With all the parenting books out there, it can be a bit daunting figuring out which books are worth your oversubscribed time. Over the next several months, I’ll provide brief reviews of some new(ish) and popular parenting books, so you can decide whether you would like to buy or--better yet!--borrow them from our growing parent resource library.
For our inaugural review, I’ve selected Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne (Ballantine Books, 2009). The title, of course, is alluring. “Feeling modern”, as we do (and as members of nearly every generation for the past five or so hundred years have done), typically entails the sense that the world has grown more complex than a posited simpler past. In our case, that sensation is ramified by the acceleration of technological development; the niftiest iPhone of five years ago is already an antique, and our children will likely look at our lingering CD collections and wonder if they should be played on a Victrola. Simplicity Parenting, rooted in the principles of Waldorf education, suggests that we declutter our children’s lives, literally and figuratively, thereby reducing stress reactions (what Payne more evocatively terms “soul fevers”) in our children.
Much of what Payne suggests we do with our children seems to be common sense. “Simplicity” should extend to our children’s environments (limiting the number of toys in the house, reducing exposure to media) and their schedules (a “rhythm” of daily life that grants familiarity, but still allows for plenty of unstructured free time). At times, Payne’s “simplified” vision may seem too radical for some households; not many households will wish to do away with their televisions entirely. (Frankly, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t see another movie for, oh, ten years if I didn’t have a TV and Netflix.) However, nearly all of Payne’s suggestions, perhaps adopted in a modified form, seem likely to help children feel a little less of the burden of the adult world and a bit better able to find their footing, now that their paths have been made clearer.
Simplicity Parenting is available for borrowing in the Parent Resource Library.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Classroom Themes and Avoiding Power Struggles
Hi All,
This coming week is full of really fun activities for your children to explore and experience. All the classes will offer an array of learning experiences.
Teachers put out specific age appropriate activities to help each child grow and develop at their own pace. Teachers may ask questions regarding an activity or they may actively model what they want a child to learn.
For example; What happens when we mix the yellow and red paint? A three and four year old will most likely be able to answer the question as they see the orange color appear. A two year old may need the teacher to supply the answer and experiment with the colors over and over. Using encouraging and exciting words will strengthen the child's learning experience. "Wow, you painted with yellow and red and made orange. That is amazing. Let me see if I can make orange. Do you want to mix the colors again and see what happens?" Even when a child does not understand a word you have used they will catch onto your excitement.
Our teachers will be changing their areas (rooms). Teacher Theresa and Teacher Sarah will be Outside, Teacher Lolly and Teacher Tammy will be in the Main Room, Teacher Karen and Teacher Daran will be Floaters and Teacher Mary will be in the Art Room. The teachers will rotate areas (rooms) every four weeks, giving them opportunities to observe your children through out the whole school.
Pre-k will be exploring life on a farm. What farm animals contribute to our lives and how to take care of them. The teachers will also be talking about safety with animals. The children will be making yummy corn bread and butter. They will continue to learn about leaves and the fall season. And coming soon we will have many new scarecrows to protect our garden. Keep a look out for these.
Talk with your children about where the food comes from when you are at the grocery store or while enjoying a meal together. Children always understand a concept better if you can reference it to something they have already experienced. Has your child been to the forest (camping)? A forest grows many, many trees and a farm can be as large as a forest but grows fruit and veggies for us to eat.
The MWF and TTH classes will continue their body theme, exploring X-rays on our new light table. Movement and music is a wonderful way for children to experiment with their bodies. "You can hop like a bunny, or, hop on one foot." Put on some music at home, start dancing and see what your child will do.
Here is a little parenting tip that I have found to be very successful, in both the school setting and at home: What do I want my child to do? Changing a negative statement into a positive statement.
Example: Instead of “Do not run” say, “Please walk” or “Use your walking feet,” or “Inside is for walking.”
This gives the child the information of what to do rather than what not to do. Children tend to be more cooperative with positive statements.
Example: If your child is whining and you tell your child to stop whining, a lot of the time your child just whines louder. The child is so caught up in whining he cannot think of another way to talk. Tell your child to “Use a talking voice so mommy can understand you” or “Daddy cannot understand you when you whine. I need you to use a talking voice.”
Children respond to positive directions much better than negative directions. You are telling them what to do rather than what not to do.
Clear and positive statements decrease the possibility of power struggles. You give positive attention to appropriate behavior rather than responding to the negative behavior.
If you would like to talk more about parenting skills or problem solve specific behaviors, please contact me.
We look forward to seeing all of you this coming week.
Director Karen and Teachers Lolly, Mary, Sarah, Tammy, Theresa and Daran
This coming week is full of really fun activities for your children to explore and experience. All the classes will offer an array of learning experiences.
Teachers put out specific age appropriate activities to help each child grow and develop at their own pace. Teachers may ask questions regarding an activity or they may actively model what they want a child to learn.
For example; What happens when we mix the yellow and red paint? A three and four year old will most likely be able to answer the question as they see the orange color appear. A two year old may need the teacher to supply the answer and experiment with the colors over and over. Using encouraging and exciting words will strengthen the child's learning experience. "Wow, you painted with yellow and red and made orange. That is amazing. Let me see if I can make orange. Do you want to mix the colors again and see what happens?" Even when a child does not understand a word you have used they will catch onto your excitement.
Our teachers will be changing their areas (rooms). Teacher Theresa and Teacher Sarah will be Outside, Teacher Lolly and Teacher Tammy will be in the Main Room, Teacher Karen and Teacher Daran will be Floaters and Teacher Mary will be in the Art Room. The teachers will rotate areas (rooms) every four weeks, giving them opportunities to observe your children through out the whole school.
Pre-k will be exploring life on a farm. What farm animals contribute to our lives and how to take care of them. The teachers will also be talking about safety with animals. The children will be making yummy corn bread and butter. They will continue to learn about leaves and the fall season. And coming soon we will have many new scarecrows to protect our garden. Keep a look out for these.
Talk with your children about where the food comes from when you are at the grocery store or while enjoying a meal together. Children always understand a concept better if you can reference it to something they have already experienced. Has your child been to the forest (camping)? A forest grows many, many trees and a farm can be as large as a forest but grows fruit and veggies for us to eat.
The MWF and TTH classes will continue their body theme, exploring X-rays on our new light table. Movement and music is a wonderful way for children to experiment with their bodies. "You can hop like a bunny, or, hop on one foot." Put on some music at home, start dancing and see what your child will do.
Here is a little parenting tip that I have found to be very successful, in both the school setting and at home: What do I want my child to do? Changing a negative statement into a positive statement.
Example: Instead of “Do not run” say, “Please walk” or “Use your walking feet,” or “Inside is for walking.”
This gives the child the information of what to do rather than what not to do. Children tend to be more cooperative with positive statements.
Example: If your child is whining and you tell your child to stop whining, a lot of the time your child just whines louder. The child is so caught up in whining he cannot think of another way to talk. Tell your child to “Use a talking voice so mommy can understand you” or “Daddy cannot understand you when you whine. I need you to use a talking voice.”
Children respond to positive directions much better than negative directions. You are telling them what to do rather than what not to do.
Clear and positive statements decrease the possibility of power struggles. You give positive attention to appropriate behavior rather than responding to the negative behavior.
If you would like to talk more about parenting skills or problem solve specific behaviors, please contact me.
We look forward to seeing all of you this coming week.
Director Karen and Teachers Lolly, Mary, Sarah, Tammy, Theresa and Daran
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Coming up - Week of October 1st
Hi All,
It is hard to believe it will be October 1st tomorrow. WOW! Time does fly by when you are having fun.
And we are having so much fun at preschool. Children are settling in, enjoying friends, experiencing new activities and getting to know all the teachers.
I have attached some information regarding the Importance of Routine, with an excerpt from Teaching Preschool. This information will not only help you understand why preschools have daily routines, but also why it is important for young children to have predictable routines through out the day.
Next week the children in all classes will enjoy going to the doctors in our dramatic play area. So when you come to school this week, the main room has a "waiting room" and "doctor's exam room" all set up for the children to play in. If you are a working parent this week feel free to be the patient and let children give you shots and medicine.
In some empty medicine bottles I have put cotton to represent the medicine. I do not believe this "pretend" medicine will encourage children to play with your medicine at home. Children understand this is make believe play and it is our job to make sure the "real" medicine is not within their reach.
In the Art Room this week children will be learning about leaves and painting leaves. This is a great time to talk to your children about leaves; sizes, colors, shapes, texture and the "Fall" season. Pre-k will be studying leaves, placing leaves in order of smallest to largest, creating a creature using leaves, and discussing why leaves fall off the trees.
This month children will play with orange, black and brown play dough. Orange and black are our colors for the month.
When younger children point to an object, answer using easy descriptive words, instead of just naming the object. Child points to a car, "That is one, red car," child points to an apple, "one, green apple." As they get older add more adjectives. Have your children wear orange to school as an easy way to reinforce learning about the color orange.
Here is a little parenting tip that may be helpful to you. When talking with your child it is important to get down on his/her level and have eye contact. “Long distance” calling often is ignored by the child. You will get better results if you can take the time to go to where your child is. I always tell parents to “try” to talk in a calm manner, but I know this is easier said than done. These actions will help build a respectful relationship with your child. If you would like to talk more about parenting skills or problem solve a specific challenging behavior, please contact me.
See you all next week,
Director Karen
It is hard to believe it will be October 1st tomorrow. WOW! Time does fly by when you are having fun.
And we are having so much fun at preschool. Children are settling in, enjoying friends, experiencing new activities and getting to know all the teachers.
I have attached some information regarding the Importance of Routine, with an excerpt from Teaching Preschool. This information will not only help you understand why preschools have daily routines, but also why it is important for young children to have predictable routines through out the day.
Next week the children in all classes will enjoy going to the doctors in our dramatic play area. So when you come to school this week, the main room has a "waiting room" and "doctor's exam room" all set up for the children to play in. If you are a working parent this week feel free to be the patient and let children give you shots and medicine.
In some empty medicine bottles I have put cotton to represent the medicine. I do not believe this "pretend" medicine will encourage children to play with your medicine at home. Children understand this is make believe play and it is our job to make sure the "real" medicine is not within their reach.
In the Art Room this week children will be learning about leaves and painting leaves. This is a great time to talk to your children about leaves; sizes, colors, shapes, texture and the "Fall" season. Pre-k will be studying leaves, placing leaves in order of smallest to largest, creating a creature using leaves, and discussing why leaves fall off the trees.
This month children will play with orange, black and brown play dough. Orange and black are our colors for the month.
When younger children point to an object, answer using easy descriptive words, instead of just naming the object. Child points to a car, "That is one, red car," child points to an apple, "one, green apple." As they get older add more adjectives. Have your children wear orange to school as an easy way to reinforce learning about the color orange.
Here is a little parenting tip that may be helpful to you. When talking with your child it is important to get down on his/her level and have eye contact. “Long distance” calling often is ignored by the child. You will get better results if you can take the time to go to where your child is. I always tell parents to “try” to talk in a calm manner, but I know this is easier said than done. These actions will help build a respectful relationship with your child. If you would like to talk more about parenting skills or problem solve a specific challenging behavior, please contact me.
See you all next week,
Director Karen
Cause and effect, germs, and manners
What a fun picnic today. It was great to see you and your children outside of school.
Next week children will be building with big wooden blocks and card board blocks in the main room. They will be learning all about balance and weight. The big wooden blocks are much heavier than the card board blocks. The children will be able to experience the difference in building with heavy and light blocks. For the younger children this may be the first time they have heard the terms "heavy" and "light". When you talk about things that are heavy, use your whole body to explain, not just your words. Show your children using your body how it would look to pick up something "heavy" and then something "light". Have then hold a feather, then have them hold something heavy. Children need to learn using all of their senses. For example; showing a child a picture of an apple has much less meaning than having your child see, smell and then taste an apple. This is true in everything they experience. The more their senses are involved in a learning experience the more their brain will retain.
For young children the best part of building with blocks is knocking them down. With children two and under, please expect them to knock down any and all block structures. When this happens and the other child is upset, gently help your child and the other child build a new tower. You can say, " Tommy is sad his tower was pushed over. We can help him build another one". Impulse control and awareness of others takes many years to develop and strengthen. Your child is not a bully, he is just a Toddler or a two year old, doing what he does best. PLAYING AND EXPERIMENTING. CAUSE AND EFFECT. When I do this, this will happen. Sometimes the outcome is good, sometimes not so good. This is how children (adults) learn.
With children three and older we can teach them to only knock down what they build. Not to knock down other children's structures. Again, this takes time for the children to learn. Often suggesting they build together works well with older three year olds and four year olds. If a child knocks down another child's structure, point out how the other child may feel. "Tommy is sad that his tower was knocked down. You may help him to build another tower or you can build your own structure then you may knock down what you build. I cannot let you knock down Tommy's tower."
It is the parents encouragement and consistency that guides most of our children's behavior. Understanding children's development is very important to setting appropriate expectations. If you would like more information regarding your child's development please let one of the teachers or me know and we can set up a time to talk.
Next week Pre-k and MWF will be continuing their theme of getting to know you and talking about germs, kindness and manners. Pre-k's question of the week is, "What are good manners and what are bad manners." This is a great discussion to have with your children at home. Act out what is a "good" or "bad" manner. The best way we can teach our children good manners is by role modeling.
The classes will also be discussing families. Pre-k will be making frames for family pictures and making family trees.
A fun way to teach your children about germs is to have them play with glitter for a few minutes, then ask them to wash their hands. After they wash their hands, discuss how some of the glitter is still on their hands. This is like germs, but we cannot see the germs. Also, take some glitter, put it in you palm then sneeze, the glitter will fly all over. This helps give children a better visual of what germs do when we actually do sneeze. Start teaching them to sneeze into their elbows.
The teachers have many more fun and exciting activities set up for your children to explore.
See you soon,
Director/Teacher Karen and Teacher Mary, Sarah, Lolly, Theresa, Daran and Tammy
Next week children will be building with big wooden blocks and card board blocks in the main room. They will be learning all about balance and weight. The big wooden blocks are much heavier than the card board blocks. The children will be able to experience the difference in building with heavy and light blocks. For the younger children this may be the first time they have heard the terms "heavy" and "light". When you talk about things that are heavy, use your whole body to explain, not just your words. Show your children using your body how it would look to pick up something "heavy" and then something "light". Have then hold a feather, then have them hold something heavy. Children need to learn using all of their senses. For example; showing a child a picture of an apple has much less meaning than having your child see, smell and then taste an apple. This is true in everything they experience. The more their senses are involved in a learning experience the more their brain will retain.
For young children the best part of building with blocks is knocking them down. With children two and under, please expect them to knock down any and all block structures. When this happens and the other child is upset, gently help your child and the other child build a new tower. You can say, " Tommy is sad his tower was pushed over. We can help him build another one". Impulse control and awareness of others takes many years to develop and strengthen. Your child is not a bully, he is just a Toddler or a two year old, doing what he does best. PLAYING AND EXPERIMENTING. CAUSE AND EFFECT. When I do this, this will happen. Sometimes the outcome is good, sometimes not so good. This is how children (adults) learn.
With children three and older we can teach them to only knock down what they build. Not to knock down other children's structures. Again, this takes time for the children to learn. Often suggesting they build together works well with older three year olds and four year olds. If a child knocks down another child's structure, point out how the other child may feel. "Tommy is sad that his tower was knocked down. You may help him to build another tower or you can build your own structure then you may knock down what you build. I cannot let you knock down Tommy's tower."
It is the parents encouragement and consistency that guides most of our children's behavior. Understanding children's development is very important to setting appropriate expectations. If you would like more information regarding your child's development please let one of the teachers or me know and we can set up a time to talk.
Next week Pre-k and MWF will be continuing their theme of getting to know you and talking about germs, kindness and manners. Pre-k's question of the week is, "What are good manners and what are bad manners." This is a great discussion to have with your children at home. Act out what is a "good" or "bad" manner. The best way we can teach our children good manners is by role modeling.
The classes will also be discussing families. Pre-k will be making frames for family pictures and making family trees.
A fun way to teach your children about germs is to have them play with glitter for a few minutes, then ask them to wash their hands. After they wash their hands, discuss how some of the glitter is still on their hands. This is like germs, but we cannot see the germs. Also, take some glitter, put it in you palm then sneeze, the glitter will fly all over. This helps give children a better visual of what germs do when we actually do sneeze. Start teaching them to sneeze into their elbows.
The teachers have many more fun and exciting activities set up for your children to explore.
See you soon,
Director/Teacher Karen and Teacher Mary, Sarah, Lolly, Theresa, Daran and Tammy
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Getting to know you
Hi All,
The first week of school was wonderful. Many parents and children were getting reacquainted with old friends and making new friends. The teachers did an amazing job in creating a fun and exciting environment for your children to enjoy. It was exciting watching children enter the classrooms and interact with all the materials the teachers had prepared for them.
All the classes will continue the theme of "Getting To Know You", emphasizing kindness, manners, family and friendship. Children three and under are mostly involved in parallel play and happily interact with all the materials at school. It is not a developmental expectation for the younger children to understand the concept of being a friend. The teachers however, start teaching about friendship by helping children recognize other children's feelings, starting the sharing process, and modeling kind and polite words.
The first week of school was wonderful. Many parents and children were getting reacquainted with old friends and making new friends. The teachers did an amazing job in creating a fun and exciting environment for your children to enjoy. It was exciting watching children enter the classrooms and interact with all the materials the teachers had prepared for them.
As part of our "Getting To Know You" theme, children will have an
opportunity to go camping here at school. Room 7 has been transformed
into a camp site and fishing pond. We will be talking about family
vacations and fun things to do with family and friends.
All the classes will continue the theme of "Getting To Know You", emphasizing kindness, manners, family and friendship. Children three and under are mostly involved in parallel play and happily interact with all the materials at school. It is not a developmental expectation for the younger children to understand the concept of being a friend. The teachers however, start teaching about friendship by helping children recognize other children's feelings, starting the sharing process, and modeling kind and polite words.
Teacher Sarah and Mary have some fun "friendship" activities lined
up for this coming week. This will be "Friendship Week" in Pre-k,
starting off with discussions about who are our friends, do friends make
you happy, can friends make you sad (angry, frustrated), what are some
of the fun activities you like to do with your friends? The teachers
will support the concept of friendship by helping the children to
recognize what makes a good friend and the different feelings they may
have when playing with friends.
Pre-k will be making a friendship salad and the children will
be practicing and strengthening their small motor muscles when cutting
fruit. The children will be working on math skills when dividing up the
pieces of fruit (fractions), adding more fruit to the salad (addition),
and eating the fruit (subtraction). Next time your children eat
crackers have them count out a certain number then talk about how many
they have left as they eat the crackers. You will be helping them to
understand subtraction and learning one-to-one correspondence. If they
count incorrectly because they are talking too fast, just have them
start over and slowly count and touch each cracker. Children learn to
count rote before they can count one-to-one.
The Pre-k children will also be making friendship bracelets,
painting a circle of friends, (using hand prints) and reading "Rainbow
Fish", a story about friendship and sharing.
This coming Thursday will be their first trip to the library.
Teacher Sarah and Teacher Mary had the children paint some book bags
last week. The children will put their library books into these bags to
bring home.
All the teachers will be talking about kindness, and how to use
kind words with our friends. Take opportunities to point out kind acts
during the day. Thank your children when they use polite words, when
they follow your rules/routines, when they do not interrupt or just
about anytime they exhibit positive behavior. Often, we tend to point
out inappropriate actions and forget to build and support the behavior
we want our children to have.
Children do not always want to play with each other and that is
ok. It is our responsibility to teach them how to kindly tell another
child that they do not want to play right now. We also need to
acknowledge the other child's feelings of rejection and help him/her
express these feelings. Help this child problem solve what he/she could
do now. This is a great time to suggest playing with another friend or
getting involved in another activity. Younger children are more easily
distracted, while older children may just need your understanding
and comfort.
Sometimes a child will tell another child he/she cannot play in a
certain area. For example; "Sam, you cannot play in the boat, we
are playing here." Children try to test out their power and by not
letting another child into their "area" they are being all powerful. We
just tell the child that children at preschool can play in all the
areas.
Keeping our statements clear and simple is the most effective way
to communicate with young children. Don't talk to them as you would an
adult. They just cannot understand concepts that are not black and
white. For example, in the above scenario; "Sam can play in the boat, at
preschool all the children can play in all the areas." A positive
statement telling the child what Sam can do, simply put and to the
point.
MWF Teachers Lolly, Theresa and Daran will be playing activities
with the children practicing their colors. It is usually very easy to
interject color into play with children. Instead of, "Alice you are
wearing a pretty dress," say, "Alice you are wearing a blue dress."
"Joseph you have a truck", "Joseph you have a red truck." "Henry, eat
your "yellow" squash."
Also, in the MWF Class, Librarian Allison, will be reading to the children during Exploration Time.
TTH Teachers Tammy, Karen and Theresa will be helping the children
learn each others names. In conversation we try to use children's names
as often as possible. The first several weeks the children will be
learning the routines and the daily schedule. We work hard to set up a
nurturing, loving environment so all the children will adapt to their
surroundings and feel comfortable at preschool.
All the teachers are excited to engage in an interactive
partnership with parents this year. We want the children and
parents to have a wonderful experience at WPNS. Please share with us
any concerns you may have throughout the school year.
Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your children's lives.
Director Karen and Teachers Sarah, Mary, Lolly, Theresa, Tammy and Daran
Sunday, September 9, 2012
First week of school!
Hi New and Returning Families,
Our introduction week went wonderfully. It was so much fun seeing all our returning children and meeting all the new children. Orientation was a great opportunity for the teachers to meet all the parents. We look forward to partnering with all of you this coming school year.
The teachers have been preparing for an exciting and extremely fun year with your children. Each class has wonderful curriculum to enhance your child's development and bring them delightful days of learning. There will be fun themes in all the classes and in our dramatic play area.
We are so fortunate to have a great teaching staff again this year. Teacher Mary and Teacher Sarah, our Pre-k teachers, have been revising and extending the four year old curriculum so each of your children will have a successful transition into Kindergarten. Children will build confidence in their own skills throughout the year. Language arts, science, math, writing are some of the academic components your children will be exploring and learning while "playing" at school. Sarah, Mary and I will be attending a workshop for Handwriting Without Tears in October. I have already attended the writing/literacy workshop, so I will be taking their math workshop this time. Mary and Sarah will attend the writing and literacy workshop. We will be collaborating on curriculum after the seminar. Mary and Sarah have many creative and exciting activities to share with the children this year.
Teacher Lolly S., Teacher Daran and Teacher Theresa will be our team teaching the three year olds in our MWF Class. When children turn three everything is "why", and these teachers are prepared to answer all those "whys" with an array of hands-on-exploration activities. They are creating new curriculum to expand our current curriculum in science, small group, outside play, math, small and large muscle. They are specialist in helping children start learning conflict resolution and are ready to handle limit-setting behaviors. The morning will be a great balance between free choice play and more structured large and small group times.
In our TTH Class, Teacher Tammy, Teacher Karen and Teacher Theresa will have loving arms waiting to help your children with separation, tantrums and transition. Twos have tremendous energy and the teachers have prepared some awesome curriculum for your children to enjoy. Awesomely MESSY exploration of inside activities and outside activities will keep your children busy all morning long. Paint and water will be a big splash at preschool. Please remember to dress your children in play clothes. Children will have opportunities to sing, dance and play instruments at music time.
In our Toddler Class, Teacher Karen is looking forward to sharing a morning of learning with parents and children. For many children this is the first experience they will have in a large group setting. This parent participation class is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the school and share in their delight. You will be right there to comfort your child if needed and to help your child explore all the wonderful activities that will be here at school. Play dough, water, bubbles, blocks, paint are just a few of the activities that will be set up in the classroom. At music time children will dance, sing, watch puppets and listen to stories.
We all are always available to answer questions you may have about your responsibilities in the classroom and to discuss your expectations for the coming school year. If you have questions regarding your child, it is always best to set up a time to meet, either with the teachers or the director, outside of classroom time. We feel it is important to talk about any concerns you may have when the child is not present.
Every week I will be sending out an email regarding the upcoming week's activities, This coming week's theme is "All About You". Teachers and children will be sharing and learning fun facts about each other. What makes us the same and what makes us different? Each class will focus on getting to know you, so all the children can start learning new friends names. We have kept the curriculum simple this week because some transitions may be a little more challenging. All classes will have age appropriate activities especially geared for their age group.
I will include the developmental aspects of the different activities the teachers set up in the classroom. For example; why play dough? Play dough is a wonderful activity to strengthen your child's small motor muscles in their hand. When children play with dough their finger dexterity, eye-hand coordination, vocabulary, senses are all strengthening and developing. We have an opportunity to introduce new words; smooth, bumpy, soft, cold, warm, long, short, the possibilities are endless.
Often I will attach information and articles I find helpful and interesting for parents to read. This time I have attached some information about the benefits of playing with Play Dough.
I will also be incorporating parenting tips on a variety of subjects. If there is any subject you would like me to address, please just let me know.
This is going to be an incredible school year, all of us partnering together to bring your children an exciting learning experience filled with wonder and joy. Thank you for trusting us to care for and teach your little ones.
Sincerely,
Director Karen and all the preschool teachers
Our introduction week went wonderfully. It was so much fun seeing all our returning children and meeting all the new children. Orientation was a great opportunity for the teachers to meet all the parents. We look forward to partnering with all of you this coming school year.
The teachers have been preparing for an exciting and extremely fun year with your children. Each class has wonderful curriculum to enhance your child's development and bring them delightful days of learning. There will be fun themes in all the classes and in our dramatic play area.
We are so fortunate to have a great teaching staff again this year. Teacher Mary and Teacher Sarah, our Pre-k teachers, have been revising and extending the four year old curriculum so each of your children will have a successful transition into Kindergarten. Children will build confidence in their own skills throughout the year. Language arts, science, math, writing are some of the academic components your children will be exploring and learning while "playing" at school. Sarah, Mary and I will be attending a workshop for Handwriting Without Tears in October. I have already attended the writing/literacy workshop, so I will be taking their math workshop this time. Mary and Sarah will attend the writing and literacy workshop. We will be collaborating on curriculum after the seminar. Mary and Sarah have many creative and exciting activities to share with the children this year.
Teacher Lolly S., Teacher Daran and Teacher Theresa will be our team teaching the three year olds in our MWF Class. When children turn three everything is "why", and these teachers are prepared to answer all those "whys" with an array of hands-on-exploration activities. They are creating new curriculum to expand our current curriculum in science, small group, outside play, math, small and large muscle. They are specialist in helping children start learning conflict resolution and are ready to handle limit-setting behaviors. The morning will be a great balance between free choice play and more structured large and small group times.
In our TTH Class, Teacher Tammy, Teacher Karen and Teacher Theresa will have loving arms waiting to help your children with separation, tantrums and transition. Twos have tremendous energy and the teachers have prepared some awesome curriculum for your children to enjoy. Awesomely MESSY exploration of inside activities and outside activities will keep your children busy all morning long. Paint and water will be a big splash at preschool. Please remember to dress your children in play clothes. Children will have opportunities to sing, dance and play instruments at music time.
In our Toddler Class, Teacher Karen is looking forward to sharing a morning of learning with parents and children. For many children this is the first experience they will have in a large group setting. This parent participation class is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the school and share in their delight. You will be right there to comfort your child if needed and to help your child explore all the wonderful activities that will be here at school. Play dough, water, bubbles, blocks, paint are just a few of the activities that will be set up in the classroom. At music time children will dance, sing, watch puppets and listen to stories.
We all are always available to answer questions you may have about your responsibilities in the classroom and to discuss your expectations for the coming school year. If you have questions regarding your child, it is always best to set up a time to meet, either with the teachers or the director, outside of classroom time. We feel it is important to talk about any concerns you may have when the child is not present.
Every week I will be sending out an email regarding the upcoming week's activities, This coming week's theme is "All About You". Teachers and children will be sharing and learning fun facts about each other. What makes us the same and what makes us different? Each class will focus on getting to know you, so all the children can start learning new friends names. We have kept the curriculum simple this week because some transitions may be a little more challenging. All classes will have age appropriate activities especially geared for their age group.
I will include the developmental aspects of the different activities the teachers set up in the classroom. For example; why play dough? Play dough is a wonderful activity to strengthen your child's small motor muscles in their hand. When children play with dough their finger dexterity, eye-hand coordination, vocabulary, senses are all strengthening and developing. We have an opportunity to introduce new words; smooth, bumpy, soft, cold, warm, long, short, the possibilities are endless.
Often I will attach information and articles I find helpful and interesting for parents to read. This time I have attached some information about the benefits of playing with Play Dough.
I will also be incorporating parenting tips on a variety of subjects. If there is any subject you would like me to address, please just let me know.
This is going to be an incredible school year, all of us partnering together to bring your children an exciting learning experience filled with wonder and joy. Thank you for trusting us to care for and teach your little ones.
Sincerely,
Director Karen and all the preschool teachers
Friday, August 31, 2012
Are we raising spoiled, entitled children?
I came across an interesting New Yorker article today titled, "Spoiled Rotten." The article compares American children with those of an Amazon tribe in Peru. You can read it here...
My happening upon this article occurred while I was also making my way through a book called "The Entitlement Trap." Here...
Hmmm... I thought. Perhaps the universe is conspiring to teach me a lesson.
The book and the article conclude that we parents do a disservice to our children when we tie their shoes for them even though they can and should tie their own. We create problems when we buy them things they haven't earned. Interesting food for thought.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/07/02/120702crbo_books_kolbert?currentPage=all
http://www.amazon.com/The-Entitlement-Trap-Choosing-Ownership/dp/1583334157/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346450205&sr=8-1&keywords=the+entitlement+trap
Hmmm... I thought. Perhaps the universe is conspiring to teach me a lesson.
The book and the article conclude that we parents do a disservice to our children when we tie their shoes for them even though they can and should tie their own. We create problems when we buy them things they haven't earned. Interesting food for thought.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)