Earth Day!

 What is Earth day and why do we celebrate it ?! The very first Earth day was celebrated in the US on April 22, 1970. It became a global event in 1990 mobilizing 20 million people to encourage people to recycle and encourage environmental protections. Some things we did to celebrate Earth day at AOFC are classrooms each planted seeds that when in bloom attract hummingbirds, our PS 2 classroom is recycling plastic bottles to re use them for sensory bottles and finally the PS 2 kids have caterpillars that are going to build a chrysalis so they can turn into butterflies!  Reduce, Re use and Recycle as well as planting a garden or trees are all ways to help the Earth and our kids at AOFC loved being a part of helping save the Earth with our really cool Earth day grab and go! 

They are soon going to be Chrysalis then butterflies! 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! 

Earth Day grab and go! 

Planting seeds for Hummingbird flowers! 

She is doing a great job! 

Doing an excellent job planting! 

Ready for water and sun! 

Getting ready for Kindergarten

 Our Pre K 2 classes  are getting their brains ready for Kindergarten next year by working on letters, site words, writing, measuring and many other concepts that will help them rock their first year of Kindergarten! This week they are going over the letters a, b and c plus doing a show and share of special books that start with those letters, as well as working on writing each letter, and finally measuring using various things in the classroom counting the numbers on the ruler as they go! Our Kindergarten Boot Camp starts off this summer and we are excited that this going to be the best one yet!

Writing the letters a, b, c

Measuring items in the classroom! 

Pointing out where the letter C is on her board! 

Reading books for show and share with the letter a, b or c in the title

Listening intently as his book is read to the class

So proud of his awesome letters

Getting ready to write their letters! 

Decades day!!

 What decade is your favorite?! 80's, 90's, 60's, 50's ?!  We had all the decades at AOFC on Wed and it was awesome! Everyone from Billy Idol, greasers, hippies, and 80's dance instructors and every decade in between.  We loved seeing all the creative and fun ways that people chose to represent their favorite decade! Our teachers and students love participating in dress up days and this was one of our favorites by far! 

We love the 80's ! 

Billie Idol ! He rocks! 

We love the flower children! 

So sparkly!! 

Peace! 

Greasers!! 

Spolight educator:Ms Haley!

 Our spotlight educator is a coveted spot and one that is highly regarding at AOFC! 

This quarter we are honoring, Ms. Haley, our Preschool 2 Lead Educator! Having Ms Haley makes a huge difference in her classroom and within school family every day! Haley always has fresh ideas for her classroom and is one the most innovative educators we have on our team. When it comes to her 2 & 3 year old children, she is always finding the most imaginative way to relate to them and very intentional in her interactions with them. Ms. Haley is extremely knowledgeable in Early Childhood Education. She specializes and excels in classroom and behavioral management. Ms. Haley is a natural leader. She always has helpful ideas and great perspectives which make her an invaluable member of our team. We appreciate everything Ms. Haley does to help us provide an excellent program with quality care and education to our children and their families.

Ms. Haley is a shining light for her students and we love honoring her! We love you Ms. Haley!

We love Ms. Haley!

Hanging with her class!!

Sliding with her buddy!

Ps 2 and Ms Haley! 

Sweet snuggles!

Bike day

 One of our favorite days at AOFC is bike day where there are scooters, bikes, trikes, and everything in between that the kids get to use during their outside time! Everyone was so excited to show off  their bikes and their skills as well as getting to ride around with their class in the morning. The most fun was seeing all the cool helmets and and riding toys that were used to get around the special coned off area in the front of the building. Definitely one of the best days at AOFC and for sure the most colorful, we loved bike day!! 

Riding the loop!

So fast and so cute!

Look at all the bikes, scooters and even a cozy coupe!

Spiderman on a bike!

Princess Elsa has her own wheels!

The coolest Nemo helmet!

Thumbs up if you like bike day!

Chatting while riding!

Just scooting around!

Look at the bikes!

Cheese!

Yay for bike day!!

Mother Goose, St. Patrick's Day, plus Leprechauns!

 What an exciting and fun filled week we have had at AOFC with lots of St Patricks related activities and even a visit from Mother Goose! We started with our parents Leprechaun Trap contest and there were so many awesome ones to choose from, Then Mother Goose came to visit and sing songs about spring and Easter with us, Wednesday,  St Patrick's day, brought lots of green and visits from the leprechaun plus Pre K 2 did an awesome scavenger hunt that their leprechaun left for them. Wow, what an amazing week our kids had, having fun and learning too which is the best combination! 

                                                                                                

                                                                                                          

Mother Goose is our favorite! 

                                                                  

Getting the first clue from the Leprechaun!

It's another clue!

Waiting excitedly to hear what the clue says!

So cute in her green dress !

No one is pinching this sweet girl!

What cool traps to catch a leprechaun in!

Cute girls!

The best outfit ever!

Shamrocks or Clovers?!

 Are clovers considered shamrocks?! What is the meaning of a shamrock?! Why do we call four leaf clovers lucky? ! I was curious myself about the answers to these questions so I did a bit of research and this is what I found out! Back a few thousand years ago, shamrocks were worn in church goers hats to honor St Patrick the patron saint of Ireland, yearly and the shamrock is widely considered a symbol of the Holy Trinity (Father,Son and Holy Spirit) thus establishing it as a symbol of Ireland.  But why is it called a Shamrock?! A shamrock is any of several similar appearing trifoliate plans- meaning plants whose leaves are divided into three leaflets. The difference between a Shamrock and a clover is that a clover must have three leaves to be considered a shamrock, if it has more or less than it is not a shamrock. So all shamrocks are clovers but not all clovers are shamrocks! Interesting huh?! So one last fact for you to think about, a fourth leaf is where the luck comes from on a clover. The four leafed clover is an uncommon variation of a three leafed clover and is widely considered to be good luck  because they are a mutation that is rare and not found in the same abundance as shamrocks therefore considered, lucky! 

This week at Aofc, we worked on shamrock collages, special leprechaun hats, to get us in the spirit for celebrating St Patricks day next week! 

Working on our Shamrock collages! 

A finished product! 

Leprechaun hat in the works! 

So cute with her finished hat!! 

Finished product! 

Buddies that are sporting their leprechaun hats! 

Funny face with her leprechaun hat on !