Located at Tipp City United Methodist Church
8 West Main Street, Tipp City, OH 45371

937-669-4707

APPELBAUM TRAINING INSTITUTE recognizes MAINSTREET Preschool Staff

as their Spotlight Center at November’s Conference. 6-30-09

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Phone messages and email will be checked periodically throughout the summer months.

If you have questions, please call or email the preschool office.

FOR THOSE IN OUR 2009-2010 PROGRAM:

· Home Visits will be scheduled by your child’s teacher.

· Parent Meeting will be scheduled in August.

· #1 Tuition payment & one-time Supply Fee is due to office by August 5.

· Medical form (blue), completed & signed by physician, is due

first day of preschool or sooner.

MULTI-AGE AFTERNOON CLASS NOW AVAILABLE ! !

Accepting Children Ages 3-5 ~~ Smaller Teacher/Student Ratio ~~ 12:30 – 3:00 pm.

Call for more info about this class or any of our other four offerings and be ready to register.

Class Sizes are Limited. Registration Fee Holds a Space for your Child.

TOURS AVAILABLE

See the Classrooms and Meet the Staff!

See what the SHINING STARS, AWESOME ACORNS, BUSY BEES & TERRIFIC TOTS are doing.

To register or for information or a tour, please call 937-669-4707
or email: mainstreetpreschool@tippcityumc.org

OFFERINGS
Gym/Body Movement, Bible Stories, Visits from Community Groups,

Reading Buddies, Chef for a Day, Lunch Bunch, Walking Field Trips,

Child Care Choices Programs, Christmas/Spring Programs

in Addition to the Regular Preschool Curriculum

In a Nurturing and Christian Environment to Enhance Social Skills

PRESCHOOL CLASSES

(First Day of Class: Tuesday After Labor Day)

SHINING STARS: Pre-K - Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri - 9:10-11:40

AWESOME ACORNS: 4/5 Year Olds - Mon, Wed, Fri - 9:10-11:40

BUSY BEES: 3 Year Olds - Tues and Thurs - 9:10-11:40

TERRIFIC TOTS: 2 Year Olds – Mon - 9:10-11:40

AFTERNOON MULTI-AGE CLASS - Tues, Wed – 12:30 – 3:00

STAFF

SUZANNE COLLINS: Director, Teacher of Pre-K & 2 year olds

LORI JANS: Teacher of 4/5 year olds, Multi-Age

MELISSA TARZINSKI: Teacher of 3 year olds & 2 year olds

JAN HALEY: Office Manager & Teacher Assistant

NO FUNDRAISING Here – If you’re a Kroger shopper, you’ll help MAINSTREET Preschool by purchasing a Kroger Gift Card for $5. As you put more money on your Card and use it to buy groceries and gas, MAINSTREET Preschool earns 4% of total purchases to support our programs. A convenient way to always have cash available. Call the church office at 667-2318 or preschool office at 669-4707 and leave a message if you are interested in buying one or several.

2008-2009 SCHOOL YEAR IN REVIEW:

SPRING PROGRAM & ART EXHIBIT IN MAY – Children from all four classes presented parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts & uncles, babysitters, church members and friends with songs and artwork learned throughout the school year. The Art Gallerywais open to view drawings, paintings, and structures made from “beautiful stuff.” The children worked hard at drawing blueprints of the art work they wanted to build. Planning in small and large groups allowed the children to listen to others’ ideas and incorporate what is necessary to get the end results they want to achieve. New this year was painting murals for the exhibit as well. The program and art exhibit was open to the public to enjoy on May 8.

END OF YEAR PICNIC AT KYLE PARK was Friday May 15. Families brought sack lunches and came to enjoy a fun, mid-day picnic with their preschool friends. Some preschoolers brought their bikes and trikes to ride (or practice) on the paved walkway.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT DINNER IN MAY – The Preschool Staff & Board prepared a delicious meal on the first Wednesday in May for the public. It was a good time to meet the staff and get questions answered. The preschool families came to enjoy dinner with other preschool families before summer began. Some children will come back for another year at MAINSTREET, and others will move on to Kindergarten. Look forward to Wednesday Night Dinners in the fall to benefit TCUMC. Reasonable offering of $5/person or $15/family.

SPRING TRIP TO BRUCKNER Nature Center “Three-for-Pre” Program - The Stars and Acorns, along with volunteer parent drivers and teachers, travel to Bruckner Nature Center in April for the last of a series of three field trips. The children went to Bruckner in October and Bruckner came here in January.

BAIR DAIRY FARM in Troy invited the Acorns and Stars to visit them the end of April. The children saw – and petted a few – cows and learned how the cows give milk that’s shipped to stores. They learned about other dairy products that need milk and the importance of dairy farms for the grocery stores and us. Parents were invited to meet at the farm with their preschooler and enjoy “A Day On the Farm” together.

STORY LADY with Child Care Choices made her last visit in May to share a story and hands-on activities. We’ll look forward to more visits next year.

SCHOOL PICTURES - A live bunny came to visit in March for Picture Day. Fall pictures are scheduled for the end of September for our new classes.

PARENT CONFERENCES - Parents meet with teachers in the fall and spring to discuss their child’s progress.

AN ARTIST MOM VISITED CLASSROOMS to share her talents and explore various kinds of artwork with the children.

CREATIVE MOVEMENT – An instructor visited to get the children moving and dancing to help develop their large motor skills.

SHINING STARS (PRE-K) Enjoy Friendship Week. During the week of Valentine’s Day the children made and decorated mail boxes for their valentines to be delivered and received. The Stars learned what makes a good friend and how to be a good friend to their classmates and others. They wrote notes and made cards for their friends and delivered their “mail” to the mailboxes displayed throughout the classroom.

AWESOME ACORNS (4/5’S) have started meeting in small groups to learn to communicate with their friends. One group wants to make a house large enough to “go inside,” by using wrapping paper tubes and duct tape. Another group is making notes and drawings of a structure they want to make from wooden blocks. Groups have an opportunity to choose to work with tiles, sort “beautiful stuff” into categories, and use the sensory table to learn different textures and sizes of objects.

BUSY BEES (3’S) have started sharing what their favorite “treasures” are. Each week a child takes home a special “Show and Tell Bag” that they fill with objects that are important or favorites to them. They tell their classroom friends about their “treasures” and everyone learns what’s special to each other.

TERRIFIC TOTS (2’S) learned boundaries in the classroom and in Great Hall, where large motor activities take place. The areas are sectioned off for different kinds of play and the children decide where they want to play and how to keep their play things within that space. They enjoyed art projects also.

November focuses on being thankful. “Jars of Jelly” Food Drive collects for Needy Basket of Miami County, Inc. The children talk about how they can help other children enjoy a favorite—peanut butter & jelly sandwich—with their donations of jelly to the food pantry in Tipp City. Before Thanksgiving, a walking trip to the food pantry allowed the children to see where all their donations are stored until the Christmas holiday food drive.

WHERE’S THE RAINBOW? During October, the children in Mrs. Jans’ 4/5-year-old class became observant as they watched rainbows continually appear on the floor, on friends’ shirts, on furniture in their classroom. They talked among themselves about how a rainbow could appear when there was no rain. The children were given time to analyze, predict and share their ideas over a few weeks. At MAINSTREET we create environments where children learn higher-level thinking skills, such as how to process information, problem solve and make predictions.

October: Halloween Parades were so much fun. The Main Street merchants are always generous with treats as we parade down the sidewalks.

Class and individual pictures by Better Images Photography were taken. They’ll be back in the spring for anyone who wants a picture with the Easter Bunny.

NEW THIS YEAR: Each Waiting Area has a Lending Center. There are books, puzzles, board games, and more. Families are invited and encouraged to take one or two home for awhile to use for enrichment.

NEW LOOK IN SNACK AREA: It is now set up for the children in the Acorns and Stars classes to clean up and wash their drink cups after snack. They are quite proud of themselves as they’ve learned to wash, rinse and dry the cups they use. They are cutting down on paper waste by not using paper cups this year. Snacks are provided by parents at beginning of year, and there’s a great variety of nutritious food we serve the children.

ONGOING TRAINING for preschool staff as they attended a second APPELBAUM TRAINING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE last fall to learn skills to help young children thrive during their preschool experiences, successful ways to improve early literacy skills. Helpful daily emails available from Appelbaum website.

2007-2008 IN REVIEW:

*Large Motor Skills are so important for developing the right and left sides of the brain, according to Ann Anzalone, a dynamic speaker who addresses parents and teachers across the U.S. Through a generous donation, our preschool now has a balance beam that will be used during large motor activity each school day. As the children learn to balance themselves, their brain hemispheres are growing stronger as a result of this exercise.

*Science Corner in the classroom, where an aquarium holds fish and an algae-eating fish called a Plecostomus for the children to enjoy and learn how to be responsible pet owners. Each week one child is assigned to be the “fish feeder.”

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Every Third Wed 9:15-11:00 Moms Offering Moms Support, another ministry of Tipp City United Methodist Church, meets and provides free childcare. Moms who are looking for some time to visit with other moms will find this very beneficial. Stop in any third Wednesday or call the church office at 667-2318 for more information.

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