I won't go into the holidays too much but it is a rather funny time of year. Reflective and busy, nostalgic and stressful, everyone's emotions are just a little bit heightened.
As I've mentioned before, one reason why I work in the early childhood field is because of its potential to increase equitability. Another research study was published this week about the positive long-term effects of high quality PreK (New York Times write-up here). We also know that a major factor undermining the academic success of the 21% of American children whose family incomes are below the federal poverty line is the toxic stress they are exposed to which actually alters their brain architecture. Harvard's Center on the Developing child released a report in October with three principles intended to shape programs and policies supporting children and families: 1) Support responsive relationships for children and adults; 2) Strengthen core life skills; and 3) Reduce sources of stress in the lives of children and families. Researchers have recently recognized that focusing solely on the child's early education is not enough; families are so integral to children's lives that two-generational programs, with direct supports for parents and primary caregivers, have the greatest impact on life outcomes.
I think it is safe to say that life for all young children and their families is both wonderful and stressful, often at the same time. Another article that's popped up on a few year-end lists is The Birth of a Mother, which addresses the odd dichotomy our society creates between the perfect "supermom" and mothers who struggle with postpartum depression, when the reality is that many women's transition to motherhood falls somewhere in between. The article also touches on the myriad sources of guilt and shame parents can feel from all sorts of impossible choices they are forced to make. It is complicated to balance your own needs with your child's, and even more complicated to try to measure how others are judging your choices! But especially given what we now know about the impact of parents' and caregivers' well-being on the quality of care they provide, I wanted to speak up in support of you, the parents. Make the choices that are best for you, both because they are best for you and because they will also ultimately be best for your child. And let's try to move past that guilt and shame. Lots of those emotions stem from a time from which we have evolved, and I don't believe they are particularly useful anymore. Easy for me to say, right?! I know it's not that simple, but I just wanted to throw it out there. Do with it what you will!
As always, thanks for reading.
Megan
News and Reminders
Our annual Solstice Stroll is coming up this Friday, December 22! We will meet at Town Hall on Main Street in Stowe at 5:45pm. The children will sing a few songs about winter and light, and then we will stroll around with our lanterns.
For anyone looking for a last-minute gift item, Sarah has lots of MVS merch in her office for sale. Please let her or your classroom teacher know if you'd like to purchase a t-shirt or tote bag.
If you're looking for an activity to do with your child over the holiday break, we'd love for you to participate in our New Years Origami project. We invite you to write a wish for the new year on a piece of origami paper, fold it up into a crane, and bring it back so we can hang them around the school. Origami paper and folding instructions are available on the side table in the entry way. The folding instructions are also available here.
Classroom Updates
Infant I
We had a wonderful week of snow-watching both from our cozy classroom and getting right out into it! To be honest, reactions to snow were varied– there is some discomfort involved with that cold, white stuff especially when it comes down right on your face, but curiosity was very much alive and we teachers have been doing our best to keep everyone comfortable and exploring. We also took a few excursions to various hallways, where wide open space inspired us to chase after rolling rings and work on moving our bodies as fast as possible. Finally, we started working on our Solstice Stroll lanterns by doing some collaborative watercolor painting.
We focused on colors this week using different sensory activities. One day we bathed animals in blue water and on one of the colder days we brought snow inside and turned it yellow. The children loved seeing snow inside, playing with it and eating it. On two of the colder days we brought our class to the yoga hallway where they ran back and forth, experimented with their voice levels and the echo and played with balls. We are continuing to work with our class as a whole at using appropriate table manners, using our words and giving each other space.
We are really getting into the holiday spirit in our classroom! We continue our work on the Solstice Lanterns and have begun putting the finishing touches on our festive creations. We have discussed many themes related to the holidays this year with the children showing special interest in holiday decorations in their own homes. Conversations about twinkling lights and decorating Christmas trees have been plentiful in our room. On Wednesday we had an amazing treat celebrating the Swedish holiday Santa Lucia Day (Dec. 13). B and his family introduced us to lussekatt (Lucia) buns and we gobbled them right up. We also read the book Lucia Morning in Sweden. We were all so interested in traditions celebrated in Sweden with one student saying in awe, "Oh, this is very special." She was right, it was very special for all of us. Thank you, B!
Classroom note: The stomach bug has hit our room hard. Please make sure to wash your child's hands thoroughly every morning and be on the look-out for signs and symptoms of this stomach virus.
Sometimes, catching the emergent interest of the children is like trying to hold water in a sieve–it just comes and goes too quickly. Sometimes, like this week, it's like trying to keep up with a freight train! Now that some of the children (of their own initiative) are recognizing multiple letters, we've started experimenting with sounding them out and putting those sounds together. For example, most of the children recognize "M" and "O." First we talked about how if there are lots of "O's" playing together, it makes an "oooo" sound. "Like ghosts!" one child observed. When we sounded out the "M" before "oo" a couple of the kids immediately got the light-bulb look. "MOO! Like a cow!!!" We will continue nurturing this emergent interest in literacy through play and incorporating it more regularly in our daily routines. We will also make lanterns for the Solstice Stroll next week.
Preschool II
This week in PS2, we continued our interest in the sounds of letters with a focus on the letter "J." We named many "J" names, even remembering the author Virginia Burton's nickname Jennie. We trekked through the deep snow for "J" week at the library where we made our own Jingle bells and sang along to Julie's Jingle bell book. Sledding is back with passion. On Tuesday we joined PreK for the first big chair hill sledding adventure, and on our own back play area sledding trains, sleds on sides, sleds as shovels, and sleds as race cars have been popular. On Wednesday we played a few great games of memory with everyone getting involved after rest. We also found another Bear and Mouse book at the library this week. Bear once again is a gruff, grouchy, grumpy bear, but this time he has the sniffles. We talked more about how Bear sounds when he talks to his friend Mouse. Sometimes we sound like a bear when we talk to each other and we talked about how that makes our friends feel. Kindness is contagious, and even more than the words we use, it's how we use them.
There was a lot of holiday excitement in our classroom this week! We continued to read various versions of The Gingerbread Man and were able to discuss the similarities and differences between them. We also made ourselves a batch of gingerbread men for snack! We had so much fun measuring, touching, tasting and mixing those ingredients that we decided to make play dough as well. Other excitement included sledding on the big chair hill and the arrival of a very large cardboard box! We have cast our votes and decided to make it into an underground den similar to the one at ECHO. Speaking of which, Friday was our last trip of 2017. Eight children were able to meet up with Elizabeth (who visited MVS a month or two ago) and she shared the story of the ship that sank in Lake Champlain with us. The children were fascinated! We also enjoyed trying to make small bulbs light up with another ECHO staff member. PreK's first question as they approached her: "Are you a scientist?"
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