Introduction
March is already almost done! The weather can’t decide if colder or warmer weather is in the forecast. But our children are growing and developing so much!! We are super excited to get more spring-like activities like gardening and more outdoor play. These children are very ready for the spring-like weather and being more active as the weather gets nicer!
Our Interns
This semester we have three wonderful interns: Taylor, Alyssa, and Gianna. They have been starting to implement their lead teaching weeks by gaining experience in how to lead a classroom, how to conduct several activities to keep our children engaged and several other things. They are
doing wonderful work with us so far! Between songs and dancing, books and several hands-on experiences, the children are really enjoying their time with our interns. They have been working really hard to build their relationships with the children and finding good techniques to help them! Please take the time to give them some encouragement to let them know how well they are doing.
Boundaries and Expectations
We have been working hard to integrate our center-wide expectations in our classroom and helping our children with challenging behaviors we may see! We have three very simple expectations as a center: We take care of ourselves, we take care of our things, and we take care of each other. We work to show the children how to take care of ourselves by eating healthy foods, going to the bathroom/listening to our bodies, exercising, and going outside, getting enough rest and more. To take care of our things we have the children help clean up our toys, being gentle with our items, water our classroom plants, etc. Lastly, we show the children how to take care of each other by checking in on each other, turn taking and asking for a turn, being a good helper, using kind words and touches, and playing together. A lot of this requires a lot of modeling and showing them how to do it and giving them the words to say depending on the situation. These are skills that will come with time but with our assistance we can get them there! Also, please take a moment to check out our expectations at the bottom of this segment to see some ideas on how to show these expectations as well as some ideas to help with some challenging behaviors we may see throughout our day at home.
The children have also been very interested in a song called “The Boundary Song.” Please see the link below to the song and feel free to play it at home. This song is great because it allows them to hear the language to use if something isn’t quite going their way. We have been explaining to them that it is okay to have boundaries and to say these things as it helps people understand what they need! Yes, it is sometimes met with a bit of frustration because some children may not want to hear the boundary or want to keep playing/going even though others may need space. But the key is to keep working with them in letting them know what is a boundary and that it is okay. Keep practicing using this language at home to help the children acknowledge their needs and that these things are okay to hear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSFvJbSQdA4
Pyramid launch and center wide expectations.pdf
Reminders
- Week of the Young Child is from April 8-April 12. It is a week where we celebrate children and families! Please stay tuned for more information to come as we usually have a spirit week and several daily activities planned throughout the week.
- Parent-Teacher conferences are coming up with Nadine and Kat. Kat’s conferences are April 23, 2024 from 9-4 and Nadine’s conferences are April 24, 2024 from 9-4. Be on the lookout for sign-up sheets and a questionnaire to help us set up the conference. Also, a three-question form will be sent home for you to fill out and return to us to help us gain insight as to how you would like your conference to go.
- Please be on the lookout for any notes on classroom necessities!
- Please bring a basic white T-shirt by April 3, 2024 as we will be tie dying them for Week of the Young Child class project.
