Future "Ace of Cakes" Baker and Culinary Artist...

So, Ethan, how about a field trip to 2936 Remington Avenue, Baltimore, MD‎ to meet Duff Goldman owner of "Charm City Cakes." Let's see if he can create a Ms. Patty cake!

CHA FESTIVITIES, FUN AND RECAP ~ SUMMER 2009

"Road trip, USA" our summer theme program is off to a great start. The children begin their day in their 'homeroom' during which curriculum for the day is taught. Miss Jennie continues teaching ASL this summer and beginning this fall, the children will learn German along with ASL and English. There are many advantages to learning multiple languages. Aside, from a development achievement, 100 million of the world populace from 38 countries speaks German. There are several reasons that learning German is advantageous:

1. Germany is a major world exporter and is the 3rd largest industrial country in the world.
2. The German language is the second language of most countries in Eastern Europe.
3. German is the first language of the European Union.

The benefits of learning German are that it helps you become more educated in grammar and can help you learn more languages such as Dutch, Danish and other Germanic languages. German can even help you understand the grammar of Latin because German carries over some of the grammar rules of Latin that were lost when Latin turned into the romance languages Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc.

Ms. Susan Stober is a certified German teacher that currently teaches German at PCC. Susan will remain on staff with PCC while teaching German to all our students. Currently, Spanish is included in our third through sixth grade curriculum. Please look for a letter from Ms. Susan introducing herself.

Our rotation schedule for the summer is 'rolling' along, splendidly! The children enjoy moving from classroom to classroom participating in different activities that support their curriculum. Listed below is their rotation schedule. Please keep a copy for easy reference:

Summer Center Rotation Schedule

Sensory, P.E., Games, Yoga, and Science
Monday and Wednesday 2:20-2:50 and 3:00-3:30
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 11:00-11:35

Monday

Sally and Alex
2:20-2:50 Sensory
3:00-3:30 P.E.

Rodica
2:20-2:50 Yoga
3:00-3:30 Sensory

Mariola
2:20-2:50 Games
3:00-3:30 Yoga

Gina
2:20-2:50 Science
3:00-3:30 Games

Sally Jo and Kim
2:20-2:50 P.E.
3:00-3:30 Science

Tuesday 11:00-11:35
Sally and Alex: Science
Rodica: P.E.
Mariola: Sensory
Gina: Yoga
Sally Jo and Kim: Games

Wednesday

Sally and Alex
2:20-2:50 Games
3:00-3:30 Yoga

Rodica
2:20-2:50 Science
3:00-3:30 Games

Mariola
2:20-2:50 P.E.
3:00-3:30 Science

Gina
2:20-2:50 Sensory
3:00-3:30 P.E.

Sally Jo and Kim
2:20-2:50 Yoga
3:00-3:30 Sensory

Thursday 11:00-11:35
Sally and Alex: Sensory
Rodica: Yoga
Mariola: Games
Gina: Science
Sally Jo and Kim: P.E.

Friday 11:00-11:35
Sally and Alex: P.E.
Rodica: Sensory
Mariola: Yoga
Gina: Games
Sally Jo and Kim: Science

Tuesday, Thursday and Friday Afternoon Rotation
Art, Cooking, and Computer/Library
2:30-3:30 p.m.

Tuesday 2:30-3:30
Sally, Alex, and Rodica: Computer/Library
Mariola and Gina: Art
Sally Jo and Kim: Cooking

Thursday 2:30-3:30
Sally, Alex, and Rodica: Cooking
Mariola and Gina: Computer/Library
Sally Jo and Kim: Art

Friday 2:30-3:30
Sally, Alex, and Rodica: Art
Mariola and Gina: Cooking
Sally Jo and Kim: Computer/Library

Our first annual July 4th Barbeque was a huge success. We had charcoal-grilled hamburgers and Hebrew National beef hot dogs along with a surplus of delicious salads, dips and desserts. We had over 80 families that dined and chatted from 5:00 until 7:30 pm. We were cleaned up and on our way home by 8:00. There was an overwhelming positive response to this event. Everyone enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of eating and catching up. You can be sure that this will become an annual event.

Our next event is scheduled for July 24, "Family Movie Night." We will show two movies simultaneously for families to choose from. This is a fundraiser event. Please look for a flyer that will be emailed within the next week. It will be another fun evening.

Please respond back with any suggestions or comments. We love to hear feedback or ideas for more CHA community events. Thank you for your support.

Patty

Alex Patrick McMahon - Transitional K Teacher

June 16, 2009

Hello parents! My name is Alex Patrick McMahon; I am 23 years old and a current resident of southeast Portland. On Saturday, June 13^th, 2009 I graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Early Childhood Development and Education, and a minor in Business. My future aspiration is to someday own a private school resembling The Children's Hour Academy.

My parents divorced when I was ten years old; after that, my mother raised my two older brothers, and myself, alone. It is because this feat of raising three boys, that I have always looked up to my mother as a role model for her strength, ability to handle pressure in times of need, and for inspiration. She is the driving force behind me entering into early childhood education. I still, to this day maintain, a very close relationship with my father regardless of the divorce, and see him often.

I first became involved in caring for children, at age twelve, babysitting kids around the neighborhood. When I reached high school there was a preschool that cared for staff and student's children. I helped in the preschool from 2001-2004. I liked working with children, but saw many flaws in the way the school was operated and wanted to make a difference. Upon getting into OSU I decided the Early Childhood degree was right for me. Since then I have worked, volunteered, and been a student teacher in a vast array of teaching experiences and have learned so much.

When I'm not teaching I enjoy I enjoy competitive basketball, lifting weights and running, baseball, Judo and Jujitsu, drawing, collecting sneakers, music, sushi and Thai food, reading and time with family and friends. I look forward to teaching your children and working with you all towards a common goal.

Need a Babysitter?

Need A Babysitter?

'Two' Children's Hour Academy alumni are now experienced babysitters and would love to take care of your kids!

• Annika, 14, is a freshman at Lake Oswego High School. She has been a babysitter and mother's helper for five years, with children from infants through 3^rd grade.
  
• Sabina, 12, is an 8^th grader at Lake Oswego Junior High. Sabina has three years of experience, starting with mother's helping. She has had a weekly baby-sitting job with a 3-year-old boy for over a year.
  
  Both girls are fun, creative, reliable, mature, and Red Cross certified. They are available on weekends or weeknights, and can cover for each other. They have references from other families (or ask Patty!), and parents who can help provide transportation.

P.S. They also have experience and interest in doing pet-sitting and party helper jobs.

For more information, please call:

Annika 503-516-9478 (c)

Sabina 503-516-9441 (c)

The Leybolds' Home 503-639-6406

Another Food Drive Update

According to Ms. Gina we have reached 213 lbs of food! This is so great! Please keep the food coming so that we can help those less fortunate. We are half-way to our goal.

Ms. Renee' from 'Merry Old England'

 

Greetings from England.

Hello, everyone at CHA…it’s Ms. Renee (Nelms) and I am writing this from my home in Chester, England. John. Jack, Ian and I moved here at the beginning of December, and what an adventure it has been. Ms. Patty was nice enough to invite me to write a post for the CHA blog, so here it is.

Your first question, I’m sure, is, “What the heck are you doing in England?” It’s a long story, but it has to do with jobs. I’ll leave it at that, because really, who wants to read about that stuff? BORRRRRRRING.

I’m glad to be here and have this opportunity to experience something completely different than I’d experience in Portland…or the United States, for that matter. And most people think that England is pretty much the same as the US – myself included, until recently. However, it is so different here…even the language, which would presumably be about the same, is vastly different. Let me explain.

You might remember that my family is big into soccer...the boys play it, John plays it, we’d even get up early on Saturday mornings to go watch English Premiere League games live on television at Kell’s in downtown Portland. So late last fall, John was offered an opportunity to work and train as a youth football coach at the Liverpool Football Club Academy. When I say football, though, I actually mean soccer. No one here calls it soccer. When Americans say football, we are talking about a sport where a player rarely uses his feet in contact with the ball. The rest of the world says football referring to a sport where a player ONLY uses his feet to touch the ball. (Except the goalkeeper, that is.) And really, it makes more sense to call it football, don’t you think? But I’m not writing about the rules of football – or soccer. (Truth be told, I can’t stop calling it ‘soccer’ and I have John, Jack and Ian correcting me ALL the time.)

There are a lot of other language differences that keep tripping me up as well. For example, one day I was at Jack and Ian’s school, standing at the counter to the office, having a discussion with someone who works there. We were interrupted briefly, so when she turned back to me I had finished writing something down that she had asked for, and so I handed it back to her. Then she said to me, “Ta!” and turned away. I was stumped…I thought we still had a conversation to finish, and here she was telling me goodbye. I felt so stupid that I just picked up my bag and started to walk out….what had I done wrong? It was then I heard her call to me and ask me why I was leaving. I was so embarrassed, turning four shades of red, as I said, “Well, when you said bye I figured that was all you had to say to me…but I’m confused because I thought we were still talking.”

“I said bye?” she asked. She was now as confused as I was.

“Uh, no, but you said ‘ta’ and turned away.”

She smiled and came out from behind the counter and put her arm around me, trying to make up for the obvious misunderstanding. She proceeded to tell me that the reason she turned around was to put away the paper I gave her. She then explained that “ta” means “thank you.” Hmmmm….add that to my list of things to remember here.

Another example happened at their school as well. I was volunteering in the office and had just arrived. I took off my coat and was looking around for a hook or coat tree or something. The woman working there saw me looking for a place to hang my coat and said, “You can just go put it in the toilet…it’s the second door on the right.” I stood there for a few seconds, not sure how to respond. I suppose the look on my face gave me away, because she said, ‘Oh, yes, you call it a bathroom, right? Sorry. You can put your coat in the women’s bathroom. There’s a coat tree in there.” I think I must do a lot of slow nodding and saying, “Ahhhh…okay…” around here because it seems that I am always having something explained to me.

Just going shopping is an experience as well. For instance, things aren’t “on sale” here, they are “on offer.” There aren’t coupons, but there are vouchers. You don’t write down appointments in a planner or calendar, you put them in a diary. If something is good, it is “cracking” so you’d say, “Papa John, this is cracking good taco casserole!” And if I mail something to you, I am posting it to you. It will arrive in the post, not the mail.

See what I mean?

There are more examples and I will gladly share them with you in a future post. But for now, I must go. I am eight hours ahead of you…soon to be nine hours, as daylight savings time begins on the 29th of March here. So until next time, take care!

"Weatherbug' Update

Our 'Weatherbug' equipment is working, efficiently.

As of 11:46 am (PST) our readings are:

• SE Winds 3-8 mph


• Temperature - 44 degrees


• Windchill - 41 degrees


• Dew Point - 37


• Barometric Pressure - 30.04


• Rainfall - 0.01


• Light - 79%

Tim Hyatt, Director of Operations, sent this special link to the Online Weather Center:

http://weather.weatherbug.com/weather-safety/online-weather-center/OnlineWeatherCenter.aspx?aid=783

We hope you log-on and download 'Weatherbug' to your computer. We also encourage you to support KOIN6 and let them know your thoughts on this wonderful feature for our school.

CHA is now part of 'KOIN6' and 'Weatherbug.'

We are now the official Lake Oswego weather station for 'Koin 6' and 'Weatherbug.' Weatherbug approached us to see if our school would be interested in becoming a weather station. For anyone who knows Papa John, the next thing to weather watching is sports. He was so thrilled that our location fit the dynamics needed to install weather equipment. So, we now have a top-of-the-line weather station with roof mounted rain gauge, wind velocity and direction, temperate gauge, humidity, dew point, and barometer gauges all displayed in the office on a digitally displayed 'black box.' We have now arrived! This data will be used by the National Weather Service and KOIN6. We are so excited and honored; we get to use the fancy equipment and receive free advertising.

Please stop by the office and ask Papa John to show you this high tech weather station. Just make sure you have time; weather watching is his passion and you will leave knowing a bit more than you really cared to know about weather. This all must come along with his mid-west background. Tornadoes, electrical storms, hurricanes, you name the weather condition,John will fill you in on all the details. By the way, if you go to http://www.aws.com/flashdisplay.asp?id=LKOSW you will find the "Weatherbug" desktop application and free download. Soon our location will be updating with the school's name. Darn that John, I told him he's too old to play with tornadoes. There he goes again, chasing dust-devils. "You look both ways before crossing the street and stay off the freeway." He'll come hobbling back saying he nearly caught a big one. Those 'big ones' always seem to get away...such is life at 60. I told him if he doesn't behave, he can't play with Bruce Sussman. Keep tuned for our latest weather updates.

Meridian Campus Classroom Highlights by Krista

We wanted to take the time to introduce you to some of the special rooms we have at the Meridian Campus. Here are the highlights for each:

The Library

Our new library is slowly coming together. There are many things to borrow including children’s books, parenting and self-help books, cds, dvds, videos and more. We are accepting donations for the library. We are accepting any genre of book, cd, or dvd. If it is something that doesn’t fit in with the scope of our library, our librarian Gretchen is taking them to Powell’s Bookstore for credit to purchase needed items.

The OT Room

Our occupational therapy room is up and running. It is equipped with many items for occupational therapy including many sizes of yoga balls, a mini-trampoline, a tent, and a special swing. It is designed to help our children with neuromuscular development, fine motor/self-help skill development, and sensory processing. It allows children with developmental delays to experience the joy of success in play, self-care, and social occupations. It is even equipped with a swing to increase calming and organizing input by providing deep touch pressure and vestibular stimulation. The children all love visiting the OT room and it is always a treat!

The Computer Lab

A large thank you to the Carlsen family for donating the computers for our computer lab and, to the Wendt family for their generous financial contribution. Our computer lab is equipped with computers and all kinds of learning software. The children will use the computer to learn basic skills as well as computer skills, which are critical in today’s computerized world. If you have access to computer programs appropriate for children, we are always accepting donations! The Art Room We have a special room dedicated to artistic endeavors. It is filled with collage items, beading, magazines, paints and all kinds of items just waiting for our children’s imaginations. Please note that it is available for sign up and we would love it if parents would come in and lead classes in art projects. What a wonderful (and fun) way to earn volunteer hours and make your child’s day! Kids sometimes forget the day-to-day things we do for them as parents, but they will never forget the day mommy or daddy came to school to do a project with the class! We have lots of books in our library or ask your child’s teacher if you need some ideas for activities.