I hope you had a great summer, and as we soon head into the fall season, I’d like to update you on some of the hap-penings going on at our school.

We welcome you and your child with open arms. We hope that this year will be one of joy and growth and we’re committed to creating a nurturing and exciting environment for the little and big people at our school.

We are proud of our culture and climate of our school. Our families are pleased with the unique Building Blocks experi-ence. They value our small class sizes and caring teachers. They value the out-door encounters we provide on our

natural playground and the nature walks at Highland Recreation behind our school. And they value the exceptional ways we facilitate the educational process that builds knowledgeable, capable, self-confident, self-aware, interested students that foster a life-long love of learning.

As we embark on our 9th year, Thank you for choosing Building Blocks Preschool as the place for your child to spend their early childhood. We look for-ward to working together with you.

Executive Director’s Notes

Inside this issue:

Program Info 2

Upcoming Dates 2

Fall Festival 2

Reggio Emilia, Italy and Playground Update

3

Professional Development

4

B U I L D I N G B L O C K S P R E S C H O O L — A N E A R L Y

C H I L D H O O D L E A R N I N G C O M M U N I T Y SEPTEMBER 2012

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1

Building Blocks Chronicle

For those of you new to our school we hope you are getting comfortable with your routine and with the adults who will be part of your child’s world. We know that it is a leap of faith to place your son or daughter in the care of oth-ers. You have to trust that the teachers are loving and skilled and that the larger school community has a system of oversight and a process for problem-solving that will guarantee that the best is done for every student. As we are get-ting to know your child, we also hope to develop ways to commu-nicate with you about what goes

Welcome - Our Door i s Open For You

“The cornerstone of our experience based on practice, theory, and research, is the image of the child as rich in resources, strong, and competent. The emphasis is placed on seeing the children as unique individuals with rights rather than simply needs.” - Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to Early Childhood Education and author of The Hundred Languages of Children.

on at school.

We welcome your questions and feedback. In addition to face-to-face conversation and phone calls, many teachers use e-mail and are happy to use it with you. Parent conferences will be scheduled in November to have a chance to talk more personally about your child but feel free to request a time with your child’s teacher if you wish.

Heading off to school can include not only joy but worry and anxiety. It is so essential that the messages we give our

children are that they are safe and in a situation with adults they can trust. We want your son or daughter to experience Building Blocks Preschool as a place where he/she is loved and held in “unconditional positive regard.”

We have always loved this season, with the sensory experi-ences of fall—crisp air, the changing colors of the leaves, the sounds of geese journeying south, picking apples on a beau-tiful sunny day, and of course the thrills of the start of a new school year.

Snack calendars are posted and it is your responsibility to provide snack for your child’s class on your assigned day. If snack is not pro-vided during the month a $10.00 snack fee will be charged to your account.

If you love us, please re-fer us! Current families will receive a $50.00 REFERRAL BONUS for families that are referred to our program and enrolled for over 4 weeks. It’s our way of saying, Thank You!!!!

Label your child’s items that you bring into our school. Coats, hats, mittens, boots, Sippy cups and lunch items with their first name or initials.

Illness Etiquette-With cold and flu season soon will be upon us, it is important to remember guidelines about school attendance when your child is ill or recover-ing. Please do not send your child to school sick. Sick children are unhappy at school and they can expose other children to their illness. Children should not be given Tylenol or Motrin immedi-ately before school in hope they can make it through the day. When the medication wears off they feel poorly and can have a

Program Informat ion

Upcoming Dates

Building Blocks Families are invited to join in the fun!

Parent Night - Thursday, November 15.

Wednesday, October 3 - Spicer Orchards Preschool Field Trip

Fall Harvest Festival on Friday, October 26 6:00 p.m. - All past and current

Our Staff Ms. Suzanne - Owner / Executive Director, Since 2004 Ms. Emily– Director, Since 2006 Ms. Jen - Co Half-Day Preschool Teacher, since 2008 Ms. Christine-Co Half-Day Preschool Teacher, since 2009 Ms. Jennifer - Lead Full-Day Preschool Teacher, Since 2008 Ms. Wendy - Infant and Young Toddler Teacher, Since 2004 Ms. Colleen - Older Toddler Teacher, Since 2012 Ms. Jamie - School Age, Summer Camp Teacher, and Preschool Teachers Aide, Since 2011 Ms. Andrea - School Age Summer Camp Teacher, Since 2007

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BUILDING BLOCKS CHRONICLE

recurrence of their fever. Mean-while they have been exposing others to their illness. Many of us at Building Blocks Preschool are parents and know the diffi-culties presented when a child cannot attend school as planned. However, please know that for the well-being of everyone here at school, you will be asked to take home sick children who present any of the signs of ill-ness. As stated in our Parent Handbook. Children can return to school after he/she has been fever-free for 24 hours. Re-member that the most effective way to prevent disease transmis-sion is to wash your hands frequently.

Please join us on Friday, October 26 at 6:00 p.m. for the Building Blocks Preschool Fall Harvest Family Festival! Children dress in costume and enjoy trick-or-treating with their

Fal l Har vest Fest iva l at Bui ld ing Blocks - Fr iday, October 26 6:00 p.m.

teachers.

Activities, games, and food for the whole family. Extended family and friends are invited to join us!

SAVE THE DATE

Alumni students enjoy coming back for the fun!

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VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1

Regg io Insp ired Pract ice Building Blocks Pre-school takes the typical Pre-School experience from ordi-nary to extraordinary. It is an unique experience, a place that honors and values chil-dren with a tradition of pro-moting creativity, investiga-tion and discovery in a safe, caring environment. At our school, the child’s relation-ships with peers, teachers, families, the environment and resources are key to building a firm foundation for social, emotional, intellectual, physi-cal, and life success.

Reggio Emilia, Italy Building Blocks Preschool takes inspiration from the phi-losophy and pedagogy of the

schools in Reggio Emilia, It-aly. After its town was de-stroyed in World War II, the parents in Reggio Emilia de-cided it needed to redouble the value and attention it placed on its children if it was to rebuild successfully. The resulting philosophy and model for early childhood education has been hailed as exemplary (Newsweek, 1991). The Reggio Emilia approach to education is committed to the creation of an environment for child-led learning, or learning that en-hances and facilitates each child’s construction of “his or her own powers of thinking through the synthesis of all the expressive, communica-

Phase one of the playground makeover is almost completed. We have added a new sandbox, fence, tea party table set, sunflower hut, 60 yards of mulch, a loose parts area with new construction parts, water source for new gar-dens: vegetable, sensory garden, butterfly and native.

We could not have done this with out the great help of our parents, commit-tee members, teaching staff and community. We have just over $11,000 balance and we are working on finishing phase 1 of our project. Thank you to our sponsors, Huron Valley State Bank, Matto Cecchetti Finish Carpentry and Sparkies Grill. Stay tuned for more updates.

tive, and cognitive lan-guages. (Edwards and Forman, 1993)

Families are an integral part of Building Blocks Preschool and their child’s classroom. Family involvement is encouraged at many levels and reinforced through strong home-to-school links, in-cluding Learning Story’s, e-mails, family nights, school improvement projects, fre-quent dialogue, assess-ments, and conferences.

Natura l Playscape Outdoor Classroom Update

“If getting our kids out into nature is a search for perfection, or is one more chore, then the belief in perfection and the chore defeats the joy. It's a good thing to learn more about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it's even better if the adult and child learn about nature together. And it's a lot more fun.” ― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods:

340 Harvey Lake Road Highland, MI 48356

Phone: 248-889-2727

www.BuildingBlocksSchool.com

B U I L D I N G B L O C K S

P R E S C H O O L — A N E A R L Y

C H I L D H O O D L E A R N I N G

C O M M U N I T Y

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Learning opportunities for educators working with the children and families en-rolled in our programs are ongoing. A variety of professional development op-portunities are provided to staff including formal coursework, workshops/in-services and informal learning. We continue to build communities of best practice for staff that share an interest, concern and passion for improving their skills and knowledge. Quality professional development opportunities support and sustain the quality care and education provided by staff to families and their children.

Profess ional Development Day

As an Early Childhood Learning Com-munity. We are all life long learners. We take the time to grow, reflect and research best practice and incorporate it in our program. On Friday, August 30, 2012 our teaching staff came together to grow and discuss;

1.Clifton StrengthFinder assessment and we talked about our strengths and our team dynamic. We found out that our core strengths as a team is very high on Relationships Do-main! Not a surprise because we are all

about quality relationships with our stu-dents, family and community.

2. Ms. Jennifer talked about a HighScope training she attended and how we can incorporate Plan, Do, Review. We plan on growing in our assessment process.

3. Our Reggio Educator Community -”Michigan Inspirations-A Reggio-Inspired Learning Community. “ We discussed our collaborative and this initiative and the outcomes from our August Steering committee. We in-corporated this years research question and a book study for the year.

Beautiful Stuff. Learning with Found Materi-als, Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini

4. Hopes and Dreams-We discussed our hopes and dreams for our stu-dents, our school and our personal growth. Check out the creative boxes on the book shelf on the porch.

That day we found out that we have so many great strengths as a team and we are very excited for this coming year of new growth. It was a great day!

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Building Blocks Preschool- An Early Childhood Learning Community

Building Blocks

Preschool Mission:

Building Blocks Preschool is passionate about the need to assist children in their early childhood development with a stable, enriching and

loving environment. The overall goal of our approach is to instill a

“love for learning” in each child."

Building Blocks

Preschool Vision:

Become the Recognized Leader in Quality Early Childhood Education in the Huron Valley Community.