Mountain Village School News

Pumpkins, play dough, puzzles, patterns...robots, space, doctors, stairs, ramps... Adventure! Excitement! Just another week? Nah.  Classroom Happenings Infant I: Our focus for the week has been talking about the importance of personal space and modeling how to give one another this type of space. The room spans in age from 3 to 14 months, so we have a range of movers. As older children, it's our job to take good care of our younger, less mobile classmates by allowing for enough space between our play or movement and their bodies. We also help foster a safe environment by demonstrating types of play that are more gentle if we are in fact near a smaller child, or a child who is simply taking some quiet space.  Infant II: The reality of the weather changing is starting to set in, and we have been working hard to keep our socks, shoes and coats on when playing outside as they keep us comfortable and cozy. Speaking of outdoors, we have a few things holding our interest right...

And so autumn comes, as we new it surely would. We've been spoiled by unexpected warmth and sunshine, but today, in the second day of this new season, a bit of a cold, rainy awakening. We welcomed it with adventure, exploration and plenty of time outside, just as we always do! Upcoming Potluck and PTA Formation We have a parent potluck scheduled for next Thursday, September 29th at 6:00 pm. We have someone coming to teach us all about essential oils. She is an expert on the topic and has been teaching workshops to inform parents, teachers, and caregivers all about the benefits of essential oils. After the workshop we'll host our first Parent Association Meeting starting at 7:00. We will meet to decide on a schedule and organize committees. This initial meeting is expected to last 20 - 30 minutes. A gentle reminder to please leave your children at home and bring a light snack to share. See you then! Classroom Happenings Infant I: We welcomed two new children to the cl...

Fall is nearly here folks, can you feel it?? Here's our week in review.  Classroom Happenings Infant I: This week offered us some pretty amazing fall-like weather, with the added bonus of sunshine to enjoy. We've been taking full advantage of these days by getting the whole class outside as much as possible. This has been a week of witnessing many "firsts" from first time roll-overs, to crawling, and trying solid foods for the first time. All of these moments we are celebrating and noting, but we are truly allowing the children to navigate their new abilities at their own pace, and with the intentional creation of opportunities for them to discover autonomy and independence.  Infant II: A book we have been really engaged with this week is called Blue Coat, Green Coat. The children laugh and laugh over the main character, a turkey who puts his clothes on the wrong way. When we're not laughing at the turkey, we're talking about each article of clothing ...

Although it was a short week here at school, we were up to plenty! Here are the highlights from late summer at MVS... Classroom Happenings Infant I: Here is the child by child breakdown of the latest and greatest from our room. E: has been enjoying the reading corner and examining herself in the mirror. B cruises around the room, now on his feet! O. army crawls wherever he wants, especially if he's going after a ball. M. stands at the top of the climbing structure, waving her arms and talking to classmates on the floor below. H. kisses her classmates whenever possible. L. likes laying under the mobiles and watching them spin. C.'s favorite thing is to be covered by a scarf, and then feel it be pulled slowly away. O.P. would stay outside playing in the water table all day if given the choice. Q. has mastered all of the climbing structures in the classroom, and always likes making her peers laugh. And, S. sits up tall, telling us something important and exciting with his boom...

Reminder, Closed for Labor Day We'll be closed on Monday and hope you enjoy the long weekend. We will reopen on Tuesday, 9/6. In Case You Missed It... An interesting conversation on kids and added sugar and some equally interesting debates on artificial sweeteners this week, on Vermont Edition . Thought we'd pass it along for a listen. And if you don't want to listen, let me sum up. The less sugar for children, the better, and it's really, truly, everywhere.  Classroom Highlights Infant I: This week we have been working on physical and spacial awareness with the older children, especially as they explore around the younger ones. With new movers and stationary students, we, the teachers simply act as mediators, guiding movers and reminding them to move in a different direction as we sometimes stumble and trip over and on top of each other. Before we intervene, we alert the children to what we notice: "You body is close to his, try going around him." We ...