March ELC Newsletter

Our classrooms are finishing up their current study and will be picking out a new one in the next month. Every classroom is working on Problem Solving too, which is a great social/emotional skill for children to practice at school and at home.

What study will your child's room be working on?

Ms. Floming: Pets

Ms. Lawrence: Pets

Ms. Edwards: Clothing

Ms. Chandler: Wheels

Ms. Linnenburger: Exercise

Ms. Griffith: Exercise

If you know anyone that is an expert in these topics and would be willing to be a guest at our school to teach the children about it, we would love to have you!

As a culminating event to end the Music Study in Ms. Lawrence's classroom, all students were invited to the flexible space to enjoy music played by Ms. Karina and her husband! All of the children and staff were engaged and had so much fun!

Singing and dancing to "The Goldfish (Let's Go Swimming)" by The Laurie Berkner Band was a hit! The students pretended to be goldfish sleeping on a rock before waking up to go swimming! You can find a link to the song/video below....ask your child if they remember singing and dancing to this favorite song!

In addition, as part of our focus on social-emotional learning, as a school we will be teaching social problem-solving. This is a necessary life skill that requires practice and sometimes a little help from grown ups. In early childhood, conflicts can emerge as children learn to play together. They are learning how to take turns, share materials, and share ideas. They may also experience verbal conflict or disagreements. This can lead to big emotions as they try to navigate social challenges, which is where the adults (teachers, caregivers, parents) step in to teach the skills that will help children learn how to collaborate, cooperate, communicate, negotiate, advocate for themselves, and learn to respect others.

Through our partnership with families, we can work together to use similar strategies, language, and techniques to introduce and practice social problem-solving in home and school environments. See below for some valuable resources that can be used in the home setting, that are aligned with what your children will be learning, seeing, and hearing at school. These are available in English and in Spanish. If you would like assistance printing any of these resources, please reach out to us and we will gladly send home a copy in your child's backpack.

Introducing the Solution Kit Family Handout (English) - Letter addressed to families announcing the use of the solution kit at the program.

We Can Be Problem-Solvers at Home (English) - Scripted story to help children understand the steps to problem solving at home.

Solution Kit- Home Edition (English) - Families can use these solution kit cards as prompts to assist in problem-solving.

Introducing the Solution Kit Family Handout (Spanish)

We Can Be Problem-Solvers at Home (Spanish)

Solution Kit- Home Edition (Spanish)

Tell us how we are doing! Please take a moment to fill out a brief survey regarding our school. You can find the survey by clicking on THIS LINK. We are not yet at a completion rate for this year's survey, so please fill it out before March 29th. Thank you!

The East Moline School District has adopted an E-Learning Plan to be utilized in the event that live in-person instruction is unable to take place (due to circumstances such as a snow day, shutdown due to illness, etc). For more information to the district's E-Learning Plan, CLICK HERE. See below for specific details for the E-Learning Plan for Early Childhood.

If your child is in need of a new winter coat, hat or gloves, please fill out THIS FORM and a member of our team will help!

• 3/8/24 In-Service Day/No School
• 3/11-3/15 Spring Break/No School
• 3/29/24 No School

• 23-24 Family Folder you will find general information about our school and programming. This folder contains information about school supplies, our daily schedule, policies/procedures, communication platforms, the school calendar and more!
• Your family's health, well-being and partnership is important to us! Use this form to easily request information, resources and/or support for your family.
• 23-24 Early Learning Center School Calendar

Important contacts:

Main Office: 309-865-6900

Pam Webster, Secretary (pwebster@emsd37.org)

Katlyn Parsons, Family Educator (kparsons@emsd37.org)

Melissa McCullough, Principal (mmccullough@emsd37.org)