Santa comes to visit!

HO HO HO! AoFC had a very special guest come to see us on Friday. That’s right! The big jolly guy, Santa Claus stepped away from his workshop in the North Pole to listen to the lists our kiddos had for him. Santa was so much fun y’all. The children were SO excited to see him, and they loved getting to sit on his lap and talk about all the toys, games, ponies, and unicorns they wished for! We have so much fun inviting Santa to our school every year, and we are so thankful that he makes time out of his busy schedule for us. We decided to do things a little differently this year. Typically, we do a “Sweets with Santa” but this year we invited him for breakfast! We had a pancake bar full of chocolate chips, fruit, and whipped cream! Who doesn’t love a good pancake breakfast!? There was a station set up for the kiddos to make cards with Christmas stamps, the wonderful Ms. Erin doing face paint for our friends, and of course there were lots and lots of pictures taken! Santa was so great with the little ones who were slightly nervous about getting too close. He offered up high fives if they wanted to keep their distance, but also still get a LITTLE close. We were so proud of our friends that were a little bit nervous at first, but then gained courage to go up and sit on Santa's lap! We had so much fun this year and of course, we are so grateful for everyone that came and had fun with us. We hope everyone has a very merry Christmas, and enjoy time with your loved ones. Merry Christmas from AoFC! 

SANTA!!!! I KNOW HIM!

 Our stamp station! Kiddos loved this activity!

The prettiest little Christmas girl

Checkin Santa out....

 One of our brave friends who was scared at first, but came back later with the biggest smile!

Sweet friends stamping away!

 Making sure the man in red is okay from a distance :)

Getting their faces painted!

This girl! So excited to see Santa

 "Ummmmm, who is dis guy!?"

When you love Santa so much, you decide to snuggle him a lil :)

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

To see more AOFC fun, follow us on instagram @aofckids 

Mrs. Sri

It's that time y'all..... time to announce our second ever Spotlight Educator! This has become something that every teacher is looking forward to. We have so many wonderful teachers that are deserving of this award so we are excited to continue on this journey! This teacher though... everyone in our school knows who this teacher is and has always had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Our second Spotlight Employee is the amazing Mrs. Sri! Mrs. Sri has been with us for over two years and has been one of our infant teachers during so. About a year ago, Mrs. Sri took over as our Lead Infant One Educator, and has been the absolute best in this position. Sri is incredibly kind, patient, loving, intelligent, and calm. She handles every single situation with incredible grace. You will never see Mrs. Sri flustered, even in the toughest of situations, or upset! She has all of the qualities of an experienced and nurturing motherly figure which is exactly what she is to all of these sweet babies. Sri loves all of her babies at school as if they were her own, and they are so very lucky to have her! We hear all of the time how grateful these working first- time parents are that they are able to leave their babies in the hands of Mrs. Sri. Make sure to stop by the front and read all of the amazing things her parents had to say about Mrs. Sri on the wall dedicated to her! We love you Sri and we are so very grateful to have you here with us! Thank you for everything that you do!

 These babes love their Sri so much!

 Taking a quick rest snuggling Mrs. Sri :)

 Sensory fun with Sri!

 Loving on her babes outside!

Mrs. Sri!

The wall dedicated to our girl :)

Below is a further explanation of what a Spotlight Educator looks like, and all of the special things that they will get to do and receive :)

In order for one of our Educators to receive this honor they must be employed with us for at least one year, have consistent positive feedback from our families and exemplary parent/child relationships, they are always willing to go above and beyond to help their fellow Educators, and are a promoter of positive staff morale.

This quarter we are honoring, Ms. Katherine, our Preschool 3 Lead Educator! Ms. Katherine is an inspiration to me because she brings a contagious, happy vibe to our work place. I admire her because she is always supporting other Educators and offering a hand, even if she has a lot to accomplish herself. Ms. Katherine always takes initiative to get tasks completed outside of her classroom and offers so much support for our newer Educators. I often use Ms. Katherine's routine/classroom as an example when training new Educators. Our program is lucky to have her as a part of our family:) We are so proud of you, Ms. Katherine!

Spotlight Educator Benefits:

- $100 Cash

-$50 Gift Card to the Educators Favorite Lunch Spot

-Social Media Recognition & Email Announcement- Our School Blog & Instagram

-Over-sized Appreciation Display near the Front Desk

- Working Lunch w/ Ms. Erica at a Restaurant of their Choice

- Job Swap w/ Anyone in the Building for the day (7am-2pm)

-Jean Week (winner's choice)

-4 hours of planning

-Special Parking Spot- "Spotlight Educator" space is marked with a sign in the parking lot

The most magical month!

This time of the year has got to be the most magical of them all. There is something about the holidays that is even better when you get to experience the magic through children's eyes! We love this time of the year of crafts, snacks, gingerbread house making, baking, and jammie wearing! We are so excited to start this month off right. Please enjoy a little preview of what is to come this magical month :)

                                

To really kick-start the most magical month of the whole year, on Monday, December 2nd we will conducting a Fizzy Candy Cane experiment! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for pictures and videos of whats to come of this!

                                           

                  Everyone here at AOFC LOVES the grab n' go snacks we do. So starting off, we will be having our Elf Munch grab n' go on December the 3rd!

                                        

 Special snacks are always a huge hit here! On December 4th, we will have a Reindeer special snack that  the kiddos will get to help with! 

For more holiday themed snack ideas please click HERE




On Thursday, December 5th, our first craft of the month will take place. To start us off, everyone will be invited to a Gingerbread crafting table!

 Dress up days are the best days!! For the very first time ever, we have decided to do a WHOLE Christmas Spirit Week!!





Monday, December 9th. Christmas hat/headband day!

Tuesday, December 10th- Christmas Sock Day!



Wednesday, December 11th- Crazy Christmas Sweater Day!




Thursday, December 12th- Christmas Legging Day!

Friday- Dress your best cause' the man with the beard will be here!

SANTA!!! REAL LIVE SANTA!!! On December 13th, Santa himself will be here for our first ever BREAKFAST WITH SANTA! He will be happy to take a few pictures, enjoy some breakfast, and hear all those Christmas lists!! Santa will arrive at 7:00am and will have to depart back to the North Pole at 9:00am Families are welcome!!! 

Are your kiddos not so keen of the big jolly giant? Click HERE for some tips on how to help your trip to pictures with Santa go over smoothly! 

 I bet your little ones have their lists all ready for Christmas! On December 17th we will all write letters to Santa and drop them in our special mailbox so they can be delivered to the North Pole in time for Christmas! 

Click HERE to check out some awesome templates for your letters! 

 A true holiday favorite!! On December 16th, we will all read "Twas' The Night Before Christmas" in preparation of the big day! Does your family have a favorite Christmas book? 

For a list of AMAZING holiday books that you can read with your family, please click HERE

 Whats better than building and making masterpieces? The fact that you can EAT IT afterwards!!! On December 18th, we will host our annual gingerbread house building party in the classroom! 

For some gingerbread inspiration, please click HERE

                                     
                                     
                                                   

We wanted to bring in a new tradition this year to focus our kiddos on the magic of reading. What better way to introduce this concept then to have our very first exchange happen during the Christmas holiday magic! SO, for our very first year ever on December 19th, we will be hosting a Christmas Classroom Book Exchange! Each child will bring in a holiday book to exchange with another kiddo in their room :)

      

   On December 20th, make sure to pick-up our "Magical Reindeer Food" before you leave!

 School is in session but the Christmas fun will continue! We invite your kiddo to wear their favorite pair of pajamas to school and cozy up in the enrichment room for a movie day!! 

For a list of great family Christmas movies to watch at home, click HERE

 That's right! On December 24 and 25 we will be closed in observance of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Regular scheduled school hours will resume December 26! 

What a wonderful season to celebrate LOVE. We hope you all have a fantastic December and holiday season. We are looking forward to enjoying the magic with you and your kiddos. Happy Holidays!

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

To keep up with the latest happenings at AOFC, follow us on instagram @aofckids

Lets Have a Feast!

The time has come again where we bring all of our families together the week before Thanksgiving and have a giant feast! This is a day that we all look forward to because what is better then getting everyone together to enjoy delicious food!? Being family owned and operated, family is incredibly important to us, so we are so grateful that we are able to provide the opportunity for so many families to be able to come and have a Thanksgiving meal with their littles. We had such a great turnout this year! Our Thanksgiving meal consisted of turkey with gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, warm rolls and pumpkin pie with whipped cream! The whole room was filled with laughter and conversation. We love looking out and seeing families communicating with other families that they may have never met and just enjoying doing so! Each of our kiddos made homemade place mats for their families that turned out SO cute and everyone loved them. We had so much fun this year and we can't wait until next year! Thank you to all of our families for coming and enjoying a feast together! We hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for every single one of you!

Just a boy and his dad!

Just a crowd full of love! (and food!)

Getting ready to feast!

Meeting new families!

Sweet girl loving on her brother!

Love them!! Big smiles all around!

Pumpkin Pie!

When the grandparents come to eat with you!

More sweet grandparents :)

Love seeing this :)

Family!

How sweet is this!?

Friends and family :)

These two... they have been friends for forever!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

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

First Ever Career Day!

Hello Families! Remember back when we were in elementary school and they would put on a big production of Career Day? I know I remember this, and so vividly! Ever since I was little, I have been so interested in the career choices of others, and learning about all of the different paths of lives that we can take. We had our PreK One teacher, Mr. Jacob, suggest to us that we put on a Career Day for our older kiddos to experience! We ended up having such a wonderful turnout, and SO many awesome parents showcasing their different career's. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful, hands on, encouraging families here, who also just happen to have some of the C O O L E S T jobs! We asked our parents who wished to partake in Career Day to come up with some key points that are interesting and exciting to place onto a poster board. We then had them choose a booth to set up at in our enrichment room, then had our classes go through in small groups to see! The kiddos would go to the different stations and listen to the key points about each families career! We had everything from doctors, pilots, army/navy/marine veterans, physical therapists, musicians, brain surgeons, and a personal favorite... a professional sail boat racer! Like, WHAT!? We were all so impressed with the execution of the poster boards and presentations that our wonderful parents provided. The kiddos had a lot of fun learning about different jobs and getting to play with all of the fun props our families brought along with them! Career Day will now be a tradition here at AOFC, and we are so grateful for everyone who participated in our very first one. THANK YOU!

Learning all about nutrition! 

Real Estate agent teaching our friends how to buy/sell a home!

Trying on her sail boat jacket!

 Paging all surgeons! This Dr. is the coolest.

How much fun would it be to be a veterinarian. SO fun learning about this career!

Thank you for your service Mr. Green

Mr. Q works on shows like The Voice, American Idol, and America's Got Talent. SERIOUSLY!?

Showing our friends how to be a wonderful nurse :)

We thank you for your service! We also thank you for educating our kiddos on your incredible career.

I mean....How cute is this! A veteran army pilot letting our littles wear the headphones!

Thank you to each and every one of you that came to educate our children. What a wonderful community that has been created here at Forrest Crossing. Thank you to all of our wonderful Veterans that came out on Veteran's Day! We thank you for your service :)

For more info on AoFC and the programs we offer, please click HERE
Check out this blog about children's career day by clicking HERE