There are also photos of the 3′s and 4′s classes searching the fields, “caves”, “woods” and “mountain” for “The Golden Cat”.  The story behind the golden cat is familiar to families in the Preschool 3′s Room as it has been a source of great curiosity, intrigue and excitement since October.  Every day, at least one of the children in the 3′s room asks “Did you find the Golden Cat?” Yesterday, the 4′s class caught wind of the adventure as the 3′s returned to the playground and asked to go on their own hunt.  They found clues — scratches on the tree, bite marks in a leaf and some mushrooms that had been scratched — and came up with theories about where it could be.  They also found a couple of baseballs which they also called clues until one of the group set them straight:  ”Guys, the balls are not clues, they’re playing baseball over there!” Another child said “I’m allergic to cats and am feeling a little itchy so I think we’re getting close!”  We also found some deer scat (poop) just as Animal Chris was coming to see us after his visit to one of the other schools here.  He had a duck with him that follows him around because it thinks he is his mom.  Chris will be here next week

More photos can be found in Eileen’s Photos!

We arrived at the beach before Chris which gave the children the chance to toss small rocks into the water.  When Chris arrived, he gathered them all together to talk about salt versus fresh versus brackish water (mix of salt and fresh water which includes LI Sound).  He talked about the tides (high, low and intertidal zone), sea life, etc.  They played a game called “High Tide/Low Tide” where they ran from one line to the next after he called it out.

Next on the agenda was finding sea life — crabs of all sizes, different kinds of snails, clams, muscles and barnacles as well as different kinds of seaweed.  At Chris’ instruction, they turned rocks over in the “intertidal zone” to find dozens of live crabs.  He showed them how to hold them without being pinched and thenreminded them that they needed to put the rocks back in place because it is the roof of their house.  Some were reluctant to hold the crabs but nearly all tried it by the end of the morning.  He also found two horseshoe crabs — a male and a female — and then set them free into the sound.

Chris also put a net in the water with some fish as bait in the stream that runs in between Burying Hill and Sherwood Island.  All of the children helped pull it out of the water. We caught several large crabs and then told the children how to tell if they were boys or girls. (Boys have narrow tails and girls wide ones to hide the eggs.)  He showed them the points on the crab which he said was a “Green Crab” and then asked them if they knew how to spell.  They answered “no” and he then asked if they “knew the alphabet” and they all started singing again…”A, B, C, D….”  After we had looked at all of the crabs, we set them free again.

Then it was time for a picnic lunch up on the hill, visits to the bathroom and back on the bus.  It was a great day!

Additional pictures from this trip are available for approved CCDC users in “Eileen’s photos”.

Here are a few details:

The theme is “Broadway Babies” with Broadway, Times Square, NYC decorations.  The highlight of the decorations will be 5×7 color head shots of all of our children — stars one and all!

You can purchase your child’s photo for $20.  Rather than take orders for additional prints at a cost of $10 each as we have done in the past, you will have the option to purchase the digital images – black & white and color – for an additional $20.  The dvd slide show is also available to purchase for $10.

We have a great selection of items for our silent and live auctions, including beautiful one-of-a-kind ceramics created by our children tickets to see the World Champion New York Yankees, a baseball autographed by Mark Teixeira, first baseman for the World Champion New York Yankees, a week at a vacation home in Vermont, sessions with photographers, gift certificates to restaurants and hair salons and much more.  We do not collect any payments the night of the auction, you will be billed next week for any items you win/buy.  This year, all gift certificates will be kept separate so that we don’t lose track.  There will be a display and we pass out the certificates to the winners next week.  When the actual item is on display, you are free to take it home at the end of the evening.

A copy of the Auction Program is available online in the “For Current Parents” section.  Click here and once you enter your password you can get a sneak preview.

Dinner is provided.  The food is catered by Stiles Farmers Market in Westport.  Appetizers include the following:  ; pigs in a blanket, mini quiches, vegetable egg rolls, mini rice balls, hummus & chips, hot pretzels,  and crudite.  Dinner includes: chicken francaise and pasta with tomatoes, basil and mozzerella.  There will also be cookies for dessert.

Wine & beer will be provided by Fairfield Wine & Spirits — owned by CCDC alumni family the Coleys.  There will be a wide selection of red wine, white wine and domestic and foreign beer as well as water and soft drinks.  We have a temporary liquor license but have been told that it is illegal in CT to have an open bar so we have to charge something.  There will therefore be a jar set up at the bar to collect payment for drinks.  The charge is minimal — $1 a drink .

Tip: attire is casual.  The gym can get a little hot so dress in layers.

Chris talked about how animals help each other.  For example, the little turtle digs a little hole and when it gets bigger it leaves the smaller hole for other animals; the beaver builds a dam on the river to make a pond for their family that other animals use too and they build a house in the middle of the pond so that other animals like wolves and bears don’t eat them.  The 4′s as usual absorbed a lot of information and had the many questions.  Some examples were “How old is the alligator?” (3 or 4 years old) “How big does the alligator get to be?”  (Male alligators can be almost as big as the width of the classroom and females from the wall to the edge of the rug.)

On March 11 Chris came for just the 3′s and 4′s rooms.  He showed them slides of his trip to the artic last summer.  They were able to see photos of birds that were camouflaged in the rocks, snow geese, a caribou, moose and many photos of polar bears.  He also had plaster impresssions of foot prints of a wolf and a polar bear.  He told the children that when he sees animals in nature that he leaves them there because nature is a beautiful place and that’s where we want them to be.  One of the polar bear cubs was called “Aurora” after the Aurora Borealis which he also had a photo of.  He had a photo of moose poop which in nature is called “scat” — a fact that brought a few giggles as you might imagine!

Chris also brought a very special visitor:  his German Shepherd, “Bella Stella Luna” called “Luna”.  He showed them how well trained she was – she followed commands for “sit” “down” “come” “stay” and “place”.  He emphasized that he was always kind to her.

The complete photo album can be viewed in Eileen’s Photos.

The complete photo album can be viewed in Eileen’s Photos.

Take a look at the complete photo album in Eileen’s Photos and you may be able to hear the laughter too!

Finally, during periods of prolonged or repeated illness please consider some extra time at home. While we recognize that this time of year is often the most difficult time to manage time away from work, additional time for rest and recovery is the most effective way to prevent relapse and in the long run, there will be fewer disruptions to your work schedule.

We want to highlight the top three areas of our health policy we typically deal with:

1. Fevers:  We take axillary (under the arm) temperatures here at CCDC. These readings tend to be around a degree lower than an oral temperature, but are less invasive and upsetting to take. Any child with an axillary temperature over 100.5 needs to be excluded from group care. Children may return to CCDC when they have been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication. This means discontinuing the use of tylenol or motrin at home to be sure the fever does not return. From the American Dental Association on teething: “As their teeth erupt, some babies may become fussy, sleepless and irritable, lose their appetite or drool more than usual. Diarrhea, rashes and a fever are not normal for a teething baby. If your infant has a fever or diarrhea while teething or continues to be cranky and uncomfortable, call your physician.”
2. Upper Respiratory Infections: If a child is prescribed medication for an ear, sinus or upper respiratory infection they may return to CCDC the day following the inception of medication. This is to be sure that a child doesn’t have a reaction to the medication, which can happen even if it is not the first time it has been administered. A child should be kept home if they exhibit any other symptoms requiring exclusion including fever and/or extreme lethargy, discomfort, or inability to participate in group care.
3. Gastro-intestinal Upset: If a child vomits or has diarrhea, they will be readmitted after one full school day of absence as long as they have been symptom free for twenty-four hours. We are particularly vigilant about exclusion for GI upsets when we have multiple cases occurring as we do now. We know that there are times when GI upsets are related to food or medication or increased mucous production, but when other children are or have been ill, the chances are much greater that the incident is related to illness.

While yesterday’s unexpected snow fall resulted in lengthy commutes, it provided all of us at CCDC some great fun in on the playground.  There were snowmen the children named “Frosty”, snowballs flying through the air, snow angels, snow sliding and overall delight with our good fortune.

This morning Coach Pat was here and the children enjoyed running, bouncing, catching and bouncing balls.

The complete photo album can be found in Eileen’s Photos.

• “Barking” Tree Frog. Their job is is to tell if the air and water is clean.  They breathe through their skin and sing when it rains.  They live in the rain forest.
• Corn Snake . Their job is to help keep us healthy.  They eat mice tht live in the woods who might bring ticks & fleas into our houses.  They live in cornfields.
• Tortoise. Their job is to dig and build houses.  They live in Africa where it is very hot and create places for other animals like snakes, mice and frogs to stay cool.  (The Preschool 4′s watched attentively and quietly while the tortoise ate some lettuce and one of the children observed “He has a red tongue just like us.”

On Thursday, January 21, 2010, Mike brought animals to illustrate the different things that different species eat:

• Baby Spotted Turtles. They were found in someone’s yard in Westport and Animal Embassy is going to take care of them until they get big enough to set free.  The turtles live in shallow water and Mike gave them some black worms which the children in each class watched them eat.
• Bearded Dragon “Blizzard”. They live in the desert and eat bugs.   We watched the bearded dragon eat meal worms, including one that had started to turn into a beatle just like cocoons become butterflies.
• Red-Footed Tortoise “Ruby and Beaker”. They live in the rain forest and eat plants. The children were each given something to contribute to a salad for them to eat: lettuce, carrots, watermelon, bananas and strawberries.  They watched intently as the tortoises ate heartily.  One of the children in the 4′s Room wondered “What would eat her?”  The answer, nothing when they are big, but when they are little, different birds or jaguars can eat them.

The complete photo album can be viewed in Eileen’s Photos.