School Age-July 2017

Hooray it’s summer! We have had a fantastic start to our summer break!  This has been a very busy month filled with so many different activities and games.

The School Agers and Preschoolers watched a movie together on our movie day. We also started our water days; we all get so soaked and muddy!

Our first field trip we went on was to Kildonan Park; even though it was raining we all had a blast. We did some exploring, playing on the structures, doing lots of games, and visited the ducks.

We brought in our bikes and helmets and had 2 bike days! MPI even came to the Centre and set up an obstacle course for us to use with our bikes; we also learned proper bike safety and the rules of the road.

We had summer games week in the School Age Room, so we created our own GIANT Candy Land board game. We had set it up so each square was a different exercise move; we all worked up a sweat. We also hosted a gym riot for the School Agers and Preschoolers, everyone got involved and had a blast.

The School Agers baked lots of different goodies and had a bake sale right outside the Centre. They did everything on their own! We raised 200 dollars for the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter! GO TEAM!

We had  Mad Science come to the Centre to show us science experiments. We watched what happens when hot and cold water is mixed with dry ice. We also got a special treat at the end.  It was great!

Preschool-July 2017

The Preschool Program had a blast in July.  We went on a school bus to Kildonan Park where we played lots of games and explored the beautiful forests and gardens surrounding the park.  It rained that day, but that didn't stop us from having the BEST time.

We had water day at the Centre and the children had a blast running through the sprinklers.  We also got very muddy and we had to use the hose to clean us off before coming inside.  It was so much fun.

We have been focusing on learning our colours in July. We had a colour scavenger hunt around town and we saw all the colours that make our community beautiful.  We each had a bag and collected treasures along the way.

We made some pretty wonderful memories together in July and we cannot wait to see the fun August brings.

Infant Room- July 2017

This month we said good-bye to our friends, Eleanor and Lily, who moved up to the Preschool Program.  We would like to welcome three new friends to the program, Keaton, Bo, and Scarlett.  We are excited to have you in our room!

Thank you to Carissa and Kevin, Kristel and Kevin, and Lesley and Justin for the wonderful toy donations we have received for the Infant Program.  You kindness and generosity are greatly appreciated!

July was a fun month, with lots of exciting activities for our infants.  They enjoyed picnics, one at Ashland Park and another at the Rec Centre.  The children have been having a blast on our water days and they really enjoy when we set up the tent and pretend we are camping.  We also LOVED the bouncy castle that visited us in July. 

We can't wait for the excitement coming in August.  It should be a great month!

School-Age - June

Science, science, science in the school age room.  We did so many different science experiments and activities.  We did some activities that involved making our own launchers, lego zip lines and created our own slime.

We had to say farewell to one of our school age staff, Connie.  She will be missed dearly but before she left we made sure to throw her a fun party!  We made her a book we created ourselves and had lots of freezies on such a hot day!

Figet spinners have been the talk of the town!  A lot of children were creating their own out of different materials they found around the Centre.  It sure did keep them busy.

We spent a lot of our time in the outdoors, going for walks to Ashland Park, going to the Rec Centre to play games and going for adventures around the town.  The school agers definitely enjoy the outdoors!

We celebrated Canada day in our Centre on the same day as the first day of summer break - it made for quite the celebration!  We ate poutine, had games at the Rec Centre, did TONS of crafts and ended the day with a magic show by Mr. Richards.  It was a great start to our summer break!

Director's Corner

June was a BUSY month here at the centre.  We had lots going on, and there are still some exciting things to look forward to.  Take a look at the month in review:

Fundraising:

We had our 2nd quarter fundraiser (To-Le-Do Foodservice and Kernels Popcorn).  Both were a huge success!  Thank you for all of your Fundraising efforts!  We would also like to congratulate Candace B. and her family for selling the most product.  Candace won 2 Children's Cineplex passes for being our top seller. 

We hosted our first Paint Nite on June 2nd.  The day was sweltering hot, but the evening was calm, cool, and enjoyable for all.  Those who attended had a wonderful time.  Thank you to the following individuals/businesses for your Silent Auction prize donations:

Scott Anderson of Ideal Mortgage Solutions (Thermea Gift Certificate):
Email: scott@idealmtg.ca

Lori Anderson (Body Sugaring Services)

Lisa Lewko of Kick Start Health (Personal Training)
Email: lisagordon6@hotmail.com

Candace Boyd of ItWorks Canada (ItWorks Products)

Jody Watson of Fort Whyte Alive (1 Year Membership)

And all of our families for their Bath and Body works donations.

AGM:

We had a wonderful turnout at our AGM.  With the BBQ, Open House, and Bouncer, the evening was filled with fun (and of course, a little bit of Daycare Business).  It was great to see our families out to support the centre, learn how we run as a not-for-profit, and understand the role of our Board of Directors.  We would like to welcome Justin H., Lesley H., Kristel K-S., and Candace H. to our Board.  We are looking forward to working with them in the years to come.


Leasehold Improvements:

We are currently undergoing some renovations to the inside of our centre.  Last week we had the whole place painted (check out our facebook page for pictures).  Things are looking great.  The next step will be the window treatments, followed by the installation of new lockers and some new furniture.  We will be taking lots of photos of the transformation.  We can't wait to see it all finished!

We will be doing a complete green space overhaul this summer as well.  We have created a plan with the staff and Green Space Committee, worked with Kyle Taylor of Lawson Surveying and Consulting, got the stamp of approval from an Engineer, and we are now confirming the company that will be doing the work.  Once this has been confirmed, a start date for the work will be set and a plan for outdoor play will be sent to all families.  Stay tuned for more details! 

Staffing:

We said good-bye to Kaylene, Kyla, and Connie in July and Kristen will be leaving this month.  Amy's last day will be July 28th before she goes on Maternity Leave.  We will miss her dearly, but we are excited to watch her become a parent for the first time.  Jill is our new Summer Student in the School Age Room and Brooke is back from her tree-planting adventure to cover summer holidays in every program.

We are currently accepting resumes for ECE IIs (one permanent full time position in the Older Floor Preschool Program and one Maternity Leave position in the Younger Floor Preschool Program).

Preschool Room-June 2017

Here comes the sun!  Lots of changes have been happening at the centre, but we look forward to new opportunities and adventures as summer sets in.

We celebrated with Kaylene and Kyla and reminisced on some fun memories we made together at the centre before they moved on to their new adventures.  We will miss them!

The Older Floor preschool group has taken advantage of the beautiful weather by playing and eating outside as often as we can.  The children in this group are very creative, and they have enjoyed a lot of dramatic/imaginary play.  The room has been filled with pretend pirates, tourists, pilots, restaurant guests/staff, and many other interesting characters.  It is so wonderful to see where their imaginations can take them.

The Younger Floor preschool group has been focusing a lot on nature this month. They planted some "magic" beans and they have done many animal and nature-based art work.  They have also been going on lots of walks within our beautiful town and they have enjoyed many picnics together.

Infant Room-June 2017

What an exciting month we had in June!  Roberta's dog had a litter of puppies, and last month they were finally ready to come for a visit.  The children loved giving them hugs and kisses and watching them play and run around.  They were fascinated by how soft their fur was.  Some were very sad to see the puppies go, but we are so happy that we got the opportunity to meet them.  Thanks Roberta!

We had some beautiful weather last month and we spent a lot of time outside in the play yard.  We had many picnics outside and we enjoyed the warm sun on our faces.  We also did a lot of exploration of the nature all around us.  We picked dandelions and smelled them, we found rocks and named the colours we saw on the rocks, and we gathered sticks and practiced counting 1-10.

We used our gross motor skills and practiced running and climbing everywhere.  We really like climbing over the ladybug hill in our play space and jumping off of it!  We can't wait to get a natural hill when our play space gets renovated in the coming months!

We hope to have nice weather throughout July so that we can keep on playing and learning outside.