Mott Community College
Early Childhood
Learning Center
January
2016
J a n u a r y
Welcome to January!
Inside this
issue:
Recap of December
Activities
1
New Signs
2
MCC Student-Parent
Graduates
3
CCAMPIS Grant
Opportunity
3
Parents as Partners
4
Tidbits and Timbits
4
Great Start Lending
Library Visit
5
GSRP Parent
Advisory Team
6
Outdoor Play
7
Emergency Plans
8
Supporting Math
Readiness
9
Red Room News
10
Yellow Room News
11
Green Room News
12
Parent to Parent
Tips
13
Community
Happenings
14
Snow is in the air!
The children are enjoying the new discoveries that come
with winter. We will
soon be bringing out
the sleds and snow
shovels on the playground! Please re-
member to send
warm clothing for
your children as they
will be going outside
as often
as the
weather
allows.
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THANK YOU for making your
child’s GSRP
Parent
Teacher conference a
priority!
Partnership
between
home and
school is vital
and can contribute greatly to
your child’s education and
academic success!
Winter Break
GSRP: Closed December 21- January 4
Young Preschool: Closed December 24 - January 10
Recap of some of December’s Family Activities
Parent Voting Day!
GSRP Parent Advisory Team!
MCC’s Help-Portrait!
GSRP Family Visit to ForMar!
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Have You Seen Our New
Signs?
Thank you MCC
Physical Plant
Team!
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Congratulations
Fall 15 MCC ECLC
Student-Parent
Graduates!!!
•Erika Eastway
•Sara Strickland
The Child Care Access Means Parent In School
(CCAMPIS) program is a federal grant funded
by the U. S. Department of Education with the
purpose of providing support to studentparents. This program supports the participation of low-income, Pell-eligible studentparents in postsecondary education through
the provision of child care subsidies.
Home/School Connection:
HOMEWORK!




Do you need child care for your 2 1/2 - 4 year old?
Are you Pell Eligible?
Do you have a 2.5 GPA or above?
Are you enrolled in 6+ credits for Winter 2016?
You may qualify for a child care grant! Apply TODAY!!
http://www.mcc.edu/eclc/pdf_eclc/CCAMPIS_App.pdf
Call (810) 239-0046
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Parents as Partners
Transitioning to Kindergarten Series!
Join this informal gathering of parents and staff as we share tips and
ideas for supporting children in transitioning to Kindergarten! Drop in!
ck
Backpa
tion
Connec
This month’s topic:
What to Look for
Tuesday, January 19
in Kindergarten!
2:30-3:00
and Timbits
This months’ topic:
Language and Literacy - Writing!
Tuesday, January 12
7:30AM - 8:30AM
Stop by to pick
up a fun, learning
activity to use at
home!
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Resource and Lending Library Visit!
The Resource and Lending Library will be here on Tuesday, January
5 from 2:30– 3:00! Stop by and check out some of the great books
and backpacks that you can borrow and use at home for FREE!
Home/School Connection:
HOMEWORK!
Home/School Connection:
Family “Homework”!
Look for the following
“homework” this month:




Emergent Writing
Alphabet Awareness ABC
Alphabet DEF
Alphabet GHI
Don’t forget to drop off your homework in your classroom mailbox!
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January Parent Advisory News!
6
Parent Voting Day!
Join in the decision-making process for our
curriculum by voting for a Language/
Literacy - Writing activity! Stop by
the Family Resource Room #110 to
cast your vote on Tuesday, January 5!
Parent Advisory Team Meeting Report
Parent
involvement
Thank you for participating in the Parent Advisory Team
Meeting! Your comments were very much
appreciated and will help us continue to
address program quality.
Here are your results:
Your vote for on activity to support children’s development in phonological awareness: Nursery Rhyme Mini Books!
——————————
Your scores for Parent Involvement:
Partnerships with Parents in the Program Quality Assessment:
(Scores 1—5 with 5 being highest)
.
Staff and parents frequently interact informally to update
each other about the child’s recent experiences.
Score of 5: 95%
Score of 3: 5%
Each day staff communicate with parents in a give-and-take
manner. Staff use an interested, unhurried, friendly manner.
Score of 5: 90%
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Score of 3: 10%
Outdoor Play Every Day!
Outdoor play is an important part of
both our curriculum and your child’s
daily routine. Children will be going outside every day unless it is raining or the
temperature is below 10 degrees with
the wind chill. Please provide warm
clothing for your children to wear outdoors during cold weather including
coats, hats, mittens, and boots. Thank
you!
Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/teacherannturner/outdoor-play-8122015
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Children’s New Sign-In
New MCC Practicum Students
Your children will continue to have
the opportunity to practice writing
the letters in their name during sign
in but now they will practice both
their first and last names. Please
continue to provide the great support you have been giving them as
they practice writing!
We are looking forward to getting to
know the new students who will be
working with children under the direction of the teaching staff as they
work toward their Associates Degrees in Early Childhood. Please read
introductions to the new students
next to each classroom.
Emergency School Closing Information
Weather Related Closings: Our school will be closed when Mott
Community College is closed and also when Flint Community
Schools are closed due to weather. Any school closing will be announced on the TV (ABC 12) or the radio or you may call the
Mott College Weather Information line at (810) 232-8989 for
updates.
Power Outage Closings: In the case of a power outage while
school is in session, MCC Early Childhood Learning Center will
use our landline phone number to contact parents to pick up
children and for communication. This number will be used to
communicate with parents ONLY in the case of a power outage
at school: (810) 235-3658. All other calls: (810) 239-0046.
Support Math Readiness Through Math Talk
by: Eugene Geist
A father and 3-year-old son, Clark, walk through the supermarket.
Clark asks, “Can we get donuts?” “How many should we get?” his father responds. “A hundred!” Clark exclaims. Dad counters, “Wow,
that’s a lot of donuts! How many do we need so Mommy, Daddy, your
sister, and you can have one?” Clark proceeds to think, count, and
problem solve as the father continues to prompt him to use math to
decide how many donuts to purchase. - See more at: http://
families.naeyc.org/learning-and-development/music-math-more/
support-math-readiness-through-math-talk#sthash.F6DBmJlH.dpuf
Talk is a fundamental way children learn, even before they understand what is being said. Children who come
from homes where there are a lot of books and where family members talk about what they have read, for example, have been shown to have better literacy outcomes in kindergarten and successive grades1. This same principle holds true for mathematics. The more parents talk with their child about math at home, the more a child’s
mind is stimulated to think about math. Here are five ways to use math talk with your child.
1. Use age appropriate math talk. Math talk grows with your child. Math talk is simply talking to your child about
the math that they experience. Preschool children are capable of some amazing mathematical thinking. Parents
can discuss simple addition problems—such as “I wonder what four plus four is”—and let the child think about it
and work it out. The key here is to engage in discussion, not rapid fire question and answer sessions. Preschoolers need time to work out the problem on their own. Soon they will begin asking you questions. Even wrong answers provide opportunities. Letting children talk through their solutions and math thinking is very important.
Try not to correct them or interrupt them. Sometimes just being quiet and listening is the best thing we can do.
2. Look for opportunities to count or add. Count the number of green tiles on the floor of the grocery store or
the number of cracks you walk over on the sidewalk. Once children are able to add, look for opportunities to allow them to do this. On a drive or a walk you might say, “I see two geese on this side of the lake and three geese
on the other side. How many geese does that make?”
3. Look for opportunities to problem solve. One of my favorite places to ask my 4year-old son questions about math is the grocery store. The problem solving involved
in an everyday discussion about how much of a specific food our family needs involves a lot of math concepts and content. For example, I’ve asked my son “How
many apples do you think we need to buy?” If he tells me we need six, I ask “Why do
we need six?” His answers often involve explanations about the number of days in a
week, how many people we have in our house, who likes apples and who does not,
whether we usually cut the apples up into smaller pieces or eat them whole, and how
many apples each of us usually eat in one sitting.
4. Ask open-ended questions to sustain math talk as long as possible. The goal of math talk is to keep the child
talking. Math talk means being ready with follow-up questions that can extend and deepen your math discussions.
For example, during my discussion about apples with my son I could ask him, “Should we buy the bag of apples or
buy individual apples?” Sustaining the talk as long as possible is the key.
5. Be prepared to take extra time for math talk. Discussion about something like how many apples we need to
buy takes time, but these types of interactions are wonderful opportunities for learning.
Retrieved from NAEYC for Families @ http://families.naeyc.org/learning-and-development/music-math-more/
support-math-readiness-through-math-talk
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RED ROOM NEWS!
A NEW FINGERPLAY!
5 Little Snowmen Riding on a Sled!
Five little snowmen riding on the sled
One fell off and bumped his head
Frosty called the doctor and the doctor said
"No more snowmen, riding on a sled!"
Four little snowmen...
CREATIVE ART!
What happens when you have
Glue bottles, White round lids,
Sequins, Contact paper, Wooden
sticks and shapes, and Confetti
and Sequins and Curious minds?
Creative Art that’s What! The children have enjoyed using different types of materials and media
in discovering the process of art explorations.
Creative Art: Children express and represent what
they observe, think, imagine, and feel through twoand three-dimensional art.
THE SCIENCE OF BUBBLES !
We read the book Memoirs of a Goldfish and discovered the joy of making
bubbles. Which by the way, explored
the area of Science and
technology: Communicating ideas:
Children communicate their ideas
about the characteristics of
things and how they work.
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YELLOW ROOM NEWS!
COLORS IN SNOW!
We haven't had much snow this winter but when we did we
were able to bring some of that snow into our classroom,
we filled our water table with snow and the children were
able to explore with it. Water colors are a great way to
brighten up our water table and we usually pick a different
color each day but when we had snow the children were
able to use many different colors using pipettes and cups
to turn the snow colors. The children really enjoyed this
activity, and it was a great way to talk with them about the
characteristics of snow because could feel how cold it was and watch as the
snow melted as they added watercolor to it.
INTRODUCING GLUE! We used liquid glue
for the first time in class for an art activity, the
children really enjoyed it and worked very hard
on their art work. Each child got a piece of blue
construction paper and a bottle of glue, we gave
them small containers with sequence, wood pieces and pipe cleaners and let them explore and
create their own art work.
This activity was an experiment for the children
because they were able to
manipulate the materials
to figure out how they
worked, for example; how
they could get the materials to stick to their paper, how much glue they
needed to use, how long does it take to dry.
DONATIONS WELCOME!
In our classroom we like to
use a lot of natural materials
as well as materials you might
have laying around your
house. We are always looking
for new and exciting art projects we can do with the children and sometimes it's the
most simple materials that
make the best art. We would
appreciate any donations you
would like to make to the
classroom for art, for example: paper towel
rolls, egg cartons, old pieces
of fabric, buttons, etc.
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GREEN ROOM NEWS!
Staffing Change for the Green Room
We are sad to announce that due to family needs, Ms. Melissa will not be returning to the Green Room in the Winer 2016 semester. Mc. Melissa has
been a tremendous support to families in our program and we will miss her!
While we are sad to see her leave, we are very appreciative of the positive
impact she has made for the children and families she has been so dedicated
in serving here at the MCC Early Childhood Learning Center and we wish
her well in the future.
When change happens it is important to provide continuity so that children feel secure. At this
time Ms. Valerie and Ms. Kyaira will continue on in their roles of providing classroom support
for the Young Preschool and Before and After Care programs. We are pleased to tell you that
Ms. Valerie and Ms. Kyaira have both attained their early childhood education through the
MCC Early Childhood Education Program and have had extensive classroom leadership experience in our very own MCC Early Childhood Learning Center. Until the position of a Lead
Teacher is finalized, Ms. Valerie and Ms. Kyaira will be working with your children and will
continue to use intentional strategies to help the children with the social and emotional aspects
of the transition while facilitating ongoing learning and maintaining a consistent daily routine.
Our staff is committed to working with you and your children through this time of transition
and we would like to ask for your continued support. We are confident that our strong homeschool partnership will help this time of transition go smoothly and we look forward to the second half of the school year. If you have any questions please stop by the school office.
MS. VALERIE
MS. KYAIRA
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PARENT to PARENT PAGE!
From our
PARENTS!
One idea I have for helping my child
learn letters is:

Flash Cards (Jessiah’s dad, Jesse)

Youtube educational videos (DeRon’s
mom, Shena)
Use beads to
make the shape of
the letter
http://mrprintables.com/alphabet-flash-cards.html
(Avarie’s mom,
Erika)

Sing along letter songs (Indie-Marie’s
mom, Janei)

Show words, ask letters, write name
(Erykah’s dad, Eric)

Thanks to our parents for sharing these great ideas!
Look for more ideas to come in future newsletters!
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Mott Community College
Early Childhood Learning Center
1509 E. Court Street
Flint, MI 48503
Phone: 810-239-0046
Fax: 810-768-4002
The Great Start Readiness Program
(GSRP) is a free child development program that serves eligible children who
are 4 years old by September 1st of
each school year. The MCC GSRP is operated by Mott Community College and is
funded by the Michigan Department of
Our program is proud to have earned
NAEYC Accreditation - the mark of quality
for early childhood education programs.
Education.
These materials were developed under a grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Education
Community Happenings!
WALK-IN CRAFTS!
Flint Public Library
Main Branch
1026 E. Kearsley
Flint, MI 48503
Saturday, January 16, 2016
2-4PM
Preschool,
Kindergarten,
Elementary School
Location:
Children’s Room
UM-Flint to Open Historic
Downtown Ice Rink
Skating will be free and open to
the public on Wednesday evenings as well as
Saturday and
Sunday afternoons through
March after
the Jan. 2
opening.