November 2010
Observations
Dear Families and Friends,
In late September, at our Back to Preschool evenings, many of you were able to explore the Studio of the Senses prior to the children’s first experiences in that new environment. Now, several weeks later, the children have demonstrated their amazing capacity to discover novel ways to express their feelings and theories through the language of paper. We thank our studio teachers, Summer, Craig and Valeria, for creating an environment with so many rich possibilities for investigation.
Also at our Back to Preschool evenings, some of you asked about the role of the teacher in shaping the small group play. A big part of the answer to that question is Teacher Observation. As you can see from Summer’s photos, she was carefully observing the children’s interactions with the material, the space, and with one another. The photos and the videos she took during the explorations are being shared with classroom teachers and with me each week and we are in the process of selecting possible interests for further research with the children in small groups. We invite you to share your ideas in response to the documentation, as well. -Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children have also been exploring paper in their classrooms with Valeria and their teachers. They will soon have the opportunity to visit the Studio of the Senses, too.
Please look for the lovely documentation that the teachers are creating about the children’s paper explorations.
Warm wishes,
Nancy
Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:
- Silent Auction News
- Wreath Sales
- Committee Updates
- Room Parents
- Wish List Item
- Professional Development for Teachers and Directors
- Documentation Meeting
- Thanksgiving Celebration
- Closed for Holidays: Veteran’s Day & Thanksgiving
- Halloween Parades
- Preschool Mission Statement
Silent Auction
We begin the month of November already”giving thanks” for the generosity of our wonderful PPS families and friends. Ticket sales, auction donations and the exciting plans that are in place for the event all indicate that this year’s Silent Auction will be a successful fundraiser—and a lively evening of great food and spirits in a beautiful setting with lovely music, great shopping, and good company. The teachers, board members, Karen and I are all looking forward to Friday, Nov. 5th with great anticipation.
Wreath Sales
Karen’s small fundraiser continues into mid-November. Please check with her to order a beautiful fresh holiday wreath for home, office, or as a gift to a friend or relative. Wreaths can be picked up at the preschool in early December or shipped to your home or business address.
Committee Updates
The Going Green Committee met last month to organize for current green projects and to discuss possible new goals and activities for this school year. Our school has made a lot of progress with regard to eco-friendly practices during the past 2 years, including: replacing paper goods with real plates, cups, utensils and with cloth napkins; adding blue recycling bins indoors and outdoors; creating a community collection system for used batteries, ink cartridges and small electronic devices (hallway baskets); selling water bottles with the PPS logo to help reduce the use of plastic water bottles by our families. We are working on the creation of a blog within our website to reduce the use of paper for documentation printing– and we are researching the purchase of more organic snack foods, as well. New projects may include the sale of canvas shopping bags with the preschool logo and the creation of a (very) small composting program. After the Silent Auction, we will”mobilize” our Emergency Preparedness and December Charity Committees. Many, many thanks to the Library Committee and to the Housekeeping Committee for their ongoing assistance with weekly responsibilities!
Room Parents
We thank you for organizing the Class Coffees and for coordinating the collection of items for the Auction Baskets! We understand that there is a lot of”behind the scenes” planning that takes place during this early part of the school year.
Wish List Item
Over time, we would like to go from using PC’s to using Mac computers in our offices and classrooms. At the present, the HP laptop computers and desktop computer that we purchased 2 years ago are generally working fine, but we are looking ahead to our future technological needs and, at the request of several parents, are sharing this information with the preschool community. We have a wonderful technical support person, Matthew Waldman, who maintains our computers and network system. (He will be offering his services to a winning family as one of our Silent Auction items this year.)
Professional Development for Teachers and Directors
During the month of November, teachers and directors will participate in a variety of interesting and inspiring educational opportunities. Our staff members will attend the annual NAEYC Conference, a Learning Tour with educators from Reggio Emila at First Pres., a seminar about the observation of infants and toddlers, another Learning Tour at Growing Place, a workshop about Weaving and Sewing, and another workshop about the many ways that children write without pencils. We will close only on Nov. 2nd for these activities.top of page ↑
Documentation Meeting
We invite you to join us on Wednesday evening, Nov. 17th, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall for a presentation about the purposes of documentation in a Reggio inspired approach and for dialogue about documentation within our own PPS context. Please RSVP by Monday, Nov. 15th.
Thanksgiving Celebration
The children will share a Thanksgiving Lunch on Tuesday, Nov. 23rd. Teachers will post sign-ups for potluck items during the week of Nov. 15th. The”feasts” will take place in each classroom and parents who sign up to help with the preparation and clean-up are also welcome to participate. As always when we plan to serve food at the preschool, food allergies of children in each class will be considered. (Unfortunately, children who do not usually attend school on Tuesdays will not be able to attend the Thanksgiving Lunch; we do not have enough space in classrooms.) While Thanksgiving is not necessarily a part of our preschool curriculum, we might talk with children about family and food at this time of year and share experiences about how this holiday is celebrated in children’s homes. Please know that we are inclusive in our discussions about families and about cultural traditions. Bread, Bread, Bread, by Ann Morris, Everybody Cooks Rice, by Dooley & Thornton, and Lunch Around the World, by Munton are nice titles for young children.
Closed for Holidays: Veteran’s Day & Thanksgiving
The preschool will close on Friday, Nov. 12th for Veteran’s Day and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Nov. 24-26, for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Halloween Parades
We loved seeing so many families join us for the Halloween Parades on Oct. 29th! We so appreciated your care in helping children select costumes that were safe and appropriate for their ages. We saw a whole spectrum of wonderful costumes and wondered about why children made the choice of princess, super-hero, scuba diver, story/movie character, animal or skeleton—to name only a few! It is quite possible that some of the children will continue to explore their Halloween costume roles during the coming weeks. This is natural–and may actually influence the formation of some small group explorations. It is important for children to be able to experiment in safe ways (and with guidance from a teacher or parent) with concepts about “good guys and bad guys.”
Preschool Mission Statement
Our mission is to serve our community by offering a preschool experience for children and families that celebrates diversity, creativity and kindness. These values are embedded within a rich child-centered curriculum that provides individuals and groups with opportunities to investigate, explore and express themselves through meaningful play.