Early Learning Center News

February 19th : President Weekend- NO SCHOOL

We have a new Director! Meet Catherine Bailey!

My name is Catherine Bailey and I am so excited to be the new Director of the Early Learning Center!

To share a little about myself, I’ve called Jacksonville, FL home for the last 13 years. I earned a bachelors degree in special education and my masters degree in Deaf Education from the University of North Florida. I was an itinerant teacher for a short time in Duval county, then I taught a Deaf self-contained PK-1st grade class for six and a half years before accepting this position. I’m very excited to be at FSDB!

Catherine Bailey

Director of Early Learning

baileyc1@fsdbk12.org

Phone: (904)827-2835

Starting Monday, January 29th:

Parent drop off: 7:30-7:45 AM at the bus loop

If you are dropping off your child any time between 7:50 and 9:00am, please bring your child to the front office of Gore Hall Elementary School. Chris Lennon, Administrative Assistant DES, will contact our assistants to meet you and pick up your child.

Parent pick up: Afternoon Parent Pickup for Car riders is at 3:30. Pickup location is the Gore Hall Parking lot. Those who come before 3:30pm will be expected to pull up their cars at the Elementary Gore Parking Loop at the far end of the parking lot on the right side of the building and we will bring your child to your car.

Classroom theme for this month is animals that live on different continents and African culture. We discuss the types of animals that live on different continents. Students also learn more specifically about the animals and people that live in Africa and their cultures.

Our students also participated in Spirit Week on Literacy! Each student dressed up as their favorite storybook character!

This student independently focuses on slowly pouring colored water into three identical glasses. The outcome of this active learning cycle is in the repetition of the step by step action of the student and learning to control her movement, which will guide her to self-correct and develop hand- eye coordination.

Things to do to engage the child’s learning in an interactive and hands-on activity:

• Encourage the child to pour her/his cup from a pitcher independently is a great way to foster independence and develop fine motor skills

• If spill occurs, involve the child in cleaning up to teach responsibility, self- control and learning experience.

This student uses the metal insets to learn how to hold a pencil and make controlled marks on paper. He chooses a frame and moves the pencil against the frame in a counter-clockwise direction in one continuous line. The purpose of this task is to develop a sense of esthetics and introduce the concept of geometry.

Things to do to engage the child’s learning in an interactive and hands-on activity:

• Have the child trace shapes

• Color inside the trace

• Sign and fingerspell shape words

This student is working on high frequency words to support an important part of early literacy . She is familiar with number symbols and she matches the number symbols to the number words. This task helps the child recognizes and associates the numbers with the written numeral.

Things to do to engage the child’s learning in an interactive and hands-on activity at home:

• Gather the number symbols and have the child arrange them in a sequential order

• Have the child to spell the number words

• Have the child to write the number word

This student is doing a binomial cube to develop visual discrimination of shapes color and three- dimensional patterns. Once he completes the first layer, he moves up to the next layer following the same pattern. The purpose of this task is to form the same pattern that appears on the lid, repeating the pattern with each layer.

Things to do to engage the child’s learning in an interactive and hands-on activity at home:

• Encourage your child to play with blocks

• Encourage your child to build different structures with the blocks

• Discuss differences between 2D and 3D shapes

The teacher introduces the puzzle of the continents and a globe of earth. Students explore animal life on each continent by sorting the animals around the world. They learn about Africa culture such as fabric, artwork, customs and photographs to introduce them the real word. The purpose of the tasks are to explore their knowledge about the world around them and understand that people/ animals on each continent are similar in how we live, have families, work, and play.

• Discuss your culture with your child

• Show a map on where you plan to go on a family vacation

• Discuss with your child about different kind of animals

• Write and fingerspell animal names.

In the Blue classroom, we have been focusing on learning about different countries such as France, Italy, and Greece. Our kiddos have also been learning about the month of February. The children have been reading books about Black History Month, such as "I am Harriet Tubman" and "The Rosa Parks Story". In preparation for Valentine's Day, we have been making cards, practicing our braille, and reading books like "How to Catch a Loveasaurus". It's true, it's a classroom favorite! We are practicing kindness, critical thinking skills, and problem solving abilities.

2/14: Valentine's Day Celebration

2/19: NO SCHOOL - Also Scarlett's birthday!

2/21: At School Event (not open to families) Safety Fair; make sure to wear comfortable clothes!

2/23: Breakfast with Buddies (open to families)

For the month of January, we are celebrating National Hobby Month. On Saturdays, your child can choose their favorite hobbies to do at home with family and friends. Many of these are outdoor activities. You can

always adapt these ideas. This is a great opportunity to stay active while also spending quality time with family and doing something you all enjoy or something you haven't tried before to gain a new experience.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

- Physical Education & Health Team

Parent Engagement Workshops (PEW) are learning opportunities open to ALL FSDB parents, guardians and caregivers. During PEW, we discuss current and relevant information about our school, parenting strategies, helpful resources, and much more.

It is the responsibility of our entire community to protect the health and safety of our students, staff and families. ELC families must support the following guidelines in order to promote the health and well-being of our entire community. Please contact Catherine with any questions.

All children and staff who meet any of the criteria below should stay home or will be sent home. We understand this may be inconvenient, but it is necessary to minimize exposure to the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses. Staying home when sick or keeping your child home is a responsibility we take very seriously. Please DO NOT send your children to school if they are showing any signs of illness. This is more important now than ever before.

● Fever or chills

● Cough

● Sore throat

● Congestion or runny nose

● Nausea or vomiting

● Diarrhea

● Red or inflamed eyes or discharge from eyes or ears

● Any contagious disease, such as chicken pox

● Any contagious bacterial infections such as strep throat

Parent Responsibilities and when your child can return to school:

All parents are encouraged to be on the alert for signs of illness in their children and are required to keep them at home when they are sick.

Any child with a temperature of 100.4 or above will not be permitted to attend school and will be sent home. Your child can return to school once he/she has been fever-free without the use of any fever reducing medication for 24 hours.

Any child who has been vomiting or had diarrhea should stay home for 24 hours after the stomach distress has stopped.

Early Learning Center

PH or Text: 904-827-2835

Gore Hall Office (if you cannot reach anyone in the ELC)

904-827-2520

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Health Care Center

PH: 904-827-2410

VP: 904-201-3910

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Transportation

PH: 800-992-8747

Parent Services

PH: 904-827-2212

VP: 904-201-4540

Campus Police

PH: 904-827-2315

207 San Marco Avenue,

St. Augustine, FL, USA

wagnerp@fsdbk12.org

ELC Webpage

ELC Facebook Group

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, political opinion, affiliation, marital status, genetic information, disability, veteran status or any other basis as mandated by federal and state law in its educational programs, services or activities, or in its hiring or employment practices. FSDB also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups as required by law.

Contacts for questions, complaints, or requests for additional information are as follows:

Student Discrimination/Harassment

FSDB Boarding Program Administrator

PH: 904-827-2603

Requests in writing can be sent to:

Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind

207 San Marco Avenue

St. Augustine, FL 32084