HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! The children settled back into learning quickly after the winter break. Classrooms have been exploring projects including winter animals, insects, artists, and friendship. The ice and snow followed by many days of rain provided opportunities for dance parties in the classroom, extra time with the STEM materials in the [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Happy New Year! The new year provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the past year. Many wonderful things happened at Texas A&M University in 2023 related to early childhood education and we are excited for what the future holds. In addition to the purchase of [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! As we prepare to close out 2023, we wanted to reflect on the year and the many things we have to be grateful for at Becky Gates Children’s Center. Take a moment to read the Center Spotlight which highlights many of the special events from 2023. Much excitement is [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Wow! The month of October was busy at BGCC! A tremendous amount of planning went into professional development, a visit from the Dean’s Development Council from the School of Education and Human Development, and the 25th Anniversary Celebration. While many involved in the planning of these events were feeling [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! This is a favorite time of year where the weather cools off a little, the leaves slowly begin to change, and we begin to feel renewed. The children have developed attachment bonds and strong relationships with their teachers allowing them to explore more freely. It is exciting to witness [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are happy to see returning families and welcome new families this fall semester! The children are beginning to acclimate to their new environments and build strong relationships with their teachers and peers. With the start of a new year, we have many fun events planned throughout the semester. [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! This month we say goodbye to the summer semester and hello to the fall semester! We wish our kindergartners all the best in school and welcome our new families joining us! This fall we have a lot of fun events planned. In August, we have New Family Orientation, Meet [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Although it feels as though summer just began, it is unfortunately already coming to an end. This month we say goodbye to our school agers, and we also say goodbye to two of our beloved teachers: Mrs. Kay, 16 years of selfless service, and Mrs. Andrea, 25 years of [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Welcome new and returning families joining us this summer! We look forward to another great summer full of fun and exciting activities like splash and messy art days! We are excited to have our school age children back for the summer. Our summer school age program is led by [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! May is a time for celebrations, and we have a lot to celebrate around here! We have 38 pre-kindergartners who will graduate in May, and we know they are going to ROCK kindergarten! We’ve also had a lot of parents excitedly walk in saying, “I PASSED!” We love sharing [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! In March, we celebrated National Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Week. The Becky Gates Children’s Center remains committed to providing the highest quality meals, nutritional education and physical development for our children. Research proves that good nutrition in young children not only contributes to their physical growth, [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Our staff were recently awarded the gift of time to focus on growth and development. During our professional development time, teaching staff focused on mindset and mindfulness and enjoyed enlightening presentations by Dr. Ben Welch and Dr. Hope Gerde. There was much laughter and togetherness in our fixed-and-growth mindset [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We would like to extend a warm welcome to our newly enrolled families – we are glad to have you as part of the Becky Gates Children’s Center Family! We have many exciting events planned for the Spring 2023 semester – we hope you will be able to join [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Howdy Families & Friends! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and we are hitting the new year running with many exciting announcements. On an administrative front, we wanted to share that recently, Texas A&M University began negotiating the purchase of Charlotte Sharp Children’s Center at the direction of [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Howdy Families & Friends, We made it to the end of the year! As we reflect on the past year, we have many things to be grateful for, especially our families and staff. In 2022, we joined the Division of Academic and Strategic Collaboration and obtained a 4-star (highest) [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! The holidays are approaching and time is starting to move too quickly. We often go from one celebration to another and the next thing we know it's another year and we're trying to start anew. I try to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the small moments and [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Howdy Families & Friends! This is a favorite time of year where the weather cools off a little, the leaves slowly begin to change, and we begin to feel renewed. The children have developed attachment bonds and strong relationships with their teachers allowing them to explore more freely. It [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are happy to see returning families and welcome new families this fall semester! The children are beginning to acclimate to their new environments and build strong relationships with their teachers and peers. With the start of another school year, we have many fun events planned throughout the semester. [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! August is a bittersweet month at Becky Gates Children’s Center. We are so excited to kick off the 2022-2023 school year on August 15th and get to know our new families who will be joining the center! However, this also means that we have to say goodbye to our [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We hope you have been enjoying your summer as much as we have at the Becky Gates Children’s Center! The children and teachers have enjoyed spending time outside engaging in fun activities such as water play, outdoor art exploration, and messy mud play. We hope you are finding time [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are excited to begin our summer semester. Welcome new families and school age children for the summer! Our teachers have been busy prepping for FUN summer days such as splash (water) days and our favorite annual MUD DAY! Your child’s teacher will notify you of when your child [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are excited to announce that the Becky Gates Children’s Center is transitioning from the Division of Student Affairs to the Division of Academic & Strategic Collaborations on June 1, 2022. The Becky Gates Children’s Center will have a new reporting structure to the Vice President for Academic & [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Summer is approaching quickly and we are excited for all the events we have to wrap up the semester! Read more to stay updated on all of our April events! School Age Summer Program We still have a few openings for children who have completed 1st-4th grades. If you [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are excited for warmer weather and springtime fun! March begins with Read Across America Day on March 2 and Family Workshop on March 11. The Family Workshop this semester will be an open discussion led by parents about Strengthening Families. See Zoom information below about the Family Workshop. [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! As always January flew by, and we find ourselves in February already! We have exciting activities planned this month. Read more to learn all about them! Happy Lunar New Year! The Reveille class learned all about Lunar New Year last week and worked together to create a Chinese [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Can you believe it is 2022? We hope this year is a great year full of laughter, growth, learning, and joy! Changes for 2022 Krista Van De Flier will start her new role as Instructional Coach January 3. Krista has over 20 years’ experience working in the early childhood [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are enjoying playing and having music with Ms. Alexia on our playground this fall! We will be submitting our application for the Nature Explore Classroom Certification soon. The certification program is a national initiative that recognizes schools that have made a commitment to providing outdoor classrooms and comprehensive [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! In celebration of our new nature-based playground we are going to temporarily transition away from our HighScope Monthly Activities to focus on research-based, field-tested Nature Explore Family Adventure Activities. The Nature Explore Adventure Activities Mission is to inspire children and their families to connect with the natural world. The [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are so happy to have our playground open! Check out this article written about our playground and our grand opening last month! If you would like to support us on our mission as we improve and expand for future Aggie children, click this giving link! Center Events: Reminder, [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! September is a very exciting time for us as our playground renovation comes to an end. We hope many of you can join us for our ribbon cutting event on September 3rd, at 4 p.m. All parents and friends of Becky Gates Children's Center are invited! The playground will be [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are ready to kick off our new year on August 16! We wish our graduates moving on to kindergarten the best! We will miss you dearly, but know you are going to do great. This newsletter is packed full of important information as we transition to a new [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Howdy Families and Friends! We don’t know about you, but we have been having fun around here! We’ve had pirate treasure hunt adventures, dinosaur discoveries, underwater alphabet journeys, and planetarium explorations. Summer is in full swing and we keep having many fun adventures. We enjoy hearing about your family [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are excited to kick off the start of summer. Welcome newly enrolled families. Welcome new and returning summer school age children and families. We have another fun-filled summer packed with exciting outdoor adventures and lots of learning. We can’t wait to see where the children take their learning [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! What a year it has been! As I reflected on the past year, I am amazed at the resiliency of our children and teachers. We remained open for our families during a pandemic, and we made it a great year even with continuous changes. All of us love and [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We want to thank Student Health Services for coming out to BGCC to vaccinate many of our employees who wanted to be vaccinated in March. April is turning out to be a super busy month for us. Please read below for more information. Pre-K Graduation Pre-K Graduation will be [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We met the requirement for Cognia Accreditation! Cognia accredits schools that serve students from age “infant” to adult. As an early learning school, Cognia accreditation is the “first step” in the full spectrum of accredited institutions available to each student and his/her education progresses through the years. Cognia was [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! February is a busy month for us! Our national reaccreditation dates are February 22-25. The review will take place virtually. The administration team will hold iPads and use zoom for the rater to observe the classrooms. No recordings will occur. The classroom observations will be on Feb. 23 & [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We hope everyone had a wonderful break! We are glad to be back and hope to have another amazing semester with your wonderful children! Welcome to our new families who have recently started. We hope you get settled in and enjoy being a part of the Becky Gates Children’s [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! 2020 has been a challenging year, and as 2020 comes to a close, there are many things to be thankful for. Families are spending more time together than ever before! Have you had a chance to slow down and reconnect with your family? Have you enjoyed spending quality time [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! This month, we want to take time to share with you a project our teaching team was challenged with. As you know, we ask our families to complete a Family Questionnaire at the beginning of the fall semester or when a new family starts. The answers provided on those [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! Thank you for filling out the family workshop survey. It was a close one, however, the majority vote was from 12-1 PM. The first family workshop of the school year is titled, “Being Part of a Family” (Highscope, 2014). During this workshop we will: Describe what is meant by [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! The fall semester in Aggieland is upon us. We feel the positive energy and hear the glorious sound of the Aggie Band in the morning. The mornings are getting a little cooler; fall is approaching. The children are beginning to get settled into their new classrooms and making new [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We have made it to August! I am excited to start another school year, even if it is a little different this year. Since the health and safety of the children and staff in attendance are a priority, most of our back to school functions will be done remotely. [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We are working on arrangements to reschedule our Pre-K graduation. Most likely it will happen in the beginning of August and it will be in the morning due to the heat. As soon as we have solid, definite plans, we will share the date and time. We are in [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! We hope many of you are settling into your “new” normal. Unfortunately, this “new” normal may be around for a while. I have reflected a lot during the rapid changes this pandemic has caused, and in those reflections, I am able to appreciate all the good things happening during [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather and getting outside more. I enjoy taking walks after dinner with my family. It is a great time to connect with your children and have wonderful conversations. You also can learn many new things while taking a walk. Maybe you hear [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! I sure miss the hustle and bustle of a busy children’s center. I miss the hugs and sound of laughter most. I want to thank our families, teachers, and administration for being so amazing during this time. You have been so kind and understanding with the many changes, and [...]
HOWDY FAMILIES AND FRIENDS! When I think of March, I think of warmer weather, being outside, and flying kites. March brings us many things including spring! We have a lot of fun activities planned for the children this month. March is National Women’s History Month. The National Women’s History Alliance is the leader [...]
Howdy Families and Friends! February is a good month to discuss many things with young children. This year is a leap year – what does that mean? It means we have an additional day this year, and it only happens once every four years. Instead of 365 days this year, we will have [...]
