Dates to Remember:
February 16- No School
February 19- No School
Dear ELC Families,
Happy New Year! The ELC staff would like to wish you a very healthy and happy new year! We hope that 2024 brings joy and happiness to everyone!
This month, Miss Carole’s Macaroni soup concert was held. It was wonderful to see the teachers and students dance, sing, and even have an indoor snowball fight!
January is just about over and we are looking forward to a busy February. On Thursday, February 1st at 7am, registration for the SPARK paid tuition program will begin. Families who are registering for the first time must bring their child’s original birth certificate, 3 forms of residency, and a $50 deposit. Families who are currently in the SPARK program must have the $50 deposit and 3 forms of residency. If you have any questions regarding registration, please do not hesitate to call the ELC main office at 847-824-1065.
Online Kindergarten Registration opens on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. All children going into Kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year must register online. Please direct any questions you may have to your child’s home school. Extended Day Kindergarten (EDK) registration will also be available on Februauy 20, 2024. More information to come from the ELC. If you do have any questions, please contact the ELC office at 847-1065.
Sincerely,
Margarite Beniaris
Director of The Early Learning Center
&
Valia Garbis
Assistant Principal of The Early Learning Center
NOTES FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE
Please remember that if your child will be absent from school, you need to call to let us know. Call the Main office at 847-824-1065. A temperature of 100 (F) or greater is considered a fever and a student may not be at school. They have to remain at home until they are fever free (with no medication) for 24 hours. If your child has diarrhea or has vomited, they also need to be diarrhea or vomit free for 24 hours before they can return to school. As the colder weather comes, so do the colds and flu. Please remind your kids to cover their coughs and sneezes, wash their hands and please keep your child home if they are not feeling well. It is important that each child have a change of clothes at school. If we don’t have any and we need to change your child for whatever reason, we will have to call you and have you bring a change of clothes over.
Thank you,
Mary Fitzpatrick, ELC RN (fitzpatrickm@d62.org)
Amy Kelly, ELC Health Clerk (kellya@d62.org)
Susie Glisovic, RN
Learning Links- Mrs. Irene
Are your kids tired of the toys they may have received over the winter break? Are their toys just tossed on the side of the room because they are no longer interested in them? Well come to Learning Links and get your child a new box or tote that will have books, toys, games, puzzles and so much more for you and your child to play and learn with. You can take out a box or tote every 2 weeks! Can you imagine all the "new" toys they can play with? Check out the Learning Links catalog online or reach out to Mrs. Irene at 847-789-5623 or tripkosi@d62.org
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Mini School- Ms. Vanencia, Ms. Valerie, Ms. Yessenia
Mini School has entered the new year by exploring the weather during our winter season! We have had so many new experiences as a class, from low temperatures to arctic animals. The children created penguins using tissue paper and created polar bears using cotton balls. We also answered a very important question of the season, “Which winter clothing items do we need to keep us warm?” We also practiced zipping our coats! To conclude our “icy fun” experience, we painted ice cubes and sprayed water color onto a coffee filter snowflake cut out. While practicing our fine motor skills, we cut little snowmen using scissors. Next month we are starting to explore our emotions and the power they hold within us. We also created our very own color monster, which leads us into next month’s exploration of colors.
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SPARK Preschool- Ms. Laura, Ms. Claudia, Ms. Stacy
(Tune: Wheels on the Bus)
The mittens on my hands
keep me warm,
keep me warm,
keep me warm.
The mittens on my hands,
keep me warm. All winter long!
(change mittens/hands with: hat/head, scarf/neck, jacket/body, boots/toes…)
We have been exploring all about the winter season! As a class we learned new winter weather vocabulary like; melt, freeze, frost, sleet, snowy and blizzard. We’ve enjoyed creating various winter crafts.
For the past week, the kiddos have increased their letter recognition and literacy skills by creating their own winter word books. In the writing center, materials like winter themed picture cards, letter stamps, and stamp pads allow them to explore the role of being an author!
We have also been fortunate to take full advantage of the ELC’s multipurpose room when the outside weather is too cold! We have enjoyed building obstacle courses, crawling in the tunnels and playing with the colorful parachute!
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SPARK Jr. Kindergarten- Ms. Juliana, Ms. Angela, Ms. Amy
As the winter season has approached, we have been learning about all things winter! We talked about how trees are bare in the winter but sometimes have snow on them. We completed hands-on activities including winter science experiences and snowman patterns. When we talked about hibernating animals we had the chance to measure bears- stuffed ones of course! We also made goop- Oobleck (Goop) which is a substance that can mimic the qualities of a solid or a liquid.
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STAR- Ms. Armiras, Ms. Dion, Ms. Gonzalez, Mrs. Ivan, Mrs. Richter, Mr. Rodriguez,
Mrs. Tharp, Mrs. Hengels
This month the STAR classrooms have been learning about winter, snow and ice, and what the weather is like in winter. We also discussed the clothes we wear in winter and the many activities we enjoy doing during the cold winter months. The students created crafts such as unique snowflakes, snowmen, winter hats and scarfs, and hot cocoa cups. We had fun tossing fake snowballs in the multipurpose room.
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SNP-Mrs. Bertuccioli, Mrs. Compart, Mrs. Cory, Mrs. Cranston, Mrs. Jennings
Happy 2024! We started our new year learning about winter. We talked about things to do when it’s cold, what to wear in winter, and how to make a snowperson and snow. We created snow related art projects including snowflakes, snowpeople, and winter weather clothing, It was all “snow” much fun! As the weeks went on this month, we also learned about dinosaurs and explored how winter was long ago when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth? We talked a lot about BIG & little and practiced this concept with sorting activities. We concluded the month learning about ways we travel (air, road/land, tracks & water) and all the people who help us in our community. The snow and cold this month taught us about the importance of the various helpers too.
