A Message From the Principal:
Dear Chesterbrook Parents,
Here are a few friendly reminders…
- Please be sure we have the most recent copy of your child’s immunization records along with the completed Universal Child Health Form.
- Tuition is due every Friday for the following week. A mandatory $25 fee, per our corporate office, will be charged if payment is not given by Tuesday mornings. No exceptions.
- We have an ACH program that allows us to automatically withdrawal the tuition from your account every Monday night. If you would like to take advantage of this, please ask for the form.
- Please remember to sign your child in and out for every drop-off and pick-up. The book is located on the front desk and is labeled with each classroom name.
- Remember that the academic day begins everyday at 9:00am, so please be sure to have your child here by that time.
- For security purposes, please do not share the code to the front door with anyone other than the people named on your child’s Authorized Pick Up List.
- You must give us four weeks’ notice in writing prior to withdrawing your child from the School. If four weeks’ notice is not given, please understand that you will be held responsible for four weeks’ tuition.
- You must also give us two weeks’ notice prior to changing your child’s attendance schedule.
- Please do not leave your car running or a child in the car unattended at drop off/pick up time. In addition to being dangerous, this is illegal and the state of NJ considers it as abuse and neglect, even for a minute.
- Earn a free week of tuition for referring a family to our school.
- Reminder that we will no longer be honoring make up days.
- Don’t forget to give us your child’s flex schedule in the beginning of the month.
March Weekly Themes:
- 3/2-3/6: Dr. Seuss is on the Loose!
- Monday- Crazy Sock Day
- Tuesday- Pajama Day
- Wednesday- Green Day
- Thursday- Crazy Hat Day
- Friday- Guest Readers are welcome to come in and read to the class. Please see the sign in sheets for your child’s class if you wish to sign up for a time slot.
- 3/9-3/13: Erin Go Bragh
- 3/16-3/20: World of Rainbows
- 3/23-3/27: Windy Weather
- 3/30-4/3: Busy Bunnies (Easter)
Important Dates:
- Monday 3/2- Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
- Sunday 3/8- Daylight Savings Time. Don’t forget to spring your clocks ahead one hour!
- Monday 3/16-Soccer Demo Class
- Tuesday 3/17- Pizza & Shamrock Shake Party! Please bring in 2$ per child and give to your child’s teacher
- Friday 3/20- Last day to hand in Priority Registration forms
- Saturday 3/21- Open House 10-1. Life Touch will be here taking family portraits from 10-12. Sign up sheet is located at the front desk.
- Tuesday 3/24- Soccer Shots begins at 9:30
If at anytime you have a question or concern, please feel free to stop in the office to speak with me…the door is always open.
Stacy and Maggie
School Spotlight
Congratulations to Teacher of the Month for March 2015: Marie Reeves
Marie started working at Chesterbrook Academy in September of 1998. Before starting here, she worked as a classroom aid at Whitman Elementary. Marie has enjoyed working in our Beginners classroom and is now our Assistant Teacher in Toddler B with Miss Sharon.
When she is not teaching, Miss Marie enjoys spending time with her family, especially her two grandsons.
Congratulations Miss Marie, we are very lucky to have you!!
Classroom Bullets
Infants
Welcome Ramón and Catherine to our class! Happy Birthday to Danny on the 29th and to Travis on the 31st! This month we will continue working on our fine and gross motor skills. We will also be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday and St. Patrick’s Day! Keep an eye out for details on our St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Toddler A
Brrr…it’s cold outside! This month we will be doing art projects that promote fine motor skills, creativity, and independence. Let’s get messy! Our color of the month will be green and the shape of the month will be a clover. Keep an eye out for details about our St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. Your support of daily, weekly, and special events is always greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Toddler B
Green is our color of the month. Some of the Links to Learning skills we’ll explore this month will be building vocabulary, naming colors and shapes, and saying “please” and “thank you”. The children are doing really well with baby sign language. We can sign over 20 words! St. Patrick’s Day is on 3/17- details about our celebration will be posted at a later date.
Beginner A
Welcome to March in Beginner A! This month we will continue to work on our shapes and colors. In Language & Literacy, we will focus on verbally stating our first and last names, speaking using a variety of vocabulary and make repeated scribble marks on paper. We will continue to work on our Math skills, such as counting from 1-20. We will also learn our new Spanish words of the month- Anaranjado (orange) and Buenos Dias (good morning). Keep your eyes out for details about our St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We are looking forward to another great month! Thank you for your constant support.
Beginner B
Welcome to March in Beginner B! This month we will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday! We will read various Seuss books and do projects and activities to celebrate. We will also celebrate James G., Audrey, Adrianna and Nicholas’s birthdays! This month the children will say “goodbye” to winter and “hello” to spring! With nice weather FINALLY coming, we will do a lot of outdoor activities, such as kick ball games and relay races! The children will also learn “Buenos dias” (good morning) and we will talk about their morning routines. Information on our St. Patrick’s Day celebration will be posted at a later date. Happy Spring!
Intermediates
Welcome March! The children are having a great start to our new year. They are all progressing and doing a wonderful job and trying their hardest. This month we will be working on rhyming words and writing our own names. In Math, the children will work on patterns, counting in groups, and recognizing numerals along with adding numbers together to get a total. In Science, we will focus on mixing colors to watch the water. The children enjoy doing experiments. We have a lot of activities planned for this month! We will also be working on our social-emotional skills every day! Keep up the great work, Intermediates!
PreK
Pre K cannot wait for Spring to arrive! We’ll continue to work on reading, letter sounds, subtraction, and number recognition. We will start the month with our celebrations of Dr. Seuss (check our class calendar for daily events) followed by a St. Patrick’s Day celebration (details to follow soon). Please try to arrive by 9:15 daily so you don’t miss out on important skills that we are working on during Circle Time! Once the weather starts to warm up, we will be going outside, so please make sure your child is ready and dressed appropriately!
Kindergarten
It has been so great learning about everyone’s families thus far, and we look forward to the upcoming family weeks! In March, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday, St. Patrick’s Day, and the start of spring! Look for more details regarding those events. We will begin doing mini book reports in Language Arts and in Math, we will learn about measurement. Look ahead to April…Kindergarten will be on Spring Break April 2nd-6th and SAT10 Tests will be April 20th-24th.
Your Child’s Health
Children’s Nutrition: 10 tips for picky eaters
Children’s nutrition doesn’t have to be frustrating. Consider these strategies to avoid power struggles and help the picky eater in your family eat a balanced diet. Has your preschooler refused to eat anything other than chicken nuggets for the past two days? Or would your toddler rather play than eat anything at all?
If children’s nutrition is a sore topic in your household, you’re not alone. Many parents worry about what their children eat — and don’t eat. However, most kids get plenty of variety and nutrition in their diets over the course of a week. Until your child’s food preferences mature, consider these tips for preventing mealtime battles.
No. 1: Respect your child’s appetite — or lack of one
If your child isn’t hungry, don’t force a meal or snack. Likewise, don’t bribe or force your child to eat certain foods or clean his or her plate. This might only ignite — or reinforce — a power struggle over food. In addition, your child might come to associate mealtime with anxiety and frustration. Serve small portions to avoid overwhelming your child and give him or her the opportunity to independently ask for more.
No. 2: Stick to the routine
Serve meals and snacks at about the same times every day. Provide juice or milk with the food, and offer water between meals and snacks. Allowing your child to fill up on juice or milk throughout the day might decrease his or her appetite for meals.
No. 3: Be patient with new foods
Young children often touch or smell new foods, and may even put tiny bits in their mouths and then take them back out again. Your child might need repeated exposure to a new food before he or she takes the first bite. Encourage your child by talking about a food’s color, shape, aroma and texture — not whether it tastes good. Serve new foods along with your child’s favorite foods.
No. 4: Make it fun
Serve broccoli and other veggies with a favorite dip or sauce. Cut foods into various shapes with cookie cutters. Offer breakfast foods for dinner. Serve a variety of brightly colored foods.
No. 5: Recruit your child’s help
At the grocery store, ask your child to help you select fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. Don’t buy anything that you don’t want your child to eat. At home, encourage your child to help you rinse veggies, stir batter or set the table.
No. 6: Set a good example
If you eat a variety of healthy foods, your child is more likely to follow suit.
No. 7: Be creative
Add chopped broccoli or green peppers to spaghetti sauce, top cereal with fruit slices, or mix grated zucchini and carrots into casseroles and soups.
No. 8: Minimize distractions
Turn off the television and other electronic gadgets during meals. This will help your child focus on eating. Keep in mind that television advertising might also encourage your child to desire sugary foods.
No. 9: Don’t offer dessert as a reward
Withholding dessert sends the message that dessert is the best food, which might only increase your child’s desire for sweets. You might select one or two nights a week as dessert nights, and skip dessert the rest of the week — or redefine dessert as fruit, yogurt or other healthy choices.
No. 10: Don’t be a short-order cook
Preparing a separate meal for your child after he or she rejects the original meal might promote picky eating. Encourage your child to stay at the table for the designated mealtime — even if he or she doesn’t eat. Keep serving your child healthy choices until they become familiar and preferred.
If you’re concerned that picky eating is compromising your child’s growth and development, consult your child’s doctor. In addition, consider recording the types and amounts of food your child eats for three days. The big picture might help ease your worries. A food log can also help your child’s doctor determine any problems. In the meantime, remember that your child’s eating habits won’t likely change overnight — but the small steps you take each day can help promote a lifetime of healthy eating.
Your Child’s Education
5 Ways to Teach Manners to Preschoolers: Now’s the time to show your child the importance of being nice.
By Wendy Toth
It’s hard to know how polite a preschooler should actually be. After all, it seems like typical little-kid behavior to jump up from the dinner table the second she’s gobbled down her nuggets. Or to forget to say thanks when a family friend comes over and brings her an unexpected present.
“While it’s normal for preschoolers to still be self-centered, teaching manners reminds them that other people in the world matter and deserve respect,” says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Temple University, in Philadelphia. Fortunately, this is a great age to teach social graces because your child is naturally eager to please you. To develop his sense of decorum, start working on these habits now.
Best Behavior: Be Kind
In preschool and on the playground, taking turns, sharing, and being friendly to other kids is the law of the land.
Make it Happen: Point out other people exhibiting the behaviors you’d like to see in your kid, says Jodi Stoner, Ph.D., a clinical psychotherapist and coauthor of Good Manners Are Contagious. If you make your child aware of others doing sweet deeds, he’ll begin to identify with the actions you’re showing him.
Kids this age are still possessive, so encouraging your child to share may be difficult. It can take time for him to understand that he may feel uncomfortable while someone else plays with his toy, so be sympathetic. And be enthusiastic when your kid offers a toy to someone or gives her a turn on his scooter. Your child may care more about getting praise from you than about the toy anyway.
Best Behavior: Say Please and Thank You – Using “magic words” may seem like just a fun routine to your child, but these niceties make other people feel good.
Make it Happen: Be a role model. “Kids love to imitate Mom and Dad,” says Roberta Golinkoff, Ph.D., professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware in Newark. But she’ll learn to use please and thank you in everyday conversations even faster when you praise her and react quickly to her polite requests and responses. If she forgets, just give her a little reminder.
Best Behavior: Don’t Interrupt – You’re on the phone with a friend and you feel a tug on your free hand that’s so forceful, you’re sure it’s King Kong on the other end.
As you know, when your child wants attention, he often insists on having it right now. But your child is old enough to be patient and occupy himself for a brief period of time, and it’s fine to have him wait.
Make it Happen: Explain that when you’re talking to someone else, it’s not okay to interrupt unless it’s critical (someone is hurt or he has to go to the potty immediately). For any other less-important intrusions, firmly tell him, “Mommy is on the phone. Play with your blocks while I finish talking and I’ll be right there.” Then follow through when you’re done with the call by thanking him for being patient and giving him your undivided attention.
Best Behavior: Greet Nicely – Although kids often hide their eyes from strangers, saying hi and goodbye — and answering a simple question — are essential social graces.
Make it Happen: Rather than merely coaxing a dutiful hello from your child, challenge her to tell you some detail about the person too, suggests Judi Vankevich, a children’s entertainer and recording artist better known as Judi The Manners Lady. You might say, “Can you see what color Mrs. Johnson’s eyes are?” This will help her learn to look adults in the eye.
Once your child has mastered a proper “hello,” move on to a handshake. Start by teaching her the difference between a weak “dead-fish” handshake and a nice, firm one, says Vankevich. Then practice introductions at home — perhaps by pretending to be different characters or friends.
Best Behavior: Eat at the Table – Staying in his seat for more than a few minutes (especially with no television or toys) can be tough for any kid. But most 3-year-olds should be able to sit at the table for about 15 minutes, says Dr. Stoner. If that seems like a challenge, aim for ten and work your way up. It’s important for your child to realize that dinnertime is family time.
Make it Happen: Set up a consistent routine that cuts down on distractions and conflicts. A few tips: Avoid any juice or snacks right before mealtime to ensure that your child is hungry; insist that food be eaten only at the table; let him help set the table each night, and consider giving him a sticker as a reward when he does well. Family meals are also an opportunity to model other table manners, Dr. Stoner adds. Keep your cell phone off the table. Put your napkin in your lap, and chew with your mouth closed. It may take a while to change old habits, but imagine all the civilized meals in your future.
March News
A Message From the Principal:
Dear Chesterbrook Parents,
Here are a few friendly reminders…
March Weekly Themes:
Important Dates:
If at anytime you have a question or concern, please feel free to stop in the office to speak with me…the door is always open.
Stacy and Maggie
School Spotlight
Congratulations to Teacher of the Month for March 2015: Marie Reeves
Marie started working at Chesterbrook Academy in September of 1998. Before starting here, she worked as a classroom aid at Whitman Elementary. Marie has enjoyed working in our Beginners classroom and is now our Assistant Teacher in Toddler B with Miss Sharon.
When she is not teaching, Miss Marie enjoys spending time with her family, especially her two grandsons.
Congratulations Miss Marie, we are very lucky to have you!!
Classroom Bullets
Infants
Welcome Ramón and Catherine to our class! Happy Birthday to Danny on the 29th and to Travis on the 31st! This month we will continue working on our fine and gross motor skills. We will also be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday and St. Patrick’s Day! Keep an eye out for details on our St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Toddler A
Brrr…it’s cold outside! This month we will be doing art projects that promote fine motor skills, creativity, and independence. Let’s get messy! Our color of the month will be green and the shape of the month will be a clover. Keep an eye out for details about our St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. Your support of daily, weekly, and special events is always greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Toddler B
Green is our color of the month. Some of the Links to Learning skills we’ll explore this month will be building vocabulary, naming colors and shapes, and saying “please” and “thank you”. The children are doing really well with baby sign language. We can sign over 20 words! St. Patrick’s Day is on 3/17- details about our celebration will be posted at a later date.
Beginner A
Welcome to March in Beginner A! This month we will continue to work on our shapes and colors. In Language & Literacy, we will focus on verbally stating our first and last names, speaking using a variety of vocabulary and make repeated scribble marks on paper. We will continue to work on our Math skills, such as counting from 1-20. We will also learn our new Spanish words of the month- Anaranjado (orange) and Buenos Dias (good morning). Keep your eyes out for details about our St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We are looking forward to another great month! Thank you for your constant support.
Beginner B
Welcome to March in Beginner B! This month we will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday! We will read various Seuss books and do projects and activities to celebrate. We will also celebrate James G., Audrey, Adrianna and Nicholas’s birthdays! This month the children will say “goodbye” to winter and “hello” to spring! With nice weather FINALLY coming, we will do a lot of outdoor activities, such as kick ball games and relay races! The children will also learn “Buenos dias” (good morning) and we will talk about their morning routines. Information on our St. Patrick’s Day celebration will be posted at a later date. Happy Spring!
Intermediates
Welcome March! The children are having a great start to our new year. They are all progressing and doing a wonderful job and trying their hardest. This month we will be working on rhyming words and writing our own names. In Math, the children will work on patterns, counting in groups, and recognizing numerals along with adding numbers together to get a total. In Science, we will focus on mixing colors to watch the water. The children enjoy doing experiments. We have a lot of activities planned for this month! We will also be working on our social-emotional skills every day! Keep up the great work, Intermediates!
PreK
Pre K cannot wait for Spring to arrive! We’ll continue to work on reading, letter sounds, subtraction, and number recognition. We will start the month with our celebrations of Dr. Seuss (check our class calendar for daily events) followed by a St. Patrick’s Day celebration (details to follow soon). Please try to arrive by 9:15 daily so you don’t miss out on important skills that we are working on during Circle Time! Once the weather starts to warm up, we will be going outside, so please make sure your child is ready and dressed appropriately!
Kindergarten
It has been so great learning about everyone’s families thus far, and we look forward to the upcoming family weeks! In March, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday, St. Patrick’s Day, and the start of spring! Look for more details regarding those events. We will begin doing mini book reports in Language Arts and in Math, we will learn about measurement. Look ahead to April…Kindergarten will be on Spring Break April 2nd-6th and SAT10 Tests will be April 20th-24th.
Your Child’s Health
Children’s Nutrition: 10 tips for picky eaters
Children’s nutrition doesn’t have to be frustrating. Consider these strategies to avoid power struggles and help the picky eater in your family eat a balanced diet. Has your preschooler refused to eat anything other than chicken nuggets for the past two days? Or would your toddler rather play than eat anything at all?
If children’s nutrition is a sore topic in your household, you’re not alone. Many parents worry about what their children eat — and don’t eat. However, most kids get plenty of variety and nutrition in their diets over the course of a week. Until your child’s food preferences mature, consider these tips for preventing mealtime battles.
No. 1: Respect your child’s appetite — or lack of one
If your child isn’t hungry, don’t force a meal or snack. Likewise, don’t bribe or force your child to eat certain foods or clean his or her plate. This might only ignite — or reinforce — a power struggle over food. In addition, your child might come to associate mealtime with anxiety and frustration. Serve small portions to avoid overwhelming your child and give him or her the opportunity to independently ask for more.
No. 2: Stick to the routine
Serve meals and snacks at about the same times every day. Provide juice or milk with the food, and offer water between meals and snacks. Allowing your child to fill up on juice or milk throughout the day might decrease his or her appetite for meals.
No. 3: Be patient with new foods
Young children often touch or smell new foods, and may even put tiny bits in their mouths and then take them back out again. Your child might need repeated exposure to a new food before he or she takes the first bite. Encourage your child by talking about a food’s color, shape, aroma and texture — not whether it tastes good. Serve new foods along with your child’s favorite foods.
No. 4: Make it fun
Serve broccoli and other veggies with a favorite dip or sauce. Cut foods into various shapes with cookie cutters. Offer breakfast foods for dinner. Serve a variety of brightly colored foods.
No. 5: Recruit your child’s help
At the grocery store, ask your child to help you select fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. Don’t buy anything that you don’t want your child to eat. At home, encourage your child to help you rinse veggies, stir batter or set the table.
No. 6: Set a good example
If you eat a variety of healthy foods, your child is more likely to follow suit.
No. 7: Be creative
Add chopped broccoli or green peppers to spaghetti sauce, top cereal with fruit slices, or mix grated zucchini and carrots into casseroles and soups.
No. 8: Minimize distractions
Turn off the television and other electronic gadgets during meals. This will help your child focus on eating. Keep in mind that television advertising might also encourage your child to desire sugary foods.
No. 9: Don’t offer dessert as a reward
Withholding dessert sends the message that dessert is the best food, which might only increase your child’s desire for sweets. You might select one or two nights a week as dessert nights, and skip dessert the rest of the week — or redefine dessert as fruit, yogurt or other healthy choices.
No. 10: Don’t be a short-order cook
Preparing a separate meal for your child after he or she rejects the original meal might promote picky eating. Encourage your child to stay at the table for the designated mealtime — even if he or she doesn’t eat. Keep serving your child healthy choices until they become familiar and preferred.
If you’re concerned that picky eating is compromising your child’s growth and development, consult your child’s doctor. In addition, consider recording the types and amounts of food your child eats for three days. The big picture might help ease your worries. A food log can also help your child’s doctor determine any problems. In the meantime, remember that your child’s eating habits won’t likely change overnight — but the small steps you take each day can help promote a lifetime of healthy eating.
Your Child’s Education
5 Ways to Teach Manners to Preschoolers: Now’s the time to show your child the importance of being nice.
By Wendy Toth
It’s hard to know how polite a preschooler should actually be. After all, it seems like typical little-kid behavior to jump up from the dinner table the second she’s gobbled down her nuggets. Or to forget to say thanks when a family friend comes over and brings her an unexpected present.
“While it’s normal for preschoolers to still be self-centered, teaching manners reminds them that other people in the world matter and deserve respect,” says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Temple University, in Philadelphia. Fortunately, this is a great age to teach social graces because your child is naturally eager to please you. To develop his sense of decorum, start working on these habits now.
Best Behavior: Be Kind
In preschool and on the playground, taking turns, sharing, and being friendly to other kids is the law of the land.
Make it Happen: Point out other people exhibiting the behaviors you’d like to see in your kid, says Jodi Stoner, Ph.D., a clinical psychotherapist and coauthor of Good Manners Are Contagious. If you make your child aware of others doing sweet deeds, he’ll begin to identify with the actions you’re showing him.
Kids this age are still possessive, so encouraging your child to share may be difficult. It can take time for him to understand that he may feel uncomfortable while someone else plays with his toy, so be sympathetic. And be enthusiastic when your kid offers a toy to someone or gives her a turn on his scooter. Your child may care more about getting praise from you than about the toy anyway.
Best Behavior: Say Please and Thank You – Using “magic words” may seem like just a fun routine to your child, but these niceties make other people feel good.
Make it Happen: Be a role model. “Kids love to imitate Mom and Dad,” says Roberta Golinkoff, Ph.D., professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware in Newark. But she’ll learn to use please and thank you in everyday conversations even faster when you praise her and react quickly to her polite requests and responses. If she forgets, just give her a little reminder.
Best Behavior: Don’t Interrupt – You’re on the phone with a friend and you feel a tug on your free hand that’s so forceful, you’re sure it’s King Kong on the other end.
As you know, when your child wants attention, he often insists on having it right now. But your child is old enough to be patient and occupy himself for a brief period of time, and it’s fine to have him wait.
Make it Happen: Explain that when you’re talking to someone else, it’s not okay to interrupt unless it’s critical (someone is hurt or he has to go to the potty immediately). For any other less-important intrusions, firmly tell him, “Mommy is on the phone. Play with your blocks while I finish talking and I’ll be right there.” Then follow through when you’re done with the call by thanking him for being patient and giving him your undivided attention.
Best Behavior: Greet Nicely – Although kids often hide their eyes from strangers, saying hi and goodbye — and answering a simple question — are essential social graces.
Make it Happen: Rather than merely coaxing a dutiful hello from your child, challenge her to tell you some detail about the person too, suggests Judi Vankevich, a children’s entertainer and recording artist better known as Judi The Manners Lady. You might say, “Can you see what color Mrs. Johnson’s eyes are?” This will help her learn to look adults in the eye.
Once your child has mastered a proper “hello,” move on to a handshake. Start by teaching her the difference between a weak “dead-fish” handshake and a nice, firm one, says Vankevich. Then practice introductions at home — perhaps by pretending to be different characters or friends.
Best Behavior: Eat at the Table – Staying in his seat for more than a few minutes (especially with no television or toys) can be tough for any kid. But most 3-year-olds should be able to sit at the table for about 15 minutes, says Dr. Stoner. If that seems like a challenge, aim for ten and work your way up. It’s important for your child to realize that dinnertime is family time.
Make it Happen: Set up a consistent routine that cuts down on distractions and conflicts. A few tips: Avoid any juice or snacks right before mealtime to ensure that your child is hungry; insist that food be eaten only at the table; let him help set the table each night, and consider giving him a sticker as a reward when he does well. Family meals are also an opportunity to model other table manners, Dr. Stoner adds. Keep your cell phone off the table. Put your napkin in your lap, and chew with your mouth closed. It may take a while to change old habits, but imagine all the civilized meals in your future.