January has Ended!

 Can you believe it? The end of January, already! We had such an eventful January and loved kicking off the New Year, as a group! January consisted of everything "Winter Wonderland" themed and the we aren't sure if the teachers or the kiddos had more fun! 

On a short list of things that happened- Olaf visited, grab-n-go pizzas went home, and Ms. Kristie from Club Pilates came to visit, again!

 We had many days that were way too cold to go outside so we improvised! We had music dance parties, parachute fun, and lots of reading times. Despite the cold, we bunbdled up and got out as much as possible!! 

Winter just so happens to be my absolute favorite season which made it easy to include the kids in all the exciting activities that come along with winter! They used enrichment time to make snow and even got to take some home. We kicked off our teacher birthday celebrations with Ms. Brooklyn, but Ms. Amy and Ms. Robyn followed quickly behind her! 

We are so excited to be in February and everything the month of love brings! 

All Smiles Here

     

    We have had the best time this month at the Academy of Indian Lake Village. Its been a month full of good smiles and happy vibes. The holiday season is so fun, but for many, can become over-whelming amd more stressful than not. We love having the opportunity to provide a happy, safe environment where all the kiddos can feel loved and included. 

Ms. Eloise so excited to feed the fish! 

The kids love having the opportunity to feed the fish. We love letting each of them have the chance to pour the fish food in. They get so excited to watch all the fish swim to the top and some even attempt to grab the fish right out of the tank.. but we don't let them! 

Mr. Owen smiling with his pacifier! 

The baby room isn't always smiley, but when it is-it will melt your heart! We have the happiest babies and we are so thankful for each of them. 

Mr. Tanner enjoying helping the front make some phone calls! 

Sometimes, we have the sweetest helpers come sit at the front with us. It's even better when our helpers come with big smiles and even sweeter giggles (not pictured). They love to attempt to answer the phone and type on the computer. 

Mr. Colson enjoying sweet potatoes! 

At the end of each day, our hope is that every family who comes in knows that they are loved and appreciated by all of us. 

Happy New Year!!

     Happy New Year all! All of us at AOILV are so excited to start this new year fresh! We had so much fun celebrating the entire holiday season with all of you and your sweet babies! 

We had Christmas goodies, New Years fun, and Max surprises. What a busy time it has been for our center. 

With the New Year here and upon us, I hope we can all take a chance to reflect on what positive things 2020 brought to our lives. Many of you found the Academy in 2020 and for that, we are so thankful. We won Best of Parenting for the 13th consecutive year and we are SO thankful for that.

While it was different, we still got to experience and celebrate all the major holidays with your babies and your families. We had a blast giving tons of grab-n-go goodies. We met Cookie the Elf and the kids got to enjoy all his silly antics. 

We welcomed many new teachers whom we love and we know you all do too. Ms. Shawna and Ms. Kandiss both stepped into new positions to fill your management team! Mrs. Beth Cooper celebrated 12 years with our company and we are so thankful to have her! 

 Our very own, Ms. Robyn, won Director of the Year for all the Academys in Middle Tennessee and we are SO proud to be apart of her team. It was a strange year, but AoILV is so thankful we got to guide you, encourage you, or just live with you through it. We know 2021 will bring all new joys and experiences. 

Christmas Christmas Everywhere!

What a couple of weeks! AOILV has had the most Christmas-filled adventures this month. We hung stockings for each teacher, had Santa at the center, and then our Christmas performances followed by our Christmas parties. We followed the next week with 3 days of giving for our teachers and all the Cookie adventures. What's better? 

Santa made his grand appearance last Thursday morning! The kids were so excited to hear his "Ho Ho Ho's" and him ring his magic bell! Most were over the moon to see Santa, but there were some who were not so sure. Lots of emotions at Santa's visit. 😊😂

Our Christmas performances were a huge hit. Christmas music and kiddos dancing, it was fantastic! Due to Covid-restrictions, our beloved parents couldn't be here to watch, but it didn't stop us from going LIVE on Instagram! All the parents (who could) tuned in, and all the rest caught the recorded version of the performance on Instagram and/or Tadpoles. That afternoon, the kids partied hard! There were red and green cupcakes, cookies of all shapes and sizes, fruits, veggies, and all the goody bags any kid could ever want! What a great end to a week!! 🎉

We kicked off our short week with 3 days of giving for our wonderful teachers. All our teachers were pampered with gifts and love, by both families and their management team! On Tuesday, Max came to listen to Mrs. Robyn read The Night Before Christmas, which made all the kids even more excited for what Santa had to offer on Christmas morning! 💚

 It was an amazing Christmas. As we transition into these long weekend and short weeks full of all things holiday fun, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy! Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a goodnight! 🎄🎅

Christmas Door Extravaganza

 Today concluded a 2-week long Christmas door decorating extravaganza! Our teachers spent so much time and effort creating the most wonderful doors for all the families and staff to look at and love. We are spending so much time relishing in the joy that Christmas and the Giving Season brings to our center! This is going to be a short blog, but enjoy looking at all the wonderful doors and their descriptions. 

The winner will be announced on our Instagram tomorrow morning! We are so proud of our teachers and all their amazing work!! 

Let it Snow by Preschool 3! 

Elves Workshop by Preschool 2! 

Santa's Workshop and all his little elves by Pre-K 2! 

"Oh Deer" Hot Chocolate Cup by Pre-K 3! 

 

Gingerbread House by Toddler 2! 

Gingerbread Wonderland by Infant 3! 

How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Toddler 1! 

The Polar Express by Preschool 1! 

Rapid Elves on the loose by Infant 2! 

Winter Wonderland by Infant 1! 

Seriously, we are AMAZED at all their hardwork! 

Cookie the Elf

 We have all heard of the infamous, Elf on the Shelf. The mischievous little elves come to some of your homes during this month of December to cause havoc. but also encourage your kiddos to keep it together and stay on their best behavior. This past week, our center introduced Cookie, the elf to all the kids! They got so excited to see that we would have an elf visiting us every day. 

Cookie is encouraging the kids to drop off their letters to Santa! 

Over the next couple of weeks, Cookie will be up to some fun activities. 

Cookie loves sipping the creamer! 

So far, Cookie has been a huge hit! Many of our older kids come in looking for him every morning! We love seeing their smiles and hearing their sweet squeals whenever they find him hiding in the tree or swinging from the balloons, in the hallway. He has definitely brought so much joy to the kids these last 2 weeks! 

Cookie loved hanging out by the lights on the breakfast bars. 

Keep an eye out on our Instagram for stories in the coming days for Cookies' silly games! 

Silly Cookie, those presents are for the kids! 

Cookie's most favorite place to be is the garland and the Christmas tree's throughout the center! He is such a crazy little elf! 

Let The Giving Continue

     This past week concluded our amazing canned food drive. If you didn't know, our center-wide goal was 500 donated items. We had 3 classes individually surpass that goal which was so amazing for us to watch. The older kids enjoyed the friendly competition, almost as much as their dads did. We had multiple families get into little battles to see who could donate the most cans. It was such an exciting time for everyone involved! 

Our grand total was 2,650 items! Even after the competition had ended, we had parents bringing more items in. It was heart-warming to watch each box fill to the top with all the goodies for the less fortunate. We are so thankful for all our families and their generosity in this time, we know 2020 hasn't been an easy year for anyone. 

On top of the canned food drive, we had a thankful flock that quickly grew. Some were thankful for their cars, some for their families, and many for our center and the love our teachers give to their babies. We had our older classes fill out "I am thankful for.." sentence strips that covered our hallways and brought smiles to every parent's face. Thankful was definitely in the air all month, but especially last week! 

With the Christmas season right around the corner, we have so much giving coming up in the next couple of weeks. We are going to run a coat donation drive and have special guest giving their time in each classroom. A special frog-street gift, salt dough ornaments, and everything Christmas is on the calendar for the month of December. It is our hope here at AoILV that we teach the kids that the season is about receiving, but also about giving. 

With this season in full effect, we are so thankful for the time we have with your kids and all that we get to do with them. We take every moment spent with them to heart and hope that every family knows how truly loved they are, as they walk through our doors. As we have already said, it is the most wonderful time of the year and our hope is that every child feels that here at our center.