Mary’s Little Lambs pre-school has been able to place the finishing touches on its 2020-21 year.
The school’s spring concert and graduation ceremony was held on May 13. Owner Mary Lawrence said it was held outdoors and it was a perfect day for the event.
Students performed a number of songs, like Five Little Speckled Frogs, Pitter Patter Raindrops and Stegosaurus. These are songs that instructor Patty Ksenych has taught children throughout the year.
“The kids did really awesome. Some of them sang extremely loud, which was great,” said Lawrence. “And then after that, we brought them back and lined them up, and Patty called them out one at a time and presented them with their diploma and put their little graduation hat on them, so that the parents could take pictures.”
A small drink was served for each of the kids.
Their year-end picnic, with Freezies and watermelon, happened on May 18 and 19.
Last year’s ceremony was moved online due to the COVID-19 restrictions, so Lawrence was happy it could happen this year while following all of the current restrictions.
Mary’s Little Lambs had 11 children in its Wednesday class for three-year-olds. They also had 14 four-year-olds in their Tuesday and Thursday morning session, and another 13 four-year-olds in their Tuesday and Thursday afternoon class.
The 2020-21 season has been a challenge with trying to adhere to restrictions and guidelines while still providing a fun environment for the kids. They completed a lot of changes to their facility, such as installing Plexiglas dividers on tables, limiting children to four per table, packing away any shared toys, and purchasing little individual toy boxes for the children and filling them with an assortment of toys. Then with having to disinfect everything between classes, a lot of cleaning occurred, but then they purchased a disinfecting fogger which made the job much easier.
Ksenych made each child’s birthday special with a treat bag and a birthday certificate.
For safety reasons, Mary’s Little Lambs pre-school opted to go with show and tell via pictures texted by parents, rather than having children bring in items.
The students did well to adapt to mask regulations, Lawrence said.
Ksenych used to teach in a kindergarten class, so the preschool is set up like a kindergarten classroom. Ksenych uses a Kindergarten resources book to set up her curriculum with the daily worksheets, art, circle time chants, playtime and other activities, all based on monthly themes. She also incorporates the use of puppets to help the children learn.
Ksenych also plays the guitar daily and teaches the children songs related to the monthly themes. The children are always excited about the new monthly theme, activities, songs, art and worksheets.
She ensures the three-year-olds are ready to move up to the four-year-old class, and the four-year-olds are ready for kindergarten.
“The kids are always so excited to come, and Patty makes the class so much fun for them, and learning how to be a good friend and meet new friends. It’s been great for them. They learn a lot during the preschool year. Patty spends a lot of time teaching them the things that they need to know when they do go into kindergarten.”
Every November the children celebrate and learn about community helpers, and Mary’s Little Lambs have such an amazing community here in Estevan. People selflessly give of their time to support them in doing this.
A police officer comes to teach the children about street safety, a firefighter talks about fire safety, and the protective services personnel always sound their siren and turn their flashing lights on for the children, which Lawrence said is a thrill.
A librarian will talk about the Estevan Public Library and the joys of reading, a nurse brings a stethoscope so the children can hear their heart beat, a dental hygienist speaks regarding caring for their teeth and a karate instructor teaches the children some self-defence techniques.
“Every one of these people are so amazing and good to our children, and the children are so very excited to see them, and by the time the presentation is finished the children are all wanting to share hugs with them,” said Lawrence. “We are not sure if these people from our community understand fully the impact they have on these young children, but because of them November is one of the most exciting months for our children.”
A very special part of the program is the Memories to Treasure DVD that is prepared for each class. Ksenych takes many pictures through the year and Teresa Stovin puts these pictures to music.
Mary’s Little Lambs was pleased to be able to remain open throughout the year, with only a couple of interruptions.
“Considering all of the challenges that we had to make, it turned out pretty good,” said Lawrence. “We learned some things that we might incorporate into our program going forward as well.”
The preschool has been running for over 25 years, and now they have a lot of returning families, with adults who were once students there now bringing in their own children to learn.
