We wish you a pleasant Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

This week we talked about being thankful. As each child created a leaf for our tree, the morah's hearts became more and more full.

I am thankful for these children for a variety of reasons.
One reason in particular stood out this week-their persistence.

The following is a sample of some of the things you might hear us saying in our classroom:

I can see you are working hard.

That ___ took a lot of effort.

You just did not give up.

You have really been practicing.

I like how you persisted at that.

Practice makes better.

That was a really kind choice.

It looks to me like you are feeling proud.

That was challenging, and you did it.

That was a brave thing to do.

What an accomplishment.

We say these things to help our friends reflect on what they have done.

Their day consists of play.
Play is the tool children use to make sense of their world.

Play has been referred to as the work of children because it helps develop the child.

The work of a preschooler is not always easy.

As mom's, dad's and teachers we may "forget" what is like to learn and master how to open a container,

cut,

put on our shoes,

and hold and use a pencil.

As adults, we rely on our muscle memory for these tasks.
The children are just beginning to create their muscle memories.
They are developing and refining their fine motor skills.  It is challenging to put it all together.  It can be frustrating.

When we see the frustration building we choose to acknowledge their effort and the attempt to continue.
Our hope is this will help them develop the ability to take a small break in order to "re-start" with a fresh attempt.

We affirm the children's attempts because our belief helps to build their belief in themselves.
The confidence they gain when they cross a hurdle in their path builds their self image.
As this positively grows, they begin to feel brave enough to stretch their comfort zones.
We are not removing the challenge, we are giving the children the tools to remove the challenge.

I am thankful these friends continue to show up and try.  I see growth everyday and it is only November.

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Preschoolers define the Fundamental Needs of People

Moshe: All the kids standing on the Earth.
Evan: They are all around the world.
Morah Katie: What do all these kids have in common?
Lochlan: Clothes.
Evan: Shoes.
Morah Katie: What else so they all have in common? What do kids around the world need that you need to?
Evan: Food.
Makayah:A house.
Lochlan: Hashem
Moshe: Love.

Morah Katie: Why do we need:

 Shelter:

Emily: From the cold weather.
Makayah: To keep us safe.
Evan: To keep us warm.
Clive: To keep the rain from falling on us. If we didn't have a roof, the rain would just fall right on us.

Food:

Emily: To help us grow strong and smart.

Makayah: To live a healthy life.

Lochlan: To grow bigger.

 Clothes:

Makayah: To protect us from the sun or rain.
Evan: To keep us warm.
Zoey: To keep us warm.
Lochlan: To protect us.

Love:
Makayah: Because we want to be love.
Emily: Because it makes our heart happy.
Lochlan: We feel happy.

Hashem:
Makayah: He is always with us if we are scared.
Emily: He keeps us safe.
Clive: He created air and we need air to live.
Lochlan: If you are going somewhere and you are a little scared meeting new people Hashem helps us be brave.  And mitzvahs.