School for Friends December 2011 Newsletter

Newsletter for Parents & Friends

December 2011

Director's Report

AUCTION

I hope you all enjoyed the auction; I really enjoyed talking with so many you that evening. I can’t thank the parents and teachers enough for raising the money necessary to run the school this year. The auction is responsible for approximately five percent of the annual budget. I know it was a lot of work for everyone PARTICULARLY auction chairs Stephanie Donne & Karen Shepherd along with their right hand helper Gisele Grayson. Were you aware that we had two of our founding parents there – who just wanted to be present as we celebrated our 30th anniversary.

Click to view photos from the night

ACADEMIC VS. WHOLE-CHILD EDUCATION

In a recent article entitled “Helping Teachers Address Academic Learning” by Margie Carter in Exchange magazine, I ran across the following bit on Lilian Katz, early childhood educator and scholar: “Lilian Katz makes a helpful distinction between academic learning and intellectual development. She reminds us that academic lessons are often focused on discrete bits of information taken out of context and often taught with an emphasis on memorization or reciting the correct answer. Intellectual development, on the other hand, focuses on ‘the life of the mind in its fullest sense.’ This includes everything from aesthetic and moral sensibilities to the exploration of ideas and the skills of reasoning and inquiry. Academic information is important at some point in the learning process, of course, but we want to encourage young children to be active learners, not just passive receivers of information. This requires that we help children find their questions, connect ideas, and understand the bigger picture of academic disciplines.”

STAFF NEWS

Makai Kellogg, Sabina Zeffler and myself attended the annual NAEYC conference in Orlando November 2-5. As part of this newsletter you will find a list of sessions we attended. If you have any questions about them, please see us; we’ll be happy to expand/expound.
Aries Brinson has had to leave working in the afternoon in the BR. As you know, she is in her last year of law school (as is Thomas), and she is finding the workload overwhelming as she is also preparing for the bar. We have already found a replacement – Shivani Gogna. She has worked with children in summer camp.

THANKS

To parents who volunteered in the classroom while teachers were at the NAEYC conference – Brenda Zwack, Faheen Allibhoy, Christine LoCascio, Sybille Bayiha, & Gary Ellis.
To Michael & Jasper Wolosin for repairing the drawers in the upstairs utility room that were damaged by the flood last summer.

PLAYGROUND INSPECTION – Our playground was inspected by certified inspectors on November 1. Almost everything is in good shape with a few things that could use repair – we’ll pass those on to the Building and Grounds committee.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHILDREN APPLYING TO INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
Parents, please get us the recommendation forms by Friday December 23 so that we have plenty of time to work on them. Thanks.

Quaker House Newsletter

Hello Parents and friends of the Quaker House Classroom,

It’s hard to believe that December is already here! The past several months have just flown by. We would like to express our sincere thanks for your generous support of the School's Fundraising Auction that took place on November 20th.We want to send a big thank you to all the parents who were able to attend and participate in the School Auction (your picture may have been posted on the school website). During the month of December, we will begin learning about animals, in particular pets. Poet William Blake once wrote, "Everyone that lives, lives not alone nor for itself." This is especially true when it comes to our pets. And, according to researchers and counselors, it may be one of the most important lessons pets teach children. Children learn how the world and living things are interconnected. More importantly, children often learn: how to empathize with others, how to understand subtle feelings and how to look at the world from a vastly different perspective.

On the social/emotional level, pets can teach children many different things:
• Communication: Children learn the subtle cues their pets give them to indicate their feelings. They can later apply this lesson to human interaction because they are more attuned to watching for body posture.
• Empathy: Children often become curious about the emotions their pets feel. This curiosity will extend itself to others.
• Nurturing skills: A child learns how to take care of another living being, and take pleasure in keeping the pet healthy and happy.
• Confidence: Children go through life under constant evaluation. They are rated by their behavior, grades and athletic performance. Pets have no such expectations; they're delighted that the child is with them. Pets provide unconditional acceptance.
• Resilience to change: Children who undergo traumatic experiences often cope better when they have a pet to confide in.

We are looking forward to exploring the wonderful world of pets with your children. We want to encourage you to engage them in "pet-related" conversations at home. If you have any "kid-friendly" pet books or photographs of your family pets, feel free to bring them in. By the end of our animal/pet study, we hope to welcome a new pet friend into the Quaker House classroom.

As the weather is getting colder, please make sure you dress your child accordingly. Make sure all jackets, hats, and mittens have a name on them. It also helps us if the child’s mittens are attached to their jacket. On Friday, December 16th, school closes at 5pm for the Staff Holiday Dinner. The last day of school before the winter break is Friday, December 23rd. We will resume school on Tuesday, January 3rd. The three of us would like to wish you a peaceful and happy holiday season. If you need to get in touch with us over the break, please feel free to send an email.

With Warm Regards, The Quaker House Teaching Team

Rainbow Room Newsletter

Early in November, I had the privilege of attending the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. During the conference I went to many workshops focused on different aspects of child development and teaching. One of the workshops I found very important was concentrated on rough play. Frances M. Carlson, author of Big Body Play: Why Boisterous, Vigorous, and Very Physical Play Is Essential to Children's Development and Learning lead a workshop titled “Big Body Play: The Most Challenging of Children’s Challenging Behaviors.” In her presentation she shared the difference between rough play and actual fighting as well as the many benefits of big body play.

The biggest difference between fighting and rough play are the feelings, intentions, and facial expressions of the children. When children are engaged in rough play their faces are laughing and smiling, there is open hand touch, they are wrestling, chasing and running, and the child returns for more. Fighting involves a fixation on the other child, frowning, hitting, pushing, take and grab, and the child flees and cries. The main difference is doing something together versus doing something to someone. When wrestling, you take turns being dominant and submissive but when fighting, there is only domination.

Social benefits of rough play: requires children detect signals (nonverbal cues), alternate and change roles, bond, build confidence, self-control, positively interact with peers, learn your own limits which allows one to be assertive and stand up for oneself.

Physical benefits: supports cardiovascular health; children get vital touch needs met (of all senses, touch is the only one you need to survive). Cognitive benefits: verbal and nonverbal language development, problem solving skills, negotiating, paying attention, estimation, spatial skills, and organization.

Since I have come back from the conference, I have been engaging in more rough play with the children. In the gross motor room I wrestle with and toss around the children on a tumbling mat. I make sure to watch the children’s faces to see when they have had enough (even though I’m usually the one who has to take a break!). Rough play is universal in that people and animals do it. As adults, we should respect it and encourage it in appropriate ways.

I also attended a keynote speaking session with Diane Levin who is active against the media’s influence on young children. Her session, “Compassion Deficit Disorder: A Challenge to Social Development, Behavior, and Healthy Relationships” focused on the impact of screens including TV, video games, iPads and iPhones, etc and how these lead to a “remote control childhood.” The more children are passively watching screens, the less they are playing and learning to meet their social and emotional needs as well as gain problem solving skills; children become connected to screens instead of each other. Also, she discussed the influence of commercials and the intentionality of companies to secure brand loyalty at a young age as well as the gender roles that toys and products are teaching. Boys are being taught to be tough, violent, ready to fight, and not to rely on others for help. Girls are being taught that appearance matters, everything you own must be pink, and to be sexy too soon. The lessons marketed at children are mainly that how you look and what you buy determine your value and also teach one how to judge yourself and how other boys and girls judge you. This was an eye-opening session. It is up to teachers and caring adults to expand gender roles and help children feel safe. I received many handouts related to media and young children as well as information on toys to avoid and why. Since the holidays are coming, please take a look at the information on the Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE) website which has tons of information on toy selection and talking about media with your child. Here are some helpful websites: www.truceteachers.org , www.dianeelevin.com , and www.commercialfreechildhood.org Please contact me if you have any questions or would like more resources regarding big body play, the effects of media on young children, and toy selection for the holidays.

Thanks, Makai and the Rainbow Room Teachers

Green Room Newsletter

We have come to December the last month of the calendar year and the Holidays.

The Green Room have many exciting and special activities planned for this month.

In November we focused on these topics/themes; Fall/Autumn, Friendships and Thanksgiving. The Green Room had a special Thanksgiving lunch with the children and some of our parents. The food was great and the children enjoyed eating it.

In December we will be focusing on two major topics; ‘Peace’ and ‘The Holidays’. For the first two weeks of December we will be exploring the topic ‘Peace’. We will be doing several activities such as listening to music from different cultures, making a ‘Peace Outlet’, making ‘Friendship Bread’, making a ‘Peace Collage’, writing thoughts about people we love, collecting shoes for children in need, making ‘Friendship Cookies’ and sharing toys with our Blue Room friends.

In Exploring the Holidays we will learn about some of the Hanukkah and Christmas traditions, learn songs, do art projects, and do cooking activities which relate to these Holidays.

Special Events:

Family of the Week:

Abigail – Dec. 5 – 9

Isaac – Dec. 12-16

Arden – 19-23

School Vacation:

Dec. 24 – Jan 2

Have a wonderful holiday,

Jackie, Margaret and Alice

Blue Room Newsletter

Thank you everyone for such a wonderful auction! The children really enjoyed making the table and seeing their finished product set up in the classroom for a few days. We all appreciate your support for the Blue Room and for the school! Fall conferences are now complete and they all went very well. We enjoyed having the opportunity to speak with you about your child’s growth and development. The blue room teachers look forward to the rest of the school year and being able to learn more about your children as they grow.

In the month of November we wrapped up our fall activities and we also learned about friendship, feelings and Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful cooking activity in which we made friendship bread, it was delicious and the children couldn’t eat enough of it! We also made a beautiful painting that is displayed in the classroom in the reading area. It is titled “Our Many Colored Days” and everyone worked together to make it, engaging in conversations and developing friendships.

The first two weeks of December we will be learning about community helpers. Everyone loves listening to the emergency vehicles drive by numerous times a day, also watching them in the window. We are going to be learning about firefighters, police officers, garbage collectors and mail carriers. We have a lot of fun activities planned and are hoping to have a fire fighter be able to come in and visit the classroom!

For our final theme in December we are going to be learning about winter holiday traditions. After asking everyone what they celebrate, we will be learning about Christmas and Hanukkah traditions. If anyone would like to come in and do an activity with the children, let one of the teachers know! On Thursday, December 22nd, we will be having a holiday lunch in the blue room. We will post a sign-up sheet soon for what to bring in.

Reminders:
Now that the cold weather has arrived make sure that you child has a warm coat, gloves/mittens and a hat. We still go outside for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Also, be sure to check your child’s extra clothes cubby for weather appropriate clothes (at least 2 sets) and extra socks.

Important Dates:
December 16th – school closes at 5pm for staff holiday dinner
December 22nd – Blue Room holiday lunch
December 26th-January 2nd – School closed for winter break, school resumes on Jan. 3rd

NAEYC Conference - Sessions attended by Jim, Sabina and Makai

Sessions Attended by Jim:

Wednesday, November 2

~ “Research for innovation: Ongoing interpretations of Reggio Emilia’s approach to early care and education” Presenters: Margie Cooper, Barbara Acton, Amelia Gambetti and Lella Gandini. (3 hours)

~ “Who will save the kindergarten?” Presenter: Vivian Gussin Paley. (1.5 hours)

Thursday, November 3

~ “Interest Forum Facilitators Breakfast” Breakfast meeting to discuss Interest Forum issues and activities.

~ “Increasing inclusion in the classroom for children in families created through adoption and in families with same-sex parents” Presenter: Maggie Macaulay. (1.5 hours)

~ “How can preschools help before bullying begins toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children? A teachers’ role in empowering adults and children to change the future”” Presenters: Lucy Stroock, Irene Lipshin, Sharon Davisson, Brian Silveira. (1.5 hours)

~ “The Celebration of Diversity Event” eight NAEYC Interest Forums.

Friday, November 4

~ “Shared Visions: Perspectives on the future of quality improvement” Presenters: Linda Hassan Anderson, Thelma Harms, Teri Talan. (1 hour)

~ “Supporting children’s performances of gender: How to create an inclusive classroom that nurtures healthy gender development in all children” Presenters: Barbara O’Neill, Dylan Bosseau. (1.5 hours)

Sessions Attended by Sabina:

Wednesday, November 3

~ “Planning for play-based learning: Incorporating assessment and standards into DAP while keeping play at the core of each day” Presenter: Ellen Hofstetter Jaffe. (4 hours)

~ “The Teaching Pyramid: Specific strategies for promoting social-emotional competence and addressing

challenging behavior” Presenters: Mary Louise Hemmeter and Lise Fox. (3 hours)

~ “Making assessment work for everyone: Teachers, children, and families” Presenters: Cate Heroman, Toni Bickart, and Dawn Terrill. (1 hour)

~ “How to draw on Reggio practices and recent research to make first-hand experiences the basis for

curriculum from infancy through the early grades” Presenter: Ann Lewin-Benham. (3 hours)

~ “Who will save the kindergarten” Presenter: Vivian Gussin Paley. (1.5 hours)

Thursday, November 4

~ “What’s a teacher to do? Working with children of all ages who have emotional/behavioral issues that interfere with classroom learning ” Presenters: Kathy Garen and Catherine Barmore. (1.5 hours)

~ “Doing stories”: A lively examination of the art of story dictation and story acting as classroom theater ” Presenter: Vivian Gussin Paley. (1.5 hours)

~ “Authentic professionalism: Leading with compassion, courage, gratitude, and joy” Presenter: Erin Ramsey. (0.5 hour)

~ “Blocks and beyond: Strengthening early math and science through spatial learning” Presenter: Mary Jo Pollman. (0.5 hour)

~ “Teaming and conflict resolution: Strategies to strengthen relationships and communication within teaching teams” Presenter: Jamie Knight. (1.5 hour)

~ “Using children’s literature to increase our understanding of children with disabilities” Presenters: Jane Sileo and Barbara Fink-Chorzempa. (1 hour)

Friday, November 5

~ "Promoting reflection and critical thinking in young children through pedagogical documentation” Presenters: Bonnie Ripstein, Leslie Sevey. (1.5 hours)

~ Literacy in Reggio Emilia? One of “the hundred languages of children” observed, interpreted, and documented” Presenter: Lella Gandini and Amelia Gambetti. (1.5 hours)

Saturday, November 6

~ “Socially secure, emotionally strong: Strategies to promote resilience in young children” Presenters: Nefertiti Bruce and Karen Cairone. (1.5 hours)

~ "Implementing a Death as Part of Life curriculum for preschool and primary-grade children” Presenters: Alba DiBello, Arlene Lyons, Marty Watson, and Ave Latte. (1.5 hours)

~ “Scratch, slip, and smush: Exploring the multidimensionality of clay” Presenters: Kirsten Redmond and Katie Musick. (0.5 hours)

~ “Compassion deficit disorder? A challenge to social development, behavior, and healthy relationships:

How it affects our work with children” Presenters: Diane Levin. (0.5 hours)

Sessions Attended by Makai

Wednesday, November 3

~ "Understanding the teacher’s role in conflict resolution: Moving from chaos to calm” Presenters: Cristy Roberts, Angela Fraley and Lindsey Cabaniss. (3 hours)

~ “Making assessment work for everyone: Teachers, children, and families” Presenters: Cate Heroman, Toni Bickart, and Dawn Terrill. (1 hour)

~ “Advancing equity in early childhood by uncovering the myths that keep racism in place” Presenters: Claire Chang, Sandra Heidemann and Beth Menninga. (3 hours)

~ “Who will save the kindergarten” Presenter: Vivian Gussin Paley. (1.5 hours)

Thursday, November 4

~ “Big body play: The most challenging of children’s challenging behaviors” Presenter: Frances Carlson.

(1.5 hours)

~ “Blocks and beyond: Strengthening early math and science through spatial learning” Presenter: Mary Jo Pollman. (0.5 hour)

~ “A show of hands: Using puppets with young children” Presenter: Ingrid Crepeau. (0.5 hours)

~ “YOU, the intentional provider: Discovering for yourself what it truly means to be intentional, purposeful, mindful, and deliberate in your everyday work with young children” Presenter: Nikki Polifka. (1.5 hours)

~ “The vital role of the adult in children’s spontaneous mathematical thinking: Teachers are central to making child-centered learning work” Presenter: Greg Nelson. (1 hour)

Friday, November 5

~ “Promoting reflection and critical thinking in young children through pedagogical documentation” Presenters: Bonnie Ripstein, Leslie Sevey. (1.5 hours)

~ “Literacy in Reggio Emilia? One of “the hundred languages of children” observed, interpreted, and documented” Presenter: Lella Gandini and Amelia Gambetti. (1.5 hours)

~ “Socially secure, emotionally strong: Strategies to promote resilience in young children” Presenters: Nefertiti Bruce and Karen Cairone. (1.5 hours)

Saturday, November 6

~ “Mission ready, set—science! Incorporating science inquiry, exploration, and experimentation into early childhood classrooms and children’s everyday lives” Presenter: Craig Seibert. (1.5 hours)

~ “Compassion deficit disorder? A challenge to social development, behavior, and healthy relationships:

How it affects our work with children” Presenters: Diane Levin. (0.5 hours)

School for Friends 2201 P Street NW Washington DC 20037 202-328-1789