July/ August 2009

Direct From the Executive Director
 Ricci Wasserman M.A., P.D.

Greetings and happy summer to all.

 I always start off this July newsletter extolling the beauty and excitement of the June graduations but fear that I might sound redundant.  On the other hand each year is unique and so wonderful.  The air is filled with smiles and excitement.  So many of our graduates have shared our lives since they were in our baby rooms.  Their siblings attended or attend our school.  We have all enjoyed seeing these children and their families grow and develop.  For us, that’s the Hokey Pokey (what its all about).  So I must start the July newsletter here each year.

Another topic I have brought up over the past 26 years of Prime Time is sex in the preschool. Summertime and sex education in the preschool often go hand in hand.  Four and five year olds are very observant and verbal.  They notice the anatomical differences between the sexes as summer clothing covers less.  Not only do they notice “regular” folks but pregnant ones as well.  They have all sorts of questions and often blurt them out at most inconvenient times.  Often parents are embarrassed by the questions and floored by the challenges of wise and appropriate answers.

I have always felt that if we properly acknowledge and name ALL body parts for children from infancy they will be free to talk about their bodies with adults.  We can’t run away from their questions so, by opening a dialogue early-on, we establish trust.  I support the idea of only telling them when they ask and, in a language they can understand without too much technicality.  They will ask for more information as they go along.  Good luck, this is a 20 year challenge.

Next, I wanted to address our September price increase.  We typically have a 5% annual increase that coincides with most staff salary reviews (staff comprises 70 % of our budget), benefits, rent increases etc…  We will have this increase in September but we will continue the 5% incentive for parents who pay by check.  Please check with the office to see your new tuition.  While you’re at it, please update your child’s medical, your telephone and emergency contacts and e-mail address. Having these e-mail contacts have made it SO much easier to keep in contact with you.  Many of you forward our newsletters to your family as well so we all keep in touch.  Excellent!

Lastly, since January 2009 our Regional Educational Director, Nancy Nathanson, B.S. has been working with her center based educational directors to update our curriculum.  She will be rolling it out this fall and will speak of it at our Back to School meetings.  We are very excited about the curriculum and are eager to see it being implemented.  See you in September.

Direct from the Director
Jan DeNichilo

"Let the sun shine!"  This is what we at Prime Time wish for the months of July and August.  June was a very wet and dreary month, weather wise, but here at school we were sunny and doing lots of fun and exciting events.

Our Pre-K Graduation was a huge success.  Thirty-six graduates participated in a wonderful program full of songs.  Children explained what they learned each month and presented a great slide show highlighting their busy day at school throughout the year.  The program culminated with the children receiving their diplomas and enjoying some cake and drink while dancing to Mr. Geo's great music.

We are now beginning our summer program.  All children from ages 12 months and up will participate in water play during the summer.  Please remember to check your child's bin and replace winter clothes with summer clothes.  Don’t forget swimmies for the children not potty trained.  All other children should have a bathing suit, water shoes, towel, and sun tan lotion.  If you do not want your child to participate please let their teacher know.

All children 3 and up can join our Summer Camp program.  If your child is not potty trained, they will only join the activities in our school.  If they are 3 1/2 and potty trained, they can join our field trip program.  We have info about camp in the hallway and you can also come to the office if you have any questions.

We at Prime Time strive to have your children enjoy their summer with us.  We do different outside activities that are age appropriate and we do incorporate circle time, art and other activities that enhance their learning experience while still enjoying the summer.

We are closed Friday, July 3rd in observance of Independence Day.  Enjoy your long weekend!

Attached to the newsletter are the July and August calendars which reflect the activities for the younger children during the summer.  Younger means anyone under the age of 3.

If your child is going on vacation, please sign the attached sheet and give it to the teacher.  This way we can judge our scheduling for the summer, because our teachers will also be going away on vacation.

I hope everyone has a great summer and we will be talking again in September!

Teachers of the Month

Ms. Penninah and her assistants are my choice this month.  I want to take this time to recognize what an outstanding job Ms. Penninah did this past year.  Due to a set of last minute changes last September, Ms. Penninah was called upon to take over the Pre-K Class.  This was a very big task for her to take, due to the fact that Ms. Penninah goes to school 3 days a week and she is also our Education Director for the entire school.

Penninah inherited a very large Pre-K Class, but Ms. Penninah and her assistants were more than ready for the challenge.  They broke the classroom up into many different centers, they utilized the other side of the room for Art and Sensory centers during the morning.  Mr. Carlos, Ms. Carolina, Ms. Luisana, and Ms. Stephanie were always engaged with the children while Ms. Penninah oversaw and directed the educational part of her class.

Circle time was fun and exciting, students did many writing and sight word activities.  Centers played a huge role in teaching the children role playing, sharing and how to socialize with children in different settings.

Pre-K is a time to prepare for Kindergarten and based on research that has been done about Early Childhood Development, Prime Time is following the most age appropriate curriculum.

Kudos to Ms. Penninah and her staff for a great year and a great Pre-K graduation show!

Educational Corner 
Regional Education Director
Nancy Nathanson, BS

LOVE & LEARN

The delightful children’s classic, Caps for Sale is a good reminder that much like the monkeys in the story, children imitate our behavior.  When we shout in anger, tenderly comfort a child, cringe at the sight of a spider or put away our dirty clothes in the hamper, our children are likely to follow our example. 

Children also live up to our expectations.  If we expect a two year old to be terrible, they will be.  If we expect a six year old to make good choices, they will.  Adults make a huge difference in how children approach life.  How do we help them to learn self-control?  Do they trust us?  Do they feel competent?  Or are they angry…jealous… fearful…restless…frustrated…lacking in self-esteem?  These and other emotions and behaviors take a long time for children to develop – starting at birth. 

The question then becomes, what can parents do to encourage our children to become responsible, self-controlled adults?  When we look at ways for children to be healthy and strong emotionally, we must first have a fundamental understanding of child development and common behaviors.  With this knowledge as a basis, we can enable children to develop self-control by exercising the following behaviors ourselves:
 *expecting them to act a certain way
 *setting reasonable and positive expectations
 *respecting their feelings
 *trusting them to succeed
 *offering them good choices
 *talking about problems calmly
Children need a consistent, positive approach to become emotionally mature.  Consistency and clarity about acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are essential components of this disciplinary style.  Expressing pride, confidence and love toward our children will enable them to learn to trust us.  By implementing this “Love & Learn” approach as parents, we are giving the priceless lifetime gift of emotional good health to our children.  
 
Question of the Month:   
What is your favorite part of summer?

T-Rex
Ethan -  I play with a doggy
Joshua - Summer camp!
Lindsay - Play at the beach
Kaylie - I swim
Daniel - Find Seashells
Samantha - I like to play in the water and make sand castles
Joseph - You head down to the shore
Max - I go on an airplane up high
Daniela - Play
Nirio - I go to the beach
Ela - I like to swim
Sania - I go and play outside
Sohei - I like water
Susie - I like to pick flowers
Isabella - I like to play with Max
Asuka - Play Dinosaurs
Rino - Butterfly catching
Maya - I like to ride my bicycle to the ice cream shop with Olivia
 
Sneek - A - Peek

Brontos
This morning as I entered the Brontos' Class, I was just in time for the Brontos' Time to Shine Talent Show.  This show I was told has become quite a friendly addition to their morning circle.  The kids are ready and the show is about to begin!

Justin, Louis, and Daniel first get the group laughing with a few tummy ticklers.

While Grace, Annibel and Gigi C. followed with a few of their graceful moves of Ballet, Ela is the morning vocalist and last but not least...

Noa, Lucy, Jaclynn, and Jasmin end off the show with some of the most creative stories you will ever hear!

What a talented bunch!!

Can't wait to see what new talents surface in the next week.

Way to go Brontos!!

Angels 1
This afternoon the Angels 1 class have much to do as they continue their journey with learning the letters of the Alphabet.  Today they explore the letter of the month which is 'S'. With a handful of things to do, this group decides to take things one step at a time.

First of course there had to be some singing.

Second - yes, there was also some bouncing

Next - There was absolutely some smiling

And Finally - it was time to glue some stars and smiley faces onto the fancy shaped letter.  This part was clearly their favorite.

Ms. Shirley and Ms. Farie also helped the children as they pronounced all sorts of words that begin with the letter 'S'.

Star, Sun, Snake. Snow, and Smile

Great job Angels 1!!

Staff Birthdays
July
Ms. Elvana 7/5

August
Ms. Eliana  8/7
Ms. Jacqui  8/10
Ms. Stephanie  8/11
Ms. Leidy  8/21
Ms. Elsa  8/9

Staff Anniversaries
July August
Ms. Lorena  2yrs Ms. Jan  11yrs
Ms. Roseanne  5yrs Ms. Tracy  4yrs
Ms. Leidy  1yr Ms. Valarie  3yrs
Ms. Jessica  1 yr Mr. Carlos  1yr
Ms. Xiomara  1yr Ms. Carolina  4yrs