SHOW AND TELL
Bring an item that might have been used on a chuck wagon. (Think skillet, beans, firewood, etc.)
Topic: Rodeo
Learn about a custom of the Old West
The value is courage, which means to be brave. We need courage to try new things, to stand up for what is right, and to do our best every day.
For safety, we’ll learn how to be safe around animals.
Outside we’ll have a rodeo.
The songs we’ll be singing are Red River Valley, She’ll Be Comin’ round the Mountain, Home on the Range, Whoopee Ti Yo, and Deep in the Heart of Texas.
For creative dramatics we’ll name all the ways you might use a bandana.
Our art activities are chuck wagon, bucking bronco, bandana, and dancing cowboy.
For motor development, we’ll work on flexibility with yoga poses. For proprioception, we’ll do where is it, deep knee bends, turtle walk, and jug relays.
GIVE A BABY A HUG
Do you touch your baby enough? That may seem like a silly question. Still, just at a time when researchers are discovering more and more emotional as well as medical benefits from touch, they are also finding that young children are getting touched less than ever. They have some pretty good ideas why, too. For one, “Babies are spending too much time in infant seats,” says brain development researcher Lise Eliot of the Chicago Medical School. The convenience of these seats has a cost. In the simple motion of lifting a baby from stroller to car or vice versa, there’s often a quick kiss or big smile, some close contact with Mom or Dad’s face, voice, and body warmth. What’s more, every time a baby is moved without being lifted from the carrier, it’s one less chance for neck and abdominal muscles to get exercise and for vestibular stimulation, which helps develop balance.
Psychologist Tiffany Field, the nation’s leading touch researcher, tells parents to use the portable infant seats or strollers sparingly, especially for babies younger than six months. “Most infants prefer to be in contact with you, to smell and feel you,” she says. It’s a matter of emotional security as well as sensory stimulation. At birth, touch is the most highly developed sense, with biological and psychological benefits. An infant should be held for a portion of every waking hour but not 100 percent of the time. When they’re awake, babies need tummy time to strengthen upper body muscles. Stanley Greenspan, a child psychiatrist who teaches at George Washington University, says that touch is critical because it’s the only sense that accomplishes three things babies need; It provides a sense of security and safety through cuddling, engages them with the human world, and begins the process of back and forth communication.
The emotional wholeness of children is greatly enhanced when they have the warm, loving touch of parents. In infancy, children receive a lot of touching in diapering, dressing, feeding, and carrying. Even though they outgrow babyhood, they do not outgrow their need for warm caresses. During a child’s early years, hugs and kisses usually continue to be given quite naturally, but when the child begins to mature, such touching affection sometimes almost stops. Some adults are not comfortable with such expressions of affection themselves, or they deem it to be inappropriate or even unnecessary. It has been found that children who grow up without parental hugs or physical affection suffer emotionally. They grow into adults who are handicapped from adequately showing love or expressing emotions. Even more extreme, as teenagers they can be prime targets for the cults who offer a family-type atmosphere. Let’s start today to give a warm baby a hug
On the Calendar
Go Texan Day – Rodeo Houston will be here before we know it, and we’ll have our own rodeo at the school on Friday February 23. You might want to prepare your little cow poke costume. A bandana works nicely.
Vision and Hearing – For your convenience we will have vision and hearing testing at the school on Wednesday February 21. The state of Texas requires all students 4 years and older be tested, if your child is 3 years old and can follow simple directions you are encouraged to have her tested. The results of the test must be in each child’s for us to pass our annual inspection. If your child has had vision and hearing testing please give the school a copy of the results. Look for sign up forms in the foyer by Monday the 19.
Team Training - Most of the MMGS team attended a workshop over the weekend we touched on topics like, classroom management, observation and child developments to list a few. We attend workshops to meet the state requirement but and to make us better teachers.
New Assistant - Did you know our newest assistant teacher Cory was once one of the toddlers in our toddler class? She went on to complete kindergarten at her first school with Ms Farhana. Over the many years we’d get updates and learn of her on going achievements. Cory and her family have credited MMGS for setting the foundation for 6year old Cory and you can see for yourself her foundation is solid. You’ll see Cory in the afternoon make a point to say hello to our MMGS alumnus.
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