School Closings:
Friday December 22nd we will close at 5:00 sharp.
Our school will be closed from Monday, December 25th through Monday January 1st. We will re-open on Tuesday, January 2nd. We will also be closed on Monday, January 15th for Martin Luther King Day.
Holidays:
Our Holiday parties will be held on December 21st and 22nd. The children will sing songs and play games. If you would like to send in NUT FREE cupcakes for their party, please email bigchiefschcamp@optimum.net. to let us know ahead of time that way we do not have to many cupcakes, otherwise it will end up being wasted.
*** DO NOT SEND IN ANY FOOD/CANDY/GOODY BAGS FOR YOUR CHILD’S CLASS. ***
Winter Wear
If you have not already done so, please send in mittens for your child. MITTENS not GLOVES.
Clothes Drive- Big Brother Big Sister. Remember to clean out your closets, we will start collecting on Monday 11/27 and ending on Monday 12/4 at AM drop off.
We need your Christmas Trees!!!!
After Christmas we need about 50 used Christmas Trees. You can bring them to Big Chief when you drop off your child or you can throw them over the fence. We are making a forest for the birds to give them shelter over the winter. (Science at its best).
Illness: Is Your Child Too Sick for School?
Winter is coming — and so are winter colds and other illnesses that attack young children. You don’t want your child to miss school; but you should not send a sick child to school and endanger him or her and other children as well. When should your child stay home from school? Here are a few guidelines you might wish to follow:
*A bad cough or cold symptoms can indicate a severe cold, bronchitis, flu or even pneumonia. Some children suffer one cold after another all winter long, and a run-of-the-mill cold should not be a reason to miss school. But if your child is not acting “right,” has a fever, has difficulty breathing or is becoming dehydrated, it could be serious. Check with your pediatrician right away.
*Diarrhea and vomiting make children very uncomfortable, and being near a bathroom becomes a top priority. If your child has repeated episodes of diarrhea and vomiting, accompanied by a fever, a rash or general weakness, consult a doctor and keep your child out of school until the illness passes. However, a single episode of diarrhea or vomiting, unaccompanied by any other symptoms, may not be reason enough for the child to miss school. But please make sure we know how to reach your or another responsible adult during the day, in case diarrhea and/or vomiting reoccurs and your child needs emergency attention. (This is an important rule to follow whenever you send your child to school with any of the symptoms mentioned here).
*Fever is an important symptom; when it occurs along with a sore throat, nausea, listlessness or a rash, your child may be carrying something very contagious. Most pediatricians advise parents to keep children home during the course of a fever and for an additional 24 hours after the fever has passed.
*Strep throat and scarlet fever are two highly contagious conditions caused by streptococcal (bacterial infection). They usually arrive with a sore throat and high fever. Some 12-48 hours after the onset of scarlet fever, a rash will also appear. A child with either strep throat or scarlet fever should be kept home and treated by a physician. After 24 hours on an antibiotic, a child is usually no longer contagious and may, with the doctor’s permission, return to school.
*Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is highly contagious and uncomfortable, so take heed when your child complains of any eye or eyes burning, itching and producing a whitish discharge. Minor cases (caused by a virus) and severe cases (caused by bacteria) require treatment with prescription eye drops. It’s best to keep your child home until your doctor says it’s all right to return.
*Ear infections, unless properly treated, can cause permanent hearing damage. Here again you should follow the 24-hour rule for fever and antibiotic therapy.
*Mites and lice, once brought into a home or school, can quickly produce an epidemic of whole scale itching and scratching. Mites are tiny insects in the same class as spiders and ticks; they irritate the skin and cause scabies. Lice are tiny parasites (like ticks) that thrive on the warm, damp scalps of children. It is required that you keep the child home until all the lice and eggs are gone. Caution your child against sharing anybody else’s combs and brushes or clothing, especially hats. You can put linens, clothing, etc., in the dryer to kill the lice. Vacuum mattresses and carpet in general.
*Coxsackie virus, could be an infection in the throat or hand, foot and mouth which are visual blisters on these areas. THIS IS CONTAGIOUS! Best prevention is hand washing. At Big Chief we constantly are washing our hands. When you blow your nose wash your hands, after the bathroom wash your hands, even the infants are taken to the sink, held and their hands are washed before they eat etc. During rest time the teacher’s assistants spray with a bleach and water mixture all the door knobs, tables, toys, etc…
Be careful with car seats, most children spend a lot of time in them. They eat, sleep, and sneeze on them. Do not spray with Lysol, wash them first with hot water and soap, then spray them with a bleach and water solution to kill the germs. See below for the solution measurements that we prepare every day. This solution is only good for 24 hours. We make up new solutions every morning. Remember that tablets, toys, bottles, pacifiers and anything your child may touch or play with all carry a lot of germs. CHILDREN MAY NOT RETURN TO SCHOOL UNTIL ALL OF THE BLISTERS HAVE DRIED OUT.
CLEANING SOLUTION:
If you soak your toys use, 1tsp per gallon.
For cleaning use, 1/2 teaspoons of bleach per quart of water. This must be made fresh every day. The solution is only good for 24h hours.
More bleach is not better. If you can smell it, there is too much bleach.
Of course, if you have any questions please call me.
*Stay away from aerosol sprays all these little particles go right into your lungs.
Health Rules on Medication: Any medication sent to school must be sent to the attention of “Luanne.” It must come in the original prescription bottle and be accompanied by either of the following forms.
- (Written medication) consent form for prescription drugs filled out by the parent and the doctor.
- (Verbal medication) consent form for over the counter drugs filled out by the parent.
These forms can be downloaded pull up bigchiefschoolandcamp.com then go to the forms library and print the form you need or pick up the forms in our office. We cannot administer any medication without these forms. You can also print one of our physical forms off of this website, if you need one.
Weather Report:
The list of stations to listen to for snow closings are below.
News12.com KJOY 98.3 FM
Check our Facebook page
PROGRAM
Miss Jeannine’s Class
Theme: Nursery Rhymes- Itsy Bitsy Spider, I’m a little Tea Pot. Christmas and Hanukkah.
Language Arts: Holiday stories; “Clifford’s First Christmas” and “Spot Celebrates Hanukkah.”
Art: Finger painting a Dreidel, easel painting a Christmas tree. Making a Holiday gift to take home.
Physical: Running in the field and riding the cars when weather permits.
Music: Dancing with scarves and instruments. Singing our nursery rhymes and holiday songs, such as Jingle Bells, and Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.
Cooking: Making potato latkes and Christmas cookies.
Miss Jenna’s Class
Theme: Nursery Rhymes-Twinkle, Twinkle little star, Holidays.
Language Arts: Starting “Twinkle, Twinkle little star.” And reading holiday stories.
Social Studies: Practice putting on our coats and mittens. Continue identifying family members and friends using the family photos. Practicing lining up to the bathroom to wash and waiting our turn. Talking about the holidays and how we celebrate.
Learning to take off our jackets, hats, and mittens. Continue working on wiping our nose with a tissue and putting it in the garbage.
Science: Finishing up our acorn rolling, planting bulbs, and continuing our nature walks.
Art: Starting our stars for Twinkle, Twinkle project. Sticker peeling and paper tearing for our fine motor skills. Making Play-Doh, decorating our dreidels and stockings along with our holiday gift. Class project: Making a fire place with tolly tools and sponges.
Music: Scarf dancing, marching, bean bag tossing and movement. Singing our holiday songs such as the dreidel song, Rudolph, and jingle bells.
Physical: Continue strengthening our large motor skills by throwing/kicking balls and running in the fields. Continue playing with playdough to strengthen our small motor skills. Marching with bells and our instruments.
Cooking: Making potato latkes and rice Krispy treats.
Miss Alexandria’s Class
Theme: Christmas and Hanukkah and Nursery Rhymes.
Language Arts: Reading holiday stories: “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bells” and “Little Boy Blue.”
Social Studies: Continuing to identify our cubbies with our picture, learn how to wash our hands, using utensils during lunch and working on using a 5oz disposable cup. Talking about the holidays. Working on our self-help skills.
Learning to take off our jackets, hats, and mittens. Continue working on wiping our nose with a tissue and putting it in the garbage.
Math: Introducing new shapes – Triangles and Circles. Big & Little.
Art: Painting at the easel and finger-painting with the colors red, green and blue. Decorating a Christmas tree, a dreidel and making a holiday gift.
Music: Continue marching to strengthen our large motor skills, crawling through tunnels, parachute fun, dancing with instruments and scarves. Singing nursery rhymes and learning Holiday songs, such as Dreidel, Dreidel, Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer and Jingle Bells.
Physical: Continue strengthening our large motor skills by throwing/kicking balls and running in the fields. Continue playing with playdough to strengthen our small motor skills. Marching with bells and our instruments.
Cooking: Making potato latkes, Christmas cookies.
Miss Elisa’s Class
Theme: Families and holiday celebrations.
Language Arts: Reading books related to families and holiday celebrations. Here are a few:
- Me and My Mom
- Llama, llama Gram and Granpa
- Where is Christmas, Jesse Bear?
- Clifford celebrates Hanukkah
- Llama, llama holiday drama
Social Studies: Discuss family, sharing, giving, special holiday events.
Science: Talk about changing weather and how we dress to stay warm.
Math: Begin creating shapes with our blocks, matching games and guess what color is missing?
Art: Finger painting, collaging dreidels and Christmas trees, easel painting; making holiday gifts for our families and creating Hickory, Dickory Dock.
Physical: Outdoor time as often as possible; dancing to holiday music and songs.
Cooking: Making Latkes, holiday cookies and smoothies.
* If you have not sent in a family photo, please send one in at your earliest convenience. We will also be needing an extra pair of MITTENS (Not Gloves) to remain at school.
Miss Andrea’s Class
Theme: December holidays, Hanukkah and Christmas. Family, self help skills, putting on mittens and coats, zipping and buttoning.
Art: Making dreidels, wreaths & holiday gifts to take home.
Books: “Where’s my Dreidel?” “Happy Hanukkah”, “Eight candles to light” and “Christmas Mice”.
Family Living: Learning how to dress appropriately for the winter. Learning how to put on our coats, mittens, hats, and boots; making playdough.
Cooking: Potato Latkes for Hanukkah and holiday cookies, ricotta apple toast and hot chocolate.
Language Arts: Improving our listening skills and communication skills. Playing listening games and story chain.
Social Studies: Celebrating the holidays with our families.
Math: Measuring, mixing and pouring while cooking our latkes and cookies. Simple sorting and matching games.
Music: Holiday songs: such as “Spin the Dreidel”, “I have a little Dreidel”, “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Jingle Bells”.
Science: Mixing colors- yellow and blue make green
–Note changes in the weather. Taking nature walks and noticing the changes in our surroundings. Feeding our fish.
Physical: Movement: dancing indoors to our CD’s, such as freeze dance, Bop til you drop, and the Mack chicken dance. Continue to practice our cutting, tearing, and gluing. Playing with pegs and peg boards and lace up cards.
Things we need: Please send in a picture of your family celebrating your holiday.
Miss Patti’s Class
Theme. Discussing families – who is in our family? Things families do together. Healthy eating. Hanukkah and Christmas
Social Studies: Learning about how each family celebrates the holidays.
Math: Counting different objects. One to one correspondence by setting the snack table and/or lunch table. Simple sorting and matching fruit/vegetable games.
Science: As the weather permits, conducting our science center outside. Observing the squirrels and birds, looking for nests. Noticing how all the leaves are almost all off the trees. Introduction of weather and observing change from fall to winter.
Language Arts: Books on different holidays “12 Days of Christmas”, “8 Days of Hanukkah”, “ The Gingerbread Man”, “Pete the cat saves Christmas”, “It’s Hanukkah”, “Clifford celebrates Hanukkah”, and “ Corduroy’s Merry Christmas”. Retelling stories.
Cooking: Making yummy Latkes and cookies. Tasting fruits and vegetables, please send in a veggie for AM snack for the month of December.
Art: Creating our very own Dreidel. Making a holiday gift and Christmas tree.
Music/Physical: Learning new holiday songs and finger plays. Singing and dancing to old time favorites. Using our small motor skills as we continue to practice cutting. Using our large motor skills when going on walks and out to our playground. Weather permitting, we will continue to play outside.
Housekeeping- Sorting foods and setting a holiday table. Decorating our house area for upcoming holidays. Practicing taking our coats off and putting them on, zipping up our coats and putting on our hats, and mittens.
Block Area- Building our houses and roads by using large and small shaped wood blocks.
THINGS WE NEED:
*Please send in a picture of your family at the Thanksgiving Day table and also celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, or a general family picture.
*Month of December please send in vegetables for your child’s PM snack and a fruit for the AM snack.
Mr. Andrey’s Class
Theme. Discussing families – who is in our family? Things families do together. Healthy eating. Hanukkah and Christmas
Social Studies: Learning about how each family celebrates the holidays.
Math: Counting different objects. Simple sorting and matching fruit/vegetable games. Looking at different shapes around our classroom.
Science: As the weather permits, conducting our science center outside. Observing the squirrels and birds, looking for nests. Noticing how all the leaves are almost all off the trees. Introduction of weather and observing change from fall to winter.
Language Arts: Books on different holidays “8 Days of Hanukkah”, “Pete the cat saves Christmas”, “It’s Hanukkah”, “Clifford celebrates Hanukkah”, and “Corduroy’s Merry Christmas”. Retelling stories.
Cooking: Making yummy Latkes and cookies. Tasting fruits and vegetables, please send in a veggie for AM snack.
Art: Creating our very own Dreidel and wreath. Making a holiday gift.
Music/Physical: Learning new holiday songs and finger plays. Singing and dancing to old time favorites. Using our small motor skills as we continue to practice cutting. Using our large motor skills when going on walks and out to our playground. Weather permitting, we will continue to use the outside playgrounds.
Housekeeping- Sorting foods and setting a holiday table. Decorating our house area for upcoming holidays. Practicing zipping up our coats and putting on our hats, and mittens (not gloves).
Block Area- Building our houses and roads by using large and small shaped wood blocks.
THINGS WE NEED:
*Please send in a picture of your family at the Thanksgiving Day table and also celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, or a general family picture.
*Month of December please send in vegetables for your child’s AM snack and a fruit for the PM snack.
Pre-Kindergarten
Miss Katya’s Class
Theme: Finishing up the sense of smell and starting hearing, Hanukkah, and Christmas.
Language Arts: “Reading stories: “Books on the Senses” by Maria Rues. “Tasting Party” by Richard Allington. Stories relating to Holidays “Potato Pancakes All Around” by Hirch, “Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights” by Kimmelman, “Sammy Spider’s First Hanukah” by Rouss, “The Night Before Christmas,” “Rudolph,” and “Roof hop top” etc.).
House Area: Working on our Senses:
-Hearing- Identifying sounds around the house; such as vacuuming, using a blender, a door opening and closing and listening to a door bell, etc.
-Smell- Identifying different smells around the house; such as soap, shampoo, burnt toast etc.
-Baking holiday snacks, making green and red Jello cups and potato latkes.
Art: Making individual noses, scented playdough. Making musical instruments such as maracas and tambourines. Making holiday gifts and a Menorah.
Science: Senses – Hearing & smell
-Hearing- make our own phone, taking nature walks using the sense of hearing to listen to the different sounds outside.
-Smell- Take nature walks and using our sense of smell, finding, and collecting items such as; pinecones and pumpkins.
Blocks: Make a smell shop using different candle smells, also using cinnamon, lemon, and oranges.
Wood working- making trees from wood. Making a large tree and Menorah with our blocks.
Pre-reading: Following oral 2 step directions. Continuing ABC bingo, ABC match, and writing names.
Math: Sorting, and classifying.
We will be taking care of the Big Chief wild birds. Trees are arranged to create a small forest where the birds can hide and find protection against the winter. We need about 50 Christmas trees.