"L" Week Draws Lafayette Leopard

Who better to help the students at LVCC on College Hill (Easton) celebrate "L" Week than the Lafayette Leopard? The special guest received a warm welcome at the center and was even encouraged to hold the Young Toddler Class' rabbit, Lucy... because, as was pointed out, "Lucy begin with "L" too!"

Breaking News

Lehigh Valley Children's Centers (LVCC) received notification from the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) that LVCC has been awarded grant funding to open two Keystone Babies classrooms in Allentown and one classroom in Bethlehem.

Keystone Babies is a research-based, state-initiated pilot program that will provide high quality early care and education for approximately 200 infants and toddlers across the state. LVCC received funding for three classrooms with eight students enrolled in each class - or 12% of the state's allocated spots. The grant, totaling $191,482, will fund the program for 16 months through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

To learn more, click here.

Robot Week

What can you create with recycled boxes and packaging materials, tons of glue, silver paint and foil? Students enrolled at LVCC at the Nazareth Intermediate School, created their very own robots! Before construction began, each team named their robot, decided what type of fuel it used, what task it was built to perform, any special powers it may have, and the type of environment in which it worked.

Dads who rock...

At LVCC, we love Dads who rock! Special thanks to Rockin' LVCC Dad, Paul, who shared his talent with the toddlers at LVCC on College Hill (Easton). Paul played some of our favorites, like the Muffin Man and the ABCs.

LVCC at St. Luke's Re-accredited

Congratulations to the staff and families at LVCC / St. Luke's (Bethlehem) for acheiving re-accreditation by the prestigious National Association for the Education of Young Children. We're all very proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

The students enrolled in the Pre-K Counts class at LVCC's Judith Chase Early Learning Center celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by cutting out and decorating hats. Friday will be Green Eggs and Ham day. The children will wear green and make their own green eggs!!

Bringing the Outdoors in...

With high winds keeping children indoors, Lehigh Valley’s Children’s Centers location on William Penn Highway (Palmer Township) took advantage of one of nature’s best art materials by bringing the outdoors in! Teachers brought in buckets of snow for school-age children to create their own special snowperson!

Snow: A burden to some. A lesson to others.

During the snowstorm, students enrolled in the Pre-K Counts class at Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers caught and examined snowflakes. The students discovered that each snowflake is beautiful, individual and special – just like them!

Move Over Emeril...

Pre-K Counts students enrolled in LVCC's Union Blvd location took a trip to McDonald's to tour the restaurant. The tour was so inspirational that when they returned to their center, they opened up their own restaurant! No doubt that it will soon be the hottest reservation in town!

Fowler Center Featured on PBS

LVCC's Fowler Center was featured on PBS. Check it out!

http://www.wlvt.org/TEMPO/TSS/tempops.htm

Thank You!

The staff and students at LVCC's Fowler Center on Main Street (Bethlehem) would like to extend their gratitude to their new friends at Michaels Store #9921 in Whitehall. The students received a very generous donation of 15 cartons of arts and crafts materials which they have quickly, and creatively, put to use!

The Crab Man

School-age students enrolled in LVCC's South Mountain location spent the morning reading "The Crab Man" by by Patricia E. Van West and Cedric Lucas. Not only did the book teach a lesson about courage but it encouraged the students to learn more about Jamaica and hermit crabs.

Seeing Eye Puppy

Mrs. Heimbach visited LVCC at Truman School today with her furry friend, Irwin, to talk to the children about the important work of seeing eye dogs. Mrs. Heimbach is a Puppy Raiser for the Seeing Eye. Visits like this one are important for Irwin, because he needs to be socialized to learn how to be around people in public places.

PBS Taping

Our friends from PBS visited LVCC's Fowler Center today to tape a segment for TEMPO! The segment is scheduled to air February 5th at 7:30 PM on PBS. We'd like to extend our appreciation to our friends from PBS, Fowler Center staff, students and parents for their participation. We'd also like to send an extra special thank you to Janet and Colleen for their willingness to be interviewed. Excellent job!

Congratulations, ELC!

LVCC's Judith Chase Early Learning Center has renewed their NAEYC Accreditation!Congratulations to Karen Nichols, Helen Stovall, and the dedicated staff at LVCC's Early Learning Center (ELC) who received news that the center's accreditation status will be renewed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The renewal is effective through 2015.

The hardworking staff at ELC also received several commendations for their work -- including a PERFECT SCORE in program standards and exemplary scores in every evaluation area.

Receiving accreditation is a difficult and time-consuming process, so please join me in congratulating the staff at ELC on their success.

Gingerbread Houses

The students enrolled in the Pre-K Counts class at LVCC on Union Blvd created unique gingerbread houses alongside very special helpers -- their families!

Thank You!

"Thank you" to all of our readers. We appreciate that you take the time to keep up with what's happening THIS WEEK AT LVCC. On behalf of everyone at LVCC, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Editor's Note: We'd also like to extend some holiday cheer and a great big THANK YOU to all the teachers and center directors who make this blog possible. We couldn't do it without you!

The Thanksgiving Feast

Students enrolled in LVCC's College Hill (Easton) location reenacted the first Thanksgiving. They sat together at a long table and enjoyed a feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and more! Thank you to all the parents who participated in the event and/or brought in goodies for the feast.

All About Me!

Students enrolled in the Pre-K Counts class at LVCC's Union Blvd location (Allentown) celebrated All About Me Week. The children created puppets and dolls that look like themselves.

Thanks "a lot!"

A special thank you to our friends at TD Charitable Foundation who visited LVCC on Union Blvd. (Allentown) to drop off a generous $10,000 donation to our Scholarship Fund. When asked how much the check was written for, one child replied, "a lot!"

Thanks "a lot" TD Charitable Foundation!!