3.31.2012

Making Moving Models & Exploring Exotic Animals

Using hands-on K'NEX education, our school-age students (K-5) enrolled in LVCC at Truman explored motion. Miss Sharon Wentzel, an independent K'NEX consultant and former teacher, brought a number of challenging K'NEX structures for us to build using problem-solving and ingenuity.

We built a helicopter with a twirling rotor, a spinning top, a tottering see-saw, and pirate ship that swung using a pendulum. Once completing the models, the older students helped the younger students, encouraging interaction among the children. The best part - we could keep our creations and take them home!

The K'NEX class motivated us to learn while we observed, investigated and experimented with various structures. K'NEX engaged us in math concepts, scientific phenomena and technology too. And we thought that we were just playing with toys!


The LVCC classroom at Western Salisbury Elementary School was transformed into an unforgettable natural science experience! The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University brought their Academy On-the-Go to our center.

This exciting "Everybody Needs a Home" live animals are part of this lesson program was like a museum visit—complete with specimens, live animals, and an expert naturalist—right to our classroom. Food, water, shelter, space—all creatures need a habitat that provides these things. We met several animals from different habitats and discovered how these needs were met. We also explored how animals depend upon and relate to one another within a habitat.

Our naturalist brought along a live chinchilla, a rosy-haired tarantula, a red-tailed hawk, and - our favorite! - a coati named Jodi. After the presentation, we had the opportunity to feel different types of animal furs and examine real animal bones, skulls, and a turtle shell. It was a fun and educational day!




3.23.2012

Senator Pat Browne Visits LVCC

Senator Pat Browne visited some of his younger constituents at LVCC's South Mountain on Monday, March 19th. He read a book to both the Pre-K Counts and the preschool classes. The children enthusiastically asked questions about the story and told the Senator a few stories of their own.

No debate session was needed because who can argue with a four-year-old and win?

Afterward, the Senator toured the center to see early childhood educators in action. He thanked them for the invaluable service they provide to the community.



The following day, Senator Browne read to the Pre-K Counts class at LVCC on Union Boulevard. The class presented him with an LVCC t-shirt and a special piece of children's artwork. The tree they made represents the importance of quality child care and early education to the families that attend LVCC.
Senator Browne serves the 16th District in Lehigh, Monroe, and Northampton Counties.



Thank you Senator Browne for visiting the children of LVCC and remembering that although they are small, they are important too!





3.17.2012

Lucky Little Leprechauns Making Rainbows

Our preschool class from LVCC at Stones Crossing used their heads and hands to make a rainbow. Lucky for them, they found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!



Stones Crossing is going green…or at least dressing green. Toddlers tie-dyed and preschool had a green party while sporting some really sharp looking bow ties.



3.16.2012

Storytelling with Art & Engineering with LEGOS

Bill Christine, or "Mr. Bill" as we call him, has once again taken on the role as Artist-in-Residence, this time at LVCC on Walnut Street. Mr. Bill uses language and literacy, visual arts, three-dimensional representation, and music in his lessons.

This week, we made up songs about when we were babies. We sang about a purple blankie and a baby bottle. Some of us danced with brooms as our partners while Mr. Bill played the guitar and sang.

Mr. Bill told us a story about his dog, Claudia, and his cat, Spunky, while drawing on the dry-erase board. In the story, his pets dressed up and went shopping when he fell asleep in his chair. When Mr. Bill woke up, he found tuna cans and dog bones hidden everywhere. We laughed because we thought this was silly.

We have been building a paper castle and acting out stories as we play with our handcrafted paperdolls. Along with construction skills, we have learned rudimentary geometry and practiced cutting and folding. Each week, we add to the castle and write down the stories. At the end of the 15 weeks, we will put all the tales together to have books to read about our adventures.

Thank you Allentown Art Museum and the Fowler Education Fund for making this program possible.


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LVCC continued the Computer Explorers program for the spring 2012 season. LVCC at Muhlenberg Elementary students displayed there newly discovered LEGO robotics programming abilities. While working together on teams for the Smart Spinner project, students learned about how gears work and used problem solving skills for the robots to function properly.

3.09.2012

Representative Steve Samuelson Engages LVCC Union Boulevard Students

State Representative Steve Samuelson of the 135th Legislative District of Pennsylvania, and a House Children & Youth Committee member, visited the children enrolled in the Pre-K Counts classroom at LVCC on Union Boulevard today.

The students were very excited to have such an important visitor. Representative Samuelson read Someday by Eileen Spinelli. This imaginative story was very inspiring of how the future has infinite possibilities. The Representative then entertained the students by spinning tales about himself and his own children. Everyone had fun and enjoyed his stories.

As a token of appreciation, the class presented Rep. Samuelson with an LVCC t-shirt and a beautiful display of preschool artwork, a five-foot tree created by the class. The tree trunk represented LVCC’s Pre-K Counts classroom. Written on the trunk were the words, “Please don’t ‘leave’ us behind.” The fruit among the branches bore the name of each child in the class. The class hopes the Representative will hang it in his office.

Thanks again to Representative Samuelson for taking time out of his busy schedule. He brought many smiles to some of his more petite constituents.






3.02.2012

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!



What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday than reading to a child?

In celebration of Dr. Seuss and his of love of childhood learning, LVCC classes have been reading Dr. Seuss classics - an effective tool for teaching literacy. Using rhymes and witty humor, Dr. Seuss has been a favorite with children for years.

This week constitutes Read Across America, a national initiative to promote reading as a fun and important activity.
This evening, please continue the celebration by reading a book with your child.  

Remember... the Cat in the Hat knows alot about that!!
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Among all the many Dr. Seuss titles, Green Eggs and Ham ranks one of the favorites. 


With a little food coloring and imagination, our classes (aided by our teachers) brought green eggs and ham to life. LVCC at Walnut St. even made green milk. The surveys are in - green eggs and ham are a yummy hit!

We had lots of sticky fun in the young toddler class at LVCC Stone's Crossing by reading Dr. Seuss's wacky book of opposites, The Foot Book. Our guest readers were the most special of all... our parents! After painting our feet (or shoes), we ran across a big sheet of paper to show our left and right feet. We then compared our foot sizes with the other classmates.

LVCC at Walnut St. read The Cat in the Hat. We learned about patterns when we created our own hats using red and white materials. Then we read 1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and created our own fish with watercolor paint. The next book we read was Hop on Pop, along with playing a rhyming word activity. Thursday, we read Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s and practiced our handwriting skills. On Friday, we of course read Green Eggs and Ham, and you can see from above how much fun we had.

 LVCC's Fowler Center also held many great activities. We stamped cut-outs of our feet in paths leading hither and yon all around the building, in Seussical fashion. We each chose our favorite Dr. Seuss book, and after reading it, told our teachers why we liked the book so much.