March Themes:
Family
Dr. Seuss
Bedtime
People in the Community
Pirates
4 Year Old Parents
Kindergarten is coming soon and we want your children to be as confident as possible to start their first year of school!! There are four skills that your children should be doing consistently upon entering kindergarten:
Your child must be able to hold a pencil correctly (proper pencil grip)
Your child must be able to hold scissors correctly (thumb’s up)
Your child must be able to recognize his/her name
Your child must be able to put on his/her own shoes, and zip up his/her own coat
We have been working on these skills with the children since the beginning of the school year and they all have been doing very well. Any extra work at home at these tasks would be beneficial to the transition from playschool to kindergarten.
Pajama Day
Each playschool class will be having their own pajama day. The children can come to playschool in their pajamas. We apologize but this year the children WILL NOT be able to bring a pillow or their favorite stuffed animal. For each pajama day, we are planning on following the regular classroom routine, however we will be including a few different games and activities which will be related to the pajama day theme. Each class will be watching a movie and will have popcorn as a treat. But please send your child with a regular snack as the movie won’t be played until the end of each class.
Dates to Remember
February 21 - Registration open for 2022/2023 school year
March 1 – Wear pink for the Tuesday/Thursday classes (anti-bullying day)
March 9 – Backwards Day for the Monday/Wednesday classes
March 10 – Backwards Day for the Tuesday/Thursday classes
March 15 - Carstairs Playschool Board meeting - 7pm at the playschool
March 16 – Pajama Day for the Monday/Wednesday classes
March 17 – Pajama Day for the Tuesday/Thursday classes
March 30 – Dress like a pirate day for the Monday/Wednesday classes
March 31 – Dress like a pirate day for the Tuesday/Thursday classes
April 4 - Growing Smiles Fundraiser starts
Table Time
This month, the three year old's will be working on duck legs, the plus sign, horizontal lines, and we will be reviewing shapes. These activities will aid the children in recognizing familiar two-dimensional shapes, and will allow them to use correct top-to-bottom, left-to-right directionality for symbols. At this time, they will be practicing holding a crayon and using their helper hand to stabilize their papers. At craft time, we work one on one with the children and we are able to help them with proper pencil grasp, holding scissors correctly, and following one or two step directions.
At the beginning of the year, playtime for three year old's usually involves parallel play, where the children play beside each other but not with each other. As the year goes on, this slowly transitions into imaginative play where the children will start creating games that involve more than just themselves. This is where we are at now in the three year old class and there are some really close friendships emerging!! During this kind of play, the children are learning problem solving skills, sharing, taking turns, as well as new ideas they may have not thought of themselves. All the skills are extremely beneficial for the children and are preparing them for the more structured four year old program.
This month the four year old's will be working on letters O, Q, G, S, J, D, P, and B. Practicing these letters will help the children learn to use correct top-to-bottom, left-to-right directionality for letters, while holding a crayon with proper pencil grip and using their helper hand to help stabilize objects and paper. I work closely with the children at this center so I am able to help them with their pencil grip as well as help them with the letters in their name. I am very impressed with all of the four year old's!! They have come so far with their name writing and their understanding of the lingo used in the Handwriting Without Tears Program.
Michelle’s center almost always involves some kind of scissor practice which may have to do with the theme or the letter that we are working on. The children love this center and all of them have improved significantly with their scissor skills!! We are both so proud of all the kids, and how well they are doing this year!!!!
This month we would greatly appreciate:
Small white paper plates
Brown paper lunch bags
Grey paint
Brown paper plates
Wine bottle corks
2022/2023 Registration
It is hard to believe it is March and we need to start planning next year! Playschool registration is now accepting registrations for next year. Spots are held on a First Come, First Served basis, with paid registration fee of $50. This fee is non-refundable.
Please note there have been a change to the three year old program cut-off date. Students wishing to attend the three year old program must be three years of age by December 31st of the year they are attending. Only three spots will be held for children who are not three years old as of September 31st, but will three as of December 31st. Children can not attend until after their third birthday. Parents will be still held responsible to pay for the months the child is not yet in the class, as subsidies will not cover program fees until the child is in attendance.
In order to register in the three/four split class, students must be three years of age by September 1st or four by December 31st. The cut off date for the four year old class is December 31st.
Click the link below to register.
Carstairs Playschool Registration Form
Parent Handbook
Changes have also been made to the Parent Handbook. We ask that upon registering parents review the latest version of the Handbook. Some policies and procedures, as well as FAQ's have changed. Please note, there could be additional changes between now and September. The latest version can always be found on our website.
Parent Handbook
Kindergarten Registration
For those families moving on to Kindergarten, we would like to remind you to complete the registration as soon as possible. Early registration assists Carstairs Elementary School in budget preparation for the upcoming year.
Kindergarten Registration
Child Care Subsidy
By now the hope is that everyone who believes they qualify for Child Care Subsidy has applied for it. If you have not, but plan on pursuing it, it is very important that you notify Gail right away. If you have questions regarding Child Care Subsidy or the Affordability Funding, which is different than the Child Care Subsidy, please reach out. Gail can be reached at carstairsplayschool@gmail.com or 403 999 8275.
Phone Donation
The Playschool is looking to upgrade their cell phone. The ladies are currently using an iPhone 5, which is quite outdated. If anyone has a cell phone not being used, and is interested in donating a cell phone that is in great working condition and not too outdated, the playschool would gladly accept it.
Our spring fundraiser will once again be Growing Smiles Hanging Baskets. We have had many years of success with their service and products. This fundraiser will be strictly online, starting April 4th and ending April 21st. Flowers will be available for pickup on May 6th, just two days before Mother's Day!
Our spring fundraiser will once again be Growing Smiles Hanging Baskets. We have had many years of success with their service and products. This fundraiser will be strictly online, starting April 4th and ending April 21st. Flowers will be available for pickup on May 6th, just two days before Mother's Day!