“Though no 4 or 5 year old has the verbal language to represent it, they are profound and symbolic thinkers,” St. Catherine’s JK teacher Pam Oken-Wright said. “As long as I have been teaching, you would not think I could still be amazed, but I am, constantly. As I have said before, we are witness to 1,000 moments of brilliance a day.”

There’s a kind of magic in the enthusiasm and excitement of a 4 year old child.  In the all-girls environment at St. Catherine’s School, curious minds are given bright futures.

For decades, girls have flourished in the Reggio Emilia inspired Junior Kindergarten (JK) program at St. Catherine’s. A new expansion opportunity will enable more girls in the Richmond region to enroll in JK for the 2015-2016 school year and beyond. To meet the needs of today’s families, full-day and half-day JK academic options will continue to be offered.

“The formative years are critical for a child’s growth and development, and every girl can benefit from an early start at St. Catherine’s,” said Dr. Terrie Hale Scheckelhoff, St. Catherine’s Head of School. “Our JK Program is truly unique as it is fully embraced by the vast resources of master teachers, talented students, extensive facilities and countless opportunities made possible by our girl-centered JK-grade 12 program.”

To make room for the expansion, St. Catherine’s will more than double the educational space for these young students.  St. Catherine’s is honoring their commitment to early childhood education by dedicating an entire building to the Early Childhood Center. Renovations will begin at the conclusion of the 2014-15 school year and the expected opening for fall coincides with the School’s 125th Anniversary.  Young explorers will continue to benefit from a unique outdoor classroom space with water, sand and rocks reflective of the city of Richmond.

In addition, as part of St. Catherine’s Early Education, the School is offering “Girls Discover” enrichment courses uniquely designed for girls ages 3-5.  Programs such as Girls Discover STEM provide young girls the opportunity to engage in unique topics and activities that expand their intellect and encourage creativity.  Learn more about St. Catherine’s Early Childhood programs here.

Apply for St. Catherine’s today and watch your child flourish in this remarkable program.

This article is sponsored by St. Catherine’s School.

CommuniKids Preschool and Children’s Language Center, with centers in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC, is now open at 3111 Lauderdale Drive in Short Pump. CommuniKids offers several programs designed especially for young children in Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese, including full and half-day preschool, weekly classes, summer camps, and after-school care.

The benefits to starting foreign language instruction early in life are immense. The optimal time for language learning, or the “Window of Opportunity,” occurs in young children from birth to age 8. At that time in their development, young children’s brains are extremely flexible and are “hardwired” for language learning. Very young children have the ability to learn any of the world’s languages and to recreate them with a near-perfect accent. Recent research confirms that the advantages of learning another language go beyond the practical. Multilingual children also perform better in school in all subjects and have higher executive function skills.

For families searching for part- or full-time preschool, the CommuniKids language immersion preschool program offers a well-rounded, play-based, full-immersion curriculum in Spanish or French. Our after-school and weekend language classes give children enrolled in other schools a chance to complement their education with weekly exposure to French, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. And our summer camp program offers six weeks of full-immersion fun to students of all proficiency levels looking for intensive exposure to the language. CommuniKids also plans to offer an immersion after-school care program for school-aged children with transportation from nearby elementary schools.

For more information, email admissions@communikids.com or visit CommuniKids online.

Small people can do big things.  At the Goddard School kids are learning you are never too young to feel good about helping others.

From December 5^th until the 12^th, kids at The Goddard Schools  in Richmond are crafting for CJ! The tiny preschoolers are doing everything from decorating ornaments for auction, having a bake sale and hosting a spaghetti dinner to raise money. All proceeds from this week will benefit CJ’s Thumbs Up Foundation for deserving local families.

 “All of our children got into the holiday spirit making ornaments for a great cause!”

Ms. Mary, Kindergarten teacher from The Goddard School located in Ashland, VA:

CJ’s Thumbs Up Foundation provides assistance to families with children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses through financial aid, meals, emergency bill pay assistance and more.

The 9 participating Goddard Schools are in the following cities: Ashland, Chester, Chesterfield, Glen Allen, Midlothian, Henrico, Mechanicsville.

To find out more about The Goddard School and locations, visit their website.

Join the Community Ideas Station and Seymour from the Children’s Museum at the station (WCVE PBS) located at 23 Sesame Street, North Chesterfield, Virginia for a Holiday Hoopla.

Kids ages 2-8 years old and their families will be entertained with lots of fun winter and holiday themed games, crafts and activities.

Thomas the Tank Engine fans will love seeing Thomas and other trains at the O-scale model train layout set up by the The Silver Rail Club.

No party is complete without a goodie bag.  Kids will be sent home with a giant Thomas The Tank Engine sticker book.

Ready To Learn Holiday Hoopla
Sunday, December 14 from 1:00-4:00 p.m

Community Ideas Stations
23 Sesame Street
Richmond, VA 23235

Tickets are $5 per person and can be purchased online.
(This event is free to ideaKIDS Club members and their parents)

I love making crafts and think they make lovely presents and gifts… but truth be told, there’s plenty of crafty things to make during the holidays and I usually realize I need to get gifts for the teachers the Wednesday before school is out for the winter break.

Consider this your reminder (and mine) that it’s holiday gifting time and if you’ve got a particularly fabulous teacher you might want to put them on your list this year.

First things first, pass on the knick knacks, 30 kids for just 5 years and you already have the potential for a loooootta “greatest teacher” goods.

Here are some easy gifts teachers will love:

Books Your favorite book or your child’s favorite book for their classroom.  Have your child write a special note inside if they are old enough.

Games for the Classroom Pick up a board game for kids to play when recess is inside.  Find a fun educational game, or go with a classic favorite (try to avoid Monopoly and other games that last 3+ hours).  Puzzles are great for younger kids and preschoolers as well.

Practical Gift Cards Target, Amazon, book stores, teacher supply stores… Even MARTIN’S.

Divide your budget up and split the gift cards for the classroom and for themselves (for example one Barnes & Noble gift card for themselves and one to buy a book for their classroom) packs of multiple gift cards are perfect for this idea.

Fun Gift Cards  Teachers are people too and gift cards are a great one-size-fits-all gift, especially if you haven’t gotten a chance to get to know them well. Gift cards for movie tickets or a dinner out is always a great gift that teachers can enjoy with their family or spouse.

Multi-Family Gift Talk to a few other parents and go in on a massage from Massage Envy for a little R&R.

School Supply Basket Many teachers spend a lot of their own money on additional classroom supplies and by mid-year a lot of their supplies have depleted. Put together a little classroom supply refresher gift basket.

Include:
-Pencils and Pens
-Loose leaf paper
-Tissues (and more tissues)
-Hand sanitizer
-Glue sticks (lots and lots of glue sticks)
-Post-it notes
-Dry erase markers
-Favorite snack (get your kid to do some detective work)

A Handmade Card I don’t have time to be crafty, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put the kids to work. Keep it simple and have your kids make a card with a special note inside.  Sometimes a heart felt note is worth much more than any gift.

Gotta little time?  If you can’t send in a gift without a crafty touch. Check out our Pinterest Board with a lot teacher gift ideas.

Ever Present by JD Hancock is licensed under CreativeCommons license 2.0.  Modified to include type.