Thanksgiving Feasts

 We love this time of year. It always brings a reminder of everything we’re thankful for. Here at the Academy we have so much to be thankful for. From the amazing families we serve, to the baby snuggles we get all day, and everything in between. This time of year also brings some especially yummy food. One tradition that holds strong at AOFC is our annual thanksgiving feast. This year we served thanksgiving lunch to all the classroom AND our amazing staff! We served turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese, rolls, and pumpkin pie! Talk about a full belly!! It was delicious and there were hardly any leftovers. The kiddos were in awe at their overly full plates and the teachers were excited for a special lunch. We also set up a thankful turkey in our break room. Teachers were encouraged to take a feather and write what they are thankful for. The turkey ended up with so many feathers! Check out all the delicious fun below!! 

All our our classrooms made their own placemats for thanksgiving! This one had a poem and Turkey hand print! 

These friends were super proud of their placemats! 

They can’t wait to use them for thanksgiving. 

Look at this sweet friend! 

There’s even a place for his utensils! 

Love this sweet placemat. 

They all worked so hard! 

How cute!!

This little Turkey is so proud of his placemat! 

Look at these little enjoying their Thanksgiving feasts! 

The mashed potatoes were a huge hit! 

We set up the breakroom with some thanksgiving decor and brought in thanksgiving lunch for

 all of our amazing staff members that we are so very thankful for! 

Our Thankful turkey in the breakroom! 

Staff members were encouraged to write on a feather what they are thankful for! 

Fall Fest at AOFC

 Thank you so much to all of our families who came out to enjoy all the fun Fall Fest had to offer! We had an absolute blast! Upon entering, families were able to stop at our welcome table to enter into a raffle for some awesome prizes! A free week of tuition, a fall baking basket, and a book basket we’re all up for grabs. Congrats to all of our winners! Past the welcome table, we had tons of outside activities set up for kiddos and parents to enjoy. A petting zoo (with the cutest alpaca I’ve ever seen), train rides, the bounce house, pumpkin painting, and tattoos and face painting. My goodness that’s a lot! But we’re not even finished! Step inside the enrichment room and you’ll find the best balloon guy we know making any balloon creation you can think of. There was also a delicious chili bar, a popcorn bar, some yummy sweet treats and a book fair hosted by our own Assistant Director, Ms. Rachel! This Fall Fest was one for the books. It was our biggest turn out yet. We had so much fun and are already looking forward to next years festivities. Check out the pictures below to see some of the fun in action. 

Another popular attraction: Bubbles and Chalk!

Our littles really love getting creative outside. 

Look at that cool tattoo! 

Face painting and tattoos were a huge hit. 

The train is always a crowd pleaser. 

No fall fest is complete without a train ride. 

Look at that alpaca!

The petting zoo was so much fun! 

Popcorn bar with all the toppings you could ever want!

I can smell the butter!!

Welcome to Fall Fest!

Guess how many pumpkins are in the jar for a chance to win an awesome prize!

Check out the book fair!

Our very own Assistant Director wrote some awesome books!

Visit the balloon guy for a cool creation!

Pumpkin painting station!

You should have seen some of the awesome creations the kiddos made. 

Fall into a good book!

We love a good book here at AOFC! We also know that books are essential to a child's learning and development. Literacy is one of the most important skills a child learns. Did you know that 90% of brain development happens between infancy and five years of age? This rapid growth makes language skills a critical part of a child’s development. Promoting early literacy sets the foundation for learning, encourages higher performance reading, and introduces social-emotional development. We choose books that are written with the intention of promoting imaginative thinking and creativity. These carefully chosen books also include key vocabulary words to encourage the development of language skills. Lets check out some of this reading in action!

It is never too early to introduce literacy to a child!

Look at one of our sweet littles engaging in "Little Boy Blue"

The PreK kiddos have had years of reading exposure at this point.

Some of them are even reading back to us!

Reading as a group can be so much fun!

This allows for awesome Question and Answer after the book which, in turn, helps with memory retention and the ability to follow a story line!

Our Preschool Class is diving into one of our Frog Street curriculum books. They're all so engaged!

How sweet! Look at how into this book she is!

We love seeing our littles so interested in reading!

This PreK friend is reading the book out loud!

Way to go buddy!!

For infants, reading is more than just literacy development.

This babes are able to help turn the pages and develop their fine motor skills!