This week's theme is Legos and we made pictures of how we would build our legos and some of the children drew pictures of how they think their lego's would look. One of the children were talking about planets and they asked about Pluto which is a teachable moment for me because one nasked why Pluto isn't a planet and I was able to explain why then I showed them a video showing why its not a planet. We talked about the upcoming school year and what grades the children are going into but some stated that they are sad summer is over but happy to go back to school!

We had a fun last week of summer camp! I can't believe its over! I really enjoyed having your children in my summer camp and I hope to see you next year! We did not go to Bain Park because of the thunderstorms but we went to South Mastick and Lakewood Parks. We played on the playground and ran around chasing our friends. We had a fun day with PreK at Lakewood Park! The children went to Weaving Supply Co where they finished off their weaving and Ms. Joanne gave each child their own weaving stuff! Thank you for a great summer and I hope your children have a wonderful school year! Until next summer....

This week's theme is Music where the children listen to different genres of music such as Classical, Jazz/Blues, Raggae, Country, and 80's. They had to guess what genre the music was and most recognized Classical and Jazz music because they said their parents listen to these. We drew and/or painted pictures while listening to music. The purpose of this is to see if the children are drawing/painting to the beat of the music they are listening to. It was interesting to see what they drew. We talked about what music we liked and I had them listen to different instruments and guess what the instrument was. They did pretty well and I was happy to see how many instruments they knew and recognized just by sound! We also played the instruments in the classroom to see if we can play quietly or loudly but most of the children did not like the instruments played loudly. It hurt our ears!

We went to Bradley Nature Park, Edgewater Park, and Elmwood Park. We went for a walk on the trails, looked at the water, went hiking, and played on the playground. We had so much fun and we were worried that it would rain, but the rain held off which made us happy. We would like to thank Ryan's dad, Mr. Krems for giving us ice cream! Thank you so much, Mr. Krems!

With school starting very soon, we talked about kind words and bullying. It happens daily and I wanted to see if they remembered what to do if they were ever in this situation and they all said that they would stand up for themselves, their friends, and the child. They told me that they would go to a trusted adult such as their teacher or their parents to let them know what's going on so that it does not happen again.

Next week's field trips: Bain Park, South Mastick, and Lakewood Park with PreK. Please check your child's cubbies for surveys. Once they are filled out, please give to Ms. Judy or Ms. Holle.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.

We started the week off by going to Great Lakes Science Center where the children learned different things about Space, did many different hands-on exhibits, played in the Polymer Funhouse, and Port Polymer. We had lunch by the harbor where we saw ships docked! There was so much to see and they had so much fun! Did you know that there are a ton of Astronauts that are from Ohio such as John Glenn Jr, Neil Armstrong, James Lovell, to name a few? We went to Huntington Reservation where we played with field toys, swung on the swings, and we looked at the water. The children were disappoint because we only saw 1 boat on the water. I explained that it would be raining soon which did happen and we ended up leaving a little bit early. We finished off our week by going to Kauffman Park where the children played on the playground, explored how the water works by pumping it, and they climbed on the climber. It was a fun and busy week!

We went to Weaving Supply Co where the children finished off their clay creations by adding magnets and ribbons. They got to try different weavings such as paper weaving, loom weaving where they made coasters, and they used different looms such as wooden, rigid heddle loom, etc. It was certainly a new experience for them and they seemed to enjoy it. Our theme for this week is Christmas in July and we did different art projects such as making a snowman out of construction paper, making a snowy picture using cotton balls and/or paint, we made a Christmas tree out of different materials such as scrap paper, and some drew a picture of their own version of what Christmas is about. We talked about what our favorite thing(s) about Christmas and we all agreed that we like opening up Christmas presents. Of course, who doesn't like opening up presents on Christmas!

Our field trips next week: Bradley Nature Park, Edgewater Park, and Elmwood Park. We are almost done with Summer School Age Camp! Time really flew by!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me!

This week's theme is Sports and Coach Charlotte taught the children how to play golf, they did Yoga, exercises, etc, They love it when she comes because they get to run around the Great Room and learn new sports. We learned a lot about Sports this week. The children expressed how much they liked Golf. One child said, "Golf is the safest sport because you cannot get hurt at all because you're by yourself and the ball cannot hurt you. But you can get mad if the ball does not go into the hole."

We did not go on a field trip on Monday due to it raining but that did not stop us from having fun at school! We talked about sports that we liked to play and what we know about sports. We did fun crafts, painted, and made a soccer net out of blocks and legos while it was raining. We went to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center and we saw a short video in the Planetarium called, "The Little Star That Could". The video was amazing because we learned that the sun is actually a star and we learned how the solar system came about. We ended the week going to the Cleveland History Center and it was pretty cool learning about different things about our history such as aviation, clothes, cars, etc. There was so much we saw that it's hard to name it all! The children especially enjoyed the carousel!

We made some Sports related crafts this week. We painted sports related suncatchers. They made baseball bat, baseball mitten, and glove out of construction paper and they made made a golf ball out of clay. We will paint them white once they dry completely. We also drew pictures of different sports such as Soccer, basketball, and baseball. We also made predictions as to which ball will drop first. Most children guessed it would be the basketball because it was the heaviest,; however, it was actually the golf ball because of it being smaller and lighter. We were shocked but it was interesting and the children really enjoyed learning about which ball will drop first.

At Weaving Supply Co., they painted their ornament and magnet that they made out of clay. Ms. Joanne "cooked" the clay so that they can paint it and she will put it back in the oven to "cook" one more time. We have 3 more sessions at Weaving Supply Company and the children are sadden but Ms. Joanne reminded the children that they can always come to back with their parents and do fun crafts.

Our field trips next week: Great Lakes Science Center, Huntington Reservation, and Kauffman Park.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

-Ms. Michelle

We are officially halfway though the Summer! Time really flew by! This was a busy week for the School Agers! We started the week of by learning about Soccer from Coach Charlotte and going to the Rocky River Nature Center where the children learned about different animals, did a Scavenger Hunt, and going for a walk. We tried to walk up the 155 steps but it was too hard and we decided to go halfway before walking back down. We went to Bradley Woods where we played with our field toys, swung on the swing set, and after lunch, we went for a walk on the trail. We saw a bunch of geese and talked about the different things we saw in the woods. One child said, "We cannot eat the berries because they could be poisonous!" We ended the week learning about Volleyball from Coach Charlotte and going to the Botanical Gardens and looking at the beautiful flowers and butterflies. We talked about the different flowers we saw and played in the play area where the children used the watering can to water the flowers.

The children wrote in their journals about what they liked about the Rocky River Nature Center and the museum. Most of the children said they liked the museum because they got cookies! Our theme this week is Construction where the children did some STEAM activities such as building their own plane and birdhouse which they painted. We also worked together in groups of 2 or 3 to create and build a bridge. Some children built houses, bridges, and a corral on their own or with peers. One child even made a blue print before building! A few of the children did fuse beads and/or drew pictures of buildings or made maps to get to buildings.

Upcoming field trips: Rocky River Beach Park, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, and Cleveland History Center. We also have Coach Charlotte next week as well. Please make sure your child is here before 9:15 and they have comfortable shoes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me!

-Ms. Michelle

This week's theme is Farm. The children wrote in their journals about what their favorite farm animal is, if they have ever been to a farm, etc. They made different farm themed art projects such as pig in the mud, barn, and they drew pictures as well. Speaking of Art, we went to Weaving Supply Co where they painted black paint over a paper that was already colored and then they used different utensils to make designs in the black paint. They also made community helper puppets. Ms. Joanne from Weaving Supply Co surprised the children by having 2 police officers and firefighters come in and do puppets with them. The children were so excited to see them and they talked with the police officers and firefighters! Thank you to Ms. Joanne for surprising the kids!

We went to Tri City Park and to the Art Museum and we had so much fun! At Tri-City Park, the children played on the playground, had races with their peers, played with the field toys, and on the climber. It was such a nice day and we were so happy that it did not rain! The children were so excited that we were able to go to the Art Museum this year! Thank you to Mr. Kasnekaw for bringing the kids yummy cookies at lunch time, they really enjoyed it! We talked about the rules as to what to expect while visiting the museum and we looked at different art works such paintings, sculptures, etc.

We talked about what we did over the 4th of July weekend, the children said they stayed up late to watch the fireworks, spent time with their family, and had cookouts. Some said they saw the parade or were in the parade with our center! Needless to say, the children were tired when they came back from their 3 day weekend.

Our field trips for next week are: Rocky River Nature Park, Bradley Woods, and Botanical Gardens. Please make sure your child is here before 9:15 am so that they can use the bathroom before we leave and make sure they have comfortable, closed toed shoes. We also have Coach Charlotte this week as welll.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me!

This week's theme is America the Beautiful and we made a picture of our flag, made fireworks using paint, drew a picture of the Statue of Liberty, and we did fuse beads.. We talked about what we will be doing for the 4th of July; some friends said they are spending time with their families or going to see the fireworks. The children made paper wands, owls, fake money, origami animals, etc. They have been busy bees playing and creating items! We have been reading books silently or as a group during nap time so they we do not disturb the other children who are taking naps in other classrooms. We have been talking about different things about the 4th of July and I told the children that there will be a parade and our center is participating in the parade; some said that they are either participating or watching the parade. However, they said they are very excited that we have the day off because they did not want to miss the fireworks.

Mud Day was a success! The children had fun playing in the water and/or mud with their siblings or friends from other classrooms. It was a little bit cold but that did not stop them from having fun. The best part was ice cream! The Summer School Age children were so nice to let the little ones go first to get ice cream! I was so proud of them because I did not tell them to let the little ones go. They were so gentle around the little ones and helped as needed.

We did not have too many field trips due to being off Monday but we went to Weaving Supply Co and the children made terrariums and they had so much fun creating their own terrariums!

As a reminder, please make sure your children have sunscreen prior to arrival and they have comfortable shoes. We will reapply sunscreen while on the field trip. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me!

This week's theme is Summer because the first day of summer was on Tuesday. We went to Linden Park, Kauffman Park, and Bohlken Park. We had so much fun because we were able to play on the climbers, swing on the swing set, roll the down the hill, etc. Kauffman Park was redone and it looks amazing! The children pretended they were Spiderman because of all the climbing they were able to do! The children used the field toys, played Uno, and made pictures. We made sure we drank plenty of water because it was hot! The children made magnets and did a spinning art project at Weaving Supply Co. There were so excited to do these projects and they wanted to take their stuff home immediately but we had to wait until everything dried.

On the non-field trip days, the children were busy creating pictures, making pretend money, playing games such as Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land. I noticed that the children were reading DogMan book and it seems to be very popular with the children because there's a how-to manual to drawing pictures! It was so interesting and it makes me happy to see them reading the books! We made a blueprint of our dream playgrounds and we made a sun with glitter. The children played with various toys in the classroom and they were building with blocks, magna-tiles, and Lincoln Logs. It was a fun and busy week!

Please make sure your child has sunscreen prior to coming to school and please make sure they have closed toed shoes on so that any debris doesn't cut their foot and/or toe(s). Have your child check their small cubbies for any papers they want to take home. It tends to fill up quickly!

This week, we explored 3 parks - Bain Park, Scenic Park and Clague Park.  We checked out the playgrounds, did some walks in the woods and played a long game of UNO!  Coach Charlotte made her way back to LCCC and we had honed our football skills!

We visited Weaving Supply and Studio and made snow globes!  The creativity was amazing!

This week is the first week of Summer Camp! Welcome back to those who are were here last year and welcome to those who are new to Summer Camp. We are happy to have you here and excited for a fun filled field trips this summer! This week we talked about rules for Summer Camp and the children were able to come up with rules as well. I posted the rules so that they can read and know what to expect. We talked about my expectations; I went over what our weeks would look like and the daily schedule. This week we walked to Weaving Supply Company where the children made drip art on canvas using three different colors of paint and they watched the paint roll off the canvas and make interesting designs. We also did another walking field trip to Nosotros Rock Wall Gym where the children got to climb on the rock walls. They had so much fun and come were able to climb up very high where they were able to touch the ceiling! It was so much fun watching them try to figure out where they should go and they were yelling my name for me to see how high they climbed. We went to Lakewood Park where they got to play on the different swingsets and climbers. We walked down to the water and watched the boats on the water; it was so nice and relaxing! We also ate lunch at Lakewood Park as well. The children did different activities such as making an "All About Me" banner which I will hang up as soon as all of the children will complete. They did fuse beads, played with different toys, read books, etc. They had a very busy week!

I sent out an email to all the parents this week, if you have not received one from me, please let me know and I can send one out to you. Please check your child's cubby for any papers that I have for you to read and please make sure your child is here before 9:30 am so that they have time to go to put on their LCCC shirt and have time to go to the bathroom before we depart the center.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me!