Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Slane rd Newsletter February/March 2013


Mother Hubbard’s Childcare

Newsletter February-March 2013

Firstly we would like to welcome Our Montessori class back from the mid-term and hope you all enjoyed the break.

Birthdays…

 In February Conor in the Toddler Room has turned one and Gracie in Montessori turned four.

In March both Ethan and Connor in Pre-Montessori 1 will be turning three and in Montessori Olivia, Shay and Armandas will all turn four. We wish them all a Big Happy Birthday from us all here at Mother Hubbard’s.

Fundraising     

Cake Sale          

We held a cake sale in our centre to raise funds for Meath Palliative Care and the Cancer Day Unit, at Tallaght Hospital in remembrance of Audrey Gibney. From the cake sake we raised over €200 and all proceeds go to the above causes. We would like to say a big thank you to all who contributed to the cake sale.

 

 

Upcoming Events  

Pyjama Day

We will be taking part in pyjama day again this year which will be held on the 8th of March 2013. Children will wear their pyjamas to crèche on this day and each family will receive a sponsorship card to fill in as best they can. The NCNA pyjama day raises funds for Make a Wish Foundation. Participation in this event is optional but we would like all to participate including staff. We hope everyone has a really fun day!

Remember Mother’s Day March 10th!!

Dates for your Calendar

The centre will close for St. Patrick’s Day on Monday the 18th of March and will re-open Tuesday the 19th of March; this excludes Montessori session as they will return on Wednesday the 20th of March.

We will also close the 29th of March for Good Friday and the 1st of April for Easter Monday. Montessori session have their mid-term from the 25th of March to the 5th of April.

What we are doing in the rooms this month

Toddlers

Toddlers celebrated Conor’s first birthday this month and love blossomed as Valentine’s Activities got underway. They have been enjoying getting involved in spring activities doing many things such as messy play, hand and foot prints for their collage displayed in their room. The toddler room are currently working on their Transport theme, sponge painting and finger painting all types of transport. They will also begin planning activities for St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s day and Easter.

 

Playschool

In playschool the children are enjoying a new part to their routine, brushing their teeth they really enjoy this and have a song to encourage their interest also. Hygiene can be made fun! They have been having lots of fun learning about the different types of transport decorating pictures of planes, cars etc., using different techniques such as sticking and gluing and painting to add to their Transport collage. They also have been learning about spring and the different types of animals and flowers associated with this season. The children will enjoy making cards and decorations for upcoming events to take home and decorate their room for St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. Valentines activities in playschool were really fun and enjoyed as the children planted beautiful flowers and decorations for their Mammy’s and Daddy’s for Valentine’s Day.

Pre-Montessori 1

The Pre-Montessori 1 children have made beautiful Valentine’s Day decorations, cards, flowers and participated in a group activity, finger painting a Valentine’s Day wall display for their room. They also had great fun doing Duck Races using straws, they really enjoyed this. They will be preparing and busy on decorating their room for St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, not forgetting Mother’s Day the children will make cards for their mammy’s to take home. Pre-Montessori 1 children are looking for to baking for Easter and having their Easter hunt. The Children enjoy the festivities and activities involved in these events.

Pre-Montessori 2

The children in Pre-Montessori 2 were learning about spring this term, learning about the flowers growing, baby lambs being born and also the weather getting warmer (fingers Crossed). The children had great fun doing colouring activities associated with spring. The children in pre-Montessori 2 made beautiful Valentine’s Day cards and book markers for their parents, along with colouring and painting Valentine’s Day pictures to decorate their room. March will be a busy month for the children as they will have St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter to look forward to as they plan to decorate their room, make cards and bake some nice treats for their mammy’s. They are also very excited about their Easter egg hunt.

Montessori

In Montessori this term they are busy with their arts and crafts basing them around Valentine’s Day, Occupations, spring and Hygiene. The children in Montessori are working hard on their sounds and doing really well with their homework bringing in items for the sound box each week and working on their sound and number booklets preparing for big school in September. During circle time the children are reminding themselves about manners, being kind and gentle to one another which are important life skills. The children had loads of free play, outdoor play and baking which they contributed to our cake sale. They are looking forward to learning about St. Patrick’s and basing their arts and crafts on this topic. The children have also not forgotten Mother’s Day and of course Easter as they are excited about these events and their festivities. The children in Montessori are working hard and will continue to along with plenty of fun activities such as dancing, musical chairs and many more.

Homework Club

The after school children have been busy doing their homework Monday to Thursday. Also some of our second class children are preparing for First Holy Communion this term. Fridays are NO homework Fridays which are known to the children as Fun Day Friday. Children love this as it is when they can be hands on being creative with Arts and Crafts, Painting, Outdoor Play (weather permitting) and baking. The children also took part in Valentine’s Day Festivities. They will also be very busy decorating the room for St. Patrick’s Day and will also bake some tasty treats.It’s a busy time for all the children!!

Outdoors

The children are taken outside as much as possible so we would like to take this opportunity to remind all parents as we never know what our weather is like in Ireland, we ask you to ensure your children have adequate clothing and footwear in the centre such as wellies and raincoats, hats and gloves for outdoor play and activities. Please label them clearly with your child’s name on each item. Also can all parents please ensure that their child has a spare set of clothes in the centre as they may need to be changed after accidents, water play and outdoor play.

Topic of the month; Recycling

Recycling conserves our natural resources and uses less energy from the environment. Saving energy in Ireland means that emissions of greenhouse gas from cars, trucks and other pollutants are reduced at the recycling plant and our energy sources aren’t depleted as quickly.  Although recycling is a lot more common now there is still a lot more that can be done protect our environment.

We at Mother Hubbard’s, at the moment in our centre we are currently looking for used batteries and unwanted shoes for recycling. There are two boxes located in the centre for these items if you wish to deposit any of either item’s we would greatly appreciate your contribution.

 

Enrolment for Montessori, September 2013 (ECCE)

At this moment we are currently full for our Montessori session in September 2013. There is a waiting list at present so if you wish to enrol your child or know anyone interested in enrolling their child please take note of this and inform them of this procedure. Places will be allocated if an additional room becomes available. People on our waiting list will be given first refusal.

Opening and Closing Times

We would like to take this opportunity to remind all parents about are opening and closing times. They are Monday to Friday 7:30am-6:00pm sharp. We would appreciate it if all parents could adhere to these times. Also part-time children need to be collected on time also. Can all parents please ensure that they don’t park in front of the centre at the following times below as we need the space for our bus driver,

8.30-9.00am

1.30-2.00pm

3.00-3.30pm

Thank You!

Satisfaction Survey

In relation to our satisfaction survey we would like to thank all parents who completed them and for their feedback.

Reminder

Montessori session will have their Easter mid-term on the 25th of March till 5th of April 2013 .

Mother Hubbards, 56 Black castle Demense, Slane Road, Navan. 046-9059967 Website; www.motherhubbardschildcare.ie E-mail; navan@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Ongar Newsletter January 2013


Mother Hubbards Newsletter
January 2013

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2013! We hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year!

Happy Birthday

This month we would like to wish the following children a very big Happy Birthday:

·        Laoise and Roisin in baby room, both turn 1
·        Damilare in Pre-Montessori who is turning 3
·        Ahana in Junior Montessori who is turning 3
·        Emilie, Darasimi, Theodor and Jack in Montessori, all turning 4
·        Vincent in Junior Afterschool who is turning 5
·        Philip, Lauren and Oisin in Senior Afterschool who are turning 6, 8 and 9 respectively.

Welcome
We would like to welcome Zoe into the baby room and Olivia to the Pre- Montessori. We hope you settle in well with your new friends. We would also like to welcome Gosia back from her sick leave and Agniesika from maternity leave. We hope you settle back quickly. Finally we would like to welcome Nicole into the team.

Reminder
·        This is just to remind parents that fees should only be given to the Manager and Deputy Manager as staff are too busy in the rooms to handle fees.
·        We will appreciate if the parents would start returning the Parents Satisfaction Surveys form.
·        We wish to remind parents that the crèche close at 6.30pm sharp as staff needs to attend to their personal commitment.
Infection Control
We would appreciate your help in trying to prevent any virus entering the crèche. I would therefore like to stress the importance of using the hand sanitizer gel before entering any of the children’s rooms. We are advising all parents, staff and visitors to use the gel. We are also encouraging any school going children to use the gel when returning from school and entering the building.

Also for any parents entering the baby, wobbler and toddler rooms we would like to remind you to use the shoe covers provided as this will also help in the prevention and spread of any viruses.






Ongar Village                         Phone: 01 8260055
Ongar                                      
Dublin 15                        E-Mail:  ongar@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Ongar December 2012 Newsletter


Mother Hubbards Newsletter
December 2010

Happy Birthday

This month we would like to wish the following children a very big Happy Birthday:

  • Adrian and Lily in Baby room; both turn 1
  • Jamie in Wobblers room who turns 2
  • Cara in the Montessori room who will be 4
  • Isaac in Junior Montessori who turns 5 and,
  • Happy Birthday to Alison


Welcome
We would like to give a big warm welcome to all the new children who have started recently at mother Hubbards. We hope you all settle in great and have lots of fun with us here!
  • Roisin in baby room
  • Ana and Rory in Pre-Montessori room

Reminders
·        Just a reminder that the crèche will close on the 21st of December at 6.30pm sharp and re-open on Wednesday 3rd January at 7.15am.
·        The last day of term for ECCE and Montessori is Thursday the 20th of December at 11.30am.
·        Parents of children in afterschool should please clearly label their children’s school uniforms and bags.






Christmas Spirit

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!  from all of us at Motherhubbards.

Ongar Village                            Phone: 01 8260055
Ongar                                      
Dublin 15                        E-Mail:  ongar@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Ongar's November 2012 Newsletter


See full size image 

Look who has a birthday this month:

Liam in the baby room is turning 1
Daniel and James in Montessori both turning 4
Saoirse and Ethan, both in junior Montessori will turn 3
Isabella in the pre-montessori room turns 2.

Welcome
We would like to welcome the following children:
·        Adrian, Ethan and Ines into our baby room
·        Luis and Rhea into the Junior Montessori.
 We wish them all the happiness while in here.
We would also like to welcome Caroline and Donna into the team; we hope you will be very happy here.


Reminder of Christmas Holidays

The sessional Montessori children (9.00-12.00) will finish up on Thursday 20th   December at 11.30 and will return on Monday 7th January 2013 at 9.00am.
For all other children the centre will close on Friday 21st December at 6.30pm and will re-open on Wednesday 2nd January 2013.


Barnados Donation
This is to say a big thank you to all who have made donations for the Barnardos dressing up & fund raising last month. Your kind gesture is well appreciated.

Weather
See full size image

As the weather is getting colder could all parents please send in a suitable coat and a hat, scarf and gloves for their child for outdoor play.  Wellies and raincoats should be provided for wet days.  You can label these items and leave them in the centre if you wish to do so.


Hand Sanitizer

We would like to remind all parents to use the hand sanitizer in the hallway (located at the entrance) when entering and exiting the building to help stop the spread of infection in the centre especially that is winter time and parents who go to Baby room and Wobbler room please use the shoe cover to prevent infection around.

Smile
MC900434892[1]
Our photographer Dermot Ward is coming to the centre on Tuesday 27th November to take photos of the children.  Parents are under no obligation to buy these photos and only do so if they wish after seeing the photos.  Look out for signs in the centre with details of prices etc.


Speech & Drama.
Speech and drama class is also in full swing at this moment in the Montessori class children love singing, dancing and acting with Hilary
Thank you to all parents who make this to happen.



Info on Children’s Right Referendum
It may be of interest to you to know what is next with the passing of the Children’s right referendum last week.
The referendum was carried with the Yes side securing 58% of the vote and the No side getting 42%.  While we are disappointed that turnout was just 33.49%, in real terms, 1,066,239 people voted (that’s almost one adult for every child in Ireland today) – out of a total electorate of 3,183,239.   For more information, please visit http://www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/children%e2%80%99s-rights-referendum/




No 6 The Avenue         
Ongar Village                            Phone: 01-8260055
Dublin 15                                           
Dublin 15
                             E-Mail:  ongar@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Slane Roads September/October 2012 Newsletter


Mother Hubbards Newsletter
September/ October 2012


                   
                                                                                      
Happy Birthday!!
Caitlin in playschool was 2 in September
Evanna in playschool was 2 in September
Sophie in pre Montessori was 3 in September
                                          
Cathal in pre Montessori was 3 in September
Lucy in pre Montessori will be 3 in October
Caoimhe in Montessori was 4 in September
Jack in Montessori was 4 in October

We would like to welcome all our new children who joined us in Montessori, Toddlers, Pre-Montessori and Afterschool.  They have all settled in well since starting and are really enjoying themselves!!

Congratulations to Rachel and Ian on the birth of their bay boy Max.

Congratulations to Victoria and Robert on their marriage last Thursday the 4th October. We all at Mother Hubbard’s would like to wish them all the best for their Future!!

Congratulations to our area manager Catherine and Ollie on the birth of baby Cillian!


ECCE Scheme

Thank you all for your co-operation in filling in all the forms as required by the Dept of Children & Youth Affairs (DCYA) for the ECCE scheme this year.  Parents who are due to receive their booking deposit will be refunded as soon as all the registrations have been verified by the DCYA.

Class Times
Our Montessori class sessions are from 9.00am to 12.00pm
Some children are pre-booked to arrive at an earlier time or to remain on for collection at a later time.  We would ask parents to adhered to the agreed times, as it as affects the afternoon sessions and therefore disrupts the staff lunchtime rota.

Opening Hours
We would like to remind parents that the centre opens from 7.30am to 6.00pm sharp!! 



Fundraising!!

Operation Christmas Child
This year Mother Hubbard’s are taking part in Operation Christmas Child. This is a charity initiative run by the Samaritans, you are asked to fill a shoebox with different gifts for Christmas for a child in some of the world poorest countries. Parents will receive a leaflet shortly explaining how to fill your shoe boxes and any parent who wish to participate please note boxes have to be in by the 11th of November!! Thank you!

We will be having our annual Cheerio’s Child line Breakfast Appeal on Thursday the 11th of October. We will be having lots of fun on this day!! Children can wear in their pyjamas and for snack we will have lots of yummy Breakfast treats like French toast/toast, fruit and Cheerio’s!!! A donation box will be left in the hall way for any donations you wish to make to Child line!! Thank You!


What been happening in the rooms this month?
Toddlers painted our Autumn tree and finger painted orange and green leaves.  We sponge painted our Autumn animals the hedgehog and the squirrel.  We had lots of fun doing group activities – painting, gluing, chalk, music and dance and free play.
We made a splash with water play and bubbles and got our hands dirty with the sand.  We also enjoyed messy play.
Toddlers love to go for walks outside and wrap up warm to play in the garden.
We are looking forward to learning about parts of our body and looking forward to Halloween -- Halloween fun and frolics!
Playschool In playschool this month we have been busy with Our Autumn theme.  We have been learning about the different animals related to Autumn and basing our arts and crafts around Our theme making leaf men and autumn collages using different materials and techniques.  Next on our plan is “All about me” where we will make family trees, and base our activities on this.  Halloween will soon be with us and the children in playschool are excited about our Halloween festivities, parties and dressing up.  Also this month the children have learned a new song about numbers, helping them learn to count from 1-10. 
Pre-Montessori - In Pre-Montessori we would like to give a big welcome to all the children who have started, they are all settling in well!  The children have being learning about Autumn.  They have coloured and glued squirrels.  They have painted and glued trees and hand/finger painted trees.  The children have being busy outside in the garden playing with the sand and on the slides and running around and playing with the balls etc.  We also have been doing a lot of baking and making rice-krispy buns.
For the month of October the children will be learning about Halloween and making lots of things for Halloween and making lots of things for Halloween like spiders, bats, pumpkins etc.  We will also be having a fancy dress Party, lots of treats….yummy!!!
Montessori have been
1)       Settling into our new classroom
2)      How to work, talk in the classroom and how to carry a chair.  We learned the clean up song.
3)       Classroom manners, respect for each other, being kind and helpful.  We learned the “Please” and “Thank You” song.
4)      Autumn – key facts about Autumn, we learned about the Hedgehog.  We learned our Autumn songs “All the leaves are falling down and read stories about hedgehogs.
5)      We did finger painting – our Autumn trees and put on display we made our birthday name train on display in class
6)      Baking cornflake buns





Reminder to parents           
Can we remind parents to bring in wellies and raincoats for all children- please ensure that they are labelled clearly with their child’s name. Also can all parents ensure that their child has a spare set of clothes in the crèche as they may need to be changed after water play or when they go outside!!


We ask all parents of after school children to send in a spare set of clothes with their child everyday in their school bags. This is to ensure that children are as comfortable as possible after their day at school and that their uniforms stay clean!!



We would also like to remind all parents that we are closed the 29th of October for the bank holiday!! Montessori sessionals will have their Halloween mid term from Monday 29th October – Friday 2nd November (inclusive).

The centre is closed Monday the 29th October for the Bank Holiday!


Halloween Parties:

Toddlers & Playschool will have their Party on Friday the 26th October.

Pre-Montessori will be having their Party on Wednesday the 24th October.

Montessori and Afterschool will be having their Party on Friday the 26th October.







Halloween
Halloween is coming up at the end of this month!!! Here’s a spooky recipe for you to make to mark the occasion….

1.      MERINGUE SKELETON BONES
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
·        Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
·        Line cookie sheet with brown paper bag or parchment.
·        In a medium sized bowl at high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt till fluffy.
·        Gradually beat in sugar and add vanilla. 
·        Place in pastry bag fitted with a medium plain piping tip.
Pipe 3" bone shapes onto parchment or brown paper bag.
·        Bake 1 hour until set. Turn off oven, dry in oven 1 hour. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Mother Hubbards,
56 Black castle Demesne,
Slane Road, Navan.
046- -9059967                    E-mail; navan@motherhubbardschildcare.ie

Monday, September 17, 2012


Mother Hubbards Childcare Ongar Newsletter

September 2010

Welcome to our first newsletter of the new school year.  This month we would like to welcome all of the new children who started with us at the beginning of September and their parents.  We hope you are all very happy here at Mother Hubbards.  


Happy Birthday
This month we would like to wish the following children a very big Happy Birthday:

  • Aoibhe in baby room turning 1
  • Loiza  and Kate in junior Montessori, both turning 3
  • Lara Murray in Junior After School will be turning 4


Congratulations
We use the opportunity to say big congratulations to our area manager, Catherine and her family on the arrival of their new baby boy. We wish them all the happiness.


Reminders.
  • We would like to remind parents that if you have not brought in a spare set of clothes for your child could you do so as soon as possible. It is very important that we have them in case of emergency. The following clothes should be provided a t-shirt, sweater, underpants, trousers, socks and a vest. After school children are encouraged to bring in a change of clothes so they can change out of their uniforms.  Please remember to label all your child’s belongings and school bags to prevent mix up.
  • We would also like to remind all parents that children should not bring in their own toys to crèche. As you can understand we do not want children’s toys to go home damaged in any way and bringing them in can cause great confusion to other children who think they belong to the crèche. This can cause unwanted bickering and unease amongst the children.
  • We also want to remind some parents who have borrowed booster seats from the crèche to please return them as we need all seats now for school runs.
  • A lots of clothing items have been left behind in the crèche for sometime now. We are requesting parents to check out these items to see if any belongs to them. The boxes containing the items are in the downstairs hallway and will be kept for another month, after which they will be sent to charity organisations. Thank you.


Information: Internet Safety Tips for Parents
It is coming up to the start of a new academic year and technology is everywhere around us in computers, iphones, ipods and  ipads, just to name a few! While technology is a useful tool, we also need to be careful that it is being used appropriately by children and that they are aware of the potential dangers and pitfalls.  For more information on this, please visit :
www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/for-parents-childcare-search/technology-and-children/internet-safety-tips-for-parents-and-practitioners/




Ongar Village                            Phone: 01 8260055
Ongar                                      
Dublin 15                        E-Mail:  ongar@motherhubbardschildcare.ie