NOVEMBER 2019
Greetings!

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
Conferences will be held for all classroom during the week of November 18 and November 25. We hope you will take the time to sit down and discuss your child’s successes in our program. Teachers will also share curriculum goals for the year and will fill you in on what your child’s day is like here at Especially for Children. You will have the opportunity sign up via Sign Up Genius so keep an eye out for that, or let your child’s teacher know if you prefer a phone conference. Remember to return the parent questionnaire form to your child’s teacher prior to your meeting.  
UPCOMING EVENTS
VISION SCREENING
On Friday, November 8, representatives from Lions Kid Sight will be providing vision screening for children 6 months and up. A consent form will be sent out in mid-October. No child will be screened without a signed consent form.
ADVENTURE PEAK & EDINBOROUGH GYM
The children will be headed to Adventure Peak/Edinborough Gym on Tuesday, November 12, from 9-10am. Please be sure your child has socks!
STORYTELLING VISITOR
On Tuesday, November 19, Carol McCormick will be visiting the center. Carol is a storyteller and will be sharing stories about celebrating Thanksgiving and fall. 
PRE-K LUNCHEON
On Tuesday, November 26, the Grizzly Bears and Polar Bears will host their annual Thanksgiving Luncheon at 11:30am. Special invites will be sent out in early November. 
KID DANCE RECITAL
Mark your calendars! The winter Kid Dance Recital will be held on Wednesday, December 11. 
PARENT REMINDERS
OUTSIDE CLOTHING
Please remember to send your child(ren) to EFC with appropriate winter clothing including a warm hat, coat and mittens/gloves. It is SUPER helpful that you help label ALL items with your child’s name. That way, if things are lost, they have a much easier way finding its owner again.
UPCOMING HOLIDAY CLOSINGS
EFC will be closed on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29 for Thanksgiving. We hope your family enjoys the time together to relax and celebrate. We will also close at 3pm on Tuesday, December 24 and we will be closed all day on Wednesday, December 25 for Christmas.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
NEW CREATIVE CURRICULUM PRESCHOOL STUDY: THROUGH THE CHILDREN’S EYES                       
Preschool studies can last anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks depending on children’s interests. Here are some interviews of children in our program on what they are learning.

Polar Bear Room (Pre-K): Study -> Clothing

Jackson
What has been your favorite activity with clothes?                    
In dramatic play, buying clothes. We buy hats and shoes and pants. Oh, and I like matching socks together.

Eleanor S.
What are you learning about in the Polar Bear Room?
Clothes-like, all different things, like how to make them.               
What has been your favorite activity with clothes?      
Putting them on in Dramatic Play. And you can make them all by yourself with a pattern-you need to cut it out.

Cate
What are you learning about the clothes?                      
What clothes are made of…they are made of cotton balls, and yarn, and string! Also, there are different types of clothes.                         
What has been your favorite activity with clothes?         
Cutting a dress…Ms. Jessica got dresses and we cut them up and glued them on our paper. 

Grizzly Bear Room : Study (Age 4) -> Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Etta                                 
What has been your favorite activity with garbage?       
We go on a walk and find some of it and we find garbage cans, like we find recycling. I also love when we see the garbage truck-it’s really loud and I cover my ears.         
   
Sam                                                                                  
What has been your favorite activity with garbage?
I put garbage on paper.
What did that make?                                                           
Garbage.       
    
Nona
What have you learned about garbage?
Garbage trucks have garbage in them.
What has been your favorite activity with garbage?
Garbage art-we made garbage on paper with garbage.

Henry
What have you learned about garbage?
Recycling and garbage trucks carry a lot of garbage. 
What has been your favorite activity with garbage?
We play with it in Dramatic Play, like our lunch things, and there’s different kinds, they are all different. They go to the recycling station. And I made a garbage train.

Penguin Room (Age 3): Study -> Clothing
Rosalie
What have you learned about clothes?
Clothes are made of sewing and clothes can be different with other colors.

Beckett
What are you learning about clothes? 
Clothes are made of fabric so they won’t break easily.

Harlem
(In dramatic play) Tell me about what’s in here?
Don’t put this (clothes pin) on your finger-that will hurt. You snap it on clothes. It’s a snapper.

Louie                                                                                                      How do you wash clothes? 
At my house I put my clothes in and put soap in the top and turn it on and then I have to dry it off.

Puppy Room (Young Preschool): Study -> Trees

Haddie                            
What can you find in trees?  
Leaves, squirrels, acorns. And some food! Fruit lives in trees.

Darshi                                                                                                     What can you find in trees?  
Monkeys!

Elise                                                                                                        What can you find in trees?     
Koalas, monkey, birds, owls, bats.

Haddie                                                                                           
What can you find in trees?                                                        
Bluebirds, snakes, branches, leaves. Trees can be every color.
ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS
ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN’S PEER COACHING PROGRAM
by DeeAnn Besch and Alli Zomer

Every so often we like to share a bit about what’s happening “behind the scenes” at Especially for Children. In 2018, we launched a peer coaching program that teaching staff participate in upon hire. Newly hired teachers are paired with a coach, often from a different EFC school, to support them as they get started in their roles.

Mentees are matched with coaches who work with the same age group so that coaches are able to share relevant teaching strategies, classroom management practices, daily routines, etc. Coaches and mentees observe one another in their classrooms and have time for in-person and phone conversations. They spend 6 months paired together, with the amount of coaching time dependent on the mentee’s background and experience. 

One goal of the coaching program is to make teachers new to Especially for Children feel welcome in the greater organization. It is also valuable to provide teachers new to EFC a chance to see different spaces and learning environments.

We are excited that the program has been a positive experience for those who have participated in it, both coaches and mentees. Once a quarter, coaches from all EFC centers gather for a training and a chance to share and connect. At our meeting in October, some of our coaches had this to say about the program:

“It gives me a chance to share what I have learned with other people and help them get a good start on their career with EFC. And it also lets me see what other teachers are doing well so that I can take those ideas back to my classroom.”

-        Lynn Livingston, EFC Eden Prairie

“It makes me so happy that I can use my experience to have a positive impact on a new teacher and help their transition into EFC be that much easier. And I can continue to be a resource, because we have an ongoing relationship.”

-        Robin Klippenstein, EFC Edina/W 70 th Street
Peer Coaches at a recent training. From left: Lynn L., Christina W., Stefanie B., Kari S., Robin K., Dan A., Gail S.
(Not pictured: Colleen D., Emily G., and Jessica N.)

We are grateful for all of our Peer Coaches!
TWIN CITIES
FAMILY EVENTS

11/2 Night Trains , TC Model Railroad Museum, St Paul
Now-11/3   Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular , MN Zoo, Apple Valley
11/3-1/5 Cinderella , Children's Theatre, Minneapolis
11/15&11/16 Kids at the Castle: Thankful Hearts , American Swedish Institute, Mpls
11/22-12/28 Elf the Musical , Stages Theatre, Hopkins
11/22-1/5 Winter in Bloom , Mn Landscape Arboretum, Chanhassen
11/28   Drumstick Dash 10k and Cranberry Cruise 1 Mile , Lake Harriet, Minneapolis
11/28   LifeTime Turkey Day 5k , Minneapolis
11/29-12/1 Family Discovery Days , Bell Museum, St. Paul
11/29-12/22   Holidazzle , Minneapolis
 
Especially for Children
3300 Edinborough Way 
Edina MN 55435 
(952) 835-0505 

Center Directors:
Anna Wilson 
Samantha Baker
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