The Academy of Gateway Online Newsletter: March 2013

Friday, March 22, 2013

Bubble Fun

Our Toddler 2 is having so much fun chasing and popping bubbles today! This is a great way to get our muscles moving!

Bat Art

Today we learned all about Bats in our Pre-K 2 classroom. Our favorite thing about bats is how they hang upside down. So, we did upside art today to be just like them!! It was so much fun!!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Making Bird Feeders

Our Toddlers had so much fun making Bird Feeders today!!

shake.. shake.. shake

Preschool 1 had even more fun!!!

"Let me help!"

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Our classrooms had so much fun doing our Shamrock Craft! All we did was cut a bell pepper in half and use it as a stamper to create 3 and 4 leaf clovers! This was a great kick off to our St. Patrick's Day celebration at the end of this week!!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Airplane Races

After a day of learning about Aviation we finally got to fly our paper airplanes today!! Each class had paper airplane races, and we had so much fun finding out who's planes would go the furthest!!

Making Paper Airplanes

Our curriculum theme this month is "Wings and Things that Fly". Today we talked about Aviation and how it is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft. We also got to start designing our own Paper Airplanes to get ready for our Airplane Races tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Flying Mentos Experiment

Today we did the Flying Mentos Experiment!! What do you need for the Flying Mentos Experiment you ask??

1. Mentos

2. A 2 Liter Diet Drink

3. A Tube to drop the Mentos down

How Does It Work??

Each Mentos chewy mint has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface. These tiny pits are called nucleation sites-perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles in the soda to form. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the chewy mints and quickly rise to the surface of the liquid. Couple this with the fact that Mentos are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you've got a double whammy. When all this gas is released, it literally pushes all of the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast!

FROG STREET INFANT

Designed around the latest scientific early brain development research, Frog Street Infant curriculum is designed to build strong foundations for little ones ages 0-18 months. This child-centered program includes easy-to-use activities that:

equip caregivers to nurture the little ones in their care.
optimize key windows of opportunity for growth and development.
are designed with intention and purpose and organized around developmental learning domains.
feature Dr. Becky Bailey’s Conscious Discipline® strategies to enhance social and emotional development.

KINDERGARTEN BOOT CAMP: AN ACADEMY EXCLUSIVE

The Academy is recognized by the community for our kindergarten specific programs including our one-of-a-kind Kindergarten Boot Camp. Our Pre-K program includes hands-on explorations that create new learning connections in language, math, science, social, emotional and physical development. Children investigate “Big Ideas” and are actively involved in seeking answers to their own questions. Intentional daily plans cover a specific range of guidelines that prepare our children to meet and exceed kindergarten readiness standards for both public and private schools. Kindergarten Boot Camp, offered exclusively by Never Grow Up, is a dedicated summer program that teaches important, yet often overlooked, skills needed to navigate kindergarten with confidence. Skills such as remembering a lunch number, carrying a lunch tray or returning a library book are examples of how we “train” our Academy kids to “be all they can be”!

We're Creating Childhood

The Academy Child Development Centers and Preschools are privately owned and operated by our parent company, Never Grow Up, Inc. Based out of Louisville, KY, family owned Never Grow Up, Inc. operated nearly 30 child development centers in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Never Grow Up, Inc. is committed to providing private child care for parents who want only the best for their children. We understand that "we're creating childhood" every day for the children in our care, and we hold that privilege with the highest regard

Gold Sneaker Certified

Healthy habits are instilled at a young age, with most habits being formed during adolescence. We feel it important to instill good habits at an early age, addressing behavioral factors that contribute to overweight and obesity from the beginning. The Gold Sneaker initiative was developed to enhance policy related to physical activity and nutrition within licensed child care facilities across Tennessee. Policies we've adopted include minimum requirements on physical activity, sedentary activities, breastfeeding, meal time, behaviors, portion sizes, and a tobacco-free facility. Together, we can create healthy habits for life.