CHA Connection / Blog

Reading Fun

2012-01-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten class had a special surprise the other day. Our “Big Kid” friend Tyler came and read a story to our class. We were very excited to have a special reader! Tyler did a great job and we really want him to come back and read to us again!

2011-12-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

It is tradition here at CHA that students make gifts for their parents. This year in Preparatory Kindergarten we made three beautiful ornaments! I love this tradition because it is so fun to see the kids faces when they present their presents to mom and dad. They are so proud of their work and it makes them feel so happy to be able to give something to people who give so much to them!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

Ms. Sally Jo, Ms. Sally Ann, and Ms. Erin R.'s classes would like to wish all of the CHA family a very Merry Christmas! Check out our holiday tree with kid made ornaments in the hallway by our rooms!

GUEST APPEARANCE

2011-11-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

This month in Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten class we are learning about Food and our 5 Senses. Last week we were talking about crunchy food, so for show and tell we all brought in different “crunchy” items to test. While we were having our show and tell, Ms. Patty came by and joined us!! It was really fun to have her help decide who brought in the crunchiest item! She also taught us about Deductive Reasoning!! Thanks for coming Ms. Patty!

Cornucopia Mania!!!

2011-11-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

In both of the Preparatory Kindergarten classes we have been learning about the food groups. When learning about fruits and vegetables we made our own Cornucopias. These turned out beautifully, and they are so festive! Check them out!

We Love November!

2011-11-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

In Preparatory Kindergarten we have been loving November! Now that the month is in full swing we have begun talking about Thanksgiving. We have had a great time reading Thanksgiving stories, and doing Thanksgiving art projects! We can't wait until next week when we get to dig in to turkey and pumpkin pie!

Dia de los Muertos

2011-11-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today is Dia de los Muertos also known as Day of the Dead. In Spanish, Ms. Gabi taught us all about this special holiday that they celebrate in Mexico. Check us out in our AWESOME party masks!

Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class

Changing a Tire for Ms. Erin R. (Thanks Pablo!)

2011-10-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Changing a Tire

As teachers, we spend a great deal of time, making our curriculum great.
Often we are blessed with great teachable moments that fall in our laps.
Sometimes, even with great planning, the kids are more interested in what
is happening outside the window. This was the case on Thursday as Pablo
was changing a car tire. Everyone was instantly drawn to the window,
asking questions about what he was doing and why.

I could have pulled them all back to what we were doing, but I choose to
indulge their choice of activity. As we began talking about why you
change a tire, I was able to connect the conversation to tracker tires,
and how farmers have to take care of their machinery. This was great
because all month we have been talking about farms and machinery. It was
also great because they were so excited about the conversation.

Erin R.

Our Favorite Things about the Pumpkin Patch by Ms. Mariola's Kindergarten Class

2011-10-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Jessie - My favorite thing at the Pumpkin Patch was going on the slide and
eating chocolate ice cream and pumpkin pie. I also like the hayride, it was
fun. I liked everything!

Arianna - My favorite things were doughnuts and pumpkin patch. I loved the
hayride too, and going on the ship and I even loved baby goats and baby
pigs, I love all the animals.

Crimson - My favorite things at the Pumpkin Patch were the same as Arianna'
s.

Wiley - I liked when I was trying to feed the baby chick hay and I liked the
calf and the piggies, and I liked going on the Hay Ride, and patting the
goats.

Sam - My favorite things at the Pumpkin Patch were Gummy Spiders and
watching making apple cider.

Logan - I liked going on the hayride and on the ship, and the maze, and
having lunch. I liked playing with Will in the maze; we were playing 'Rock
Paper Scissors'

Will - I liked the Hay Ride and getting pumpkins. My favorite thing was
going in the maze.

Pumpkin Fun!

2011-10-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last week in Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class we studied pumpkins. For a fun art project we decided to paint pumpkin patches. We started by golf ball painting the vines then used cookie cutters to stamp our pumpkins. It was sooo much fun!!

Pretty Pigs in Preparatory Kindergarten!

2011-10-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Who knew that Pigs could be so pretty?? We did! The Preparatory Kindergarten is learning about Farms in October and we made our Parade of Pigs in the hallway across from our classroom. We used three different mediums to make these pink pigs! Check them out!

Who Let the Cats Out??

2011-10-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Last week in Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten Class we talked about cats. Some of our classmates have cats as pets and some don’t. We made some very cute cat faces; if you are at the Meridian Campus make sure you come down and check them out!!

The Letter "O" in Preparatory Kindergarten

2011-10-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

In Preparatory Kindergarten we have been studying our vowels. We started with A, then E, and I and last week we learned about the Letter O. We sang an O sound song, listed O words like octopus, otter, ostrich and olive, and made some O art projects! Here are some pictures of a couple of the O projects we made! Learning the vowels can be so much fun!

Making Sheep in Preparatory Kindergarten

2011-10-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

October is Farm Month in Preparatory Kindergarten. The first week we are focusing on farm animals, specifically cows, horses, sheep, pigs and chickens. Each afternoon we learn some cool facts about an animal and then do a project about the animal. So far our favorite facts are that cows have four stomachs and horses can sleep standing up.

Today was sheep day. We learned that sheep live in flocks, because they do not like to be alone. We also learned that sheep have wool to keep them warm when it is cold out. In the spring, when it is warm the sheep are sheared. We can then use their wool to make blankets or clothes. We made our own sheep today using cotton balls. We then wrote one thing we learned about sheep underneath our sheep.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

2011-10-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

This week in Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class, we talked about Fall and how the leaves change colors. We went on a nature hunt around the school to find proof that the leave really do change colors in Fall. Here are some pictures of our findings!

Apples Galore!

2011-10-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten Class was CRAZY for apples this week! We talked about how apples grew, what colors they were, and which ones are our favorites to eat. The class even got to PAINT with apples. We cut them in half both length and width wise along with into slices and then dipped them in paint and stamped them onto our papers. If you are at the Meridian Campus you should come and check them out!

Learner's Licenses

2011-10-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

That’s right, preparatory kindergarten now has the license to learn! This was an exciting project to start the school year with. First we talked about driver’s licenses and how they allow adults to drive. Well of course we are to young to drive but not to young to learn.

The next step was to collect the data. We spent an afternoon measuring our height and weighing ourselves. We then recorded that information along with our birthdays on our licenses. Now, if anyone asks what we are doing, we can show them our license to learn!

"All About Me" in Mr. Alex's Class

2011-09-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

This week all the friends in my class have been learning and speaking about homes, families and themselves. Throughout the week when we finished speaking one of the above subjects I had the children illustrate a picture to go along with what we spoke about that day. The pictures they drew were put together and stapled to make their own " About Me Book".

Family Trees

2011-09-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

We have been busy learning all about ourselves in "All About Me" month! This is such a great social studies topic for the first month of school! We have talked about our features, our families, our favorite things, and we will be working on learning our address and phone numbers. Here is one of the big projects that we have done, Family Trees!

Apple Painting

2011-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

What better letter to learn about in the first week of school than A? None! The first week of school Erin R’s preparatory kindergarten class explored the letter A. One afternoon we painted with apples. We took several different size and shaped apples and cut them in half. Then with green and red paint we painted with the apple halves.

This was a fun twist on the traditional school apple!

Macaroni E's

2011-09-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

This week Erin R’s class preparatory kindergarten class has been learning out the short E sound. We have made books, coloring pages and painting. On Friday to celebrate the end of the week we made macaroni Es. It was interesting to watch the different approaches. Some friends just dropped the macaroni in the glue, while other meticulously placed the macaroni on the glue. The next step was the put the glitter on, and the finally to back our Es on colorful paper. The final product is sure to catch your eye and we had a blast making them!

Kindergarten News- Ms. Mariola's Class

2011-09-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Our first days of Kindergarten were wonderfully smooth and fun. The children are
adjusting well to the new schedule and routines.

I feel lucky to have such a wonderful group of smart and sweet kids.

For the last few days we reviewed class rules and practiced forming good
habits, like sitting properly at the table, holding a pencil the correct way,
looking at the person who is talking to you and following instructions and
directions.

Learning more about our friends and telling every one about our family and things
we like is a great way to make everyone in our class feel comfortable and
a part of one big family/ school community.

My friends are practicing writing their names, letters and numbers, getting
familiar with computer room, doing lots of art and more. We keep very
busy.

I was very glad to see so many grandparents for the Grandparents Social. I
hope all of the grandparents got their Cards for Grandparent's Day.
Thank you to all who came and we are sorry we weren't able to see others.

I'm looking forward to a fantastic year of learning and exploration.

Cursive! Say what??!!!

2011-09-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today in Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class we started learning how to write cursive!! We started with the letter “I” and everyone did a FANTASTIC job. Stayed tuned for updates throughout the year on how awesome they are doing!

Update from Ms. Mariola's Kindergarten Class

2011-08-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

The naughty little monkey from Margret Rey and H.A. Rey's beloved children's stories was our companion all of this week. We read about his adventures playing baseball, making pizza and pancakes and flying a hot air balloon. We baked Banana Muffins, had a fun Water Play Day, and made science experiments with balloons and static electricity.

Next week we have only two more days of Summer Camp. On Monday we will have another Water Play Day and on Tuesday we will celebrate end the fun camp with a Fantastic Carnival. We have planned many fun activities like Face Painting, Bounce House, Ring Toss, Tug of War, Fish Pond and more.

On Wednesday, September 1, we will start Fall Preparation. The school will be closed for all the children until the end of the week. The teachers will be setting up the classrooms and making sure that all of the children who are returning to our school in the Fall, feel welcomed and excited about being here and learning.

Lady Bug Wind Kites Made by Ms. Erin R.'s Class

2011-08-30T18:28:00.001-07:00

During Eric Carle week we read “The Grouchy Ladybug.” As an art project we decided to make ladybug wind kites. This was a fun project because it took several days to make, building the excitement. On day one we painted paper plates, one red and one black. On day two we cut out dots and made faces. We then assembled our wind kites. As it happened it was windy outside on the day we assembled the kites. We were able to take them outside and run with them, watching the wind tails fly in the air.

Seed Exploration in Preparatory Kindergarten

2011-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

One of Eric Carle’s treasured books is “The Tiny Seed.” We read this story during Eric Carle week this summer. We read the story and talked about the journey the seed took. This allowed us to talk about what things seeds need to live and grow. We discussed, water, sun, and food. We also discussed how seeds cannot get too hot, or too cold. Seeds need to be planted in grass not in cement or rocks, and they need to be buried deep enough that birds cannot find them.

We looked at three different types of seeds (corn, squash and peas). We discussed how they look different and how they need the same things. We planted two seeds to watch them grow.

For afternoon snack, in honor of the tiny seed, we made dirt cups. Everyone had so much fun smashing up the oreos and mixing the pudding. Most of all I think everyone enjoyed eating them!

Monkeying Around in Kindergarten

2011-08-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last week Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten class read a variety of Curious George books. On Friday we had a special Mom come in and help us with some fun monkey masks! We had a great time cutting, gluing and just plain monkeying around!

Buggy in Kindergarten

2011-08-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class wrapped up their Eric Carle unit by reading The Very Grouchy Ladybug. We thought that the ladybug was very cute even though he was very grouchy, so much so that we made our very own ladybugs. The class did decide to make happy bugs though. You can find this cuties hanging from our ceiling so come and check them out!!

Thank You CHAF!

2011-08-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

A huge thank you to the Children's Hour Academy Foundation and parents like you for all of your support! With funds raised from our annual CHAF Auction last May we were able to purchase these three heavy duty tricycles for our outside play area! Thanks again for all of your contributions!

Friday Newsflash 8/19/2011

2011-08-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Friday Newsflash
August 19th, 2011

I. Next Week's Events-
Next week we will be enjoying books written by Margaret and H.A. Rey who wrote the Curious George series. Here are some special items on the agenda!

MONDAY- Monday is another Water Play Day! Be sure to bring your child's swimwear and a towel! Water toys are also welcome. We look forward to getting wet!

TUESDAY- On Tuesday we will be watching a Curious George Movie! Feel free to have your child bring a blanket, pillow or favorite stuffed animal for movie watching!

THURSDAY- Thursday is Opposite Day! Your child can wear their clothing upside down, inside out, our even backwards! We look forward to seeing the opposites you can come up with!

II. CHA Upcoming Closures-
We have some CHA closures coming up soon! Both campuses will be closed for Fall Preparation on Wednesday Aug. 31st, Thursday Sept. 1st, and Friday Sept. 2nd. We will also be closed Monday Sept. 5th in observance of Labor Day!

III. Volunteers Needed for CHA Carnival-
Volunteers are needed for the CHA Carnival on August 30th.. Students will be attending the Carnival in the morning and afternoon. If you are willing to give of your time in the morning, the afternoon, or even the whole day, it would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Ms. Sally Ann at sallyann@childrens-hour.com for more information.

IV. Are You a Current Member of ClubSport?
If you are currently a member of ClubSport Fitness Center we would like you to please contact Susan Stober by emailing her at susan@childrens-hour.com. Susan is currently working with Club Sport to try and get us a corporate discount for all Children's Hour families and staff, but she needs a tally of current members to do so. Thank you very much!

V. Uniform Information-
Do you have your child's uniforms? Uniforms are needed for the Fall in every classroom at the Meridian Campus! This year our uniform colors are white and navy blue. All students can wear white polo shirts with navy blue shorts or pants. Girls can also wear navy blue pleated skirts and jumpers. Navy polo dresses are also acceptable. Some great stores for purchasing uniforms are Old Navy, Burlington Coat Factory, or Sears. Feel free to accessorize your child's wardrobe as you please with tights, sweaters, and even cool socks!

VI. School Supplies-
The start of a new school year means purchasing new school supplies! School supply lists have been distributed by all teachers. Be sure to ask your child's teacher if you need an extra copy of the list to take with you back to school shopping! Please have all school supplies ready and brought in by the first day of school. Thanks for your consideration!

VII. Follow Us on the Web-
Summer is coming to an end soon! To revisit all of our Summer Fun events and projects, check out the CHA blog! Scroll down to the bottom of the blog page to see previous posts that you may have missed.

CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr

VIII. Menu-

Monday- Ranch Chicken Salad, Tortilla Chips, Pears
Tuesday- Muffuletta Sandwich, Potato Salad, Applesauce
Wednesday- Vegetable Soup with Barley, Parmesan Cheese, Peaches
Thursday- Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza, Salad, Mandarin Oranges
Friday- Baked Chicken, Baked Beans, Bread and Butter, Fruit Cocktail

Caterpillar Names in Ms. Sally Jo's Pre-K

2011-08-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

This week was all about the beloved children's author Eric Carle. On Monday we read his most famous book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We loved watching the caterpillar get bigger as he ate his way through all kinds of food, and we were in awe when he finally turned into a butterfly! To celebrate we made our very own caterpillars using the letters in our names!

Transitional Kindergarten's Hermit Crab Habitat

2011-08-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

This week our featured author was Eric Carle who has written and illustrated many great Children's books. The kids and I read the book "A House for a Hermit Crab" and spoke about the habitat a Hermit crab lives in. Each child decorated their own Hermit Crab and the next day we worked with Ms. Erin's class to make the crab habitat out of sand, ripped paper and glue. Check it out!

This Week in Kindergarten.....by Ms. Mariola

2011-08-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

This week we've celebrated books by Eric Carle. I never get tired reading them. It seemed that the children felt the same way about them. Reading about caterpillars, hermit crabs, ladybugs and spiders inspired us to do many fun activities. We baked sugar cookies that we shaped into caterpillars, made ocean pictures using colored salt water, planted seeds and made awesome 3D spiders. We were also very lucky to have had wonderful weather and we were able to have a water play day and ride our bikes. If you are interested here is a recipe for the Salt Water Art:

Salt Water Paintings -
Mix one-fourth cup of warm water with six teaspoons of salt and 3 drops of food coloring in a small container. Mix well. Have students paint ocean pictures with the mixture on white paper. Let dry. The water evaporates but the colored salt remains, creating beautiful pictures.This is a good chance to discuss evaporation with students. What evaporates and what doesn't?

Crabby in Kindergarten

2011-08-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class read House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle yesterday. We loved Hermit and his shell house so much that we thought that we would make our own pictures of Hermit! We made Hermit’s shell out of some beautiful painted paper plates and then glued real sand to our papers for Hermit to crawl on. If you are at the Meridian Campus make sure you come down and check them out for yourself!!

Character Exploration: James and the Giant Peach

2011-08-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

This week the students in my class (Ms. Erin's Transitional K) explored the descriptive characters in the story, James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. As many of you may know, Roald Dahl's characters exhibit illusive attributes. After reading the story, the students and I decided we wanted to creatively represent the characters from the book. I took fingerprints and thumb prints from each student and we created them into bug characters. After we made the bugs, we attached them to a decorated mobile. The students had a wonderful time engaging in the project. I hope you like the mobiles as much as thes tudents and I did. Please Enjoy:)

Willy Wonka Week! By Ms. Erin's Pre-K

2011-08-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

This week’s book was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Of course we had some fun with the theme. We made giant lollipops, finger-painted with chocolate syrup and had a costume party on Friday. Two friends from Erin R’s class won costume prizes. One for best homemade costume, the other for most colorful! It was a great week full of sugar, fantasies and fun!

Class lollipops...if only we could eat them.

It got a little messy, good thing we could lick up the mess.

Best homemade costume!

Most colorful costume!

Kindergarten Update from Ms. Mariola's Class

2011-08-12T17:19:00.000-07:00

The best fantasy books take us on adventures, through fantastic worlds
full of magical creatures and endless possibilities. This week we
'traveled' through different places in stories written by Roald Dahl.

We explored theater, drama, fantasy and dreams. Even though everybody
dreams, children ranging from ages four to seven are more prone to
frightening dreams. No wonder they were fascinated by that topic. We
talked about happy and scary dreams. We put our dreams and other thoughts in
"Dream Jars" that we made in class.
This week, we also explored Native American Indian's Dream catcher myth;
each child even made and took one home.

Today we had a Crazy Costume party. Children came up with the most fun and
amazing costumes. Boys and girls danced, played games and won prizes.
That was a great way to end the week.

Chocolate Anyone??

2011-08-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

This week in Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten we are reading the story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We decided that we love chocolate as much as Charlie and Willy Wonka so we thought it would be fun to finger paint with chocolate syrup! As a finishing touch we splashed some delicious and colorful sprinkles on top. These creation are almost good enough to eat!!

Cowboys and Cowgirls in Ms. Erin's Pre-K

2011-08-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday our theme for the day was the Wild West. We read a story, “Bad Day at Riverbend,” about cowboys who fight off this alien substance. We also dressed up as cowboys and cowgirls. We spent the day pretending as though we were the real thing. We talked like cowboys would, we discussed what cowboys ate and we even practiced lassoing. Enjoy the pictures!

Large Lollipops by Ms. Sally Jo's Pre-K Class

2011-08-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

This week's book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. To celebrate our candy dreams and fantasies we made some giant lollipops! We used crayons, string, glitter glue, and of course a Popsicle stick. Check them out! Don't they look good enough to eat?

Monday Newsflash 8/8/2011

2011-08-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

Monday Newsflash
August 8th, 2011

I. This Week's Events!
This week we are excited to be celebrating books written by Roald Dahl. There are a few of special events to be aware of. Here are the need to know dates:

TUESDAY- Most classes will be watching the original version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on DVD.

THURSDAY- We will be filming our own child/class directed commercials on our topic of choice. Look for Viewing Party information next week!

FRIDAY- Friday is silly outfit day! How silly can your child's outfit be? Let their imaginations run wild with this one!

II. Are You a Current Member of ClubSport?
If you are currently a member of ClubSport Fitness Center please contact Susan Stober by emailing her at susan@childrens-hour.com. Susan is trying to get us a corporate discount to ClubSport for all Children's Hour families and staff.

III. Uniform Information
Can you believe that it is time to start thinking about purchasing your child's school uniforms? This year our uniform colors are white and navy blue. Girls and boys can wear white polo tops with navy blue bottoms including pants and shorts. Girls can also wear navy blue pleated skirts and jumpers. Navy polo dresses are okay too. Some great place for purchasing uniform attire are Old Navy, Burlington Coat Factory, or Sears. Your child may jazz up their uniform with their own sweaters, sweatshirts, tights, and tennis shoes!

IV. Are You Applying Sunscreen?
With the weather getting significantly warmer, be sure that you remember to apply sunscreen to your child before school. We will re-apply using your child's individually labeled sunscreen in the afternoon. Thank you!

V. Follow Us on the Web-
Check out a re-cap of all of our fun Summer events on the CHA Blog! Scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on June or July to see anything you might have missed. This week we have posted info. on the Police Officer visit and more! See what has been happening in your child's classroom!

CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr

VI. Menu-

Monday- Creamy Shell Pasta Salad w/Chicken, Rolls, Pears
Tuesday- Chicken Tacos, Black Bean Salad, Applesauce
Wednesday- Corn and Egg Flower Soup, Saltines, Peaches
Thursday- Cobb Salad, Rolls, Mandarin Oranges
Friday- Baked Chicken, Baked Beans, Bread and Butter, Fruit Salad

Lake Oswego Police Community Service Officer Visits CHA

2011-08-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

This week one of our major themes was Mysteries. In honor of solving mysteries, Lake Oswego Community Service Police Officer Julia Warren came to our school and helped explain how police officers help to solve crime mysteries. She told us that crimes are solved by collecting key evidence. One piece of key evidence is fingerprints! She showed us how we can see our fingerprints on smooth surfaces using special powder. Amazing! The highlight of the visit was checking out her Police vehicle and even getting to climb through the back seat! Thank you Officer Julia Warren!

Birds from Ms. Sally Jo's Class

2011-08-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Last week in Preparatory Kindergarten our featured author was Audrey Wood who wrote an amazing book called Birdsong. After reading the book we created our very bird masks. Take a look at these amazing bird-like creatures!

Kindergarten Class Story

2011-08-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ms. Mariola's Kindergarten class colaborated their creative efforts to come up with this amazing story!

"Saving Princess "

Once upon a time there was a princess name Ella. She was riding a horse and she saw a prince in the window of a castle waving to her. She fell in love.

The prince saw elephants at the ZOO. He asked the zookeeper if he could ride them, the keeper said, "Yes, you can". He rode through the woods and went around the trees. He saw the ZOO faraway through the binoculars. He rode the elephant back to the ZOO.

The prince went back to the castle and saw the tigers. The tigers were looking for the princess, they were really mad because they wanted the girl to fight. The prince went to get a knight. The knight wanted to worn the princess before the tigers found her but she didn't hear him because she rode too fast. Then he got closer and she heard him. She said "what?" Then she followed the knight back to the castle.

The lions found the tigers and told them that they will help them fight the princess. They went back to the castle and they knew that the knight put the princess upstairs, but didn't't know where the stairs were. They went half way there and saw the knight and he had a sword. He tried to fight the lions and tigers but the lions were very fast and went past the knight and ran upstairs. They couldn't find the bed they were running so fast.

The princess was in her room where she saw a frog. The princess kissed the frog; the frog told her that he would save her. He told the lions and thetigers to get in a cage and stay there. They did. The frog hopped to the prince and told him to kiss the princess. The prince kissed the princess and he turned into a princess. The princess turned into a prince. They got married and lived happily ever after.

The End

Young Entrepreneurs from Ms. Hayley's Class

2011-08-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Many of the kids in my class already have developed a knack for the craft business. A group of girls decided to make stylish bows using ribbons, hot glue, funky duct tape (the hot pink and zebra pattern were the most popular) and hair clips. After coming up with their own design, the kids sold their product along with other sugary treats in the school foryer. Great job ladies and thank you so much to our parent volunteers Dustin Wienecke and Gabby Mann who made the kids’ entrepreneurial efforts possible!

Jumanji Fun!

2011-08-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten Class had a great time reading Jumanji today. We decided to decorate the hallway by our classroom with our interpretation of what happens in the story. The class also decided that we would not like to have a game like Jumanji at our house because it would be too dangerous and you would never know what would happen.

Baby Bat Found at CHA

2011-08-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

Last week the Merdian campus had a visitor. We had a baby bat hanging out by the main door. Several people noticed it on their way into the school. Both of the Preparatory Kindergarten classes took an impromptu field trip to visit the bat. It was peacefully sleeping upside down, so we were sure to be very quiet as not to wake him!

Unique You Drawings by Transitional Kindergarten

2011-08-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

I AM GLAD I AM ME!

No one looks,

The way I do.

I have noticed

That it's true.

No one walks the way I walk.

No one talks the way I talk.

No one plays the way I play.

No one says the things I say.

I am special.

I am me.

There's no one else, I'd rather be!

Self Portraits by Ms. Erin's Transitional Kindergarten Class

Who Are These Masked Cuties?

2011-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Masked Cuties…

Who are those fabulously masked friends?? They are Ms. Sally Ann’s Kindergarten class!! We made some fabulous masquerade masks for the masquerade parade last Monday!!

W is for Watermelons by Preparatory Kindergarten

2011-08-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Last week the Preparatory Kindergarten finished our day by day Alphabet Wall. One of our favorite alphabet projects was our Watermelons! We started with half of a paper plate, we used paper towel tubes and sponges to paint circles, and finally we added black buttons for seeds! Be sure to stop by Classroom 105 and check these out!

Goodbye Borders.

2011-07-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

A Fond Farwell… Thank You for Shopping at Borders

It’s early Friday morning, July 22, 2011, as always I quickly check email before jumping into the shower. As I scroll down through unread emails, from the night before, I almost skipped over the sender, “Borders Rewards.” The subject line catches my eye, “A Fond Farwell… Thank You for Shopping at Borders.” WHAT???? My heart sinks. I quickly open the email to see if this is a joke or a marketing ploy. I scan the letter with mixed emotions. The overwhelming sense of sadness, loss, grief, rejection and shock brought forth tears.

The letter begins, “Dear Borders Rewards Member, ...Borders will be closing its doors after more than 40 years…we fought valiantly to save the company…I want to personally thank you for your loyalty and support….we cannot thank you enough for giving us the opportunity to serve you and the millions of other customers who have shopped our stores over the years. My sincerest hope is that we remain in the hearts of readers for years to come. Many thanks, Mike Edwards, CEO of Borders”

The letter may have begun with “Dear Borders Rewards Member” but it felt more like a “Dear John” letter. My emotions are intensifying! Why? Why didn’t you tell me? I had no idea. How did I miss the cues? I’ve been loyal! I’ve loved you! This is incredulous. Where the heck have I been to have not known?

Do you suppose I suffer a bit with disenfranchised grief? Perhaps! Why the wave of emotions? Books are my passion—my escape, my education, my persona evolved from books. I have been a patron of Borders nearly from the day Borders opened its doors in Portland. When Borders expanded to Tualatin in the current DSW shoes building, I was in love. I loved the smell of books, the choices, the children’s section, and the mark downs. For years I shopped Borders for gifts and gift cards. I’ve purchased discounted children’s books to stock classrooms, to give as birthday and Christmas presents to students as well as family and friends. I purchased my IPOD from Borders that I still use to date. I bought educational books, research books, games, bags, music, toys, anything Borders sold I purchased being a loyal consumer. My loyalty to Borders ran deep. I even made certain that I ordered from Borders online just to make certain that Amazon did not get credit for sales. I was that crazily faithful to Borders.

Maybe my psychotic faithfulness to Borders was a bit “over-the-top” that led to the shock when I received the news by mass medium email from Mike Edwards, CEO. How could he do this to me? I deserved better. At least he could have told me first! Mike Edwards you are a recreant!

Emotions put aside, I had to make one last trip to Borders to commiserate with the employees, to titillate my senses with “Borders” and, to take advantage of a bargain. Naively thinking I could bolster down trodden spirits, I enter Borders armed with tissue looking for familiar faces. Instead, I find hoards of pitiless consumers, a long checkout line from the cash registers that twist around the store to the back of the store what used to be “Seattle’s Best” coffee shop. No recognizable faces of forlorn employees just callous liquidators milling about spinning opinions of what caused the demise of Borders. The only remotely forlorn individual was me! My vision of commiseration gave way to focused determination. With Amanda in tow, we head to the discounted children’s books to stock-up one last time with Border’s treasures. Instead of a real bargain, most books are marked 10% off with a few up to 40% off. That’s not a bargain—it’s a trap! Wait, I have an “Educators” discount card that boasts 20% off. Aha! Amanda I load our arms with books. No carts or baskets are available and the so called employees of the Asset Liquidation firm, like soldiers they process us through the checkout line, shouting “next.” After nearly 30 minutes standing, slowing inching forward, with piles of ‘bargain’ books gaining weight by the minute we finally heard the anticipated shout, “next.” We place our books on the counter in piles as the person begins scanning them one-by-one. The final book was tallied and I am armed with my Borders Rewards card, Educators Discount Card and a Borders Gift Card given to me last Christmas by a thoughtful parent. The person behind the counter curmudgeonly states, “There is no educator’s discount this isn’t good. Borders is gone!” She flips the card back to me. As I lick my wounds, I stupidly say, “You mean I can’t use my card?” She responds with a resound, “Nope!”

Bags in tow we leave the store one last time. Like the children’s books, “Goodnight Moon” and “Love You Forever” I bade farewell, “Good Night Borders! I’ll Love You Forever.” Pat

Preparatory's Frog Life Cycles

2011-07-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

This week's author was Jonathan London who wrote the "Froggy" books, therefore we learned all about frogs! Check out the hard work that was put into making these Frog Life Cycles in Ms. Sally Jo's Preparatory Kindergarten Class!

Friday Newsflash 7.22.2011

2011-07-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

Friday Newsflash
July 22nd, 2011

I. Next Week's Events!
There are a lot of special events next week, so be sure to check your email inbox for reminders from your child's teacher. Here is an overview:
TUESDAY- Have your child bring in their best bath toy and favorite snack!

WEDNESDAY- Be sure to bring them in their pajamas, and bring any and all ZuZu pets!

THURSDAY- It's time to pull out the brightest colors in their closet that make us all wish we were wearing shades!

FRIDAY- Be sure to pack your child a picnic lunch, and if you can, join us for a bite to eat outside!

II. Police Officer Visit-
On August 4th, Officer Julia Warren from the Lake Oswego Police Department will be joining us. She will talk with the Transitional and Preparatory Kindergarten classes from 10:15-11:00 and the Kindergarten-Elementary from 11-11:45. She will have her police cruiser for part of the presentation, but the main focus will be on evidence collecting and dusting for fingerprints! We look forward to hearing what she has to say!

III. No Open- Toed Shoes Please-
For the safety of all children, we ask that you please not send your child to school in open-toed sandals. Sandals that cover the toes and have tennis shoe/ non-slip bottoms are okay. Thank you for your consideration for the safety of all children!

IV. Follow Us on the Web-
We are continuing to post blogs weekly, even during the Summer! Be sure to check out what's been posted lately from your child's classroom!

CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr

V. Menu-

Monday- Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans, Pears
Tuesday- Hamburgers, French Fries, Applesauce
Wednesday- Chicken Noodle Soup, Saltines, Peaches
Thursday- Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza, Salad, Mandarin Oranges
Friday- Bring your own picnic lunch!

Kindergarten Castles

2011-07-22T16:43:00.001-07:00

In a Kingdom far, far away…

Kindergarten worked hard on these beautiful castles. We drew them, colored them with crayon and the used watercolors for the sky and moats. If you have a chance you should come and check them out!

Making Wishes in Preparatory Kindergarten

2011-07-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

This week to go along with our Middle Ages theme, we all made our very own magic wands! After making our wands, I asked my students what they would do if they had a real magic wand! Here is what they said:

Gianluca: I would wish for a party. I would eat cake!

Lily: I would wish for a pony and I would ride it!

Diego: I would turn everybody into an egg so I could eat them all!

Sienna: I would turn a cupcake into a mouse and it would eat cheese!

Fire Breathing Dragons Made by Ms. Sally Jo's Preparatory Kindergarten Class

2011-07-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

This week we had fun learning about knights, castles, kingdoms, magic and more! One of the projects that we made were these amazing fire-breathing dragons!

Coat of Arms Made by Ms. Sally Ann's Kindergarten Class

2011-07-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

This week Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten class is learning all about Castles and Kingdoms. We made some very cool coat of arms that showed our names, favorite animals, and favorite things to do or see.

Kindergarten is Doing Good Deeds!

2011-07-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten learned all about good deeds last week, and tried really hard to do some good deeds for our friends and families.

Elephant Ears

2011-07-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Horton Hears a Who our whole school made Baked Elephant Ears following this simple recipe:

Ingredients:
· Refrigerator biscuits - 1 roll
· 1 cup cooking oil
· 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar
· Paper lunch bag

Directions:
Place cinnamon sugar in paper lunch bag. Heat cooking oil in large frying pan. Test for hot enough: Drop of water will sizzle.
Separate dough into individual biscuits-"ear". Stretch each biscuit until they just about have holes in them. They do not have to be perfect. Gently drop each "ear" into the hot oil. As soon as one side becomes golden, flip them and let second side get golden. They burn quickly.
Place "ears" on paper towel to soak up excess oil. Shake "ears" in paper bag of cinnamon sugar. Serve warm with ice cream or just plain. Make lots, they will go quickly!

This Summer I Will....

2011-07-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

Ms. Mariola's Kindergarten class told us all about what their plans were for the Summer.

Jack - I hope I will go to the beach and walk in the water a couple of feet then go back.

Arianna - I want to make a princess mask and play, play, play and don't do any homework.

Andrew - My favorite thing to do this summer is riding my bike all day.

Mahdy - I like to go to the beach. I would play in the water and sand.

Jonathan - I think I would like to go on vacation to Bend to swim and go fishing.

Crimson - I would like to play with toys like baby toys. I would like to drive far away to the summer.

Emma - I would like to play in a pool and go to Hawaii to play on the beach.

Snake Habitat Made by Kindergarteners!

2011-07-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten spent the day learning everything there is to know about snakes. We even made our own snake habitat! Make sure to check it out in the entry at the Meridian Campus!

Shaving Cream

2011-07-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you just have to get messy! Writing your name in shaving cream is a great way to get messy and practice your writing. Everyone is Ms.Erin R's preparatory kindergarten had a chance to write their name in shaving cream. Once everyone wrote their name, of course everyone then got to play!

Field Day

2011-07-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we had a whole school field day. Transitional and Preparatory Kindergarten shared field day in the morning. We had several events including an egg race, jump rope, bean bag toss, and ice block push. By far the favorite event was the sprinkler! Everyone enjoyed running through the water to cool off from the heat. We loved it so much in fact that we played in the water again at recess.

No Bad Kids – Toddler Discipline Without Shame (9 Guidelines) | Janet Lansbury

2011-06-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

No Bad Kids – Toddler Discipline Without Shame (9 Guidelines) | Janet Lansbury

Cat in the Hat

2011-06-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, our story of the day was The Cat in the Hat. In order to celebrate this famous Dr. Seuss book, we made a Cat in the Hat snack. With a vanilla wafer, a quarter of a graham cracker, frosting, M&M's, pretzels and licorice, this snack was sure to be delicious! Each student enjoyed placing the items in their own particular spot to create a mini likeness to The Cat in the Hat. Truly edible works of Art!

Bike Riding

2011-06-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

Every summer at the Meridian Campus we have a Bike Day where the kids bring their bikes and helmets to school. We block off the road with cones behind the play structure and everyone gets to ride their bike, tricycle, or scooter up and down the drive. It is always one of the highlights of the Summer! It has been so fun in past years that this year we scheduled two bike days, one in June and one in August. Check out these photos from the June event!

Turtle Bread

2011-06-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

On Monday we made Turtle Bread to go with our story of the day, Dr. Seuss's Yertle the Turtle. Here is a recipe and a picture of the bread made by the Preparatory Kindergarten classes.

Turtle Bread

2 1/2 to 3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 package quick active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 egg

2 raisins

1. In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the yeast, sugar and salt; set aside.

2. In 1-quart saucepan, heat water, milk and butter over medium heat,stirring occasionally, to 125°F to 130°F; stir into yeast mixture. Stir in egg. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy tohandle. On lightly floured surface, knead dough about 5 minutes or until smooth and springy. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

3. Lightly grease cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. Shape a 2-inch piece of dough into a ball for turtle's head.Shape 4 walnut-size pieces of dough into balls for feet. Shape 1 walnut-size piece of dough into tail. Shape remaining dough into ball for turtle body; place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Attach head, feet and tail by placing 1 end of each under edge of body to secure. Press raisins into head for eyes. Cover and let rise in warm place 20 minutes.

4. Heat oven to 400°F. Make 1/4-inch-deep circular cut around top edge of body, then make crisscross cuts in center to look like a turtle's shell. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Father's Day Fishing Trip

2011-06-10T15:44:00.001-07:00

Today the Meridian Campus had their annual Father's Day Fishing Trip! We enjoyed catching big fish and little fish, spending time with our Dads and other family members, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the Rainbow Trout Farm! What a wonderful day!

Older Toddler Class Happenings

2011-06-07T14:48:00.001-07:00

This week began with the class talking about bobcats and a review of the main topics learned during the month of May. Some of topics that we reviewed were the colors black and white, the eight shapes in the Shape Caterpillar display, the ten cards in the “How Many Fingers?” number display and all of the teaching vocabulary cards for the month. It was exciting to see what the children remembered!

On Wednesday, we began a new month with new topics to learn. We have a new puppet friend and a new song. The puppet is a dog and the song is “Where Oh Where.”

“Where oh where has my little dog gone
Where oh where can he be?
With his tail so short and his ears so long
Oh where oh where can he be….”

This song is a favorite and popular with our friends.

On Thursday, the topic of Dinosaurs was introduced. We explored small toy dinosaurs and used them in creative ways. The students made dinosaur prints with white paint on colored construction paper; gave the toy dinosaurs a bath in the sensory table, and explored two-piece dinosaur puzzles. The character-building card, “Responsibility” was introduced and discussed with the class. The children talked about Dinosaurs and the concept of responsibility as the book “Caillou, Plays Dinosaur Hide –and-Seek” was read to the class. The children explored the concept of being responsible when we talked and cared for dolls during dramatic playtime.

On Friday, the class explored the “Find the Fossils Flip Chart.” We talked about museums; explored construction vehicles in the rice table and tools in the block area.

What a great week!

Monday Newsflash 6.6.2011

2011-06-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Monday Newsflash
June 6th, 2011

I. Father's Day Fishing Trip (Meridian Campus)-
Our annual Father's Day Fishing Trip is this Friday, June 10th! We will be meeting at the Rainbow Trout Farm near Sandy at 10:00. You can find directions on their website at www.rainbowtroutfarm.com This is one of the most fun events of the year! No fishing gear is needed, but you might need your sunscreen, water bottle, and maybe a Frisbee! The cost is $10.00 for one adult and one child and $5.00 for each additional child. Lunch is provided. Please RSVP on your classroom door as soon as possible! We look forward to fishing with you! (School is closed this day for Meridian Campus)

II. School Closures-
School will be closed on Thursday, June 16th and Friday, June 17th for Parent Teacher Conferences and Summer Preparation. We look forward to starting our Summer Program with you on June 20th!

III. Fourth of July BBQ-
It is hard to believe that the Fourth of July is just around the corner! Come celebrate the Independence Day with us at our Fourth of July BBQ! This year we are having our BBQ on July 1st. All families at both campuses are welcome and festivities will begin at 5pm at the Meridian Campus.

IV. Sunscreen Time-
It is sunscreen time again! Please make sure your child has sunscreen marked with their name on it, and give it to your child's teacher. These are NOT kept in cubbies, but are considered poisonous and kept out of reach of children. Also, make sure that you apply sunscreen in the morning and we will re-apply in the afternoon. Thank you!

V. Summer Shoes-
In order to prevent injuries, TENNIS shoes are required, even in hot weather. These are the most safe for running and playing indoors or out. Thank you for your consideration!

VI. Summer Cubby Items-
It is time to check your child's cubby! Please check to make sure that extra clothes are appropriate size as well as weather appropriate. Also, we are asking that every parent bring a swimsuit and towel labeled with your child's name, to keep at school as we will be having many water play days this summer! Other summer cubby items you may need include a sun hat, sunglasses, and water shoes!

VII. Follow Us on the Web-
At Jean Rd., be sure to check updates on your classroom's website via Shutterfly. Parents from both campuses can also get up to date information from the blog as well as facebook and twitter!

CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr

VIII. Menu-

Monday- Chicken Chipulos w/ Corn Tortillas, Salad, Pears
Tuesday- Roast Beef Slices, Broccoli, Rolls, Applesauce
Wednesday- Vegetable Barley Soup, Crackers, Peaches
Thursday- Western Salad, Rolls, Mandarin Oranges
Friday- MERIDIAN CAMPUS CLOSED- FATHER'S DAY FISHING TRIP
Jean Rd.- Lemon Baked Chicken, Baked Beans, Fruit Salad, Bread and Butter

Kindergarten is Learning About Frogs!

2011-05-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten has been busy learning about all things frogs. Did you know that some are poisonous and others are not?

News From the Older Toddler Class

2011-05-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

This week we have continued our study of “Way Out West.” The children have learned about animals in the west including coyotes, armadillos, and prairie dogs. We have pretended to be prairie dogs popping in and out of our prairie dog dens (made out of large boxes). This has been a lot of fun! We have also enjoyed exploring different textures and talking about how the different desert animals feel. This gave us the opportunity to discuss opposites such as hard and soft, and to identify hard and soft items.

Our students are always full of surprises. One child who typically does not dance in music did a wonderful job of dancing in class this week. Some of our friends who have been aggressive in the past, showed a great deal of control in music class this week. One friend is making good progress in his potty training. Way to go! Dica and I discovered that one child in our classroom knows their shapes. They had not shared this information with us previously. We also made the discovery that this child can throw and catch a ball. We were impressed and enjoyed discovering these new pieces of information.

We are excited to announce that we have a new child in our classroom. We are learning many things about him every day. One thing that we learned is that he loves to climb. There are several children in our class that love to climb. We greatly appreciate the kindness and friendliness that his new classmates have shown him this week.

Spiders are Crawling in Erin M.'s Class

2011-05-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

The students in Miss Erin's class voted on the "creepiest" bug, and the vote was unanimous, everyone agreed that spiders were evoked the most chills. To celebrate the importance of these creepy crawlers, we decided to make our very own eight-legged bugs. We would like to share some with you some our favorite facts about spider that we have learned over the last few weeks." Spiders have been around for at least 380 million years!" Anotherinteresting fact is that some spiders have the inherent capability to diveunderwater. Who would have thought? If you have a student at the Meridiancampus, please make sure to take a peek at our critters crawling on thewindows. We hope you enjoy our CREEPY CRAWLERS!

Treasure Hunting in Ms. Erin R.'s Class

2011-05-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Are you familiar with those canisters that are filled with rice and other tiny objects? You could spend an hour shifting the canister, to find all of the objects hidden in the rice. This week our class made our very own Find-It canisters.

Tuesday we filled ziplock bags with rice, added some food coloring and shook. Everyone loved watching the rice turn from white to purple, blue, red, pink, green or any combination of those colors. At the end of the day we had a large pile of mutli-colored rice.

Thursday each child took their rice, and another bag with assorted trinkets. We layered them in the canisters. Trinket, rice, trinket, rice…etc. The lids were super-glued, ribbon was added with a list of what is in the canister and personal Find-It games were completed! Check them out!

Getting Creative with Utensils the Middle Toddler Room

2011-05-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

The children in the Middle Toddler Classroom have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen this week! We’ve learned all about cups, bowls, pots and even sponges so we know how to clean up too! Le Cordon Bleu has nothing on us because we know how to use all of these things for much more than just cooking! We loved forming our own little band with cups for castanets, bowls for bongos and our pots for drums. We showed our artistic side when we used our cups and bowls to make spectacular paintings. We’re not sure how they teach their students about cleaning at Le Cordon Bleu, but here in the MTC we believe in having lots of fun and that’s exactly what we did! We’ve found that lots and lots of bubbles is the key, so if you have any cleaning this weekend, we suggest you grab some fun looking sponges, add plenty of bubbles, and we bet your toddler will come running to help you!

May Happenings in Pre-School

2011-05-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Jean Road pre-school class has been busy learning about deserts and the old west. Tumbleweeds and rattle snakes were topics we covered last week. Did you know that tumbleweeds scatter seeds as they roll through the desert? Pretending to be tumbleweeds, our preschoolers curled up like a ball and rolled across the room for some gross motor time. The topic of rattle snakes has been a big hit with our boys. We read about why snakes use their tails to warn and scare away other animals and people.

In our letter skills time we are learning the letter y and z. Yorky the yellow jacket and Zack the zebra are the puppet friends for this month. We love our puppet friends and of course, learning about letters!

We are hard at work preparing for our transition the Meridian campus next month. We are working on our self help skills. Putting on and zipping up own coats is a new found skill for many of our classmates. Our pre-schoolers are very proud of their skills! Putting on our own shoes and socks is big news! We have made such progress this month; it is very exciting! Way to go pre-schoolers!

Students are Showing Kindness in the Older Toddler Room

2011-05-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

The value lesson for the month of May has been “Kindness”. The children demonstrate kindness to each other in many different ways. It is so pleasant to watch these interactions. Here is a poem that we have learned about being kind.

BE KIND

Be kind to others,
If they are big or small
Treat everyone nicely,
And be friends with them all

Here are some of the ways that we have been seen being kind:

Cole often gets coats for others and has attempted to help them put them on. He also shows kindness in playing baseball with his friend Chase.

Chase shows kindness also when playing baseball with his friend Cole.

Logan is often very helpful when it is time to clean up the classroom. He also shows kindness to his friend Davindra when he plays with him outside and they share toys.

Sydney and Garrett were playing on the dragon together. When Sydney’s boots fell off her feet, Garrett was concerned. He picked them up and helped put them on her feet. Sydney said, “Thank you”.

Sydney, found Chase’s “tumbleweed art project” in the parking lot. She was very concerned and insisted that she and her mom return it to us. Her mother said she called it “bumble weed”. This was very caring and sweet.

Davindra showed concern for his friend Logan. Logan had run into a door and was very sad.

Zhian was seen gently dancing with Tillie during Music Together Class. The children were dancing with scarves. Zhian gently moved a scarf across her face. Tillie smiled sweetly.

Drew showed kindness by helping bring chairs from circle time to the table. He also showed kindness by bringing Garrett a ball when they were shooting baskets.

Violet showed kindness by crawling sweetly upon Craig’s lap during Music Together Time. This made him smile.

Tillie shows kindness by waiting very patiently to get assistance to complete art projects.

Garrett shows kindness by sitting nicely in his chair during circle time.

Sydney shows kindness by always putting her projects away nicely.

Spring Ideas from Ms. Mariola's Room

2011-05-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Spring means being outdoors, jumping high, enjoying the weather (finally),occasional showers and buds swelling into flowers.

Here are some activitiesyou can do indoors and outdoors:

Carrot Tops! Cut tops (large ends) of carrots off- about 1". Put themflat side into a small bowl of water, filled to ¼" level. Watch! In one ortwo weeks, you will see greenery shooting from the tops.

Spring spelling. Think of five words that have to do with spring, such as sun, insect, rain, buds, bloom, etc. Learn to read and write them.

Create a garden by planting flowers, vegetables or herbs. Get a smallplant, pot, soil, some water and follow gardener's directions as to when to water and how much sunlight to give your growing plant.

Friday Newsflash 5.20.2011

2011-05-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Friday Newsflash
May 20, 2011

I. School Closures-
Don't forget! We have two school closures this coming Friday and the following Monday.
May 27th- Report Card Preparations
May 30th- Memorial Day Holiday

II. CHA Summer Session-
During Summer here at CHA we will be offering exciting activities such as a visit from the Reptile Man, cooking, water play days, pajama days, sports and much more! Be sure to sign up as soon as possible. See Ms. Michelle for details!

III. New Staff Members-
Please join us in welcoming two new teachers to our Jean Road Campus! Ms. Marissa has joined Ms. Danielle in the infant room and Ms. Kelly has joined Ms. Kim in the Early Toddler Room. We are so glad to have you join our team!

IV. Chinese Coming Soon-
Our Meridian Campus students now will learning Chinese! In June when Summer gets underway, all students will interact with Chinese, Spanish and German in a playful environment! They will sing, dance, play games and do crafts. They will also learn customs and culture. All classes will be immersion format and are taught be wonderful and knowledgeable instructors! (Ms. Gabi will continue with Spanish, Ms. Susan for German and Ms. Yuan joins the team for Chinese!)

V. Father's Day Fishing Trip-
The Meridian Campus Father's Day Fishing Trip is coming up soon! Don't forget to mark your calendars for June 10th. We will fish, picnic, and even enjoy some games of catch! We will leave CHA around 9:00 am and be back around 2:00 pm. School will be closed that day in order to fully enjoy the day's event! If you plan on attending, please sign up next week on your classroom door!

VI. Follow Us on the Blog-
Teachers are weekly posting insights into their classrooms on the CHA Blog. There is artwork, class stories, children's writing, work samples and more! Check out what your child's teacher has posted recently on www.chaconnection.blogspot.com. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr

VII. Menu-

Monday- Breaded Fish Sticks, Green Beans, Pears
Tuesday- Sloppy Joes, Potato Salad, Applesauce
Wednesday- Potato Soup, Cheddar Cheese, Crackers, Peaches
Thursday- Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza, Salad, Mandarin Oranges
Jean Rd.- Cheese Pizza
Friday- CLOSED- TEACHER IN-SERVICE

Spring Art in 1st and 2nd Grade!

2011-05-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Check out our awesome Spring Art projects! These cover the windows in our classroom and make it look fabulous!

Caterpillars with Many Feet

Shiny Ziploc Bag Butterflies

Handprint Tulips

Sticker Rainbows

Physical Activity in Mr. Alex's Class

2011-05-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Physical activity is an integral part of the day when teaching young kids. I think it is very important to vary the kind of movements and exercise that the kids experience on a daily basis. Our curriculum called for a balance beam as our large motor activity for the day but with the one balance beam I anticipated the kiddos losing interest quickly and decided to make an obstacle course that incorporated a balance beam. I wanted to obstacle course to challenge the most physically advanced children while also having the lesser skilled children enjoy success, but most importantly I wanted to see the children have fun!

Luckily the day was nice and sunny so we took the obstacle course outside. The obstacle course began with the hop scotch carpet where the children hopped balancing on two feet or one, next the kiddos moved on to the cones which they weaved in and out of and found their way to the balance beam which they slowly walk across and finished by crawling through the tunnel. When it was time to go inside the kids did not want to see the obstacle course taken down but I assured them we would do it another day. It was really great to see the kids challenge themselves physically and really have fun doing so.

Fairy Tales by Ms. Sally Jo's Class

2011-05-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my class wrote their own Fairy Tales. I started them out with "Once upon a time..." and they came up with their own stories. I loved what they wrote and just had to share them!

A Fairy Tale
by: Brock Fiorello

Once upon a time there lived Fairy Tales. They were sad because their town was ruled by a mean troll. Then one day a fairy came and gave a poor goblin powers. The goblin beat the troll and saved the town, and he was made king. He said to the fairy, "thank you". The End

A Fairy Tale

by: Bella Mann

Once upon a time there was a young girl named Bella. As her life past she was a beautiful girl in the daytime and a hideous ogre in the nighttime. She was guarded by a dragon and locked away in a dragon's keep. She was saved by a cute, cute ogre named Christiaan. The End

A Fairy Tale

by: Christiaan Bedford

Once upon a time there was a queen in her castle. Then before her eyes came a prince. A cute prince named Christiaan. The queen's name was Bella. The End

Monday Newsflash

2011-05-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

Monday Newsflash
May 16, 2011

I. CHAF Auction-
The Auction Committee and CHA staff would like to thank everyone for your continued support and commitment to our school. With your help, we raised approximately $30,000 at this year's auction event! Thank you so much for making this year's auction the best one yet!

II. Thanks to our Auction Sponsors and Supporters-
A special thanks to our top auction sponsors: Old Spaghetti Factory, Lauren Carr Catering/Balanced Table, Pavilion Construction, YoTopIt, Microsoft, and YardRents.com. Thank also to everyone who donated goods or services to help make our auction a huge success!

III. School Closures-
Don't forget! We have two school closures coming up at the end of the month!
May 27th- Report Card Preparations
May 30th- Memorial Day Holiday

IV. CHA Summer Session-
During our Summer Session we will be offering exciting activities including a visit from the Reptile Man, theatric play, cooking, water play, pajama days, sports and much more! Sign up today with Mish, so your child can have fun in a caring and comfortable environment!

V. Chinese Coming Soon-
The Children's Hour Academy is excited to share big news! Our Meridian Campus students now will learning Chinese! Starting with the Summer Curriculum in June, all students will interact with Chinese, Spanish and German in a playful environment! We will sing songs, play games, do crafts and learn customs and culture, as well as handy phrases of course! All classes will be immersion format and are taught be wonderful and knowledgeable instructors! (Ms. Gabi will continue with Spanish, Ms. Susan for German and Ms. Yuan joins the team for Chinese!) Education, Exploration and Excitement! This is what CHA is all about!!!

VI. Scholastic-
The last Scholastic book order of the school year has been placed in your mailboxes! These orders are due on Friday May 20th. Stock up on books for your child's summer reading!

VII. Follow Us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog-
Be sure that you are keeping up to date on all of the latest CHA information. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and our updated online blog.
Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr
CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com

VIII. Menu-
Monday- Cheeseburger, Buns, Corn, Pears
Tuesday- Taquitos, Tossed Salad, Applesauce
Wednesday- Spring Vegetable Soup, Saltine Crackers, Peaches
Thursday- Chef Salad, Garlic Bread, Mandarin Oranges
Friday- Ham and Turkey Sandwiches, Fruit Salad, Chips

Mother's Day Vases by Erin R.'s Class

2011-05-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

For Mother’s Day we made flower vases. We were just ending a unit on recycling, so what better way to make bases, than out of recyclables. This was a multi-step project. We first had to get messing with some glue and papier-mâché 2 litter plastic bottles. After letting them dry we went back and painted them. We then cut the tops off and inserted a flower. We made the flowers out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Everyone also decorated the gift bag the vases went into. All in all it was a lot of hard work, but it was so great to see the end result!

Great Job Kindergarten!

2011-05-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

Guess whose class all got 100% on their spelling tests today! That’s right Ms. Sally’s Kindergarten Class did!!!

Celebrating Snakes, Snails, and Purple in the Middle Todddler Room

2011-05-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

Snakes, snails and the color purple! An interesting combination and the amazing children in the Middle Toddler Class have made it work. We’ve moved like snails and snakes, we’ve done snake and snail artwork, we had a special purple objects box, and we even had a little purple party! It has been a very fun week.

We have had a great time making lots of different artwork this week. We made some purple paintings with a toy snake as our brush, we used our crayons to color some snails that we then attached ribbon to so that we could pull them around at a “snail’s pace”, and we really loved using our “Do A Dot” purple paint to make some awesome purple polka dot pictures. On Friday we had a great time getting out our big box of purple objects. We shook up our big covered box and everyone was so excited when we dumped it out and found purple balls and bead blocks! Since we were so happy and having so much fun with our purple objects we decided to add some purple plates and cups and we made it into a purple party!

Making Predictions in Kindergarten

2011-05-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten worked on their math skills this week! We made predictions on how many raisins were in a box and then counted how many there really were. Check out our graph to see just how many raisins we had!

Monday Newsflash 5.2.2011

2011-05-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

Monday Newsflash
May 2, 2011

I. Mother's Day Breakfast and Tea-

Both campuses will be celebrating Moms at Mother's Day Breakfast or Tea this week. All Moms, Grandmas, Aunts and friends are invited.

* Jean Road will be having Mother's Day Breakfast on Wednesday and Thursday from 7-9am.

* Meridian Campus (Alex, Erin, Erin, & Mariola) will be having Mother's Day Tea on Wednesday, May 4th, at 3:30pm

* Meridian Campus (Sally Ann, Sally Jo, & Hayley) will be having Mother's Day Tea on Thursday, May 5th, at 3:30pm

II. Teacher Appreciation Week-

Just a friendly reminder that this is Teacher Appreciation Week. Have you told your child's teacher lately how much you appreciate them?

III. Auction Tickets on Sale-

Did you know that we have received over $22, 000 retail value of items to bid on? Auction Packages include Summer Fun, Date Nights, Birthday Extravaganza, and much more! If you have not purchased your Auction tickets, now is the time! Also, look for raffle tickets coming soon!

IV. Special Thanks to our Top Auction Sponsors-

A special thanks to: Old Spaghetti Factory, Lauren Carr Catering/Balanced Table, Pavilion Construction, YoTopIt, and Microsoft.

V. School Closures-

Don't forget! We will be closing at 4:00pm next week on Friday, May 13th for Auction preparation. We will also be closed May 27th for Report Card preparation and May 30th for the Memorial Day holiday.

VI. Follow Us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog-

Be sure that you are keeping up to date on all of the latest CHA information. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and our updated online blog.

Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr
CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com

VII. Menu-

Monday- Chicken Strips, Mashed Potatoes, Pears

Tuesday- Kosher Dogs, Buns, Corn, Applesauce

Wednesday- Tomato Soup, Pasta w/Parmesan Cheese, Peaches

Thursday- Bean and Cheese Burritos, Salad, Mandarin Oranges

Friday- Ham and Turkey Sandwiches, Fruit Salad, Chips

"What I Know About Insects" by the Kindergarteners

2011-04-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten has been hard at work learning about insects! Here are some things we have learned:

Agastya: Insects have antennas called feelers.

Briana: Some carry food with their middle legs.

Cooper: They only have 6 legs.

Emily: They come from eggs.

Kate: They feel with different parts of their bodies.

Luke: Some fly, others don’t.

Morgan: Ants have pinchers.

Paul: Ants eat leaves.

Paul W.: They have 3 body parts: thorax, head and abdomen

Signs of Spring from Ms. Sally Jo's Class

2011-04-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here's what my class sees as the signs that Spring has come!

"Signs of Spring include flowers, grasses, and Earth Day! I see the trees shaking. I go outside in the Spring, and when it rains I come inside. The birds chirp all day."
By: Dane

"Signs of Spring are the flowers blooming. The flowers come out to sing in the wind. The birds chirp and fly. I ride my bike in the sunlight."
By: Christiaan

"Signs of Spring are when birds sing and the flowers start to bloom. The Earth wakes up. Earth worms wake up and play. You can fly your kite. You can go to the park. You can eat ice cream. People ride their bikes. The sun comes out."
By: Brock

"Signs of Spring are when the sun comes out and the flowers bloom. When the kids come out to play. When the leaves start to grow once more."
By: Bella

Reflections for Poetry Month by Ms. Mariola's Class

2011-04-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

"What is poetry?"

1. Hailey - Poetry is when you write stuff, like "I love you".

2. Arianna - Poetry is when you write something like a message, and then you
draw a rainbow.

3. Wiley - You can read some books while big kids are learning in their
classroom. You can make honey sandwiches and you can with toys in the
summer.

4. Gus - You can go on Easter Egg Hunt and you can find candy in the eggs.

5. Jessie - Poetry it's a kind of food that reindeer eats and I watched that
on TV and I think I'm right.

6. Ashkon - Poetry is something you can do at Easter and you could write a
letter for someone. I think that's poetry.

7. Jack - I think it's a little party. That is the only thing I thought
about.

8. Nicholas - Poetry, it's like a little tree and it has a paws suit, and
someone climbs up the tree.

9. Will - Poetry, it's a Christmas song.

10. Jonathan - I think poetry is when you pull something.

Tie-Dyed Eggs with Ms. Hayley's Class

2011-04-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

This week in Art Class Ms. Carrie taught us how to use silk ties to make “Tie-Dyed Eggs.” The beautiful patterns from the ties are stamped on to the eggs. You can make your own tie-dyed egg following the simple steps listed below:
1. Cut silk into a square (or a piece) large enough to wrap around a raw egg.

2. Wrap a raw egg with a piece of silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Silk can still be used if it doesn't fit perfectly around egg.

3. Place the silk-wrapped egg in a piece of white sheet, pillowcase, or old tablecloth and secure tightly with a twist-tie.

4. Place the egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot. Fill pot with water to cover eggs completely. Then, add three tablespoons of white vinegar.

5. Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 20 minutes (longer if you plan on eating the eggs).

6. Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool.

7. Remove silk from cooled egg.

8. For shiny eggs, wipe with vegetable oil after completing step 7.

Penguin Day in 1st and 2nd Grade!

2011-04-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated the black and white bird with our very own Penguin Day! We brought in our sea animals from home, made a penguin snack from Oreos and Hershey's Kisses, and watched March of the Penguins! Check out our Penguin Day Pics!

Friday Newsflash 4.15.2011

2011-04-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Friday Newsflash
April 15, 2011

I. Easter Egg Hunt Change of Location- Due to possible rainy and muddy conditions, the location of the Easter Egg Hunt has been changed to the Meridian Campus. Thank you for bringing your eggs! We look forward to seeing you tomorrow! We will begin promptly at 11:00am.

II. Auction Tickets On Sale- BRING YOUR CHECKBOOKS! Support your child’s school!! We will be selling tickets during pick-up time (4:00-6:00)at BOTH campuses this Tuesday, April 19th! Susan will be at our Jean Road Campus and Michelle will be available at the Meridian Campus. Join us on May 14th for an evening of outstanding company, good wine and beer, delicious food, and wonderful items for bidding!!

III. Special Thanks to our Top Auction Sponsors- A special thanks to: Old Spaghetti Factory, Lauren Carr Catering/Balanced Table, Pavilion Construction, YoTopIt, and Microsoft.

IV. Hearing/Vision Screenings for Meridian Campus- Hearing and vision screening is being offered at the Meridian Campus on April 28, 2011. If you are interested there is a flyer with more information in your mailbox.

V. Jean Road Music Together Education Night- A part of your tuition is a Parent Education Night. Some of the research from the Center of Music and Young Children, which produces the Music Together curriculum, and the physiology of how the music is processed by the young brain, as well as how these musical building blocks support all learning will be covered. Teacher Craig VanNess will team up with Kayla Hughes - center director of Music Together of Beaverton - a board certified Music Therapist and teacher who is very well educated in the field.
Parent Education Night will be on Thursday, April 21st , 6:30-8:00pm. at First Baptist Church of Beaverton. Please plan to attend and R.S.V.P to Craig at craigvanness@comcast.net. Refreshments will be provided and we thank you for arranging your own childcare.

VI. Reminder about Child Pick-Up- Please remember that even if a family member or friend is on your list of people whom you have approved to pick up your child, we still need a note or phone call from you in order to release your child. Thank you for your cooperation!

VII. Follow Us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog- Be sure that you are keeping up to date on all of the latest CHA information. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and our updated online blog.
Facebook www.facebook.com/thechildrenshouracademy
Twitter www.twitter.com/thechildrenshr
CHA Blog www.chaconnection.blogspot.com

VIII. Menu-
Monday- Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Bake, Buttery Carrots, Pears
Tuesday- French Dip Sandwich, Sweet Potato Fries, Applesauce
Wednesday- Jewish Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls, Peaches
Thursday- Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Fresh Cabbage Salad, Mandarin Oranges
Friday- Baked Chicken, Baked Beans, Fruit Salad

Developing Awareness of Endangered Animals

2011-04-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

The last few days we have been spending a great amount of time talking about
endangered animals. Some of the animals we have learned facts about are
listed as follows: zebra, rhinoceros, mountain gorilla, tiger, and the
humpback whale. Many of these animals have had their habitat destroyed due
to farming, logging, and pollution. As a class, we have discussed the
importance of preserving the remains of these natural habitats to ensure
that these species survive. One of our favorite facts about the rhinoceros
is that a rhino's horn continues to grow throughout its lifetime. We
decided to create a "Save the Rhinos" poster to hang in our school hallway.
Please join our efforts in understanding the importance of saving our
endangered species! We can all make a difference.

Things are Hopping in Preschool

2011-04-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Preschool this week has been learning about rabbits and textures. Large muscle activities have included hopping on letters, trying the bunny hop, and our favorite hopscotch. In art time we created bunny masks complete with fluffy cotton ears. One of our science lessons was exploring a bunny’s favorite treat... carrots!

We began by talking about how rabbits like carrots and that they are very healthy for people too. Each child had slices of raw carrots and a spoonful of cooked pureed carrots. We talked about how they carrots were the same and how they were different before we taste tested the two items. Matthew and Seobin loved the cooked carrots and had third helpings. Sydney and Isabella enjoyed the raw carrots and had third helpings of them. Jacob and Gabe preferred to finger paint their plates with the pureed carrots but took bites of both types. Emi said both types were good and ate all her samples. Taste testing is so much fun!

Ten Little Spiders Made a Web in Mr. Alex's Class

2011-04-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today our class learned about spider webs, and had a talked about patience during circle time. The children and I spoke about a spider having to be patient and work very hard to make their webs. I wanted to have the children engaged in an activity that involved patience and helped them learn about spider webs. To guide the children's learning about the patience and hard work it takes to make a spider web I decided that they were going to work together and take turns to make a spider web of their own.

The children sat in a circle and passed a ball of yarn to their friends one at a time. After each kiddo got the ball of yarn, the yarn was taped down and passed to another child until they all decided they were finished. As the kids were passing the ball of yarn around making their web we spoke about needing to be patient and wait for our turn, but also spoke about how much harder it is for one spider to spin a web opposed to ten kids. Below is a picture of the kids spider web that was produced through patience and hard work!

Dinosaurs in Action!

2011-04-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

Does your child love dinosaurs? Come to the Auction and bid on our one of a kind piece of Art! The first and second graders are proud to announce that we are finished, and we are looking forward to see how our hard work pays off at the Auction! See ya there!

Spring has Sprung!

2011-04-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ms. Sally Ann and Ms. Sally Jo’s classes have finally decorated the tree in the hallway! The 1st and 2nd graders made some beautiful flowers from tissue paper, and the Kindergarteners colored some beautiful butterflies!

Dots, Dots and More Dots!!

2011-04-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten has finally finished our class auction project! WOO HOO!! Make sure you come to the auction so you can bid on it!