Last week I started off my discussion of the AEI interview with Jack Shonkoff by talking about epigenetics (how nature and nurture interact to determine our paths of development in every domain) and how successful adults and nurturing caregivers alike need strong executive function and self-regulation skills. These skills are crucial for early childhood educators specifically because the teacher's role involves balancing multiple needs and priorities at once, all in an environment that is unpredictable and constantly changing. If you've spent any amount of time with a group of young children then you will understand what I mean! We are constantly forming responses to individual children as well as group situations in order to both foster children's executive function and self-regulation skills and connect their learning to long-term goals and themes. We cannot do this work effectively if we lack the ability to mentally process and intentionally respond to the classroom environment and the children in our care; we need strong executive functioning skills and self-regulation ourselves if we are to be expected to nurture those skills in children.
Shonkoff also discussed the historical trajectory of the early childhood education field. Many people consider the establishment of Head Start in 1965 to have marked the beginning of public interest in early childhood education as we know it today. At that point most programs were outcome-based, focused on school readiness and driven by the injustice of chronic inequality in academic achievement. Then as we broadened our understanding of the long-term effects of early childhood experiences, research focus shifted to return on investment and cost-benefit studies of public investment in early childhood education. Today, there is no question about whether early childhood experiences affect life outcomes or whether public investment in early childhood education saves money down the road. Instead, our challenge is to increase the magnitude of our impact as a field by figuring out how to deliver high-quality early education experiences at scale and determining which kinds of programs are most effective for meeting the diverse needs of young children and families.
That's all! I realize these two posts have been a little abstract but I hope I have been able to convey my excitement over this shift in understanding and where our field is going. As always, thanks for reading!
Megan
News and Reminders
Congratulations to Sadie: we were very excited this week to welcome baby Nora! Both baby and Mom Sadie are doing beautifully. Dagan will be subbing for Sadie in the Toddler classroom during the month of February.
We also want to congratulate Carly on her five-year anniversary of working at MVS! Thank you, Carly. We appreciate your commitment, positivity, and dedication every day.
Classroom Updates
Infant I
We had some smaller groups and quieter days this week which allowed many of our peer interactions to grow and blossom. Our children really focus on each other when many distractions and activities are taken away, and it's fascinating to watch how they observe and learn to relate to one another. The seven-month-olds have been using their recently-acquired mobility to spend lots of time in each other's proximity. When they are both interested in the same object, the shared interest amplifies their play as they each observe what the other child is doing and search for ways to interact and get involved. We also had a new child join us this week (welcome, L!) and loved watching how she approached the other children and how they approached her. There was lots of curiosity and many friendly overtures on both sides.
Infant II
We had a very active week, both inside and out. This week we are experiencing continuous pushing, hitting, kicking and biting from our children. We are working very hard with them to have kind interactions and to keep everyone safe and happy. Our classroom received a new big box and the children have spent a lot of time sitting in it and trying to climb or sit on it. The children love singing songs outside and on Wednesday enjoyed following along to "Shake Your Sillys Out" with Sarah while they were waiting to get outside. This week we also welcomed a child from Infant I and the transition has gone very smoothly for everyone.
Wow!! What a busy, active, lively, energetic and spirited week we had. We have really enjoyed active activities outside: climbing, shoveling, cracking ice with hard objects, sliding and balancing on ice, spreading hay and dirt on ice, and just really enjoying all things ice related! This week we welcomed two new classmates from Infant 2 and they are settling in beautifully to their new room. The newer students have really enjoyed eating group snack and spending extra time outside (please be sure to come prepared with boots and extra hats and mittens). We have continued our work holding writing tools and practicing making intentional lines on paper. We have also noticed an increase in interactive play this week (growing from parallel play). This is great to see as we watch our kiddos grow and learn! Have a great weekend!
Sorry we are missing an update from PS1 for another week. The children were incredibly flexible and adaptable throughout Shannon E.-F.'s absence. We all hope she had a wonderful honeymoon and are looking forward to her return this week!
Preschool II
This week in PS2, we practiced every day and then on Friday we performed perfectly: singing the words of our Friday book All the World that we had memorized! Our friends in Infant II really liked our great singing voices and the energy and enthusiasm that we brought to the book. A highlight of the week was our Pizza and Pajama day on Wednesday when the class made their own personal pizzas–spreading the sauce, adding toppings, and covering them with cheese. Wednesday we also returned to the library for "P" week books where Julie read one of our favorite Tackey the Penguin books and a funny book about a boy, Pete, who pretended to be a pizza. We adventured back to the Rec Path where we collected chunks of ice and threw them off the bridge. We watched as some melted and other pieces floated out of sight. On Friday morning, a few friends from PSI and PreK joined us for a trek to the Woof Trail. We made a great train with our sleds, working together to keep each other connected and safe. Some friends worked on our stick fort from last week, making a great roof.
PreK
We started off the week with National Puzzle Day. We talked about our favorite puzzles and why we like doing them. Outings this week included two trips to the Rec Path–one with the PreK class all together and one smaller group with PS2. The chunks of ice we gathered to toss off the bridge were amazing! We also hit the Woof Trail on Friday to check out the newly fallen snow– hooray! Inside we've been working on letter recognition, sorting and classifying, and writing We continue to love hearing Robert Munsch books and began drafting a letter to him this week. Another favorite indoor activity this week was creating watercolors with old, dried up markers and using our "pincer grasp" to move water from one container to another with "pipettes." We also relocated our Hospital so we could re-open our sensory table, which is full of means–sounds like greens–sounds like beans to me!
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| National Puzzle Day: January 29th! |
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| Consoling a sad classmate with a kind and gentle hug. |
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