Lets Dance!

Hello Again! Today's blog is showcasing Pre-K Prom; we had a blast dancing and having fun with their family and friends! Here at The Academy of Gateway we prepare a fun family night for our kiddos going into Kindergarten this fall. Our theme this year was "Get Your Glow On" and we sure did; from black lights to glow in the dark accessories, we were ready to glow! Let's take a quick peek and see how it went:

We had so much fun! :)

Thank you for stopping by! For more information please visit: academychilddevelopment.com

Summer Reading Has Its Rewards

Hello Everyone! We are so excited that Summer is drawing near; we have great plans for our kiddos at The Academy of Gateway. From Kindergarten Bootcamp to Water Days, we will have fun activities to fill our summer! 

With Summer a month away, lets not forget about our summer reading! :) Power your child's love of words with these fun games and activities. They'll never guess how much they're learning! We fell in love with these ideas and will definitely be implementing them in our older classrooms. :)

Play Matchmaker

Early reads will get a kick out of recognizing words. Toss a bunch of household items--your kid's plastic dino, a seashell, a pencil--into a bucket. Write the corresponding words on note cards. Your child's mission: Match each item with its written description.

Swap Stories By The Campfire

Pack your kids' favorite (not too) spooky tales and a flashlight, and act out the stories in your best ghostly voice. Not into camping? Just head to the backyard after dark.

Tell A Zany Story

Preschoolers love to chat, and DIY mad libs power your child's active imagination while boosting literacy skills. Brainstorm a list of people, places, things and actions with your little one. Write them down onto slips of paper. Place the nouns and verbs into two different bowls. Ask your child to draw one slip from each, them come up with a story involving the two. They'll be excited to you all about a bicycling bear. For more storytelling fun, check out the Innovation Machine powered by Energizer online at scholastic.com/summer

Fish For Sight Words

Beginning readers can recognize some short words--such as "the" and "to"--at a glance. Help them practice by playing a round of reading inspired Go Fish. Write about 20 sight words on note cards (make sure there are two of each word). Then, deal four cards to yourself and your child. Place the remainder between you. In order to make a pair, your child will need to figure out what words are in her hand, then ask if you've got its match or draw from the deck.

Build Some Words

Energize their pattern-recognition skills by creating word blocks. First, jot down common syllables like at, an, op, and it on sticky notes then affix each to a block. Next, put consonants on another set of stickies and affix those to blocks as well. Then let your kids stack 'em up to build as many words as they can. 

Take It Outside 

Grab a pair of walkie-talkies and a couple of your child's favorite books. Then head outside and find separate places in the yard where you can get comfy. Take turns reading to each other through the walkies and encourage him to spell out words he gets stuck on. This activity can also work with larger group of kids, like kids from the neighborhood! :) 

For more information about the Power Up and Read Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, please go to scholastic.com/summer

Thank you for visiting! We appreciate you stopping by! For more information about our program, please visit: academychilddevelopment.com

Starting Early to Teach Healthy Habits

Hi Everyone! Here at The Academy of Gateway, we are a Gold Sneaker Facility. The Gold Sneaker Initiative was developed to enhance policy related to healthy and wellness within licensed childcare facilities across Tennessee. 

Below are great links for parents from The Gold Sneaker Initiative website on:

• Breastfeeding and the Working Mother
• Quit Line Information
• USDA
• Is My Toddler Eating Enough?
• Family Doctor
• Children's Health System
• Be Joyful and Complete Eating

We attached an educative video titled " Starting Early to Teach Healthy Habits" for you to watch on how Robert Wood Johnson Foundations plans to slow down the childhood obesity epidemic.

We appreciate you stopping by! For more information on our program, please visit: academychilddevelopment.com

Playin' with Play-Doh!

 Hello Everybody! Here at The Academy of Gateway we have a blast at our Hump Day events! We recently had a play-doh event where our children had fun making their own designs! Let's take a look and see what our kiddos made:

 Whatcha making? :)

Look at me, I'm making something cool! :)

 Great job boys!

 I see lots of blue at this table! :)

 How many play-doh cups can we stack? :)

 Way to go!

Being silly with friends! :)

Thank you for visiting! If you would like more information about our program: academychilddevelopment.com

Trash to Treasure Art Projects

Hey Everybody! Here at The Academy of Gateway we invited families and staff to create a fun trash to treasure art project to display here at school. We had huge success and are excited to show them off! Let's take a look and see how we did:

Batman Flashlight 

 This was a very creative idea! Where's Batman

when you need him? :)

The Polar Express

 Pre-K One's teacher created this train! 

Way to go!

Peppa the Pig!

 Preschool Four's teachers created this project!

Good job! :)

Minion Man

 He is the winner of our Family Trash to Treasure

art project! Congratulations!! :)

Ladybug Island

 Preschool Three's classroom created this island 

of ladybugs! How cute!

Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed

This is too adorable! What a great project! 

Mr. Pumpkin 

So cute!

We had a lot of fun voting on the winners! Everyone who participated did a great job! 

Thank you for visiting, for more information about our program please visit:

academyofchilddevelopment.com