Spotlight in this Issue

  • A Note from Diana
  • Best of Luck to Jissell
  • Save the Date
  • Kindergarten Information
  • Community News
  • School Calendar
  • School Menu
A Note from Diana; ELC Director
Hello Families.

We are excited to share with all of you the University of Delaware Early Learning Center has once again achieved National Association of Young Children Accreditation (NAEYC) status. Our team of dedicated professionals created and implemented a plan to meet the indicators developed by a national panel of Early Learning experts and we were successful! Please see the attached document that helps families know about and understand the benefit their child attending a NAEYC accredited program. 

Curriculum Supports: 
We have been working intentionally on strengthening our curriculum supports to benefit child outcomes birth to 5. All our classrooms provide child-centered experiences, we see the development of children as a partnership between the family, the child, and the early educator. Our approach includes a multifaceted layered curriculum approach: Creative Curriculum, Conscious Discipline, Anti-Bias Curriculum, and Heggerty for preschool.  Plans are underway to share more about our foundational curriculum, The Creative Curriculum with families. Please see the attached information as a preliminary introduction to understanding how we approach our experiences with young children. https://teachingstrategies.com/cc-for-families/
We are especially excited to be adopting and in the beginning phases of using Conscious Discipline as we support children’s social and emotional development and learning. This is a whole child, whole program curriculum based on current brain research and development. https://www.familyeducation.com/a-parents-guide-to-conscious-discipline

Anti-Bias Curriculum: 
Anti-bias education involves creating a community that supports all dimensions of human differences, including culture, race, language, ability, learning styles, ethnicity, family structure, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, and socioeconomic differences. It introduces a working concept of diversity into the classroom that addresses the impact of social stereotypes, bias, and discrimination in children’s development and interactions. In addition, it empowers children by giving them the tools to foster confident and knowledgeable self-identities, empathetic interactions, critical thinking skills, and activism. 

Phonemic Awareness for Preschoolers:
Developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills begins with word play. Children develop an awareness of sounds through hearing words that rhyme and isolating sounds in words. This is why the Early Learning Center has adopted the Heggerty Pre-School curriculum as a supplement to our developmental curriculum, Creative Curriculum.
The following are the pre-reading skills we are strengthening during this 15-minute explicit instruction with children:

5 Phonological Awareness Skills
  1. Rhyme repetition, recognition, and production
  2. Initial Phoneme Isolation, including listening for a focus sound, alliteration and generating words that begin in a specific sound
  3. Blending words, syllables, body-coda, and onset-rime (Note: we do not blend at the phoneme level like we do in the current PreK curriculum)
  4. Segmenting into words, syllables, and onset-rime (begins in week 7; we do not segment into phonemes like we do in the current PreK curriculum)
  5. Final Phoneme Isolation (introduced in Weeks 24-35)

2 Early Literacy Skills
  1. Alphabet Knowledge
  2. Language Awareness: Nursery Rhymes and sentences
  
Assessment Process:
We begin our Assessment Process by using Ages and Stages (ASQ- 3) and Ages and Stages: SE as screeners to understand children’s developmental and social-emotional well-being. This is also a requirement in the NAEYC accreditation process. 
Throughout the year, teachers observe children while they interact with the environment.  They collect information from each child and record and organize these observations using the Teaching Strategies GOLD online assessment tool. This tool allows teachers of children birth through 5 to using authentic information about the child to support overall growth and development.  Teachers will share this information with families periodically throughout the school year; especially during scheduled conference times.
 
Professional Development Days:
As you read through the Family newsletter, you begin to get the sense of how much we have going on at the ELC! Because of our opportunities to continue to learn and grow with your child, we are asking for your understanding when we need to close for Professional Development purposes throughout the year. Unlike traditional schools, we do not have the opportunity to have 3 months off during the summer or other days to re-group. As we consider the necessary days to provide learning opportunities to all staff, we take the family needs into consideration as well.

Here are the Conference and Professional Development Days we have scheduled during the 2021-2022 calendar year.
October 8, 2021: Family Conferences
November 11, 2021: Professional Development Day
January 3, 2022: Professional Development Day
March 18, 2022: Family Conferences
April 15, 2022: Professional Development Day
June 6, 2022: Professional Development Day
August 25 and 26, 2022: Professional Development Day
Best of Luck to Jissell Martinez
We would like to share that the ELC Business Administrator, Jissell Martinez, has decided to take another position at the University of Delaware. We will miss Jissell, and wish her all the best as she begins her new journey. Good Luck Jissell! 
Save the Date
Fire Prevention and Safety
October 11, 2021 from 9:15 to ll:15

In recognition of Fire Prevention Month, the ELC will partner with the local fire department to help children learn about fire prevention and safety. This is an entirely outdoor event and children will be able to view the fire department vehicles. 
Preschool Field Trip
October 20, 2021

Preschool children will be visiting Milburn Orchards on the morning of Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Permission slips and more information will be shared with families soon.

Exciting Partnership with the Biden Institute
October 26, 2021

The ELC is excited to be partnering with The Biden Institute as we host Ms. Opel LEE as a guest reader. Ms. LEE, a civil rights activist from Texas, who is 94 years old will share her children’s book “Juneteenth” with a small group of children. You can read more about Ms. LEE by clicking on the following link.


We will share more information about this event as the date approaches.
Spirit Week
October 25-29, 2021

We will celebrate another Spirit Week October 25-29, 2021.
Please stay tuned for themes and details!
ELC Fall Festival Fun
November 4, 2021

The ELC will have a center-wide Fall Festival on November 4, 2021 from 4-5pm on our outdoor learning spaces. Save the date now to join us for fun and play with the children during this Autumn time experience.
Kindergarten Information
Delaware Readiness Teams
Kindergarten Registration Information for the 2022-2023 School Year

November is Kindergarten Registration Month in Delaware! 
We hope you'll join us at our annual kickoff in late October in Dover (date and time to be announced). Kindergarten Readiness folders will also be ready for distribution in October, so stay tuned for more information. 
The Kindergarten Readiness folders include a school contact list, a registration checklist, school choice postcard, and a developmental screening postcard for parents to prepare and register their child/ren for kindergarten for the 2022-2023 school year. 
Virtual Kindergarten Academy

Virtual Kindergarten Academy is an initiative run by the Delaware Readiness Teams to prepare families and their children who will enter kindergarten in the 2022-2023 school year. children must be five years old on or before August 31, 2022.
Community News
Family Friendly Activity Ideas

We are so excited to share a lot of wonderful opportunities for families to enjoy activities this fall. Please check out the links below for some great ideas! Feel free to email kkampe@udel.edu with any fun family photos you take and we will put them on the tv monitor in the lobby!




Delaware Health and Social Services Information

Did you know that the Delaware Health and Social Services office offers a confidential online computer system that parents and guardians can use to access their patient/student's immunizations? The site allows you to print off official immunization records for yourself if you are over 18 and for your child if they are between the ages of 0 and 17.
Recent Recalls from the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Note: Due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding COVID-19, some of the remedies identified in recall press releases may not be available at this time. Consumers should check with recalling firms for further details. It is important to remember that CPSC and recalling firms urge consumers not to use recalled products.
 
1. The Boppy Company Recalls Over 3 Million Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers After 8 Infant Deaths; Suffocation Risk: 
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1. The Boppy Company Recalls Over 3 Million Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers After 8 Infant Deaths; Suffocation Risk:
Recall Date: September 23, 2021
Recall Number: 21-198
                                                                                                   
Recall Summary  
Name of Product:
Boppy Original Newborn Loungers, Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers and Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers
 
Hazard:
Infants can suffocate if they roll, move, or are placed on the lounger in a position that obstructs breathing, or roll off the lounger onto an external surface, such as an adult pillow or soft bedding that obstructs breathing. 
 
Remedy:
Refund
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled loungers and contact The Boppy Company for a refund.
 
Consumer Contact: 
The Boppy Company toll-free at 800-416-1355 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or online at www.boppy.com and click “Recall & Safety Alert” for more information. 
 
DETAILS AVAILABLE HERE: 
For Your Information