Special guest: ambulance drivers

We had a special visit from some of our local ambulance drivers this week! The kids were so excited to get inside the back of the ambulance and hear the loud sirens! We are so appreciative to ALL first responders that help save lives in our community!

The kids patiently waited their turns to walk through the ambulance! They were all amazed by everything inside. They even got to sit on the stretchers to get the full experience!

The drivers took some time to answer many questions from the kids. Some of the questions were hilarious. My favorite was probably from one of our 4 year olds- "Do ya'll get to ride in a rocket ship to go fast"?  LOL :)

We want to give a huge THANK YOU to our local first responders!! We appreciate all you do for this community!!! :)

Special guest: Doug the Christian magician

Last week we had a visit from Doug, The Christian Magician. The kids LOVED having him here. He had their attention the entire time, and the teachers as well. He even made a real BUNNY appear!

Mr. Doug included the children to assist in some of his magic tricks! They were so eager and excited to be a part of it! We had a MAGICAL time :)

The kids were amazed by all of the money he found in their ears! He also made many things disappear, which had the whole room surprised- our teachers included! What an exciting time we had!!

The children's favorite part was definitely when Mr. Doug turned a fabric bunny into a LIVE bunny that we all got to pet and visit with! The kids faces lit up like a Christmas tree when he pulled the bunny out of the box. It was the perfect way to end his visit! Thank you SO much Mr. Doug. We can't wait for you to come see us again :)

Another special event we had here at Holly Tree last week was the memorial celebration for Ms. Vela's grandson, Kenneth Jones. Ms. Vela has been a teacher here for 15 years and has put her heart and soul into loving and teaching the kids and families here. We were honored to host a night dedicated to her and the celebration of her grandson. 

 

Thank you to Branches for helping put together all the details of this special night! We had a balloon release in remembrance of Kenneth. It was a time dedicated to prayer as we gathered around Vela with love and support.

We have dedicated a special bench out front with Kenneth's name on it. This is something special we could do for Ms. Vela that will be a daily reminder for her how much she is loved and honored. We appreciate her and the dedication she has had to Holly Tree for the past 15 years. 

WE LOVE YOU MS. VELA!!

Employee of the Month

We appreciate and value ALL of our staff here at Holly Tree, but each month we want to recognize one employee that we see goes that extra mile.

This month we have chosen Ms. Bria as our employee of the month. Ms. Bria works hard day in and day out to make sure her class is completing all lesson plan activities and is in compliance at all times. She is a great example of what we seek in all of our staff members. Thank you, Ms. Bria for all of your hard work; it definitely shows. We appreciate all you do to make Holly Tree a great place.  

Toddler 2 LOVES Ms. Bria. She makes sure to greet every child and parent with a smile on her face. 

Every child is treated equally and with the upmost quality care with Ms. Bria. She encourages silly, teaches important developmental skills, and most importantly shows constant love to every child. 

We appreciate all you do Ms. Bria and are blessed to have you as a part of the Holly Tree family. Thank you for your continuous hard work and dedication to what you do. Creating childhood is why we are here, and Ms. Bria goes above and beyond to help make that happen.

Special Guests at Holly Tree

We have had the privilege this summer of many special guests visiting us at Holly Tree. One of our favorite guests was our sweet visit from Homestyle Bakery. They are the BEST bakery in town! Check out their website for more of their amazing creations and to support one of our favorite family owned business's. http://www.homestylebakery.com/

 Ms. Sarah came and helped our kids decorate cupcakes with sprinkles and icing! YUM!

We had so much fun acting as little bakers and getting to taste our own creations! Ms. Sarah was an excellent teacher.

Some of our sweet friends enjoying some sweet treats :)
We are so grateful to Homestyle Bakery for taking the time to come and let us experience some yummy cupcakes and develop some self help skills along the way.






Another special guest that we greatly enjoyed was Mr. Donnie Kahn, a police pilot! He showed us all of his awesome equipment and his cool uniform. We learned so much about what pilots do on a day to day basis and the kids were amazed! Check out the following website to learn more about police helicopter pilots and see some informative links and videos. http://www.policehelicopterpilot.com/

 
                         We even got to check out his helmet that he wears while flying.

Thank you Mr. Donnie for coming to visit us and teach us some cool things about police helicopters. We had a great time!!

Summer Days at Holly Tree!

What an awesome summer it has been so far! We've had many special guests come and we are looking forward to many more in the month ahead. Its been quite a warm summer but that doesn't stop the kids from having fun! The toddlers sure do love playing on the cars on the playground!

On days we have to beat the heat, the kids love playing inside in the dramatic play center! Its so amazing to see their creative minds working and learning! From purses, to hats, to jackets and smocks, the classrooms have everything they need to have a fun day pretending!

We've had quite a few transitions in the toddler and 2 year old classrooms. Many of the kids have had birthdays and gone to new rooms. We've peeked into the classes to see how they're adjusting and they are doing great! Many of them are making tons of new friends! It's so nice to see the older kids including the newer ones in what they're doing.

 The Bible shows us how to make friends. As Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man that has friends must show himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” The key to making friends is to be friendly and all the kids here have done just that!

Holly Tree summer camp visits the Sam Davis home!!

Our school-aged summer camp program goes on two field trips per week! We try to make one educational and one a fun trip! This week the classroom visited the historical Sam Davis home. Who is Sam Davis? Sam Davis was born on October 6, 1842 in Rutherford County, TN. He joined the army before TN had officially seceded from the union. He took part in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, and Stones River! 

On the farm in Smyrna, you will find the original log cabin he grew up in and also the house he was raised in. We got to take a tour of the inside of the house and walk the grounds. It was very interesting to say the least! History is so amazing! 

The kids got to have a picnic lunch on the grounds. We also got to watch a video in the theatre about his life. 

Overall, it was a very fun field trip! You can find out more information by visiting the website at: http://samdavishome.org 

Pre-K at Holly Tree

www.hollytreechildcare.com

It's great to be in Pre-K at Holly Tree!

While our Pre-K days at Holly tree are filled

with learning everyday, we take it even a step

further in the summer months when we offer 

Kindergarten Boot Camp!

Kindergarten Boot Camp is a program offered to

our students who will be going to kindergarten in the fall.

In addition to our regular curriculum, we incorporate

"school skills" daily. Our non-traditional Boot Camp allows

for Holly Tree kids to learn things

like how to carry a lunch tray, move from 

one class to another, complete library checkouts, 

and so much more! We also offer in school

special visitors that will help our Pre-K kids

learn more about what to expect when they get

to school.We want our kids to be ready for school,

and they are after Kindergarten Boot Camp!

Our Pre-Kers also get a chance to be fancy,

with Pre-K Prom! Pre-K prom is held every year

as a tribute and festive send off for our soon to

be kindergartners! We love you!

Some of our Pre-K families and students

are pictured below:

If you want to learn more about our Pre-K program,

Kindergarten Boot Camp, our any of our other programs

just visit our website at:

www.hollytreechildcare.com

We'd love to show you just how wonderful preschool 

can be at Holly Tree, where we celebrate Faith, Family, and Fun!