Dear WCNS Families,

We can’t wait to begin partnering with you this school year; we look forward to a fantastic year with you and your child(ren).  As the year begins, we wanted to communicate some important information:

Our core program begins at 9:00 am each day.  If you arrive before 9:00 am and are not participating in the Early Bird drop off, please wait with your child(ren) in the cubby area until 9:00 am.  After 9:00 am, children are welcome to come into the room at this time and join the teachers and children who have been involved in the Early Bird program.

Before coming into the classroom, please help your child(ren) “sign in” on the chart located just in front of the glass panel.  The board is divided into three sections: “Home Day,” “Lunch Bunch,” and “Stay Day.”  Help your child(ren) put his/her name in the section that reflects that day’s dismissal. The children like to know what their schedule is on a day to day basis, and this helps all of us stay on track.  Also, if your child(ren) is going to do Lunch Bunch or Stay Day, please remember to sign her/his name in the appropriate column on the small chart pinned to the bulletin board by the bathrooms.  This way we have both child and adult providing the same information regarding end of the day options.

Once your child(ren) has signed in and joined the class you are more than welcome to stay for a few minutes before saying goodbye.  It is important for you and your child(ren) to have an understanding of when you are going to leave, whether it is after reading one story or playing together for a few minutes.  Especially at the beginning of the year, separations can be emotional, and we are always available, with a hand or hug, to help with the transition.

After you say goodbye to your child, please do not stay in the cubby area.  You are more than welcome to exit out of the kitchen door and socialize with other parents outside the building. Some parents and children like having a “waving window” where they can give a final goodbye before settling into an activity.

Transitional objects like “loveys” are important for many children.  For children who find it helpful to have an object from home come to school with them, we just ask that they stay in the child’s “cubby” area where they can wait until school is over for the day.  We ask that toys, dolls and other playthings from home not come to school as we encourage children to use school materials that do not belong to any one child.

Please bring in an extra set of clothes for your child to keep at school including multiple pair of underwear and socks.  Each child will have a box, labeled with his/her name, located on the shelf above their cubby space in which to store the extra clothes.  If your child wears diapers or pull-ups, please bring a supply of these along with a supply of wipes.  We will work together with you to help toilet train your child when the time is right.  Please check your child’s box periodically, and change out the clothing for seasonable wear as the year progresses…… we will remind you of this every few months.

While we will help your child throughout the day, we will be encouraging as much independence as possible from your child in the areas of self-help skills such as dressing, toileting, washing hands, helping self to snack and pouring water, and cleaning up after self.  For this reason, we encourage your child to dress in clothes that she/he can manage easily, without needing lots of assistance from the teachers…..an example is wearing pull-on pants for ease in bathrooming and sneakers/shoes that can be put on and secured independently.  (Shoes with laces are not helpful to children who cannot tie independently.)  You can reinforce learning these independent skills at home, as well.

Along this same line, we are providing each child with his/her own WCNS canvas bag to use each day to and from school.  It is large enough to hold winter clothing as well as lunch boxes and carry artwork home at the end of the day.  You can help your child by having him/her pack and carry the bag each morning and hang it on his/her own hook.  When children are involved in packing and transporting their own bag, they have a better sense of what is inside and take pride in being responsible for their own belongings.

We aim to go outside everyday even if it is rainy, for a little while.  Please make sure your child has appropriate outdoor wear: rain boots, rain pants and raincoat when it is wet outside, jackets and coats as it gets cooler.  Whatever will help your child(ren) stay dry and enjoy being outside.

It is important to note that many regular school activities have the potential to be messy.  While some children like to get messy more than others, we have smocks at school that we encourage the children to wear while painting, exploring sensory stuff, including water at the sensory table, etc,.  Ultimately, the choice is up to your child to wear a smock or not.  Children are busy exploring the materials and having fun making new discoveries, so please anticipate that they may come home looking a little like a painting themselves, and choose clothes accordingly.  If your child is one who loves the water at the sensory table, you may want to send in a few extra shirts to keep in the storage box.

Feel free to reach out to us with any questions, concerns or thoughts.  Our emails are: abby.cohen@verizon.net and wcnskim@gmail.com.  During the day, feel free to text us at: 617-216-3540 (Abby) or 617-792-6880 (Kim) if there is information that is important for us to have at that time.

Thanks for entrusting us with your children this year!

Abby and Kim