Week of 10/24-10/28
PK 3 Happenings
The PK 3 crew went to the pump track for the first time on Wednesday. We had a lot of fun navigating the hills up and down and learning about how our body moves.
We also had a visit from Claire, she is a student teacher in art with Alex. She brought us some tempera paint sticks that we used to decorate some paper pumpkins.
PK 4 Happenings
It's been busy for the PK 4 pals this week. First we learned about fire safety on Tuesday. Thursday we planned out how we would like to design our pumpkins for carving with Ms. Olson's class (we are planning to also carve on Tuesday for the friends not here on Friday). Friday we carved out our pumpkins with the 3rd and 4th graders.
We have also been working on a collaborative process art piece in this group. It has been really fun to watch children find such joy in creating together.
We sure were busy!
Finger Play
Both groups learned the finger play 5 little pumpkins. Some friends noticed the words we sang here were different than they knew previously. I love when we get to play around with different words and teach flexibility while enjoying a song.
Note cards/Stationary
If anyone has any extra note cards or stationary at home that they are looking to get rid of, we would gladly take them off your hands.
Resource Corner:
What to do when my child is experiencing a big feeling. Especially when they want to have control.
Children (especially 3 and 4 year-old children) really want to have more independence in their lives. They are learning new ways to take care of themselves and they are discovering that they are able to make choices for themselves. This comes into play a lot when we see children have big emotions and feelings.
Suggestions for supporting a big feeling:
-Take a deep breath before going in to support your child. Remind yourself that the child in front of you is having a hard time with a big feeling, not trying to give you a hard time.
-Give space for the big feeling. (Create a cozy corner in your house-more on that in next week's blog). Let your child know that you are there for them and it's hard to have a big feeling. Stay calm.
-Example: "I see you're feeling really disappointed. That is a hard feeling to have. I'm here for you when you need some help."
-Sit near by. Model how to use a strategy. Take some deep breaths, do a 5 finger breathing technique.
-Notice when they are feeling calm. "I notice that you are starting to feel calm, are you feeling ready to talk about what happened."
-Process what happened. "I told you it was time for bed and you still wanted to play more and that made you really upset. I have a hard time stopping what I am doing too. It's important to take care of ourselves and going to bed is one way we keep our bodies healthy."
-Offer a choice. "Next time when it's time for bed, would you like me to give you a five minute or 3 minute reminder?" Giving choice to children helps them feel like they have some power/control in situations.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is to validate their feelings and give choices whenever possible. And know it's not always going to look "perfect" and that is totally okay! Big emotions are hard for all of us.
If you want more strategies, I highly suggest using this resource and signing up for the emails. I really enjoy listening to her podcast as well. There are great suggestions in each one!
Parent Questions/Struggles
I would love to hear from families what you are curious about in terms of child development. What questions do you have about this stage of development? What support do you need? What do you want more information about? My hope is to highlight different areas of development in this blog each week. I would love to know which ones would be the most supportive at this time. I'm looking forward to hearing from you! (kwimble@huusd.org)
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