Susan Says...

Happy New Year! I hope that 2006 brings nothing but the best for our Goddard kids and their families.

I am happy to report that we are making real progress on our annex. Construction is well underway and Ms. Christina and her Stingrays can hardly contain their excitement. We are still not able to project an opening date, because we are not only going to need inspections from the township, but also from the Bureau of Licensing from the state of New Jersey. We will keep you posted.

Please be on the alert for a couple of important notices that will be coming your way: one to advise us of your plans for the summer and September, the other to give you advance warning about deposits, etc. to help with your financial planning in 2006.

Lastly, if you have a sibling that you plan to enroll in our school (infant or older), please give us as much advance notice as possible. As we plan for the next school year, we would not want to overlook any of our current families.

Kingsbridge Parent Association News

Our fall fundraisers were very successful! We are planning some special events for the children with the money we raised. On Thursday, January 26th Uncle John’s Puppet Show will visit and on Friday, February 17th Big Jeff’s music will put on a show for the school.

We are organizing a "Goddard Movie Night" at the HIllsborough Cinema on Thursday, February 16th. The theatre will be showing "Curious George." Please sign up on the sheet across from the parent mailboxes.

We meet on the first Tuesday of every month and are still looking for more members. Please join.

From the Directors' Chair

We are excited about starting our new Spanish program beginning in February! The Trampolin program introduces children to Spanish vocabulary as part of the everyday activities in the classroom. Children as young as 12 months old will begin to have Spanish words incorporated into their lesson plans.

Several parents have approached me recently about donating used toys to our school. While I appreciate your offers, we are required to only use equipment from the Goddard Systems approved list. The Agape House in Somerville does accept donations and can be contacted at (908) 707-9753

Seal Pups

We enjoyed making holiday gifts for our mommies and daddies and have been learning new rhymes with our fingerplay mitt! It’s going to be messy when we make our own clean mud with toilet paper and water. Our babies are growing up! Graham transitioned to the Turtle room in January and Ava and Matthew will be joining him in February. We welcomed Charlotte, Samantha and Hannah to our class and will have two new friends, Michael and Jaymes in February.

Tiny Turtles

As the weather became colder, the Turtles were excited to bring winter inside as they explored in the sensory table with snow. The new year brought us our new teacher, Miss Gracie and new friends, Graham and Natalia. The Turtles said good-bye to Garrett who is off to new adventures in the Jellyfish Room. In February we will welcome Ava and Matthew and wish good luck to Brett and Ella as they join Garrett in the Toddler Room.

Smiling Starfish

The Starfish friends really enjoyed all of the holiday celebrations. We can’t wait to fingerpaint with "Cool Whip"and participate in Pajama Day! We plan to have a Teddy Bear Party when we learn all about bears. Help us give a big Starfish welcome to John H., Astrid L. and Annabelle H. Emily B. moved to the Manatee Room in January. We will miss her!

Jumping Jellyfish

Winter is everywhere in the Jellyfish Room. We had fun tossing cotton balls into the air, having a parade with mittens and jumping on snowflakes. We look forward to using colorful playdough and painting with our numbered sponges. It was sad to see Annabelle, Astrid and John go to the Starfish Room. We will miss them! We welcomed Garrett to our room and look forward to our new friends, Ella and Brett, when they become Jellyfish in February.

Marvelous Manatees

Gingerbread houses were decorated with icing and candy. Yummy! We also enjoyed hearing a story about a gingerbread boy and then using the flannel board to retell the story. Bundle up in January! We will be learning about arctic animals, snow and hibernation. We will surely miss Christina as she will transition into the Dolphin Room and are so glad to have Emily B. join our class.

Dynamic Dolphins

The Dolphins celebrated "Big Sister Day"on December 8th in honor of Grace J. and her new baby sister, Charlotte. During our "Holidays at Home"theme, it was great wearing our pajamas to school and eating breakfast for lunch! Making chocolate covered pretzels for our families was a perfect holiday treat. We started off the new year learning about bears and bringing in our favorite teddy bears for the day. We welcomed Christina P. to our class. The Dolphins want to congratulate Jadin who became a big brother to Ella on November 28th.

Outstanding Otters

The Otters had so much fun working on gifts for our families and best of all, keeping them a secret until the holidays! Our holiday party was such a blast. Thank you to all the parents who helped out by providing us with our delicious treats. We are becoming little scientists and are looking forward to the experiments our teachers have planned for us. Congratulations to Trevor, our first Otter to lose two teeth! We would like to say good-bye and good luck to Alec S.

Wonderous Whales

Making gingerbread was a big hit in December. Reading about gingerbread, making our own to eat and decorating houses was fun! January is all about winter. We will be making crystal snowflakes, building indoor snowmen and learning about hibernating animals. February will bring our 100th day of school. We will be doing many sensory activities with colors and shapes and finding new ways of expressing ourselves artistically! We are graphing as our friends lose teeth. In November we lost six, none in December and six so far in January! Way to go friends!

Perky Penguins

We have been great friends to each other in the classroom. We love to build ramps and tunnels with our blocks and play dress up. Our favorite games for the computer are "The Land Before Time"and "Fisher Price Castle." We will be learning about winter weather, colors, shapes, letters and numbers. "The Fishy Song"is still our

Super Stingrays

We have begun our time travel journeys by starting with the Renaissance period. We’ve learned many things about the art, architecture and music of that time. Portraits were painted and inventions were explored. We also did a little sculpting. Austin lost his two front teeth just in time for the holidays!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 gallon ziploc bag

Directions: Pour the peanut butter, dry milk and honey into the bag. Close the bag and knead the mixture until it turns into dough. Mold and sculpt with the dough.
* Do not re-use or store!

Mix together::1/3 c. margarine, melted, 1/3 c. molasses, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. cloves, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Add 1 egg and 2 1/2 c. flour. Blend well. Knead on a clean surface. Chill the dough for about 15 minutes. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out dough using cardboard patterns. Place on greased cookie sheet and cut out windows and doors. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from pan to rack to cool.

Royal Icing: 3 egg whites (or the equivalent in powdered whites which have been reconstituted), 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 pound confectioner’s sugar .

Directions: Mix all ingredients. Beat thoroughly in a bowl until icing stands in peaks. Keep covered with a damp cloth to keep from drying out. Assemble houses and decorate with candies of your choice.