Lemonade Day Lessons at Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center

The Pre-K and Preschool 1 classrooms collaborated this year for the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center Lemonade Day stand on May 17.

Teachers Marti Gough, Marquita Ramsey, Sara McHenry and Caroline King lead their students through the Lemonade Day curriculum working with the students on subjects such as setting goals & planning the business; budgeting & finding an investor; advertising; building a stand & making healthy lemonade.

Lemonade Day uses experiential learning to help students apply classroom topics to the world of work.

The classes  served lemonade and strawberry lemonade. And also served cookies, Chex mix, popcorn, and brownies. The children wrote the posters to advertise and printed the menu.

The PreK class voted to donate the money to the Indianapolis Humane Society since they came to speak to the students about responsible pet ownership and how the Humane Society helps dogs and cats find homes and brought along a rescue dog.

Preschool 1 decided to donate their half of the earnings to the American Red Cross to help the tornado victims in Oklahoma.
The students raised $150 altogether !!!

Summer Servings program helps feed Indianapolis youth

Download this flyer by clicking on the link and help spread the word about this amazing program for Marion County youth.

 Summer Servings food program 2013

Thankful Thursday: A salute to the Leap into Art committee

This Thankful Thursday we want to thank our Leap into Art committee who helped to raise the necessary funds to provide year round Arts for Learning programming for Day Nursery children. The following committee members hosted more than 150 guests at our IU Health Early Learning Center on Saturday, May 18th: Amy Cavin, Carolyn Dederer, Denise Hancock, Denise Holder, Doyia Turner, Ebony Reid, Jessica Barth, JoEllen Florio Rossebo, Joli Heavin, Kathy Drewes, Megan Hacker-Schnitzler, Sarah Ferguson, Susan Davis, Tami Earnhart, Kathy Wall and Olivia Roney. Special thanks to Chef Sam Brown, his Ivy Tech Culinary Arts students and to our Day Nursery cooks: Suzanne Carroll, Dollie Smith and Angie Brown. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Day Nursery Indianapolis teachers show their Pacer Pride

Day Nursery State toddler teachers, Mr. Daniel and Ms. Debbie showing their Indiana Pacers pride!! Beat the Heat!

Why Do Children Spin?

Childcareexchange.com offers great resources for our teachers and parents.  Here’s an example of the kind of information you can find on their website and through their daily Exchange Every Day email.

“So, what is going on when children spin, roll, swing, bounce, jump, and generally get dizzy?” asks Jan White in her Exchange (May/June 2013) article, “Somersaults and Spinning: The Serious Work of Children’s Neurological Development.” She answers…

One of the most foundational requirements for good functioning in life and ‘school readiness’ is having a strong sense of equilibrium in relation to space and gravity. Strongly developed balance allows you to feel good in your body and able to control and manage it well. It operates automatically and unconsciously so that attention is fully available for other things. When it is not working well, however, we feel very unwell and it is difficult to think or ¬operate in daily life. This can be a common component of many special needs conditions, such as ADHD, dyspraxia, and autism.

The ability to detect motion and respond to it to provide balance operates through a sensory system called the vestibular sense. This system is the first sensory ¬system to start developing (16 weeks after conception) and our other senses both operate through it and need to be strongly integrated with it….

“A vast amount of movement is required for the brain to fully develop and then fine-tune its ability to interpret all the motion possibilities. This also needs to be matched with vision, hearing, and sensory information coming from inside the body (proprioception). Rather than actually balancing and staying still, it is movement in gravity that makes this sensory system wire up in the brain and body. It is perhaps not surprising to find that these are the very things that young ¬children most want to do and find such pleasure in!”

Day Nursery Too Cute Tuesday

Our racetrack is an “O”

Day Nursery Northwest Indianapolis shares culture with preschool in Australia

Miss Shanna’s class at Day Nursery Northwest is in a “culture swap” with Holy Trinity Early Learning Center in Australia. Shanna shared this picture today of her showing her class the contents of the package from their friends in Australia which included an Australian flag, some stuffed koalas, stickers and a poster of Australian wildlife. They also received letters and pictures from the children at the center. In exchange, Shanna’s class sent them some handmade fun dough made by the class, a Colts jersey, crayons, some Day Nursery pencils, checkered flags, and some pictures they colored.

The Hand Holders – A Tribute to Childcare Providers

I made a rainbow by Dereon age 3

The Hand Holders
A Tribute to Childcare Providers

There is no job more important than ours,
no job anywhere else in the land.
We are the keepers of the future;
we hold the smallest hands.
Into our care we are trusted
to nurture and care for the young,
and for all of our everyday heroics,
our talents and skills go unsung.
We wipe tears from the eyes of the injured.
We rock babies brand new in our arms.
We encourage the shy and unsure child.
We make sure they are safe from all harm.
We foster the bonds of friendships,
letting no child go away mad.
We respect and we honor their emotions.
We give hugs to each child when they’re sad.
We have more impact than does a professor,
a child’s mind is molded by four,
so whatever we lay on the table
is whatever that child will explore.
Give each child the tools for adventure,
let them be artists and writers and more;
let them fly in the wind and dance on the stars
and build castles of sand on the shore.
It is true that we don’t make much money
and we don’t get a whole lot of praise,
but when one small child says, “I Love You,”
we’re reminded of how this job pays.
~author unknown

Day Nursery Ft. Harrison staffer enjoys biking to work

Even before she realized that May is National Bike Month, Day Nursery Ft. Harrison Assistant Director Jessica Stewart and her two-year old daughter Ava started biking to work from their Lawrence area home. Jessica says the pair make the 20 minute ride several times a week through neighborhoods and a park.  Today is National Bike to School Day and we salute Jessica for setting a good example for the children in her center.

Day Nursery Family Night at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Day Nursery families gathered at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis tonight to take advantage of Target Free Family Night  and help bid farewell to the Super Heroes exhibit which is closing up this weekend.  While most of the children were quite focused on getting into the fun as soon as possible after arriving, we were able to slow a few families down to snap these pictures.  Thanks to Patty Fisher and the management team in each Day Nursery Center for assembling the meals to go, so the families could get fueled up before exploring the museum.  Check out the pictures