Quality Early Education for Your Children

Happy New Year! We trust everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends over the holidays. We would like to start off 2026 by thanking you for your donations to the Salvation Army Food and Toy Drive! We had several boxes of food and toys that went to families that needed a little extra support this holiday season. Your generosity is appreciated! We’d also like to thank you for your many hours of volunteering in the fall. Having a volunteer in every class makes a HUGE difference to our program. Classes with more than 12 children require a volunteer every day. Please remember to sign up for a day/days that work for you at drop off or pick up time. If your child’s class is struggling to get volunteers, please feel free to sign up more often. We have one extra staff person that can help out if someone needs to cancel at the last minute due to illness. We will begin the new year exploring many things associated with winter through crafts, games and stories. After completing our winter theme, the four year old classes will be learning about bears and penguins while the three year old classes will be exploring different types of transportation. Our special day this month will be Pyjama Day (January 22nd/23rd) so wear your pyjamas and bring your favourite stuffy to school this day! Show and Share will also begin the last week of January for children in the 4 year old program. Watch for further details later this month! Registration for the 2026/2027 school year is fast approaching! There are three ways to register this year. 1. Email – Complete digital registration forms, or scan/take a picture of hardcopy, and email to info@totspotpreschool.ca. 2. In Person – Fill out the registration forms and drop them off in person at Tot Spot Preschool. 3. Online – Go to www.totspotpreschool.ca and register online. January 12th@ 9:00am - Registration (email, in person and online) opens to returning families. Please note: Registrations received before 9:00 am on January 12th will not be processed until the afternoon. January 19th@ 9:00am - Registration (email, in person and online) opens to the public. Please note: Registrations received before 9:00 am on January 19thwill not be processed until the afternoon. Registration forms will be available at the school January 8th and 9th. A digital copy will be emailed to families on January 8th. Registration forms need to be accompanied with a $100.00 registration fee (e-transfer to info@totspotpreschool.ca or cheque/cash) to secure a spot as well as a completed Pre-Authorized Debit Form. Registration is on a first come, first served basis. Just a gentle reminder that the children need a pair of shoes (running shoes are best) to change into at school and wet footwear/boots should be placed on the mats in the foyer. Please make sure boots are labelled with your child’s name and ensure your child has the correct boots when leaving. Please note: we do practice fire drills and don’t have time to stop to put on winter boots! We would also like to remind you to have your child use the washroom before coming to school or use the washrooms down the hall to the right of the sanctuary before coming in to class. Important Dates To Remember: January 12th- Registration opens @ 9:00 am for past and present Tot Spot families. January 19th- Registration opens @ 9:00 am to the public. January 22nd/23rd -Pyjama Day – wear your pyjamas and bring your favourite stuffy to school this day! February 10th – Valentine Celebrations for T/TH and all pm classes. February 11th– Valentine Celebrations for MWF am classes.

Christmas excitement is building at Tot Spot! Both the three and four year-old classes will be full of anticipation as we explore the joys of the holiday season. Our special day this month will be Red and Green Day on December 4th/5th. Wear red and/or green to school this day! While the children are excited about the receiving aspect of Christmas, we also like to focus on the joy of giving. With that in mind, we invite you Christmas excitement is building at Tot Spot! Both the three and four year-old classes will be full of anticipation as we explore the joys of the holiday season. Our special day this month will be Red and Green Day on December 4th/5th. Wear red and/or green to school this day! While the children are excited about the receiving aspect of Christmas, we also like to focus on the joy of giving. With that in mind, we invite you and your child to bring in a food or a new unwrapped toy donation during the week of December 1st – 5th. Donations need to be dropped off by 11:30 am on Friday, December 5th. All donations will be forwarded to the Salvation Army for their Food and Toy Drive. During our last day of classes before the break (December 16th for T/Th classes and all afternoon classes, December 17th for MWF classes), you are invited to join us for our Christmas Celebration. Children should be dropped off in their classrooms at the regular time. The program will begin promptly at 9:15 am for the morning classes and 1:15 pmfor the afternoon classes. Children will be dismissed following the celebration, which is approximately 45 minutes in length. We hope you will be able to join us for some songs, a special craft and refreshments on that day. As usual, grandparents and other guests are very welcome to attend! Registration for the 2026/2027 school year is fast approaching! Registration dates are as follows: January 12th – Registration opens for all current and former Tot Spot families. January 19th – Registration opens to the general public. Watch for more details in the January newsletter! To help our program run smoothly, we ask that you take special note of these items: Please ensure your child uses the washroom before coming to school. If someone else is dropping off your child, please ask them to take them to the washroom before class. 😊 Please remind your child to only look at the beautiful decorations in the church, not to touch. Please supervise your children carefully in the foyer. The gym is closed before and after school and children need to use their “walking feet” on the ramp. We are hoping we no longer need to put out the sign by the gym every day and appreciate your help with this! Please remember to bring shoes to change into if your child wears their boots to school. Runners are best for the gym. We also practice regular fire drills and don’t have time to stop for boots on the way out! Important Dates To Remember: December 1st - December 5th – Salvation Army Food and Toy Drive December 4th/5th – Red and Green Days. Wear some red and/or green! December 16th (T/Th am and all pm classes)/17th (am classes only) – Christmas Celebrations. Please note: There are no classes in the afternoon on December 17th. December 18th - January 4th – Christmas Break Monday, January 5th, 2026 ­– Tot Spot reopens. Monday, January 12th, 2026 – Registration for the 2026/2027 school year opens for current and former Tot Spot families. Happy Holidays from all of us at Tot Spot!

November is a month full of learning and fun at Tot Spot. We begin the month exploring the concepts of colours, shapes, numbers, sorting and patterns. Following this, the three year old classes will be focusing on nursery rhymes and the four year old classes will be engaging in many exciting dinosaur activities. Our special day this month will be Blue/Blue Jean Day on November 20th /21st . Wear something blue and/or your blue jeans on this day! We would like to thank you again for being extremely diligent keeping your children at home if they are at all unwell. If, for any reason, your child is going to be absent from Tot Spot, please give us a quick phone call or email to let us know he/she will be absent and the reason for the absence. With the onset of our wintery weather, we remind you that children need to have a pair of appropriate indoor shoes (runners are best) to wear while they are at school as all wet footwear must be removed before entering the classroom (adults too please). Please put wet footwear on the mats provided in the foyer. Also, please put your child’s name in his/her boots and ensure that your child leaves school with the correct boots to avoid mix-ups. We understand the children are very excited about their Halloween treats and may want to have one in their snack. Please ensure that you only include ones that are NUT FREE. We would also appreciate only water in water bottles. They often leak or aren’t closed properly and juice is a much stickier mess to deal with! Volunteers are a vital part of our program. Legally, we are required to have a second adult in any class with more than 12 students present but we really appreciate having a volunteer in all our classes every day. There is much less “standing around” time for the students if we have someone to help clean before moving on to the next room. Paint days are also very tricky without help. More importantly, it’s a very special day for your child when you volunteer! Volunteer signup sheets are beside the clipboards when you sign in and out. If you don’t normally bring your child to school, email your child’s teacher and they will help find you a slot. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, nannies, and other special adults are all welcome to come in and help out! Looking ahead to December, we recognize the children are excited about the receiving aspect of Christmas but we also like to focus on the joy of giving. With that in mind, we invite you and your child to bring in a new unwrapped toy or food donation during the week of December 1st – 5th . All donations will be forwarded to the Salvation Army for their Food and Toy Drive. We would like to remind you that our Program Plan is on the bulletin board outside the doors entering the classroom. You are welcome to read it at any time but it must remain on the premises. Principles and Matters to be Considered as stated in the Early Learning and Child Act are attached. We also welcome feedback about our program and Program Plan. Please forward any comments to Lorrie Crowe at lorrie.crowe@shaw.ca. Important Dates to Remember: November 10th - 12th Fall Break (Tot Spot is closed) November 20th /21st - Blue/Blue Jean Day (wear some blue and/or your blue jeans) December 1st - 5th - Salvation Army Food and Toy Drive December 16th /17th (9:00-10:00 am classes/1:00-2:00 pm classes) Christmas Celebrations – guests welcome! December 18th - January 2nd - Christmas Break. Classes resume January 5th.