Mountain Village School News

NEK Childcare Conference Friday's teacher in-service day allowed for us to make our second annual trip as a staff to the NEK Childcare Conference in St. Johnsbury. We spent the day in different workshops with topics ranging from conflict management and de-escalation techniques, to understanding adoption and permanence, and how to better care for ourselves and avoid "burnout." As we've said in the past, these professional development opportunities are a vital component in helping us build a strong program, and we are thankful for the time to continue our learning, evaluate our practice and connect with other educators across the state.  Spotlight on "211" a.k.a Help Me Grow Vermont Dialing 211 can help you find resources and answers to your questions regarding children's behavior and development... The Help Me Grow line is hosted by the United Ways of Vermont 2-1-1 program, there, trained Vermont Child Development Specialists staff the phones and pr...

Vocabulary and Integrated Curriculum  Part I: The Value of an Integrated Curriculum I've spent a lot of time in schools and learning communities of various types and permutations. But as a teacher, I think and reflect a lot on my own experiences as a student, which significantly impacts my decision making in the classroom. If I reach back to my own childhood, I can tease out what was inspiring, what I did well, what challenged me, what was maybe even painful. All of that can help inform my practice. In my elementary school years, starting in 3rd grade, we began "switching classes" for math. This was a big deal at the time, and something of a rite of passage. Our "home" classes became fractured and the entirety of the 3rd grade was shuffled around. For me, this meant I packed up my math book and spiral and walked down the hall for math with Mrs. G. The only reason I was there was to learn math. When math was over, I went back to my "home" class, roo...

After a few weeks of shorter newsletters, we will have some more substantial reading coming your way next week, so stay tuned.  Classroom Happenings Infant I: Our younger infants have been rolling and scooting all over the room. They are doing more and more reaching, and now reaching specifically for toys and using them as greater motivation to get moving. The older infants are showing more interest in talking and trying to use words as opposed to using sounds, grunts and cries. Mimicking words has become a huge part of our day. Other points of interest have been pull toys, stacking blocks and carrying baskets. The older children have been more cautious about moving around the younger infants and being aware of their bodies. We also enjoyed some brightly colored balls that appeared in the room. The level of excitement that went along with these colors was great to see. Infant II: This week we spent a lot of time talking about and practicing respectful behavior. Our specific f...

Spotlight On: The Permanent Fund for Vermont's Children We wanted to spend a little time bringing more awareness to a few of the organizations in our state that do good work on behalf of the children of Vermont. One of those organizations is the Permanent Fund for Vermont's Children. Founded in 2000, the stated mission of the organization is to, "Ensure that every Vermont child has access to high quality and affordable early care and education by 2025." Through a variety of initiatives and fundraising efforts, the Permanent Fund has made the focus of their work this vital education of children from birth to five. To read more about them and all they do, visit them at www.permanentfund.org/ . Classroom Happenings Infant I: We welcomed another MVS sibling to the classroom this week, and she is adjusting nicely to life at school. Some of the younger children tried out finger painting for the first time. While some of them immediately protested the paint touching the...