TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

will be celebrated at TotSpot Preschool next week, April 30th - May 4th. Stop by the front office if you need a list of your child's teacher's favorite things for gift ideas.

Pre-K learning fun!

If you are thinking about signing your kids up for a computer class, Mr. Ken is offering a great deal to NEW students. Just follow this link to living social: http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/39/deals/157669-four-discovery-kids-puterbugs-technology-classes

It is a great class that get kids familiar with the computer and how it works. It is a great class, come in and see for yourself.

Preschool enrollments are spiking in our community despite a stalled economy…why?

Parents are realizing the benefits of preschool! There is an increased demand on our kindergarten students who are expected to read site words and even take spelling tests. It is more important than ever to give our children the foundation they need BEFORE entering kindergarten in order to help them succeed.
Arizona realizes the need for this early childhood education and implemented programs such as First Things First in Arizona.

"Research demonstrates that knowledge and attention when kids START kindergarten are reliable predictors of 4th grade reading ability," said Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a prominent researcher who runs the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University. "If you really want to get kids up to snuff, you have to focus on language development, and you have to start much earlier."

Programs such as TotSpot Preschool, in Gilbert are experiencing huge growth and are quickly building a positive reputation in the community amongst more established, corporate centers. They opened in October of 2010 and have over 170 students currently enrolled. The reason they are experiencing so much growth is because of their unique program focused on education-not childcare. TotSpot Preschool does not offer full time child care and strictly focuses on hands-on preschool education classes for children ages 2 – 5. The program is specifically designed by and taught by teachers who hold degrees in education. Many other preschools or childcare centers do not have highly educated teachers since the State’s licensing requirements mandate that a head teacher be 18, have a GED or high school diploma and have a minimum of 6 months of teaching experience.

TotSpot Preschool also keeps the class sizes small (much lower than the state mandated ratios), provide a minimum of two teachers per classroom and use curriculum programs such as Zoo Phonics and Handwriting Without Tears in order to place more focus on development in the important area of language development.

TotSpot Preschool is a privately owned school and the focus always remains on what is in the best interest of the child. The creator of TotSpot is an Arizona certified teacher herself and created TotSpot Preschool after experiencing frustration in other schools’ priorities and focus. The teachers at TotSpot Preschool are passionate and enthusiastic. They take their jobs very seriously as preschool is the child’s first exposure to their educational journey and it is imperative that the child’s experience is a positive one so that they can continue to build a strong educational foundation to build upon.

New Extra Curricular Classes Offered at TotSpot

We are so excited to offer so many classes to enrich our students. Starting today, Wednesday, we have Amazing Athletes from coming from 3:00-3:40. Coach Lee and Coach Diana were in last week to give some of our students quick look at their classes and were amazing. The kids had lots of fun, hopefully they told you all about it. You can visit their website at www.AmazingAthletes.com to find out more about it.

On Thursdays we just started a Spanish class with Miss Claudia and Lango kids. It meets from 11:30-12:00. The younger years are an excellent time to expose your child to a foreign language and you will be amazed at how much they learn. Miss Claudia has such a good program and it is only $60 for an 8 week program. You can go online to www.LangoKidsGilbert.com to find out more about this wonderful class.

On Tuesdays we continue to offer computer classes offered through Imagine Tomorrow with our teacher Mr. Ken. The classes are from 11:30-12:05. The kids all love this class and are becoming very computer savvy. You can visit his website at www.futurekiddie.com to learn more about their program.

Please let us know if you are interested in any of the classes, we will be happy to help you!

The school year is almost over and we are all busy getting things ready for our graduation. We will have 32 students who will graduate this Thursday. They will all look so cute in their caps and gowns.

Registration for our summer camps is going on now. We will be exploring a new book everyday and have some incredible things planned. Carter Family Farms will be bringing in some animals for us to see, Ms. Vicki will be coming and teaching us some new songs, and many other fun and exciting things. If you are interested stop by or give us a call.

Welcome Back

We hope you all had a wonderful spring break. It was a nice break for most of our teachers. Thank you to Ms. Gretchen, Ms.. Nelay, Ms. Joanna, and Ms. Kristen for helping us with our spring break camps. It was fun to see some of our students and their siblings and we had lots of fun.

Ms. Jeanine is back in the office as well as Ms. Shannon. They were missed over the break but now things are getting back to normal, or as normal as things can be at a preschool. Enrollment for next year continures as well as a few new students for this school year as well. It looks as if next year will be an even bigger success than this one. Many of our classes are already full. Thank you to our wonderful parents for helping us to spread the word with your family and friends about our school. It is very much appreciated.

Book orders went home this week. We hope you find some wonderful books to share with you children at home. Reading with you child everyday is so important and fosters a love of reading that will last a lifetime.

Are you wondering what your kids are going to do throughout the summer break when it is to hot to go outside? Registration for our summer camps is starting now. We will be offering camps almost everyday through out the summer. Your children aged 2-6 can attend from 9:30-11:30, 9:30-1:30, or from 12:00-2:00 Monday-Friday. The cost is $15/day for a two hour session or $25/day for the four hour session. For every nine days you register for you get a tenth free.

This next week we are starting our Stretch 'n Grow class on Mondays at 11:30. Ms. Nicole came and did a free demonstration this past Monday and the kids had a wonderful time while getting lots of exercies as well. It has been such a hit already that we will be having another demonstration next Thursday. We will be offering a class for our Tuesday/Thursday students as well.

Keep an eye out on our blog as there is so much that will be happening at the end of the school year. We have so many things planned!

It has a been a busy time for us here at TotSpot Preschool. Enrollment for the 2011-2012 school year has been open for a little over a month and we have filled several of our classes already! It is very exciting to see us growing so quickly.

We had our first Scholastic Book Fair last week, thank you so much to everyone who bought books. I wasn't sure if we could meet our goal of selling $300 in books but we more than doubled that in sales. All of your children will be blessed as you read all those books to them.

McGruff the crime dog came for a visit this past week as well. He visited each of the classrooms and most of the kids loved it. A few of our two year olds weren't quite sure what to think of him and some couldn't stop hugging him.

Each of classes has been watching our tadpoles change into frogs. Some have developed more quickly than others but it has been fun to watch. Even the teachers have loved it. We also have caterpillars that are getting fatter by the day. We can't wait to see the beautiful butterflies they will become.