Spring burst forth into summer, and with it came another season of learning and growing at Hazel Drive Early Childhood Center!  We watched as the buds grew into leaves, the azaleas and lilacs bloomed, and the mother and father robin fed their peeping little ones.  What a joy to watch the wonders of nature firsthand!  Our outdoor time often includes a nature walk to look, listen and discover!

Have you noticed our garden next to the playground?  How lush and green it is!  Weeks ago the children planted seeds in containers.  We watered the seeds and placed them in the sun, and to our delight, little plants popped up!  Some even had the shell of the seed still attached!  When the plants got bigger, the children transplanted them into our garden boxes.  They take turns watering, weeding and digging in the garden.  We have green beans, pumpkins and sunflowers growing nicely.  Miss Gloria added four tomato plants and beans from South America, and Miss Laura planted some corn.  The older children did a science lab analyzing the growth of a bean and illustrating it with different materials to represent the various parts of the plant.

We continue to review colors, numbers, parts of the face and body, and social phrases in Spanish, even as we introduce new vocabulary.  We sing, "Hola, hola, como estas? Cual es tu nombre?" and the children understand and say their names!   At music time we sing many songs in English and Spanish. One of our favorites is "Everybody Bump."  We use jingle bells to identify and name cabeza, oreja, nariz, boca, mano, brazo, pierna, and pie. Do you know where to find all of those??  All of our science and math activities and even lunch and play time are opportunities for learning new vocabulary in both languages.  Miss Gloria also has a Spanish language no-tears remedy for minor boo-boos which she has taught to Miss Laura.  The children serve up their hands and elbows (even without a boo-boo!) to hear this while receiving a gentle rub to the area: "Sana, sana / Colita de rana / Si no te sana hoy / Te sanara manana."   Magic! 

Miss Laura and Miss Gloria have been making the rounds of area libraries once again, having visited Hampstead, Atkinson, Newton and Kingston in recent weeks.  We have also had the privilege of visits to Hazel Drive from Miss Patty from the Hampstead Children's Room and Miss Carolyn from Kimball Library in Atkinson.  They used puppets, songs, finger plays and of course beautiful books to engage the children.  What a treat!

We have had other visitors to our school... fuzzy caterpillars!  One day a small box arrived in the mailbox.  It was a small jar containing five tiny caterpillars.  The jar came supplied with special food for the caterpillars.  The children observed daily the changes in our little pets as they grew bigger and bigger.  One day they began crawling up the sides of the jar and hung suspended from the lid.  This is when the cocoons were formed.  Two of the cocoons were on the bottom of the jar.  The cocoons were placed in the Butterfly Garden and we waited.  Within ten days, all of the cocoons had opened, and from them emerged beautiful butterflies!  We released them in our playground and watched them flutter away!  Bye bye, butterflies!

Of course we know caterpillars don't live in jars.  They were placed there so we could observe them.  Miss Gloria made a beautiful flannel board illustration of the life cycle of the butterfly.  The older children made intricate paper models to tell the same story as they practiced their small motor skills with drawing, cutting and gluing.  Even our June calendar illustrated the sequence of egg on a leaf, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly, egg, and so on.  We enjoy hearing Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and acting it out to Miss Laura's original piano music.  All our little "caterpillars" grow very big munching on pretend foods, and when they nibble their way out of their cocoons, colorful scarves are their butterfly wings.  What a beautiful sight to see all the butterflies dancing to a delicate melody on the piano!

The life of the butterfly is a circle story, one of many in nature.  Included in our science curriculum are the cycles of nature: the changing of the seasons; the days of the week and months of the year; the water cycle; the life cycle of plants; all of these are important learning experiences for children, as cycles are part of our very nature as human beings as well as the nature that surrounds us.

We again welcome many new friends to Hazel Drive!  We make a long line as we join hands and sing, "Weave around, like a big caterpillar does!"  It is fun to see them marching along to the beat of the guitar as their wooden spoons go "clickety-clack" when we have a spoon parade. And our Hazel Drive Band provides music and smiling faces as they play along with the Rainbow Piano!  Our new enrollees make a seamless transition to our happy group, and each personality adds vitality to our program!

Thank you children, parents, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents and aunties for the fine turnout we had for our Art Show on the last day of school!  The children are enthusiastic artists, and their creative self-expression shows in their work.  The displays are a source of pride for the young artists... and we are very proud of them as well!

The first week of our Summer Program is in full swing, and we are all having so much fun!  There is laughter, splashing, pretending and lots of joyful noise as we play in the small pools and sprinkler.  Just what summer should be for little guys!  This summer we are joined by Miss Hannah who is providing her tender care to the children!

Smiles and Sunbeams to you from Miss Laura, Miss Gloria and Miss Hannah!  Happy Summer!

April has brought many changes!  The last of the snow melted away; the buds appeared, grew and opened; the sun shines and warms us; the birds sing and build their nests!

Within our roof and walls, changes have taken place as well.  Our little ones have grown so much during the late fall and winter.  Many new friends have joined us, and the school is filled with happiness, beauty and wonder!

Much of our art work has mirrored the arrival of spring.  The children created flower baskets, nests and little chicks popping out of eggs.   A variety of tools and techniques were used including scissor work, gluing, scrunching little tissue balls, and painting with bottles.  The easel, tempera and brushes are in frequent use as our gallery of paintings grows.  Each artist has a collection that will be displayed in our upcoming Hazel Drive Art Show. The children also enjoy fingerpainting on a small smooth table especially for that purpose.  No paper is necessary as the paint is spooned out right on the table where little fingers and hands can manipulate, design and erase at will!  Their creations can be preserved by laying the paper on the table and lifting off the design!  A very satisfying creative and sensory experience!

We have had fun learning the parts of the face in Spanish.  Miss Gloria uses a long piece of yarn to make a big circle on the floor.  Everyone laughs as each child tries on the big paper eyes!  Los ojos grandes, a big purple nariz, orejas (ears), pelo (hair), and a boca feliz make la cara (the face).  For fun, the face can even change its shape to a rectangle or triangle.  One day we even made a face on the back of Miss Laura's guitar!

We're singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in English and Spanish.  An adorable aranita paquena engages the children as they learn this familiar song in a new language!  Did you know that "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" illustrates parts of the water cycle?  We've included her in our science study.  Miss Laura and Miss Gloria have collaberated to create songs, stories and beautiful props to help the children learn all about the water cycle. Don't be surprised if you hear your child singing "Rain, Rain, Come Today!" instead of "Rain, Rain, Go Away!"  Remember, rain is very, very good!

Dramatic play is an important part of every day.  How very much children learn from the simple yet rich art of pretending!  A well-supplied play kitchen, dress-up clothes, cars, trucks, tools and stuffed animals and dolls are the tools children use to facilitate their own growth.  Children are natural pretenders, and can also be guided in learning when teachers join in their play. One of our favorite games is playing "Store." The store is stocked with food and toys, and the phones are used to order the various items and play money is exchanged.  The game is abundant in vocabulary and social interaction, and is just plain fun!

Wishing you joy in the newness of spring,

Miss Laura and Miss Gloria 

The warm March sunshine has been doing its job!  Little by little, the landscape around our happy school is changing.  We talk about the "Signs of Spring" as we observe birds, bugs and buds on the birches. The children's happy noise joins the tweeting and chirping of the birds to welcome the spring!

There are patches of grass and puddles in our playground which not very long ago was like a snow-filled basin.  The children have been interested and excited observers of the various stages of melting of the winter snow.  One day we found Frosty's scarf on the ground near our front door.  Frosty and Mr. Ice Cubes, and all of our snow-friends that we built during the winter have melted and become clouds.  They will float and fly in the sky until we see them again next winter! 

We have been enjoying and appreciating every last bit of winter. Miss Gloria made a beautiful flannel board story about the formation of a snowflake.  Did you know a snowflake begins as a speck of dust?  The vapor in the air clings to the dust, blows up into the sky and freezes.  The six-sided form begins to take shape.  When the snowflake gets heavy, down she comes!  Miss Laura played "Here Comes Suzy Snowflake" on the piano and the children danced with paper snowflakes, each one different.  Imagine our delight when one day the real Suzy and her friends came tumbling down.  Snowflakes landed on the teachers' black sleeves and we could plainly and perfectly see the six-sided shape of this miracle of nature! Another early spring bonus was the discovery of a perfect sledding hill running alongside the fence behind the play house.  The children were all smiles as they zoomed down and trudged up over and over again!

A little man dressed in green was a frequent visitor in March. The tiny Leprechaun sang a song about his pot of gold, and said "No one can catch me."  Miss Gloria tried over and over to catch the Leprechaun, but she made a lot of mistakes!  She kept catching the children!  The children laughed and laughed as they ran in place and hoped to be the next one caught by the near-sighted Miss Gloria.  Miss Gloria, you'd better clean your glasses!  Eventually, though, the Leprechaun had a change of heart and shared his gold and shamrocks with everyone.  Boxes made from decorated and folded green paper were filled with the Leprechaun's treasure.

Art and music have been linked to classic literature by none other than Mother Goose.  The children glued and counted eggs on "Hickety, Pickety, My Fine Hen," with the big kids tracing and cutting out their own eggs.  We sang  "Sing a Song of Sixpence" and put birds of every color into a pie!  We played "Humpty Dumpty" at music time. We wobbled and wobbled until we tipped over, wiggling our feet in the air! Strips of paper were snipped into colorful rectangles and glued into a wall for Humpty.  He was placed on the wall and given a face.  Each creation was unique and charming!

Family Night in March was lovely!  Our thanks to all who attended, and to Fat Cats Pizzeria who provided the delicious pizzas! 

Hazel Drive Early Childhood Center is reaching out into the community with several upcoming events.  Beginning on April 6, Miss Gloria will have 25 of her artistic works on display at Exeter Hospital.  Please stop in to have a look if you are in the area.  You will be amazed!  Miss Laura and Miss Gloria will be back at Hampstead Public Library on April 16 with a program of stories and songs in English and Spanish about the science of rain.  (I hope Lombri  will be there!)  And we are very pleased to announce that we are the proud sponsors of a Hampstead T-Ball team.  We're looking forward to meeting the young athletes and cheering them on!

 Warmest Regards,

Miss Laura and Miss Gloria

February was a busy month filled with new friends and many wonderful activities!

We have spent many delightful hours outdoors!  Every day the terrain on our snowy playground is different. Sometimes fluffy, sometimes hard and crunchy, sometimes wet and moldable  The children are experts at creating fun and new ways to play.  We've made lots of snow people, including a clown with rainbow hair and a big, red nose.  One day we even had a snow dog!  Toys traditionally used for sculpting sand were added to our play equipment, and soon ice cream cones, turtles and airplanes appeared in the snow!  A game was made of kicking a big ball down and around the snowy corridors.  And every day the yard is alive with the sound of seals honking!  They frolic on top of the crusty snow, bask in the winter sun, "sleep" in their "bedroom" and "swim" in their "pool!" 

The children are learning more Spanish through the use of songs and games.  We sing "Uno, uno es asi" (One is this) and place one block on the floor, continuing for dos, tres cuatro and cinco.  Many have mastered the Spanish/English rhyme.  Listening comes first, then reciting, and then...teaching your parents!  Miss Gloria has just invented a game with a big spinner to reinforce the numerals, colors and many other words.  Playing with play dough provides many opportunities for vocabulary building in both Spanish and English.

This month we enjoyed several "Crayon Parades."  Each child selects a giant crayon (actually a big plastic crayon bank from the dollar store!), we put on some John Phillip Sousa marches, and off we go!  There are many smiles and much laughter as we do silly things with the crayons ("writing" circles in the air, wearing them as hats or big noses!) and we get plenty of exercise as we do a grand march all around the room pumping our arms up and down and all around!

Music guides us in our learning as we sing or way through our daily routines.  We gather for Circle Time by singing "Come on everybody, let's hold hands, it's Circle Time."  Once the circle is formed, we swing our arms, stamp our feet, bend our knees, jump up and down...well, you get the picture!  Then we "make the circle go around," which is a happy accomplishment due to our teamwork and cooperation!  We use songs to learn about the calendar ("There are Seven Days in a Week"), to check the weather ("What is the Weather Today, Today?"), and even to put the toys away ("-----'s helping clean up the room...")

We have also used music to learn about special days in February.  The singing of "When You Send a Valentine" produced merry laughter as the children ran and ran and ran in place!  And perhaps you have heard your child singing a song that begins "Hooray for Mr. Lincoln!  Hooray for Mr. Washington!" and ends with "Happy birthday to you!" The children have enjoyed marching with American flags and making red, white and blue party hats to celebrate the birthdays of these important men.  One day the children recognized the faces of Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Washington on money!  We asked "Who do you think should be on money?"  The honor was bestowed upon several grandpas, a pet pooch, the birdies in the trees and Santa!  The children used marbles to paint their "money" and glued a picture and numerals on the front.

Also notable in February is the deepening of friendships and the social awareness of all of our children.  They play cooperatively and imaginatively, shout to each other ("C'mon!!") and even our littlest guys ask for the other children by name.  There is a wonderful atmosphere of joyful camaraderie!

May the late winter sunshine warm you heart as much as your children warm ours!

Miss Laura and Miss Gloria