Rest

Getting enough sleep is important! We have all experienced feeling sluggish and generally "off" after a poor night of sleep, and for many parents of young children this can feel like a constant state. As adults, inadequate sleep makes us feel physically tired and mentally slow. So what are the effects of inadequate sleep on young children, whose bodies and brains are growing much faster than our own? This is an ongoing topic of research but it does seem clear that young children's brains are hard at work when their bodies are resting. I found one article which described how children's brains build connections between the left and right hemispheres during sleep, and another one about the relationship between sleep and neuroplasticity. Researchers have found correlations between inadequate sleep and obesity, poor academic performance, behavioral problems, and aggression.

The difficulty here is that we cannot force anyone to sleep–ourselves or our children included–no matter how important we think it is. But we can create environmental conditions that support adequate rest, including daily rhythms and routines that prioritize time for sleep so that rest time becomes predictable and comfortable for children. We also have to respect the act of putting oneself to sleep as a teachable skill. It comes more easily for some children than for others, but we can always meet children where they are and move them towards where we know they could be. We don't rock children to sleep in the infant room, but we have had infants come into our room who have always been rocked to sleep, so that is something we will do temporarily to make the transition more gentle for them. But we gradually usher them towards self-soothing by providing the least amount of help needed to fall asleep while also building our own consistent routine for putting them in their cribs awake at nap time. For older children we continue to place an emphasis on taking time to rest in the middle of the day, even if they do not sleep. We hope that setting such expectations will help children maintain healthy sleep habits throughout their lives.

Another note: Magda Gerber felt that the word "sleep" carried negative connotations and always used the word "rest" instead when talking with children. Resting is a state that we can consciously choose to be in, while sleeping is not. I've adopted the habit of telling children that it's time to "rest," too, and though I can't be sure that it's made any difference, it does feel more calm and peaceful than "sleep."

Thanks for reading!
Megan

News and Reminders
A reminder that we have two in-service days coming up on August 9th and 10th.

Kitchen Update
This week the children enjoyed lots of roasted vegetables: carrots in the cous cous, chick peas in the quinoa. Other highlights were English muffin pizza and pasta with pesto. Fruits included some very sweet honey dew melon, soft pears, and juicy strawberries.

Classroom Updates
Infant I by Stef and Dana
This week has been a very active one. We have one full time walker now! The children have shown lots of interest in reading books lately, so we have made a few trips to the library down the hallway. they also have been experimenting with sliding different objects down the slide and ramp. Passing balls back and forth to each other has been fun for all parties both inside and out. During outside time we also made a sprinkler by attaching a watering can to a tree. The children loved sitting under the falling water and it really helped them cool down. Other outside highlights included bubbles in the sensory table and drawing in the mud with sticks. Our younger children have been exploring the textures of grass, pine needles, and pine cones, and even dipping their feet in the water. Can't wait to see what next week brings!

Infant II by Amanda and Hannah
Lately each week we have picked a theme based on the interests of the children and expanded on the idea through various activities. Our theme this week was rocks. You can see the different activities we planned each day through TSGold. The children's favorite activity this week was finding and collecting rocks on the playground. The highlight of the week was the homemade sprinkler made from the hose and watering can. It functioned both as a shower and as a fountain which filled up the small pool. It also made a pond-like area in the grass for splashing. This was also a great way to cool off from the heat.

Waiting for a turn in the "Row Row" blue chair

Toddlers by Carly
We continued our work on all things potty this week. Our veteran crew has been observed talking, teaching, and helping (scaffolding!) the younger ones with the toilet training process, which is lovely to see. We would love to get the remaining few children into underwear, so please let us know if you have any questions. This week the rain facilitated lots of construction of rivers, dams and bridges. Adding lots and lots of goopy mud was a particularly focused interest at the muddy hill. The older children are starting to get very excited about upcoming transitions; we sure will miss them.

Exploring with eggs: the shell and the yolk.

Preschool I by Shannon T.
Some weeks, we may plan a classroom activity only to find that the children are interested in something else entirely! We always have alternative options, of course, and we happened to have puzzles set out this week. With several new children recently joining our room, it was especially productive to practice commitment to a task and persistence in completing that task. When we take out a puzzle, we usually dump out the pieces or make a pile of them to start. What if, once we get started, we decide it's too tricky and the pieces are everywhere but the puzzle board? Well, we can always ask for help. We are working on taking care of our puzzles so we wouldn't want to lose any of the pieces. We can start with corner pieces and go from there! We offer our friends a helping hand if we have lots of experience with a certain puzzle. Asking for and accepting help from friends and teachers is one way to problem-solve.

Preschool II by Shannon E.-F.
We have had an awesome week of play, though "Where's Sarah?" cropped up a few times. Here are the children's predictions:
SM: "At the hotel."
OG: "Maybe she's at the beach house."
WR: "Maybe she's camping."
JK: "She's shopping."
OL: "She's at a log house."
MKO: "Maybe she's at a water ocean that's enormous."
DV: "But she has to be in a house."
PL: "You have to go all the way somewhere."
CK: "Maybe she's on the beach playing with hot air balloons and she had fun."
GP: "My mom's on vacation."
In the mean time I've really enjoyed spending the week in here. There has been a wide range of play, from elaborate block structures to extensive playdough play, to games with rules in the Willow Garden and much more. It was a pleasure spending the week with your children!

PreK by Jen
PreK continues to work on geographical knowledge through mapping. Currently we are helping each child learn to say their address (and maybe even a phone number!) and we'll be looking at where we live in relation to each other and other important landmarks on the map.  Other highlights this week included our Wednesday trip to the library where we learned many fascinating facts about insects. We brought our wagon so we could pick up any teddy bears that had spent the night before at the Teddy Bear Sleepover. (Julie was so happy that so many of you were able to attend!) While the older children continue to get out and off on their adventures fairly early, younger children are working on re-establishing a morning circle routine. Jen will be out on vacation next week but Maddie and Dagan will stick to this basic schedule. They have lots of fun activities planned!