Quality Early Education for Your Children

October will be a busy and exciting month for the children at Tot Spot! Both the three and four year old classes will be exploring the themes of Thanksgiving and Halloween through crafts, stories, songs and play. We begin the month getting ready for Thanksgiving which includes a special cooking/baking day. Your child will be bringing home a tasty treat to sample for Thanksgiving. In preparation for Halloween, our special day this month will be Orange and Black Day. The children are encouraged to wear something orange and/or black on October 16th/17th. On October 30th and October 31st, you are welcome to stay for the first half hour for our Halloween celebration. We will have a costume parade and sing some “spooky” songs for you before continuing on with our classes. As always, we like to focus on the fun of dressing up and the element of make believe at Halloween. Photograph days are October 27th (M/W/F AM classes) and October 28th (T/Th AM classes and all PM classes). Watch for an email closer to photograph day with suggestions from our photographer, Kate! We would like to thank you for keeping your children at home when they are not feeling well. We REALLY appreciate it! If your child has to miss school for any reason, please phone or email us and let us know the reason for the absence. Thank you for helping us keep Tot Spot healthy and safe for all our families! September is a busy month for families and we realize it is hard to keep up with all the paper. If you haven’t already done so, please take the time to read the information package emailed to you the middle of August. It has a lot of important information that you will find helpful. There are a few items we would like you to take special note of: Please ensure your child has been to the bathroom before coming to school each day. Please ensure that all snacks are NUT FREE including granola bars and spreads (no peanut butter, almond butter, Nutella, etc.), and that all grapes and cherry/grape tomatoes are cut in half LENGTHWISE. Please send water in a water bottle for your child to have with their snack (no juice please). We find TWO ITEMS are plenty for snack time as it is only 15 minutes long. If you include more than two choices, please put in small portions as some children are frustrated if they don’t have time to eat all their snacks. Please place only the child’s snack bag in the snack bins provided. Please put all backpacks, coats, hoodies, etc. in the coat room behind the fireplace. Children do not need a change of clothing at school as we have a large bin of extra clothes for accidents. On rainy or snowy days, please bring a dry pair of shoes (runners are best) to school to change into upon arrival. Wet footwear can be left on the mats in the foyer. Please label all outdoor clothing, boots, snack bags, water bottles and backpacks with your child’s name to prevent mix-ups and help us identify the owner of items left behind. IMPORTANT DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR: October 13th - Thanksgiving Day (no classes) October 16th/17th – Orange and Black Days – Wear some orange and/or black! October 27th (MWF AM classes)/October 28th (T/TH AM and all PM classes) - Photograph Days October 30th/31st - Halloween Celebrations. Wear a costume to school!

Welcome to Tot Spot! Our staff is excited about the upcoming school year and looking forward to getting to know each child and their family. We have many fun and interesting activities planned for this year! “I Am Special” will be our first theme of the year. We will then move into a “Fall” theme where we will discover some of the unique things that happen at this time of year. Each theme is explored through a variety of stories, crafts, gym activities, songs and finger plays. Our special day this month will be Orange Shirt Day on September 25th/29th leading up to National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30th). Wear an orange shirt to school that day! We will make an indigenous craft, celebrate the uniqueness of all children and focus on kindness. Please make a special note of the following itemsto help our program run smoothly: The main doors will be unlocked 5 minutes before school begins and relocked at 9:15 and 1:15. If you arrive late, please knock on the craft room window to have someone let you in. Please make sure you have taken your child to the bathroom before bringing them into the classroom. As we spend time in the gym each day, please make sure your child is wearing appropriate footwear (running shoes are best). When the weather is wet, children will need to change into dry footwear for school. There are mats in the foyer for wet boots. Please LABEL outerwear (boots/coats) and backpacks with your child’s name. Please put your child’s snack and filled water bottle in a lunch bag with their name on the OUTSIDE of the bag. Please place ONLY your child’s snack bag in the snack bins. Backpacks and coats should be placed in the coat room behind the fireplace as the snack bins have limited space. We encourage nutritious snacks and two items are usually plenty. Tot Spot is NUT FREE and grapes and grape tomatoes MUST be cut in half lengthwise. No juice boxes please. If your child is not feeling well, please keep them at home and inform us of symptoms. We need to track and report ill children (see Communicable Disease Policy in the information package emailed in August). Refer to this document for information as to when your child can return to school. If your child will be absent for any reason, please let your child’s teacher know. Please ensure you fill out all the Tot Spot forms COMPLETELY and give them to your child’s teacher (4 pages). Volunteer signup sheets for the month of September will be available at school on the first day of school. We need one volunteer per day, per class. If you aren’t able to sign up in person, please email your child’s teacher to arrange volunteer dates. All hot beverages must be in spill proof containers when volunteering. Take out cups (e.g. Starbucks or Tim Horton’s) are not classified as spill proof, so hot beverages need to be put in a travel mug if they are brought into the classrooms. We have travel mugs you are welcome to use at Tot Spot. We partner with I’m For Kids Team to provide services to children that need extra support in the areas of speech and language development, fine motor skills, and challenging behaviours. IFKT will be coming to Tot Spot to offer screening to students registered for our 2025-2026 school year on Monday, September 22nd and Tuesday, September 23rd. Both the screening and services (if needed) are funded by the Alberta Government and are at no cost to families. Attached is a package that explains what they do in more detail and also includes fillable forms that need to be completed if you would like your child screened. There are also paper packages and forms available at school. If you would like your child screened, please return the attached forms (along with a copy of your child’s birth certificate or passport) by email to lorrie.crowe@shaw.ca or bring them with you to school. We will book you an appointment when you have returned your forms and appointments are available on a first come, first served basis. The deadline to return forms is Wednesday, September 17th. Your child DOES NOT need to be screened if he/she was screened at Tot Spot in May, has been screened elsewhere in the last six months or has already qualified for PUF funding. If you have any questions, please contact Lorrie Crowe at lorrie.crowe@shaw.ca. We participate in the Scholastic Book Program. You can access their website here: https://www.scholastic.ca. Paper flyers will be available at school. When ordering online, please use our class code RC132090. Although many parents appreciate this opportunity, please do not feel pressured to order. The Tot Spot newsletters will be sent to you via e-mail and posted on the website at the beginning of every month. Please watch for them and make a note of the important dates. If you do not receive the newsletter, please let your child’s teacher know. We will have a few paper copies of the newsletter available at school if you need one. IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: September 22nd/23rd - I’m For Kids Team Screening Days September 25th/29th- Orange Shirt Days September 30th - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Tot Spot will be closed) October 13th- Thanksgiving Day (Tot Spot will be closed) October 27th/28th- Photograph Days (individual and class photos will be taken) October 30th/31st- Halloween Celebrations (costume parade and short presentation)