Ms. Cathy's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 94

• Preschool Purring Pets - Soothing Toys for Naptime

  Funded Dec 3, 2024

  Thank you so much for your donations to my project for the purring pets. My children were so excited to get these breathing buddies for naptime. We have opened them up and started using them at naptime as an incentive for those children who need a little extra help to calm down at naptime, and it seems to have worked for some of them. I really appreciate the extra help with those children. Anything extra to help them calm down can help, and a buddy that encourages them to slow their own breathing down is a great idea!

  I've allowed the children to use the breathing buddies for two cycles, and then they are encouraged to pass it on to a friend, and this is working pretty good. In the future, I'm hoping that this will become a self-working toy, and it won't need teacher help. For now, it needs the teacher help. Again, thank you so much for your donations, it has helped my children calm down at naptime.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 12 other donors.

• SOS: Store Our Stuff!

  Funded Aug 15, 2024

  Thank you so much for helping me store my stuff! People don't realize the impact that storage can have on a room, but these storage baskets and caddies have helped our stuffed animals to stay more organized.

  I used the baskets to store our new weighted animals and our large supply of puppets. The hanging towers hold most of our stuffed animals and the nets hold a few more.

  The kids are still learning how to put away toys, so some still end up on the floor or the sofa, but this has helped at least with the storage issue, so they are no longer stored in a huge bin, taking up space on the floor.

  Thank you again.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 8 other donors.

• Preschool Pals: Weighted Puppies (and Cats!) for a Peaceful Preschool

  Funded Aug 15, 2024

  Thank you so much for your donations to this project. These weighted animals have been invaluable this year. The children have taken to them, and reach for them whenever they are sad, frustrated, or need an extra hug from something. The extra weight of the animals is just the right amount to weigh them down, and help them settle down.

  My only frustration with having these animals, is now I want one for every single one of my children - sometimes they all seem to want one at the same time! I've had to explain to them that it is a tool, not a toy, and that seems to help a little.

  Thank you again for supplying my classroom with the weighted animals. We love them!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.

• At Home Learning - Backpacking Up the Year (Project 5)

  Funded May 7, 2024

  Thank you so much for donating to our backpack project. The children were so excited to get their backpacks and the materials inside. As soon as they got them, they immediately started to explore the materials. I don't know which item was more exciting - the foam letters, the number cards, the links, or the journals. Each one was exciting for a different kid.

  The children will have so much fun learning over the summer. Your support will help keep them learning and growing, and keep them from having that summer learning loss. Thank you again.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

  This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 6 other donors.

• Preschools Can Pretend - Pretend Play in the Park

  Funded Apr 7, 2024

  Thank you so much for donating to this project to enhance our outdoor play. I had assumed that the dolls and doll strollers would be the biggest enhancement to our outdoor play, but instead, the resin storage box made the biggest change, because it allowed us to keep our dishes out daily, instead of bringing them in and out, and so the chidlren are now using them daily. I think for my next project, I may need to get another bigger box to hold the strollers and dolls as well!

  The children love to stroll the strollers or shopping carts around the playground with the dolls inside. A visitor to our classroom said it was a joy to see; she said she doesn't often see children do that any more. The resin box sits next to our play mud kitchen and holds our dishes, and had come into great use, as the children are busy making dirt/mud pies and other fun foods.

  It has been a joy to see pretend play come to life in our outdoor playground/classroom, and your donations made it possible. Thank you again.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

  This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and 10 other donors.

• Preschoolers Can Play: Outdoor Toys for Our Playground!

  Funded Mar 21, 2024

  Thank you so much for donating to this project to update our outdoor toys and storage supplies! Our balls and ball storage were getting really outdated, and the children were getting a little tired of our sand toys, so getting new trucks was really exciting. We have not explored the wiffle balls and new t-ball stand yet - we were still using our current t-ball stand this spring, and didn't pull out the new one yet, so that will be a welcome surprise in the fall when we open it up.

  The children loved playing with the new balls and ball storage - they always love playing football, basketball, and soccer, and the new balls were a delight to play with. We put the trucks into our sandbox, and they were an immediate hit! The airplanes were saved for our field day, and the children were delighted to play with them - they asked for them for days afterwards. But little did they know, that we saved them to send one home with each of them at the end of the year!

  Thank you so much for updating our outdoor toys. I appreciate your support of my classroom and public education.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

• Preschool Promotion: End of the Year Fun!

  Funded May 7, 2024

  Thank you so much for your donations. When I received the news that I received this project, I decided that these materials needed a bag! The teacher next door was making bags for her students, so I enlisted her help, and spent a little of my own money, and made a bag for each of my students to put in these supplies. And, then our end of the year backpacks got funded too! So, instead of giving these away at our home visits, the children were given these bags with all of these fun supplies at our end of the year celebration party.

  The kids were so excited to see all of the supplies inside the bag, especially the bubbles. They were so excited to see the bubbles, that they didn't see the books and learning supplies, but the parents will love those supplies just as much. The kindergarten book, and a book I added about summer will be a great read for them as they move into the summer, and into kindergarten in the fall. Thank you so much for funding these learning supplies, so that my students continue to learn over the summer. I appreciate your support of my classroom so much!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy

  This classroom project was brought to life by PNC Grow Up Great® and one other donor.

• Preschool Percussionists: We Can Keep the Beat!

  Funded Jan 24, 2024

  Thank you so much for your donations to our project, enabling us to get new rhythm instruments. The drums were especially a hit, as we only had a couple of drums before, and they were always fought over. Now, the only fight is who gets the purple ones... It was also nice to get new triangles and new rhythm sticks, as both of those instruments were getting older, and we only had a few triangles.

  We have experimented with all of the rhythm instruments, and incorporated all of them into our instrument collection, and the children play with them every week - sometimes every day. It is nice to hear music in the classroom, and the children don't realize that they are learning through rhythm.

  Thank you again.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cathy