Hello Pre-4 families!!
This month we have done a lot of work with the children on social-emotional development. Using our center-wide expectations as the foundation we have implemented several things…
The children in pre-4 now have a reward chart where we add a sticker when we catch them taking care of our things. The children voted and decided that when the chart is filled, we will have a waffle party!
We take care of others when we wish well…
During our large group time we have a Wish You Well board. Each child has a picture and when they are absent we put their picture in the heart. This is to represent that when our friends are gone they are still in our hearts even if they are not here. We sing, “We wish you well, we wish you well, all through the day to day we wish you well.” We’re working to instill empathy, thoughtfulness, and caring. This is one of many ways we show care for others.
We take care of ourselves…
To help support the children in learning to understand how we care for ourselves the teachers and interns have used our expectation, “We Take Care of Ourselves” when we remind them to take care of themselves. When they wash their hands, clear the space after meals, and listen to their bodies we use it as a chance to talk about it.
Feelings activities…
The interns and teachers have been providing a plethora of activities revolving around feelings. We’ve used play dough to make feelings faces, had group times about naming our feelings, we’ve read books, and sang songs about feelings.
I read the book I Am You: a Book About Ubuntu to encourage empathy. The book description on Amazon is, “We may be different, but our hearts beat the same. In southern Africa, there is a belief called ubuntu―the idea that we are all connected. No matter where we’re from or who we are, a person is a person through their connections to other people. With simple, lyrical text and charming artwork, this lively picture book first published in South Africa perfectly introduces the concept of ubuntu for young kids. A celebration of friendship and kindness, the book shows children the many ways that we are all one.”
We are learning to take care of our things…
We have been using clean-up time to teach about taking care of our things. We started a classroom chart to track our progress and work toward a reward. When anyone is caught helping to take care of our things we put up a picture and express how helpful it is when we all work together to care for our things. The children voted and chose to have a waffle party as a reward! Keep your eyes peeled for documentation about our waffle party reward.
Here are some reminders!
The National Association for the Education of Young Children is sending a person to assess our program! We are excited to take part in this assessment program and have worked to maintain a high level of quality for all of our children. This will recertify us as a NAEYC-accredited program. Want to learn more about the National Association for the Education of Young Children? Follow this link.
Hope to see you at our upcoming family night- on March 6th, 4:45 – 6:00 pm you are invited to attend a family night that supports our HDFS practicum interns. They have started discussing and preparing for an educational and fun family night for your entire family to enjoy.
Spring is coming, and so is the possibility for a lot more mud! With that in mind I read this short article in Time magazine about letting your kids get dirty. I thought it was an interesting read, maybe you will too. https://time.com/4501169/five-dirty-habits-to-encourage-in-your-kid/
Our interns will be leading our classroom in the upcoming weeks. They all have fun things planned that follow the children’s interests and needs. Looking forward to the upcoming weeks!
Kendra Nenia M.Ed.
