Roots and Branches
February 2010

 Thank goodness for the rain (and hopefully soon, our sunshine :-)!!! It was a welcomed sight in town to see everyone hovering under their umbrellas and children walking in the doors with rain boots! Both children and teachers seemed to have survived the rain and busy days playing inside. They were busy playing "sleeping bear," playing in our wonderful Pirate Ship, painting water lilies as Monet did, and as always, deciding which one of them was the "boss" that day! Thank you for dressing your children appropriately for the rain. If it happens to come back, please remember the rain boots if you have them!

Thank you to the many parents who have been reading to our children during "free choice" time. It has been especially helpful during our rainy days! Thank you also to our incredible "parent aides" who help us out during the week! Your help is invaluable to us!

Why is Dramatic Play Important for your child at preschool?

Have you ever had a minute to listen in the loft room during "free choice" time? If so, I am sure you heard children talking on the telephone about getting a babysitter, or heard a child calling out the grocery list as he/she wrote it down. Sometimes we have three doctors in that little area and a fireman comes barging in the door to save the day! Giving children the ability to pretend is vital for their social/emotional development, and a perfect way to help develop their vocabulary which is another step toward the early stages of reading. They are also developing cognitive skills by recalling experiences from their everyday life and using math skills for counting money at the grocery store, counting how many plates they need to set at the table, or how many items they need to purchase. Soon you will see children exploring more letters and print by starting to write letters to friends and placing them in the mailbox slots at our post office. This play will continue to develop their literacy skills. Many areas of development are all brought together in dramatic play, not to mention just the fun of it!

Valentine's Day
At Live Oak!

Very soon the children will be decorating Valentine Bags for their Valentines. On Thursday and Friday, February 11th and 12th, if your child would like to bring in Valentine cards, we ask that he/she bring one card for each child in the class. (MWF a.m. 27 children, MWF p.m. 24 children, T/TH a.m. 25 children, and T/TH p.m. 21 children) We will appreciate your not putting the children's names on them, but just your child's name so that each child receiving one will know who it is from. We will have the bags in the lobby next week on both Thursday and Friday for you and your child to place in the bags. They will be in order by class. You are welcome to put whatever you want on or with the Valentine, but please remember that our Valentine snacks in school that day should only be healthy snacks. (We don't care if they go home with sugar! :-)

Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival!
Respect, Restore, Celebrate!

Don't forget this fun event - rain or shine! Saturday, Feb. 6th from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. The Third Annual Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival is taking place at our very own town plaza! There will be a fishing pond, rubber fish to paint with, wine tasting (ok, now I got you!), etc., etc. Should be fun! Live Oak will be there with a table for face painting.

Enrollment for the fall 2010/2011

We will be getting the re-enrollment letters for the MWF classes out in March. If you have a child who you want to start in the Tuesday/Thursday class in the fall, you should receive an enrollment letter from us by no later than Feb. 6th. If you want a morning slot, BRING IT IN QUICKLY OR MAIL IT ASAP, otherwise, you may end up in the afternoon due to the large number of siblings on our list. Thank you for your help with this. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me or email me at therese@liveoakschool.org.

Dates to Remember!

• Monday, February 8th - No school, Lincoln's Birthday Holiday
• Monday, February 15th - No school, Washington's Birthday Holiday
• Saturday, March 20th - DDA "Once Upon a Time"
• Thursday, March 11th - No school, Teacher Work Day
• April 5th- 9th- Spring Break

"Your Children Have Lessons to Teach"
-William Martin-

Your children have important lessons to learn, but even more important ones to teach.

What can they teach?

How to pay complete attention.
How to play all day without tiring.
How to let one thing go, and move on to another with no backward glances.
How to move and sit with no tension in the muscles, no stress in the bones.

Thus the wise parent learns, and grows younger every day.