Until last fall, I had not given much time in thought about retirement.  A friend once told me that when it was time to retire, I would know. And then last September Mary let me know that it would be her last year. And suddenly I knew.  It was time.  After twenty five years together, we would be leaving at the end of the 2014-15 school year.  It is time for something new and it feels so right. Great Beginnings has been an amazing journey for me. God has grown me through this center. I am so grateful for the people I have been privileged to work beside. I am grateful for their willingness to minister to young children and their parents, for their willingness to work hard with integrity, and for their willingness to leave their problems at the door and devote themselves wholly to those who needed them. I am grateful for those who have served on our board, giving generously of their time and wisdom. I am grateful for the hundreds of parents who have chosen Great Beginnings as a school and care center for their children. I am just so humbled and truly grateful. I pray for God's protection and continued provision for Great Beginnings. He is always faithful. Stacy Tindall will be a wonderful director, and I can't wait to see how God uses her talents and vision as she leads the center. I wish you all the best!  Lori A.

We never envisioned what God would do with child care back in 1990. I am so grateful to have been a part of His vision for Christian Child Care and Education. And I am grateful and truly humbled when I remember the teachers and families who have been a part of this vision. So this year we celebrate 25. With thankful hearts.


September is underway. Creation, Apples, and a Little Red Hen. I love September's themes, September's weather, and the bountiful harvest of Delta County. Children are learning where we find food - the garden.
Take a few minutes when you are bringing or taking your children and visit our garden. It is at its height now, and beautiful.

We are making a book for the book center, "We Are Special". Be sure to create a page about your child that will be included. The children will browse through it all year.  Teachers will also make pages! It is fun to learn about each other.

We are all wearing red September 15-18. Your child may also bring something from home that is red to show during small group time.

We are experimenting with apples - colors, sizes, and taste. We are making applesauce, dried apples, and apple salad. We love apples!

Today I feel March blowing out and April blowing in! March has been such a great month of talking about the animals who live on our farms. And --dictating our 3 Little Pigs stories! If you haven't stopped to read them, you are missing a treat.

In April we will be talking about the ocean.  If you have anything from the ocean, please share it during the first week in April. The ocean can be a hard concept for children in Colorado. Please help us out.  

School pictures will be taken on the 2nd and 3rd of April by Jennifer Roth. If you do not attend on either of these days, please make arrangements with Mary to bring your child for the picture. It's an important keepsake from preschool. Picture ordering packets will be available.  Jennifer is also taking family photographs on Wednesday evening. Sign-up if you would like to have a portrait taken.

April 7th through 11th is Spring Break. There will not be preschool, but childcare is available if you sign up by the 27th of March.

The rest of the month is taken up with construction and dinosaurs and raising up some plants for the garden.  We will be visiting the Delta Museum the first part of May. 

Registration for the 2014-15 school year is well under way. Please let your friends know that now is the time to get signed up. 

Every year it takes my breath away! February Flies and here we are staring at March and thinking that the year is going to be over very, very soon. Is it that we are so busy and can't seem to slow it all down? 

March is Farm Month, and we get it started with the story of The Three Little Pigs. It is a great lesson about doing something right, as opposed to looking for an easy way. We will be looking at how farm animals differ from the wild animals we learned about in February. If you have  baby farm animals that could be transported to the school this month, we would love that. Over the years we have hosted horses, goats, lambs, chickens, bunnies, and a new born calf. Let us know if you can share! So many children have never seen farm critters up-close.

On the 11th and 12th of March, Delta Lions Club will provide vision screens to our children. The screening uses state-of-the-art technology and is 85-90% effective in detecting the vision problems that could lead to lazy eye.  No physical contact is made with your child and no eye drops or medications are used. They will be here for both morning and afternoon preschool on the 11th, and morning only on the 12th.  If your child does not attend either of those days, you may come for the screening anyway.

Cowboy Week begins March 17, St. Patrick's Day this year! The children will make stick horses, they can wear any cowboy duds you have for them, and they will rodeo on Wednesday am and Thursday am and pm. Make arrangements to come if you don't usually attend on those days.

We will be cleaning up the garden this month, and would like to invite parents and grandparents who like gardening with kids to come and give us a hand. We need to prune and clean up after winter. Then we will be ready for some nice surprises in April and May. We could use a Dad or two to help turn the compost piles!

Toward the end of the month we will investigate what ponds hold, in and around them. If you see a water snake - let us know!

Class and individual portraits will be taken in April. Packets will be out the end of March or first of April. Jennifer Roth is also offering Family Portraits in the evening.

January is nearly gone, and Pajama Party a memory.  We want to give THANKS to all our parents who gave up a day and helped us make the party fun and safe. Thank you to those who helped bag up all that TP!  Now we will add it to the garden's compost bins. 

February starts out with Zoo Week.  We want to wear stripes or spots to school the week of the 3rd. We will be learning about animals in the wild and in the zoo.  At home you can talk about your favorite animals and the environments where they live.  

The week of the 10th we will set up a Post Office in the dramatic play center. Children will be able to write letters and then take them to the post office.  Children can dress up as mail carriers and deliver the post! On Thursday and Friday the 13th and 14, children can deliver their Valentines to Valentine Bags the class will make ahead of time.  You may send valentines to school any day this week, and your child will bring the bag home on Thursday or Friday to open. 

The 17th through the 21st is a Break Week.  We do not have preschool this week, but you can register your child for child care on any of those days. Registration is due by February 3rd.

The last week of February we will set up a Pizzaria in the preschool.  Please send 1/2 cup of your child's favorite pizza topping. Lotsa Pizza served at Mama Mia"s.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held the first of the month.  We encourage parents of children going into Kindergarten this Fall to try and attend.  All other parents are invited to conference with teachers if they have any concerns regarding their child's progress. Sometimes its just nice to get together and talk about your child.

The Lions Club will be providing vision checks for all our children in March.

In a little over a week, the children will perform their Christmas Program for their families. Such excitement - and maybe a little anxiety, then the performance, then Santa(shhh! its a secret)  and cookies and much wishing of Happy Christmas! - and then . . .  quiet descends on the center as families and children and staff say goodbye and are off to enjoy the holiday!

We hope for you and yours a very WONDER FILLED holiday season! Pay attention, and enjoy.  Schedule in some rest time - and some time to reflect on the true gift of Christmas. 

January brings with it 2014 and the quieter wonders of January. The children will be reading the alphabet book, Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, a WONDERful book to memorize. They will be learning about calendars and the most important thing on the calendar - their birthdate!  Please help them to memorize it if they haven't yet. 

Pajama Party is January 15 for both morning and afternoon classes. If your child does not usually attend on Wednesday, please come to either the morning or the afternoon party.  Lots of fun activities! We always need parent volunteers, so if you can, be sure to sign-up. If you need some nicer pajamas - this is the perfect excuse.

We will set up a hospital room in the Dramatic Play Center the week of January 20. It is always interesting to watch what happens there.  Doctors, Nurses, Patients - Temperatures, Broken Bones, Cuts, Scrapes. All children have some experience in dealing with unhappy medical stuff - but at Great Beginnings Hospital  there is no pain involved!  Much, much more fun!

If your family has special traditions that are a part of your heritage, we ask that you share them at preschool. The week of January 27 we will be talking about "Children of the World". We will look at clothes, homes, and food from other places on the planet. Not an easy concept for preschoolers. But it gives us a chance to look at a globe and show the kids where their home is on it.  If you can bring in an ethnic heritage, we can show where on the globe it comes from.  

We're going to wear blue and white the first week back from vacation!

Our Christmas Program is Friday, December 20, at 11 in the morning. Family and friends are welcome to come and watch!  The thing about preschool productions is that you never know what is going to happen - but no matter what, it is a wonderful time.   Plan to come and enjoy, to take pictures and videos, and make memories. It seems that the hustle and bustle of extra activities and extra chores may have the effect of taking away the joy of this season. Don’t let it. On December 20, plan on leaving your cares at the door, and just enjoy your child’s Christmas program!  As always, a very special surprise visitor will also be there!

The center will close after the 20th until January 6th.  We wish you a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year!

If you plan to order scholastic books for Christmas gifts, please order by the 6th of December. An easy way to look at books is to go to the parent resource page of this website and click on Scholastic.  Our Class code is GQCRM.


For sharing time this month, please send a Christmas ornament your child can talk about at small group time.  Only send one, and only send one one day - December 9th through 13th.  Please avoid fragile ornaments!

We have, at Great Beginnings, about 70 great reasons for Thankfulness - full of energy and curiosity, sometimes sweet, sometimes not so sweet - but always, always unique.  We thank you for letting us share in their lives. 

On Thursday, November 21, we are having a Family Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner. Please plan on attending! It begins at 5:30 pm. If your last name begins with letters A through M, please bring a main dish and a side dish, and if your last name begins with N through Z, please bring a main dish and dessert. Don’t worry if you have to be a little late.  We know some can’t get here right at 5:30.  The children will sing a song or two for you.

Thanksgiving Break is the last week in November, Wednesday through Friday.  On Monday and Tuesday the 25th and 26th, each child should bring a favorite finger food to share with the class.  Examples are: olives, small squares of cheese, crackers, jello jiggelers, carrots with ranch, pretzels - you get the idea! They will have a Thanksgiving Potluck snack time (more like a meal). Parents are invited to come and help.

Teddy Bears may come to school the week of the 11th - Teddy Bear Week!

We are learning the story of The 3 Bears and that naughty little girl who went into a home when no one was there. It’s always fun to learn good manners at someone else’s expense. We will also be talking about how we share what we have with others. Lots of life lessons in these stories.

On the office side of things - we are offering a new service through our ProCare Software, called Tuition Express. You will be able to pay your monthly tuition through automated payments or on line- no more checks to write or to deposit. Please be watching for the packet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is always amazing to watch how fast the first month of school races by.  October looks to be a fun month of activity. We will be reading about David and Goliath and the story of The Billy Goats Gruff.  The character trait for October is courage.  Delta’s Volunteer Fire Department will bring a fire truck on October 9th.  All children who do not attend regularly on Wednesdays are invited to come and here the fire safety talk and take a tour of the truck.  They are planning to be here at 10:30 am and 2:00 pm.  We will go for a field trip on Monday and Tuesday, October 21st and 22nd-  a nature walk on the Alsdorf farm, collecting leaves and finding some pumpkins.  The week of October 28th, we will celebrate pumpkin days with special activities planned each day.  Parents may wish to volunteer for an hour or so on one of the days. Mary will be organizing the assistance we will need. 
The week of October 14th is a school break week.  The center will be open, but our regular preschool sessions are off until October 21st.  If you would like child care this week you need to sign-up by September 24th.