All About Me Featuring Isla

     Isla was our next "All About Me" presenter! She was so excited to share and did a magnificent job displaying her poster to the class .While Isla just celebrated her second birthday, she has tremendous confidence and is comfortable speaking in front of her peers.  It was a delight listening to and watching her as the star for "All About Me."

Here are some fun facts we learned about Isla:

Favorite color -  Blue

Favorite animal -  Dog 🐶

Favorite food - Chicken wings 🐔

Favorite thing to do - Wear my Elsa dress 👗

Favorite place to visit - Vermont 🏖

When I grow up I want to be -  Runner 🏃

If I had one wish, I would wish for - to be able to eat lollipops all the time 🍭

     Isla was thrilled when she was given the "Student of the Month" award. She was happy to share in the excitement with her big sister, Emma, and honored to bring it home. Thank you for sharing your "All About Me" poster with us, Isla!  We loved learning more about you!

     Happy 2nd birthday, Isla!  Isla was overjoyed to celebrate her birthday with friends here at school!  She brought in delicious cupcakes and goody bags for all to enjoy!  Friends gave Isla a special birthday present and sang "Happy Birthday!"  Isla, you have been a wonderful addition to our SMART START family.  You are a sweet, loving and smart young girl.   We love watching you grow and learn.  May all your birthday wishes come true, Isla!

     Thank you for participating in this extended learning activity with your child(ren)!  We appreciate all you do!

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

     "Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive that is Youer than You"- Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  Our young learners here at SMART START have been celebrating at school in honor of his birthday.  Not only did Dr. Seuss provide both the young and old with countless stories and laughs, he instilled many important and inspiring messages in our hearts  He has taught us to be the best version of ourselves, embrace who we are, live in the moment and that you can do anything you put your mind to.  We love Dr. Seuss here at SMART START and incorporate his work into our curriculum throughout the year.

     Our bookshelf was filled with many of the Dr. Seuss classics. Our eager readers thoroughly enjoyed books such as, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, The Foot Book, ABC, Hop on Pop and more during our story time, as well as independently or with a friend.  They loved the silly rhymes, words and illustrations!

     SMART START friends read the story, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and followed it up with an exciting One Fish, Two Fish game.  While Miss Francesca read the book, the children had to hold up their card whenever she said what was on their card.  They did extremely well with this listening game and shared many giggles.

     Thanks to Dr. Seuss', Bartholomew and the Oobleck, we reserved a special day to read this entertaining story and make our very own oobleck!  The perfect sensory activity for our hands-on learners!  Students worked together to create this sticky and slimy solution by mixing a few ingredients together - water, cornstarch and food coloring.  Once the oobleck creation was formed, we used this time to incorporate a simple language arts activity. Each placed plastic letters inside the oobleck to spell words from a few of Dr. Seuss' books such as Hop on Pop, Fox in a Box and Green Eggs and Ham.  A job well done with letter identification, letter sounds and rhyming!

    

     Thanks to an unseasonably warm day, we enjoyed story time in our outdoor classroom! Always a special treat for circle time! All listened intently as Miss Molly read, Horton Hears A Who . Afterwards, we headed back indoors to complete a Dr. Seuss math worksheet.  Students had to draw a circle around the total number of Dr. Seuss characters in each row.  Fabulous work!

Click below to see Dr. Seuss fun at SMART START!

     Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!  Thank you for making us laugh, challenge our creative thinking and believe that we are all born to stand out!

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Construction Week and Handyman Field Trip

     SMART START handy helpers have been busy learning about construction work and what it entails. The children put their newly acquired skills and muscles to good use while assisting in projects here at school.  With a rise and focus on engineering in our school systems and enrichment programs, we wanted to dive into this area of learning and development from an exciting, hands- on and educational angle.  We invited our local expert, Glen the Andover Handyman, for our on site field trip to educate our young learners about the profession.

     Our SMART START engineers absolutely loved our arts and crafts project for the construction learning unit! They used a variety of recyclables that we have been collecting here at school to construct their very own creation.  Towers, castles, airplanes and more were built by utilizing toy tools and red, yellow, blue and green electrical tape to fix the pieces together.  Once this process was complete, our SMART START artists put on the finishing touches using their creative ability. They used bonkers and markers to add splashes of color and drizzled glue to hold colored tissue and construction paper. Our students were extremely proud of their masterpieces, each unique and special!

     The children had a blast as SMART START transformed into a mini construction site! We hung yellow caution tape and signs, placed cones around and dispersed  tools throughout the "site." Our SMART START workers each wore a hard hat because safety comes first on the job!

     To further enrich our unit of study we utilized puzzles, magnet books, figurines, toy tools, different types of vehicles and large wooden and cardboard building blocks.  As always, we focus on enhancing the literacy skills of our young learners and read various books about construction workers/engineers/handy workers.  Our pupils enjoyed learning about these community helpers and what they do to serve our communities. Intelligent and appropriate questions were asked during our open discussions, as well as during circle time, scheduled activities and free play.  Knowledge is power and our students certainly crave it!  We are so proud of them and constantly in awe of their continued progress.  

     It is only fitting that we took our SMART START helpers to our outdoor classroom. They used dump trucks and bull dozers to load and unload mulch, added new flowers to our play structure and tightened a few loose screws with their tools.  We are so grateful to have such helpful and skilled children here at school!

     Glen, the Andover Handyman, was a big hit at SMART START!  The children wore their SMART START t-shirts and hard hats and patiently awaited Glen's arrival.  They were excited to see and learn about all the tools in his tool box and even more eager to look at his big truck outside!  Glen explained how he loads and unloads work related items in the back when he is going to and from a job.  Our young learners were quick to ask questions related to topics Glen covered and even shared stories about how they are handy helpers around their own homes!

     SMART START handy helpers and our local expert Glen worked hard during the field as they built and fixed things here at school. Projects included building a new playhouse castle, installing a new toilet seat with a built in potty, fixing the doorbell and several of our learning toys.  The children were thrilled to work alongside Glen and he was delighted with his assistants.  Not only did our pupils have fun tackling all these tasks with Glen, they learned quite a bit while doing so which added to a big boost in confidence levels!

     Hands-on learning is the perfect way for children to make connections and develop skills to use in real world situations.  While our SMART START engineers are deep in thought, working hard and most importantly having fun at play, they are fostering critical thinking and problem solving skills and more. Authentic learning at its best!

Click below to see Construction Week Fun at SMART START!

     Thank you for your continued support of our on site field trip enrichment program.  The children are thoroughly enjoying our focus on local community helpers and we hope our success continues
moving forward.

                                                       

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

SMART START AD

     SMART START Young Learners is excited to share that we are now enrolling! We are a unique preschool offering a strong academic foundation and endless learning and development opportunities. Our goal is to instill an authentic love of learning in our students.

     Please click below and check out our newest advertisement!  Thank you for choosing SMART START! Your child(ren) are our number one priority and it is our honor and privilege to be a part of their education and care.  Please share this post if you know anyone looking for preschool options and we would be delighted to connect with them.  

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Valentine's Fun

     Happy Valentine's Day to all of our SMART START students and their families.  We truly enjoyed celebrating the holiday with your little ones!  They all had so much fun learning about and partaking in festive activities.  SMART START love was in the air!

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

💗 Reading 💗

     Valentine's Day is special as it focuses on being kind to others and expressing love to those that mean the most.  Our students enjoyed learning about this love-filled holiday during circle time.  Storytime is a favorite for our wonderful group of listeners here at SMART START! Our bookshelf was lined with Valentine themed books that the boys and girls read on their own or with a friend during language arts and/or free play.

💗 Arts and Crafts 💗

     Creative crafters decorated their very own box to hold valentines they would receive during our Valentine's Day celebration.  They also worked on a special gift for their parents. Glitter, markers, foam heart stickers, heart stamp markers, glue , felt and tissue paper and red colored yarn were used for both projects. The final products looked wonderful and it was evident that a great deal of love was put into each creation.  Parents, we hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day present today and for many years to come!

💗 Culinary Arts 💗

     SMART START bakers looked adorable as ever in their chef hats and aprons as they prepared and baked a delicious Valentine's Day treats for their parents.  The children showcased great teamwork in the kitchen as they took turns pouring, measuring and mixing the ingredients.  What lovely manners our students have! All packaged the M&M chocolate chip cookies in cute heart bags and finished with ribbon.  We hope you enjoyed these tasty treats made with lots of love from your valentines!

💗 Valentine's Day Party 💗

     Our SMART START valentines were excited to spread kindness and love to their friends at our celebration here at school. Valentines and special treats were brought in for all to share. The children loved passing them out to their friends and putting the valentines  received in their boxes made during arts and crafts. Conversations were super sweet as they focused on being extra kind to one another in honor of Valentine's Day. 

     SMART START friends gathered in a circle for an entertaining musical bag game.  When the music stopped, whomever was holding the bag had the chance to guess what was inside. Laughter and smiles filled the room as comical guesses were made as to what was in the bag. It was Barny the Barn Owl! They love when Barny is included in the fun!  We commenced our Valentine's Day celebration with an exciting game of "Valentine Says", just like the classic "Simon Says."  

     Click below to check out Valentine's Day fun at SMART START!

     Thank you to all of our SMART START families for making our Valentine's Day Party a success!  We truly appreciate all you do to support our efforts.

   

💗 Mary and Francesca💗

All About Me Featuring Benny

     Benny was absolutely delighted to be our next student showcased for "All About Me."  He exuded confidence as he shared his poster with his peers and joyfully told us all about himself.  The children loved listening to Benny and asking him questions.  

Here are some facts we learned about Benny:

Favorite color - Blue Favorite animal - Giraffe and Zebra Favorite food - Goldfish 🐠

Favorite thing to do - Play with cars 🚓 and trains 🚅 and magic tracks Favorite place to visit- Miami, Florida 🌴 When I grow up I want to be - Fireman 🚒 If I had one wish, I would wish for - Everyone's feelings to be happy 😊

      

     Benny was presented with the "Student of the Month" award and was quite proud of himself.  He is looking forward to sharing it with his family.  Your friends and teachers enjoyed learning more about you, Benny!  Thank you for sharing your "All About Me" poster with us!

     Happy 4th Birthday, Benny!  You are a kind and intelligent young boy! We are honored to share in your education and care here at SMART START! We have watched you grow into an all-around star student!  Benny was thrilled to celebrate his 4th birthday here at school with his friends.  The children enjoyed a tasty birthday treat in honor of Benny and presented him with a special birthday gift.

     Thank you for participating in this extended learning activity with your child(ren).  We appreciate all you do!

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙

Show and Tell

     Show and Tell is a SMART START favorite activity!  Students always look forward to their turn to be in the spotlight and share a well loved toy/item from home.  Our young presenters get excited for show and tell day, as well as our audience members. Friends enjoy seeing what their fellow classmates are interested in outside of school. They ask a lot of questions as they await their turn to hold the item. We use this time to work on skill building, strengthening areas of development and public speaking.  Here are some highlights from our most recent Show and Tells! 
     Adelyn was full of joy as she displayed her Madeline doll and book. The children gathered around the table as Adelyn explained some of her favorite things she likes to do with Madeline. She kindly passed her special items around to each of her friends. All enjoyed reading the book during story time, especially Adelyn as she cuddled up with Madeline in her lap. Thank you for sharing!

          Matilda was proud to present her pink LEGO storage box! She uses this LEGO box at home to fill with special things. Tilly beamed while showing and passing the box to her friends. Peers enjoyed opening and closing it and asked some interesting questions that Tilly was happy to answer. Great job!

          Erica was delighted to bring in a classic toy for Show and Tell. A See and Say that showcased pictures of animals making animal sounds! The children grouped in a circle as Erica modeled how it worked by pulling the string. Classmates smiled and laughed each time it landed on an animal as it made the corresponding sound. Excellent work!

     

     

     Thank you for allowing your child(ren) to participate in Show and Tell.  It is a wonderful learning opportunity for all and we love hearing and seeing what our pupils enjoy playing with at home!

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙