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As we continue to explore spring, both the three year old and four year old classes will be studying the world of insects. Our butterfly larvae arrive soon! We are excited to watch the transformation of our caterpillars into butterflies. The rest of the month will have the three year old classes exploring farm life while the four year old classes will look at life around the pond. Our special day this month will be “Jersey Day” on May 22nd/23rd. Wear a jersey/t-shirt/hat from your own team or your favourite team. With the arrival of warmer weather, please remember that your child still needs to be wearing appropriate footwear for our gym activities. Flip flops are unsuitable for many of our activities. Also, please label your child’s outdoor footwear and clothing. Please ensure your child leaves with only his/her belongings. The last Scholastic book order of the year is available online at www.bookclubs.scholastic.ca. We will have paper copies available for you as soon as they arrive. Please enter our class code RC132090 when placing an order. The deadline for orders is Wednesday, May 21st. Registration is ongoing and recommendations to your family, friends and neighbours are always appreciated! Although a couple of classes are full, there are spaces available in some classes. Some of you have been asking for the contact information for our Mom’s and Dad’s night entertainers. Our Dad’s Night entertainer was Microscope Mark (a former Tot Spot parent) from Mad Science Calgary. The link to their website is www.calgary.madscience.org. Our Mom’s Night entertainer was Sonia Poon (owner of Forte Music Studio). Important Days To Remember: May 5th/6th – I’m For Kids Team screening days. May 19th – Victoria Day. Tot Spot is closed. May 22nd/23rd – Jersey Day. Wear a t-shirt, jersey or hat from your sports team or your favourite team. June 19th/20th – Last Day of School Celebrations. PLEASE NOTE: Students arrive at their regular time on the last day of school. Parents (and other special guests) are invited to join us for our celebration. The program begins at 9:15 for am classes and 1:15 for pm classes, and lasts about 45 minutes. Students will be dismissed at the end of the celebrations. If you will be leaving on vacation before the last day of class, please let your child’s teacher know.

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a great Spring Break! We are kicking off April exploring the animals and new life that come with spring and Easter. Following this, we will learn about some of the different types of weather and other signs of spring. As usual, it looks more like winter! Our special day this month will be Crazy Hair/Hat Day to be held on April 16th/17th. Do something crazy with your hair and/or wear a crazy hat on this day! Dad’s Nights are quickly approaching! The children are invited to bring their dad with them for a fun filled evening at school from 6:00 – 7:30. If dad is unable to attend, your child may bring another special adult (grandpa, uncle, adult friend, mom, etc.) with them instead. As this is a special evening for your child with their dad/special guest (and due to our limited space), siblings are not able to attend. Please note that your child does not come to school during the daytime on the day of their Dad’s Night. April 8th (6:00-7:30) – Dad’s Night for T/Th am classes April 9th (6:00-7:30) – Dad’s Night for MWF am classes April 10th (6:00-7:30) – Dad’s Night for afternoon classes If you currently have a child in our 3 year old program that is registered for one of our programs in the fall, you will be receiving a package from I’m For Kids Team this month. Digital copies of the screening form will also be emailed out to families. We partner with this organization to provide children with extra support if needed. The screening and support (if your child qualifies) are at no cost to you as they are both covered by funding from the provincial government. I’m For Kids Team will be at Tot Spot May 5th and 6th to complete these screenings. Watch for further information regarding this program later this month! Our toilet paper and paper towel roll supply is getting low. We will gratefully accept donations of both this month. Please ensure that they are free of toilet paper and paper towels! Please note that the snack bins are for snack/lunch bags only. Please put backpacks in the coat room behind the fireplace. We have a number of large backpacks in our snack bins and they are overflowing! Important Dates to Remember: April 8th (6:00-7:30) – Dad’s Night for T/Th am classes (no school in the morning) April 9th (6:00-7:30) – Dad’s Night for MWF am classes (no school in the morning) April 10th (6:00-7:30) – Dad’s Night for afternoon classes (no school in the afternoon) April 16th/17th – Crazy Hair/Hat Day. Do something crazy with your hair and/or wear a crazy hat this day! April 18th – Good Friday. Tot Spot is closed. April 21st – Easter Monday. Tot Spot is closed. May 5th/6th – I’m For Kids Team Screening

March will be a fun filled month at Tot Spot! Our three year olds will be learning about nutrition using the Canada food guide and will sample some foods from the different food groups. The four year old classes will be making their very own books of some of our favourite stories. Watch for these special keepsakes to be coming home before Spring Break! Our special day this month will be Green Day on March 17th and 18th. Wear some green to school that day! Mom’s Nights are approaching quickly. You should have received an email last week with the details for this special evening with Mom. Please note that there is no school the mornings of March 11th and 12th, or the afternoon of March 13th. Dad’s Nights will be April 8th (T/Th morning classes), April 9th (M/W/F morning classes) and April 10th (afternoon classes). The children are invited to bring their dad to school for an evening of fun and entertainment. The evening begins at 6:00 pm and wraps up around 7:30 pm. Save the date! Some of you have been asking if your preschool fees will be going up April 1stnow that the provincial government has removed the cap on fees. Tot Spot will not be raising the parent portion of the fee ($89/mo for T/Th classes, $131/mo for MWF classes). Your fees will remain the same for the rest of this school year. Likewise, if you have registered for the next school year (2025-2026), Tot Spot’s fees will be the same as this school year. In addition to the removal of the cap on fees, the provincial government is ending the subsidy program on March 31st. If you are receiving the subsidy, you will be responsible for the parent portion of the fees ($89/mo for T/Th classes, $131 for MWF classes) for the last three months of the year (April – June). If you have any questions, please contact Lorrie Crowe at lorrie.crowe@shaw.ca. Those of you with children in our 4 year old program may be thinking about what your child should be able to do to be ready for kindergarten in the fall. I’m For Kids Team has prepared a checklist that you might find helpful and has graciously allowed us to share it with you. You will find it attached and we will continue to work on many of these skills at school. Remember that every child learns at his/her own rate and this is just meant to be a guideline. A special thank you to all the parents that have made presentations to enhance our Community Helper theme this month. We look forward to a few more the beginning of March! Registration for next fall is ongoing. Thank you for continuing to recommend us to your family, friends and neighbours. We have a few spots available in most of the classes. Important Dates to Remember: March 11th 6:00-7:30 (T/Th am classes) – Mom’s Night (no school in the morning) March 12th 6:00-7:30 (MWF am classes) – Mom’s Night (no school in the morning) March 13th 6:00-7:30 (Afternoon classes) – Mom’s Night (no school in the afternoon) March 17th/18th – Green Day. Wear some green to school! March 24th– March 28th – Spring Break. Classes resume Monday, March 31st. April 8th 6:00-7:30 (T/Th am classes) – Dad’s Night (no school in the morning) April 9th 6:00-7:30 (M/W/F am classes) – Dad’s Night (no school in the morning) April 10th 6:00-7:30 (Afternoon classes) – Dad’s Night (no school in the afternoon)

February is an exciting month at Tot Spot beginning with a Valentine theme for both our three and four year old classes. Friendship and kindness will be our focus along with Valentine crafts and activities. Our Valentine celebrations will be held on February 11th and February 12th. Children are invited to bring in valentines for their friends that day. We have found it makes it easier to deliver the cards if the child puts only his/her own name on the card (eg. From Sam). Please leave the “To” section blank. To add to our celebrations, please wear valentine colours (red, white, pink and/or purple) to school this day. After Valentine’s Day, the three year old classes will learn about community helpers while the four year olds will explore space and our solar system. We look forward to some special visitors during this time as well! Pink Shirt Day (Anti-Bullying Day) is on Wednesday, February 26th. We will observe this on both Tuesday, February 25th and Wednesday, February 26th so all the Tot Spot children can participate. Wear your pink shirt on these days as we emphasize how important it is to be kind to everyone every day! In preparation for kindergarten, the four year old classes will be working on printing their names. Lots of reinforcement of this concept at home is helpful. A good way to encourage proper letter formation is to encourage the children to “start their letters at the top” (except for lower case “e”). We also find this is a good time to start working with your child on learning a parent’s phone number and their address orally. A great time to do this is when you are driving/waiting in the car! A few reminders: Registration for next year is on-going. At the present time there are spots available in all classes, although a couple of classes have limited spaces left. A big thank you to all who have recommended us to your friends, neighbours and family! Please make sure your contact information is up to date. If you have moved, changed your cell number or have new emergency contact information, please let us know. Please ensure your child has visited the bathroom before class and has proper indoor footwear for our gym activities and fire drills. Please ensure your children arrive and leave the school in a safe manner. Running up and down the ramp or in the gym and climbing on the railings can result in someone getting hurt. We appreciate your help in reminding children to use their “walking feet”. Please label all outerwear (boots, coats, etc) and snack containers/bags. Bonavista Baptist Church (the church we are located in) is offering a course on Saturday afternoons from February 22nd to March 15th called Developing Emotional Health in Our Children. Some of our families attended it last year and found it quite helpful. Please see attached information if you are interested. Important Dates To Remember: February 11th/February 12th – Valentine Celebrations. Bring your cards for your friends and wear red, pink, white and/or purple! February 13th & 14th – Teachers’ Convention (Tot Spot will be closed). February 17th – Family Day (Tot Spot will be closed). February 25th/26th – Pink Shirt Day (Anti-Bullying Day) – Wear a pink shirt. March 11th (T/Th am), March 12th (MWF), March 13th (T/Th pm) – Mom’s Night 6:00-7:30 March 24th – March 28th – Spring Break (Tot Spot will be closed). Tot Spot reopens on Monday, March 31st. April 8th (T/Th am), April 9th (MWF), April 10th (T/Th pm) – Dad’s Night 6:00-7:30

Happy New Year! We trust everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends over the holidays. We would like to start off 2025 by thanking you for your generous 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 23rd/24th) 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 2025/2026 school year is fast approaching! There are three ways to register this year. Email – Complete digital registration forms, or scan/take a picture of hardcopy, and email to info@totspotpreschool.ca. In Person – Fill out the registration forms and drop them off in person at Tot Spot Preschool. Online – Go to www.totspotpreschool.ca and register online. January 13th@ 9:00am – Registration (email, in person and online) opens to returning families. Please note: Registrations received before 9:00 am on January 13th will not be processed until the afternoon. January 20th@ 9:00am – Registration (email, in person and online) opens to the public. Please note: Registrations received before 9:00 am on January 20thwill not be processed until the afternoon. Registration forms will be available at the school January 9th and 10th. A digital copy will be emailed to families on January 9th. 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 washroombefore 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 13th - Registration opens @ 9:00 am for past and present Tot Spot families. January 20th - Registration opens @ 9:00 am to the public. January 23rd/24th - Pyjama Day – wear your pyjamas and bring your favourite stuffy to school this day! February 11th - Valentine Celebrations for T/TH classes. February 12th - Valentine Celebrations forMWF classes.