Monthly Tattle Tales Gilmer Head Start Newsletter

September 2008 B e t h M c A r t h u r, C e n t e r D i r e c t o r
Vo l u m e 1 , I s s u e 2 Joe Wood, Curriculum Director

From the Director’s Desk…

Wow, I can’t believe it is already

September! How time flies when you
are having fun at school. We had a
The day the llamas came great start to our new school year. I
to visit. would like to thank each of you who
helped to make our first few days
easier. I know how hard it is to leave
Contents your child at school for the first time.
We have some very exciting activities
Director’s Desk 1
starting this month. We will have music
Learning Zone 1 every week with Ms. Amanda and the
Doty Lending Library will be open. Each
Upcoming Events 1 classroom will be able to go to the
What is RIF? 2 library on Fridays. We will also begin to
take our walking field trips to the
What is In-kind? 2 Gilmer County Library. If you would like
Classroom 1-A 2
to volunteer to walk along with your
child’s classroom, we could use the
Classroom 5-B 2 help. Our beloved Storyteller, Betsy
Doty will begin telling stories to each
Classroom 9-C 2
classroom once a month.
Classroom 12-D 3
Gilmer Head Start has been very
Parent Committee 3 fortunate to have the Craddock Center
to sponsor many wonderful activities.
Growing Vegetables 3
The newest of these ideas is the support
Hand washing 4 group for grandparents who are raising
The Learning Zone
grandchildren and a grief support group
Pedestrian Safety 4 for children who have suffered a loss of
I any
would likeWe
to share a littleand information There are 33 parts of the screening.
kind. are excited hoping Some parts are answered by the
with you about a screening
these support groups will benefityour child
the
will be participating in. It is called teacher concerning what they have
Upcoming families we serve. Watch for more
Acuscreen.
details to beAcuscreen
sent home is a screening
with your child.
seen the child do in the classroom.
The other parts of the screening are
Events inventory for ages 3-5. It takes into
We would
account howlove
oldfor youchild
each to volunteer
is and is any tasks the children are asked to
time you canininthe
administered ourchild’s
classrooms
primaryor complete by the screener (usually
♦ Labor Day Holiday helping answer the phone or door or
language. the teacher). From this screening we
whatever you want to do. More are able to see if there are any early
♦ RIF Distribution importantly, your child loves for you to risks for developmental or speech
delays. We also use the information
♦ Health and Dental come to the classroom.
gained during the screening to see
♦ Music/Storytelling Our program would not be the award what areas the children have already
winning program that it is today if we mastered so the teacher can plan
♦ Library did not have the wonderful support of their lessons for each child
our parents. We continue to believe accordingly. If you have any
parents are a child’s first and best questions regarding our Acuscreen
teacher! assessment or anything else that
Beth McArthur, Center pertains to the classroom, please
Director feel free to give me a call.
Joe Wood, Curriculum
Director
 Page 2 of 4 Classroom News Tattle Tales

What is RIF? What is In-kind?

In September, we are going to have
a “RIF” distribution. RIF stands for
Reading Is Fundamental. We get
books for each child to take home
and keep, but we have to have an
activity with parents involved in
order to keep receiving these books.
This is a wonderful way for you and
your child to begin building your
own library in your home.!
Every month you will be asked to sign
an “in-kind” form. In-kind is a payment
Classroom 1-A, Mrs. Vickie & Mrs. Pendergrass
made in the form of goods and services
rather than cash. There are several
Check out our Doty Lending Library Unit topic:
ways we Taking
can use yourCare
time of
as our
in-kind,
for children and parents to use. World
such as Home Learning Activities, taking
Here you see Ms. Wilma, one of our Colors:
your childGreen,purple,blue,yellow
to medical/dental
volunteers, helping a child check M Numbers:
appointments 5, and
6, 7,anytime
8 you
Mrs. Vickie measures a child in volunteer your time
Shapes: Heart,Circle in our center. This
classroom 1. We will do this two is a very important part
Square,Triangleof our funding
times this year to see how much we process.
Letters: Thank you for your help!
Ff,Gg,Hh,Ii
grow during the school year.
Activity you can do at home:
Let’s recycle! Send your used
Monthly plastic bottles. We will count them
Scheduled Events each Friday and keep a tally of how
*No school, many we can collect. We started
October 8,9,10 Classroom
going to our music12-D,
classesMrs.
each Hazel & Ms. Michele
Oct. 17, 8:30 am Unit
week topic:
and we The
had aMagical world
visit from the of
Parent Workshop: our
Llamasenses
Farm. A special thank you to
Allergy/Asthma Colors: yellow,
all the family purple,
members whoblack
helped
and First Aid to make our 6,
Numbers: 7, 8, 9,
Building 10 with
Readers
*Music Wed/Thurs Dad (and Lowe’s)
Shapes: such Heart
Rectangle, a huge
*Storytelling once success.
Letters: Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg class
Drop by for music
some day!you can do at home:
Activity
a month
*Walking field trip Read a story to your child and ask
questions about the story. Let your
to the Library on child tell the story to you in his/her own
Tuesday’s words and draw a picture of the story.
*Lending Library This month we will smell different
on Fridays Classroom 9-C, Mrs. Linda & Mrs. Joy
scents of liquids on cotton balls, feel
different textures, listen to different
sounds,
Unit conduct
topic: taste test activities and
Animals We began a journal about a watermelon
look at many different
Colors: Brown,Yellow,Red items. We will in seed we planted. We observed a
Not Enough time fact explore the “magical world of our mammoth sunflower and took the seeds
I only have a few
Purple
senses”. Please drop by to enjoy some off to dry out and save for a project in
hours to spend. Numbers: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
of our activities with us. Thanks to all the spring. Please drop by to see our
Am I teaching them Shapes:
the familyTriangle,Rectangle,Heart
members who helped with science activities in action. We also
enough? our RIF day!Square have lots of stories we have written you
The work of course is Letters: Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll can read . Parents are always welcome
important too, Activity you can do at home: in our classroom!
But much more to Discuss fall activities and collect
know they’re loved. interesting things your child finds in
nature to bring to class to show and
discuss.
Tattle Tales Classroom News Page 3 of 4

Classroom 5-B, Mrs. Norita & Mrs. Shannon

Unit topic: Nature (rocks, sand,
moss/water, critters and fall)
Colors: Black
Numbers: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Shapes: Triangle
Letters: Nn, Ii, Ss, Rr
Activity you can do at home
Take your child on a nature walk to
identify rocks, pebbles, sand, moss and
things like insects, lizards and snakes.
Let your child bring in what he/she
finds or write a story about it to share.
What’s happening with parents…
We have graphed all our children’s eye
color. We are always working on letter
sound
We did andnot
identifying
have a names.
parent Please
come by see our graphing. It is quite
committee meeting in September,
impressive to see that children at this
but weuse
age can dida have
graph aandgreat Male its
understand
Involvement activity. Lowe’s
meaning.
sponsored our “Building Readers
with Dad”, RIF activity on
September 17. We had thirty-nine
family members drop by to help
the children build simple items
such as tiny lockers, memory
boxes and emergency phone
Our
numberStoryteller is spring
holders. In the back!!!
we
will do a similar activity with
Lowe’s, only building more Pictured above, Mrs.
Amanda gets music
complicated items. Each child
was able to also choose a book to class started!
take home. We can’t wait until
the next activity! This child in
classroom 9 is
investigating a
“Mammoth
Sunflower”.
Our very own Storyteller, Betsy Doty is
Volunteers Needed
back with us. Betsy has a magical way
of telling stories. From the Dark, Dark
WeScarecrow
Night to the need volunteers
that wigglestoand
act as receptionist (answer door and phone). We have
shakes, shevolunteers for Monday,
makes her words and Thursday and Friday already. We could use someone for
Tuesday
actions come alive. and
If youWednesday.
can, you You can stay as long as you would like to. Most of the
need to drop in on a storytelling day.
volunteers work from 7:45 until noon. If you are not interested in working at
Betsy will be here every month. Check
the front door, we can always find something else for you to do and at your
with your teacher to see when she is in
convenience.
your child’s classroom. YouYou will are
be inalways welcome at Gilmer Head Start!
for a real treat!
 Hand Washing: A Child’s Best Friend!
When you visit our classrooms you
will find that the staff will ask you
to wash your hands. Everyone who
enters a classroom is asked to wash
their hands. Eventually, even the
Gilmer Head Start
305 Calvin Jackson Dr.
children will ask you when you enter
Ellijay, GA 30540 the classroom. Studies have proven
that hand washing is the very best
Phone:
(706) 635-4045
way to prevent the spread of germs.
We wash hands all day in our
Fax: classrooms. Children (and staff) are
(706) 635-4046
required to wash hands first thing
E-mail: when they enter the room in the
beth.mcarthur@ndohs.org
Pedestrian
morning, before and Safety
after meals,
before and after water play, after
Not everyone participates in Halloween, but
using
those the
who bathroom,
do need to bebefore
mindfulbrushing
of the
teeth
hazards associated with trick or in
and when they come from
treating.
Educating Lifelong the playground.
According We Prevention
to the Injury also haveProgram,
germ
Learners Halloween is the most dangerous
buckets and anything that goes into time of
year for preschoolers. Here are some tips
aPedestrian
child’s mouth, goes into the germ
The school where safety:
bucket to be washed. We try
*Engage in Halloween activities really
during
parents are always hard to keep the germs away.
daylight hours if possible.
welcome!
*Do not enter homes or apartments without
adult supervision.
*Remind children to walk, not run, and to
only cross streets at crosswalks.
*Be sure your children are accompanied by a
responsible adult who has a flashlight.
Flashlights or chemical light sticks should be
Gilmer Head Start used so that children can see and be seen by
305 Calvin Jackson Drive motorists.
Ellijay, GA 30540

TO THE FAMILY OF: