Leap & Bound Academy

We had the pleasure of transforming one of our classrooms into a magical world of books. There was an abundance of various book titles everywhere you looked. From princess books, to superhero and animal books, we had a wide array of choices to interest everyone. In addition, the fair featured classic books such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly; along with more recent books based off of current animated television shows such as Peppa Pig and PJ Masks. This fair was certainly organized with our students in mind, but the teachers were equally as excited. They were like kids in the candy store as they looked around, grateful for the chance to update their classroom libraries with some fun, new books. Thank you to the parents for helping to make our first Scholastic Book Fair such a success! A special thank you to the parents who purchased books from our teachers wishlist’s to donate to their classes!

Easter has come and gone, but the memories of running around the playground to find eggs, will forever be in the minds of our students. If not forever, at least until the next exciting thing happens here at LBA. Luckily, we have plenty of pictures to keep the memory alive.

The Easter bunny must have been really busy because the playground was full of bright, colorful eggs in every nook and cranny.  There was no hiding the excitement on the children’s faces as they came outside in anticipation of collecting a basket full of eggs. There were plenty of eggs, but that didn’t stop the children from running at full speed in order to swipe up as many eggs as they could. They ran up slides, crawled under tunnels, searched through the plants, and even found some sitting perched on top of the bicycles.  Some of the students focused on finding eggs quickly, while some got caught up investigating the goodies that were stashed inside the one or two eggs they had found. After all the eggs were round up, the children showed off to their friends what was on the inside of their eggs.

The cherry on top of the egg hunt was our special visit from the Easter bunny. All of the students were delighted to see and take pictures with the bunny. Especially, our younger students. At the end of the day, we can confidently say everyone had an egg-cellent time!

In the words of chef Auguste Gusteau, “anyone can cook”. Yesterday, our students had the opportunity to showcase their inner little chef. With pizza on the menu for lunch, it was up to the students to help make dough from scratch, and cover it with sauce and toppings. Ms. Kathryn’s, Ms. Inoka’s, Ms. Alexis’, and Ms. Taregus’ classes merged together essentially creating their very own in house pizzeria.

The students loved being hands on,  kneading their dough, and putting on the toppings.

There were smiles and excitement all around. The students and their stomachs certainly enjoyed pizza day. 

Mardi Gras is a famous occasion in cities across the globe.  From the Port of Spain to the Cayman Islands, millions of people take to the streets for carnival celebrations before the season of Lent. While it isn’t observed nationally in the United States, notable celebrations do take place in French regions such as New Orleans. The West Coast may not be known for Mardi Gras, but it didn’t stop LBA students from making masks in the spirit of Mardi Gras tradition. Paper plates, pipe cleaners, feathers, pom poms, and a whole lot of glue were key components in the making of their Mardi Gras inspired craft. The students had a lot of fun personalizing their masks, and their finished products brought the essence of carnival celebrations to Southern California.  Happy Mardi Gras!

New experiences are always exciting! We know most kids love juice and milk, but what about tea? Today, our students had a party. Not just any kind of party…a tea party! To most, if not all of them, tea was a foreign drink. They looked on with bright curiosity as their teacher steeped the tea packet in their cup of water. It was a fruit flavored tea, so it made the water turn red. The color was definitely a bit deceiving. It might have made the children think it would taste like cherry or strawberry, but us adults know tea has a very distinct taste. Despite knowing it was tea, some were eager to try it and others were a bit more hesitant, but eventually they all took the leap and tried it. The taste received mixed reviews, but for the most part Ms. Taregus’ class liked it, and they had a great time at their tea party.

Ms. Inoka and Ms. Taregus’ classes wrapped up this years winter performances on Friday. In the morning, Ms. Inoka’s class looked so cute in their performance attire of green, black, and white. The girls heads were adorned with Santa headbands, while the boys wore Santa hats. They shook their ribbons to the tune of Jingle Bells and their hips to the tune of Feliz Navidad.

Thank you Ms. Inoka’s class for such a moving holiday performance!

Lastly, Ms. Taregus’ class sang and danced their hearts out. They gave their families such a lively rendition of Up on the House Top, Jingle Bell Rock, and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree. At the end, parents cheered and clapped, but little did they know, Ms. Taregus’ class had more up their sleeves. They went on to recite two holiday poems. From the smiles on their faces, to their energetic movements, they clearly enjoyed performing for their families. Ms. Taregus’ class did such a great job. Thank you!

Yesterday, families got to see amazing performances from Ms. Kathryn and Ms. Kassandra’s class.

Ms. Kathryn’s class performed their set wearing Santa hats personalized with their names. They looked so happy as the jingles played and they showed their families what they had been practicing for weeks. Their loved ones praised their efforts after every song, and the children completed their performance knowing that their families were smiling in the crowd.

In the afternoon, Ms. Kassandra’s class stepped into the spotlight. They all got up on stage wearing reindeer hats and appeared very excited to put on a show. They dazzled the audience with their fun illustration of the songs lyrics.

What a lively performance! Thank you Ms. Kassandra’s class!

 

Wednesdays Christmas performances featured Ms. Alma and Ms. Adriana’s classes. First up was Ms. Alma’s class.  Her class made their presence known as they paraded outside shaking their jingle bells.  Ms. Alma’s students, along with some little ones dressed up as reindeer were ready to perform for their loved ones and stir up some Christmas spirit.

Following Ms. Alma’s lead, the children danced along to the songs. The shaking of their bells, spinning in circles, and swaying back and forth while holding hands had their parents smiling from ear to ear.

A big thanks to Ms. Alma and her class for their awesome moves!

Later on, parents had the joy of watching Ms. Adriana’s class sing and dance in their matching Santa hats. Ms. Adriana’s class also showed us choreographed movements that went along with the music. Their performance was perfect for the holiday and made their families proud. Good job Ms. Adriana’s class and thank you for your jolly performance!

It may not be Christmas eve yet, but for the students of LBA, Santa Claus was already in town. Santa Claus made a special trip from the North Pole just to spread some early Christmas joy to LBA. For many of the students, it wasn’t a surprise that Santa was coming. The anticipation of meeting him had been building since they heard the news that he was coming weeks prior. What they didn’t know was that Santa came with a special surprise for each and every one of them. Thanks to the parents, Santa had a gift specifically addressed to each child.

When Santa Claus walked in, the children had no idea. To them, he was just one of the many different adults that they see walk in and out. Of course, what they didn’t know was that this particular adult had the means to transform himself into Santa Claus. The husband of one of LBA’s very own office administration donned the iconic red and white suit, and made our students dreams come true. After a swift wardrobe change, Santa finally emerged and walked around the school to greet all the children. The smiles on the children’s faces seemed to stretch from here to the moon as you heard the echo of “Santa!!!” ringing form all across the school.

 

Santa completed his rounds, and then it was time for each class to get Santa all to themselves. Class by class, the children’s faces lit up when they got close to Santa. They patiently sat as Santa called them up one by one to sit on Santa’s lap and receive their special gift made in his workshop at the North Pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So many gifts, smiles, and dreams come true! Thank you for visiting LBA Santa Claus!

Tis the season for winter performances at LBA. Ms. Djoni and Ms. Malak’s toddler class kicked off the season of joy with their performance of Baby Shark, Jingle Bells, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. After weeks of practicing, the toddler class donned their santa claus hats and marched out to their singing debut. They were a walking sea of red as they strolled past their parents, and onto the stage to wait for their cue.

 

Ready or not, the music blared from the speakers and the parents in the audience pressed play on their recording devices. They looked on with happy hearts as their children bounced and swayed to the Christmas jingles.

 

 

 

There was a lot more dancing than singing, and the audience just ate it up. The kids are too young to know it yet, but just standing on stage in their holiday attire would’ve been enough to bring smiles to their families faces just because of how cute they are. After they wished the audience a merry Christmas, the parents gave their kids praise and applause, and the children were so excited to embrace their parents.  The toddler class did a great job! Thanks to Ms. Djoni and Ms. Malak for all of their hard work.