SHOW AND TELL
Bring a bandana to wear for our rodeo.
Topic: Rodeo
Learn about a tradition 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 our rodeo with barrel races, peanut shooting, and tug of war.
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
Our art activities are chuck wagon, bucking bronco, bandanas, dancing cowboy, and lunch bag puppets.
Creative dramatics will be howdy partner, barnyard, and bandanas. We’ll also practice singing patterns using songs cowboys used.
For motor development we’ll build flexibility with yoga postures. For body development, we’ll work on proprioception with deep knee bends, turtle walk, jug relay, and where is it?
The Dendritic Connection
Who among us does not want a child as bright as Albert Einstein? When his brain was analyzed after his death, it was found that it was not bigger than a normal brain. What was remarkable was the enormous number of dendritic connections. This is the biology that enables us to extrapolate one fact into another possibility. Research on the brain and learning processes has exploded, and today we have a much better understanding of how brain biology is affected by activities in the early years in our homes and schools. From the day we are born, our brain literally customizes itself for a particular lifestyle. Soon after birth, the brain prunes away unneeded cells and billions of unused connections. It’s a time of enormous selective receptiveness. If a baby hears multiple languages, those become imbedded in the child’s permanent abilities, as does only one language - or minimal language. Most educators are familiar with the value of “crawl time” in developing learning readiness. In 1960, the average 2-year-old spent 200 hours per year “strapped down” in car seats, infant carriers, and strollers. Today’s 2-year-old spends 500 hours strapped down. This has a huge impact on reading skills, and we’re concerned that children today truly are biologically different from children of 50 and 100 years ago.
Much of our intelligence is learned in the first year. Children learn how to react in hundreds of simple cause-and-effect situations. These situations guide them about being disappointed, pleased, anxious, sad, fearful, proud, ashamed, delighted, or apologetic. Known as “attunement,” this process must happen during the critical first year of role modeling. Infants who are given vestibular stimulation by rocking develop vision and hearing earlier. A lack of vestibular stimulation can be linked to learning problems including dyslexia. Much of our vision develops in our first year, particularly in the first 4 to 6 months, with a major growth spurt at age 2 to 4 months. The growing infant must get a variety of stimulating input, including plenty of practice handling objects and learning their shapes, weight, and movement. They need a feast of information. Specifically, this flood should not include television, which allows no time for reflection, interaction, or three-dimensional visual development.
Infants may understand basic counting principles and simple physics before the age of one. Neural circuits for math and logic are ready to be developed long before brains are ready for abstraction. Think about how delighted children are to share in the game “One for you and one for me.” An infant sitting in a high chair will repeatedly experiment how gravity works when an object is held over the side and dropped.
Within the first two years, there are multiple possible futures based on how the child’s environment is structured. For example, children who are allowed appropriate risk taking will usually be more courageous. Caregivers who are fearful or limiting will decrease courage in the child by placing limitations on crawling or walking. The bottom line is that most of the brain’s infrastructure is in place within the first 48 months. Morning Glory is committed to maximizing ultimate ability in this critical first period of life. It can make as much as 20 points difference in IQ. Some specific areas that we focus on include general health, exercise, emotional development, intellectual challenge, creativity through art, and effective feedback.
Coming Up
Mardi Gras Parade – On Tuesday February 25, we will have a Mardi Gras parade. Playing various instruments the students will go from class to class and get a few strands of colorful beads along the way. Please note at home if the strand of beads breaks they can become a choking hazard please take caution.
Go Texan Day – Rodeo in the enrichment curriculum signals that we’ll be having our own rodeo on Friday, Feb. 28. You’ll want to prepare with cowpoke duds for your own little cowpoke. Even a bandana works nicely. FYI: The Livestock Show (beginning March 3) at the Houston Rodeo is a fascinating program for our preschoolers. See if you can find a good time to take your little ones.
Heritage Festival – If you missed the homestead heritage day at Jesse Jones Park earlier this month, there’s another one at Spring Creek Park in Tomball on Feb. 29. Give your children the gift of real-life demonstrations of how early settlers lived in Texas. Soap making, blacksmithing, and other life skills become more real when we see them up close. It’s from 10:00 to 3:00.
Tuition Increase – Most schools raise their tuition every year we pride ourselves on doing it when it is really necessary. It has been two years since our last increase and in order to continue offering competitive salaries we are increasing tuition $25. On your March payment please add $25.00 to the rate you are currently paying. 100% of the increase is for the salary increase for the teachers.
Classroom news
Edie works with a lot of concentration as she works with the bead stringing work, this work will help improve attention span, fine motor and organizational skills. Noel is showing interest in numbers and letters he has had a lesson with the sandpaper letter and the spindle box to help his developing interest. In the toddler class Olivia likes the spooning work, she stays focused as he transfers one object at a time from one bowl to another, this works helps develop hand-eye coordination.
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