Our last book order will be sent in this week for the school year.  Suzanne Mohs our book lady informed us that this year our school library increased by 48 new books, 3 new puzzles and 4 games.  The Scholarship Book Club gives parents and children a wonderful way to purchase best selling children books at reduced prices.   The books are often the award books because they represent outstanding authors and illustrators.

Our school benefits because we get bonus points.  For the bonus points we are able to get new books, games and puzzles. 

Our last book order will be sent in this week for the school year.  Suzanne Mohs our book lady informed us that this year our school library increased by 48 new books, 3 new puzzles and 4 games.  The Scholarship Book Club gives parents and children a wonderful way to purchase best selling children books at reduced prices.   The books are often the award books because they represent outstanding authors and illustrators.

Our school benefits because we get bonus points.  For the bonus points we are able to get new books, games and puzzles. 

                                    Calling All Moms and Grandmas:

Before they hatched we learned a fun poem:

Peck Peck Peck

On a soft brown egg.

Out comes a neck,

Out comes a leg.

How Does a chick whose not be about

Discover the trick of how to get out!

(author- unknown)

The poem led us to discuss and draw pictures of other animals that hatch out of eggs.

The question off how long we are going to keep them ?  Depends on how big they get.

It is so hard to believe that it is already a new year!  Hopefully your holidays were enjoyable and relaxing.  They tend to always be a little chaotic and although we look forward to them, most of us are glad that the craziness is over.  As you have noticed, we are busy working away at the construction in our Infant/Toddler Building.  I have been down there checking on it periodically and am excited to share it with you when it is completed.  We have remodeled one of the bathrooms so that the middle room will have full access to the bathroom and we added a washer and dryer so that laundry can be done on site.  Both buildings have had new heaters and air conditioners put on the roof (bring on the warm weather! J)  The kitchen area in the middle room was removed giving the children more area to play in.  And in the very last room, our new Teddy Bear Room, is where will be opening our infant room.  A new sink and counter were put in the room for preparing bottles and a more age appropriate diaper-changing table were added.  Fresh paint and new flooring are the final things that we are waiting for so that we can start moving furniture in and welcome our new children!  We will have limited space available due to licensing requirements and physical space so tell your friends to call to be put on our list now as space will fill quickly.  Look for many exciting changes to happen the next couple of weeks as we transition back into our regular classrooms and new families and staff join our Y.E.S. family!

Please help me welcome Ms. Ta’neka.  Ms. Ta’neka has five years of experience working in centers in Iowa before moving to Tucson and is working with Ms. Pam in our twos/threes room.  She has come in and been a wonderful addition to our staff.  She is amazing with the children and has quickly learned the children’s names and needs.  She is eager to learn all of our parents’ names as well.  The children really enjoy her upbeat, outgoing personality as she is sitting on the floor interacting, singing and dancing with them all day!

As always, please feel free to let me know if you ever have any questions, concerns, or compliments! J

Young Explorers Turns 41 Years Old!

January 2012 marks the 41^st Birthday of Young Explorers Schools.  Dr. Filomena Brooks and her husband, Roger have been the owners of the two schools the entire time and the philosophy and mission statement have continued to touch the lives many over the past forty-one years.  In fact, there are many parents who attended themselves as children who are now bringing their children to Y.E.S. because of the experiences they had.  We are so glad that each and every one of you are here and for each of you who have had a part in the school’s success!

Referral Credit

Did you know for each new family that you refer to Y.E.S. you get a $25 credit off your childcare bill?  As soon as the family enrolls, you will receive a certificate that can be used at your convenience.

Tax Statement Reminder

Childcare expenses can be written off on your taxes.  There is a sign up sheet on the counter to request a tax statement if you need one.  Please let me know if there are special circumstances so that I can accommodate those when doing your statement.

Tuition Reminder

Please remember that tuition is due on Mondays.  If your payment is not received by Wednesday, a $15.00 late fee will be assessed.  DES Payments are due by the 15^th of each month or a $15.00 late fee will be assessed as well.  Scholarship families must keep their account current to continue eligibility on the program.  Please talk to Carri if you need to make special payment arrangements.  If you pay with checks, please include your child’s first and last name in the “Memo” part of the check.  To avoid confusion or incorrect information, please direct any questions regarding your account to Carri only.

Birthday Treats

Children love to celebrate their birthday at school with their friends and they are welcome to bring in snacks to share.  Birthday treats must be store bought (because it’s prepared in a licensed kitchen) and Dr. Fil’s only request is no cupcakes, please.  Cookies, pudding or Jell-O Cups, Yogurt, fruit snacks, etc are better choices.

Dress For Mess

During the day your child explores with paint, mud, water, play dough, etc.  Although we encourage the children to wear smocks, sometime clothes tend to get wet or dirty during their exploration.  It is important that each child have an extra set of clothes in their cubby at all times so they can be clean and dry.  Also, please send your child to school in clothes that you don’t mind if paint, play dough, shaving cream, or mud gets on them.

Simple Learning Activities To Do At Home

There are many simple, every day activities that children can help you with that are teaching opportunities.  For example, sorting and matching socks is a math activity because they are comparing and contrasting.  Simple baking projects are science activities because there is a change in the separate ingredients that occur when they are mixed together and cooked.  Reading books together and talking about the pictures and the story helps to enhance their communication and imagination.  Playing with play dough is a great way to strengthen the muscles in the children’s fingers and hands.  This is help them be able to hold a pencil and cut with scissors later down the road.  Running, jumping, and climbing help to develop gross motor skills.

Bubble Recipe

6 cups of water

2 cups of Dawn

Mix together and store in an airtight container.  There are numerous things that can be used to create bubbles…hands, plastic berry baskets, wire hangers shaped into various shapes, PVC pipe with a cheese cloth at the end, toilet paper roll with a nylon on the end, plastic water bottle with the bottom cut off covered with a washcloth, the “handle” that keeps two bottles of juice together (when bought from Costco)…the possibilities are endless!

Variation to recipe: Add 2 Tbs of glycerin to help strengthen the bubbles

More Photos

In addition to the creating of the art work, children also have practice using scissors which enables them to develop their small motor skills. It is always rewarding to watch them spend time peeling the backing and feeling they have accomplished a major achievement.

Young Explorers Schools truly appreciate Sue and SignAge for supplying us with the vinyl. “Sticky Paper Art” is a big exciting and rewarding art experience for us!

New Staff Members
Please help us welcome our new staff members. Ms. Monique is our new school age teacher and is closing with Ms. Shenise. She worked at a couple of childcare centers and was a nanny before coming to Young Explorers School. She is a trumpet player in a Mariachi Band and enjoys sports and being active. Ms. Vanessa is a volunteer who worked in a childcare center at Empire High School while she was attending school. She really enjoys helping out the teachers and doing activities with the children. She has loved children since she young and always knew she wanted to work in a childcare center.

Fall Carnival
Thank you to all of your who joined us at the carnival and those who helped bake or volunteer your time. The families who attended seemed to really enjoy themselves!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Our annual Thanksgiving dinner will be held on Friday, November 18th. We will begin serving dinner at 5:45 p.m. There is no cost to you, but we are asking that our families donate nonperishable food that we will take to the food bank the week of November 21st. There will be boxes in the office for the food. To prepare for the dinner the children will be busy from now until then making decorations and helping prepare side dishes for the meal. Please RSVP soon so that we have an idea of how much food to prepare.

Attendance
We need an estimate of how many children will be attending each day by 9:30 a.m. for staffing and meal preparation. If your child will be in after 9:30, please call and let us know. Also, we are required by Arizona Department of Health Services to keep an illness log. If your child is ill, please call and let us know.

When you bring your child in, please sign them in and then take them to their classroom. In the evenings, please pick up your child and then sign them out. Since we are part of the food program, we have to keep accurate records of how many meals that we serve to the children and the sign in sheets must match up to the meal service times. Thank you!

Holidays
The following days Young Explorers Schools will be closed on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th for Thanksgiving and Friday, December 23rd for Christmas for Holidays. Please mark your calendars and make arrangements for childcare on these days.

Warm Clothes
Please make sure your children are dressed for the weather because we will continue to play outside daily. It will be chilly in the mornings and evenings so please make sure your child has a jacket or sweatshirt daily. Make sure you swap out your child’s extra summer clothes for warm clothes to keep in their cubby in case of accidents. Please make sure your child has a blanket in their cubby for rest time as well.

Infant Room Coming Soon…
We will begin construction on our infant room and minor remodel and repairs to the school in the next few weeks. Your quality of care that your child receives will never be compromised and the safety and well being of your child will always be the top priority throughout the entire process. The blue prints will be available for your viewing if you are interested in seeing exactly what will be done. Any questions or concerns should be directed to Ms. Carri. We have a waiting list started as our spots will be limited due to licensing capacity. We do not have tuition prices available at this time.

Dramatic Play Centers
The teachers are frequently changing out the dramatic play centers in the classrooms to make them into restaurants, beauty shops, grocery stores, post offices, police station, etc. If you have any nonworking small appliances (i.e. hair dryers, toasters, coffee pots, adding machines, etc.), pots/pans, dishes, empty food containers (washed out, please), dress up clothes…we would love to have them. The children love having real items to play with.

Science Centers
We are also working on enhancing our science centers in the classrooms. Items like interesting rocks, cactus spines, empty beehives, leaves, metal to use with magnets, bugs…the list is endless and provide the children with new experiences to observe and discover new things.

Parking Lot
Please be considerate of each other and follow the arrows marked in the front parking lot. The south driveway is the entrance and the north is an exit. Please park to one side or the other so that there is room for multiple cars to park. It is a small area and tends to get pretty congested at times but if we all work together, hopefully things will go smoothly at drop off and pick up.

Where have all the pumpkins gone? Well at Young Explorers our pumpkins have gone on to the boil and smash detail. We are gearing up for our annual Thanksgiving Feast. The Thanksgiving Dinner will be served on Thursday, November 17, at 5:45 p.m. 6:45 p.m. This has been our tradition for over 38 years. Please make your reservations early so we can have a head count. The cost will be your donation of food or cash donations for the Community Food Bank.

CURRICULUM CORNER
Our jack-o-lanterns have been cooked and mashed into pulp. This week we will be baking pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. We have “secret recipes” that we would be willing to share if you would like to have a copy. There are so many skills that children learn from cooking activities: measuring, eye –hand co-ordination, muscle building from stirring, reading recipes, math skills cups, half cups etc.) The most important skill of course is the tasting! We know children learn best with hands-on-experiences.

Our other Learning Themes will be centered on Thanksgiving past and present. Our songs, stories and of course cooking experiences will add to our sights, sounds and taste buds. Creating memories has been one of Young Explorers goals all these many years, we hope each of our families will be able to join us this special school event. Don’t miss it. Besides the food is delicious!

HOUSEKEEPING NEWS
Please be sure to have your child’s name on their coats and sweaters. You can only imagine how many size 4 sweatshirts there are! Since the weather is constantly changing for a while, we recommend you dress your child in layers since it may be cold in the morning and warm the rest of the day. This would assist us in the late afternoon in gathering up the right clothes for each child.

BOOK ORDERS
Suzanne Mohs is our school’s book ordering chair. We appreciated the orders for our October books. YES is able to add new books to our library. Suzanne will post the new orders. Watch for the signs. The checks must be made out to Scholastic Books or cash is also accepted. The children and staff enjoy seeing our new books and we do appreciate Suzanne assisting us with this. Consider books for holiday giving.

SPECIAL THANKS TO READING IS “FUNDAMENTAL”
Each child received a brand new book from Reading is “Fundamental” Our school was selected to participate with this wonderful literacy program. We are also blessed to have Mr. John read to our children every Wednesday morning. Make Way for Books is the sponsoring organization. The children and our staff enjoy Mr. John’s books, puppets, songs and even learning Spanish words too. Make Way for Books have donated beautiful books to our school. This has enabled us to have a “Check Out” books library. So if your child brings home a book, please take time to read it and be sure to return it soon. When your child returns the book, they will be able to get another book to take home.

YES CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS
Just a reminder of our YES school holidays for November and December. Young Explorers Schools will be open on Thursday, November 11. We will be closed November 24 and 25 for Thanksgiving. Our December holidays will be December 23 for Christmas Eve Day.

COMMUNITY FOOD BANK

Young Explorers Schools has always participated in our Tucson community. One of the highlights of the year is our food drive for Tucson Community Food Bank. This year this drive will be very critical since many of our families in Tucson are having great challenges. We will have boxes for your donations and you are encouraged to bring your donations in the week of November 14-22nd. Some of the children will be taking our donations down to the Community Food Bank on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Cash, canned foods and non-perishables are always appreciated. Do you know for each dollar the CMB gets $9.00 worth of food? So cash donations are very important too.

HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT YES! LATELY?
YES is approaching our 41st birthday in January 2012. We are brainstorming how we can advertise our schools. I have contacted some of our parents who are willing to post flyers and notices on the bulletin boards at work. We have our website to get our name circulating there.

The best advertising is our own families who are willing to share their feelings regarding the care and education their child is receiving. We would like to encourage you to continue to refer us. Be sure to tell your referrals to let us know who gave them the referral we will then give you the referral credit of $25.00.

With Grateful Hearts,
Dr. Filomena Brooks