Watchung Co-op Preschool Director Christi Porter-Johnson shows one of the baby chicks to excited student (and son) Samuel Johnson.

The Watchung Cooperative Preschool welcomed 7 new baby chicks yesterday. The fertilized chicken eggs came from Goffle Road Farm in Wycoff. Students had been taking care of the eggs for the last 21 weeks keeping them warm in an incubator and making a chart to observe their progress. The children were overjoyed to see the chicks peck through their shells on Tuesday and enter the world.

“We all were so excited to watch the process. The chicks are so cute that the kids and adults can’t stop watching them”, said teacher Pat Martin. School Director Christi Porter-Johnson said, “This is an important lesson for children to learn about nature, and we’re really happy to provide them with this experience.” The chicks will be returned to the farm on Thursday, May 24^th for egg laying purposes.  If anyone is interested in taking a chick home, please contact Christi Porter-Johnson at 973-783-4535 before next Thursday.

Attention families with toddlers! St James Preschool in Montclair, which has been offering preschool classes for 25 years, is adding a new program designed just for toddlers ages 18-30 months old.

Director and owner  Sarah Eggleston tells us that:

A sunny, private space is being designed and furnished for the program. Children can enroll for a 2,3 or 4 day option with a maximum of 10 children per day.  A certified teacher and assistant teacher will create age appropriate hands-on experiences for the children, stressing their individual growth and developmental needs.  Daily playground and gym time will encourage development of the children’s large motor skills.  St James’ philosophy that “children learn through play” will also be stressed in the toddler program which will also incorporate music, literature and language opportunities.

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Over the Rainbow Nursery in Montclair is currently celebrating its 30^th Anniversary Year. Along with this incredible celebration, their dream of building an innovative Children’s Garden is coming to life! As a National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat Site, nature, birds, flowers, trees and gardens have always been a huge part of the school’s program. The new garden is contained in a large fenced in area on the school’s grounds. The garden design was planned by Ed Confair, landscape designer. The work is supervised by Bob Battle of R. Battle Construction of Montclair. The garden contains a five senses nature walk, a Garden Express train of plantings, a “green” shed that has a living roof, a vegetable garden and much more.

“This project has been a dream for several years and we are so pleased that our students can now enjoy and learn from it,” said Lorraine Grasso Confair, the school’s director.  “We couldn’t have done it without the help of our parent and staff volunteers who cleared the grounds and planted the garden.”

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When people post pictures of things on Facebook, such as cars, hot dogs, cupcakes, miniature Frank Lloyd Wright homes built to scale, home-made toothpaste, livestock, and trees, you would assume that these objects are rather important to that person. Georgette Gilmore’s favorite dogwood tree was one of those objects and during the Snoctober storm her beloved tree got served. Her then 7-year-old heard the tree crack under the weight of the snow and was heartbroken when she saw the tree split in two. So in honor of Arbor Day, what to do?

We replant!

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Montclair Community Pre-K (MCPK) opened its doors for its first group of students in 1998 and this year the first MCPK class is graduating from high school. To mark this exciting occasion, MCPK is organizing a Celebration Walkathon, on May 6, starting at  Montclair High School and ending at MCPK, to symbolically trace the educational journey from Pre-k to high school.

Gabrielle Peterson is one of the students who attended the MCPK in 1998 and will graduate from Montclair High this year. She is the president of the senior class. She will be walking in Celebration Walkathon and is encouraging others to join.

“A couple of weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to address the Class of 2012 to talk about the status of fundraisers, and to give them information about other opportunities. I made a concerted effort to talk about the Walk-a-Thon, and it’s importance, because I knew that the student-athletes, activists, artists, and other intelligent people that graduated from the school 12 years ago could attribute a lot of their success in the Montclair School-System to their year at Montclair Pre-K. I encouraged the alumna especially to get involved, but I told the entire class to give back to the community that has given them so much. This Walk-a-Thon is our opportunity to thank the Montclair Pre-K, for its role in our education, and I hope all of my classmates take a role in the planning process so they can continue the legacy that they started,” shares Gabrielle.

We asked Gabrielle about her memories of the Pre-K and why she still supports it.

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The second half of Baristaville schools close for spring break the week of April 16 for Montclair and the week of April 23 for Glen Ridge and Millburn. If you’re staying local and need childcare, we’ve put together a list of Vacation Camp options to help you out:

Little Live Y’ers Vacation Camp
Who: Kids ages 3 – 6.
What: A day filled with fun activities: swimming, gym, arts and crafts and more!
Where: The Geyer Family YMCA, 159 Glenridge Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07042.
When: April 16 – 20. Kids can be dropped off as early as 7:30 a.m. and picked up as late as 6:30 p.m.
Cost:Members – $47 a day / Non-members – $57 a day. In order to reserve a space for your child, payment and a registration form must be completed for each date attending. Please register within 3 business days prior to the program date. Registration received in less than 3 days prior to camp will be charged an additional $10 fee. Call (973) 783-7640 for more information and to sign-up.

Live Y’ers Vacation Camp
Who: Kids in grades 1 – 8.
What: A day filled with fun activities.
Where: Montclair YMCA, 25 Park Street, Montclair, NJ, 07042.
When: April 16 – 20. Kids can be dropped off as early at 7:30 a.m. and picked up as late as 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Members – $47 a day / Non-members – $57 a day. In order to reserve a space for your child, payment and a registration form must be completed for each date attending. You must register within 3 business days prior to the program date.
Contact Dierdre at (973) 415-6123 for more information.

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WINNER: Congratulations to cabella!

Our readers know that we love Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell.  But we’re always looking for new music that straddles the worlds of kiddie music and adult music.

Indie-folk band The Nields, made up of sisters Nerissa and Katryna, have a new album that everyone in the family can appreciate  - even with the car windows wide open. The Full Catastrophe, coming out April 10th, has songs with beautiful harmonies and guitar, and its lyrics are recognizable with full-on sing-a-long potential.

This new album is a musical and thematic departure for The Nields. The songs touch on the trials and sweetness of relationships and parenting.  Songs like “Back at the Fruit Tree” sound a bit like Feist with emphasis on vocal melodies and clear notes. The beautiful lyrics emphasize the changing relationship of couples as they become a family: “Someone has to cut the brambles back…someone has to bring my harvest in…someone has to gather seeds to hold us through the winter.”

Other songs, like “Can I Love You Too Much,” talk about parenthood’s loving challenges like discovering that a child is using a wall as a canvas or (unsuccessfully) talking a child out of playing with a make-believe gun (Can’t you pretend it’s a fire engine hose?). The melodies and harmonies reminded me of the Indigo Girls at their best. I’m not (too) embarrassed to admit that I teared up at this line: “So I hold you close, and I let you go. And I hope you come back to teach me everything you know.”

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Some Baristaville schools close for spring break in the next two weeks. SOMA and Bloomfield schools are off the week of April 2 and West Orange is off the week of April 9. If you’re staying local and need childcare, we’ve put together a list of Vacation Camp options to help you out:

South Mountain YMCA Vacation Camp
Who: Kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade.
What: The days will include games, sports, field trips, art & crafts and a variety of other activities. Ms. Kelly from the NJ Audubon Society will present a program about owls and their surroundings at 1 pm.
Where: South Mountain YMCA, 13 Jefferson Avenue, Maplewood, NJ.
When: Monday, April 2 – 6. Full-day available (7:15 am – 7 pm)
Cost: Members – $70 a day / Non-members – $85 a day. Download your registration form here.

Live Y’ers Vacation Camp
Who: Kids in grades 1 – 8.
What: A day filled with fun activities.
Where: Montclair YMCA, 25 Park Street, Montclair, NJ, 07042.
When: April 2 -6 for Bloomfield Schools.  Kids can be dropped off as early at 7:30 a.m. and picked up as late as 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Members – $47 a day / Non-members – $57 a day. In order to reserve a space for your child, payment and a registration form must be completed for each date attending. You must register within 3 business days prior to the program date.
Contact Dierdre at (973) 415-6123 for more information.

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I’ve had my review copy of Giants Beware! for a while now. I’ve only managed to finish reading it recently, however, because my five-year-old refused to let it leave his room; it was his go-to bedtime story for two weeks. Once I finally got my hands on Giants Beware!, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the characters were multi-faceted and the story – while centered on a desire to “kill a giant” – was actually about learning to overcome fears and using teamwork to reach a goal.

The graphic novel, written by Montclair’s own Jorge Aguirre, is aimed at children ages 7-10, but my 5-year-old loved it. (He’s obviously very advanced.) The story is the perfect antidote for the ubiquitous influence of Disney Princesses and the shallow violence in many children’s books and shows aimed at the elementary years.  The main hero, a fiesty girl named Claudette, is the type of child we might both hope for and dread. She rebels and questions and simply decides she will have her way. Claudette defends her friends and is fierce when it comes to pursuing her goals. However, during her adventures, she also learns humility and how to give sincere apologies and credit to her friends.  I found that a refreshing representation of a skill-set most of us could stand to learn.

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Childcare in Montclair is getting a makeover courtesy of Zina Phillips, one of the creators and investors of Le Parc Place. What is Le Park Place, you ask, with its sprawling 11,000-square-foot building on Lorraine Avenue between Williams Sonoma and the train station?

For parents, it’s a one-stop shop for preschool, play, spot sitting, party planning and even concierge services. Here’s the breakdown:

Le Preschool will occupy the top floor of the building which is being gut renovated. Now accepting applications for fall, Le Parc Preschool offers the Mixed Integration Knowledge Orientation (MIKO) learning method for babies through age 5. Kids will start off in their homeroom, then move to math, science, art, music, Spanish, Mandarin and other classes throughout their day before they end up back in homeroom. The playground, also under renovation, covers almost 1 acre. All teachers will have degrees in early childhood education, Phillips said, and the teacher to student ratio will be 12 to 1 1 to 12.

Parc ‘n Play is another component of the business that occupies the bottom floor of the building. It’s a fully equipped play space with toys for toddlers through age 12. Parents can relax with free coffee, WiFi and a couch while kids play with toys and staff members who often do crafts.

Le Nani is a spot-sitting service. “Hiring an on-call caregiver is becoming really popular very quickly,” Phillips says. You can drop your kids off at the Parc ‘n Play while professional babysitters watch them. The service is available from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. One of the sitters, Isis Burr, 20, told me, “I used to be a nanny, and I love working with kids.” Another staff member, Lisa Ellis, 24, has a BA in family and child studies from Montclair State University. She expects to be one of the preschool teachers in the fall.

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