Marching into March

by Florence B.

Wow, time sure is flying by fast! How is it March already? Well, if you haven’t registered for a spot for the 2018-2019 school year, make sure you reserve your spot soon! Registration is now open for everyone, so please let your friends know it’s time to get excited about getting a spot for one of next year’s classes!

By now, I’m sure everyone has seen the amazing dramatic play area (and if you haven’t, don’t worry, I have some pictures)! Ok, let’s just say that the curriculum team deserves a medal for all their designs, and this one is definitely one of my favorites! Ready to fly the open skies? Welcome to the BFCP Airport! Where should we go today?

The pictures don’t do justice to how cute this set up is! I love all the little details that the curriculum team included. There are little luggage tags on the luggage, a pet carrier to take a pet on the flight, and a metal detector that actually swings so the kiddos can put it where they want for just a few examples! I got a huge kick out of the flight control panel. Did you notice the calculators attached to the wall?! How can you not fall in luuuurve with this setup?! Oh, and I have another reason for you as to why being part of a Co-Op is awesome—the 3/4 and PreK classes got to meet an Alaskan Airlines pilot and hear about his job! How are Co-Ops and pilots connected? Well, that awesome AA pilot is also one of our awesome PreK dads!

You’ll also see plenty of “Things that Go” books along with plenty of flying in the sky books, but let’s give a special call out to our author of the month: Donald Crews! My kids absolutely love his Freight Train book, which is also one of the 1979 Caldecott Honors books. That’s right, 1979! I guess it’s pretty timeless since kids still love this book almost 40 years later (and since it still hits top lists like New York Public Library’s “100 Great Children’s Books | 100 Years” at https://www.nypl.org/childrens100, I guess adults love this book, too!)? Anyway, it’s hard to describe this simple book, so just check it (and the rest of Donald Crew’s books) out, and be amazed when your kiddo is highly entertained by it!

Other themes you’ll see during March are Jobs that People Do, Wind and Weather, and Rainbows! The rainbow one will be sooo much fun since this is also interactive! The 3/4 and PreK classes will be “eating the rainbow” during the week of March 12th! Kiddos will bring one piece of whole fruit to share with the class, and then the PreK class will go even further by creating a graph of all the different fruits brought to class (go go early math!). On March 14th, it’ll be rainbow day for the older 2 classes, which means wearing rainbow colors to school! On March 16, the 2/3 class will have “Green Day,” so don’t forget to wear something green to school!

Well, I talked about the rainbow and the color green, how about the color red?! As in Fire Station red!! I’m so excited for this: this month, the toddlers and 2/3 classes are going to…wait for it…wait for it… are you ready for it…FIRE STATION 51 in Kenmore!!! Oh, there are just not enough exclamation marks in the world for this excursion!

*Phew* well, we have so may wonderful things going on during school, how about after school for our evening parent ed? On March 21, get ready for our our PAC All Schools Speaker: Julietta Skoog! This will be held in the Shoreline Community College Theater, and she’ll discuss Positive Discipline! You can check her out at her website here.

Here’s a quick quote from her website: “Learn to discipline with firmness and kindness, have fun as a parent, and set the foundation for important social and life skills.”

Well, I hope you’re enjoying March so far and looking forward to some fun and interesting topics ahead for you! If you have any feedback or thoughts to share, feel free to comment below or email me at blog@bothellfamilycoop.org!

Let’s Read: Three Ways for You to Find Books!

by Florence B.

After writing my first January post and fan-girling over The Bear Snores On series, I realized I absolutely needed to do a blog post on books! We all know that reading is great for kids so let’s skip the why and instead jump straight into the where-do-we-find-books part! In today’s blog post, I’m going to let you know about our own little fledging kids’ books trading library here at Bothell Family Cooperative Preschool, Scholastic Reading Club orders through the school, and some reading programs from some of the local public libraries in our area! Let’s get started, because there’s no hesitating when it comes to going after new books (well, at least for me!)!

1) Kids Trading Library at Bothell Family Cooperative Preschool!

Let’s start small and talk about our little growing library that was started a few months ago by our awesome outdoor teacher, Angela (by the way, if you missed her interview on the blog, you can find it HERE). This little collection is in the mud room in the blue bin labeled “BFCP Kids Lending Library.” Let your kiddo browse and find a new treasure to take home! When your family has outgrown a book, please consider donating it to this growing school program!

2) Scholastic Reading Club

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Scholastic Reading Club, go check it out now (don’t worry, I’ll wait). New users will be prompted to make an account; if you decide to, make sure you link your account to Teacher Kathy Foster by either searching for her name or using the code NT8WP.

So what’s the deal with this club? If you love books (and who doesn’t?!), the program gives great discounts since they offer paperback versions of popular children books, megapacks for bulk deals, and save on shipping since they don’t send to your home—they ship to the school. That last point also means that to be able to order through this program, you have to be affiliated with a school/classroom/teacher that’s signed up to be in the program AND you have to wait for the class order to come in (so keep an eye out for class order deadlines, since there’s no 2-day insta-shipping here!). Luckily, Bothell Family Cooperative Preschool is in the program! Personally, my family has built up our own mini-library at home for the kids by ordering the megapacks and taking advantage of dollar deals!

If you’re wondering why teachers take part in the club, the class (or school) collect points for every purchase made by the parents in the class order, which can then be spent to earn free books for the classroom and school! So, by ordering from the Scholastic Reading Club, you have the benefit of great deals that allow BFCP to earn more and more points to earn free items! Note that the best deals in the club are for the paperbacks, megapacks, and dollar books. Some of the hard cover books, board books, and cloth books sell close to retail, so shop wisely if you’re hunting for the best prices!

Just to give an idea of what you can find, check out the image of some of their January Special Values offerings. I also included a screen shot of what you’ll find when you click an item for more info. For those of you who love the nitty-gritty details, you can find out the target age audience for a book as well as the reading level (GRL - don’t worry, the reading level didn’t just
growl at you. That really is a reading level indicator with “A” being the easiest and so on!). And of course, since the Bear Snores On series is available as a megapack, I had to use that as an example! Well, I actually had waaaay too many examples to show, but to keep this section from going crazy long, let’s just summarize by saying: Go check it now (go go, this post will still be here when you get back!).

3) Public Library Reading Programs

Well, I can’t even begin to express my love for public libraries! First of all, you can go check out pretty much any book you want, and they even have ebooks for you to check out without leaving the comfort of your home. BUT, they also have THE. BEST. KIDS. PROGRAMS. EVER! So, go ahead and leave the comfort of your home to check out your local library kid programs—especially the Story Times, which are basically really long circle times. And then, when the program is over, you’re at the LIBRARY with sooooo many books for you and your little one(s) to choose from! Some of the story times also include a craft or bonus activity so you’ll definitely want to explore different libraries to see what they all have to offer!

This section is definitely the hardest of the three to write since there’s so much I want to share with all of you about the local public libraries! Alas, the King County Library, Sno-Isle Library, and Seattle Public Library Systems are so large that I can’t cover all of them (which is a VERY good problem to have, amirite?!?!). So, I’ve picked out several libraries from each system that are in reasonable driving range of the school to give a quick-at-a-glance summary so you can hopefully find a program that’s interesting to you! Note that I found these using the libraries’ event search features, so these may change at any time (but hopefully this will still give you a head start for finding a program of interest for you!). Also, although there’s a target age listed below, many of the programs allow siblings, and all of the programs need an adult to accompany (i.e. no drop off story times!).

I) King County Library System

All right, let’s start off with good old KCLS since that’s the library system I’m most familiar with! BTW, notice that I had to move to Roman numerals for my sub heading?! *Yikes* lots of incoming info coming your way!

Woodinville Library
Young Toddler Story Time: ages 12 to 24 months; Wed 11:30AM - 12:00PM
Toddler Story Time: ages 2 to 3; Wed 10:30 - 11:00AM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 to 6; Tues 10:30 - 11:15AM
Family Story Time: all ages; Thurs 7:00 - 7:45PM
Foreign Language:
Spanish - all Ages; Tues 1:30 - 2:00PM
Insider Tip: This is one of my favorite libraries since they have an amazing outside exploration area targeted for young children that’s so much fun! You have to see it to really appreciate it; there’s a little “club house” with windows of different shapes and a tree growing inside (*wow* talk about a house plant!), little planters filled with edible plants, little paths (one with a little bridge), and more — definitely check out this library!

Bothell Library
Infant Story Time: ages newborn to 12 months; Wed 11:00 - 11:30AM
Young Toddler Story Time: ages 12 to 24 months; Wed 10:00 – 10:30AM
Toddler Story Time: ages 2 to 3; Tues 11:00 – 11:30AM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 to 6; Tues 10:00 – 10:30AM
Foreign Languages:
Russian - all ages; Thurs 11:00-11:45AM
Spanish - all ages; Sat 11:00 - 11:30AM
Insider Tip: This library is soooooo close to the preschool so you may as well stop by!

Kingsgate Library
Infant Story Time: ages 3 to 11 months; Tues 10:00 – 10:30AM
Toddler Story Time: ages 12 to 36 months; Wed 10:00 – 10:30AM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 to 6; Wed 11:00 – 11:45AM
Foreign Language:
Japanese - ages 2 to 6; Mon 10:00 – 10:45AM
Insider Tip: Here’s a heads up that since the library opens at 10:00AM, if you like to get to story times early, you’ll be out of luck since you’ll have to wait outside until the library opens. They have a little outside area on the other side of the building, but it’s pretty small and not meant for hanging out for a long time—but it is still there!

Kenmore Library
Infant Story Time: ages newborn to age 2; Thurs 11:00 – 11:30AM
Toddler Story Time: ages 2 to 3; Thurs 10:00 – 10:30AM
Foreign Language: Spanish - all ages; Tues 3:30 - 4:00PM
Insider Tip: They have a fenced-in, outside rooftop area to explore that’s over the parking area — enough said!

Kirkland Library
Infant & Young Toddler Story Time: ages 6 months to 2 years; Tues 10:00 – 10:45AM
Toddler & Preschool Story Time: ages 3 to 5; Tues 11:00 – 11:45AM
Family Story Time: all ages; Wed 7:00 – 7:45PM
Foreign Language: Spanish - all ages; Fri 12:30 – 1:00PM
Insider Tip: They have an underground parking lot (and are also next to the Kirkland transit center if you feel like going on a bus ride!) and are right next door to a HUGE park!

Shoreline Library
Infant & Young Toddler Story Time: ages newborn to 24 months; Tues 11:00 – 11:30AM  
Toddler Story Time: ages 2 to 3; Tues 10:00 – 10:30AM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 to 6; Wed 10:30 – 11:00AM
Family Story Time: ages 3 to 6; Mon 6:45 – 7:30PM
Foreign Language: ages 3 to 6; Thurs 11:00 – 11:30AM

Redmond Library
Infant Story Time: ages newborn to 12 months; Thurs 11:30 – 12:00PM
2 Toddler Story Times: ages 12 months to 3 years; Fri 10:15 – 11:15AM & Fri 11:15AM - 12:15PM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 to 5; Thurs 10:30 – 11:00AM
Family Story Time: all ages; Wed 7:00 – 8:00PM
Foreign Languages:
Hindi - ages 1 to 6; Sat 10:30 – 11:00AM
Russian - ages 1 to 6; Mon 11:00 – 11:30AM
Spanish - all ages; Tues 11:00 – 11:30AM
Chinese - ages 2 to 5; Wed 10:30AM – 12:00PM & ages 6 and younger; Tues 11:00 - 11:30AM
Arabic - all ages; Mon 11:00 - 11:30AM

II) Seattle Public Library System

Yes, yes. Those with observant eyes will notice I’m writing ‘branch’ instead of ‘library’ (good eye by the way) in this section, but that’s because I’m going by how each library system refers to them on their webpage. So, when in Rome…

Lake City Branch
2 Family Story Times: ages birth to 8 yrs; Mon 10:30AM - 12:00PM & ages birth to elementary school; Thurs 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Foreign Languages:
Spanish - all ages; Mon 6:00 - 6:30PM
Mandarin - all ages; 11:30AM - 12:00PM
Somali - all ages; 4:00 - 4:30PM

Broadview Branch
Little Makers (Science Emphasis): ages 3-5; Thurs 6:00 - 7:00PM
Preschooler Story Time: all ages; Tues 10:30 - 11:30AM

Northgate Branch
Infant Story Time: age 0-12 months; Fri 10:15 – 10:45AM
Toddler Story Time: no age range specified; Thurs 10:15 – 10:45AM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 - 5; Thurs 11:15 – 11:45AM
Family Story Time: all ages; Sat 10:15 – 10:45AM
Foreign Language: Spanish - all ages; Tues 11:30AM - 12:00PM

III) Sno-Isle Library System

Lynnwood Library
2 Infant Story Times: ages newborn - 18 months; Tues 9:30 - 10:15AM & 10:30 - 11:15AM
Toddler & Preschooler Story Time: ages 2 - 6; Thurs 10:00 - 11:00AM
2 Preschooler Story Times: ages 3 to 5; Wed 9:30 - 10:15AM & Wed 10:30 - 11:15AM

Mountlake Terrace Library
Infant Story Time: ages newborn - 18 months; Thurs 10:00 - 11:00AM
Toddler Story Time: ages 19 - 35 months; Thurs 11:00AM - 12:00PM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3 to 5; Wed 10:30 - 11:30AM
Foreign Language: Russian - ages 2 to 5; Mon 6:00 - 7:00PM

Brier Library
Toddler Story Time: ages 18 months to 3 years; Fri 11:00AM - 12:00PM
Preschooler Story Time: ages 3-5; Thurs 11:00AM - 12:00PM

So there you have it: three ways for some reading fun for us and our little learners! I hope you enjoy seeing what books our little trading library has to offer (as well as helping it grow), shopping with the Scholastic Reading Club, and exploring the many libraries that are an easy drive from the preschool! If you have any insider tips for any of the libraries above, shout out in the comments below! Feel free to email me at blog@bothellfamilycoop.org if you have any additional comments or ideas for future blog posts!

Starting off 2018 with BFCP Fun!

by Florence B.

Happy New Year, BFCP friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Winter Break (and got to enjoy that fun snowfall surprise!!) and are ready to enjoy the new year with your BFCP friends! After a quiet December, get ready for a fun-filled January packed with activities like excursions, Pajama Day, and parent meetings with maybe a little surprise at the end!

OK, so we’ve got lots of stuff to cover on the blog today thanks to the teachers and curriculum team picking one and two of my favorite children’s authors and places to visit, respectively! Let’s start with what you’ll find at the school this month. For themes, you’ll see Snow and Ice, Animals in Winter, and Martin Luther King Day (and BTW, make sure you mark your calendar that there’s NO school on Mon, Jan 15th to honor said day). Downstairs, the dramatic play area will be converted into a Ranger Station and Bear Cave (go ahead and admit it—you’re as excited as I am to see what the Curriculum Team comes up with!).

And speaking of Bear Caves, see how our Winter Bear Cave bulletin board changes over the month! The 2/3 Class will be taking home and decorating a star shape to make our bear cave shine. The older two classes will be taking home and decorating a snowperson shape so our bear cave can have some snowy fun while the bears sleep the winter away. Also for the older three classes, don’t worry about changing out of your PJs on either Jan 10 or 11—it’s Pajama Day! Just don’t forget to bring a change of clothes for outdoor play—no snoozing at school during that time!

Outside of class, let’s talk about our January Parent Meetings! The baby class will get to enjoy a family brunch potluck at the preschool to kick off the fun this weekend. Then, next week, the rest of the classes will meet up for their individual class meetings. Unlike our past meetings, these meetings (except for the baby class) will take place at a class member’s home, so make sure to pay close attention to the address when you hear more from your teacher and class coordinator! This required meeting will be using a group process called “Temperature Reading” in order to improve our preschool in a fun way that also builds class community. For even more fun, classes can decide whether to do a white elephant gift exchange at the end of the meeting! The PreK class’s meeting will also include a Kindergarten Panel, so make sure to bring your questions, enthusiasm, and excitement (because it’s KINDERGARTEN!!). If you’re curious about what else the instructors are up to this month, they get to go on their 3-day annual instructor retreat at the end of the month!

OK, so here’s where I start jumping up and down with excitement, because I get to talk about the author of the month AND the planned excursions for the month (*gets up from computer to do said jumping up and down and working off those holiday calories as a bonus*)! So, I don’t really make a big deal about the author of the month, but this month’s author is Karma Wilson!

*crickets*

You know…author of the Bear Snores On series?

OK! That got some of you readers’ attention!

*Phew* I’m not the only one who adores this series! Don’t worry, if you still have no idea who or what I’m talking about, you’ll get a treat this month when you get to check out some of her books! Her current Bear series (my favorite and probably most recognizable series of hers) has eight main books and are such a delight to read with the beautifully illustrated pages and entertaining, rhyming story. There’s Bear (of course) experiencing different life adventures with his friends Mouse, Hare (or rabbit to my kids since as far as they’re concerned, long ears means bunny or rabbit…even in a rhyming story where the animal has to rhyme with an “air” word), Badger, Gopher, Mole, Wren, Raven, and Owl (who is introduced in one of the books dealing with making new friends with a shy friend). I’d say go check out this author if you haven’t yet…but luckily you will anyway in school! Woohoo! For fans who are ready for the next stage in enjoying this series, check out her site here for some additional fun activities and printables like making Bear Masks and Bear Paper Bag Puppets!

And now…

Let’s.

Talk.

EXCURSIONS!!!

For those of you in the older two classes, get ready to go on an adventure to Adventure Children’s Theatre in Country Village towards the end of the month (check your folder and Facebook for more details!). For readers not familiar with the place, you can learn more about them here and here. At this fun and lively children’s theater, you’ll get to go on an adventure with Zero & Somebody!

Coming from someone who loves Country Village, if you haven’t been there before, make sure to hang around and explore the place! You’ll find chickens and roosters roaming around as you explore the various shops, a pirate ship for your little ones to climb aboard and sail the “open seas,” and a separate playground a few shops away from the ship. Country Village has a unique feel to it, so don’t forget to explore on your way to and from Adventure Children’s Theatre, the place “where kindness is rewarded, sacrifice is honored and everybody sings about it!”

Also later in the month, the toddler and 2/3 classes get to explore Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett!! Keep an eye out for more details in your folders and on Facebook about the excursion! If you haven’t been to the place before, it’s an amazing children’s museum—and when I say museum, I’m not talking about the hands-off kind! This museum is meant for little ones touching and interacting with the different museum exhibits, so “don’t touch that!” does not need to leave your mouth while at the museum! If you have been here before but not recently, get ready to check out their remodeled railroad area; I’m looking forward to seeing the new train exhibit the most! Check out their website at here.

Insider tips for the museum:

1) There is paid parking outside ($3 for 0-3 hrs or $8 for all day), so make sure you get your stall number and head to the pay machine (keep your receipt, you don’t need to go back and leave it in your car).

2) There’s a fun water exploration room; smocks are available, but you may want to bring a change of clothes and shoes for your kiddo just in case!

3) There’s an amazing outdoor play area on the roof with a play structure, percussion instruments, and dinosaur dig area, so don’t leave your warm winter clothes in the car (there’s a coat room near the entrance if you don’t want to haul a coat around while inside).

4) Leave strollers at home! There’s a stroller parking area at the entrance (indoors), but you can’t bring it past the entrance gate inside the museum.

5) If your kiddo starts to feel overwhelmed by bigger kids, there’s a gated play room just for babies and toddlers with a small play structure and air machine inside. Or, if your little one is feeling just plain overwhelmed, you can go up the stairs by the tree house and find a reading nook at the top of the stairs to the right, which is usually pretty calm and quiet.

6) If you get hungry, head downstairs for vending machine snacks. There are tables for you to eat, but if you want to eat something other than vending machine snacks, you’ll have to bring your own lunch and/or healthy snacks or buy from one of the restaurants around the museum.

*Phew* I’m not sure if it’s obvious, but I love that museum!

Well, we’ve seen how January is packed with fun, so how about a little sneak peek into February? I’ve got some important dates for your calendar!

Feb 6 and 8: SMILE! It’s Photo Day during class time!

Feb 5 - 16: In-house registration!! Don’t let the fun stop; reserve your spot for the 2018-2019 BFCP school year!

Feb 19-23: Mid-Winter Break; no school this week!

That’s it for today’s post! If you have any comments or suggestions for future posts, sound off in the comments below or send me an email at blog@bothellfamilycoop.org

Greetings, December!

by Florence B.

Happy December! Time is ticking by fast, and we only have a few more weeks to enjoy together before ringing in 2018! The school will be closed for Winter Break from Dec 18 to Jan 2, so make sure your calendars are updated. Before jumping into our Dec activities, I just wanted to say I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. The school ended up not having just one Turkey Board, but TWO! Take a look below for some of the stylish fowls decorated by the 2/3s class.

Well, the curriculum team has already used their creative magic to transform the dramatic play area into a holiday home, complete with a gift wrapping station! Thanks to everyone who donated wrapping paper, bows, and other goodies to make the wrapping station so much fun! When not wrapping gifts, our kiddos can hop to the baking station and whip up some yummy, pretend treats!

During parent ed, get ready to share family traditions with your fellow classmates; you might even discover a new tradition you’d like to add to your own! By the way, parent ed groups will be shuffling a bit, so get ready to share your parenting journey with a different group of friends in your class. Other themes this month include Gingerbread People (mmmmm… you know you’re thinking it, too) and light celebrations! Keep an eye out for books from Jan Brett, December’s author of the month. Alas, no excursions for this short school month, but the older two classes will continue to bring items from home for a little “show and tell” with Teacher Kathy.

Before ending the post, I wanted to share a link from Teacher Kathy (it’s already been posted on the Facebook page in case it looks familiar)! Here’s what she says about it: “ I really like that it has links for most of the 15 tips for a FUN filled family holiday.  I have had fun pursuing it tonight and got lots of ideas for my own family.” You can find it here: https://newdream.org/downloads/15-Tips-for-Commercial-Free-Fun-Filled-Family-Holidays.pdf

 And here’s the title and intro:

“15 TIPS FOR COMMERCIAL-FREE, FUN-FILLED FAMILY HOLIDAYS

If you want to make this year’s holidays more meaningful, memorable, and rejuvenating for your family, these tips will help you opt out of the commercial hype and create a truly special (and sustainable) celebration for your kids. Whether your family includes toddlers, elementary-aged children, or young adults, we have ideas for you. Less stress, less stuff, and way more connection and fun—what’s not to love?!”

Personally, my favorite is number 13: Get Relatives on Board with “Less is More.” There’s even a handy little sheet you can lovingly share with grandparents who love to bury grandkids with gifts and then complain to you that said kiddo has too many toys (Not from my experience, a story from a friend. No really. OK, not really.).

Enjoy! If you have any topics you want explored on the blog, let me know at blog@bothellfamilycoop.org or shoot me a comment below!

January Curriculum

• Themes – Dinosaurs, Volcanoes, Winter
• Special Day - Pajama Day
• Sharing – Take home a dinosaur shape, decorate it, and bring it back to school.
• Dramatic Play – Home for a Dinosaur
• Author of the month – Jane Yolen
• Excursion - The Burke Museum

December Curriculum

Themes - The 5 senses, Gingerbread Man Stories

Family Traditions

• Parents are invited to share a family tradition with their class this month
• Sign up charts at school on class bulletin boards.

Sharing - Continue to bring items from home to share with Teacher Kathy and Teacher Kelly during arrival time. Suggested items for December include anything in a box or things with lights.

Dramatic Play - Holiday home, gift wrapping station with lots of boxes, tape and paper!

Author of the month - Jan Brett

No Excursions in December