NASHVILLE ZOO IS HERE!

Y'all! This week at AoFC was nature week! We had so many different activities going on this week including going on nature walks, chasing "leaf bugs", and collecting rocks and sticks outside. These kiddos love going on nature walks on our beautiful back deck! It overlooks the creek in the back so we listened to the sounds of the water and searched for any animals that may be in the wooded area! We also had a nature trail mix bar that we set up for the parents to take home in the afternoon! However, the best part of nature week by far was the Nashville Zoo coming to visit us! We have been waiting all summer to see the zoo and the excitement on these kiddos face's was AMAZING! The two sweet ladies who came from the zoo let the children know that they would need to be super quiet in case the animals got scared, and we could not be more proud of how well our babes listened to these instructions. I don't think I have ever seen that many preschool kiddo's be that quiet and calm all in the same place. We we're so very impressed! I could not love this school and our kiddos more y'all! The ladies brought with them a Kinkajou, a boa constrictor, a talking parrot, and a brown hare! We had so much fun learning about these different animals and the different ways they live! The parrot was a huge hit and the children were LOVING the fact the "Jerry the parrot" could talk back to them! We are so grateful for the Nashville Zoo coming out to us and entertaining our sweet babes. Thank you Nashville Zoo!

Nature themed trail mix grab n' go!

 A boa constrictor!

 Everyone being so quiet to see the animals!

 Jerry the Parrot!

 Sweet lil guy!

 Being camera shy!

All of our friends!

A big brown hare!

 We loved this Kinkajou

The cutest sign!!



For more info on AOFC and the programs we offer, please click HERE!

Sensory Week!

Another fun and exciting week has come and gone here at Forrest Crossing! This week was about different types of sensory activities. Sensory bins and activities are incredibly important to kiddos during their developmental growth. Children uses their senses so much while growing by taste, touch, smell, seeing, moving, and hearing! By using these senses, children are able to retain information on a much deeper level. We started this week out by doing edible finger painting! We had our teachers grab some whipped cream and food coloring, then let the children paint on the tables with it! Not only did they love the activity in general, but they also loved the way the whipped cream tasted! Our next activity was one that we continue to use multiple times throughout the year because our littles enjoy it so much- water beads!! Water beads are SO cool. The children love watching these beads start out teeny tiny, then grow over night! Our infants even love this activity! For our youngest of friends, we place the beads into big ziplock bags and tape them down to a table. The babies then get to pat the beads with their hands and move them around within the bags! Our older kiddos absolutely love getting to place their hands in giant buckets of beads and feel how squishy and cold they are. We love sensory week and getting to provide our children with sensory activities because it truly is so crucial to their brain development. We have had a blast this week and we are super excited to see what we will do next week! 

 Ps1 using the edible finger paints!

 They LOVED IT!

 Transitional kiddos joined in on the water bead fun!

 Toddler One trying the beads out!

 The babies loved getting to squish the water beads in the bag!

 Individual bowls of water beads for our preschoolers!

 Imagine how cool this must feel for a toddler!

 PreK 1 with their water beads!

More edible finger paint fun!

Dinosaur Week!!!

It's dinosaur week here at AoFC and these kiddos have been absolutely LOVING it! I am always so incredibly blown away by the knowledge that these little ones have when it comes to dinosaurs. In the younger classrooms, the teachers have been bringing out our new large dinosaurs to show their kiddos, along with reading lots and lots of books about dinosaurs! We had a special visit from the Adventure Science Center in which they brought giant fossils, dinosaur eggs, books, and other fun activities for our older kiddos to engage in! It was so cool to see these littles having the time of their lives, hands deep in sand, brushing sand off of fossils! The lady taught them all of the different names of dinosaurs, and even let them put their foot on a giant dinosaur foot!! We also made our own dinosaur fossils. We put small plastic dinosaurs into balloons, and then filled them up with water, let them freeze overnight, and then had the kiddos preform their very own dinosaur excavations! They all had a BLAST getting to do this, and we loved getting to observe their excitement. We love summertime here at The Academy so much, and it's so crazy to think that summer is almost over! Dinosaur week has been a huge hit, and we thank all who participated!

 Having a blast dusting sand off of their dinosaur fossils!

 Showing off which dinosaur he had!

 This one knows EVERYTHING about his dinosaur!

 This was heaven to these big kiddos!

 FOSSILS!

 The special guest read our kiddos Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs!

 I loved seeing how engaged they were with this activity!

 Another crew dusting for fossils!

 Our toddlers getting their first look at the dinosaur eggs!

 Pouring some water on the dinosaur egg to help it melt!

 Waiting for the dinosaur to come out of it's egg!

 Sweet girl trying to get to the dino!

 The eggs were just a tad bit cold!!

 Excavating dinosaur eggs!

Thank you to The Adventure Science Center for talking to our kiddos about dinosaurs!

For more info on AOFC and the programs we offer, please click HERE
For some fun Dinosaur activities, click HERE!

Graduation 2019

Oh boy, the most bittersweet time of the whole year at The Academy has come. One of the coolest things about working in childcare is getting to watch these sweet kiddos grow. We have some that have started with us at the age of one, and now they are preparing to leave the preschool world and venture into the big world of kindergarten! It's always bittersweet because these little become a part of our family, and now we won't get to see them every single day anymore! We are so incredibly proud of all of our graduates and everything they have overcome and accomplished throughout their time here with us. Ms. Carolyn and Mr. John have been the most incredible mentors to our graduates, and I know they are so very proud of their babies!! Graduation this year was magical. We had the cutest cap and gown pictures featuring the kiddos in clothing of what they want to be when they grow up. We loved getting to see our kiddos walk the stage, enjoy their slideshow, and receive their "diplomas!" We miss miss you class of 2019!!

 So excited about her diploma!

 Little future police officer!

Another future police officer showing off her diploma!

A superhero just graduated!

 The sweetest cheese! So proud!

 Our sweet ballerina girl!

 Oh man, the best when they're this proud!

 This boy!!!!

Pretty girl graduate!

Class of 2019

 Showing off their songs they practiced so hard on!

 Our swag bags for our graduates!

Love how this turned out!

 Graduation bags 2019!

 The cutest pictures and decorations!

 The families LOVING the slideshow!


Congrats to the class of 2019!! We are SO proud of you all!

For more information on AoFC and our Programs please click HERE