Julie |
Naomi Not Pictured
Kay |
Amy |
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A lot of our friends have the same names and the office is getting confused when we file daily seeds. We now have 3 Max's, 2 Sienna's , 2 Mia's and many common names that are duplicated as well. Please include last initial on your daily seeds going forward.
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We love our parents but we do ask you respect the 6pm closing policy. Our teachers work hard throughout the day to keep your little one safe and nurtured and educated all day. At 6pm we should be locking the doors so our teachers can get some much needed rest. Please plan accordingly if you would like extra time to speak with your teacher. |
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Click the Gourmet Gorilla logo above to be directed to their website.
Did you know they cater for children special occasions and birthday parties and to elementary schools? |
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Car seats are to be placed in the individual classrooms. Strollers to be parked under the kitchen window folded up.
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Greetings!
The summer has been busy at Little Green Tree House and you may have noticed there are a lot of new faces in our student population! We are thankful to our new families. With the new students and with the center just turning one in July, there are many details to manage. We are continually updating and checking our files to assure we maintain compliance with the DCFS standards as well as our own standard policies.
Among our annual review process, we renewed our agreement with our emergency evacuation site. Just in case of an emergency such as a flood or fire, do you know where our evacuation site is located? The Salvation Army Chicago Temple Corps is located at 1 N. Ogden and is just two blocks north and two blocks east of the Little Green Tree House. We are at ease knowing we have a lovely space we could go which includes a kitchen, a gymnasium, outdoor play lot and a sanctuary where we would be able to stay until parents come to pick up their children. We truly hope we never have to use this site, but it is great to know we are set if we needed to evacuate.
Just as a reminder: we would use our One Call Feature to contact you if an emergency were to occur at the center. The One Call feature for Little Green Tree House is another important way for us to communicate with our LGTH families in conjunction with the Constant Contact mass email messaging system. A call would be made to your cell phone as well as your home phone, unfortunately work telephone numbers would not work well as the One Call would not be directed to an extension. You will hear a message from one of the Directors which would include details of the emergency and the action you should take to ensure proper pick-up of your child.
Unfortunately, there is not a specific telephone number which you can program into your phone as the system uses many to make the calls. Please just be aware a "weird" number may pop up at any time. If you don't wish to answer that is fine, please check your voicemail often during normal LGTH business hours as it may be an important call from Little Green Tree House.
Many details and policies of the Little Green Tree House have been reviewed in the last month and I am happy to report we are on track.
Warmest Regards, Elizabeth Geldhof Director of Business Operations |
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Still Growing and Changing
Sarah Stiltner, Assistant Director of Education The month of August brings many new faces to LGTH, and unfortunately a few goodbyes. Ms. Kelly and Ms. Marla will be leaving us soon to relocate back to their home towns. Ms. Kelly will be moving back to Colorado to be closer to family and Ms. Marla will be heading south to St. Louis. We appreciate all of their hard work and dedication they have shown during our first year! They will be missed by their fellow co-workers, students, and families. Everyone at LGTH wishes them much luck in their future endeavors!
On a happier note, we are excited to welcome four new faces to LGTH this month! Please take a moment to read a little about our new staff members:
Julie is one of the new Teacher's Aides in the infant classroom. She primarily works in our Dogwood classroom, but lends a helping hand in other areas if needed. Julie earned a Bachelor's of Arts and Sciences degree from Loyola University and is currently gaining a lot of experience working with infants as she raises her own baby.
Naomi comes to Chicago from California where she attended school at California State University and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Dance. Naomi has worked with children in various environments including her church's nursery and as a dance teacher for young children. While she is not assisting in our infant classrooms, she is working hard at Hubbard Street Dance School pursuing her career as a professional dancer.
Kay helps in our infant area as a Teacher's Aide. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Boston University. Kay has previous experience as a nanny and also working in a school nursery caring for babies 6 weeks through 2 years old. Her positive attitude and high energy are just what the babies need!
Amy is the newest Assistant Toddler Teacher in the Plum class room! The teachers and the children are so excited to welcome a new face in their fast, growing room! Amy has a Bachelor's Degree from Eastern Illinois University where she studied Family and Consumer Science, Health, and Dietetics. Previously, she has taught children of all ages as an Assistant Camp Director, nanny, and Field Director for the well known Girl Scouts program. |
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Lesson Plan-at-a-Glance
Erick Evans, Lead Teacher, Redwood classroom
Erick Evans' credentials include a State Teacher Certification: Provisional Early Childhood Teaching Age 0 - to Grade 3. He graduated Cum Laude from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a Major in Early Childhood Studies.
Unit title: Rainforest Adventure
Learning Objectives:
1. Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: #1 Identify matching sounds and recognize rhymes in familiar stories, poems, songs, and words (e.g. cat/hat, dog/frog)
2. Word Recognition: #6 Recognize that words are made up of letters
3. Hereditary: #4 Match familiar adult family members, plants, and animals with their young (e.g. a watermelon comes from a plant)
4. Characteristics of Life #1 Identify common needs (e.g. food, air, water, sunlight) of familiar living things
5. Characteristics and Properties #2 Sort and classify similar two- and three- dimensional objects found in the environment and in play situations (e.g. paper shapes, balls of different sizes)
Special Skill Practice: Students will be taught to choose from a variety of activities immediately following snack time. When finished with one activity, each student will choose a new activity at a different table. Before proceeding to the day's next activity, students will help clean up at the table in which they are playing.
Developmental Focus:
1. Transferring thought into words
2. Names concrete objects in environment (7 out of 10)
3. Names ten pictures of 19 common objects
Materials:
· Rainforest Animal Pictures
· Sponges (6)
· Toilet Paper Tubes
· Student Interest Pictures
Literature:
1. The Rainforest Grew All Around by Susan Mitchell
2. A Rainforest Habitat by Molly Aloian
3. Nature's Green Umbrella by Gail Gibbons
4. At Home in the Rainforest by Diane Willow
5. The Rainforest Race by Lara Bergen
Extension: This month in the Redwood classroom, we will be focusing on themes and learning objectives dealing with watermelon, life in the ocean, rainforest animals, and literature written and illustrated by Dr. Suess. Children will learn (1) to identify watermelons, describe how they taste and feel, and begin to understand that watermelons, like all fruit, grow from plants, (2) identify animals and plants that live in the ocean and discover characteristics that these living creatures have in common, (3) identify rainforest animals and find the differences between them and ocean animals in addition to understanding that a rainforest has lots of trees, rain, and hot weather, and (4) understand that the words of books are written by an author, the pictures are drawn by an illustrator, and recognize the similarities between rhyming words.
Please be aware of what your child is learning at school. Extend on these ideas by watching a developmentally appropriate program on television about the rainforest or the ocean. Students in the past have enjoyed shows such as "Life" on the Discovery Channel. Rent books at the library and read them to your child. Help them to discover the rhyming words within the book.
Also note this month's learning objectives and areas of developmental focus. We're beginning to work heavily with phonemic awareness, word recognition, characteristics of life, hereditary, and simple mathematical properties.
August Lesson Plan - Week 3 - Rainforest Adventure
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Monday 16 |
Tuesday 17 |
Wednesday 18 |
Thursday 19 |
Friday 20 | |
Circle Time |
Explore and identify pictures of different animals found in the rainforest
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Read, "Nature's Green Umbrella" by Gail Gibbons
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Sing "Rainforest Animals" to the tune "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" |
Read, At Home in the Rainforest by Diane Willow |
Sort Magnetic Animals in either "Water" or "Land" groups | |
Theme Project |
Sponge Paint Animals - Make a rainforest by stamping various animals on a printout with trees |
Feather Parrots - Use footprints for the body and handprints for wings and add feathers to make a parrot |
Rainforest Trees - Paint toilet paper tubes, add tissue paper, and real leave to make a rainforest tree |
Jaguar Spots - Pick a number 1 - 20 and glue the number of spots on a cat outline
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Cooking - Identify various tropical fruits and blend them together to make a delicious smoothie | |
Academic Activity/ Mini Lesson |
Make a Manipulative - Play Dough
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Spanish with Ms. Katie |
Water plants in the classroom and plant seeds |
Music with Ms. Monica!
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Story Time with guest reader
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The Worth of Lesson Plans
Erin Lyon, Director of Education
When the teachers develop their lesson plans for the Little Green Tree House they will look to our developmental checklists for specific skills that they want to work on in their classroom. One of the skills being focused on this month in Mr. Erick's classroom involves building vocabulary, or the set of words that a child knows. Vocabulary can be split into two types: receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary. A child's receptive vocabulary consists of the words the child understands when he or she hears or reads them. A child's expressive vocabulary consists of the words the child uses when he or she speaks. By the time a child is three years old they should have a vocabulary of about 900-1,000 words. By the time they reach the age of four this will grow to an amazing 1,500-1,600-word vocabulary.
Building a child's vocabulary is extremely important. Vocabulary is the basis for learning language. Educational research shows that vocabulary strongly relates to reading comprehension, intelligence, and general ability. As children learn to read, they must learn to sound out written words, but they also must have a vocabulary base (word knowledge) in order to make sense of the written words they are beginning to read.
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Gourmet Gorilla Offers Take-Home dinners!
Danielle from Gourmet Gorilla
ORGANIC DINNERS CAN BE DELIVERED TO LITTLE GREEN TREE HOUSE
We know you are busy and would like more time with your little ones in the evening. We have the solution! Gourmet Gorilla tiffin dinners. Give them a try - you will be surprised!
Click Here to visit the ordering website Password: tiffin |
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Eco Friendly Choices - Dangerous or Safe? Which Foods, Medicines, and Chemicals Really Put Your Kids at Risk by Cara Natterson, MD
Elizabeth Geldhof, Director of Business Operations
If you have been reading the newsletters throughout our first year, you know I am all about choices. There are too many types of lifestyles to lump all of the information that is available into a single, bar- none, cohesive lifestyle that works for me personally or the center. I presume others have the same difficulty within their own lifestyle. I picked-up the book Dangerous or Safe? Which Foods, Medicines, and Chemicals Really Put Your Kids at Riskby Cara Natterson, MD and was inspired by how well-written and organized it was. Though the inside jacket states that this book "prepares parents for every possible hazard their child may face," I do not think this is necessarily true. However, I do think it is an excellent perspective with sound, logical advice and, therefore, I wanted to share it with you.
Below is from the inside cover:
A leading pediatrician answers the question looming large on every parent's mind: what's truly safe for my kids?
There is little doubt that children today face unprecedented dangers. With conflicting reports in the media and rumors on the playground, parents simply lack the information needed to separate fact from the hype - and as a result, their fears are at a fever pitch.
So what do parents actually need to worry about? In Dangerous or Safe? pediatrician and mom Dr. Cara Natterson uses her medical expertise, the latest scientific research, and her own perspective as a mom of two to provide parents with definitive answers.
Tackling twenty-five hot-button issues, Dr. Natterson outlines why each subject is rumored to pose a threat, explains what experts have said about it, and presents her own "bottom line" so parents can make an informed decision on each topic. An indispensable resource, this relatable guide gives moms and dads clear instructions on what to avoid and which so-called poisons are completely safe. It also answers the questions that parents most frequently ask their pediatricians, including:
- Why do kids today have more allergies?
- Are all plastics safe? Can they be microwaved?
- Is it safe to give my child cold and cough medicine?
- Is use of deodorants and antiperspirants linked to breast cancer?
- If my child takes antibiotics, will he develop resistance?
In addition to explaining the hazards of commonly known materials such as lead and plastics, Dr. Natterson exposes startling new evidence on seemingly benign products - like cell phones- which may in fact endanger us all. Whether it's a plastic baby bottle or the pesticide spray in the grass, Dangerous or Safe? prepares parents for every possible hazard their child may face.
Cara Natterson, MD, has treated thousands of children in private practice, and is the author of Your Newborn: Head to Toe and Your Toddler: Head to Toe. She works closely with Telepictures Productions, contributing to momlogic.com, and has appeared as an expert on CNN and the Today show. A graduate of Harvard University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Natterson lives in California with her husband and two children.
Hudson Street Press, A division of Penguin Group (USA) inc.
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IMPORTANT REMINDERS
If you have recently moved - Please be sure to update the front desk with your current address.
If you have taken your child to the doctor's office recently please have the Doctor fax us an updated copy of vaccinations 312-492-6543 (it can be on the doctor's form - it is not necessary to have the DCFS form)
Center Will Be Closed On the Following Holidays In 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010 (News Year Day)
Monday, February 15, 2010 (Presidents Day) In-training of staff*
Friday, April 9, 2010 Center will be open 7am-1pm - In-training of staff
Monday, May 31,2010 (Memorial Day)
Friday, July 2, 2010 (Fourth of July )
 Monday, September 6, 2010 (Labor Day )
Thursday, November 25, 2010 (Thanksgiving)
Friday, November 26, 2010 (Day after)
Friday, December 24, 2010 (Christmas Eve)
Friday, December 31, 2010 (New Years Eve)
Center normal business hours 7am - 6pm
Telephone: 312-492-9876 |
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