Spring and Food

Our little slice of Vermont seems to be getting greener every day. At this time of year I'm always amazed at how all the land that was dormant and snow-covered for so long suddenly has so much to offer, and it brings a special appreciation for the farms that surround us. Our access to locally-produced food is one of many reasons why we are lucky to live here.

At MVS, our food program will be one year old in a month or so! Sarah deserves a huge shout-out here for getting it off the ground and doggedly planning, prepping, grocery shopping, and cooking all by herself for months on end, on top of all her other responsibilities. Thank you, Sarah, for everything you have invested in the food program. From a teacher perspective I can already see how it has changed the eating trajectories of many children, and it has sparked a culture around food that is curious, appreciative, collaborative, and healthy. It's become a truly special part of our school.

There is another awesome food program to be found at Burlington Children's Space, and I wanted to highlight one of Erinn's Lunch Lady blog posts that addresses the question, "How do you get your kids to eat all those vegetables?" It's a question I've heard from some of our parents, too. You might be dismayed that there are no magic words that cause children to eat vegetables; like many behaviors and attitudes, it's something that develops over time in a supportive environment. Erinn wrote about two concepts at the center of their food culture, shared responsibility and the emotional tone of mealtimes, that are also true to the spirit of eating at MVS.

Shared responsibility in many ways refers to the division of responsibilities for eating between adults and children. Quite simply, it's the idea that adults are responsible for providing food, and children are responsible for eating. As the adult, you get to decide what options are available for your child and when they will be provided. Ultimately, though, the child decides exactly what and how much to eat. In many ways children are more in-tune with their appetites than we are, and trusting them to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full is no small feat, but to me there is security in knowing that each child will meet his or her own needs. We have had times when a child rejected the main course of lunch, and when that happens I'll make sure that there's a little extra available for afternoon snack, but we don't make food substitutes or make a big deal out of the child not eating. They will eat when they are hungry; that sense of trust in the long-term is more important than a missed meal here and there.

The emotional tone of mealtimes refers to the connection between eating and relationships. Mealtimes provide an opportunity for us to connect, share, reflect, and enjoy being together. They are a time to consider and meet each others' nourishment needs in addition to our own. At BCS there is a tradition of story telling during lunch time, which also gives everyone a chance to practice true listening. When mealtimes revolve around being together and appreciating everyone's company, they become a safe space for trying new foods, caring for ourselves and each other, and experiencing what it feels like to be part of a healthy and supportive community. And in such a space, lots of children and adults alike enjoy eating vegetables.

Thanks for reading!
Megan

News and Reminders
Our PreK graduation date has been changed to Friday, June 29th. We will be closing at 4:00pm that day, and the graduation ceremony will be held at 5:00.

Families, thank you so much for an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week. We are all here because we love our work, but all of your gifts and gestures reminded us of how much we mean to you and made our week that much sweeter. Special thanks to Andrea for putting together the weeklong raffle prize giveaway; to Calais, Emily, and Andrea for a fantastic lunch on Friday; and to the PCC for planning and organizing the whole thing. We are very grateful.

Also, special thanks to Rachael for putting together the new MVS teacher wall in the entry! It's been on a few of our "To Do" lists for several years now and we're so happy that you finally did it. Thank you!

Kitchen Update
This week the children enjoyed banana pancakes, quinoa with beans and lentils, blood oranges, roasted potatoes and beets, crunchy cucumbers, and sweet peppers. Hummus continues to be a very popular veggie and pita accompaniment; don't be surprised if the plate gets licked clean.

Classroom Updates
Infant I by Megan
This week our inside play has been centered around the climber. One more child gained the ability to crawl up the stairs, and while going down the slide is still a big challenge for a couple of the stair climbers, our oldest children go head-first with glee, using their arms to control their speed. The new classroom arrangement also allows them to scoot from the slide straight into the pillow corner, which has been a popular area for rolling around in. A couple of our children are now also expert pillow arrangers; they love making new arrangements and testing them out. The children have also been playing peek-a-boo with each other around the climber's barriers and poles, and they've used the elevated space for some very focused block play. The younger children have enjoyed playing with the mirror on the floor, and they also received lots of hugs and gentle affection from the older children this week. A note about our teachers: Stef is joining us full-time, while Kaitlyn will be spending most of her time in Infant II and the kitchen. She will still be with us for some afternoons.

Infant II by Amanda
This week we've tried some new activities. One day we used the strollers to take a walk down to the Stowe Elementary School where we ran around the baseball field, played catch with a football, played in the dirt, ran up and down the giant hill, observed the older children playing on the playground, and threw pinecones and sticks into the stream. We have also explored the back playground with the older classrooms. The older children were very curious and interested in playing with us, and our children with older siblings especially enjoyed playing together. Our class spent a lot of time on and around the slide, both going down and climbing up. Towards the end of the week we painted with items we found outside on the playground. Reminder to parents: Your child will need one pair each of outside shoes, inside shoes, and rain boots. Thank you. And thanks to all of the parents for the cards and wonderful gifts!

Toddlers by Carly
We are thrilled to fully embrace this gorgeous weather; spring has finally sprung and we are soaking up every drop of sun. To this end, we are spending the majority of our day outside–including eating our morning and afternoon snacks outside (we would love for you to aid in this endeavor by sending in group snacks that can easily be eaten outside, thank you!). We have really enjoyed getting our bodies moving first thing in the morning and we have had lots of opportunities to work on our social interactions with the older children. We are working hard on patiently waiting our turn for a desired toy and talking to peers and adults with kindness and respect. This week, we have enjoyed reading (very tiny) Peter Rabbit books outside at the picnic table and working with chalk on the concrete playground wall. Another skill we have been working on is applying our sunscreen independently. We continue to focus our digging efforts in the sandbox. Scooping, transferring, and sifting sand in our fingers has been a huge interest in recent weeks. We are also working being kind and gentle to our growing trees as we watch the green leaves (finally!) begin to bloom and grow. Lastly, we have started to take small walks around the building to work on holding hands safely and walking with our classmates while we observe our surroundings. This week a fallen tree from the last rainstorm was a huge fascination, along with several dogs. We are doing a great job learning the "Roles of the Walk." Have a great weekend!
A few classroom notes and reminders:
* We are very excited for warm weather! Please take home any remaining winter boots, coats, etc and send in shorts, t-shirts, water bottles, sun hats, sunscreen, and bug spray for your child's cubby.
*Along with the warm weather's arrival, we are going to begin our official potty training process to prepare the children who will soon be transitioning upstairs. We will be starting with small groups on this coming Monday and the following Monday, and we will talk with you directly about which Monday your child will be starting. Go Toddlers!

Preschool I by Shannon E.-F.
Team Shannon is slowly introducing a new unit on seeds. We've pointed out seeds, sprouts and growing things both on the playground and during short "walks" around the school. We also pointed out seeds in our fruit for Fruit Salad Friday. The children noticed that seeds can be either inside or outside fruit. Next week we'll work on taking walks to Campfire Forest, through the neighborhood of Thomas Lane, and sprouting beans in jars. Please be on the lookout for emails through TSGold for more info!

Preschool II by CG
We continued to play around with the zones of regulation this week through gross motor games, dramatic play, and a tabletop activity where clothespin dolls play out feelings and behaviors as they hop between red, yellow, green and blue felt squares. We took pictures of children making their happiest face and their angriest face–their "Bumbaloo" face. Having come through the normalization process of having a new teacher, we are noticing the rhythm of our days as we settle into new routines. Many parts of the day are free-choice times, while other times the group needs to listen and stay together. We talk a lot about "self care times"– when to check if you need to use the bathroom, change into shorts, fill water bottles and so forth– in between the major parts of our day. It's okay if our individual needs are a little different than those around us!

PreK by Jen
This week we continued with getting ourselves ready (sunscreen, hats, bug-spray) and out the door to allow us maximum time for our adventures. We spent more time at the basket ball court where we enjoy utilizing the open space and can frame some of our games within the lines on the court. We also played some games in the fields up behind the playground where there is even more space for games like tag. The older children have enjoyed working on both following the rules of established types of tag as well as creating their own versions. We also spent some quieter (well, slightly quieter) time on the Woof Trail. We are bringing along a variety of scavenger hunt activities and books to read while we are out in the forests and find the children are so much better equipped to self regulate and problem solve in the natural spaces along the trails. On days that we stayed on site, we've used the side yard for our games. Children's interests this week included volcanoes, the changing weather and potential for storms, as well as emerging plants and insects. We'll be following those interests in the coming weeks. We'll also be thinking about our school gardens and how we can help get them planted.