Ended Oct 16th

The Yankee Candle fundraiser was very successful, raising over $1,300 for the participating classrooms!

Thank you to all that participated and helped sell candles to friends and family to benefit your child’s classroom!

Saturday, October 24th, 2009
11:00am to 2:00pm

My Small Wonders is almost ready for it’s second annual Harvest Festival!
This year we are raising money for Reach Out and Read to help support Early Childhood Literacy.
The festivities begin at 11:00am on Saturday, Oct 24th and will include games, activities, costume contests, food, and silent auctions!
Children are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes! A professional photographer will be on site to take candid and family photographs!
We could still use some more items for the silent auctions, folding tables, and a tractor to pull our hay ride! Please email Nancy or Bill if you would like to help with these requests.
This event is open to the community so invite your friends and family to come see our school and help raise money for a worthy cause.
To see pictures from last years event, click here.

Now – Oct 16th

My Small Wonders is trying a fundraiser to help our teachers buy some optional equipment for their classrooms that we don’t have in our budget. Packets will be sent home with details and order forms.
The fundraiser is completely optional and just for fun but your help is very much appreciated! Each classroom will receive 40% of their sales to buy extra supplies, toys, or equipment. In addition, the classroom with the highest sales (averaged by student count) will receive a special prize and recognition for their hard work! Good luck!

Coming October 24th, 2009

My Small Wonders is beginning preparations for our second annual Harvest Festival! Last years festival was a great success raising over $3,000 for charity.
This year we hope to do even better and we are asking for parent volunteers to help us obtain donations for the silent auction and raffle and also food donations.
See pictures from last years event here.
If you would like to be on the Harvest Festival Committee, please email Nancy.

My Small Wonders is seeking sponsors for the new Children’s Garden area to be constructed this spring. The plan is to install a raised garden that will be fun and accessible to all the children from toddler to school age. 
Total cost for the project is estimated at $1200. Donations of child size gardening tools and gloves would also be appreciated.
Here are some of the benefits that gardening could easily provide the children:

1. Science

In planting, children are indirectly taught the wonders of science like the plant’s life cycle and how human’s intervention can break or make the environment. They can have a first hand experience on the miracle of life through a seed. This would definitely be a new and enjoyable experience for the kids.

2. Life

Watching a seed grow into a tree is just as wondrous as the conception to birth and growth of a child. In time, kids will learn to love their plants and appreciate the life in them. Gardening could actually help simulate how life should be treated — it should be with care. The necessities to live will be emphasized to kids with the help of gardening – water, sunlight, air, soil. Those necessities could easily be corresponded to human necessities, i.e., water, shelter, air, food. By simply weeding out, one could educate how bad influences should be avoided to be able to live life smoothly.

3. Relaxation

Studies show that gardening can reduce stress because of its calming effect. This is applicable to any age group. More so, it stimulates all the five senses. Believe it or not, gardening may be used as therapy to children who have been abused or those who are members of broken homes. It helps build one’s self-esteem.
If you are interested in sponsoring this project in whole or in part, please contact Bill Epperly.

The theme for February is grass and gardens! My Small Wonders now has an area for a garden in our playground but we don’t have any plants!

If anyone has experience with Oklahoma gardening (or would just like to volunteer some manual labor) please let us know. We would like to make this garden resilient to Oklahoma weather with minimal water requirements to provide a resource conserving learning experience for the children!