Children's Museum of Phoenix

This week, both preschool and elementary classes took a field trip to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. It was so much better than I even imagined! What a great addition the CMOP is to our city! Every single "exhibit" is hands-on, sensory, stimulating, and very developmentally oriented. We stayed for four hours, and I don't think a single kid got bored or burned out. It was so great to see the kids engaged with the exhibits, their classmates, and other children at the museum! We had students holding hands with each other (adorable), chasing each other through the "treehouse," and making pizzas in the play kitchen. The CMOP is definitely a new SDSA tradition and we can't wait to go back.

SDSA Holiday Party

*I began working on this blog post after the Holiday party, and forgot to post it! Here it is :)

Tonight we had our first annual holiday party for the staff and parents of SDSA. Somehow organizing a party last year got away from us, but the party tonight more than made up for it! Thank you to all the parents who put it on, I know that's never easy!

It was really so moving to me to look around the room and see just how much our little school has grown in one year. What was even more meaningful was looking around and seeing the faces of friends...both the parents and the staff. I feel so blessed to work with people who I value, trust, and enjoy spending time with. I appreciate having student's parents who are so supportive and give so much of their time, resources, and talent to make the school operate more effectively. Between fulfilling volunteer hours, planning student parties, fundraising efforts...you guys are tireless! Thinking back to the beginning planning stages of the school, I never imagined we'd have the success we've had, and so quickly. It has been an amazing year so far and I am more than humbled to lead such a wonderful organization.

Santa is coming to SDSA!

Hi parents!

SDSA is going to be visited again this year by Santa on Wednesday, December 8th! We think this will be a lot of fun for the kids and are excited for them to get to see Santa in a less stressful (not to mention overstimulating!) environment than the mall! Feel free to join us!

SDSA on Twitter

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you know that SDSA is now on Twitter...follow us at www.twitter.com/stdomsavio!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Everyone at SDSA is so thankful for our amazing students and parents! I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Twilight Turtle

I don't know if any of you parents have seen this thing called the "Twilight Turtle." It's carried at Buy Buy Baby and is meant to be a nursery item, but we actually bought one through a sensory catalog. It's a turtle that's shell lights up in three different colors, and casts stars onto the ceiling. I wasn't sure if the kids would get much use out of it, but thought it might be cool to turn on with the lights out during sensory time. I brought it out today for the first time, and every single one of the elementary students was in love! They liked seeing the stars on the ceiling, casting stars onto each other, and seeing them glow on their shirts and arms. Since the kids were liking using the turtle so much, we actually decided to turn it into an art project, and used different shaped hole punchers to cut holes in card stock. Then we held them over flashlights to create different shapes. It was a lot of fun! Anyway, if any of you parents are looking for a new sensory item, I can assure you the Twilight Turtle is pretty cool :D

Petting Zoo at SDSA :)

The petting zoo today was, without a doubt, a huge success! Carter's Farm brought a goat, a cow, an alpaca, and many, many goats, chickens, and rabbits! Every student participated by going in the animal enclosure, and petting, holding, and brushing the animals! It was so rewarding to see how calm and happy all the kids were! I think it was truly an "animal therapy" experience! They all were smiling ear to ear and really enjoying themselves. We didn't want it to end. I think we have a new SDSA tradition!

October!

Hello everyone! Our farm-animal theme has been so fun this month! We've had a lot of practice making farm animal themed art projects, making farm animal noises, and sorting farm animals vs. other animals. We are so excited that our month long theme will culminate in a visit on Wednesday by Carter's Farm Petting Zoo! We'll get to brush and feed a cow, goat, and sheep, along with rabbits, chickens, and ducks! It should be a lot of fun for all the kids, and a great learning opportunity.

On Friday, we will be having our school halloween party. Students should come dressed in their costume. We will "practice" trick or treating as we did last year, going to visit the different rooms within the church and collecting some treats! We will also watch "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and have a dance party! It should be a lot of fun for all the kids. Can't wait to see them all in costume!