On Tuesday night the families in our PreK class gathered together at the Neilsen’s for the incoming PreK dinner. The evening began with a potluck dinner for both adults and children.

Teacher Kristen’s daughter and Director KellyAnn’s daughter were among the older children who came to entertain the children while parents gathered together to hear Teacher Kristen discuss the coming year.  There was the joyful noise of children at play throughout the evening.

Teacher Kristen shared a reading with the parents and then did check in. Her question was “Where would you like to go on a trip?”Teacher Kristen then outlined what the children would be doing this year emphasizing that PreK is a significant transitional year for both parents and children.

Incoming dinners are typically done in the Spring, so it was nice to connect with our PreK families before the start of the school year.

Tonight was the Incoming 2′s Parent Potluck Dinner. Thank you to our host family and all the families who attended. The evening began with Teachers Doug and Kelly gathering everyone together for a short informational session. Teacher Doug read two beautiful poems and then asked everyone to answer a few questions by way of introduction. Teacher Doug then talked about the fact that preschool is the result of two sets of expertise, the teachers who are experts in what is generically appropriate for an age range and the parents who are experts on each individual child. He then shared the books that influence his approach to education. Of course there were texts on Piaget and Gardner, he introduced families to Bev Boss and the NAEYC, and so much more. When he was done, everyone ate dinner and had good conversation. The evening ended with thoughts shifting to the all school work day on August 27.

Thank you to Teachers Doug and Kelly for all their hard work.

We’ve got our Lunch Bunch Enrichment Schedule confirmed for the fall. The cost is $320 for each class broken into monthly payments of $80/month on your tuition bill. All classes must have a four child minimum to happen. Classes with fewer than four children will be cancelled.

CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR A SIGN UP GENIUS TO REGISTER

Fall 2011 (September-December)

The classes are as follows:

PreK Lunch Bunch Enrichment (Teacher Kristen)

Mondays – Yes! MAM- Messy Art Media

Children will explore visual literacy through symbol making and art creation.

Tuesdays – Full STEAM Ahead – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics

Children will be introduced to rudimentary scientific method through a variety of experiences that will challenge them to make predictions (form hypotheses) and test them.

Wednesdays – Chef Combo – Cooking and Nutrition

Children will go on a Food Adventure with Chef Combo learning to take taste risks in with new foods.

Fridays – Heads Up! The Art and Math of Construction

Children will explore physical geometry and the art of sculpture using unit blocks, big blocks, legos and other building materials.

3′s Lunch Bunch Enrichment 

Mondays- I’m a Big Kid Now

Children will practice self help skills, conflict resolution, and cooperative play during the 3′s Lunch Bunch time.

Wednesdays- I’m a Big Kid Now

Children will practice self help skills, conflict resolution, and cooperative play during the 3′s Lunch Bunch time.

Fridays- I’m a Big Kid Now

Children will practice self help skills, conflict resolution, and cooperative play during the 3′s Lunch Bunch time.

2′s Lunch Bunch

Tuesdays- My World

Children will explore their world through hands on developmentally appropriate experiences.

This year the UUEEC Preschool will be using Sign up Genious to coordinate volunteer and snack calendars, incoming dinners and other special events that require list management. Families should make sure that emails from the site aren’t impacted by your SPAM filter.

So far we’ve sent out requests for volunteer day preference and sign ups for the incoming class dinners. We believe this will be a valuable tool for our program and hope you find it as easy to use as we do.

In May, at the final PreK Parent Meeting, Teacher Kristen and Director KellyAnn shared Kindergarten Readiness resources with the parents. One resource stood out in particular, Achieving School Readiness Summer Activity Packet published by the Maryland Ready at Five Partnership. We shared the links to the summer packet on our facebook pages.

However, we felt it also important to put this valuable link on the website. So here it is.

Achieving School Readiness Summer Activity Packet by the Maryland Ready at Five Partnership.

Here is the link to the Ready at Five PreK Achieving School Readiness

Greetings!

Fifty years ago we founded the Unitarian Universalist Early Education Cooperative Preschool (UUEEC) to serve families with young children from all faiths and nationalities through a child centered holistic approach. Over the years we have worked with hundreds of children and families providing high quality educational experiences that promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person as well as the other principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association.Our program is based on three simple beliefs-a parent is a child’s first teacher; the best academic environment for a young child is a play based environment; and each unique stage of development should be celebrated and not rushed.

As you know, our offerings go far beyond addressing the needs of the young to support the needs of the family. We’ve built a family of families where you were able to gain insight into reasonable expectations for your children at each developmental stage, build lifelong friendships with like minded peers and regain the sense of self that is often lost in the midst of parenting young children. We hope we gave you a place where you were not longer isolated.

However, we’ve been remiss. We lost touch with you once you moved beyond the UUEEC preschool. We want to rectify that situation. Here is a link to our most recent alumni newsletter.

So expect to hear from us a little more often in the future. And we’d like to hear from you as well. Throughout this newsletter we’ll be giving you opportunities to let us know what’s happening in your world so we can share it with our extended UUEEC family.

We look forward to hearing from you.

KellyAnn Bonnell, UUEEC Preschool Director

Kristen Flangos, PreK Teacher

Jane Sutton, 3′s Teacher

Kelly Blackson, 2′s/3′s Teacher

Doug van der Veen, 2′s Teacher

The UUEEC currently has the following openings for the 2011-12 academic year.

2′s Class TTH 9:00-11:30
Available Slots Boys
Available Slots Girls

3′s Class MWF 9:00-11:30
Available Slots Boys
Available Slots Girls

PreK Class M-F 9:00-11:30
Wait list Boys
Available Slots Girls

YOU’RE INVITED
to attend the
Unitarian Universalist Early Education Cooperative Preschool

OPEN HOUSE FOR PROSPECTIVE FAMILIES

Saturday, March 5, 2011
9AM-11:30AM

Located on the campus of the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix
4027 E. Lincoln Drive
Paradise Valley, Arizona 85253

View Map

The UUEEC provides early childhood experiences to families with children ages 2-5 years old. If you are unable to attend the Open House please contact our director at eecdirector@phoenixuu.org to schedule a visit.