Something's growing at the YMCA

Have you seen the big pile of dirt and the enlarged garden space between the YMCA pool, the Preschool and Lindquist Park? Well, the YMCA Community Garden group has been hard at work getting the soil ready for planting. The new Children's Garden area is along the fence for the Preschool Playground.

The YMCA Community Garden is all about builidng a group of gardeners that enjoy working together on growing food for the needy in our area and also to educate children about growing things! The kids enrolled in our programs will be starting seeds and planting soon!

We have an enrichment camp early this summer for kids age 10-14 titled, "Junior Gardeners" during the week of June 7-11. The cost is $45 for YMCA Members and $65 got Community Members. Materials and instruction for the week are included. The time will be 4:15pm-6:00pm Monday through Friday. Registration begins April 17th.

Stay tuned for other Enrichment Camp themes!

March is YOUTH ART MONTH!

Art is one of our favorite activities in the Preschool! In this case we used some donated ketchup and mustard containers as a new twist in creating 3-D painted butterflies in Ms. Lindsey's Class.

Get inspired and create with your child! Our School Age kids are painting cardboard boxes with designs and graffitti style "tags" to express themselves. The sky is the limit when it comes to creating art with kids. Let them guide YOU!

DID YOU KNOW?
We have a rotating art displayed in the main building to showcase some of our talented young friends. Check it out next time you are in to use the pool or fitness center!

Incorporating Math into your Child's Day

You may think that it is difficult to show your child the basics of math around the house or in your every day activities. Or perhaps you think that your child is too young to work out addition, let alone long division. Well, math is more than adding and subtracting numbers. Math includes sorting, sequencing and measurements too! Young children begin understanding mathematic concepts based upon sequencing. Learning how to use key words like "first", "next", "then" and "last" can be the building blocks of this sequencing concept.

Activity Ideas
How about washing the car?
(Take a couple of pictures with your cell phone to review the concept later.)
When you finish with the FUN part of washing it in the nice weather....
Talk to your child about the sequence of events while you review the pictures.
Examples:
"First the car was dirty and dusty"
"Then what happened?"
"What did we do next?"
"What did we do last?"
"Now how does the car look and feel?"


Grocery shopping and cooking can also be wonderful exercises in your child's learning process. Although most parents dread the aisle 3 tantrums, if you approach your outing as a learning experience where your child can participate, it may change your experiences. Sorting can take place while you are shopping and while you are at home unloading the groceries.
Examples:
"Can we put all the fruits and vegetables on this side of the cart?"
"Let's put all of the things that come in boxes together on the table."
"Can you find two things that are red?"

When you are cooking, measurements and quantities are all points of reference. Whether you are making a basic cake mix or a fruit salad, your child can help you and learn math skills in the process.
Examples:
"We need 2 cups of water. Can you find the '2' on the measuring cup?"
"The recipe says we need 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Let's count. 1...2"
"How many grapes should we put in the fruit salad?"
"If we put in one cup of apples, how many cups of pineapple should we put in?"

Click below for more ideas, no matter the age of your child
www.mathcats.com
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/mathhome.html

Spring Break Camp

Our School Age Program offers full day camps during PUSD (Prescott Unified School District) breaks. For all of you working parents that are not taking time off that coincides with the district, we have a variety of activities across the campus taking place for the kids so that they can still have a fun Spring Break.

Our School Age Campers are swimming 5 days a week, playing games outdoors including badminton and crab soccer, and having fun playing board games, etc. Our dedicated and well trained staff are opening the camps at 6:30 am for all of you parents that need to be to work early. We close at 6:00pm in the evenings so that you have time to pick up the kids on your way home. Of course, kids can be dropped off and picked up anywhere inbetween those hours as well. We keep our rates very competitive and really strive to make the kids happy and keep the parents pleased with our programming and safety standards.

If you have not checked out our School Age Building since it was remeodeled this fall, please stop by to take a look!

The Leprechaun learns a thing or two from the kids...

After nap time, the children awoke to treats and notes that the "pesky" little green friend had left behind. The Leprechaun wanted the children to know that he peeked in on them cleaning up his messes earlier in the day and after seeing what wonderful manners and kind gestures the children had, he learned from them how to be nice too!

The kids enjoyed finding coins he scattered around the playground and of course found it delightful that there were treats under their pillows or taffies in their shoes when they awoke from nap.

It was such an enjoyable day at the YMCA. Time just flew by! Be sure to ask your YMCA Preschooler about the Leprechaun's antics today.

Your friends,

There's a Mischievous Leprechaun on the loose!

Today our preschoolers returned from their activities in the gymnasium to find that someone had clearly snuck in to our school and made a mess in our classrooms! There were trails of green confetti and little "puffs" of green colored glitter sand all around the school! Some children found green feathers on the floor or tables, which they attributed to the leprechaun's hat. Ms. Alicia and some of the School Age kids came down to the Preschool to investigate as well. They said that nothing like this occurs in the School Age Building. We will see...

Ms. Juliet's class came back to find their rugs upside down, chairs tipped over and many things were put in the wrong place! Ms. Lindsey's class came back to find out that he had turned her radio up and it was all static! Her dress-up clothes were all strewn over the room. Ms. Kristi's class reported that their toy bins were toppled over, their radios were also turned up to static and things were "willy nilly". Ms. Sara's class was outside enjoying their St. Patrick's Day picnic at Lindquist Park and were the last to come in to discover the disarray. Chance B., age 4 found 2 leprechaun footprints outside of the school. Ms. Sara's class will be searching for further clues later after lunch.

We (those of us working in child care) have often joked that if they installed cameras in our buildings, we would surely have the makings of a hit reality television show on our hands. (Not that this is what we are striving for by any means. It just gives levity to situations with which we deal when we joke about it.)

The day to day workings of child care programs that last 11.5 hours per day, can be quite varied. From the humorous to the harrowing, we will indeed have some fascinating and funny stories to share with you. Please stay tuned.

Thanks for following,

St. Patrick's Day in the Preschool!

Be sure to wear your green tomorrow! The Preschool children will be making all sorts of shamrocks and some classes will be requesting that parents bring some green foods to share with the class. (Ms. Sara's & Ms. Kristi's).

Our Facilities

Preschool Preschool, Lobby & Classrooms

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School Age Building & Playground

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Lindquist Family Park

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Gymnasium

Welcome!

Welcome to the YMCA Child Care Blog!

Why did we decide to start a blog?

We know that with the busy lives of parents these days, it is not always easy to read all of the material we have on site for you regarding your child. WIth the growing use of technology, we wanted to give you the opportunity to check on the happenings of your kids at your convenience at home or on the go via your smart phone.

What kind of information will be posted on the blog?

We hope to provide information such as newsletters, upcoming events, pictures or quotes of the day for you. If you have a request for other things to be listed, just let us know!