KBC Kickoff!

Kindergarten Boot Camp has officially kicked off and our kiddos are loving it. Every summer at the Academy we do KBC, which is for our friends that are going off to kindergarten. They get to do so many fun activities that will prepare them for things to come. The kiddos get their own KBC shirts that they get to wear on Tuesday's and Thursday's, and they love matching with their teachers! Each child also gets a backpack filled with goodies that they will be able to use when they go to kindergarten.  Each child has a workbook that the practice writing their name in, writing the alphabet, solving math problems, and just writing in general! The kiddos have been loving these workbooks as they give them a sense of responsibility and empowerment! They have been so very proud of themselves, and love showing off that they can write their names and letters of the alphabet. Another part of KBC that everyone loves is getting to experience what it will be like to eat in a cafeteria! We set up our own "cafeteria" in the enrichment area, and Mr. John and Ms. Carolyn have them all line up, and they serve them their food. They bring out a play cash register and have them enter in numbers, which is the sweetest thing ever. Their are so many different activities that the kiddos will get to engage in throughout the summer with KBC, and I can
't wait to write a wrap up of how it went at the end of summer. 

Carrying the cash register back to the classroom! Such a big helper. 

 Sweet girl was on trash duty! She helped her friends throw away all of their trash!

 Our sweet sweeper! He loves helping sweep up the crumbs after a wonderful meal time.

 The boys love the responsibility of putting the chairs up on the tables after lunch time.

 Using those big muscles!

 Being such a big help. 

 This sweetness! Just sitting at the table with her friends enjoying every second!

 Sitting in the "Cafeteria" with their friends

 Going through the lunch line!

 Mr. John and Ms. Carolyn teaching these kiddos the ways of kindergarten!

 They grow up so fast y'all!

 Lining up for lunch!

 The kids practice putting in numbers in the cash register before they go through the lunch line. 

 Can't wait to hear how these kiddos do in kindergarten!

And a sweet smile from a sweet girl to end our KBC Kickoff blog!



For more information on on AOFC and our programs click Here
For more tips and tricks to prepare your kiddo for kindergarten please click HERE

The Fish Guy Visits!

Another fun summer week is here and that means another fun special guest! This week we got to experience the FISH GUY! We love when the Fish Guy comes by the school to take care of our giant fish tank, but it's even cooler when he comes by in the summer time to show us his cool fish up close and personal! This time he brought with him two super cute clown fish, a giant zebra eel, and two huge frogs! The kiddos loved getting to see the fish while he brought them around to everyone. The Fish Guy told our friends lots of interesting facts about the frogs, eel, and clown fish. Like the fact the the zebra eel will end up being so long that it would no longer fit in its tank! The zebra eel is also very hard to pick up, because he's very slippery. Did you know that a zebra eel can swim both forwards and backwards!? We sure didn't! The kiddos loved talking about the clown fish because it reminds them all of Finding Nemo. The Fish Guy explained to them all about the anemones, and how they would sting us if we were to touch it, but it won't sting the clown fish! The frogs were super cool too! The kiddos had a blast learning all types of new things about these sea animals, and we sure loved seeing the sweetest of smiles all over their faces! Now on to our next special guest! Who could it be!?

 Our zebra eel friend!

 Up close and personal!

 Eventually, he will be so long that he wont fit in his aquarium!

 All of our friends loved getting to see the fish!

Here we have our little friends checking out the adorable clown fish!

 Our kiddos were so well behaved and loved listening to what the Fish Guy had to tell them

 Even our youngest of friends sat so well and enjoyed the fish!

More clown fish!

For more information on on AOFC and our programs click Here
For more information on the super cool Zebra Eels, click HERE

The Science Guy Comes!

Every summer we have lots of special guests come to visit our school and put on a show for our kiddos. Our first guest of the summer was the Science Guy! He put on a wonderful show for our older friends and they absolutely loved it! Our children truly love getting to feel a part of these special shows, and he did such a great job of getting the kiddos involved and interacting with them. Science is one of the coolest subjects to learn because there are so many hands on activities to do! Our friends were so excited to see and learn about all of the different props and things that the science guy brought with him. One of the biggest hits was the dry ice! We got to learn all about dry ice and the super fun things you can do with it! The science guy talked about the dry ice being SO cold that you can't even touch it with your hands, which really got their little brains spinning because its usually the really hot items you can't touch! The Science Guy did one activity where he had different volunteers come up to the stage, place a cup on their head, balance the cup, and he would shoot out a cloud of dry ice from a trash can that would knock the cup right off of their head! This was one of the coolest things I think we've ALL seen! He also demonstrated that if you move dry ice around on a metal surface, it makes a really loud (and terrible) sound! The kiddos thought this was just hilarious. We love the summertime around here and getting to learn all kinds of new things through our wonderful special guests. Stick around this summer and read about all of our fun guests who are going to be making special appearances!

 Our first volunteer getting to hold a container while the dry ice made the top pop off!

One of our younger friends being a volunteer! So brave!

 They all thought the dry ice was just the coolest ever.

 The Science Guy pours dry ice over himself!

 Demonstrating all of the cool things dry ice can do!

Filling up his giant trash can with dry ice!

 This was SO cool to watch!

 The Science Guy had everyone on the edge of their seats ;)

 One of our preschool friends being a volunteer!

She did so good at standing VERY still for this demonstration!

 Too cool!!

More dry ice fun!

Our littlest friends were truly in awe of all of these cool science experiments. 

For more information on on AOFC and our programs click Here

For more information about the importance of science in early childhood education, click HERE!

Water Day has BEGUN!

The best time of the year is finally upon us. It's summer time in Tennessee y'all! One of the most exciting parts about summertime with the Academy is water day. Every summer we pull out all of our water tables, water toys, sprinklers, and a giant water slide and choose one day of every week to just let the kiddos live their best life! The children look forward to these days all year long, and when the time finally comes, it's game on! This past Friday, we had our first water day of the summer and let me tell you... it was the BEST. The sun was shining, you could smell the sunscreen in the air, and all you could hear was pure joy in laughter. Our older crew gets to use the giant water slide which has been the biggest hit ever since we first introduced it. They love using their muscles to climb up the stairs to the very top, then slide down to the bottom where they get soaked with water! Our younger friends enjoy multiple fun water tables with floating blocks, boats and cars, lots of cups for water dumping, and sprinklers! You could just tell how much our toddlers enjoyed this day. There was no water left in the tables after they were finished! They loved splashing the water all over themselves along with their friends. Water play greatly helps our young toddlers with creativity and imagination. It also helps with hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills by doing things such as dumping water, pouring water, and switching water from cup to cup! Theres so many different textures for them to feel like slippery and slimy toys. Water day is truly one of the most fun things that the Academy gets to put on every summer and our kiddos just truly love it. The first water day of the year was such a success, so let summertime at AoFC commence! Happy summer y'all!

 The sweetest of boys just drying off after having the time of his life!

 Mr. John and Mr. Jacob! Having just as much fun as their kiddos!

 At the end of the slide posing for a quick picture!

 That smile... can you tell how much fun she's having!?

 Cannot stand this cuteness!

 Mr. Jacob and his sweet kiddo!

 This picture just screams summertime!

 Okay... can I please be this cool!?

 This beauty... loving her time in the water!

 Our little friends loving their water tables!

 Oh man, the sweetest of sweet.

 Dumping the water from one cup to the other!

 When you forget your water clothes and have to improvise!

 I scream, you scream!!!

 Action shot of the water cannon!

 Everyone just loving their water slide!

 I love when they pause for me to say "cheeeeese!"

 Our older friends enjoying the water tables too!

 One big party! How fun does this look!?

This... this is pure joy on our first water day of the summer!

For more information on on AOFC and our programs click Here
For some more water fun and how it benefits children, click HERE!