😁 UCDC Developments 😁

June 2019

UCDC Developments

Director's Corner

Dear Families,

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been a parent for over 20 years. Have a young adult as a “child” can be a very interesting thing to ponder when I’m alone with my own thoughts for a bit.

On one hand I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to think too much about the day to day with a little one at home, on trips or back and forth to school. But I also desperately miss the joy and laughter and silliness that filled the house when she was younger. I know that there were days that were challenging, exhausting and frustrating. But that is life with children and each phase brings the yin and yang of parenthood.

I still find joy in my young adult, but now challenges come in an entirely different way, shape and form. I can only sit back at times and hope that all of the advice that I gave over the years, all of the patience that I feel I showed, and all of the support and guidance that I shared as a parent, will and does make a difference. I reflect on what I could have done better or more. I think as parents we all do that, but along with being a parent who could make mistakes, we are human and not perfect. We all do our best and give our best and our children realize that.

I have been interviewing for new teachers and a new question that I added is; “What inspires you to be a better teacher?” I’ve been thinking about his in respect to being a better person myself. I think my inspiration to be a better person is knowing that the responsibility of being a parent never truly goes away and the things I do and say will always have an impact on my child.

I also know that your children inspire me to always do and say and act in the best way possible. Inspiration comes in many different ways for different people. I hope that you also find inspiration in both the joys and challenges and in the wonderful life of being a parent (or grandparent, or extended family member).

Warmly,

Mary Beth

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too.

As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives,

they are watching us to see what we do with ours.

I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.

All I can do is reach for it, myself.

-Joyce Maynard

Curriculum in the Classroom: Toddler Four

Recently Toddler Four has shown a lot of interest in learning about China. We have two friends that are visiting China this summer so there has been a lot of talk about their upcoming trips. The other children want to know what their friends will do when they get to China. Many of them are also asking about how they will get to China. Toddler Four teachers started by showing them China on a map and explaining that they will fly on an air plane for many hours. From there we have read books about China, added blocks to our room with Chinese pictures and letters on them and looked at the flag for China.

We have also watched a few videos showing different traditions during the Chinese New Year. One was a video of a parade that happened on Chinese New Year. Our newest member of our Toddler Four teaching team, MaeMae, has begun to introduce Chinese letters and songs to our toddlers. They are so excited about the songs that many of them have already memorized them. A few of our toddlers are also practicing writing Chinese letters. Our toddlers are also able to count to ten in Chinese. They have been practicing for a few months now. We have added this to our morning group time and many can do it on their own. We are looking forward to our friends returning from the visits to China so that we can learn many new things.

Welcome to UCDC

Our newest teacher, Nicole Fosdick, started this month and we are so happy to welcome her to UCDC! Nicole will be one of our afternoon substitute teachers that will work every day from 1:00-6:00 pm. Please take the time to introduce yourself to Nicole when you get the chance to meet her!

Hello, my name is Nicole Fosdick, and I am the new face that you will be seeing around UCDC. I will be working as the 1-6 floater so I am sure that I will get to meet most of the families at the center. I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2002 with a Bachelor's degree in Child Development and Family Relations. I visited UCDC while I was at IUP on a field trip and fell in love with the center. I am so glad that I will be working here now as a teacher! I have many years of working with children. My past jobs have included being a summer camp teacher at the Carnegie Science Center, working for ten years as a preschool teacher at a center called ABC's for Children and for the last four years I was a nanny for children in South Fayette. I have a loving and supportive husband, named BJ and three children at home. My oldest, Gabe, is 15 years old, my middle son, Manny is 12 and my daughter, Lili, is 7. In addition to the humans that live in my house we have two dogs, a bunny, a hamster, a hermit crab, a fish and three snails!! My house is jokingly referred to as "the neighborhood zoo!" I love animals almost as much as I love children and the children will hear a lot of stories about my zoo! I can't wait to meet all of you and your special children. I am so happy that I am now a part of the UCDC community!

NAEYC Accreditation Visit

This past year has been busy with preparations for our NAEYC Re-accreditation visit which occurred on June 24th and 25th. This visit only happens once every five years. On the days of the visit, our assessor completed one-hour long observations on six of the twelve classrooms, reviewed all classroom portfolios as well as the program portfolio, and toured our building and playground in search of safety concerns.

She was very impressed with the environment (especially our playground!) and the teachers were amazing (as always!). This visit culminated our hard work over the past year and we will keep everyone updated on the outcome (we will be notified by the end of September).

UCDC Art Gallery

UCDC Philosophy

UCDC utilizes a child centered, extended family approach that is fostered by supporting the developmental needs of all children. We foster children's self esteem, creative abilities, sense of belonging and success by implementing a developmentally appropriate curriculum based on NAEYC and Keystone STARS standards, through a play-based approach to learning. We support families and partner with them to provide an environment that welcomes their collaboration and supports both cultural and family preferences.