Books, Babies, and Big Time Fun!

www.hollytreechildcare.com

all the babies were happy, and lived happily ever after!

We love books, and we're kicking off our month

long literacy focus with Fairy Tales, from infants to school-age!

 (Check back again for more pictures of how our fabulous teachers

are preparing--and how our fabulous students are learning all month long!)

Fairy Tales have a lot offer, as you'll see below: 

"Besides being able to answer trivia questions when they are adults, fairy tales actually offer many unique learning opportunities for young children", according to PreschoolExpress.com.                              Some of the opportunities include skills development in these areas:

Language Skills – Listening to fairy tales can introduce young children to many new words and phrases, such as, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff or “someone’s been eating my porridge”. Math Skills – The Three Bears is filled with opportunities for learning size discrimination and from the Three Billy Goats Gruff, children can learn position concepts, such as; first, second and third. Cultural Awareness – The beauty of fairy tales is that they are often about different times and cultures.  Another important fact is that many stories are enjoyed around the world with slight variations. Dramatic Skills – Children love acting out these interesting yet simple stories.   Imagination Skills – Reading or telling fairy tales provides a great opportunity for children to develop their imagination skills. Cooking Skills – Expanding story time with simple cooking projects, helps children remember the story plots better, plus increasing their cooking skills.

How fun it is making "porridge" while reading "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"! 

And making gingerbread cookies to the tale of "The Gingerbread Boy"--even 

planting beans with "Jack and the Beanstalk". The opportunities abound, 

so check out this do at home activity:

Fairy Tale Homes, from the Scholastic Books website.

Enjoy, and keep reading!

Youngest to Oldest

From the youngest to the oldest,

there's something for everyone at Holly Tree!

Holly Tree incorporates fun activities,

developmentally appropriate learning experiences,

positive interactions, and smiles-no matter what age! 

Weekly music experiences include Ms. Linda 

and her Music-N-Motion class!

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children:

"We learn so much when we listen to music. Music inspires creative movement. It calms at rest time. 

It fosters listening skills. Through music children can learn about patterns. 

Through singing children learn ryhmes and new vocabulary." 

http://www.naeyc.org/content/music

Creative Art experiences occur daily!

Creative Art combined with Dramatic Play is even more fun!!!

(And provides many meaningful learning opportunities!)

The article below gives information about how to encourage and develop

creative processes with School-Age children.

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/encouraging_creativity_school_age.html

Come grow in Faith, Family, and Fun with us here at Holly Tree!

Find out more at: www.hollytreechildcare.com

Emotional and Social Development through Art and Friends

When it comes to young children, everything is "curriculum"; 

they are learning about the world around them, as well as about themselves. During the learning processes a wide array of skills are discovered and begin to develop, and high on the list are

 Social and Emotional development. Some activities help and encourage these types of development for  young children, and their importance cannot be underestimated. 

The article below helps explain:

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-importance-of-art-children-s-cognitive-social-and-emotional-development

The children's interest is apparent!

Social Development  is about enjoyment and awareness outside of the self. 

And includes making friends! This article helps us better understand 

Social Development in young children:

http://www.nationalhealthystart.org/site/assets/docs/NHSA_SocialEmotional_2.pdf

For more about how we can help your child developmentally, 

come see us at Holly Tree! More information can be found at:

www.hollytreechildcare.com 

Summer Fun

Summer is amazing at Holly Tree!

www.hollytreechildcare.com

Recently, Bruce Amato, magician 

extraordinaire, put on quite a show for our students!!! 

At Holly Tree, be prepared to not only be wowed by 

our wide variety of special guests and activities, but by

our learning opportunities presented throughout 

the summer in fun and creative

ways, like map creation as seen below:

Children in all classes learn about the world, different cultures, 

and themselves through our weekly world themes. 

For more  about what our School-Agers are doing this summer, 

check out the connecting link below--

we think you'll  love it as much as we do!

http://hollytree-treehouse.blogspot.com/

Counting Down and Cooling Off

Holly Tree makes Learning fun!

www.hollytreechildcare.com

Playing a math game with fly swatters...now that's the way to learn numbers!

Remembering and understanding concepts are the keys to learning.

What better way to make that happen than making it fun! 

When key concepts and skills development are actually 

part of a natural process, such as game play, then 

children are more likely to comprehend in a real-world way. 

When skills develop in this way, then they can put their skills to use and build and grow.

This article, "Hands On is Minds On" 

from Scholastic helps explain!

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751901

Water Play can work in the same sort of way. It's hands 

on exploration incorporation of a variety of skills; 

everything from building hand muscles to measurement to critical thinking skills--

and it uses most all of the senses!

We love fun and learning at Holly Tree!