Bringing Books to Life

 Like clockwork, every 6 months, we host a Book Fair! During the book fair, our students, families and teachers can explore books, magazines and other fun materials. While we love to see everyone's faces light up picking out their favorite books, our favorite part of our fall book fair is the dress up day!

On Book Character Dress Up Day, we encourage our teachers and students to come to school dressed like their favorite book character. Whether it be a superhero or a classic Dr. Seuss tale, we love seeing the creative ways that our friends bring their favorite books to life!

We know that early literacy is a critical component of early childhood education and fostering a child's love of reading early sets them up for a successful academic career. These dress up days and other engaging activities help bring books to life and provide tangible access to beloved stories and characters. We can't wait for our next book fair!

Back to School Season

 It's September so that means we are officially in back to school mode! From circle time to crafts, curriculum is back in full swing and our educators and students are ready to take on the school year.

In September, we move from our summer program back into our Frogstreet curriculum. Every year, we host an open house for our families to explore our academic curriculum, as well as our, social and emotional practices. All of our students have transitioned into their new classrooms for the year, so we take the time to get to know each other. Our teachers complete initial developmental checklists to establish a baseline for the year's academic success and provide healthy checkpoints throughout the school year.

As we shake off our summer sillies and settle back into curriculum, circle time gets more interactive. Our teachers use a variety of hands on materials, singing, dancing, storyboards and more to bring the lessons to life. Children are encouraged to participate and are given roles to make real-life connections from our circle time rugs to their homes and families. 

We are looking forward to an exciting and successful school year!

Professional Development-Informative Fun

Twice a year, all the Academy staff gather together for a conference. Our spring conferences gets us excited for our summer program and our fall conference rejuvenates us as we head into the school year. This year, the theme for our fall conference was Academy Energy! 

At the Academy, we strive to go above and beyond, to ensure that we are providing the best of quality in child care. The Academy Energy is that out-of-the-box, "who does that," mindset that everyone from our leadership to our support staff share. 

Our speakers for this year's fall conference provided new insight on identifying ways to support our families, while strengthening ourselves and our co-workers. In a field like early childhood development where things can change quickly, we want to make sure that our staff stay updated and prepared.

While our staff conferences are always refreshing and enlightening, it wouldn't be an Academy gathering without some fun! We love being all together, not just as a school, but as a company, and getting opportunities to share ideas, collaborate and celebrate each other's achievements! 

We are looking forward to a great school year and can't wait to learn more at our next conference!

 

Sensory Play!

At the Academy, our philosophy of learning is that children learn best through play. There is no better way to learn through play than sensory play! Sensory play is so important for a child's developing brain, as it helps build nerve connections in the brain. 

 

Through sensory play, children are able to taste, feel, hear, see, and smell their materials, allowing them space to process how the world works. Sensory activities heighten understanding of various concepts and stimulates our senses by physical interaction with the materials.

Sensory play may be messy but at The Academy of Seaboard Lane, we know that children thrive when allowed to play and explore!

Teacher Appreciation

Good educators are the heart and soul of any childcare center. At the Academy of Seaboard Lane, we are always looking for educators that go above and beyond, exceeding expectations. From engaging in fun dances or participating in dress up days, these educators work hard each day, giving their creativity and energy to their kiddos. 

One of the best parts of our week is celebrating Woot Woot Wednesdays for our teachers! Each Wednesday, we provide a small token of our appreciation. Whether it's providing a snack, a gift, a safe space or something in between, it's the least that we can do to shower our educators with love and appreciation. Without them, we wouldn't be the same!

Water Day! Water Day!

 "Water Day! Water Day!" the kids chant as they line up outside waiting for their turn to climb the water slide.

Our summer program is so exciting and engaging and one of the best parts is water day! Every Thursday in June and every Friday in July, all of our friends-infants through Pre-K, get to participate in water day! They come dressed in their water clothes and during each classes outside time, they can play with a variety of water toys like splash pads, sprinklers and water slides!

We LOVE water day!

Special Guests!

We love a good special guest at AoSL! Special guests are such a fun way to enhance our program. No matter the theme, we can find a special visitor to make it come to life! Be it a princess leaving her royal kingdom during Disney Days, Mother Goose reading us stories or a meteorologist teaching us during Weather Week, we love to welcome a variety of visitors. 

We make sure that all of our friends, big and small, get to engage with our special visitors. Our characters make classroom visits for our younger friends, while our older kiddos gather in our enrichment room. This extra space allows them to sing, dance and interact directly with our guests. We are very grateful for a network of visitors to make each moment special at the Academy of Seaboard Lane!

 

Classroom Engagement

 It might be summer but our learning and engagement never stops here at The Academy of Seaboard Lane! For some, summer is a time to lay around, not doing much. Here, summer means more time to learn, play, and get active. From infants to preschool, our educators are always thinking of new ways to engage with their friends. Our educators aren't afraid to get on the kids' level, get messy, and get creative!

Whether it's a craft, sensory bin, circle time or other exploration, there is always educational fun happening at The Academy!

Happy Father's Day!

 Last week at AoSL, we celebrated our fathers with our Popsicles with Pop event Our friends were able to share a yummy popsicle with their dads, while doing a fun sand art project! 

Dads are so important in a child's life and sometimes, they do not get the recognition they deserve. A dad is a child's first hero, first buddy, first partner in crime. As we as early childhood educators know, a child's first word is often "dada." 

Here at The Academy, we are very thankful to have such caring and involved fathers! We enjoyed providing a space for them to relax and we hope all of our fathers and father figures had a great Father's Day Weekend!

Summer, Summer, Summertime

Summer is here at AoSL and we had a great summer kick off week! We are so excited to start our summer program with this year's theme, "Let Them Play."  At the Academy, we believe in learning through play. Our teachers get to let their creativity shine with new and engaging activities during each week's theme. This year's theme includes everything from Under the Sea, Out of This World, Disney days, Dino Romp and more! We got prepared to play by adding new toys and items to our classrooms. 

We started our summer with a trip to the beach. Our teachers and friends got to play with fun beach toys, wear their favorite Hawaiian shirts, and take home a pair of cool sunglasses for a grab and go. We even ended the week with a special visit from Tikiz Shaved Ice! We can't wait to make this the best summer ever!