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THIS MONTH ATKIDS' PLACE
March 11, 2016
Dear Parents, March came in with a bang! It snowed the first week and thentemperatures were in the 70s! The rest of March is sure to bejust as exciting. We have started science enrichment which willcontinue throughout March. The kids love it! Renesha, ourscience specialist, works for the Deptartment of Agriculture,and she is so thrilled to be a part of Kids' Place; we are thrilledto have her! We will also celebrate the Purim carnival onSunday March 20th here at the Center. It will be a blast, so puton your costumes and head on over to the Weinstein JCC toenjoy all the fun activities, games, performances and more.
Something to know: we are accepting registrations for theupcoming school year. If you are returning to Kids' Place, don'tforget to turn in your registration form. Thank you for being apart of the Kids' Place family - because you belong here.
LaVenus Kids' Place Director
In This Issue
Letter to Parents
Important Note
Upcoming Dates/Events
Kids' Place Happenings
Middle School at Kids'Place
Reading Caravan
Staff Highlight
PJ's Recipe Corner
Pottery with Val
Contact Information
Gardening with Amanda
We are all about thegreenhouse lately! Eachclass has been out in the
greenhouse starting seeds(peppers, tomatoes,
cucumbers, kale, peas,spinach and radishes)
that, with proper care, willbecome seedlings andwill continue to grow inour Edible Schoolyard.
Important Notes
Please remember that the Kids' Place After-School Program provides care on days thatschool is in session only. Childcare on School's Out Days (holidays, teacher workdays, snowdays) is available for Kids' Place participants on days that Kids' Place is open. The cost perday varies depending on the nature of the School's Out Day, and registration is subject toavailability. Please contact the Kids' Place office to inquire about pricing and availability forspecific days. Children enrolled in the 12 Month Program or the School's Out Packageare pre-enrolled for all School's Out Days and do not need to register.
Upcoming Dates/Events
March 20: Purim Carnival
March 24: RTA 1/2 day
March 25: RTA, Sabot, Orchard House,Steward & Collegiate School Closed
March 28 - April 1: Kids' Place SpringBreak
Kids' Place Happenings Classroom Activities
The Yellow Room has been enjoying playing FourCorners in gym these past two weeks. During theirgardening time, they have become experiencedplanters of various vegetables. In their cooking timewith PJ, the kids enjoyed the preparation butespecially enjoyed the eating. They made sugarsnap peas with mint, and then they made kale. Thekids finished up their pottery with Val by glazing theirpieces, and they look great! When they had somefree time the kids enjoyed playing Connect Four,
building with Lego's and making pot-holders.
Spring is arriving in the Orange Room. Asopportunities arise, we like to go outside toenjoy the arming temperatures. We havebeen pulling up rye grass and otherunwanted plants from our garden beds. Wesowed lettuce seeds, watered seedlings(young plants), looked at buds on branches,made wildflower "seed balls" and thinned outour fall garden trays to give room to growingplants. There is always something to do,and it is fun to help! In gym we played agame where you are given a number, and if it's called, you have catch the ball. If you are notcalled, then you run away from the group. When the person whose number is called catchesthe ball, then a whistle is blown and you freeze. The person then rolls the ball to hit someonewho runs if touched by the ball. In art, we were busy glazing and finishing our clay projects.During our free time, we really enjoyed making pretend forts and playing with Lego's. We alsostarted weaving with looms.
In the Red Room, the kids finished painting their trees inpottery with Val. The kids and the counselors also gotoutside and enjoyed the nice weather as much aspossible over the past two weeks.For gym time, theyenjoyed playing Red Rover, Sharks and Minnows andFour Corners. The kids started Science with Renesha thisweek, where they decorated tadpoles. During the RedRoom's free time, everyone enjoyed playing Ghosts in the
Graveyard and Night at the Museum.
Jasmine, David and the Green Room have beenenjoying the garden. They broke into differentgroups and planted a lot of different greens, likespinach, radishes and kale. Everyone also got togo inside the green house to see how the peppers,tomatoes and cucumbers were growing. They hadso much fun! In cooking, the kids made kale withgarlic and olive oil and it was soooo good! In theirnew science enrichment class, the kids made theirown pollinator and planted seeds with theirhandmade pot using paper towel tubes. During free time, all of the kids enjoyed playing Spot
It and Go Fish! In game center, they really enjoyed playing "Guess Who?" and building withLego's. At the end of each day, everyone gathered together for story time.
The Blue Room has been full of team work! The entiregroup came together during a School's Out Day andconstructed an AMAZING model of a roller coaster, evenLaVenus got in on the action. During their pottery timethey worked on finishing up their trees with Val. Duringgym time they played hand ball. The Blue Room was sadthat chess ended but was very excited that a newenrichment class of Science has begun. During their freetime in the room, the kids played musical chairs. Theyhave also really been enjoying the fantastic weather by
going outside.
Homework Room and Homework Club with Little Scholars In the Homework Room, Mercedes was busy as always helping the children with theirschool work. Children typically stay for a half hour maximum in the Homework Room;however, if your child needs or wants more time, please contact Melanie or LaVenus.
Our Homework Club is doing great and working hard with Little Scholars. Little
Scholars provide assistance with homework in addition to providing personalized, private
tutoring for children. These tutors are classroom teachers who are aware of local independent
schools' curriculum and the Virginia SOLs. This service is an additional charge and can be
done Monday-Thursday during Kids' Place hours of operation. If you would like to sign your
child up for this service, please contact Melanie Marks at [email protected].
Middle School at Kids' Place
On Election Day, the middle school group went to the SPCA and hung out with the cats and
dogs. Everyone wanted to bring one home one! We enjoyed the beautiful day by eating lunch
outside and then playing on the playground. In cooking we made two great recipes: Snap
Peas and Siracha and then Garlic Kale. The kids really enjoyed cooking it with PJ and eating
it as well. During our art time it was our choice so we all decided to make sun catchers. This
week, we started our new enrichment science class. We planted milk weed seeds in
biodegradable paper towel tubes. In our free time, we enjoyed hanging out with each other,
going on the computers, playing Bananagrams and Phase Ten.
Reading Caravan
This program allows our preschool children and our Kids' Place children to learn,grow, explore and have fun together. The children from the four and five-year-old programsin the Preschool take an adventure down to Kids' Place every Monday. When they arrive,they are greeted by our staff in Kids' Place and then taken to the Yellow or Orange Room tohear a story. These stories are being read by a different child from Kids' Place each week-it'sa very big honor for the Kids' Place kid who's chosen to read each week. Alec Coffey, AdamGottleib, Parker McMahon and Maya Owens all did a fantastic job reading the past fewweeks!
Staff Highlight
Sarah Lawrence I grew up close by in Ashland Virginia, and Igraduated from Atlee High School. I played softballwith Atlee Little League for about 9 years. I was acatcher and 3rd baseman. I love going to the riverand exploring. I have a sister named Jamie, and 2nieces named Jersey (7) and Josie (4). I love myfamily very much! We have a huge family reunionthat I am going to in New Jersey soon. I loveworking here at Kids' Place. I'm very grateful forgetting the opportunity to evolve here.
PJ's Recipe Corner
Sugar Snap Peas with Mint
Ingredients2 teaspoons olive oil3/4 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed3 green onions, chopped1 clove garlic, chopped1/8 teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon pepper1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Directions1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Addthe sugar snap peas, green onion, and garlic.Season with salt and pepper. Stir-fry for 4 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in the mintleaves.
Garlic Kale
Ingredients1 bunch kale2 tablespoons olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced
Directions1. Tear the kale leaves into bite-size pieces fromthe thick stems; discard the stems.2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over mediumheat. Cook and stir the garlic in the hot oil untilsoftened, about 2 minutes. Add the kale and
continue cooking and stirring until the kale is bright green and wilted, then stir about 5minutes more.
Pottery with Val
We're rolling right along in pottery. This week is the last week with wet clay,meaning this is everyone's last chance to make something new. In recent weeks,we've been working on slab projects - cups and plates. Since we've been usingclay for the last couple of months, the kids have developed some great claybuilding skills, so I have also let them explore their own ideas in clay. We will beglazing until the end of the month, so look for new work coming home!
Contact Information: LaVenus Harried, Kids' Place [email protected], (804) 545-8639
Melanie Marks, Kids' Place Operations [email protected], (804) 545-8630 Melissa Bunce, Director of Inclusion and Support Services & Kids' Place [email protected], (804) 545-8658 Kids' Place Lobby (to reach Kids' Place between 4:00-6:00PM)(804) 285-6500 - Please ask the front desk to page the Kids' Place Lobby
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