Welcome to the Family Support Services website. We believe that it is important for parents to know about and be involved in their child/ren's education, so we post monthly information about classroom and after-school activities.

Chestnutwold Kindergarten Extended Day News

March brings the start of our rainforest unit. We will learn about the different layers of the rainforest and will use a song that helps us identify these layers as a study aid. We'll be talking about rainforest creatures like boa constrictors, elephants, gorillas, sloths, toucans, and frogs, plus we’ll be learning about the many small insects that contribute to the rainforest ecosystem.

As part of our science curriculum we plan to spend a whole week on the life cycle of a frog.

Ireland is the county we plan "to visit" this March, and the children will be learning all about the Emerald Isle. We will probably get a few visits from a friendly leprechaun who lives somewhere in our classroom and only comes out at this very special time of year.

This month's artist will be Georgia O'Keefe.

Extended Day is also planning to have tons of fun with our upcoming Restaurant Unit. We'll be discussing different restaurant jobs, menu composition, table manners, and different types of cuisine. You may want to ask your children for help while setting the table at dinnertime as our students will be learning how to set restaurant tables as part of the unit.

Although the weather may seem warmer now, we still insist that your child be sent to school with a warm jacket. Despite the March sunshine, the wind can be chilly at this time of year, and coats are still needed.

It is always interesting to watch children develop and learn skills at different rates. We have been focusing a lot on each student's autonomy in mastering skills and working independently. At this point in the year most of the students are zipping jackets, tying shoes, and buttoning coats. We are very pleased to see their progress as spring arrives. Please continue to work on these skills at home with your child.

We look forward to sharing an exciting March with the students!

Sincerely,

Jean Shanahan, Site Director
Stephanie Boyd, Teacher

Chestnutwold Extended Day After School Program News

This past month the aftercare kids participated in making a Valentine's Day Bulletin board for our Chestnutwold site, and we had a contest for the headline—which Caitlin Hickey won. Her winning phrase was "I am crazy for chocolate and you!" Thank-you Caitlin, we hope you are enjoying the grand prize…a bag of candy of your choice!

The children also wrote small essays about the people they loved. They told us why they loved them and provided illustrations. Another great activity was the artificial chocolates we made out of model magic clay. We painted them to look scrumptiously real, and then put them into foil muffin tins for an even more realistic effect.

This March we will be making a new bulletin board with St. Patrick's Day as the theme.

We are happy to introduce two new staff members; Miss Claire and Miss Mariel. Miss Mariel loves to play games with the children and everyone relishes her warm and friendly presence. Miss Claire loves to perform in theatrical productions and hopes to incorporate some of her acting skills and talent into the program.

We are looking to different Disney shows to inspire us, and we are probably going to start off with Beauty and the Beast. Hopefully in a month or two we will be sending out invitations for the event, which will include costumes, scenery and song! Miss Claire also plans to lead the children in some yoga activities…and we hear that some of the staff members want to participate too!

We hope the endless snow will end soon and happily anticipate a festive (and green) spring. Stay tuned!!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Saatdjian, After School Program Director

A Safety Reminder – call when your child is absent

The Chestnutwold classroom number is 610-642-1987. Please remember to call when your child will not be coming on a scheduled day. Whenever a child does not show up as expected, the teacher must devote time to locate him/her so as to be sure he/she is safe. We care about your children—so do let us know whenever we should not expect them to arrive at our after school program.

Licensing and Teacher Certification credentials

Extended Day programs are state licensed. All site directors and assistant teachers are certified.