Register Now for Free Pre-School @ North H.S.

Parents living within and teachers employed by the Valley Stream Central High School District are invited to register for the 19th annual free preschool program at North High School. 

This program is offered by students in the Education 101 class under the supervision of Jennifer Kehoe, head of the Career & Technical Education Department. The program, open to children ages 3-5, will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays in January 2013 (Jan. 3, 8, 10, 15 and 17), from 9:30-11:30 a.m.  

The theme for the pre-school sessions planned by the students will revolve around children’s books, with the games, crafts and activities all keyed to the book of the day. Space is limited. 

To register, please call Mrs. Kehoe at (516) 564-5580.

*This program is highly recommended.  My son attended this program last year and enjoyed it. Not to mention the female students fell in love with him.  He's a charmer. Who wouldn't fall in love with him?

South High School Offers FREE Preschool

If you have pre-school hopefuls at home, now is the time to test the waters for both your bunchkin and you.  I think you need a dry run to see how strong you are and to have an idea of how many tissues you will need on the official first day of preschool or even Kindergarten in the fall.

Two years ago, I took my almost first grader to South High School's pre-school program and she loved it.  I don't recall smelling chocolate chip cookies during pick up as I did during North High School's preschool earlier this year, but my son was pretty happy with the program.  He still asks. "Mommy, what school am I going to today?" I say, "You're going to nursery school." He replies with a sigh.  I don't think he realizes how young he is sometimes.

According to the Valley Stream Herald, the program will include games, educational projects, and activities based on a daily theme related to books created and written by the high school students.  I highly recommend this program and would be right there with you if the dates/times worked with our existing class schedule.  Lord knows that after losing my back up child care provider, I could use a break Tues/Wed/Fri from 11:40 a.m. - 1:20 p.m.  What kind of times are these?  When my daughter attended, hours were 8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. or something which gave me just enough time to run to BJ's and beat the horrific lines. Who cares.  Any free time is a good time right now if you're in my world.

Mommy Tip: Invite your child's friend to make separation a little easier.

South High School Pre-School Program
Duration of program: May 1 - 29 (Tues/Wed/Fri)
Time: 11:40 a.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Contact/Email: alir@vschsd.org
Registration Dealine: April 8th

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It's National Preschool Fitness Day

Did you know that today is National Preschool Fitness Day?  I didn't either but our friends over at KID-FIT Long Island want to invite you and your preschooler to celebrate for free Friday and Saturday to honor the national event.

KID-FIT Long Island, The Cupcake Corner, and Our Learning Environment are teaming up to raise awareness for building healthy lifestyle habits in preschooler’s. KID-FIT is a physical education program that teaches children ages 2-5 how to exercise, eat right and take care of their bodies. 


In addition to this special weekend, I want to also welcome KID-FIT Long Island as an official sponsor of ValleyStreamMom.com's Valentine's Day party on Sunday, February 12th.  An instructor will be on hand to do two 15-minute demonstrations filled with fun movements to get guests excited about exercising.

National Preschool Fitness Day Events

Friday, January 27th
Cupcake Corner
61 New Hyde Park Road
Garden City, NY 11530
Time: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
RSVP: (516) 361-2568

Saturday, January 28th
Our Learning Environment
4515 Austin Street
Island Park, NY
Time: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
RSVP: (516) 361-2568


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Review: North High School Pre-K Program

Education 101 Students at North High with My Preschooler

North High School Preschool has wrapped for the season and I must say they did an outstanding job.  This program is designed to give students real life experience with our little stinkers.  My 3 year old son was one of about 14 students who completed the 2 1/2 week program complete with arts and crafts, story time, playtime, and of course snacks.  One day I picked him up with a red mustache which I later found out was fruit punch.  Another day I picked him up and was handed a bag of snowman soup which consisted of hot chocolate mix, marshmallows and chocolate.  I'll take that!

The children were given "homework" and were asked to wear their favorite color, bring in a photo of their favorite food, favorite animal, a family photo and on the last day were invited to wear their favorite pair of mittens, gloves, or hat.  Unfortunately my son fell ill with a respiratory virus and missed two of the classes.  When he returned, he was greeted with open arms from all of the students which made both of us feel really good.

In addition to the "homework" assignments, the preschoolers pledged allegiance to the flag each day, learned about color recognition, what makes mammals special, made animal themed cupcakes, learned about body parts and what they do, and learned about winter activities.

Although we missed 2 of the 5 sessions, I truly enjoyed this program as did my son.  The program was well organized and parents received a letter of introduction and course outline weeks before the program began. The students were delightful, exhibited professionalism, and visibly adored all of the children.  The class hours were from 9:30 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. which gave me just enough time to come home, take care of few things and hustle back for pick up.  Did I mention it fit right into my budget of free?  Great job Mrs. Kehoe and the students of Education 101. 

North High School Preschool Program
Teacher: Mrs. Kehoe
Dates: January 2013
Info: (516) 564-5580 or kehoej@vschsd.org


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Free Preschool @ North High School

If you've been a follower of this blog, you will know I love all things free.  Especially when it comes to children.  Kids are expensive especially when it comes to education and childcare.  However, North High School has an answer for that, if only for a short time. 

To help ease the separation between you and your future preschooler,ages 3 - 5 years old, check out North High School's free preschool program January 3-17, 2012. I don't have personal experience with this particular program but I did enroll my daughter in a similar preschool program at South High School two years ago.  I was a bit nervous about it in the beginning especially since we were expected to leave our children with a group of kids and one teacher we had never met.  In the end, it was a great experience.  I can say that I know the teacher over the North High School Preschool program as our children have attended the same nursery/preschool programs together.  It sounds like a great program and I look forward to sharing my experience with you.

North High School Preschool Program (Free)
January 3 - 17 (Tuesday/Thursday)
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Registration: (516) 564-5580 (space is limited)
Valley Stream Central High School District

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Tips To Maximize 2.5 Hours of Pre-K

Taken from The Brand New Mommy

I wanted to share a post from Brand New Mommy blogger and Valley Stream Mom, Karen Taylor Bass.  She and I briefly met over a year ago at a picnic and are fellow Mocha Moms.  She recently wrote a post on her blog about how she spends the little time she gets to herself while her youngest is away at school.  I too had my daughter in a 2.5 hour program a few years ago, and let me tell you it is not alot of time to get anything done, so I totally applaud her for doing all that she can in this little window of time. 

Enjoy!

My Tips to Maximize 2.5 Hours of Pre-K

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Nursery School Open House

It's never too early to start researching the area nursery school programs available to your children.  If you live in the Gibson area, then you have access to free pre-k.  For the rest of us, we have to pay for it.  I'm okay with this because after living in Brooklyn I was not at all excited about the competition or long wait lists that apparently set your child on the path to ivy league schools.  One would think that studying hard, community service, and simply being a well-rounded individual would help as well. 


Tuesday, November 8th

Rockville Centre Recreation Center
Pre-School Potpurri Open House
Two Sessions: 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. or 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Click here for complete details

Wednesday, November 9th

Nursery School Night
Lynbrook Library
56 Eldert Street, Lynbrook
Time: 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Representatives from Valley Stream, Malverne, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, E. Rockaway, Garden City, and Franklin Square will be onsite.

Library closed for carpet installation, however this event will still take place

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Summer Schedule Finally Finalized

I'm back up and running after nearly a week without a computer. Ours finally gave out. We knew it was coming so it wasn't much of a surprise. But I'm back!

The last few weeks have been hectic for me trying to finalize the summer schedule for the kids. Once your child turns 5 years old, the opportunities increase. Not only can children 5 year old and up sign up for summer camps affiliated with your district public school at an affordable price, they can also apply for their very own library card. This is huge! My eldest checked out her very first library book and was extremely proud of this accomplishment. She actually mistook the library card for a credit card and told everyone that she bought her first library book. How cute was that? I guess I should start using more care around her and stop using my credit/debit cards so much.

Last week, I sat down with all of the flyers and program information I collected from various places and events in the community. I then created a spreadsheet on the computer before it died on me. After much thought, I decided to sign my eldest up for tennis, swim, our school district's school summer camp, and tap. We are also taking advantage of Hofstra University's Saturday classes for young people. Later this week, I will share with you what options are available to fill in the weeks between the last day of school and the first day of summer camp. I love my children, but my kids go nuts if they're not out doing something. They're very active children so it's my job as a parent to make sure they stay active.

What are you doing to fill the gap of time between the last day of school and first day of camp?

Kindergarten/School Registration

If you're anything like me, I had no idea that I had to contact the public elementary school we are sending our daughter to to let them know that she will attend the school in the fall. We assumed we would get something in the mail informing us about registration but never did. I contacted the school only to find out that they had a schedule of ongoing events beginning back in November through June that the incoming Kindergarten students needed to attend to get used to the school. Not a bad idea, but it would have been nice if the school reached out to us. How about sending a friendly postcard or letter to all of the tax payers in Valley Stream. I'm sure they get those checks from us so it would be nice if they sent a thank you note and registration dates for incoming students. Pre-K here on the island is not free, however there is an area in Valley Stream that is part of the Hewlett school district and has free Pre-K. Wish I had know that...

Here is a link to all of the public school districts. VS School District 13 posts their registration packet online. I wasn't able to find the links to the other districts. Be prepared to give your first born while filling out the packet. They ask for alot of information so don't wait until the last minute.

Public Elementary Schools
Valley Stream District 13 (registration packet available on the website)
Valley Stream District 24 (website is super slow)
Valley Stream District 30

Public Middle/High Schools
Valley Stream Central High School District

Schools include:
Memorial Jr. High
South Junior High
North Junior High
Central High School
North High School
South High School

Parochial Schools
Valley Stream Christian Academy (K-8)
Holy Name of Mary (includes Pre-K)
Holy Trinity Nursery School (includes 2, 3, and 4 year old programs)
Grace United Methodist Nursery School (Nursery & Pre-K only)