Bulldog Buddies Bulletin

As we enter this season of gratitude, I want to take a moment to thank you for trusting us with your child's early years of learning. We are grateful for your involvement in our recent Lemon Lake Nature Exploration and Halloween parties! Additionally, we’ve had a wonderful turnout for grandparent's day and look forward to continuing to welcome them to preschool classes across the district! We also appreciate everyone who took part in parent-teacher conferences. We hope the conferences provided valuable insight into your child's classroom experience, daily routines, and progress. Next up, our Bulldog Buddies Road Trip! Your participation and continued partnership mean the world to us, and we look forward to an amazing rest of the year together!

Sincerely,

Kristy Elsey

Thank you to all of our Bulldog Buddies families that shared their morning with us at our first family engagement activity of the year! Bulldog Buddies took over Lemon Lake for a story time, color matching scavenger hunt, exploration in the discovery area and the creation of suncatchers and bird feeders! We hope you enjoyed the family activity as much as we did!

November 5, 2024, will be a special day for at-home learning through an eLearning Day! At-home activities will be sent home and shared via ParentSquare. Feel free to share photos of your child engaged in learning at home with your preschool teacher for a chance to be featured on our Bulldog Buddies Facebook page!

The preschoolers learned so much during the Tree Study–parts of trees, how they grow and change, what grows on them, what lives in them, and what can be made from them. It was so fun to see the children’s interest and curiosity throughout the study.

Our next topic of study is roads. Roads take us to school, to the store, and to visit family and friends. The Road Study encourages children to explore a topic that is familiar to them as they gather information, solve problems, imagine, and pretend. The children will be working to answer the following questions:

• What do we know about roads?
• What are some characteristics of roads?
• How do roads help people in their everyday lives?
• How are roads made?
• Who builds and repairs roads?
• How do we stay safe on the road?

If you have any of the following that you would like to donate, we can use these items for our study: small cars, trucks, diggers, race tracks, construction gear like hard hats or vests, traffic cones, and road maps.

Check out some highlights from our Trees study!

We are excited to share our next family engagement activity with you. As we begin our Roads study and move into our Wheels study, we invite you to a Bulldog Buddies Road Trip! Everyone will meet at Timothy Ball, take a bus ride with I Spy activities, songs, lunch at Tyler's Tender and a train experience! The cost will be $10.00 and that will include your child's meal. Space will be limited, so only one adult per child. (No siblings.)

November 15, 2024 - WInfield and Jerry Ross

November 18, 2024 - Lake Street, Eisenhower and MacArthur

November 22, 2024 - Timothy Ball

The sign-up has been sent to all families via ParentSquare. Please reach out with any questions.

Are you connected to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) and receiving FREE books for your child each month? DPIL is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five. Learn more about the program here - https://imaginationlibrary.com/. You can also complete an application at your local library.

We are still learning about the impact of screen time on children of all ages. Studies are mixed, but some have found that too much screen time can be linked to obesity, irregular sleep, behavioral problems, language delays and less time for play.

One hour is often the recommended daily limit suggested for preschoolers. If that seems unrealistic, focus on being mindful of screen time habits and seek out high quality programming (like PBS Kids) for your preschooler. Using phones to video chat with family members is a positive way to use screens to connect with others. Quality screen time for preschoolers can be beneficial when it's age-appropriate, educational, and interactive.

Tips to reduce screen time:

• Eliminate background TV. If the TV is on in the background, your child is likely to be drawn to pay attention to it.
• Keep TV, smartphones, and computers out of bedrooms.
• Don’t eat in front of a screen.
• Go outside, draw, and play.
• Set time limits on devices using parental controls.
• Create phone-free zones. Making mealtimes phone-free is a good way to start.
• Be realistic - set attainable goals. For example, if your child spends five hours on screens, decrease by an hour first. In the future, decrease by another hour.
• After work or school, spend time talking with children face to face and give them your full attention.
• Limit screen time during the hour before bedtime.

Monthly tuition fees are loaded on the 15th of the previous month and due by the 1st of every month. Please check your child's PowerSchool account for balances due. Payment can be made online or at the school office. Failure to pay by the 10th of the current month will result in your child not being able to attend preschool until the balance is paid in full. The first preschool tuition payment will be due by September 1st. We ask that you pay the supply fee during the month of August.

Supply Fee - $65 yearly fee for all students in preschool

Monthly Tuition - $180/3 days per week, $300/5 days per week

The Free & Reduced Application can be found here: https://www.cps.k12.in.us/district-departments/food-services. If you have any questions, please contact the preschool office at (219) 663-4330.

CPCSC offers a Birth to School Program for children 0-5 years old that reside within the Crown Point Community School Corporation boundaries. We offer a Little Learners series that includes a baby class (0-12 months), toddler class (13-24 months) and little learners class (25-36 months). Imaginarium classes are for children ages 0-5. If your child is already attending Bulldog Buddies, you can also be a part of the Birth to School program. All Birth to School classes and events are free. For additional information, please check out our website at www.cps.k12.in.us/bts. If you have specific questions, please contact our Birth to School Coordinator, Jamie Kalk at jkalk@cps.k12.in.us.

November 5th - eLearning Day, no preschool classes

November 27-29th - Thanksgiving Break, no preschool classes

December 24-January 2nd - Winter Break, no preschool classes

January 7th - Classes resume

January 20th - Martin Luther King JR. Day, no preschool classes

January 29th - eLearning Day, no preschool classes

February 17th - Presidents Day, no preschool classes

Kristy Elsey, Assistant Director of Elementary Education

Email: kelsey01@cps.k12.in.us

Charissa Leestma, Preschool Specialist

Email: cleestma@cps.k12.in.us

Christine Johnsen, Preschool Treasurer

Email: cjohnsen@cps.k12.in.us

Website: https://preschool.cps.k12.in.us/

Location: 720 Summit Street, Crown Point, IN, USA

Phone: 219-663-4330