We’re back from the holiday break and we’re excited to get into the swing of things. We are also enthusiastic at all of the prospects this new year brings for our Shale Community – with Michelle’s family growing, Mariam joining our team, and Primrose turning 50. It’s sure to be promising!
During the holidays, it can be challenging to keep the flow of planned programming going as many children and educators are absent. The energy of the day becomes more relaxed and gives us an opportunity to accomplish some deep cleaning and professional development throughout the centre. Now that the holidays have come to an end, most of our Shale friends are back in action and ready to learn. After our educator planning session on Tuesday, we discussed where we are in our building and stacking journey. To kickstart the year, we’ve decided to revisit some of their favourite and most engaging building and stacking experiences from the previous month to see where their concept understanding is. From there, we will assess again and either continue our exploration or move forward onto a new big idea. Another big idea we’ve noticed some of our friends exploring is the concept of collecting. They’ve been busy gathering specific items and sorting them into specific bags, baskets and boxes. We will continue observing these choices and perusing them in our program plan in the coming months.
Lastly, to prepare for Michelle’s maternity leave we have welcomed Mariam into our Shale family. Most of you have met her this week and we’re looking so forward to starting this journey with her. Here are a few fun facts about Mariam!
- Her full name is Mariam but the children will know her as Mary.
- She has five years experience as an Early Learning Educator.
- She has two children; a nine year old daughter names Suraya and a seven year old son named Elias.
- She teaches group fitness classes at Orange theory and is a personal trainer in the free time.
- She plans to become an avid camper and continue writing poetry in the coming year!
Welcome to our Shale community Mariam!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sarah, Cassi, Young, Michelle and Mariam