Director’s Blog
Join us for our annual Open House and International Potluck Dinner on January 15th. We are available for tours from 3:00 – 7:00 PM, or as arranged if you can’t make it during those hours. Meet some of our current families at our International Potluck dinner starting at 5:30. You will hear about some of our activities and curriculum introducing the children to a variety of cultures, the diversity of the continents and the different animals and plants grown around the world. Phone for more information at 503-233-7272. We look forward to meeting you.
Summer School-age Enrollment
We expect to have a great time this summer with our School-agers! Children from 6 – 9 years are able to enroll for the summer. We will be ready to welcome them on June 1st. The weekly tuition is $ 185 for academics, field-trips and just general fun! Complete an online enrollment form or phone with questions at 503-233-7272.
Spring is Here!
Is there anything more beautiful than Portland in the Spring! We are enjoying the blossoms on the trees around our neighborhood. We are watching the seeds sprout in our gardens. The red tulips have opened up this week.
Our craft projects remind us of New Life in Jesus!
Valentine Love and Teacher Appreciation !
Red and pink, hearts and flowers! What a lovely time to be at Sonbeam! We are celebrating being friends and learning ways to show that we care about people.
We are celebrating our teachers this week, too. We can’t believe that Ms Barbara has been here for 27 years on Valentine’s Day. Mrs. DeLouisa has been here almost that long, with a few interruptions for having babies of her own. And, Mrs. Karen has been here 23 years! We might be seeing Sonbeam ‘grandchildren’ soon enough.
We are enjoying getting to know some new friends. We have enrolled several new children in each of the last three months. They are all good additions to our program.
Catch the Literacy Bug……
Along with celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss and reading many of his stories, we are enjoying the finest in Children’s Literature this month at Sonbeam. Our teachers have created a wall that will carry us into the spring season with our favorite Hungry Caterpillar leading the way . We are looking forward to the gardening projects and exploration of all small things that crawl, creep and have wings to fly.
Warm wishes for a Blessed Christmas Season!
Excitement is in the air everywhere we go. Our children had a great time performing for family and friends at our Christmas Program on 12/13. We enjoyed a cookie reception to celebrate Jesus’ birthday after our program. You will see pictures soon of this wonderful event.
We took our program on the road when we walked to the Calaroga Terrace to sing and recite for our older friends. We love going there and they always make the children feel so welcome. We love the hugs and the smiles we get from the residents and staff.
We are pleased to have some of our school-age friends back for the two weeks of the Christmas break from their schools. It is always good to see them again!
Perfect day for the pumpkin patch!
All three of our classes have made their annual trip to the pumpkin patch. We prefer to drive a distance to experience the offerings of a farm in North Plains. The children rode a train, climbed on hay, chased through a hay maze, stomped through vines to find the perfect pumpkin and enjoyed a ride on the boat to return. Lunch was great under the branches of the oak tree with beautiful colored leaves. All in all, a pretty perfect day! We are grateful for the five parents who came along and of course Mr. Larry came to do his usual assisting for the teachers. THANK YOU ALL !
Today the children are weighing and measuring their pumpkins. We have tall ones, bumpy ones, thin ones and thick ones. We are also reading books about ‘Growing Pumpkin Pie’ and other fall things.
So many to choose from…..
Enjoying the Perfect Portland Fall !
Can the weather be any better than we’ve had this September and October? We don’t think so and it makes us appreciate our great playground! The leaves on the trees around us are turning beautiful red from green. The last of our sunflowers is pushing out the last flowers, a beautiful brown and golden color.
Welcome the New School Year 2012-2013
Perhaps the best part of the new year is the new friends. We have a couple new students to get to know and that is always so exciting for us. Jonas and Alex started today. Adaya will start on Friday. So far, the boys like the playground best. Alex is great at basketball and Jonas loved riding the red tricycle because it has a ringer.
The weather has been beautiful so we are playing outside whenever we can before it gets too hot out there. We are so fortunate to have both the playground and the gymnasium for active play!
SIZZLE Bible Camp was a great success!
We had a great time last week visiting Babylon and learning about Daniel ! Our children were hosted by Temple Baptist church every morning for a great time of singing, learning and playing. We even had goats and bunnies in the Marketplace! We enjoyed a family time on Thursday night with food from the Middle East and showing the parents around the set. It was a great time!
School-agers attended the Oregon Square concert.
We carried blankets to enjoy sitting in the grass but it was a marsh! So much for outdoor concerts in June in Oregon! We sat in the chairs and moved to the music a much as we could. Mrs. Alyssa had brought our dancing scarves and they were pretty but the ‘contemporary’ music was pretty and slow lounge style. A little too slow for our children. BUT, the weather was beautiful!
But, the walk was a good practice for our fieldtrip tomorrow. If you are the parent of a school-age child, please confirm that you have signed the permission form. Thanks for reading my blog!