Gretchen's Family Childcare

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Week of Jan. 20- 24

BRRRRRR......another cold week ahead of us! Looks like we MIGHT be able to get outside on Friday if we're lucky!

We have Travel Tots with Ms. Beth on Tuesday morning. The kids get so excited about having our class!

Since we forgot last week- WE ARE DOING SHOW AND TELL ON THURSDAY of this week! Your child may bring something from home to show their friends!

This week we are going to go over the letter B, the Square, the number 2 and the color blue. Each week we will be spending time focusing on basic preschool skills to review things we have learned so far this year.

WEEEEEEEEEEE!

Waiting their turn for a ride down the hill

We love sledding!

Story time!

Super man!

Dress up fun!

MENU:

Monday- Corn Dogs

Tuesday- Chicken pizza dippers

Wednesday- Hot ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday- Eggs and Hashbrowns

Friday- Spaghetti with meat sauce

Monday, January 13, 2014

Week of January 13-17

We are already nearing the halfway point in January! Can you believe it?!

I sent home everyone's 2014 paperwork and enrollment forms that need to be updated. Please make sure to get those back to me. I will need them back by the end of the week, completely filled out. Thank you to those of you who have already gotten them back to me!

Last week we had Travel Tots AND Music class! What a fun week! This week we are going to have show and tell on Thursday. Your child may choose one thing from home to bring and show their friends!

The aftermath! Chocolate faces!

Since Erin has found full time teaching position we have really missed having a substitute daycare teacher! She will be back this summer and still helping out on days off school here and there! I have also been lucky enough to get a fellow New Brighton Daycare provider (and friend) to agree to help out some mornings here and there through the rest of the school year. She runs a licensed home daycare only for school age kids, so after sending her own girls on their way in the morning, she is available to come here for a few hours to cover a couple appointments I have for the kids coming up. Her name is A.J. and she will be stopping by sometime this week to meet the kids!

I do have another spot opening up in the next couple weeks. So if anyone knows anyone looking for childcare (no infants, must be 18 months and up) feel free to pass my info along! I will have two spots available total!

Ryan putting on a puppet show!

Menu:

Monday:Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday: Chicken Nuggets

Wednesday: Egg Sandwiches

Thursday: Macaroni and cheese

Friday: Beef Tacos

Thursday, January 2, 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Daycare is open and ready for fun again! I hope everyone enjoyed their Holidays with their friends and families! We had a great "stay vacation!" We went skiing, ice fishing, sledding, to the Children's Museum, to the Timber Wolves game, swimming...we stayed very busy!

Over break, Chris and I also decided that the older boys needed a spot for them to hang out with friends and play on the weekends, so we made part of the daycare playroom into a combo Playroom/family room! Chris mounted a TV and added some speakers (basically a whole home theater!!!) and we bought a futon to use as a couch and for when they have friends sleep over! Don't worry though, it really doesn't cut into our daycare space too much! And now we can have movie parties in SURROUND SOUND! ;)

Enjoying the new set up Christmas Morning after opening their presents!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas Program! They kids worked really hard and I think they did great! If anyone has some pictures of the group that they want to email me, that'd be great! Its always tough to be director and photographer at the same time!

Since this week is so short, here is what we have going on next week as well!

Tuesday, Jan, 7: Travel Tots with Ms. Beth

Friday, Jan 10: Music class

MENU:

Thursday- Homemade macaroni and Cheese

Friday- Hot Dogs

Monday- Pizza Casserole

Tuesday- Chicken Nuggets

Wednesday- Tacquitos

Thursday-Chicken Stir fry and Egg rolls

Friday-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Monday, December 9, 2013

Week of Dec. 9-13

Since we have a short week this week, we will be cramming all sorts of Christmas cheer in to 3 days!

I am starting our NEW UNWRAPPED toy collection for the New Brighton Santa Cop program this week. I will accept toy or financial donations through Thursday, Dec. 19. Friday Dec. 20 I will have a few of the older kids help me bring the donations to the New Brighton Public Safety building for families in our community who need some help this Holiday season.

We had fun celebrating a couple birthdays last week! Levi turned 4 and Laila turned 2! The kids were lucky to get two birthday treats in one week!

Levi's new Coloring book!

What a cute group!

CHEEEEEESE.

LOL! Maybe the cupcakes were stinky?!

Menu:
Monday- Macaroni and Cheese, mandarin oranges, green beans and milk
Tuesday- Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, toast, pears and milk
Wednesday- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots, fruit cocktail and milk

CLOSED THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THIS WEEK!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Week of December 2- December 6

Merry Christmas! That joyous time of year is here again! The kids have started singing some favorite Christmas songs and are looking forward to putting on a little show! With the younger group we have right now, there may be quite as many songs as previous years, but it'll be fun none the less! They also said they wanted to do some of our fun daily circle time songs instead of JUST Christmas carols! Mark Dec. 20th on your calendar and charge those cameras!

December is a BUSY month and since there are so many vacation days and holidays I have decided not to order our December curriculum. We will do our own Winter Holiday Theme. We will do crafts about all the December Holidays, and of course sing our Christmas songs!

I will send home my newsletter soon, but just wanted to do a quick reminder that I will be closed December 13 and 14th. It is my birthday so a girlfriend and I are heading south for some warm birthday fun!

This week we have lots of things going on!

Tuesday we have Travel Tots with Ms. Beth.
Tuesday is also Laila's 2nd birthday, but she will not be here that day, so we'll celebrate later in the week!
Wednesday is Levi's 4th birthday!

We had so much fun playing in the snow yesterday!

Remember to help your child "PRACTICE" getting their stuff on at home. Snowpants, jacket, hats, boots and mittens! I have taught all the younger kids the flip method of putting on their jackets, so encourage them to do it themselves at home as well!

Menu:

Monday- Hot Dogs, Tator Tots, fruit cocktail and milk

Tuesday- Roasted Chicken, sweet peas, applesauce and milk

Wednesday-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, carrots, peaches and milk

Thursday- Baked Ziti, garlic bread, pears and milk

Friday- Sloppy Joes, mixed veggies, bananas and milk