May 2019 Newsletter from the little desk in Paulette’s office

Life Cycles Science

From Egg to Duckling!

On April 1, a clutch of blue and white duck eggs arrived at the nursery school and
were placed in an egg incubator set up in our Circle Time room. The children
could see the eggs through little windows on the incubator and they checked the
temperature and humidity each day.
Paulette and the children also ‘candled’ the eggs on April 8 & 9 (day #7 & #8) by
holding each egg over a small flash light in a dark room. We could see the little
embryos starting to develop! So should your child tell you that Paulette brought
them into a dark ‘cupboard’, that’s what we were doing! It takes 28 days for
Indian Runner ducklings to develop and one started hatched on Saturday, April 27.
Soon more hatched on April 28 and 29.
The ducklings will visit with us for a week before they head back to the farm to be
with other ducks. Many thanks to Excalibur Farms for providing the duck eggs.
Visit the Before & After Care room to see the ducklings!

Beautiful Butterflies!

Little caterpillars will arrive via FedEx on May 7. The children will watch the
caterpillars grow and pupate, which means that they will form a chrysalis and
sleep. Then we will patiently watch them emerge from their chrysalis as Pink
Lady Butterflies!
These lovely butterflies will continue their life’s journey as we release them in our
play yard.

Show and Share

Show and Share is on May 2nd and 3rd for all the groups. Please provide an item
that is labelled with your child’s name. Make it something that your child can tell
us a little about. Just a few words are all it takes to provide your child with enough
confidence to speak in front of a group!

Spring Clean Up

With the late spring this year, we had to postpone our annual clean up of the play
yard. So we invite volunteers to help with raking, spray washing the play houses,
and other play yard clean up duties anytime you are available. Tasks can be done
in the mornings after the children go inside for snack; afternoons or on the
weekend. See Paulette should be wish to volunteer and to arrange a date & time
for your task.

Parent and Teacher Chats

Should you wish to touch base with your child’s teacher for a 10 minute ‘chat’ this
month, kindly email Paulette a request rpns@rogers.com and we will arrange a
suitable time.

Dressing for Outside

Our play yard tends to be damp and muddy early in the morning. Feel free to
make use of our “Muddy Buddies”! These will keep your child’s clothing clean
and they also help to keep the inside of our nursery school clean!
Time to put away the winter hats and bring out the sunhats!

Please apply sunscreen to your preschool child before coming to school. The
children start their day outside and it is recommended that sunscreen be applied 15-
30 minutes prior to sun exposure!

Time for Trikes and Ride On Toys!

We are bringing the bikes out of their winter storage so remember to bring in your
child’s bike helmet. The children need to wear a bike helmet if they want to ride a
bike.

Veggie Garden

As we did last summer, we will start a vegetable garden as it can be maintained by

the RPNS Nature Kinder Summer Camp. Should you have any extra black earth or
starter plants from your own gardens, we would love them!

Community Information Session for the new Riverside Park Early Learning
Centre:
Wed. May 22 7:00 pm at the Riverside Churches of Ottawa. This event sponsored
by our city counsellor, Riley Brockington; Fotenn; Canoe Bay Development; and
RPNS will provide the community with of our project. Come out to see the site
plan drawings, architectural floor plans and the team who are making this happen!

RPNS GRADUATION CEREMONIES

Mark your calendars, book off work and bring your tissues!!! Thursday, June 20th
and Friday, June 21st are the scheduled Graduation ceremonies for the children.
These days are also our last days of the school year.

Parents and family members, come celebrate with us in recognition of your

amazing children and all their scholastic accomplishments! More details will
follow, so please remember to check your child’s file in the communication box!

FAMILY FUN DAY!

Join all the current, alumni and new (2019-2020 school year) families on Saturday
June 1. More details on this event to be provided shortly.
We are collecting small prizes for the games (dollar store items, fast food place
toys etc.).

2019-2020 RPNS SCHOOL YEAR ENROLMENT

Thanks for preregistering your children for the next school year!
We currently have spaces available, so spread the word. Most families hear about
RPNS through ‘word of mouth’, so kindly let all your friends, co-workers, family
and neighbours know about our great program!
Our next Open House Days are on Monday, May 6 and Friday, May 31.

Should you have not provided Paulette with your September registration
package, kindly do so by MAY 24. Thanks!

RPNS Nature KinderCamp ~ Summer 2019!

After positive feedback from our Summer 2018 KinderCamp pilot project, RPNS is please to
offer 6 weeks of summer programming for 2019!
The 5 hour day (from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm) will feature lots of water play activities in our outdoor
classroom; indoor classroom learning (rooms 6 & 7 with air conditioning); walking adventures to
Mooney’s Bay; and exploring the nearby forest.
They will be two separate age groups: Junior Preschool for children aged 24 months to 3 years
and Senior Preschool for children aged 3 years to 5 years. Junior Preschool class size is 10
children with 2 staff and Senior Preschool class size is 16 children with 2 staff. Our camp will
focus on language skills; self-help skills; social development; physical activities and creative
expression through nature based, child directed activities. RPNS will provide nutritious morning
snacks and lunches.
Parents can select one or more weeks of KinderCamp; must Register by June 15, 2019 and pre-
pay the weekly fees (by cheque or e-transfer). Kindly note that these fees have been lowered
thanks to Ontario Provincial Go Funding initiative.
Camp Week Number of days Weekly Fee
Week One – July 2 to 5 4 (July 1 is a holiday) $100
Week Two – July 8 to 12 5 $125
Week Three- July 15 to 19 5 $125
Week Four- July 22 to 26 5 $125
Week One – July 29 to Aug 2 5 $125
Week One – Aug 6 to 9 4 (Aug 5 is a holiday) $100

Should you be interested in your child(ren) attending Nature KinderCamp, kindly contact
Paulette Young in person, via email (rpns@rogers.com) or by phone (613-738-0305) and
obtain a KinderCamp Registration Form.