Run, jump, and skip your way to physical fitness and fun as your exercise with dice! Join Mrs. Gollobit in this week’s preschool PE class!
School Closure Through End Of School Year
Rather than lead with the devastating news that our school year on campus has officially been cancelled by Governor Ducey, I prefer to remain positive and hopeful. That said, I want you all to get out your personal calendars and mark this important SAVE THE DATE for Thursday evening, September 27, 2020!!!
With much prayer and faith in the interim, we invite you ALL to return to school on that special evening that we typically call OPEN HOUSE. For this unique occasion, it will be an opportunity for “HOMECOMING” as well. We hope to see everyone there for a welcome to new families for the 2020-21 school year and a desperately needed goodbye to those of you from this 2019-20 school year. Surely you can agree that in light of the unprecedented physical school closure, the need for emotional closure has never been more relevant or critical.
On behalf of all of the teachers and Vicki, Cheryl and myself, please know though we may be sheltered in place in our homes, you will remain in our hearts throughout this difficult period and well beyond. And, don’t despair ....... we will keep on virtually teaching and supporting you until what would have been our last two days of the year. Of course, you will have to provide the ice cream for the social at your own house!
Continue to watch for updates and tips and tricks of the school teacher trade from us in the days and weeks to come. Just as God has not forsaken us, neither will we ignore our need to teach and your hunger for respite!
Our weekly prayer shall resound with the joy of Easter blessings to come even in the midst of seeming chaos. Let us pray collectively that as we rejoice, we are filled with the spirit of our Lord and feel His Son’s loving arms protecting us.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. L
Mother's Tea songs by Mrs. Donovan
Three of our Mother's Tea songs by Mrs. Donovan. Check back soon as we hope to upload several others in the next few days.
PE Class with Mrs. Gollobit (Week 2)
Join us as we move, stretch and get our heart working with this fun preschool PE activity with Mrs. Gollobit.
PE with Mrs. Gollobit
Let’s get moving! Mrs Gollobit has a special Pint Size PE just for you! Check out her video below and watch and move along with her to "Tony Chestnut."
Important News Regarding School Closure
March 13, 2020
Dear Families of La Casa de Cristo Preschool,
Our prayers always are for the health and safety of those we love and hold dear. Be assured, that includes each and every one of you, our wonderful La Casa families. With that said, we ask that God watch over us through a most difficult time in our country, which threatens that very health and safety.
After speaking this morning with senior pastor, Pastor Jeff Ruby, it is the decision of the preschool to follow his leadership and suspend school attendance until March 27. This decision is made in consideration of recent recommendations by public health officials, including state and national; but also out of an abundance of caution taken on behalf of the students, their families, and our staff. Given that school is closed for Spring Break next week, it is our strong hope that the prudent measure of closing for an additional week will help to alleviate the spread of illness so that we may all resume the activities that bring us joy.
We can appreciate the anxiety that this, as well as health concerns, may cause you and acknowledge that burden with sincere apology. If there is any update to this situation, you may be confident that I will keep you apprised.
Remaining faith-filled, I encourage you to be the same and place your trust in our Heavenly Father to protect us and keep us in His care.
Yours in Christ,
Trish Langenhuizen, Director
La Casa de Cristo Christian Preschool
6300 E. Bell Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
480-998-0866
Spring Fever at La Casa Preschool
About this time of year, our preschool teachers begin to see changes in the children. Some changes are endearing and others we find ourselves just enduring:) Ha! The children are a bit more wiggly, perhaps lacking a bit of focus, getting a bit "sassy" although not truly disrespectful. Just "full" of themselves! Sound like anyone you know? Around here... we affectionately call that "Senior-itis". You may not even recognize this phenomenon in them 'cuz they are preschoolers! Actually, this is quite common for many kiddos, especially the older ones who instinctively know they are just ready for the next best thing in their life....aka, Kindergarten.
These transitions of awareness are natural progressions of emotional and social development. How we embrace these phases is the key. Around here.... in our preschool classrooms, we know that this is natural and short lived so our approach is to continue to mentor good decisions, good behavior, kindness, humility, forgiveness, and love from them. And in return, and as part of our Christian education, we give them love and patience, love and patience, love and patience, and tolerance and humor and love and patience!!! At home, keep that mantra going, and keep them "going", too. Not necessarily to a million activities, but constructively busy and engaged in positive things and friends of interest. Every opportunity to pique their curiosity in something helps to extinguish the possibility of becoming disinterested or disgruntled. A disgruntled three, four or five year old is not a fun person to be around!!! It's a good thing we all love these children!
I will leave you with this poem that does, indeed, say it best.
WET OATMEAL KISSES
The baby is teething. The children are fighting. Your husband just called and said, "Eat dinner without me". One of these days you'll explode and shout to the kids, "Why don't you grow up and act your age?" And they will. Or, "You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do. And don't slam the door!" And they don't. You'll straighten their bedrooms all neat and tidy, toys displayed on the shelf, hangers in the closet, animals caged. You'll yell. "Now I want it to stay this way!" And it will. You will prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't had all the olives picked out and a cake with no finger traces in the icing and you'll say, "Now THIS is a meal for company." And you will eat it alone. You'll yell, "I want complete privacy on the phone. No screaming. Do you hear me?" And no one will answer. No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti. No more dandelion bouquets. No more iron-on patches. No more wet, knotted shoelaces, muddy boots or rubber bands for pony tails. Imagine. A lipstick with a point. No baby sitter for New Year's Eve, washing clothes only once a week, no PTA meetings or silly school plays where your child is a tree. No car-pools, blaring stereos or forgotten lunch money. No more Christmas presents made of library paste and toothpicks. No more wet oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No more giggles in the dark, scraped knees to kiss or sticky fingers to clean. Only a voice asking: "Why don't you grow up?" And the silence echos........... "I did."
From the book, "Parent on Purpose", by Amy Carney.......Life is a journey, not a destination. Parenthood is a marathon, not a sprint.
Weekly Prayer......Heavenly Father, I am thankful for the journey You have placed me on. Help me to embrace all that it presents to me. I ask that you bless those around me on that journey as well. Amen.
Play Develops and Prepares Children for Kindergarten in Four Ways
At La Casa Preschool, we are advocates of play-based learning. Our philosophy is that children learn through guided play, exploration, experimentation, discovery, and problem solving. In fact, play-based learning is a core part of our preschool curriculum.
The graphic below illustrates how play based learning develops young children in four important ways.
Physical Development
Strong, healthy bodies
Fine and large motor skills
Stress Management
Coordination
Physical confidence
Agility
Social Development
Cooperation
Negotiation
Collaboration
Rules formation
Conflict resolution
Cognitive Development
Scientific and mathematical thinking
Research and inquiry skills
Independent thinking
Language skills
Literacy skills
Emotional Development
Joy
Empathy
Persistence
Self-regulation
Self-confidence
Impulse control
If you have any questions about how your child could benefit from play-based learning or would like to tour our Scottsdale preschool, please feel free to contact us at anytime.
Health and Wellness at Preschool
As parents and caregivers, we always maintain a level of concern for our children's welfare. That is our responsibility, of course. And it "comes with the territory" as the expression goes. I'm sure you'd agree, that the greatest stress is caused by factors that we feel are out of our control. That is where faith and trust in God can be a huge determinant in whether we conquer our fears and anxiety and/or face them head on with confidence. Prayer is the common denominator between feeling helpless and hopeful. Turning to prayer is the "best prescription" for what ails us as a society.
To that end, many of you have voiced a concern over the recent health crisis, specifically the coronavirus, and what steps our Scottsdale Preschool is taking to prevent or be proactive in addressing the possibility of its spread to our community. My best answer to keeping our classrooms healthy is that we will continue to be diligent in our practices of properly and sufficiently cleaning the surfaces of our classroom materials and shared campus amenities, we will continue to teach and encourage proper handwashing techniques, including lengthy soaping and wash routine, as well as reinforce using "cough/sneeze catcher" (elbow) methods. We will continue to request your partnership in monitoring your own child's health condition. Even giving them an extra day of TLC and healing at home instead of risking the spread of many different illnesses by sending them to school with marginal wellness can have such beneficial results. This is so important!!!
Beyond these measures, which are necessary for every one of us to implement and, if done so, can be quite effective, we must remember to place our trust in God that He will protect us and keep us in His care.
From the book, "Parent on Purpose", by Amy Carney.......Our lives and our legacy will be measured by what we gave to others, not what we received or owned. Legacy is organizing the way you live your life so that you will be a blessing to other people for generations to come.
Weekly Prayer......Heavenly Father, my blessings are many. Please help me to show my appreciation for them by my actions toward others, by the way I honor You. Amen.
Preschool Resources for Parents
There are a couple of great links to follow regarding important school topics when it pertains to our children.
The first is about manners in young children and how the formation of those interpersonal skills is critical to lifelong relationships and conformity to social values. GreatSchools.org has a great article, “Your preschooler’s manners don’t just come out of the blue.”
The other resource is in regards to early learning methods and specifically to pre-writing skills. This blog by Liz’s Early Learning Spot does a great job summarizing the importance of these skills for young learners.
I cite each as corroboration for our basic philosophies on how we want to serve our children towards ensuring they grow up strong, smart, confident and capable. But most important to our preschool curriculum is to be good citizens and good people that others want to be around. Whether it is saying thank you to the designated class door holder each school day, or to the teachers at the end of each and every school day, or even to Miss Vicki as they visit the office (each day!!) for a piece of candy from her "special candy drawer"..... manners and respect matter. Teach them young and they will follow our lead and be good leaders themselves some day as well.
From the book, "Parent on Purpose", by Amy Carney.......How we spend our precious time in this one life we've been given matters. How we chose to parent our children in this one season of childhood matters. How we purposely decide to lead, love and launch our child matters.
Weekly Prayer......Jesus, help me to guide my children towards You. Help me to teach them that Your love is the most important thing. With Your love they can feel secure. I pray this in your holy name, Amen.