. The children have had a blast learning about colors, shapes, and making their colors and shapes book as well as learning about their bodies during the God Made Me week.

Some special things we enjoyed were making tye-dye apples, apple stamps with real apples, and drawing a picture of "me." Every morning during our outside play we play a game or learn something new. We've had races, played tag, I spy, football, kickball, soccer, jump, hop, and run, Mother May I, skipping, running, balance, and red light green light.

We've started learning our ABC's, starting with the letter "A." The children will learn a letter a week then review. I sent home three pages with the exact words I use for the concept. Please practice with your child at home. It only takes ten minutes a night and it will really help them in class.

We've also started to learn our numbers. I've taught the concept of 1 and 2 and 1-5 flashcards. We'll spend two weeks on one number. By the end of the year, your child will be able to write numbers 1-15 and recognize 1-30. It's important to practice writing the numbers at home as your child is learning them in school. I'm working on sending home the concept of 1-15 with the exact words I use.

We'll be doing science once a week. They've really enjoyed learning about rainbows, our bodies, the planets, and how to make a bird treat. Science will range from hands on projects to worksheets where they will learn something about the earth or trees, etc. go over the worksheets with your child. It's very interesting and would be fun to do with your child.

I've read stories from "Growing Up With Amber Lamb" (puppets included). They're cute short stories that go along with what we're learning and there's a moral to every story. I've also read from the "Poems and Finger Play" book.

We've done poems with "A" and "B" things. We've worked on habits and I've weighed and measured their height.

There are many ways to help your child. Although I've listed a few things you can do already, here are a few more: as you're driving around town, shopping, or even sitting on the couch, ask what color objects are or point out different shapes you see.

We'll be having parties this year for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and an end of the year celebration. I'll be sending home a letter before each one explaining how I do the parties and what to bring. You are more than welcome to come to all of them.

I'm really looking forward to this school year. I know the children are too! I have new hours and I leave at 3:30, so I won't get to see some of you. Feel free to leave me a note on my desk if you need to let me know something or ask a question.

Click Here to see Photos from September

Our Fantastic Fours

By Ms Vickie, Ms. Kathryn & Ms. Aimie

Emotionally, children are completely exposed. Whatever they feel, they show. When they are happy, they are happy all over. When they are angry, they are angry all over. Their moods change readily- one minute tears, the next laughter. They love and are happy when things go well. They hate and are angry when things are not going their way.

Growth is required for children to move from self-centeredness to begin thinking of others and getting along with others. You can talk to your child about being kind and loving, but this is one thing children must learn from firsthand experience. Only as children experience love, friendliness, and kindness with adults can they grow in understanding and awareness of being loved and accepted, thus freeing them to love others.

This month, we will focus on "feelings" (happy, sad, scared, surprised) and how feelings change. Discussing various moods and emotions can help children learn positive ways to cope with their feelings.
Academically, we will learn the names and sounds for the vowels first, then the consonants. Forming blends and reading simple words comes naturally after that. As they learn the letter names/sounds, they also learn to write them.

Spiritual emphasis include such topics as, "God gave me ears to hear and eyes to see," "God Made Me," "I am Wonderfully Made," "Jesus said, 'I love you'" and "Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me.'"
One activity in which parents can help their child to learn the concepts taught this month is to make playdough. Children enjoy squeezing, pounding, and pretending with play dough. Allow your child to measure and mix ingredients. As you work together, talk about the amount of the ingredients being used. This will help your child learn terms of measurement. Use the following play dough recipe:

1 cup flour 1 cup water
½ cup salt 1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar (do not omit)
Food coloring

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil, water, and food coloring. Cook in a nonstick pan or electric skillet. Stir constantly because the mixture thickens quickly. Cook until the dough becomes one large ball. This process takes no more than three minutes. Place on wax paper. Knead until smooth and cool. Store in an air-tight container. Provide a small rolling pin and cookie cutters. Allow your child to enjoy the pleasant-feeling dough in constructive ways.

Click Here for Photos from September

Are You Documenting Your Child's Growth?

Fall is here and that means cooler weather, football, 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)