Small Wonders Learning Center

December 2016 Newsletter

From the Office:

Wow, it’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and we are in the full swing of the holiday season. We hope you all had a wonderful time enjoying turkey, pumpkin pie and lots of laughs with your family and friends. As the holidays approach, we would like to wish all of you a safe and joyful holiday season filled with peace, love and joy.

With December comes the snowy weather. As the temperatures continue to drop, please remember to send in appropriate clothing for outside play. All of our friends will go outside for walks or to play in the snow as the temperatures allow. Each child should have a coat, mittens, and a hat every day. When the snow arrives, your child should also have a pair of boots and snow pants. We do not allow long scarves to be worn outside as they could get tangled in the play equipment and cause serious injuries. Shorter scarves that can be tucked in your child’s coat are fine. **Please make sure to label all of your child’s belongings.

Holiday Hours: The Center will be closed in observation of the Christmas holiday on Friday, December 23th and Monday, December 26th. We will also be closed on Monday, January 2nd in observation of the New Year. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families and friends. As stated in our handbook, December 23th, 26th, and January 2nd are paid holidays and you will be charged according to your normal schedule.

Weather Related Closings: If we need to close due to weather, we will announce it on WCLO/WJVL radio stations as well as post it on our Facebook page. You may also call our office at 608-868-5288. **Please note: We do not close according to the Milton School District so be sure to listen or look for Small Wonders Learning Center in the listings**.

Holiday Sing: We have two programs, the Milkyways on Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30pm and the Shooting Stars on Wednesday, December 7th. Miss Kelly’s Shooting Stars will begin at 6:15pm followed by Miss Barb’s friends at 6:45pm.

Lip Balm and Lotions: Parents must fill out a medication form prior to their child using lip balm and lotions at Small Wonders. You may fill out a form for up to a 3 month period. Medication forms are available near the elevator in our Center Info area.

Special Visitor: Ho, Ho, Ho, we will have a special visitor during the week of December 12th.

School Age Families: The sign-up sheets for those needing care during December 9th and Winter Break will be available until November 30th. These clipboards are located at the Parent Table in the School Age room upstairs and on the Parent Table in Milton East gym. Please put the times needed for care on the sheets. In addition, if you do not need care, please indicate so on the sheets. If you have any questions, please stop by the office. Thanks!

Breakfast Reminder: Just a reminder that we serve breakfast until 7:20 am. If your child would like to eat breakfast with us that is fine, but please make sure to plan for enough time.

Outdoor Playtime: Your child will go out daily (weather permitting). Please make sure they have their "Winter Clothing" at Small Wonders. This includes snow pants, boots, jackets, hats, and gloves. *Even our non-walkers should have foot coverings, whether it be shoes, boots, or heavy slippers. Please make sure all items are marked with their name on it, as many of our friends have the same items.

Scholastic Book Fair: Thank you to everyone who participated in our Scholastic Book Fair. With your help we were able to purchase some new books for our classrooms. Many thanks for your support!

Art To Remember: The children did such an amazing job on their artwork and all of the items purchased turned out amazing. Thank you so much for your support. We were able to raise $484, getting that much closer to our goal of placing tablets in the classrooms for our teachers!

Mailboxes: Please make sure to check your child's mailbox on a daily basis. This is a busy time of the year and many notes will be sent home during the month.

Parent Appreciation: In appreciation of all of our families, we would like to invite you to join us on Thursday, December 15th for muffins, juice and coffee from 6:00–7:30 am or cookies and juice at 4:00-5:30 pm. Thanks for being part of the Small Wonders family.

December is a busy month for all of us as we prepare for the holidays. Please remember to slow down and enjoy the little things in life. Take time to see the holiday magic through your child’s eye. They really bring so much joy to all of our lives!

Wishing you a safe and blessed holiday season!

Miss Beth, Miss Terri and Miss Julia

From the Sunshine Room:

Season’s Greetings from the Infant Room! What a great time of the year as many of us spend with lots of time with family and friends. Our themes for this month are Friend Hand Prints, Trim-a-Tree, Homemade Ornaments, Christmas, and Wrapping Paper. This month we have some very exciting activities for our little ones as we create new decorations for your walls. Our friends’ learning will be out of this world as they use their senses to explore with finger painting, self-feeding, jello sensory bags, and moving to the music…Christmas music that is!

Speaking of sensory fun, we hope you can join us on Wednesday, December 7th at 3:30 pm for a fun and messy sensory activity. Make sure to bring messy clothes as you will not be leaving clean! If your little one usually doesn’t attend that day, please feel free to still come and join in on the fun! What for a separate note to be sent home.

As a reminder, with the colder weather arriving, please send in warm outdoor gear for your infant this includes a coat or snowsuit, hat, gloves, and boots or other appropriate footwear. We will go out for walks if the weather is above 20 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, please send in family photos so we can work on our family recognition!

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with family, friends, and love.

Have a Very Merry Christmas

Miss Cheryl, Miss Nikki and Miss Allie

From the Rainbow Room:

It’s time to look into the sky and see how far reindeer fly! Hooray! We cannot wait for Santa to arrive! Our themes this month are Trim-a-Tree, Gingerbread, Homemade Ornaments and Christmas! We will be working on self-help skills such as putting on and taking of our own shoes! What an important task to learn! We are also going to make friendship wreaths and Christmas placemats as we explore our learning units! Please bring in updated family photos for our wall.

With the start of a new month, we would like to welcome our new friends, Jack and Andrew to our room. We are glad you are here! We will also say goodbye to Penelope as she moves to the Moonbeams. We wish her much fun and happiness in her new classroom. We would also like to wish Gemma Happy December Birthday! We’re wishing you a snowy fun day! Warm wishes to all for a safe and Happy Holiday season!

Happy Holidays to All and Happy New Year 2017!

Miss Marta and Miss Rhonda

From the Moonbeams:

Wow! It’s hard to believe Christmas is almost here and the year is almost over. In the Moonbeams we plan to enjoy every minute of it. Our learning units are Trim-a-Tree, North Pole, Christmas, and Music/Dance! We will be working on our large motor skills with activities like running on the track, riding a tricycle and dancing! We will also be busy making special gifts for our moms and dads as well as showing off our creative sides as we do ornament coloring, marble painting, and more!

Please join us on Friday, December 9th at 9:30 am for our Christmas Celebration. A separate note will be sent home soon. With the snow coming soon, please make sure your child has proper clothing items such as a hat, mittens, coat, snow boots, and snow pants. These are extremely important as we will be going outside every day, weather permitting. In addition, please make sure your child’s extra clothing items are the right size and still fit! We tend to get a bit wet outside and may have to change into dryer items. J

Happy December Birthday wishes go out to our friend, Oliver. We hope you have a super day! We also would like to welcome Penelope to our class.! We are excited you are here. Goodbye wishes go to of our friend Oliver who will be moving to the Milkyways class later this month. We know you will have lots of fun as you make new friends.

Happy Holidays

Miss Lynn and Miss Emily

From the Milkyways:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Our learning units will be Winter, Penguins, Holiday Cheer, Christmas, and New Year’s. Throughout the month we will be working on our fine motor and grasping skills as we practice getting dressed with our winter gear! We’re also going to get creative with sparkly snowflakes, snow storm paintings and so much more!

Our Holiday Sing is Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30pm. My friends have been practicing and working hard in preparation of this night. We can’t wait to perform for you.

Happy Birthday wishes go to Cael! We hope you have a fun-filled day! As the holiday season surrounds us, remember to take time to enjoy each moment with your child.

Wishing you a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Miss Mitchy

From the Milkyways:

Merry Christmas to everyone! The holidays are upon us and we have some fun filled projects to get us in the Holiday Spirit. Our themes this month are Holiday Cheer, Bow Mania, Christmas and New Year’s. We will be focusing on multisensory abilities this month along with expressing self-creativity through music, movement, and art. We will be candy cane painting, exploring with bows and wrapping paper and making magic reindeer chow!! We will also be creating our own noise makers to help ring in the New Year! What a fun filled holiday month!

Our Holiday Sing is on Tuesday, December 6th. My friends have been practicing hard and are ready to put on a show for you. We hope you all can come and see us perform our wonderful songs at 6:30 pm in the lower large motor room.

Happy December Birthday wishes go out to Seton. We hope you have a fun-filled day! I would also like to give a big welcome to Oliver who will be joining us later this month! We can’t wait for him to join in our Milkyway fun!

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy the wonderful month of December with your families and friends.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Miss Melody

From the Shooting Stars:

Happy Holidays to my Shooting Stars friends! This month’s themes are Penguins, Polar Bears, Christmas and Snow! We will be practicing our gross motor skills by walking like penguins, making snow angels and balancing. Our fine motor skill will come in handy as we create our polar bear plates! In addition we will be focusing on our eye-hand coordination as we keep busy working on our special Christmas gifts for our families. Sshhh…it’s a surprise!

Please be sure to join us for our Holiday Sing on Wednesday December 7th at 6:15pm in the large motor room downstairs. We have been practicing and working so hard on or songs and are very excited to perform in front of our families! As a reminder, we will need to leave quietly after our program as to allow Miss Barb’s group to perform or you are more than welcome to stay and watch them too!

Our weekly Friday visits from the Milton Public Library will continue throughout December. Our letters of the month are J-Dec. 5th, D- Dec. 9th, P-Dec. 19th, B-Dec. 26th.

As a reminder, please put winter gear upstairs in your child’s labeled cubby that is located by the bathrooms! In addition, boots should go on the labeled “feet markers” below your child’s cubby.

We would like to wish a Happy Birthday to our friends, Karly and Emersyn! We hope you both have a fun-filled birthday! We would also like to welcome our new friend, Ayden to our room. We are so excited to have you come play, learn, and grow with us!

Happy Holidays!

Miss Kelly

From the Shooting Stars:

Happy Holidays! Here we go with the month of December and counting the days ‘til Christmas arrives! There will be lots of excitement in our room as we get ready for this special day. Our fun themes will be Penguins, Polar Bears, Christmas and Snow. We will be busy doing outdoor activities in the snow, making gifts for our families and learning the numbers 11 through 20 in Spanish.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our Holiday Sing on Wednesday, December 7th at 6:45 pm. Please wait to arrive until 6:40pm as there is another performance before us. Our friends have been working hard learning their songs and they are very excited to perform them for you!

As a reminder, Zumba and our weekly Friday visits from the Milton Public Library will continue throughout the month. We would like to wish a very Happy December Birthday to Jake!! We hope you have a fun filled day! A big WELCOME goes out to our new friend, Raiden. We are so glad you have joined in our learning fun.

I hope all of my Shooting Stars’ families enjoy the holiday break and enjoy making happy memories.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Miss. Barb

From the Comets:

We want to wish everyone a safe and fun holiday season! December is always a busy month for our school agers with Christmas Concerts, Christmas Break, New Years and so much more! Our themes this month are National Ninja Week, National Gingerbread House Day, and Christmas!

Winter Break is just a few short weeks away! We will be going roller skating, having a movie day and a Christmas/ New Year celebration! Keep an eye out for a note with more information!