A Look Into 2021!

 

2022 is making its debut tonight, but before we welcome The New Year let's look back into 2021.

We loved Splatter Paint day!

Green our Scene at The Academy was a hit!

Ms. Becky sung all the tunes!

An awesome visit from the Easter Bunny!

Our kiddos loved the petting zoo!

Look at these cool kids on glasses day!

WHOOP! WHOOP! Glow in the dark party!

Hot summer days cause for yummy popsicles!

Our Kindergarten Cadets practicing handwriting!

Kindergarten Bootcamp was so much fun! 

These kiddos had their own library cards!

Nature Sticky Wall!

Bike Day!

A movie under the stars!

Hollywood Themed Prom for our Graduates!

Prom 2021!

Christmas 2021

Pajama day!

We want to thank each one of you for making 2021 at The Academy of Gateway a fun year. We will see you all in 2022!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  

Merry Christmas!

 

"Christmas, Christmas time is near! Time for toys and time for cheer!" 

~ Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks

We're gearing up for Christmas here at The Academy of Gateway! This is such a special season; we love the atmosphere and joy the holidays bring. We have had a week full of Christmas crafts and activities. The kiddos love getting to do these activities with their favorite teachers. Although, we are excited for the holidays with our families, we are sure going to miss our AOG families over the weekend.

We want to wish you a Safe & Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Literacy For Infants

 

Here at The Academy of Gateway Early literacy starts as early as 6 weeks. We incorporate books and fun nursery rhymes into our schedules to help children develop certain language skills. Reading often to a baby will help develop their language skills drastically compared to a baby who is only talked to. This week we read fun nursery rhymes to our infants with slow deliberate speech to help them one day connect the words with the pictures. 

Holiday Activities

 

What better way to celebrate the Holidays with your little ones than to do some fun Holiday Activities? This year at the Academy we are celebrating the holidays with Cookie decorating, Dressing like an elf, and a special guest visit from the Grinch. 

There are so many ways you can celebrate The Holidays with your family, from watching your favorite holiday movies to baking some yummy cookies. Crafts are also a great way to get your little ones involved. Here is a list of some fun activities to do with your family.

• DIY Ornaments
• Handprint dove plates
• Christmas stars
• Melting snowman
• Jingle Bell painting 

The Importance of Play in Early Education

 

Play benefits children's learning, peer engagement, physical growth, and health. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

Its been a short yet fun week here at The Academy of Gateway. We've enjoyed some yummy thanksgiving lunch and made some awesome turkey crafts. While we've enjoyed all the fun activities we also talked about the history of Thanksgiving and why we are thankful. 

We asked our friends to tell us what they are thankful for and a lot of them said their toys, mommy and daddy, and some said their teachers. We had friends draw what they are thankful for and others put theirs into a song. We are Thankful for Everyone here at The Academy of Gateway and we hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving.

Button Sorting; Discussing Shapes and Sizes

This week at The Academy of Gateway we discussed shapes and sizes. We used buttons and sorted them from biggest to smallest. This math activity works well for ages 2 and up. While children are sorting through the buttons ask them open-ended questions that lead children to explain why they grouped their buttons in a particular way. 

Gross Motor Play!

 

Gross Motor, often times called large motor, skills can be movements involving the arms, legs, and other large body parts. Gross motor skills are movements such as running, jumping, crawling, or swimming. It is important for children to practice their gross motor skills every day. Running around in large spaces, riding bikes, crawling through tunnels, and jumping on one leg is helping children to develop their control and coordination.

Petting Zoo Day!

It sure has been a fun week here at The Academy of Gateway! This was the first week of November and we did all the fun fall things, from guessing the number of candy corn in the jar to some yummy Cornucopia Snack mix. We also had Little Critters Petting Zoo come and visit our school. The kids loved getting to pet and feed all the different animals.

 Its important for children to interact with animals because they get to see how unique they are and learn their unique behaviors. A lot of our friends here learned that only female cows can produce milk and that donkeys can bite depending on their mood. We always learn something new when Little Critters Petting Zoo comes to visit!

Textured Bottles; Infants Sensory Activity!

 

Sensory play is an important part in a child's development. Children use their senses to explore and try to make sense of the world around them. They do this by touching, smelling, tasting, seeing, moving, and hearing. Our infants explored through sensory play by touching textured bottles. Although conversations with infants are typically one way, research indicates that these experiences , along with singing songs and reading books, will enhance both the structure and capacity of wiring for future language development and ultimately for success with reading.

FrogStreet Curriculum

 

It has been a fun week here at The Academy of Gateway, from Mr. Bond the science guy to diving deep into our curriculum. This week some of our friends focused on Family pets and talked about the different pets people own. We also talked about our favorite pets, drew our pets, and discussed why we love them. Pets are apart of our family and a lot of families couldn't imagine life without them. What pet is apart of your family?