HAPPY 2020 & THANK YOU!!!
 
Dear MAP Families,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope that 2020 is off to a great start for you and your family and that you are enjoying some well-deserved time off! We wanted to thank you so very much for your generous donations toward our Holiday Gift and for the many treats, cards, special messages, and gifts we received this holiday season. It is so nice to be appreciated for something we truly enjoy - working with your children!  
Sincerely,
Meghan, Kim, Mike, Trish, Scott, Megan, Joanne, Jeanne,
Jodi, Terri, Carol, Kathy, Leslie and Nancy
A Note About Next Year:
 
Happy New Year! While it seems like the next school year is very far away, we’ve begun planning & preparing for 2020-2021! 
 
For families with an incoming Jump Starter or Kindergartner, please email Annette,  annette.map@comcast.net  to be placed on the list to receive our registration materials. In the email, please include your name, your child’s name, and if you are interested in Jump Start or Kindergarten. We are anticipating the school sending out their placements in mid-to late February. If that happens, MAP will send out our registration information after February Vacation.
 
MAP families have often shared with us how much their children have enjoyed and learned during their time at MAP. We hope that if you have the opportunity to share your child’s MAP experience with future Jump Start or Kindergarten families, you’ll let them know that MAP is a great place to be!
 
For our current families, MAP will be conducting re-enrollment for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year during that same time, February 25 – March 13, 2020. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions and to pass along my contact information to anyone interested in MAP.
 
Sincerely,
Annette Annette.map@comcast.net      (508) 359-0003
Annette M.J. Gallagher, M.Ed., Executive Director
Important Dates: January 2020
 
Wednesday 1/1/2020 Happy New Year!

Thursday 1/2
Welcome back to school and MAP!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR Half Day Kindergarten Families
F or the remainder of the
school year,
on Early Release Days,
children in AM Kindergarten will not have school & children in PM K will attend the morning session of Kindergarten.
This will occur on the following Early Release Days:
1/17, 2/4, 3/12, 3/17, 4/9, 5/15
please mark your calendars .

Friday 1/17 - Early Release Day - Early Release Day - What will happen @ MAP?  If   it is your child's normal day to attend MAP, we will be expecting them (*there is no Jump Start). There is no special sign up or extra charge for the extended coverage. If your child will not be coming, please make sure to notify MAP. Meghan.map@comcast.net  (508) 359-2165 
  • Jump Start - NO MAP
  • AM K & PM MAP Children in AM Kindergarten have NO SCHOOL – Children in PM MAP can be dropped off at 8:30 am and may stay until 2:30 or their usual pick up time.
  • AM MAP & PM K – Children in PM Kindergarten will attend the morning session of Kindergarten and be released to MAP at 11:40. Children may stay at MAP until 2:30 or their usual pick up time.
  • 1st Grade & Full Day K have a half-day, and will be released to MAP @11:40. 
  • All children need to come to MAP with a lunch (and a toothbrush if you gave your permission)

Monday 1/20 - No School - MAP Closed
 
*** Please keep an eye out for our February Vacation Sign Up. Details below...

Looking Ahead to FEBRUARY:
 
Tuesday 2/4 Early Release Day - What will happen @ MAP?  If   it is your child's normal day to attend MAP, we will be expecting them (*there is no Jump Start). There is no special sign up or extra charge for the extended coverage. If your child will not be coming, please make sure to notify MAP. Meghan.map@comcast.net  (508) 359-2165 
 
  • Jump Start - NO MAP
  • AM K & PM MAP Children in AM Kindergarten have NO SCHOOL – They can be dropped off at MAP at 8:30 am and may stay until 2:30 or their usual pick up time.
  • AM MAP & PM K – Children in PM Kindergarten will attend the morning session of Kindergarten and be released to MAP at 11:40. Children may stay at MAP until 2:30 or their usual pick up time.
  • 1st Grade & Full Day K have a half-day, and will be released to MAP @11:40. 
  • All children need to come to MAP with a lunch (and a toothbrush if you gave your permission)

FEBRUARY VACATION
Monday 2/17 – MAP is CLOSED
Tuesday 2/18 - Thursday 2/20 - MAP will be OPEN from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on. This is an optional program. Families sign up and pay separately for these special days. Fun themes and are being planned as well as a field trip! Sign ups will go out in mid-January.
Friday 2/21 – MAP is CLOSED for our Program Wide Teacher Professional Day.
A HUGE THANK YOU
to our MAP @The PFAFF FRIENDS

On Wednesday, December 18, our friends from the Pfaff took us on an amazing adventure on the Polar Express!

The event was filled with hot chocolate, music, dancing, and magic.

THANK YOU Kurt
and all your elves!
Jump Start & Half Day Kindergarten

During the month of December, we talked about Holiday traditions, stories, food and toys from around the world!

We read the book Chopsticks and learned about Chinese culture and we also practiced using actual chopsticks with Pom poms pretending it was sushi. The kids learned about the story Greedy Zebra from Africa and gave their zebras some unique stripes. We then traveled to Ireland to learn about the Giant's Causeway.

The kids experienced food from other cultures including some potato latkes, hot cocoa, pizelles and fried plaintains. They even watched a video of kids trying different breakfast foods from around the world.

We observed Chanukah by making some menorahs (out of clay and paper) and playing dreidel. We also observed Christmas by making peppermint play dough, paper Christmas trees, and games.

Throughout the whole month the kids talked about how important it is to also give and not to just receive. They took a trip to the Police station to deliver home made rice krispie treats!

AFTERNOONS @ MAP
   






December always brings a lot of excitement to the MAP program. Along with special holidays, December brought snow. The children did an incredible job getting snow gear on and off while keeping things organized in their cubbies. HOORAY for them!
Once again the Holiday Shop has been bustling with activity as the children carefully chose gifts for their loved ones (and in some cases themselves). Each gift has been carefully wrapped with extra tape, ribbon and of course, love! No doubt you will enjoy receiving the gifts as much as they enjoyed choosing them.
In the afternoons, the kids also had fun with great projects and gym games. They made decorations and brownies for the Angel Run, made Sculpey snowmen, and holiday crafts to name a few. In the gym the kids enjoyed their favorite game of Laser tag!
Our half days brought the Wild West, the Polar Express, a Holiday winter carnival, and a PJ/Winter Wonderland/Movie to MAP. The kids AND teachers had a blast!
Session 2 Clubs are ending…
 
MONDAYS
Giving Club with Jeanne- Club members have been very busy doing for others. Our turkey centerpieces were well received by the Senior Center and we enjoyed reading a very kind thank you note from them. Bookmarks were made and donated to the Medfield Public Library, cards of encouragement were decorated and sent to Cards for Hospitalized Kids and a Birthday-In-A- Box was put together so that a homeless child can have the opportunity to celebrate their birthday joyfully, surrounded by family, friends and others who care. The act of giving was a very rewarding experience for the children!

Holidays Around the World with Trish- We have been so busy celebrating the holidays of Diwali - the Festival of Lights, Chinese New Year, and Hanukkah. We played dreidel, made Chinese New Year masks, and read a great book called “The Wheels on the Tuk-Tuk”. Thanks for a super festive club!!!
 
TUESDAYS
Ooey Gooey Concoctions Club with Jodi We have had a lot of fun making some very big messes in Ooey Gooey club! I think Tide slime will go down as one of the messiest concoctions we have made! (Which is why that did not go home!) The kids have done a great job in such a sticky, gluey club!
 
Gizmos and Gadgets Club with Joanne - We’ve continued to have a lot of fun in Club! In our last session, we learned a bit about gravity and momentum. We experimented with a string of beads that streamed out of an upright cup! Simple, yet Amazing! We also talked about friction. We moved skiers, snowboarders and bobsleds on a conveyor belt made of wooden spools and rug gripper and sent them down different slopes and surfaces. (Think “Magic carpet” on the beginner slopes of mountains!) My group of engineers will be wrapping up our sessions next week with some exploration of gears!
  
WEDNESDAYS
Fun with Food Club with Terri Fun with Food and the Five Senses experienced the sound of “popping popcorn” and the smell of “popping popcorn” then had “fun” creating pasta people and pasta trees!! On Wild West day the kids named their steed, “Lightning” and round the barrels they ran for barrel racing! We tried a version of tag as “ Cowboys and Cattle” branding their cattle with a hand stamp!

Wacky World of Animals Club with Leslie and Kim - We have enjoyed our time together learning new things about animals and discovering what we like about them.
Our first club made pigs out of water bottles and added a opening at the top to save money in them to help animals. We made masks and acted out being a Gila monster or dinosaur with dinosaur sounds to help us get into character. We have made bird feeders out of pine cones to help the birds who stay here in the northeast during winter eat!! Pandas are endangered so we discussed our relationship with China and US research currently going on. We made fork paintings of pandas. We will be closing club discussing our favorite pets or animal we love in January!
 
THURSDAYS
Wizards and Witches Club with Megan - Hogwarts school is coming to a close. We have learned how to make fun experiments explode and fizz in positions class. Played some quidditch in the gym and we made some yummy witches hats for a tasty treat. In the few weeks we have left will be doing fun activities! 
 
Beanie Baby Fun Club with Nancy and Kath y- We have had a fun-filled Beanie Baby Club! The children got to choose two Beanie Babies to adopt and then we had an adoption celebration party! We discussed where to donate the remaining Beanie Babies, and the children chose to package them up and send them to Guatemala for the holidays! While the donating was happening, the children were also having tons of fun playing Beanie games, and making their Beanie Babies comfy - by making their own blankets and shoebox homes for their new lovies! 
 
 
FRIDAYS
Medfield Club with Mike We learned all about Medfield and had visits from several important people around town. Jean Mineo joined us to talk about her work around town promoting the arts and organizing Medfield’s annual Holiday Stroll. Medfield storyteller and MAP Director Kurt Jackson came and told a story. Chris Zengo came and talked about being a Massachusetts State Trooper.
Session 3 Clubs
The children will sign-up for NEW CLUBS THIS WEEK! 
Clubs will begin the week of 1/6/20!

MONDAY
Key Chain Club with Kathy-Come and join key chain club! Each week we will be making different types of key chains using all sorts of materials!!

Wonderful World of Seuss Club with Jeanne- Do you love everything Dr. Seuss? If so, join this club and have lots of fun learning about Theodor Geisel and all the books he wrote for us. Fun projects and activities will go along with each book. Come and jump into the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss! 

TUESDAY
Minute It To Win It Club with Scott- Due to popular demand, I am bringing BACK my infamous Minute to Win It Club. Next session I will be diving into a wide variety of challenges which will force each club member to complete each of these tasks with only one minute to do so. Please sign up for my weekly Tuesday club  from 4-4:45  each week in the cubby room. So if you are curious, confident or just want to meet the challenge head on, I’ll see you in club.
Pinkalicious Club with Megan- In Pinkalicious club, your favorite color doesn’t have to be pink to join. When I was a little girl, pink was my favorite color. Can you imagine having everything you eat be Pink? Or everything you wear only be your favorite color?  In this club, we will decorate jewelry boxes (or any type of special box you can think of), have fun playing dress up and have a tea party, make wands, have a pinkalicious cupcake sensory bin, and create a fizzing cupcake experiment. I bet you can guess what color that might be… if you guessed pink you're right!

WEDNESDAY
Dough Club with Kim- If you love to play with Dough then this is your club! We will make all different kinds like cloud dough, pizza dough, cookie dough, and of course play-doh to name a few!

Games Club with Trish - Let’s start the New Year by learning some of the board games we have at MAP! If you would like to learn some new games and have some fun come to Games Club on Wednesdays!
   
THURSDAY
Painting Club with Nancy- Painting Club is going to be a wonderful, messy, creative learning experience for the kids!  It lets them explore their creative process as they express themselves with each piece of unique art. We will use many mediums and tools to help them discover and create — from styrofoam and utensils, to salt, glue, and tissue! Come join Painting Club for the perfect opportunity to have fun with color!

Vikings Club with Mike- We will be taking our nomadic tribe on excursions to learn about life as a Viking! From navigation to Norse mythology and shields walls, you’ll learn all about these legendary warriors.
 
FRIDAY
Frozen Club with Jodi- Fridays will be full of frozen fun! If we have the real white fluffy stuff we will be doing some extra outside fun. If not we will be finding ways to enjoy indoor frozen fun! (It’s not about the movie!)
Contact Us:
Meghan Jackson
JS-K-1 Program Director
508-359-2165
Annette Gallagher, M. Ed.
Executive Director
508-359-0003