October Happenings at the Early Childhood Center

October was a very busy month at ECC! Lots of fun things happened. We started participating in the “Book It” program.  The "Book It!" program encourages reading in our schools. The students  who read for 20 minutes per day are rewarded with Pizza Hut coupons good for a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza. “Book It” runs from October until March.

On October 14, we had a book fair. Each student was able to pick 6 books to take home to help build their libraries. Some kids decided they wanted to pick books for their siblings and other family members rather than all 6 books for themselves. The kids were very excited about their selections of books. Thanks to our Speech/Language Therapists for helping organize this book fair.

We participated in the National Mix it Up at Lunch Day on October 18.  Mix it Up at Lunch Day is a national campaign launched by Teaching Tolerance. It was created  a decade ago, Mix It Up at Lunch Day encourages students to identify, question and cross social boundaries and helps K-12 teachers develop inclusive school communities. All the kids ate lunch together in our gym at the same time, and were able to sit with whomever they wanted. The kids enjoyed baked ziti, salad, rolls, fresh fruit and chocolate milk.  The kids loved it!

On October 28, our program particapted in a Make A Difference day. In preparation for this day, the program collected newspapers and soda cans. The cans were returned and the money was used to buy cat litter.  We raised $20.00! On this day, some classrooms took the newspapers and cat litter and donated it to Scottsville Veterinary Hospital. Other classrooms went to Bailey Road Fire Department. While there, they got a great lesson in Fire Prevention, and ate lunch inside the fire station. The kids helped the firefighters by washing 2 fire trucks to help make them squeaky clean. Finally, another group of students made pictures which were framed and hung up in our Cutler building. The students also made activity packets to distribute to the children who attend our Outpatient Program. Then they had a cookie and punch reception with some of the outpatient children and staff. When the day was finished all the students in ECC received a Certificate of Participation. A great time was had by both staff and students!

On October 31, the students were able to participate in Trick-or-Treating within our program and the Cutler Building. The students received some nice treats and were able to show off their costumes. Some of our featured costumes were: Football players, cheerleaders, ninjas, rock stars, street signs, Facebook, smurfs, and superkids.

The month of October drew then end of a term of our student council. To celebrate a successful 6 months, the student council members went on a field trip to Lollipop Farm. While they were at the farm they gave the dogs some yummy dog treats.

At our monthly success assembly the new student council members were announced. These students will be part of the student council until a new term begins in April. Congratulations to all the nominees.  

We had our monthly Success Assembly. This month’s theme was Caring about Learning. One student from each class was nominated as their student who was able to be the most successful in achieving this. The Physical Education awards were again distributed along with our 25 Book Challenge accomplishments. We had another 125 book winner this month!

To finish the month off, teachers began benchmarking students’ achievement in ELA. These benchmarks are done at the completion of every unit, and the scores are used to see how much academic achievement each student has made. We have some really great readers who are making great success. Keep up the great work!

Well, we have been really busy this month. Look for more great things in November!

Question of the month: How do we help kids adjust to the time change? Please tell us your thoughts and suggestions.