Summer temps rise before Fall

Fall may be around the corner, but summer is still in the air! The sun is shining and it’s Friday…AND it’s time to see just what happened this week at The House…let’s get it started!

We will start with the Seniors who took advantage of the summer air outdoors while collecting the many acorns that continue to drop from the tree, making sand pies and having group discussions on the tire about their weekend plans!

When back indoors, they very carefully practiced using scissors, and worked on their pincer-grasp while at the writing station.

The Preschool classrooms sang with Suzie Sunshine and broke barriers with Mr. McCoy this week.

From the Coach House to the Main House, the Preschool classroom explored their numbers and shapes. Counting the blocks, matching the number of blocks to the number shown on the card, and…counting cards? They worked on their shape recognition too as they placed jewels along the outlines of different shapes.

Up the stairs we go, into the Toddler district where dinosaurs and rubber duckies roamed.

The youngest of the House were all about the roar of dinosaurs, as they painted with dinosaurs, stomped liked dinosaurs, and searched for fossils of dinosaurs.

They too took advantage of the outdoors and rocked out with Suzie.

Across the way, the Toddler Two’s were learning and exploring all colours.

They splished, and splashed with the rubber duckies in the bath, and added yellow items to their water play.

Red and yellow, and pink and green, purple and orange and blue – toddler two can build a rainbow!

That’s it for this week, the last week of summer before we fall into Autumn.

Bring on all things nice and pumpkin spiced!

The Chartwell House.

“ABC easy as 123!”

A new school year has begun at The House and we would like to take a second to WELCOME all our new families – WELCOME to Chartwell! And a warm welcome to our weekly blog where you will have a closer look at what happens here from Monday to Friday indoors and out.

We will start up in the Toddler district where it was all about, ‘things that go!’ Go slow, go fast, go round, go up, go down, go right, go left…go go go! Both Toddler classrooms were on the move, let’s keep up and have a look…

Toddler One’s took cover in their smock’s to put things in 4-wheel drive as they plowed through the paint leaving behind prints that would later turn the page into a masterpiece.

Using their little pincer grasps, they gave their classic 1970 VW Beetle a paint job.

And the Toddler One’s liked to, “move it, move it” during the very first Funkey Kids session (formally known as Monkeynastics).

Just next door, the Toddler Two’s kept the movement going…

They too trucked through paint leaving behind trails of tire marks, and mastering that pincer-grasp as they very carefully used the crayons to add a little colour to the car.

We will move from the upstairs of the main house, to the main floor where a lot of new faces have joined the Preschool classroom. When all things are new, the best thing to do is explore…the sensory bins, the loose-parts, and the new playdough too!

They took to the new paint brushes, dipping and dabbing them in the water colours to make streaks and strokes over the pages. They felt the weight of the paint on the brush, the pressure changing against the brush as it hit the paper depending on how hard they pushed, and then they felt the brush get lighter as the paint moved from the brush to the paper. Art!

The painting continued as we make our way across the lot into the Senior Preschool classroom. With Fall-like temperatures in the air, the Seniors were inspired to create Apple trees….apple picking season is upon us!

It was back to the basics for the Seniors of the House – working on their shapes, colour and letter recognition, and writing skills too.

Loose parts: “are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials.’

The first full week of the new school year has come to an end, with new classrooms, teachers, and friends. We will continue next week…

See you then.

The Chartwell House.

Turn the Music UP!

It was the last week of summer here at The House, and boy, did we go out singing! Literally….it was MUSIC WEEK, and we banged on our drums all day – no work, all play! 😉

(Insert: “Bang the Drum all Day,” by Todd Rundgren)

Up in the Toddler district, they painted as they listened to the sounds of the ocean, letting the sounds inspire their moves.

(Insert: “Soothing Ocean Sounds,” by Relax, Meditate, Sleep)

They continued with their creative side as they decorated what would later turn into sound maker shakers!

(Insert: “Shake it off,” Taylor Swift)

The music played on in Preschool…

Where they rocked out in their costume day attire.

(Insert: I want to Rock and Roll all Night,” by KISS)

As we move into the coach house, the music only got louder….
(Insert: “Let’s get it started,” by The Black Eyed Peas)

A fan favourite played on the xylophone was the very catchy, can’t get it out of your head, Baby Shark.
(Insert: “Baby Shark,” By Jauz Remix)

And to end the week, the summer, and time at Chartwell for some of the little ones….we had Bumbling Bert bring the party with music, and a ton of FOAM!

(Insert: Bert’s playlist – “Gummy Bear,” “I Don’t Care, ” by Ed Sheeran, and the Biebs, “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams, “Who let the dogs out?” by Baha Men, and more…)

What a week! We ended summer with a bang for sure!

Before we head into the long weekend, we would like to wish all the Chartwell children who are heading into “big school” next week the best of luck!

All your bags are packed you’re ready to go…

Thank you for the memories, and all the fun, we will miss you here at The House.
(Insert: “Graduation, Friends Forever,” by Vitamin C)

The Chartwell House.

Shell we…

There’s nothing better than spending a day at the beach…however, spending a week at The House during Beach Week comes very close.

Water Days are the best days…

After having a splash, things started to get a little bit fishy for the youngest of the house.

It was all sensory for the Senior Toddler classroom, where they worked with sand and water play. Building castles, and giving the ocean life a bath!

The only thing about heading to the beach is you always seem to bring the beach home with you. Sand is everywhere! And so, why not paint with it? The Senior Todds painted ocean and beach masterpieces outside under the trees.

….”baby shark…” I could go on but I know the song is already playing in your head! Shark feeding time!

The Preschoolers brought the beach indoors, splish-splashing at the sensory table.

And then worked on their letter recognition as they stamped their way through the alphabet.

The Seniors of the House took a much closer look at things this week…

….as they explored the sea shells.

And they got their zen on while painting the rocks found beach side with water.

If the Senior’s were to take a trip to the beach, they would bring along the following items…grilled cheese? Check.

To add to the fun, we threw in a Crazy Hair Day this week, and your Chartwell Staff did not disappoint. Check these doo’s…

Before we go, I’d just like to take a minute and wish all of those families who are leaving for “big school” all the best! We will miss you here at The House!

RV there yet?

It was camp week at the house, and it was IN TENTS!

Let’s keep this moving along and see s’more…

We will start up in the Toddler district where things were heating up! From making fire-hand-prints, to painting with marshmallows, all toddlers were all about their fine-motor skills as they created Chartwell Camp art.

The sensory bins were filled with “marshmallows” they used to stack, fill, and dump and with items they collected from around the camp grounds.

Down the stairs into the Preschool classroom, they too filled their sensory bins with items collected. Not only did they add these items to the bins, but they used them to create with too.

And sometimes when you’re camping, there’s nothing better than sharing and comparing your fishing stories with your friends.

The preschoolers very carefully handcrafted s’mores, practiced making “fires” (safety first, made with only sticks!), and used their hand-eye and pincer-grasps to find their way to the camp fire!

The camp out continued with the Seniors of The House where they sang and roasted marshmallows and spider-dogs by the fire.

Away from the fire, they were inspired…to practice their letters, writing, drawing and colouring.

Camp week has come to an end! From the Chartwell Counsellors to you, we wish you a very happy weekend!

Unlike the dinosaurs…we’re back!

Now presenting…

at The House.

It may have been a short week but, it was ROAR-some!

Millions of years ago Dinosaurs roamed the earth, today…they roam Chartwell, and they left their prints wherever they stomped.

The cause of extinction is still a mystery, but a few theories have been tossed around….maybe it was the Ice Age?

A tidal-wave?

Or maybe it was quick-sand?

Whatever it was, before they were gone…they roamed on…

Even after all these years, we continue to be inspired by dinosaurs…

And we humans, started to slowly read and write, and learn more and more about dinosaurs. Even more so when we started uncovering their bones!

Wait…are we sure they’re extinct?

That’s a wRAP…tor.

 

 

 

Pirate’s favourite letter? Argh!

Avast ye! All hands hoay! That’s Pirate slang for “get this blog started…”

Ahoy matey’s, welcome to Pirate week at The House – hold on tight, and batten down the hatches…it’s time to sail.

Pirate hats, eye-patches, treasure and more, oh my!

Here’s the youngest mates sifting through sand to find the buried treasure hidden in the sensory bin.

Using their pincer-grasp on the paint brush the Toddler One class made their own pirate hats to look the part, had a closer look at treasure maps, and mixed bright colours to represent parrots, a pirate’s best friend.

The T1’s dipped and dabbed tea bags across the paper to create that old looking treasure map, then glued on their treasure chests and the X’s that mark the spot!

Following the lines on the map, brings us to Toddler Two where they too found treasure in the sand…

And after very carefully spreading the glue on the parrot, they added bright coloured feathers to make it pop!

When the sun shines, we take things outdoors….here’s T2 decorating their pirate hats, and colouring the pirate portrait along the fence.

The outdoor fun continued in the Preschool yard! Where they worked together to try and find the hidden treasure…oh where oh where could it be?!

Once they found the treasure, they collected and counted their findings of course.

Preschool joined in on making pirate hats, and treasure maps…

And added water, treasure, mermaids, a steering wheel, dolphins and more to the Pirate ship – have a closer look as the old ship wreck is hanging in the Preschool cubbies!

It’s smooth sailing as we cross over into the Senior Preschool classroom…where they too got their Pirate on!

And where there are Pirates, there are mermaids…Ms. Hillis went all Ariel on us while helping the Senior’s create their Pirate hats.

Well Matey’s, that’s argh!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Chartwell House.