Reggio approach inspires Day Nursery teachers

Day Nursery teacher Matt Miller shares with his peers his reflections of the morning session

Six of our staff members,  Marsha Lindsey (Chief Operating Officer), Shannon Garrity (Ruth A. Lilly Center Director), Sara McHenry (Lilly Center teacher), Jeannette Wrightsman (Lilly Center teacher), Matt Miller (Avon Center teacher) and Shanna Nowosielski (Northwest Center teacher) are in Kentucky today for a professional development opportunity: Building Continuity of Learning through Reggio Approach: Creating Excellence in Education. While we wish we could have sent representatives from every center, we know these six will bring back great information to share with our teachers. The Reggio approach to education isn’t an early childhood method or set curriculum, but rather a deep knowledge in theory and community-constructed values that have been and are continuously being translated into high quality early childhood practices.

Toddler Tuesday at Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center

Happy Toddler Tuesday! Shannon Garrity, Center Director at Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central shared this fun picture from this morning with this note: This is a toddler who just finished playing with cool whip and food coloring.  

Day Nursery preschoolers visit IPS kindergarten classroom

The PreK class of the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center on 3522 N. Central Avenue had a blast going across the street yesterday to visit IPS School 48 to shadow their kindergarten class.  Day Nursery Center Director Shannon Garrity shared her observations about the visit…..”With graduation earlier in the week, our Pre K students are now ready for kindergarten. So, they got to experience what happens when you get to kindergarten. They made a chart before they left of all of their questions. When they got back to the room, they re-read all of their questions and had some great answers. One student asked if the “new friends in big school would be nice?” when she got back to her room, Ms. Caroline asked the child if the kindergarteners were nice to her and she responded a resounding “yes”. Upon pick up this afternoon, I could hear all of the Pre K class telling their parents how much fun it was today at the school across the street.”

Day Nursery PreK graduates leave IPS school 48 after their visit to shadow the school’s kindergarten class.

Volunteers plant new trees on Day Nursery Lilly Center playground

It’s “Feel Good Friday” so I’d like to share with you a nice thing that happened at one of our centers this week. Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Day Nursery parents planted 10 trees this week  on the playgrounds of the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central.  Day Nursery Lilly Center Director Shannon Garrity and Day Nursery Chief Operating Officer Marsha Lindsey coordinated the project on our end.  They report the new plantings include 1 Burr Oak, 1 Sugar Maple, and 8 Serviceberry trees. Thanks to Jerome, Adam and Molly help from Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. Thanks to our regular group of volunteers from PNC who have worked on a wide variety of projects at our center and a very special thank you to parents, Nicole Schuster, Theresa and Matt Brooks and James Mehrilich for their time.

Day Nursery students make ‘No Lie’ Cherry Pie

The three year olds at our Ruth A.Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central Avenue made their famous “no lie” cherry pie this week in honor of Presidents Day. They had a blast baking. Center Director Shannon Garrity cannot tell a lie…she said it was delicious! If you know a child ages 3-5 who would benefit from this type of hands-on learning, please call Shannon at 926-1203 and she will be happy to give a tour of her center.

Children and Chopsticks: Chinese New Year at Day Nursery

The Chinese New Year kicked off Monday with celebrations around the world.

At Day Nursery, the activities varied by center with many classrooms using the holiday to expand the children’s knowledge of different cultures.

The three year olds at the Ruth A. Lilly Day Nursery Center, 3522 N. Central helped prepare fried rice in their classroom and then tried their hand at using chop sticks.  Thanks to Center Director Shannon Garrity for sharing these pictures.

Too Cute Tuesday: Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center opens new classroom

Yesterday we opened a new classroom for one year olds at the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central Avenue.  We had 4 toddlers on day one but eventually we will accommodate 10 children in this new room.   The children had fun trying out a room full of new toys and getting to know each other.  Thanks to Center Director Shannon Garrity for sharing these pictures.

Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center students await warmer weather

Justin and Joe looking at the caterpillars

Shannon Garrity, Director of the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center reports her students are anxiously awaiting warmer weather.  Many classroom activities revolve around gardening for the next couple of weeks. Both preschool classes are planting their seeds  in pots to transfer outside later when it gets warm. And preschoolers are observing caterpillars in their classroom and  counting down the days until they turn into butterflies.  Our Ruth A. Lilly Center currently has openings for children ages 2-6.  The center is located at 3522 N. Central Avenue. Call Shannon for  more information.

Jeremiah imitates a caterpillar

Now Jeremiah is a butterfly

Thankful Thursday: Day Nursery preschoolers learn about giving

As parents and educators, we are always looking for “teachable moments” when it comes to raising young children.  Christmas time gives us an opportunity to teach our young ones the value of graciously giving and receiving gifts.  Shannon Garrity, Center Director at the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center sent me these pictures of her preschoolers working on both giving and receiving gifts.  The children were asked to bring a gift valued at no more than $2 for an anonymous gift exchange.  Shannon shared a cute story that illustrates how much children do care about each other.  When a three-year old boy in Ms. Caroline and Ms. Sara’s classroom unwrapped his gift, he discovered it was a toy typically thought of as a “girl’s” gift.  When asked by another child if he wanted to exchange it with someone for another gift, he replied “No, one of my friends bought this for me and I love it!”  Wouldn’t it be nice if all the adults on our holiday list were so understanding?  Happy Holidays!

After patiently waiting until everyone selected a gift, it was finally time to open them!

The three year olds made yummy holiday treats to give to their family.

The children selected numbers to see which gift they would receive.

Day Nursery preschoolers share holiday traditions

The Indiana Department of Education’s Foundations for Young Children notes that while three and four-year olds are still quite egocentric and relate to their own experiences, they begin to notice similarities and differences between themselves and others. Shannon Garrity, Director of the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central Avenue passed on these pictures of young children learning as they identify different holiday traditions in their community. Here are some pics of our 3’s class decorating our center Christmas tree also a picture of the Hanukkah wall. The children “light” a candle everyday. And during the eight days a different child brings in a gift to share with the class, a special food for afternoon snack.