January Newsletter

Important Dates:

South Pointe

Closed:

February 17th

*March 30th*

In-service: Centre open

January 31st

K.I.D.S Inc. South Pointe: 615 Kirkbridge Drive

Phone— 204-275-3350

Supervisors email: supervisorskisp@gmail.com

K.I.D.S. Inc. Montrose: 691 Montrose St. Phone—204-488-8948 Fax- 204-489-2853 Supervisors email: supervisorskim@gmail.com

Important Dates:

Montrose

Closed:

February 17th

*March 30th*

In-service: Centre open

January 31st

K.I.D.S. Inc. Sir William Osler: 1600 Grant Avenue

Phone— 204-488-7621

Supervisors email: supervisorsswo@gmail.com

Important Dates:

Sir William Osler Closed: February 17th

*March 30th*

In-service: Centre open

January 13

January 31

Director: Karen Ohlson- karenohlson@kidsincorporated.ca Assistant Director: Sharon Lee: sharonlee@kidsincorporated.ca Check out our website: www.kidsincorporated.ca

Bills Due:

January 13 2020

Happy

Anniversary

Karen!!!!

30 years at

K.i.d.s inc.!

January Newsletter

From Karen’s Desk,

Play is the perfect way to lure a kid (or an adult) into subconsciously learning. In fact, it’s the tool educators and parents use to teach kids about language, physical development, intellectual skills and social norms. Just like other types of learning, play-based learning grows in stages from exploratory and collaborative to pretend play and play based activities. Here is a list of some important qualities children can learn while having a ball.

Fair Play is all about taking turns and sharing. If your child is hesitant to let go of their favourite toy to let a friend check it out, spend time with them and help them ease up their grip.

Collaboration is an important skill that many adults still haven’t mastered. If you can teach them to work in a group and lead, as well as follow, you’re off to a great start.

Through physical activities children will learn that there is literal strength in numbers. So much can be accomplished when people work together from carrying something heavy to illustrating ideas.

Kids can also learn that putting their heads together is a great way to problem solve. When people to come a solution with different backgrounds and ideas, two brains are better than one.

Through basic role-play scenarios, children can learn to help their friends who in turn will help them back. These skills are great for community building and understanding the wants and needs of others. From TogetherFamilies.com

When selecting play materials we look for multiple uses in play scripts that children have based on their inter-

ests and explorations. When choosing products for your children, parents know that the “best” toy is often not

expensive and has a variety of uses. Like the scenario of the child playing with the box and not what’s inside,

items that have many open ended uses are always better than one prescribed use.

Hope Everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Anniversary at Montrose!

Kendal—3 years

Andrew—3 years

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary at South Pointe!

Amy—3 years

Anjana—3 years

Charini—2 years

January Newsletter

What was that Stuff you served for Snack?

Snacks and meals are important social times for people of all ages. At K.I.D.S. Inc. we

understand the importance of sharing meals together. Tables are set to provide the children a place

to gather and visit while they eat. In preschool an educator sits and supervises snack and mealtimes

with the children. In school-age the educator may not sit with the children but has set out an

inviting meal presentation and the children are able to come to the table when they are ready and

serve themselves. The social aspect of eating together is important through all age levels at K.I.D.S.

Inc. Preparing the food is as valuable a learning opportunity as eating together, so cooking as a

group is an activity that is enjoyed throughout all our programs. We even stretch this learning into

the growing of food, and this fall the Montrose K.I.D.S. Inc. school-age children were excited to

harvest two very large pails of potatoes, bushels of tomatoes, and many pumpkins from the garden.

This produce was turned into oven fries and tomatoes sauce that was served of snacks.

On one In-service this fall the Montrose educators served tacos for snack in school-age.

Instead of using ground meat we offered the children a meat substituted made from soy called

textured vegetable protein (TVP). This product looks like ground beef and with the taco seasoning

added it tasted very similar. The best part of TVP is that the protein level is higher than that of

regular ground beef. The school-agers loved it and there wasn’t a scratch of the TVP left over. One of

our goals in relation to meals at K.I.D.S. Inc. is to expose the children to many food choices so if your

child comes home talking about a different food experience please let us know, we would be pleased

to share our recipes.

On behalf of all three sites—Montrose, South Pointe and Sir William Osler:

We would like to say thank you for the happy holiday wishes, delicious treats and cards.

We hope everyone had a beautiful peaceful holi-day however your family celebrates.

Home Made Hot Cocoa: (Sonja’s recipe from the Montrose Family event)

2 cups skim milk powder

1 cup cocoa

1/2—1 cup white sugar

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Mix all together.

For 1 cup of cocoa, place 1-2 Tbsps. into mug, pour in hot water.

Enjoy!

January Newsletter

Sir William Osler News

“The New Year—a time to say goodbye and a time to say hello”- Unknown

I hope you all had a great Holiday Season spent with family and friends. I am looking forward to a great 2020 with all the children and families of K.I.D.S. Inc. Sir William Osler.

Room 11 continues to be engaged in family play. As we enter the new year our hope is that we can explore what being a family means to each of us and celebrate the similarities and differences that make our family special.

Inventing and tinkering is a major thread we are seeing in Room 10. The children have created ex-travagant plans to build using any and all materials they can. It is amazing to watch them each day.

The school age children will be having the Travelling Stage come to visit on January 13, 2020. A major interest for our school age children is building and constructing using a variety of mediums and materials. The gym group has been enjoying using ramps, blocks and boxes to build amazing structures.

Thank you for the continuance of donations that we have received. We will continue to accept

donations of dramatic play props such as costumes and accessories.

Thank you to South Pointe and Montrose for hosting a few of our children and educators over the

break.

Thank you to all the families who sent cards, well wishes and gifts for the educators to celebrate the

holidays, we appreciate it all.

January 13 and 31, 2020 will be an in-service, we will be open regular hours (7:00 am – 5:30 pm).

Robyn Liddle Site Manger- KIDS Inc. Sir William Osler ECE II

What did Jack Frost say to the snowman?

Have an Ice Day!

January Newsletter

South Pointe News

We are so excited for all that awaits us in 2020. It is the year that we begin our K.I.D.S

Inc. playground (phase 1). In the late spring we will be leveling and grading the yard for a

safer and better surface for the children to play. Rosette has been working in conjunction

with one of our parent board members (Jen) to secure as many grants as we can for further

development of the play yard along with what we have raised through donations and

fundraising for the entire Southpointe community.

Our School age program is now a 2/3 roll away program. Our dedicated educators are

very creative professionals and are able to provide a dynamic program no matter where they

are situated in the school .Families need to know that some spaces may be different at times

due to school events so please always check your emails as well as the Outdoor Spaces Board

when you come in the building if Cottonwood or Poplar are in a different space within the

school.

We are very excited to welcome back Kathia and Jenn the centre. They both bring a

passion for early childhood education with them as well as many years’ experience as part of

our K.I.D.S Inc family.

A great big thank you to Dipti Bhatt for taking on the role of Program Supervisor in

the Infant Program while Jenn was on maternity leave for a year. She has done a fantastic

job working with her team of educators to continue to offer excellent infant care for families

with a group of inspired, highly trained individuals and will be working together with Jenn

to ease her return back to K.I.D.S Inc. Dipti introduced our first Infant family gathering at

the centre since we opened in early November. It was so well attended, appreciated and fun

for the educators and families alike. I am certain that it will be an event that will continue

for the infant program.

Here’s to a great 2020 filled with health, happiness and new adventures for all.

Cheers,

Francine Margolese

South Pointe Site Manager

Wanted:

Please keep those loose parts coming!

Paper roll

Tissue boxes

Egg cartons

Dairy containers

January Newsletter

South Pointe School Age news “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never

forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou If you listen closely to one of the educators talking about their group you may hear “My kids….” Your children aren’t just kids in our rooms, they become a part of our hearts. Our educators work tirelessly to provide one on one attention to each and every child in a constantly busy room, which is not easy. We strive to provide a space where the children feel safe, valued and loved. We encourage you to get to know what your child is doing at K.I.D.S. Inc. In addition to our Himama’s we will be posting each groups activities to help you know what activities were available for your child to engage in. Did you know that our school age program has a bulletin board that we display pictures, art work, information etc.? It’s located in the hallway that leads to the Tamarack Room. We have now entered the cold months where the temperature is often too cold to go outside. When it is warm enough, we do take advantage of the opportunity to get outside. Our educators organize group games for the children to participate in that will sometimes have the children touching the snow. Those who come without snow pants and warm winter clothing (boots, mittens, hats etc.) are often too cold to participate. Please help us by ensuring your child brings or knows that they need to wear their appropriate clothing. We look forward to all the new adventures that we will have this upcoming year will bring.

Lisa Klassen ECE 111

South Pointe School Age Supervisor

South Pointe News

South Pointe Infant News

We are very excited to have our infant supervisor Jenn back with us. Welcome back

Jenn!

This past month, the infant program has been focused on sensory and movement activities

due to the cold weather. The children have been exploring many ways to move their bodies such

as throwing balls, hula hoops, pool noodles, and crawling through the tunnels.

The educators and children were in different rooms to play with new toys and make new

friends. The children have been loving dramatic play with the washer and dryer, and the toy

kitchen. One activity the children liked was scribbling with markers and exploring with wet glue.

The educators brought snow inside to let them play. They also played with the sensory table,

water beads, etc.

Please remember to wash your child’s hands upon arrival at the centre to cut down on the

spread of germs. When children are sick with a fever, they must remain at home until they are

fever free for 24 hours. Children who are well enough to attend must be able to participate in all

of our daily program activities including outdoor play.

Dipti Bhatt ECE 11

South Pointe Infant Supervisor

January Newsletter

South Pointe News

South Pointe Preschool News

December and Winter break were magical times in the Preschool program! We had some lower number of preschool children in attendance, which allowed there to be flexibility for the children to visit and explore other rooms and groups that they do not normally experience on daily basis. The educators provided wonderful cooking experiences for the children to learn about scientific and mathematic processes with a winter twist- some groups made peppermint candy cane fudge, made and decorated sugar cookies, and cooked a warm and festive apple crisp.

Sensory based experiences were provided for the children to grow their senses using sensory bins filled with frozen shaving cream, snowman slime, cloud dough and snowflake playdough. Fine motor experiences were enjoyed through activities where they children traced each other’s bodies on giant paper and cut out the spaces to make giant gingerbread people, along with making cutting out images to make collages to tell stories. Gross motor experiences were provided to help grow the children’s physical development, by going outside and tobogganing along with using the school gym, along with activities such as parachute games like ‘sea waves’ and ‘cat and mouse’. A lot of laughter and fun were had this season by all. Thank you for a lovely 2019! Looking forward to all the adventures to be had in 2020!

Kate Willcox South Pointe Preschool Supervisor

Congratulations to the winners of the K.I.D.S. Inc. 2019 Wine Raffle

First Prize 25 bottles of wine Crystal Simmons

Second Prize 15 bottles of wine Jared Nause

Third Prize 10 bottles of wine Kelly Bunzeluk

Thank you to everyone who sold and bought tickets!

K.I.D.S Inc. Montrose earned $1,075.00 plus one Nepalese coin

K.I.D.S. Inc. South Pointe earned $2,052.00 for South Pointe’s playground

K.I.D.S. Inc. Sir William Osler earned $1,071.00 to purchase play materials

Total profit for this wine raffle $4,198.00

January Newsletter

Montrose Site News

Montrose School Age News

Why was my Child in a Hazmat Suit!

Over the winter break you may see photos of some of our

school-agers in hazmat suits. This is because they have

been playing “Polar Bear Hunt”. This is a well-loved

winter event that requires some of the bigger children to

be dressed all in white. They then head out to Montrose

Park and hide in the snow. The rest of the children are

divided into hunting teams. They are provided with a

sled and they head off to the park to hunt for a polar bear. When they locate one of the

children in the polar bear suits, they need to tag the bear. The bear drops to the ground

and remains limp. The team of children need to load this big bear onto their sled and

drag him/her back to the school. The biggest challenge happens when the children are

dragging back their polar bear. The bears are stretched out on the sleds and often fall

off. This means the team of children now need to re-load the limp bear back onto the

sled.

This game is all about teamwork, communication, and most of all a great deal of fun. It

is a sought-after privilege to be one of the polar bears and this role is reserved for the

biggest and tallest children in attendance that day.

Brenda Still ECE 111

Montrose School Age Supervisor

Montrose Preschool News The preschool educators have been intentionally displaying creative art projects around the

Boreal Forest and Prairie room. It is important for the children to see that their work holds value.

Preschool children are at various levels of craftsmanship. They are learning the intrinsic value of art

and how different colours may affect them emotionally. They are learning how colours blend

together, how pictures can represent a whole story.

Even though it is a busy time during drop offs and pick up times, please take a moment to

look around the room to see the children’s art work, activities, and learning displayed in the rooms.

Earlier this month we hosted a festive hot chocolate and cookie family event. The children in

the gym group were excited to share their space with preschoolers and some helped Andrew conduct

large motor games. Families had a chance to meet with each other, share in simple activities with

their children, and enjoy home made hot chocolate and cookies baked and decorated by their

children.

Jean Chorney ECE 111

Montrose Preschool Supervisor

January Newsletter

Montrose Site News

Wanted: Our nap time sheets have elastics at the corners that have been stretched so much that they

don’t fit over our beds. If there are any sewers that are able to donate their time, our sheets

could use some repairs.

Peaceful Play

The cotton “snow”, houses and pine

cones were bought during our time

when we were uprooted to the library

during the carpet removal.

The table was brought back for the

children to design their own play

experience.

Children are encouraged to bring in

props, loose parts, animals, etc. to

sustain their uninterrupted play.

Over the Winter Break the school age children made a “K.I.D.S Inc. Classic:

Fun Buns

2 Cups Flour

3 Tbsp. White Sugar

4 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 Cup Margarine

3/4 Cup Milk

Topping:

6 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. Margarine

Measure flower, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a

bowl. Mix well. Add margarine and mix until crumbly.

Add milk. Stir until it forms a ball. Kneed on a lightly

floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a 30 cm. snake. Mix brown sugar and

cinnamon, pour onto wax paper. Melt 1 Tbsp. margarine

on a plate. Roll snake in margarine, then sugar mixture.

Roll up into a spiral and pinch the end to secure.

Put on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 400º for 12-15 minutes