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 their hands, others enjoyed spreading the paint and mixing the colors. Proof yet again that we are all our own people! Teachers placed the pop up "forts" around the classroom, hiding baskets of toys within them for the children to discover. Some of the non-crawlers also spent time checking out the forts as well. There was lots of peek-a-boo and excitement as the children came and went through the little round windows. Outdoors we're observing more and more independence as the older children play.
Infant II: The class continued their scientific explorations on bubbles. This week they focused more on cause and effect: What makes the bubbles float faster or slower? What makes them pop? The children also seemed very interested in the mechanics of the bubbles and how they were made: Blowing the wand forcefully seems to make lots of small bubbles, and blowing the wand slowly makes for only one (maybe two) large bubbles. Another continued theme is our work on the social skills of kind, gentle and respectful interactions between children. Note to parents: Please be sure your child's Tuffo is their own, lots of similarly colored items can cause mix ups. Thanks so much!
Toddler I: We're working hard to have our weekly curriculum posted for parents and families to take a look at; you'll find this on the cork board above the cubbies, so give it a look and feel free to ask questions about the activities planned for the students. This week we spent some time painting, and enjoyed two books in particular: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. In the case of the latter, we have been reciting the words to the story when we walk out to the playground. During lunchtime, we have been having discussions about healthy choices. We are now bringing the meal baskets over to the children and encouraging them to identify the healthiest parts of their lunch to consume first, while saving the snack-type choices for if they are still hungry (or for their car ride home!). This process has produced a lot of questions from the kids: "Where did that kiwi come from?" (Italy, apparently) And, the teachers are prepping/cutting more in front of the children and with their help to keep these food questions coming.
Toddler II: This week we started a new yoga sequence, it moves a little quicker between poses. We are focusing on flow and moving together. We read our recent favorite book Each Peach Pear Plum. The rhyming and the "I spy" aspects are very interesting to the children. We have continued to have sand in the sensory table but added water and people figurines. Outside, the dramatic play has been very in depth; there has been a lot of castle and house building from sticks and pine cones, taking trips together to different places and even bowling down the hill with small rocks.
We've also been working on encouraging one another to keep trying. Another book we read was I Will Keep on Trying. During circle we identified things that are hard for us to do. When things are hard, we can keep practicing. Now when a peer is faced with a difficult task the other children have been stepping in to support them.
Pre-K: The highlight of our week was the warmth and sunshine. We've been enjoying our own playground and noticing the changes that occur as the season shifts. It would be fair to say we have a touch of spring fever. We have continued on with our still life paintings, themes have included fruit, flowers and animals. Check out some of our process below:
Also Seen at MVS
Thanks for Reading
-Sam
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 their hands, others enjoyed spreading the paint and mixing the colors. Proof yet again that we are all our own people! Teachers placed the pop up "forts" around the classroom, hiding baskets of toys within them for the children to discover. Some of the non-crawlers also spent time checking out the forts as well. There was lots of peek-a-boo and excitement as the children came and went through the little round windows. Outdoors we're observing more and more independence as the older children play.
Infant II: The class continued their scientific explorations on bubbles. This week they focused more on cause and effect: What makes the bubbles float faster or slower? What makes them pop? The children also seemed very interested in the mechanics of the bubbles and how they were made: Blowing the wand forcefully seems to make lots of small bubbles, and blowing the wand slowly makes for only one (maybe two) large bubbles. Another continued theme is our work on the social skills of kind, gentle and respectful interactions between children. Note to parents: Please be sure your child's Tuffo is their own, lots of similarly colored items can cause mix ups. Thanks so much!
Toddler I: We're working hard to have our weekly curriculum posted for parents and families to take a look at; you'll find this on the cork board above the cubbies, so give it a look and feel free to ask questions about the activities planned for the students. This week we spent some time painting, and enjoyed two books in particular: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. In the case of the latter, we have been reciting the words to the story when we walk out to the playground. During lunchtime, we have been having discussions about healthy choices. We are now bringing the meal baskets over to the children and encouraging them to identify the healthiest parts of their lunch to consume first, while saving the snack-type choices for if they are still hungry (or for their car ride home!). This process has produced a lot of questions from the kids: "Where did that kiwi come from?" (Italy, apparently) And, the teachers are prepping/cutting more in front of the children and with their help to keep these food questions coming.
Toddler II: This week we started a new yoga sequence, it moves a little quicker between poses. We are focusing on flow and moving together. We read our recent favorite book Each Peach Pear Plum. The rhyming and the "I spy" aspects are very interesting to the children. We have continued to have sand in the sensory table but added water and people figurines. Outside, the dramatic play has been very in depth; there has been a lot of castle and house building from sticks and pine cones, taking trips together to different places and even bowling down the hill with small rocks.
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| One of the many building projects that unfolded this week. |
Pre-K: The highlight of our week was the warmth and sunshine. We've been enjoying our own playground and noticing the changes that occur as the season shifts. It would be fair to say we have a touch of spring fever. We have continued on with our still life paintings, themes have included fruit, flowers and animals. Check out some of our process below:
We plan to get more of our still life art up on the walls in the coming week, so be sure to take a lap around the room to view the student's creations. Our class is also working hard on number recognition skills. We are now moving into the teens, after mastering "10, 11 and 12."
Thanks for Reading
-Sam
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