January News from Especially for Children

JANUARY 2022

Greetings!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope everyone was able to relax and enjoy some family time over the holidays. Even though this has been a very different type of season—the children continue to show enthusiasm and joy for the holidays. We hope you were able to view our virtual holiday program and keep in mind it is always twice as fun in person which we hope to do again next year.

THANK YOU TO ERIN SCHWIND

We would like to offer a special “Thank You” to Erin Schwind for organizing the holiday gift card fund for the teachers. It has been a long tradition for the staff and is greatly appreciated! And…a special thank you to all families here at EFC for making the holiday season a special one. We value your partnership and support.

CENTER HAPPENINGS

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?

This month families will be able to decorate a snowman together at home which will be displayed in our entryway for the month of January. We have materials and supplies in the front entryway. Feel free to be creative –add decorations—we have just a few materials to get you started so feel free to add…we will leave our “scrap box of construction paper” if you wish to grab a few pieces of that to add to your snowman. We hope that you enjoy your project together.

STORY TIME WITH COSTUME KIM

This month Kim will come to the center dressed up as Bluey. She is scheduled to tell stories and sing with us on Friday, January 7 at 9:00 am. Toddlers through preschoolers will participate in this activity in small groups –following social distancing protocols.

PARENT REMINDERS

JANUARY TUITION INFO

Your new tuition rates are in effect January 1^st. Make sure to watch for your 2021 tax statement which will be distributed as well. We will be emailing copies of the year end taxes to your inbox and will also post a note in classroom daily emails when it is being sent out.

SCHEDULES

As we enter into a new year, we would like to remind families to communicate any schedule changes that you may have with the office so we are staffing rooms properly.

Also keep in mind that breakfast is served from 8:00-8:30 am each day. If you are wanting your child to eat with us please have them here in time.

We appreciate all your help with this.

STAR WELLNESS

VEGETARIAN SKILLET STUFFED SHELLS

This one-pan, stovetop-only version turns mushroom- and spinach-stuffed shells into an easy weeknight dinner. The quick but deeply flavorful sauce is made by dressing up jarred marinara sauce with garlic browned in butter and crushed red pepper flakes. Get the recipe here: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetarian-skillet-stuffed-shells

ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS

PLAY WITH LANGUAGE AND PROMOTE PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

We published this article in 2015 with tips on promoting phonological awareness in children. Considering the pervasive use of masks over the last 2 years to help control the pandemic, this may be an area that requires extra attention as children develop their language and reading skills. Learn more about how to support phonological awareness below!

It sounds like a mouthful, but it’s not hard and it’s very important to your child’s development. Phonological awareness is hearing and understanding the different sounds and patterns of spoken language. It is being sensitive to the different ways oral language can be broken down into individual parts, for instance, separate sounds and syllables.

Many parents worry about whether or not their child will be “ready” for kindergarten. A good test is how well they can discern the smallest unit of sound, the phoneme. “Phonemic awareness is the most potent predictor of success in learning to read. It is more highly related to reading than tests of general intelligence, reading readiness, and listening comprehension.” (Stanovich, 1986, 1994).

Children begin by listening to sounds in the environment and eventually become aware that language is made up of words that are grouped together. Through playful activities we can teach children to be aware of beginning and ending sounds in words. Songs and stories provide wonderful opportunities for a child to be exposed to rhyming words and alliteration. (Alliteration is repetition of an initial sound in two or more words of a phrase.)

Preschool children love to clap the words of a sentence or the syllables in their names. They enjoy playing with words. For example, if you sing, “Dow, dow, dow your boat, gently down the stream,” more than likely your preschool child will say, “No! That’s not right! It’s row.”

On the blog we have posted more information on phonological awareness and some ways you can encourage your child’s curiosity and experimentation with language. After children have a good understanding of the sounds of language, they are ready for phonics, which is connecting printed symbols to their corresponding sounds. Have fun watching your child master these various skills!