Dear Parents,
The end of the school year is fast approaching and with it comes the various activities that signal the onset of summer. Spring conferences, Mother’s Day, late evenings and sunburned noses all herald the end of our year together.
The month of May takes most classes outside. Ms. Ariella and Ms. Yanira’s classes continue to help our youngest children with the exciting process of learning. Our MDO’s will spend their time enjoying “Fun with Food”. They will make cinnamon pretzels, play with dough, (and spaghetti), paint with fruit and sample many tasty and healthy treats.
The three–year–old classes investigate bugs and the season of spring.
Our four–year–old classes will study Dr. Seuss and his zany characters. The Cat in the Hat and all of his friends-Thigwick, Bartholomew Cubbins, Horton and Yertle become our vehicles for learning.
In April, our pre–kindergarten classes learned an incredible amount about Birds of Prey and how they hunt and feed on animals. They now will focus on tropical Rainforests. The children become aware of the fragility of this unique ecosystem as well as experts on bugs, snakes, and other inhabitants of this vanishing habitat. As part of their study, we hope to hatch a praying mantis egg sac in the classroom. Invited or not, one of these fascinating creatures will be coming to visit us soon! Ms. Sandra will let everyone know once they hatch.
Kindergarten has an exciting month. Mrs. Hobbs class will be learning about the stages of plant development, butterfly development, and frog development using complete hands on approach. The kindergarten classroom will become a laboratory where seeds sprout, caterpillars spin cocoons, and tadpole’s metamorphosis into frogs. The children’s academic progress amazes us! Many are now learning long vowel sounds and spelling! As spring progresses, we plan to incorporate creative writing into each week’s lesson. As these masterpieces come home it is important that you be extremely positive in your comments. PLEASE don’t make any suggestions for improvement and don’t even think of mentioning spelling. Creative writing is a very personal and sensitive process. A careless remark can be devasting.
On Tuesday, May 10th the school will be closed for conferences. If you need a longer conference than is scheduled, your child’s teacher will be glad to reschedule you for another day. Children who are enrolled in our full day program can attend as usual.
Our last day of school will be June 17th. The prorated tuition will come home with your student. Bellamy Manor does have a summer program! Please let us know if you’re interested.
Parents, if your child is sensitive to the sun, please apply sunscreen before he/she comes to school. Social Services now considers sunscreen a medication that needs to be signed in and locked up. You may not let your child have it in his/her book bag. If you child stays past 1:00 and you have signed a permission note, we will apply sunscreen in the afternoon.
Sincerely,
Kristine
DATES TO NOTE ON YOUR CALENDAR
MAY 10th ………………………………Conference day (Open for full day student only)
MAY 30th………………………………………..………….Memorial Day; School closed
JUNE 10th…………………………………………….…………Kindergarten Graduation
JUNE 17th……………………………………………………….……Last Day of School
JUNE 20th-24………………………Bellamy Manor is open for All Day Care ONLY
JUNE 27th– AUG 19th………………………………………………..Summer programs
August 26th…………………………………………………………..……..…Open House
Sept 6th……………………………………………………………………..We begin again!