From Kathy’s Desk
Many of our children took their first PEDP field trip of the year during the past couple of weeks. The Minnows had such fun at Lil Folk Farm on Wednesday! The wagon ride went right through their horse barn! Impressive driving by Farmer Dave.
The first month flew by! What a smooth start it has been! Children and staff are starting to settle into routines. Please continue to introduce yourself to staff when dropping off or picking up. We are working hard to learn all your names!
We have a lot planned for October…
CURRICULUM
Our theme this month will be Magic. I’m sure you’ll be hearing all about tricks and potions, Harry Potter and magic wands. The staff are planning some wonderful projects
MAGIC SHOW!
We invite you to join us in the Peirce Auditorium for a really fun interactive event!
- “THE MAGIC OF BONAPARTE”
- Friday, October 13
- 7 – 8pm
- Peirce Auditorium
- $25 per family
- Tickets for sale at PEDP office
- Payment and RSVP due by 10/6
- Dessert Sale after the show
FIELD TRIPS
Minnows: M 10/23/17 (Group B) or TH 10/26/16 (Group A) – Details coming soon!
Adventurers Group: Tuesday, October 31st – Haunted Ghost Tour in Boston
Explorers Group: Tuesday, October 3rd – Connor’s Farm in Danvers
Explorers Group: Tuesday, October 24th – Ecotarium in Worcester
CLASSES
4-5 Grade: Kids Cooking Green is supposed to start October 16th! We need more enrollees in order to run this program! It is fabulous! The kids will have a cooking lesson/project each week. Sign up at www.kidscookinggreen.com.
3-5 Grade: Dollar Scholars is another great class we’d like to offer on Wednesdays starting October 11th. Brochures were put in mail files last week. Sign up today!
Information will go out in a week or so about our Ski/Snowboard program at Nashoba Valley.
Please note that if your child is attending one of the Newton Community Education classes held here at Peirce, you must fill out a release form indicating that your child will be arriving at the Program late. Let us know and we can e-mail the form to you.
SAVE THE DATE!!!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH – We’re hosting a Wine Tasting for PEDP parents! We have partnered with VinodiVino for this fun event. We’ll have delicious finger foods to eat and some fabulous wines for tasting. To make it even better, you can drop your kids (K-5) off with us while you are at the event! We’ll feed the kids dinner and show a movie. They’ll also have time to play board games and such. Information about how to sign up for this terrific event will be sent out soon. Everyone who attended last year said it was a really fun time.
MINNOWS MESSAGE from Kim Ryan, Minnows Coordinator
What a great day we had at the farm on Wednesday! We went on a wage ride, rode on a pony and went to the petting farm where we got to brush the goats and hold the chickens and a bunny! We even saw a double rainbow on the bus ride back!
Early Minnows
September was full of making friends, learning new rules and routines and having tons of fun! Our group was the largest we’ve ever had! Now that the full days have started, and our grouping is a bit smaller we can really focus on building relationships. The kindergarteners learned about a new rainforest animal every day, from frogs to birds and sloths to snakes! Magic is our theme for October. Also, coming up at the end of October is a field trip for just the early minnow group during the 12:30-3:00 time. More information will be sent out as the dates get closer.
Late Minnows
The Late Minnows have been busy little fish this month! They made a terrarium with Miss Deb, a turtle made from a CD with Miss Laurie P, Jungle slime with Miss Courtney and egg carton alligators with Miss Kim. Magic is coming up as our theme for October; I think we will see a lot of fun projects and magic tricks coming home!
At the end of each day, the Late Minnows have what we call our Minnow Meeting. We sit in a circle on the rug and a teacher chooses a meeting leader. Then we give all the kids a chance to give a shout out to one of their minnow friends or teachers! The meeting leader will call on each child with their hand raised to give their shout out. Then the teachers have the chance to give shout outs to the kids. When a teacher gives a shout out to a child, that child earns minnow money in the form of a dollar bill (with the teachers face on it!). These dollars are collected throughout the year and can then be cashed in for prizes, special snacks or fun privileges. This has really worked for us in past years and really puts an emphasis on friendship and kindness. Ask your minnow about it!
Information for the K/1 Musical Review of Boy Bands and Girl Groups has gone out. This is such a fun performance! Let me know if you have any questions! You can always reach me at kim@peirceedp.com
BARRACUDA BUZZ from Joanne Malouf, Barracudas Coordinator
The Barracudas are settling in nicely to the day-to-day routines of the Program. The new kids and staff are old pros now! Something new this year for the Barracudas is “Gym with Mr. Sean”. Several times a week the Barracudas will have a chance to have a session in the gym with Sean. This will take place during the time after snack. Additional time to be active is great and the kids have loved learning new games with Sean. The Barracudas will be having clubs on Thursdays this month. The clubs are still being finalized as I write this. The Barracudas, along with the Sharks, were busy at our Fall Harvest special event on the early release Wednesday. There were games, crafts and even some square dancing!
Homework – As kids are assigned more homework, please discuss your homework expectations while at PEDP with your child. Let me know if you would like to add your child to our homework list. We have time after snack every day and an additional homework choice on Tuesdays so there is definitely time for kids to work on homework while at PEDP.
Explorers Program – The trip to the Farmer’s Market was a success! It was a bit warm that day but the kids did a great job on the walk. Did you know we walked 4.2 miles?! The kids were savvy shoppers knowing what they wanted to buy and looking for the best quality. Wally’s Ice Cream was a nice cold snack to help cool us down.
Please feel free to contact me anytime at joanne@peirceedp.com with questions or concerns about your child or the Barracuda Program.
SHARK TALES from Rachel Bastarache, Sharks Coordinator
September has been a wonderful start to an awesome year! The Sharks have been busy with lots of Rainforest crafts with Mr. Sean and Ms. Laurie D. Have you seen the Rainforest creation that the Sharks created with Ms. Laurie? It shows the different layers of the Rainforest and what animals and vegetation you might find on each layer. It’s in the Greenhouse—you should check it out! Also this month, the kids have been doing some cooking with Ms. Rachel. We made homemade applesauce, 3-bean salsa, and watermelon pizza! Yum. We all had a blast joining the Barracudas for the Fall Harvest special event on the early release Wednesday. They did some Fall crafts like painting with corn and making a scarecrow pin. There were games to play like Pin-the-stem-on-the-pumpkin, and even some Square dancing. Fall fun was had by all.
Swimming into October, there will be Magic in the air! We will be teaching the Sharks some magic tricks and some wacky magic science. On October 31st when the Adventures group goes into Boston for a haunted ghost tour, the kids are encouraged to dress-up if they would like.
The Sharks are now realizing the homework load is beginning to get heavier. All Sharks have homework time from 3:30 till 4:10 p.m. Please let me know if you have any question or concerns. You can email me any time at rachel@peirceedp.com
REQUESTS AND REMINDERS FOR ALL PARENTS…
* The Early Birds program ($10 per day) and extra hours ($12 per hour) are available to all families when needed. Just ask!
* Please remember that you must notify PEDP whenever your child will not be attending for the day. You may do this in person, by phone (617-332-5881), in writing, or via e-mail: kids@peirceedp.com There is a calling fee of $25 if the staff need to make phone calls to find out where your child is at attendance time.
* Let’s play it safe! Please DO NOT PARK IN THE DRIVEWAY to drop off or pick up your children.
* Want to know when all the upcoming events are for the year?!
- Check out our PEDP “Calendar-at-Glance” on our website! www.peirceedp.com
NO SCHOOL OR PEDP
Monday, October 9th (Columbus Day)
Happy Pumpkin Picking,
Kathy
