Brldgoporl Chlld Dovolopmonl Conlor A program of One Hope United

3053 S. Mormol Avonuo, Chlcogo, lL 60616 312.842.5566

Monthly
Calendar
Monthly
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Moy 2013
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
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CPS half-day
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Parent
Meeting
4:30 p.m.
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26 27
Center closed
in observance
of Memorial
Day
28 29 30 31
YOUR TRUSTED PARTNER IN EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION
ConneCt with us
onehopechilddevelopment.org facebook.com/1hopeunited twitter.com/1hopechildcare
Moy 2013
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Overall HealtH exercise NutritiON eNvirONmeNtal sustaiNability
Family outings provide
bonding time, learning opportunities
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Spring is here and it is time to step outside
and enjoy the warmer weather! Taking chil-
dren exploring is one way to spend time
together as a family while also getting some
exercise and learning something new.
Here are some ideas for places to go and
things to do on family outings:
Take a walk or ride bikes around the
neighborhood. Look for things you might
nol hovo nollcod boloro - o Nowor or lroo,
an interesting house, a street with a funny
name.
While you are out, ask children to look
around for shapes. Houses, signs, cars,
stores and murals are good places to
start. Or just walk outside and inspire your
childs imagination by discovering shapes
in the clouds.
Also, bring measuring tape. Many chil-
dren like knowing the size of things, and
its an easy way to practice math. Mea-
sure a stick, a sidewalk square or even
the distance from the top of a playground
slide to the bottom.
Drive to a forest preserve to take a nature
walk and have a picnic. Let your child
choose some lunch items and help count
out and pack utensils and napkins. You
can also bring outdoor play equipment
such as a jump rope, hula-hoop, Frisbee
or football.
Explore a neighboring town, and while
you are there, look at a map and show
your child where you are.
Wherever you go, bring paper and draw-
ing materials and/or a camera. Your
child can take notes about, draw and take
pictures of the place you visit.
Bring something home from the trip, such
as a leaf, postcard, photo, drawing or
story, and put it in a scrapbook to look at
again later.
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age children to talk about what they did,
what they learnedand what they want to
do next time!
Introduction to classroom activities
As the winter months come to a close, the students at Bridgeport Child Development Center 1 have been engaged in
some really great studies that are now sparking interests in spring-related topics. Teachers are doing a wonderful job
allowing the children to guide their own learning but making sure to continue to build math, literacy, language and
hno,gross-molor-skllls.
Room 6
During the month of April, Room 6 participated in
an exciting study of Dr. Seuss and his many books.
Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Seuss Geisel on March
2, 1P04. Ho wos o wrllor, corloonlsl ond orllsl.
During his career, some of his work was converted
into television series,
Broadway musicals
and animated movies.
The students explored
some of his famous
46 publlshod books.
Room 6 enhanced
their literacy skills
by playing rhyming
games and making
predictions about
what would happen
in the stories they
were reading. They
also matched yolk
and white-shaped lowercase letters to upper-
case letters. Students focused on counting and
quantifying skills while reading Ten Apples Up
on Top. After reading Green Eggs and Ham,
the children and teachers made the green eggs and ham. The teachers asked the children
whether or not they liked the dish and charted it for the children to see.
Room 2
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ask questions about how things grow and what will make them grow. The children placed
seeds in plastic bags with wet paper towel as a water and
moisture source, to see if anything would grow. They are still
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several seeds and objects found in their neighborhood in test
lubos lo soo ll lhoy would grow. lho sludonls usod lholr hno
motor skills by using eye droppers to add water to their test
tubes. They have placed the test tubes on the window seal in
classroom for sunlight. They have already discovered that pine
cones and rocks will not grow and are awaiting any growth from the seeds.
The students will continue to explore this topic as the weather warms up and
look lorword lo plonllng Nowors ond vogoloblos on lho rool ploy oroo.
Room 5
During the last month, students from Room 5 have been
investigating how to reduce, reuse and recycle. They dis-
covered that garbage travels far: from the garbage can
in our room, to the dumpster outside our school, into the
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olso loornod lhol gorbogo ln lho londhll ls polsonous lo
the Earth, and to protect it, we have to recycle. Room 5
has been enjoying turning plastic, paper and cardboard
into something else, such as instruments and animals.
Some children even turned old milk cartons into a siren
for a dump truck they built in the block area.
May Focus:
Transitioning to Kindergarten
Even though Kindergarten is several months away, the
staff at Bridgeport Child Development Center 1 have
been and will continue to work hard to prepare our
students and families this upcoming transition. Our
Family Support Staff will continue to help families with
identifying possible Kindergarten placements and assist-
ing parents in the enrollment process. The teaching staff
will continue to support our Pre-Kindergarten students
by following the transition plans that were written at the
beginning of the school year. The GOLD Assessment
Tool continues to help us plan and have our children
Klndorgorlon roody by Soplombor 2013. Plooso loko lho
opportunity to discuss with your childs teacher and fam-
ily support worker how you can support the transition to
Kindergarten.
Child Pedestrian Safety
As spring arrives, we must continue to be vigilant about the
safety of our children. Pedestrian safety is discussed in the
classrooms at the beginning of the school year and will be
revisited during the beginning of the warm weather months.
Our children tend to be a risk because children have dif-
hcully |udglng how losl cors oro movlng ond whlch dlrocllon
they are coming from. Children also tend to think cars can
stop instantly, and children have often have trouble reacting
to danger.
Here are a couple of things we can teach our children:
How lo undorslond ond oboy lrolhc slgns ond slgnols
Cross ol cornors uslng lrolhc slgnols ond crosswolks
Looking left, right, and then, left again
Always walk across the street
Hold a grown-ups hand while crossing street
Also remember we want to keep our children safe during
morning and evening drop off. Parents please:
Do not double park in front of the center
Have your children exit vehicles from the crib side only
Please make sure you are using appropriate car seats
and seat belts
Never leave children unattended in a vehicle
As parents you are our students 1st teachers and BPCD I staff
welcomes any ideas you may have to support the learning
of your children. You can also make teaching your children
pedestrian safety fun by making vehicle snacks with cheese
slices and carrots for wheels or creating a picture book about
lrolhc slgns. Loslly you con ploy lho gomo Rod Llghl, Croon
Light with you children.
What you need: All you need for this game is an indi-
vidual child or group of children. This game can be played
indoors or outdoors.
How to play: The person designated as it stands at
lho opposllo ond ol lho room or ploylng hold lrom lho olhor
players. It turns his or her back to the other players and
calls out Green light! The players then run towards it until
it turns around and yells Red light! Then the players must
freeze in place where they are until Green light! is called
out again. Players who do not freeze at Red light! must
return to the starting line.
The rules: Who will be it can be determined by a
counting-out game, such as One Potato. Yellow light! can
be called out as a diversion, or it can mean players must
walk instead of run.
How to win: lho hrsl porson lo rooch ll ls lho wlnnor.