A Fun filled February

Monday, February 20th - Dental Health Presentation

Thank you to Dr. Kasia Lindhorst D.D.S. M.S. P.A. (Christoph and Lukas' Mom) and her amazing, wonderful dental assistant, Ms. Yvette, for doing her annual presentation for the 3-4 and Pre-K children. We learned about how to properly care for our teeth, how to brush and floss and Ms. Yvette also talked about what types of foods are best for our teeth and to stick to candy and juice for only special occasions. We especially enjoyed the part where the sugar bug demonstrates how to spit your toothpaste into the sink, after you brush.
Some of us were sitting in the "wet zone".

If you're looking for a pediatric dentist, call Smiles for Kids! Here is the website:

http://www.smiles-for-kids.com/schoolPrograms.aspx

Wednesday, February 22nd- CDC Mardi Gras Parade

The Pre-K and 3-4 Classes marched and threw beads to the younger children, while Mr. Marcos Melchor played traditional Mardi Gras parade music for us on the saxophone. Some classes celebrated Mardi Gras further, by learning the significance of the traditional colors of Green, Gold and Purple, creating Mardi Gras inspired artwork and tasting king cake.
(See Pre-K's group artwork below)

Thursday, February 23rd- We Celebrated Go Texan Day

A BIG Yee-haw and Thank You to Ms. Samhita from Arts Alive,
for doing a special Western themed lesson plan!
www.artsaliveinc.com

(Above) Cousins- Ms. Gina and her little cowgirl Sofia

(Below) Our cute cowboys and cowgirls from the toddler classes:

(Above) Practicing our do-si-do and two steppin' techniques!

(Below) Our vaqueros from the 2-3 Class, Showing us how to ride a stick horse, Texas style!

(Above) Sasha, showing off his awesome Arts Alive stamp!

(Below) The 3-4 Class Learns how to Rope and Ride 'Em!

(Below) Pre-K had some mighty fine cowfolk!

The Pre-K Class had a good old Texas Hoedown!

CDC Meet-Up Day on Friday, February 24th
Watching the Trail Riders @ Memorial Park

The moment we had been waiting for.... Here comes the trail riders!!!

Saying "howdy" to the trail riders!!!

Thank you to each of the CDC families who joined us for our meet up! We had a great time!

New Year= New Ideas!

A Note from Ms. Kelly:

Dear Parents,

January ushered in the New Year and we thought it the perfect time to set some goals/resolutions around here! The CDC is committed to improving parent-teacher communications. We have found the best way to do this is through email. We do not want to fill your electronic mailbox with numerous messages, but in addition to any office communications, we will be sending a brief email out every Thursday about the week ahead. Our Pre-K teachers are very comfortable emailing their class updates, but for the rest of our classes, this is something new. The Thursday mail will let you know what theme or unit of study the teachers have planned for the next week, any reminders, and a list of items needed. We often have parents ask if they can contribute or bring anything for the classrooms, so the list of items needed are things you may have at home (empty paper towel tubes, boxes, fabric remnants…) or if you are willing to make play dough, or colored pasta for a special sensory activity. We are hoping to provide opportunities for parents to connect and volunteer if interested, but there is no obligation. We are very excited about this and are looking for your feedback as the weeks progress! The first Thursday message will go out this afternoon. Please let me know if you do not receive a message from your teachers.

We are also happy to announce monthly “meet ups” and “silly school” days. (I have attached the calendar of dates for both.) The meet ups will be just that, a place and time for CDC friends to meet up on a Friday, when school is not in session, and see familiar faces at different events or parks. These events are not field trips or sponsored in any way by the CDC and we are not responsible for anything other than picking the time, date, and place of where to meet up.

We love to have fun at the CDC and have picked one day each month to express our silly sides outwardly. We are looking forward to 100% staff participation and we invite our CDC children to join in the fun. We don’t want anyone to go out and purchase things for our silly days. We encourage you to use old costumes, things from around the house, pajamas, anything! Just get creative with your little one and have fun!




The dates are below:

Calendar of CDC Events for Spring 2012

CDC Meet-Ups and Silly Days

January

· Tuesday- 1/31: “Super Hero Day” (Ideas: Pillow case capes, homemade masks, pj’s, super hero t-shirts, old Halloween costumes, etc.)

February

· Thursday- 2/23: “CDC Go Texan Day”(Western Wear)

· Friday- 2/24: Meet Up at Memorial Park to watch the trail riders come in to town! (Between 11am and 1pm- See Map).

March

· Wednesday- 3/7: “Story Book Character Day” (Use items around the house or old costumes to be your favorite book character).

· Friday- 3/9: Meet Up at Houston Livestock Show and Carnival at 10am in front of the indoor petting zoo. (Don’t forget to use your yellow form, that we sent home in your child’s cubby, for half-priced carnival packs- order before February 24^th)

April

· Friday- 4/13: Meet Up at the Houston Zoo Entrance at 10am. We plan to have a picnic and ride the train afterward, if anyone would like to join in.

· Thursday - 4/26: “Pajama Day” (Wear your favorite jammies but please wear proper footwear for playing outside).

May

· Wednesday- 5/2: “When I Grow Up Day”… Dress like what you want to be some day! (Anything from Doctor, Pro sports player, treasure hunter, Superman, princess or scuba instructor… The possibilities could surprise you.)

· Friday- 5/18: Meet Up at Ervan Chew Splash Pad at 10am for a splashing fun start to summer!

Address:4502 Dunlavy St. Houston, TX 77006

December Happenings

Hello everyone,

It has been a cheerful December, with so much going on at the CDC. Children and teachers are hard at work, creating beautiful holiday art works and learning new songs and activities. The CDC has been ignited with happy hearts and Christmas lights! We have also enjoyed spoiling a teacher, each day, as we celebrate our 12 favorite things about them on the Featured Teacher board. We are looking forward to this week, as well, as we will receive a visit from Santa on Wednesday and will have our Christmas parties on Thursday. We wish you each a wonderful holiday break, a blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Here are some photos from our two get togethers this month... Our Auction Winner's of the Ladies Night at Young at Art on December 2nd, as well as our group who did the YMCA 3 mile Jingle Bell Walk on Sunday, December 11th (A Special Thank you to Suzanne O'Neill & Alexis, for joining our staff in the walk!). (I will post photos of Santa's visit and holiday parties on our Smug Mug page). Thanks!

CDC Ladies' Night at Young at Art Pottery Painting Studio

And... The YMCA Jingle Bell Walk/Run - 3 mile family walk

Fall Frenzy and Fun!

October proved to be a very busy, but wonderful month here at the CDC. The beginning of the month was filled with preparations for our "Under the Tuscan Sun" Silent Auction, which took place on October 15th. Thank you to Ginnie McConn and Laura Wolfe for charing our auction and for all of the work that it entails! Thank you also, for all who collected donations, the room parents who arranged the class art projects, and all of the other volunteers who helped make this event possible. The night of auction was absolutely delightful and a huge success. We had a great time with our CDC families and friends, while raising money for our awesome little school!

Beautiful Classroom Art Projects for Auction:

Younger Toddler "Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet" Bowl

Older Toddler Sunflower Hand/Fingerprint Plates

2-3 Class Handprint Chair

3-4 Class Hand-Painted Sunflower Quilt

Pre-K Fingerprint Critters on a Stool

After Auction, we began preparing for our 2nd Annual Trunk-or-Treat event! This year we had around 30 parents there to decorate trunks and pass out candy to the children! Way to go CDC Parents!!! The event took place yesterday on Halloween and the parents did a spooktacular job of decorating their trunks for the occasion! The kids had a great time and took home a whole bucket of goodies! Thank you to all who participated in Trunk-or-Treat and also thank you to all of the parents who made their classroom parties so much fun, as well. We really have an outstanding group of parents around here! If you have photos from the event, please email them to stmarkscdc@smumc.org and I will post them. My new camera had a malfunction and I am mailing it back to the company, so I'm unable to get my photos off of my memory card until the new camera arrives later this week. So... more photos to come soon.

Now it's November and we can't wait for more fall fun, as this cooler weather has finally hit Houston! The teachers have all kinds of great activities planned and we're also looking forward to our Thankful Gathering before Thanksgiving Break. Happy fall to everyone!