Parents’ Page

Lets talk about Birthdays!

Birthdays are a very exciting occasion for children and we at Sunshine Tree welcome you to bring in a treat for your student to share with his/her classmates.  Please be sure to follow Sunshine Tree guidelines when selecting the treat for the class.

  • Check with your student’s teacher a day or so before the celebration to determine how many students are in the class.
  • Only bring treats purchased from the store – no home made items.
  • Absolutely no chocolate of any kind is allowed at school for birthdays, snacks or lunches.  This includes granola bars, candy, cookies, cake, pudding, etc.
  • If purchasing cupcakes, avoid full sized cupcakes.  The mini cupcakes are the perfect size.
  • Frosting on any cupcakes or cookies must be white.
  • We encourage you to consider sugar cookies or vanilla cream cookies. These are the perfect choice.  They are easy to eat, easy to clean up and most children enjoy them.

Occasionally, students bring in treat bags for their fellow classmates to celebrate birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, etc.  When this occurs, we at Sunshine Tree do not allow the students to open these treat bags at school.  They are sent home with the student so that the student’s parents can inspect the bag for items that may not be allowed in their home.

When Foods are Choking Hazards

Dear Parents,

Please encourage your child to have a good breakfast every day and make sure he or she brings a full water bottle and a nutritious snack to school every day (2 snacks if he or she stays for aftercare).  Half a sandwich makes a great snack. When packing snacks or lunches for your child, please consider and avoid foods that present choking hazards.  In addition to thickly spread peanut butter and corn chips or tortilla chips, please consider these other potential hazard foods: hot dogs, nuts, grapes and raisins, carrots, popcorn, bagels, apples, cheese cubes, and hard candy.  Please remember that chocolate and foods containing chocolate are not allowed at school, so please avoid putting them in snacks or lunches.

The following article is an excerpt taken from QualityHealth.com

While people of all ages can be at risk for choking on food, children under the age of 5 are especially susceptible. This is because they have smaller teeth and molars that don’t allow them to chew food as thoroughly as older kids. This means they’re more likely to swallow it whole, or in big pieces that can be hard to handle. Small children, especially those under the age of 3, also have narrow airways that make it easier for foods and other choking hazards to become stuck on the way down.

For further information, please follow the link below to the article: Quality Health Top 10 Food Choking Hazards for Kids

For Kindergarten & Preschool Parents:

Dear Parents,

Often by the time your child leaves school in the afternoon he/she may be too tired from the excitement of the day to be able to tell you about his/her activities.  By checking the website regularly to learn the latest news, you will have useful information to incorporate the material that was covered at school during your daily routines.  For example: What’s for dinner?  Are you serving any foods whose name begins with or contains the letter of the week?  Play “I Spy” with your child and look for things in your house, in a magazine, in your yard that begin with the letter of the week.

Enriching Your Child’s Education

Volunteering at your child’s school sends a powerful message to children that school and learning is important to all of us. There are many ways any parent, even one who works, can volunteer or participate in class activities.   Do you have a special talent, speak a foreign language, have a special skill? In the past, parents have assisted with class parties; field trips (for the primary students); helped prep craft materials; taught a foreign language lesson; assisted in school maintenance/landscaping; shared interesting, cultural heritage activities; etc.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact your child’s teacher.