February 2012

Brldgoporl Chlld Dovolopmonl Conlor ll A program of One Hope United

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August 2013
Keeping in touch with your childs center
just got easier with our new website
One Hope Uniteds Child Development Centers are
pleased to announce the launch of our new website,
http://www.onehopechilddevelopment.org.
The user-friendly site puts news and information
spoclhc lo ooch ol our conlors ol your hngorllps lo
enhance families e school experience.
Communication with parents and families at our
centers strengthens our programs and helps ensure
each childs success in school, said Beth Lakier, as-
sociate executive director for the centers.
Website features include program descriptions, pho-
to galleries, calendars of events and center maps.
Fresh content will be added regularly, including
stories highlighting unique classroom activities along
with each centers monthly newsletter.
Informing parents about center activities helps
them engage children in discussions about their
day. Talking about their experiences at the
center also shows a child that the family values
education, Lakier added.
Vlsll our now wobsllo lo hnd:
Program descriptions for each
age group. Want to know
what to expect when your
child moves up to the next
room? Check out the website
to learn program goals.
Colondors. Culckly hnd dolos lor poronl-loochor
conferences, workshops, special events and
much more.
Newsletters. Find current and past issues of
news from your childs school.
Articles. Read about special projects children
are doing in the classroom.
A resources section linking parents to articles
on healthy living.
Photos, photos, photos. We love to take pictures
and watch our children grow.
Newsfeed from our Facebook page.
Parents can interact with us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/1hopeunitedcdc.
Our page covers center events and provides
links to articles about children, parenting and
education.
A map and descriptions of each of our centers,
so you con hnd or rolor lrlonds lo ono ol our
12 centers.
Take a look and click through the pages.
Vo hopo you wlll hnd our now wobsllo usolul
and informative!
Welcome to New Staff
Please join us in welcoming new staff! Ms. Fae
Rabin is the new Lead Teacher in Room 1.
She has a Bachelors degree in Political Sci-
ence and is enrolled in the Masters program
in Education as part of the Teach for America
Progrom. Sho ls o corllhod loochor ond hos o
year of experience working in another head
start program. Bethel Swift is the new teacher
in the School Age Program. She has a Bach-
olors dogroo ln Journollsm ond hvo yoors ol
experience working with school-age children.
Our Preschoolers are Getting Fit!
The children of Room 1 and 2 were able to take part in a great
physical activity program here at Bridgeport CDC II. Our friends
from KID-FIT, a physical education program, spent time with us
during the month of July and August and helped us learn about
overall health, nutrition, healthy food choices and exercise.
lho proschoolors woro lnvolvod ln vorlous oxorclsos ond hlnoss oc-
tivities, such as dancing, stretching, gross motor skills and balance.
Teach For America Summer Institute
This has been the third summer that we have had the pleasure
of hosting the Teach for America Summer Institute at our center.
Eight aspiring teachers and their supervising teachers were
here every day during the month of July learning about the art
and practice of teaching in our preschool classrooms. Teach for
America recruits recent college graduates and professionals for
lholr lrolnlng progrom. Al lho ond ol lho hvo-wook Summor lnsll-
tute, these young teachers are placed in schools throughout the
country where they
commit to teach-
ing for at least two
years. In the past,
we have employed
several teachers who
have participated
in the TFA Program
including Mr. Mat-
thew and our newest
teacher Ms. Fae.
The children enjoyed
a variety of new learning activities designed to enhance their
reading readiness, social emotional, oral language, phonics
and math skills. See the News from Our Classrooms for more
information.
News from Our Classrooms
Room 2: We would like to take the time to thank Ms. Jacquie,
Ms. Melina, Ms. Sarah and Mr. Matthew. They were Teach for
America student teachers this summer in our classroom. They dis-
played their wonderful teaching skills, and continued to strengthen
the students academic and so-
cial skills during their time here.
The class also explored a music
study this summer. The students
studied instruments, genres,
and type of musical groups
(trio, bands, orchestra, etc.).
We wrote poems, then put mu-
sic to them to create a song or
rap. Books and real instruments
were also a big part of our
study. The teachers and families
brought instruments in for the
children to play or they play them for
us. This has been a fun and exciting
study for our class!
Room 3: We have been working
on Transportation the last couple of
months. We covered land, rail, water
and air transportation. The children
became aware that there are many
types of airplanes, and that they go forward and up to the sky,
then down to the ground. We also experimented with a helium
balloon and discussed that hot air balloons move up and down
and need wind to move them back and forth. While discuss-
ing transportation, children learned many new words such as,
motorcycles, rails, motors,
wind and oars. They
learned the difference
between passenger and
freight trains. They also
practiced their counting,
quantifying and sorting
skills and spatial relation-
ships for over, under, up
and down.
Currently, we are learning
about weather. We will
be discussing wind, sun, and rain. We are becoming more
aware of our outside environment and the many changes in
Chicagos summer weather. Thank you to the families that have
donated items to our classroom. It has been greatly appreciated
and has added to our experiences with the children.
REMINDER: Fridays
are water fun days.
Please bring extra
clothes or swim
wear, water shoes
and a towel.
School Age
Classrooms: This
summer, we have
begun to include the
STEM philosophy into our School
Age Program. The STEM philosophy
Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics all play an inte-
gral part in the teaching. We are
using our computers to do further
research on our topics of study.
We started the summer by learning
about our body by creating life-size
collages and identifying the internal
organs. We then made models of
our brains, including the right hemi-
sphere and left hemisphere. Did you know people in general
are either right brained or left brained? Right brainers are cre-
ative problem solvers; left brainers are logical and analytical.
Ask your child if he or she is
right or left brained!
Durlng our hold lrlp lo lho
Jump Zone, children learned
about the many different ways
we can move our bodies!
We have also studied the
solar system and made
3-dimensional models of the
planets in Styrofoam and paper
mache. We continued our study
learning about moons. Did you
know one of Jupiters moon has
an ocean inside of it? The chil-
dren especially enjoyed learning
about supernovas and black
holes and watched a PBS special
entitled, Monster Black Holes,
to see what they look like. Here
is how the children described the
black hole:
Kenny said, They look cool!
Raymond said, They look like a tornado!
Josephina said, Black holes are very big!
STEM programs teach independent innovation and allow
students to explore greater depths by integrating these sub-
jects into our daily activities. In recent years, there has been a
slgnlhconl docllno ln lho numbor ol collogo sludonls chooslng
mo|ors ln sclonco- or lochnology-rololod holds. ll lho groduo-
tion rates continue with this trend, there will be a workforce
shorlogo ln oroos ol onglnoorlng ond sclonco holds. By lnsllll-
ing in children a passion for hands on exploration, discovery
and learning, we hope to better prepare our children to be
lifelong learners who are ready for the challenges of the 21st
century, which will rely heavily on science, technology, engi-
neering and math.
Take Home Activity:
The cats out of the bag! Or is it the book? Or the shoe? Youll
hovo lo ploy lhls guosslng gomo lo hnd oul!
One of the key things kids learn in preschool is how to catego-
rlzo ond sorl o sol ol ob|ocls-hgurlng oul whol mokos lhom
the same and what makes them different. Comparing things to
one another is one of the baby steps towards critical thinking
and problem solving. There are lots of things you can do at
home that will help foster these same analyzing skills. But one
of the most fun requires nothing more than a set of objects
from around your house, and a simple pillowcase or brown
paper grocery bag.
What You Need: a paper bag; an assortment of familiar
household items: silverware, keys, pens, etc.
What You Do:
1. Secretly place an everyday item in a paper bag and then
give different clues to your child, who will then try to guess
the item. Too often we dont give kids enough thinking time
when we ask them for an answer. So be sure to allow them
o mlnulo or lwo bolwoon ooch cluo lor roNocllon.
2. Lets say you choose to hide your favorite cooking spoon.
You might say It is made out of wood. I keep it in the
kitchen I use it to stir the lemonade.Do you have a
guess? If your child gives an incorrect answer, then repeat
the clues, leaving time for thinking between each statement,
and then add more clues until the correct answer has been
reached.
3. Once your child has guessed correctly, give him the bag
and let him look inside. Hell get a big kick out of seeing
the object in person.
Al hrsl, klds moy hovo lroublo guosslng whols ln lho bog.
Start them off with a set of very common objects and later, be-
gin adding more unique items. You can do this activity indoors
or out. What will seem to your child like nothing more than a
fun game is actually a lot more. Because in between all that
play, your kid is building problem solving skills that will serve
her well in kindergartenand beyond.
8y 5cmcnIhc Hcrpring * 5o0rce. Ld0ccIion.com
hIIp.,,www.ed0ccIion.com,ccIiviIy,crIicIe,inIhebcg_
preschooI,cid=50.?00
Monthly
Calendar
ConneCt with us
onehopechilddevelopment.org facebook.com/1hopeunited twitter.com/1hopechildcare
August 2013
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 Hood 5tort
Training Day
Classroom 1
and 2 Closed
koom 3 ond
5chool Ago will
hovo rogolor
programming
7:30 a.m.-
6 p.m.
10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Family
Ooting - moro
information to
lollow.
18 19 20 Last Day
ol 5chool/
5ommor
Camp
21 22 23 24
25 26 2013-
2014 5chool
Year Begins!
Childron ottond
8 a.m.-1 p.m. only
5chool Ago
Progrom: rogolor
programming
ontil o .m.
27 28 29 30 31
Also keep in mind
September 2: Center CLOSED
for Labor Day