To parents interested in the Berkeley public schools,
You may want to attend the following event:
Berkeley Public Education Foundation:
Kindergarten Information Event
Berkeley Public Education Foundation will be hosting a free informational session on November 15, from 4 to 6 PM to introduce pre-school parents to Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) kindergartens, and provide an overview of the registration and placement processes. Melisandra Leonardos from BUSD's Admissions Office will present and respond to questions. Location: Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley. Please RSVP with your name and the number attending to bpef@berkeley.k12.ca.us, or 510-644-6244. (Note: This is not an event geared to children, but children are welcome to accompany you if needed. No childcare is
provided.)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Subscribe to this Newsletter with RSS
Want to find out when there's a new post to the CCC Preschool News Blog? Here are some tips on how to use an RSS Feed Reader. Thanks to Mickey (Rudy, BY) for his help with this!
What is RSS?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is perfect for those who want to read CCC Preschool News articles as they are posted. Subscribing to an RSS feed is different from subscribing to an e-mail newsletter. Rather than filling your inbox, the notices are sent to your RSS Feed Reader. You can subscribe to this "news feed" from most websites or blogs.
How do I subscribe to an RSS Feed?
Simply post the following address into your favorite RSS Feed Reader: http://cccpreschoolnews.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.
There are a variety of formats available, and you can experiment to find the one most convenient for you. Here are a few examples of the variety of RSS readers available today.
- Web Browsers: Directly from your favorite Web browser software: Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc...
- On-Line Services: Most on-line providers offer RSS Readers such as Google Reader and MyYahoo
- E-mail Programs: RSS readers are now built into email programs like Apple Mail * and Outlook
- Stand-alone Readers: You can download software applications called RSS Readers like Newsgator
Front Yard Rainbow Stew
By request, Allyssa shares the "recipe" for Rainbow Stew - a mushy, colorful concoction that is a visual and tactile delight!
Rainbow stew is created from a gooey base of cooked cornstarch. It is divided and food coloring added to create primary colors (blue, red, yellow). Scoop some of each color into a zip lock bag and seal (push out the air and after closing the bag, use duct tape to make sure that gooey mess stays in!)
Then the squeezing begins and the colors blend, creating a rainbow of colors. It is both satisfying and fun to touch, and also to experience visually the creation of new colors. It is so much more meaningful to see that blue and yellow make green, rather than being told it will happen.
When we make "rainbow stew" it is amusing to see kids use their feet to squish, sit on them, carry the colorful baggies around and use them in their play all morning. Then in the end, the cubbies are full of baggies with fairly gross looking mush! They are not meant to save, so after a short time, toss it!
- Allyssa
Rainbow Stew Recipe
(When I make it for the class, I multiply by 6!)
1c. cornstarch
1/3 c. sugar
4 c. water
food coloring (blue, red, yellow)
Mix dry ingredients, add water, cook over medium heat until thick. Divide "stew" by three and use food coloring to make each portion a different color.
Rainbow stew is created from a gooey base of cooked cornstarch. It is divided and food coloring added to create primary colors (blue, red, yellow). Scoop some of each color into a zip lock bag and seal (push out the air and after closing the bag, use duct tape to make sure that gooey mess stays in!)
Then the squeezing begins and the colors blend, creating a rainbow of colors. It is both satisfying and fun to touch, and also to experience visually the creation of new colors. It is so much more meaningful to see that blue and yellow make green, rather than being told it will happen.
When we make "rainbow stew" it is amusing to see kids use their feet to squish, sit on them, carry the colorful baggies around and use them in their play all morning. Then in the end, the cubbies are full of baggies with fairly gross looking mush! They are not meant to save, so after a short time, toss it!
- Allyssa
Rainbow Stew Recipe
(When I make it for the class, I multiply by 6!)
1c. cornstarch
1/3 c. sugar
4 c. water
food coloring (blue, red, yellow)
Mix dry ingredients, add water, cook over medium heat until thick. Divide "stew" by three and use food coloring to make each portion a different color.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Halloweeeeeeeeen!
The count-down has begun. There are costumes to make (or, in our family's case, search for frantically online), pumpkins to carve and trick-or-treat itineraries to map out.
Meanwhile, the classrooms at CCC are bustling with activities to celebrate the season. Front-yarders are enjoying Halloween-themed books and songs, roasting pumpkin seeds, making pumpkin pancakes and painting their own faces. Allyssa will be sharing a favorite book, Go Away Big Green Monster, a great selection for this time of year that helps take the scariness out of monsters. And on the Friday before Halloween, kids can hunt for pumpkins on the hill!
Back-yarders are also busy with DIY activities, Lara reports—making costumes and masks, decorating mini pumpkins and learning about witches, including the historical role of witches as women with knowledge of herbs and medicine. The kids have even been concocting their own potions. The Back Yard is also celebrating Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with an altar in the classroom and sugar skulls for the children to decorate and take home.
Outside of CCC, families are enjoying all kinds of spooky fun. Kate (Milo, BY) writes, "Halloween has traditionally been the only holiday we spend at our own house. And we love it for that. The kids can hardly wait to decorate and it's all we can do to wait till October 1st to bring out the bins of bats and skulls and costumes." Milo's family also enjoys an annual trip to Sebastopol to go pumpkin-patching with friends.
On Halloween night in years past, Ravi (FY) and his family hit popular streets like Mariposa (near CCC) or Belvedere in San Francisco. "We used to call these streets the Castro, but for kids," says his mom Promita. But as the kids have been getting older, their traditions have changed. Now they have Arizmendi pizza and spooky snacks with a few friends before trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.
And finally, Alex (FY) and his family have found a great way to let the magic of Halloween live on... and on. His mom Annie tells us, "One of our traditions is to let our jack o' lanterns decompose in our veggie beds. It's fun to watch them get all smooshed and crumble into the dirt. And then in the spring, up come little baby pumpkin plants!"
How is your family celebrating Halloween? Share your favorite pumpkin patch, trick-or-treat destination or a special tradition your family enjoys in this "spirited" season!
Meanwhile, the classrooms at CCC are bustling with activities to celebrate the season. Front-yarders are enjoying Halloween-themed books and songs, roasting pumpkin seeds, making pumpkin pancakes and painting their own faces. Allyssa will be sharing a favorite book, Go Away Big Green Monster, a great selection for this time of year that helps take the scariness out of monsters. And on the Friday before Halloween, kids can hunt for pumpkins on the hill!
Back-yarders are also busy with DIY activities, Lara reports—making costumes and masks, decorating mini pumpkins and learning about witches, including the historical role of witches as women with knowledge of herbs and medicine. The kids have even been concocting their own potions. The Back Yard is also celebrating Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with an altar in the classroom and sugar skulls for the children to decorate and take home.
Outside of CCC, families are enjoying all kinds of spooky fun. Kate (Milo, BY) writes, "Halloween has traditionally been the only holiday we spend at our own house. And we love it for that. The kids can hardly wait to decorate and it's all we can do to wait till October 1st to bring out the bins of bats and skulls and costumes." Milo's family also enjoys an annual trip to Sebastopol to go pumpkin-patching with friends.
On Halloween night in years past, Ravi (FY) and his family hit popular streets like Mariposa (near CCC) or Belvedere in San Francisco. "We used to call these streets the Castro, but for kids," says his mom Promita. But as the kids have been getting older, their traditions have changed. Now they have Arizmendi pizza and spooky snacks with a few friends before trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.
And finally, Alex (FY) and his family have found a great way to let the magic of Halloween live on... and on. His mom Annie tells us, "One of our traditions is to let our jack o' lanterns decompose in our veggie beds. It's fun to watch them get all smooshed and crumble into the dirt. And then in the spring, up come little baby pumpkin plants!"
How is your family celebrating Halloween? Share your favorite pumpkin patch, trick-or-treat destination or a special tradition your family enjoys in this "spirited" season!
Allyssa's Pumpkin Pancakes
A Halloween Front Yard tradition, these delicious pancakes make a perfect breakfast treat for this time of year.
• 2 c. flour
• 3 T. Brown sugar (packed)
• 3 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ½ t. ginger
• ¼ t. nutmeg
• 1 ½ c. milk
• 1 ¼ c. pumpkin
• 4 eggs or 8 T. cornstarch
• ¼ c. melted butter
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Combine. Cook. Add a drizzle of maple syrup… mmm.
Feeling fancy? Try them with candied ginger butter: In a bowl, with wooden spoon, stir 2 T. finely chopped candied ginger into ¼ cup soft butter. Spread on warm pumpkin pancakes.
• 2 c. flour
• 3 T. Brown sugar (packed)
• 3 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. cinnamon
• ½ t. ginger
• ¼ t. nutmeg
• 1 ½ c. milk
• 1 ¼ c. pumpkin
• 4 eggs or 8 T. cornstarch
• ¼ c. melted butter
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Combine. Cook. Add a drizzle of maple syrup… mmm.
Feeling fancy? Try them with candied ginger butter: In a bowl, with wooden spoon, stir 2 T. finely chopped candied ginger into ¼ cup soft butter. Spread on warm pumpkin pancakes.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Open House, Saturday Oct. 17
Please join us on Saturday, October 17th 9:30 - 11:30am for our annual Open House. If you are interested in applying, this is your chance to see the school and talk to current parents. There will be snacks and activities for prospective preschoolers.
Current parents: Please sign up to help! Slots are available for set-up, attending the event, and clean-up. Look for the sign-up sheet at the front gate.
Sandbox Diaries: Inaugural Post
One of the sheer joys of hanging out with a bunch of three- and four-year-olds is listening in on their conversations—hearing their perspectives on the world around them, their refreshing (sometimes brutal) honesty and, of course, those adorable malapropisms.
Sometime back, a parent began collecting quotes overheard at CCC for the school newsletter, named them “The Sandbox Diaries,” and a tradition was born. And because traditions are precious, we continue the Sandbox Diaries here, on the blog, with a few recent dispatches:
Overheard on the patio:
Sasha (BY): This is where the cars go if they want to drive to Oakland, or Russia.
Overheard on the hill:
Colette (BY): Nikko, Nikko! I have some exciting news to tell you!
Nikko (BY): What?
Colette: Now I can take x-ray pictures with my x-ray eyes!
To be continued…
Sometime back, a parent began collecting quotes overheard at CCC for the school newsletter, named them “The Sandbox Diaries,” and a tradition was born. And because traditions are precious, we continue the Sandbox Diaries here, on the blog, with a few recent dispatches:
Overheard on the patio:
Sasha (BY): This is where the cars go if they want to drive to Oakland, or Russia.
Overheard on the hill:
Colette (BY): Nikko, Nikko! I have some exciting news to tell you!
Nikko (BY): What?
Colette: Now I can take x-ray pictures with my x-ray eyes!
To be continued…
Monday, October 5, 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to the CCC blog!
Children’s Community Center (CCC) is a cooperative preschool – the oldest west of the Mississippi – located in Berkeley, California. We are a diverse, fun-loving and devoted group of parents and teachers, brought together by love for our kids.
This blog is a place to share school news and other interesting tidbits as they arise from our community. Thanks for reading, and for joining in the discussion!
Children’s Community Center (CCC) is a cooperative preschool – the oldest west of the Mississippi – located in Berkeley, California. We are a diverse, fun-loving and devoted group of parents and teachers, brought together by love for our kids.
This blog is a place to share school news and other interesting tidbits as they arise from our community. Thanks for reading, and for joining in the discussion!
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