Southside Family Nurturing Center

The Bunny class (toddlers) working on a car wash during outdoor learning. These students are working on fine motor skills, sharing and taking turns, and experimenting with the properties of water - just to name a few areas of exploration!

Pool days are a favorite summer activity at Southside and these kiddos were so ready to go swimming!

We had a blast at our first summer trip to the park! SSFNC is open 11 months of the year (we close in August for staff training, preparing for the coming year, and a needed break). During the months of June and July we take twice weekly field trips to public playgrounds and pools in Minneapolis.

We took a field trip to the Como Zoo today and had a picnic lunch afterwards.

We received a grant from Think Small this Spring and were able to purchase so many amazing books for the classrooms. Here is just a fraction of the books we ordered! The majority of books focus on social-emotional concepts, body awareness and positivity, and bilingual books in Spanish and Somali.

The Bobcat classroom (Pre-K students entering Kindergarten in the fall) spent April exploring storytelling through many forms. Students put on a play of the 3 Little Pigs complete with costumes and props they helped to create. They also made puppets and put on a puppet show with their creations.

Our youngest learners (the Bunny class) spent some time learning about different animals during the month of April. One of the favorite activities that was available to students was painting animals (and then washing them off in the sensory bin)! What a fun way to work on fine motor skills, talk about different concepts (animal sounds, colors, counting etc), and practice sharing and collaboration.

Our Pre-K class (the Bobcats) made a cake together last week. They worked on following a recipe, taking turns adding ingredients and stirring, and making connections back to the book they were reading - The Little Red Hen.
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We have been so happy to play outside in the snow ❄️ these last 2 weeks! Southside provides all students with snow gear at school so that everyone can get outside to enjoy the snowy weather.

It's not too early to think about ethical holiday gifting! Shop the Warehouse Sale Storm Creek and mention Southside Family Nurturing Center at checkout. Support a local business, save up to 80% on sustainably produced apparel, and, the best part, we'll receive 10% as a charitable gift! Shop in-store Nov 3-4 and 10-11 or online November 3-11: https://www.stormcreek.com/

This week we took a field trip to Westwood Hills Nature Center. The students got to watch a puppet show about how apples trees grow and produce fruit and then everyone helped to make apple cider! We also went on a nature walk with a naturalist and looked for different shaped leaves, seeds, and the ways nature is changing with the season. It was a wonderful adventure and we hope to return sometime soon!

Our Pre-K class graduated at the beginning of August. What an amazing group of kids who are heading off to Kindergarten next month! Some of these students had been with us since they were toddlers!
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Southside Family Nurturing Center is hiring an Assistant Teacher. Please spread the word!

Assisstant Teacher Organization Summary: Southside FamilyNurturingCenter is a holistic social service agency with over 40 years of experience serving families in the Phillips community and surrounding neighborhoods...

What a fun day at the playground! During the summer, Southside students go on field trips twice a week! We explore different parks throughout Minneapolis and have a great time.

Rock painting in the Bear classroom! What a fun sensory experience while working on fine motor and color theory skills.

The Bobcat classroom released the butterflies we have been raising. We have been having so much fun learning about caterpillars, butterflies, and their life cycle.

Planting in our garden beds! The kids had so much fun digging and planting tomato and pepper plants today!

We have been so happy with the weather this past week! Playing outdoors is an important part of our program. Not only do children develop gross motor skills outside, but they are also practicing body awareness, turn taking, fine motor skills, academic skills, executive functioning, and more!

Our Pre-K classroom just finished up a unit learning about color. The students explored color mixing, shading and tinting, color fading, and we finished the unit with a multi-day self portrait project.

Board games are a fun way to work on problem solving, turn taking, following directions, academic concepts, and fine motor skills. This game is a cooperative game to race snails to the finish line.

Today our Pre-K students were experimenting with absorbency as a part of our unit on wind and water. We made predictions about what materials would absorb or repel water and then experimented to see if our guesses were correct.

First snow is magical! Our students had so much fun playing and exploring outside today.

We made applesauce today in the Bobcat classroom! The students had so much fun making and tasting.

Today we had so much fun making and exploring the different properties of slime!

The Bear Class is busy this week exploring and playing with different materials.

We love music class! Every week Southside students get group music therapy. Students work on turn taking, following rhythms, exploring instruments, following directions, and so much more!

The school year has begun at Southside Family Nurturing Center and the kids in the Bobcat class (Pre-K) are having so much fun exploring their classroom and making friends.

Last week, SSFNC's Executive Director, Julie Ellefson, was featured on Insight News with Al McFarlane. This in-depth interview touches on the impact and importance of Southside Family Nurturing Center's dual-generation program.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1392220567857126

If only, you could come inside to see what happens with children and families at Southside Family Nurturing Center! Next best is our new video, voices telling our story and demonstrating the value of early intervention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giq310Yk5wQ.

See and hear what happens when we commit and invest in building strong families and big futures across race and income.

Thank you!
Your support is a big part of our story.
Donate: ssfnc.org

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