Allergies and allergens are concerns for many families of young children, as it's becoming apparent that early experiences have a big impact on whether our bodies develop allergic reactions to certain allergens. A 2014 study led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center found that infants exposed to bacteria-rich environments with high levels of household allergens during their first year of life were less likely to develop environmental allergies and wheezing (which can develop into asthma) at age three. Of course at MVS we're not about to stop sweeping and mopping, but this is yet another reason why we love dirt!
Another rigorous study led by Dr. Gideon Lack in 2016 found that early introduction of certain foods to infants greatly reduced their risk of developing allergic reactions to those foods. Foods introduced between 3 and 6 months included cow's milk yogurt, fish, sesame, peanut butter, eggs, and wheat. A thorough review of the study is available on the Science of Mom blog here but it's important to note that we have to consider each child's individual signs of readiness for solids before introducing them. And my personal mantra when feeding infants in my classroom– it's my job to provide the food, and it's the child's job to eat! Trusting the child's signs that they are full or not hungry helps make eating a relaxed and pleasant experience from the beginning. More information on specific food allergies can be found here.
Also, a book recommendation from Shannon E.: I've been reading Hanscom's (2016) book, Balanced and Barefoot. Hanscom makes a compelling argument and provides evidence for the need to provide children the outdoor child-led play they crave for cognitive, physical, social/emotional and language development! For example, strong bodies, especially shoulders and arms, lay the foundation for precise fine-motor strength needed to manipulate zippers and use writing implements. It's a great read–check it out.
Finally, we got a couple photos back from the Let's Grow Kids rally last week:
Megan
News and Reminders
Our family hike and picnic is next weekend on Saturday, October 14! We'll meet at 3:30 at the bottom of Sunset Rock in the village, and after the hike we'll gather for a picnic at the Stowe Elementary School playground. Please bring a dish to share and your own dishes and utensils. Hope you will join us!
Also a reminder that we will be closed for in-service on Friday, October 20. Thank you for supporting our continued professional development.
Classroom Updates
Infant I
This week has been full of changes, and we've all been working to take them in stride. We are thrilled to have Kaitlyn with us now and have enjoyed spending time with her. A couple of our older children moved up to Infant II and we excitedly welcomed T and W to the room. As a group we're trending toward the younger side and working to figure out the best routines for everyone. Toy bars have become newly popular with all of us; some enjoy lying under them, while others find them to be the perfect prop for emergent walking. We've also been reading lots of animal books.
Infant II
We had a wonderful first week with Amanda in our room. The children enjoy her and seemed to have no problem adjusting to this change. This week we read a new book about fall. The children especially like the page with a squirrel on it. They enjoy touching his fur. Painting outside with brushes, toys and nature materials was a hit this week as well as washing rocks and seeing which objects float and sink. We are working with our children on being more independent and setting clear rules and expectations. Just in the last week we have seen some impressive growth in our children.
Toddlers
This week we welcomed Sadie back to MVS and we are so happy she is with us in the Toddler room. We have really enjoyed getting outside first thing in the morning; getting some energy and fresh air straight away have really brightened our spirits This week we have noticed a lot of high-intensity interactions in our room, so we continue to encourage using a appropriate tone of voice with others and asking for space when needed. We enjoyed bringing books outside this week that focused on families, animals and counting; Counting 1 to 10, Are You a Cow?, How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs and I Love My Mommy Because were some of our favorites. We also worked hard on climbing on the new slackfline. We practiced balancing our feet on the tight rope and holding on with our hands while trying to move side to side. It has been an energetic and lively week!
Preschool I
Team Shannon used this week to step back, breathe, facilitate transitions and carefully observe emergent interests. We welcomed a new student from the Toddler room and spent the week integrating a student into PreK. The children showed a need for big, exciting movement and evidence of some boredom with routine. We compensated by rearranging the room, adding dance time to circle, and making Caps for Sale a very interactive read-aloud. The children imitated the peddler and the monkeys as they shook their fists and stomped their feet! We also took the children to play in the side yard at their request, where they ran, hiked, rolled and threw apples!
Preschool II
This week we formed "Team PS2" and like G says "Voltrons come together" we are coming together as a solid unit. We practiced team work on Monday with team coloring and passing/sharing of the gliders we made and again on Friday with team apple picking. This week we also made a delicious apple crisp. Everyone helped peel, cut, and mix the ingredients. Wednesday was another exciting day at the Stowe Library story hour with books about dogs, ducks and dinosaurs. We checked out our own dinosaur book about dino-detectives helping others. Our kindness has been flourishing and now we are working on moving from kind words to kind actions. We talked a lot this week about how we can find ways to be helpful to each other and around our classroom. If our personal jobs are done, we find helpful tasks like sweeping up after snack, watering the plants, or putting the clean dishes away. Great effort, Team PS2!
PreK
This week we focused on emotions and how we express them. We are working on a project where each child has their own booklet of pictures of their faces making a variety of expressions. So far happy, sad, angry and silly are the ones we know best! Drawing these faces proved to be somewhat of a struggle, but hopefully being able to see their own faces will help. We also read the book How Full is Your Bucket? and talked about what it means to "fill someone's bucket," demonstrating how our words and actions impact our friends, teachers, and family and ultimately giving ourselves many opportunities throughout the day to be kind and fill each others' buckets, but also addressing what it feels like when someone empties our bucket, too. Lastly, we've been very excited about the changing of seasons, exploring Campfire Forest and observing the colors of the leaves. We collected a whole basket of leaves in preparation for our new project! It has been an adventurous yet emotion-filled week!
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