PARENT VISITS

Parents are welcomed visitors at The Learning Tree at all times. Once your child is enrolled, parents have open access to the Center during the days and hours that their children is in attendance. Out of respect for the teacher and the other children in the classroom, an appointment must be scheduled ahead of time if you plan to visit for several hours.

For the protection and security of your child and all the children attending The Learning Tree, non-parental visitors must make appointments and report to the office for identification verification.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES

The Learning tree offers parent/teacher conferences in May and October. However,
we have found that this may not be convenient for some parents.  Therefore, parents are encouraged to schedule a conference anytime during the year when they feel the need for a one-on-one discussion about their child.

October's conferences are designed to communicate with the parents the goals that have been set for each child for the school year. This is a great time to learn about curriculum and ask the teachers questions about expectations for the upcoming year. May's conference is designed to communicate how the child has progressed throughout the year and how each child has met their individual goals. 

The majority of parents feel that daily communication, child information charts, etc., are more than sufficient to meet their needs. Staff are not always available for phone conferences, but arrangements can be made to set a time that is best for both parties.

PARENT EVALUATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Maintaining a quality program requires constant reevaluation, and the input we receive from parents is a valuable resource for us.

Also available to parents is our suggestion box. This is located in the lobby. We receive the most input from our parents through this medium.  The Learning Tree staff and administration are always looking for new ideas and suggestions, so please make use of this box.

Parent Suggestions are taken very seriously. We understand that life as a working parent is not easy but we do everything we can to help make the stress a little easier. Some suggestions from parents that we have been able to implement are: administering over the counter medication, allowing part time children to switch days through the week and adding hot water to are already exiting coffee bar for parents wanting to drink tea instead of coffee in the morning. As you can see our families come first!

THE LEARNING TREE NEWSLETTER

Once a month an informative and educational newsletter, The Lantern, is published to keep families abreast of all The Learning Tree happenings, both in the Center and in the field of early childhood care and education.

The Lantern also lists articles on important topics dealing with children that are specifically written for parents. Copies of these articles are available in the lobby on a monthly basis for parents. Every month parents will also find a fun craft project listed in The Lantern. Special “Craft Kits” that have all the necessities to complete the craft project with your child are available in the lobby to take home.

This newsletter will be available in your child’s room and in the lobby for you to pick up at your convenience.

DAILY EMAILS

Keeping the parents informed of their child's day is imperative to a healthy and effective partnership between the teachers and the parents. That is why everyday, should you choose to, you will receive an email detailing your child's day. Here is an example of what you will receive:

Happy Monday!

Miss Anna's Preschool class began our "Under the Sea" theme today! We started off our morning with large group time. Today, Miss Anna showed us the new areas in our classroom. Our science table is filled with water and lots of different colored fish for us to explore with. In our art center, we have sparkly stickers and fish stampers, while our library has lots of new under the sea books! After we saw all of the new things in our room, we made a list of all of the different animals we could think of that live under the sea! Most of us knew that fish live in the sea. Jen informed us that "The Little Mermaid live under the sea with her daddy and sisters!" Brittany told us that "Dolphins swim in the sea and jump into the air" while Ryan informed us that "scary sharks" live in the sea, too! After we made our list, we Miss Anna read us a new story, called "Commotion in the Ocean," by Giles Andreae. This book had poems about all kinds of different sea animals, what they look like and how they move! 

After circle time, we got right to work in our learning centers. In science today, we explored with different colored fish and then had an experiment to see what toys float and which toys sink! In our art center, we had so much fun sponge painting an under the sea scene. For dramatic play, we got all dressed up in our outdoor clothes and pretended to go fishing. Finally, for a fun math activity, we created a graph of what under the sea animal was our favorite. Most of us picked the whale!

When we were done with all of our hard work, it was finally time to go outside and play! We had so much fun out on the playground today - we got to draw fish using our sidewalk chalk. Then, we got to use our spray bottles to paint at the easels outside. Of course, we also had fun riding bikes and playing on the playground on this nice, spring day! After we were done playing, it was time to head inside for lunch.

This afternoon, we are looking forward to heading back outside and also to having some fun in our primary care groups. With Miss Anna we will be making patterns with under the sea creatures. Meanwhile, Miss Mallory's group will get to play one of our favorite games, "Under the Sea Memory!" 

We had delicious meals today! For breakfast, we started the day off right with a tasty breakfast casserole. It was made with eggs, cheese and red, yellow and green peppers, yum! We also enjoyed juicy cantaloupe and a refreshing glass of milk. At lunchtime, we got to enjoy turkey taco salad made with ground turkey and taco seasoning and served with Romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese and salsa! Right now, we are taking a little nap, but when we wake up we will get to enjoy fresh cucumbers and broccoli with ranch dip and water! 

We hope your week is off to a fantastic start, just like ours!

Anna, Mallory and Friends