Mother Hubbards Childcare
Newsletter January 2012
Hi all and welcome back after the Christmas break, best wishes for 2012!
Ben and Sean in playschool are 2 this month
…..Happy Birthday!
Enrolment for Montessori September 2012 If you have not already done so please inform us whether your child is staying on in Montessori for September 2012 or whether they will be going to school. Also if you know of anyone who would be interested in a place for their child this September please inform them that enrolment for the Free Pre- school ECCE Year is now taking place. Thank you!!
Dates for your diary
Sessional Montessori will be on mid term from February 15th until February 17th 2012 inclusive. They will be off on Monday 19th March for the bank holiday and Tuesday 20th March. Their Easter mid tern will be from Monday 2nd April- Friday 13th April 2012 .
The centre will be closed for all children Monday 19th March, Friday 6th April and Monday 9th April 2012 .
Thank You!
The Montessori children had a visit from the local Garda and the Fireman as part of their occupation theme this week. The children had great fun especially when they got to put on the Garda siren!!! They loved the big fire engine too!
What we are doing in the rooms this month
Toddlers
They have finished their winter theme. They have been colouring and painting pictures of different types of transport like planes and trucks. They have been busy doing finger painting, making play dough, playing with sand, the cars, tea sets and puzzles. They have also been building with the Lego and dancing to music.
Playschool
In playschool they have been having lots of fun exploring with play dough and sand and water. The children really enjoyed getting involved with these activities and enjoy the natural materials. Also this month they have been introduced to shapes! They have also made a caterpillar birthday chart and are making profiles of themselves like their likes/dislikes, handprints etc, this allows them to develop their identity and belonging in line with Aistear’s principles.
Pre-Montessori
The pre Montessori children have made beautiful framed pictures. They have focused on each child’s favourite colour and have been finger painting. They are learning about farm animals especially the cow. They have been dancing with their musical instruments and have been making lots of yummy treats….they are so yummy that some of them
have been ate well before the mammies and daddies have come to collect them!!!
Montessori 1
They have been busy learning about penguins where they live, what they eat and have painted their own little penguin. They have also been learning about the body, taking care of ourselves, healthy eating and how exercise is good for us! They have been doing lots of arts and crafts with the different parts of the body! This week they have been learning about Occupations, the Garda and the Fireman came to visit. They have also been talking about the different jobs their mammies and daddies work at!
Montessori 2
They have settled in well after Christmas. They would like to welcome Sebastian to their group! They have been learning about manners and how important they are! They have also been learning about penguins they made lovely penguins for outside their room. The sounds they have learned are ‘p’ and ‘j’. This week they are learning about occupations and they especially enjoyed the visit from the Garda and Fireman!
After school
The after school children have been doing lots of imaginary play, they even made up an X Factor game with Geraldine as their judge…Simon Cowell look out! They are really enjoying the new lego they got and have been making big ships and houses! They have also been busy with their arts and crafts and their stencilling!
Can all parents please ensure that they don’t park in front of the centre at the following times as we need the space for our bus driver-
Thank You!
If you are doing a clean out after Christmas and have toys such as lego, jigsaws, dolls, dolls houses, dress up etc that are in good condition we will be more than happy to take them for our rooms. Thank You!
Topic of the month
Children’s sleep problems
Research has shown that up to 25% of pre-school children have a persistent sleep problem. Children can have just one type of problem or can have a mixture of problems such as;
-frequent waking during the night
-difficulty settling to sleep alone and refusing to sleep alone
-feeding during the night
-nightmares and sleep terrors
-sleeping at the wrong times
Here are a few tips to help you deal with these problems. This information has been taken from www.rollercoaster.ie
- Use the same bedtime routine every night.
- Keep to the same timetable - children like predictability and routine.
- Let your child get to sleep in a quiet area - avoid going in and out of their room.
- Take turns putting your child to sleep so that if one parent is away the other will be familiar with the routine.
- Try to avoid your child being over-tired when going to bed as this can lead to tears etc.
- Allow your child to go to sleep in their own bed/cot - do not get into the habit of moving your child after they have fallen asleep.
- Try not to be in the room on a regular basis when your child falls asleep - if you are, your child will associate falling asleep with your presence and may not be able to fall asleep alone. Look at our topic on causes to learn more about this.
Remember all children do have sleepless nights at various times e.g. sickness, times of change, stressful times etc, but these episodes of sleeplessness should be temporary. For more information see www.rollercoaster.ie
Mother Hubbards, 56 Black castle Demesne, Slane Road, Navan.
046-9059967