The Prouty Voice: August 2019
Getting ready for school
By Chloe Learey, Executive Director
We may not want to face it, but the school year is right around the corner. This brings excitement, worries, and a multitude of activities in preparation.
What does it mean to be ready for school? It is not just making sure children have the supplies they may need like a backpack and lunch box, new pencils and crayons, or a calculator and notebooks for higher grades. It is about making sure they have the internal tools they need to succeed, like taking turns, identifying and sharing feelings, and listening to others. It is also about understanding and supporting environments to be safe, stable, and nurturing both at home and school so that children can develop and access those tools. Continue Reading
Winston Prouty’s 50th Birthday party
On Saturday, August 3rd, we celebrated our 50 anniversary with an outdoor birthday party. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the event!
See more photos from the party
50th Anniversary T-shirt sale
In celebration of this milestone year, we’re offering commemorative shirts in many styles and sizes. Proceeds from shirt sales support our “50 for 50 campaign” in which we aim to raise $50,000 in our 50th year. Deadline for ordering is Friday, August 16. More information & how to order
Early Learning Center News
Acorn Room
Summer finally showed up in July, and what a month it’s been. The Acorns have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather! We have been going out earlier while it’s still cool in the morning. We have been exploring on various walks. We have been spending mornings down in the garden harvesting: peas, lettuce, spinach, kale, summer squash, beans, and zucchini. We have been exploring the vegetables; raw as well as cooked and are freezing some for snacks later in the season. We will be processing some for baby food and freezing it as well.
August is always bittersweet. As we enjoy the last month of Summer we will watch 4 of our Acorns become Elms. Hadley, Dell, Hattie and Aubrey will be moving up to the next room as they have all turned 1 this summer. They are all so ready for their next Prouty adventure! We are so sad that they are moving on but we see all the growth and incredible strides they have made. They came in as young infants new to the world and leave as very confident and active young toddlers. We have enjoyed them immensely and wish them and their families a wonderful magical second year!
Willow Room
Elm Room
Maple Room
July was the advent of our summer schedule and summer programming which meant a plan for lots of outside time and water play. Our first activity was an experiment with colors and flowers. We place daisies in bottles of red, blue, yellow, purple, and green and by the end of the morning the daisies had changed color. It was truly amazing for the children and teachers.
Since the weather has been warm and often rainy, we have had fun going out rain or shine. On Wednesdays you’ll see us in the sprinkler and most other days playing with water on the playground or walking in the woods. When we are inside, we are playing with manipulatives, puzzles, and enjoying our friends and teachers. Art activities continue and we are using markers and paints outdoors. We have been fence painting, and used markers, and collected treasures to make nature collages. Our friend Lizzy from the Co-Op came and shared a story about plants, vegetables and fruit to be exact. Those tricky rabbits fooled Mr. Bear by eating the tops and bottoms of the plants, and leaving him the leftovers.
Our woods walks continue and one day we found 35+ frogs in the pond, all little babies. Some were brave enough to stay for a while and let us look at them. We also found a centipede and we named him George. He is living under the bushes by our room now, so maybe we will see him again.
We had a special visitor this month, Zach from BUHS. He is interested in the Child Care field and spent 4 mornings in our room. From what we can tell, he loved being in our room and loved having his help! Thank You Zack!
Birch Room
With the gorgeous summer weather, the Birch room has been getting out early and enjoying lots of water play, including the sprinkler slip and slide and artwork like chalk paWe’ve gone up on top of hill to play games, with a classroom favorite of ‘sharks and minnows’. We extend many welcomes – do our new friends visiting from Maple, to our new Assistant Teacher Cheryl and to Rue’s baby sister Elouise.
Oak Room
The month of July flew right by here in the Oak room. We have mostly enjoyed spending lots of time outside! We look forward to our sprinkler days each week and have been exploring lots of climbing, digging, running, swinging, and baseball out on the playground. We have extended our dramatic play to outside and Oak friends are starting to play elaborate games and tell stories with natural materials they find outside. They have also enjoyed the new chalkboard that was made for us and put up in the stage (thanks Alex!).
We have also been enjoying visits with some of our new friends Molly, Skye, Piper, and Kai who will be joining us soon from the birch room. This week we also welcomed a new friend Chloe to our classroom. We are preparing to say goodbye to our Kindergarten friends in August. We will miss them very much and we hope they have an incredible time at their new schools.
Dates to Remember
- August 15 – ELC Family Summer BBQ
- August 21-22 – ELC Closed for Staff In-Service & Prep
- August 23 – Center closed or All Staff In-service
- August 26 – 2019-2020 Program year begins
View the 2019-2020 School Calendar
Celebrations & Recognitions
Happy Birthday!
8/11 – Madelyn is 2!
8/12 – Happy Birthday, Lisa Adams, Developmental Educator
8/16 – Happy Birthday Brandy, Consultation & Behavior Support Specialist
8/26 – Jacob is 4
8/30 – Marcus is 4!
Resources & Events for Families
Vermont Dept. of Mental Health Listening Session
The Vermont Department of Mental Health will hold public forums around the state this summer in order to hear thoughts and suggestions from Vermonters about our mental health system of care. These conversations will inform the basis of a shared commitment and accountability for a 10 – year vision of an integrated, holistic health care system. The Brattleboro Forum will be held on August 13. Read more
Winston Prouty Podcast
Be sure to catch the latest episodes of our podcast, which you can find on your favorite podcast platform. Recent conversations include Chloe Learey, Executive Director, and Kayla Webber, Willow Room Lead Teacher.
Family Matters on BCTV
How does the state of Vermont help families with the high cost of child care? Angela Hoag, ELC Administrative Coordinator, and Willie Gussin, Community-Based Services Intake Coordinator talk about the Child Care Financial Assistance Program.