NPR produced a series called "How to Raise a Human" and it was fantastic. I really loved hearing the short stories on the way to school in the morning. I appreciate the focus on early childhood and the different perspectives that they bring to raising children. My most favorite is this one from May, Secrets of Maya Supermom: What Parenting Books Don't Tell You. If you have time to listen to it, you should.
The key differences between the Mayan culture and popular Western cultural parenting practices is that parenting isn't about control for the Mayan people. The goal is to be collaborative with your children, to involve them, hear them, and make decisions that affect them with them. The parent is still in charge but the behaviors of a parent are not to boss the children, which is a common behavior we often see in our own society.
Another key difference between our cultures is that the mother is not expected to do everything. There is a cultural recognition of support. Everyone is involved in helping one another and it isn't all left up to one parent to carry the load independently. It truly takes a village to raise one another and we can learn a lot from looking at this culture.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah
Fruit Salad Friday is a beloved tradition at school. Thank you all for bringing a delicious fruit to share and add to our salad. We also love to make new fruit recipes so please let us know if you have any ideas.
Kitchen Update "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may."
We have had some wonderful, delicious, and new recipes this week including curry, beet and garbanzo bean salad, and riced cauliflower. We also had a few beloved favorites including quesadillas, sweet potato fries, and roasted carrots. Eating healthy foods is an important aspect of our program. Often times with new foods it takes support and encouragement with children. We are constantly working on modeling a willingness to try new things. As teachers, we spend time explaining textures and flavors while reassuring children that it takes a while to get used to new flavors. Our goal is to make meals enjoyable and rewarding for the children. We always positively encourage children to try all of the food at school because they will never know if they like it unless they try it. Sometimes, that even means trying it many times, on many different days, as everyone's taste buds are changing, even as adults.
Outdoor Play
This week several children spent time in the playground creating a fairy house. It began with just a few pieces of bark that looked like slides but it turned into an elaborate creation with walkways, a park, a kitchen with an open fire stove, hammock beds, a swimming pool, and a baby swing. Children from all different classrooms joined in with their ideas and contributions.
Infant I
This was our second with Dana as our teacher. She has gotten very comfortable with all of the children and they have gotten very comfortable with her. It was a busy week as gross motor skills continue to improve and more risks are taken. The social interactions are also continuing to blossom with more games of chase and peek-a-boo. Clapping, singing songs, and familiar rhyming books are a favorite with several children requesting them by initiating clapping, finding those much loved books, and carrying them to a teacher. Our youngest children are showing signs of movement as well as they are starting to reach and stretch their bodies in new ways, testing the limits of what they can do.
Infant II by Hannah
We spent a lot of time painting this week. The children seemed to enjoy painting one of the large rocks in the playground. They spent a considerable amount of time covering the entire thing. One day we spent time painting with our hands while another day we explored using sponges. After painting, we washed off our bodies and materials in the sensory table filled with water and bubbles. The children noticed that each day the water was a different color and we talked about why. The pool was a main attraction again this week. They seemed to enjoy it most without water. There was lots of dancing and jumping. They also discovered the holes on either side of the spool and created a game of hiding items and playing peek-a-boo.
Toddlers by Sadie
We had an energetic and active week. The children were particularly interested in dancing, showing off movements to one another and teaching one another new moves. Several children learned to somersault and were very proud of themselves. Outside the main focus was climbing and jumping. The children spent a lot of time trying out new ways of climbing and swinging on the climber. The level of comfort the children have with climbing and balancing has reached new levels. We continue to work on independence and self-help skills. This week we spent a lot of time on putting on shoes by ourselves and recognizing which shoe goes on which foot. There was some peer support in identifying the correct shoe and a lot of verbal support for one another.
Preschool I by Shannon EF
Sometimes we just need to be flexible and go where the children are leading us even if it means shelving some lesson plans that you convinced yourself are really exciting. Thus, instead of struggling to redirect the children's attention to my idea, Shannon T did an incredible job of tuning in on the children and providing relevant materials to their interests. This week was all about sensory experiences - water, sand, oobleck, and mud. Dramatic play remains a staple, from rudimentary role-assigning between younger peers and teachers to complex, long lasting, peer to peer play between our older students and their friends that have transitioned into different classrooms. We also met a new friend who the children instantly welcomed into their play. We will continue offering sensory experiences throughout next week and go where the children take us.
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| He's doing "cool skateboard tricks". |
Preschool II by Sarah
We had another wonderful week together. While we worked on routines a bit, with the older seasoned children teaching some of the new younger classmates, we also brought in some old favorite activities. We spent time at circle practicing greeting one another, singing about the days of the week, and counting. Our interest in rainbows continues. We spent time making all different shades of red: strawberry, jelly, sandwich jam, cherry red, Hank's favorite red, raspberry red, the list goes on. We also started on orange. Identifying all different orange items we see around us and mixing some differing shades. We are going to work on yellow next week. We've also taken an interest in cooking after a new cookbook from the library book sale made it's way into the classroom. We are going to try out a few recipes next week. If you'd like to bring in an ingredient there's a sign up list on top of the cubbies.
PreK by Jen
For the past two weeks, we have been exploring a variety of concepts involved in mapping. As we walk from place to place, we talk about what we see, how we've gotten there and where we are in relation to other places that we know. As we walk, we've changed our vocabulary to use directional words, "Should we go north or south?" versus left or right, and we are constantly amazed at the children's sense of direction. We plan to continue building each child's expanding sense of place over the next few weeks. We've started by asking children to draw a self protrait and we are asking families to send in photos of their home. On our large bulletin board, we will be creating a map with many of the places we visit regularly. We'll be exploring "our place" in ever widening circles. Please check out our work as it unfolds. Other activities of interest have been building new and unusual structures with our marble tracks which often include a variety of other materials; building with small legos, creating and amazing underwater zoo in block area, and sequencing with a variety of materials.
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| Jen is getting a new pair of glasses. |
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