What Do Firemen, Nature and Book Fairs Have in Common?

...they are all things we did at LVCC's South Mountain this week!

The Allentown Fire Department gave us a demonstration. Our heroes taught us what to do in case of a fire at home. We learned how important a fireman's job is (but we also had a great time playing inside their firetruck). The Allentown Police Department and Allentown Health Bureau also visited earlier this month to talk about health and safety.
 

Our fantastic friends from LVCC at Truman School sent us some wonderful gifts - a tree, mushrooms, feathers, and more - to help us learn about nature. We wanted to show our appreciation, so we brainstormed on how to make a nature thank you card. In this photo, Mrs. N from the Truman School Age program is modeling the thank you cards that Pre-K Counts South Mountain made.

Our Pre-K Counts class excitedly read different kinds of books to prepare for our Scholastic Book Fair from February 6th-10th. Each year Scholastic Book Fairs, in partnership with schools across the country, hosts more than 120,000 book-sale events that give more than 35 million students and their families access to thousands of affordable and educational products, helping foster a lifelong love of reading.

Snowflake Has Arrived

We are so excited about Snowflake arriving! No, not the white stuff that falls from the sky - the Wells Fargo Bank mascot!

Mr. Roy Detweiler, III and Ms. Evalys Flores (pictured on the right) from Wells Fargo Bank, located on Union Boulevard, visited us at LVCC's Union Boulevard and brought along a 4-foot plush pony named “Snowflake.” Each bank branch donated a pony to a children’s organization of their choice; the staff at the Union Blvd. branch chose LVCC. This year's pony, Snowflake, is modeled after a Wells Fargo express wagon horse from the 1880s. The historical Snowflake led a team of horses that helped deliver money, merchandise, important papers, and packages from Jersey City across the Hudson River into Manhattan.

Now, Snowflake is delivering smiles and giggles to all of our classrooms. We hugged and snuggled with Snowflake the whole day! Our teachers also instructed us on how to properly pet and care for an animal.

Our LVCC classes made a large thank you card with our painted handprints that Ms. Sharon delivered to the wonderful staff at Wells Fargo.

Thank you Wells Fargo Bank! We will take care of Snowflake for many, many years!

Click here to see more photos of LVCC with Snowflake.

Frosty the Snowman

Did you know Papier-mâché in French means chewed paper? We didn't chew the paper when we made this paper-mache snowman in our preschool class at LVCC's Walnut Street. Instead, we pasted strips of newspaper onto a blown-up balloon. We made the paste out of water, glue and flour. When the paste dried, we painted the snowman white and gave him some facial features and painted buttons. Once the paint dried, we gave him some finishing touches of a hat, a scarf, and pipe cleaner arms. Everyone worked as a team to create this cute guy! The whole class decided to name him Frosty.

When we were all finished, our teacher took us outside to play in the snow. We pretended to be Frosty the Snowman and let the cold snow drop onto our noses! It's a good thing we were all bundled up to stay warm. The real Frosty would have melted!

Winter Mosaic

Our school-age class at LVCC at Forks School explored art and animals this week with Ms. Josetta Vadala, our new Center Director.  Since winter is upon us, we discussed animals that enjoy the cold and how they live. Did you know penguins like the cold? Their funny little tuxedo bodies keep them warm and waterproof!

We also discovered the beauty of mosaic art. Mosaic art is a collage of materials assembled to make an image. The greatest part of making a collage is that it doesn’t have to be perfect!

We made our very own penguin mosaic using cut paper. The bow accents distinguish the male and female. Our penguins, however, are NOT waterproof.

Happy New Year Mom and Dad!

Our Younger Toddler Class at LVCC Campus got good and messy while making a Happy New Year banner. We finger-painted and mixed all kinds of colors. We squished the paint and made little paw-prints. Ms. Olga, our teacher, also asked us the names of the colors we were using.

Although one or two of us needed some coaxing, the other toddlers dug right into the paint! It was quite exciting seeing all this gooey stuff on our hands.

Don't worry Mom and Dad - our teachers cleaned us up for you!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS OF THE YOUNGER TODDLER'S ARTWORK

After we finished the banner, we took time out of our busy schedules to wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

'Tis the Season

South Mountain
LVCC Pre-K Counts class at LVCC South Mountain put on a spectacular performance based on a book called Stone Soup. The children all played their parts well. They worked together to create the props, settings, costumes AND they even MADE STONE SOUP for all their parents to taste.

Click here to view more photos of Stone Soup
Click here to watch the play Stone Soup


Stones Crossing
The infants, toddlers, and preschoolers went caroling from door-to-door around the Stones Crossing Shopping Plaza. A surprise visitor stopped by to sing a jingle or two with the kiddies! As a special thank you for all the wonderful holiday tunes, our friends at Pizza Chef gave the children tasty cookies.

Click here to view more photos of Stones Crossing Holiday Caroling & to see who the surprise visitor was.

It's Snowing!

Mr. Joel was busy making it snow at LVCC Fowler Center on Main St.!

He and the Preschool, Pre-K Counts, and School-age classrooms made paper snowflakes. We cut out different designs, decorated them, and hung them in the front windows of the building.

We learned that snowflakes are all different. No two snowflakes are alike, including the paper snowflakes we created!

Holiday Family Fun

Festive holiday events took place at many of our centers this week. LVCC Alburtis held a Holiday Family Fun Night starting with a visit from Colleen Heimbach, Shafer and Nazareth Intermediate Center Director, and some canine guests. Ms. Heimbach, along with her seeing-eye trained dogs, gave a presentation on how to properly approach dogs.

A representative from the Lehigh County Humane Society spoke about importance of taking care of your pet.

Afterward, parents and children snacked on goodies, made crafts together, and finished the night with an active dodgeball game - parents vs. children.

Click Here to See More Photos from Alburtis Holiday Family Fun

LVCC St. Luke's held a grand holiday event at St. Luke's Hospital. Children and their parents enjoyed festive foods, face painting, and creative crafts. The sounds of holiday singing and stories echoed through the halls.

Special guests, Santa and Mrs. Claus brought presents for all the children!

Click Here to See More Photos from St. Luke's Holiday Party

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

The preschoolers from LVCC at Walnut St. and the Kiwanis Club of Allentown celebrated the joyous season with a holiday party at the Allentown BrewWorks. The festivities began with a delicious lunch.  Afterward, Joan Kniess, Head of Children's Services and Chief Elf at Allentown Public Library, read a story about how Santa met the reindeer and the elves. The children were VERY excited about the surprise guest who came to visit - Santa!!! Santa also brought his elves from the Central Catholic High School Key Club to help out. And they brought PRESENTS for each child!!

Thank you Kiwanis Club of Allentown for making special memories for our tiny tots!

Click here to view photos from the party

Thanksgiving Blessings

Many of the centers celebrated Thanksgiving with various festivities. ELC invited the families of our students for a Thanksgiving feast. Over 100 family members attended, where they enjoyed delicious food and fun with their children and the LVCC staff.

Stones Crossing also invited families to a Thanksgiving celebration. Moms and dads were thankful to spend this time with their precious little ones. And the children, well, as you can see they had a blast!

LVCC is blessed for our students, always eager to learn; our families for being supportive of their children's education; and our friends and donors for making high-quality early education possible.

 

The Next Van Gogh...Is Still in Diapers?

Would you let an infant play with paint? Ms. Bertha and Ms. Ada from the LVCC Teen Parent program at William Allen High School definitely do (with supervision, of course)! They know that even a single brush swipe from a 4 month-old is artwork. According to Ms. Bertha, by 9 months-old, an infant will pick up a paint brush and realize something exciting happens when they take a stroke. October's artwork included footprint ghosts, displayed on the center's wall. The bright colors and feel of the paint on their little tootsie-toes kept the infants curious and engaged.

This week at LVCC, the children took home turkeys - made of a real maple leaf and their very own handprints. Ms. Ada so kindly laminated the artwork for parents and grandparents to treasure forever!

 

 Ms. Bertha during lunchtime rocking an infant.

 Handprint Turkeys

Footprint Ghosts

We Salute the Veterans

LVCC's Fowler Center on Main St. has our very own army veteran, Joel Buskirk. Mr. Joel is our Preschool Teacher. To honor Mr. Joel and the many other military veterans from the area, all the classrooms at Fowler Center created thank you cards and posters to give to Mr. Joel.

The students participated in stimulating activities centered around Veteran's Day. Through drawing, painting, and listening to stories, the students learned that a veteran is a person who has served in the armed forces, which includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard. The students also learned that veterans are special people because they protect us and they deserve to be honored with a holiday. So, thank you Mr. Joel and the veterans of the Lehigh Valley!

Stop, Drop, and Roll

LVCC St. Luke's had a special visitor on Wednesday. Fire Chief David Boehrer from the Fountain Hill Fire Department brought his nicest firetruck for the children to explore. After Fire Chief Dave taught the basics of "stop, drop, and roll", he allowed the children to ask questions. The children asked very good open-ended questions that demonstrated their excellent communication skills (and fascination with firetrucks). Fire Chief Dave rewarded the children with their very own fireman helmuts for being such attentive listeners.

Ms. Natasha from the Preschool class volunteered to try on the fireman's uniform. Once completely suited up, Ms. Natasha was carrying 120 lbs. of gear! All the children agreed, they liked Ms. Natasha in the suit.

Fire Chief Dave was so informative and he even gave the center a "Sparky the Fire Dog" video to watch. Now all the preschoolers and older toddlers should know what to do in case of a fire and that they should not hide from the fireman when he comes to save them.

To see more photos of this event, click on this link to Flickr.com
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We Have Power!

Our power is on again at all centers and we will be ready to welcome your youngsters back with open arms on Wednesday. We appreciate your understanding during our recent power outage due to the weekend snowstorm. Several of the LVCC centers were among the 155,000 unfortunate energy consumers in the area to lose electricity. LVCC would like to reference information in case of future weather closings or delays. LVCC posts updates on WFMZ, WAEB, Facebook, Twitter, and our blog, This Week at LVCC.

Update on School Closings for Tuesday

Due to the recent snowstorm, several centers have no power and are CLOSED including St. Luke's, South Mountain, and Truman. Call centers on Tuesday for an update or to take child to an alternate LVCC center. Centers with power and OPEN are Campus Center, ELC, Fowler, Stone's Crossing, Union, Walnut, and Western Salisbury. We will continue making updates on WFMZ and WAEB.

UPDATE: Due to the recent snowstorm, several centers have no power and are CLOSED including St. Luke's, South Mountain, Western Salisbury, and Truman. Call centers on Monday for an update.

Centers with power and OPEN are Campus Center, ELC, Fowler, Stone's Crossing, Union, and Walnut.

We will continue making updates on WFMZ and WAEB.

Due to the recent snowstorm, several centers have no power including St. Luke's and South Mountain. Call centers on Monday for an update.

Centers with power and open are Campus Center, ELC, Fowler, Stone's Crossing, and Union Boulevard.

We will continue making updates on WFMZ and WAEB.

Halloween, Parades, Stories, Oh My!

All the LVCC students were busy this week preparing for the Halloween festivities. Many of the activities centered around pumpkins, black cats and creative costumes. LVCC Campus Center paraded around historic Bethlehem in their costumes, while parents proudly played paparazzi. The youngest representation of the toddler group must have sent each other memos in advance. They were a roaring hit as a cub pack. Ms. Adams and her creative after-schoolers at LVCC Forks School decorated their class with Halloween artwork and created signs for their "Halloween Costume Show". Every child took home an award for their imaginative costumes. Ms. Dana at LVCC South Mountain Pre-K Counts read a story about an astronaut during reading circle time. Afterward, a number of students wanted to be an astronaut and wear a helmet for trick-or-treat! The Toddler Room stirred with anticipation as everyone took turns mixing a batch of Halloween brew on one side of the room, while the other side of the room learned about creepy bugs, yuck!

To see more photos of the exciting happenings this week, log on to www.flickr.com/photos/LVCC or like us at www.facebook.com/LVCConline.

Robotics Rock!

With the help of Mr. Hans from Computer Explorers, the children from LVCC Ritter School and LVCC Nazareth Area Intermediate began their introduction to the principles of engineering. In this 10 week course, children in the after-school program, grades 1-5, participate in super-cool experiments using computers and LEGO® materials to build simple machines that actually move!

This week the LVCC Ritter School explored levers, pulleys, and wheels to create dancing birds. Wide-eyed, looks of excitement stirred throughout the class as our promising engineers activated the twirling birds. Soon, the entire room was filled with the singing computer noises. Everyone worked cooperatively to solve problems and had a "chirping" good time.

Rainy Days Don't Get ELC Down!

The rain fell hard outside today, but that didn't stop our budding 4-year olds in Pre-K Counts from the LVCC Judith Chase Early Learning Center. The creative juices flowed with all the active play, allowing the children to explore imagination.

Watch out Picasso, there's a new artist in town! This lil' tike showed us proper smock wear to keep her clothes clean and dry when creating a masterpiece.

And speaking of fashion, this belle of the tea party played "dress up" with all the fun clothes and accessories in the play closet. "Cinderella", as she called herself, modeled her sunflower hat to match her sunny disposition. She could pretend to be anyone or anything in her magical outfits.

Group play is A-OK as these tots demonstrated at the sand box. As they created sand castles and other cool shapes in the sand, the children learned the importance of tactile play and cooperative sharing.