* * Show and Tell * *
Bring picture of a North American landmark.
(Think Devil’s Tower, the Lincoln Memorial, etc.)
Topic: Citizenship
On becoming a good citizen
The value is collaboration, which means to work together for the common good.
For science, we’ll explore tastes and smells. Do you know the taste “umami”?
Outside, we’ll play follow the leader, try water painting, and explore sifting.
The songs we’ll be singing are America the Beautiful, This Land Is My Land, God Bless America, Star Spangled Banner, and Battle Hymn of the Republic.
For creative dramatics, we’ll have an election.
Our art activities are puzzles, paper sculpture, craft stick flag, and Uncle Sam hat.
For motor development, we’ll work on strength with sit ups, chin ups, push ups, and deep knee bends. For vestibular function we’ll do ice skating, spin and throw, dizzy izzy, and human bowling.
DISCOVER PROPRIOCEPTION
As a part of our enrichment curriculum, the children learn about their senses, but there is another sense that is really important to how we maneuver in our world. It’s the sense of where our body is in space, and it’s called proprioception. Just as our eyes and ears send information about what we see and hear, our muscles and joints sense the position of our body and send these messages to the brain as well. We depend on this information to know where our body parts are and to plan our movements. When our proprioceptive sense works well, we make continual, automatic adjustments on our position. This helps us to stay in an optimal position in a chair, to judge how to maneuver through space so that we don’t run into things, and to plan how much pressure to exert so we don’t break a pencil lead or a toy.
Since proprioception helps us with such basic functions, a problem in this system can cause a great deal of trouble. What often happens is the child has to pay attention to things that should happen automatically. He may have to use vision to compensate and “figure out” how to make adjustments. This can take a lot of energy. The child may feel clumsy, frustrated, and even fearful in some situations. For example, it may be very scary to walk down stairs if you’re not sure where your feet are. In fact, this is a natural function and one that fun activities can improve. Some things you can do are:
- Have your child help with “heavy” work, like bringing in groceries, carrying the laundry basket, and pulling weeds.
- Play “backpacking” and place bags of beans or rice in a child-sized backpack. Pretend to be climbing mountains and jumping off rocks at the park or in the backyard. Or really go backpacking.
- Make “sandwiches” with your child between cushions or between two people. Add gentle pressure as you add ingredients. A “hug” sandwich is fun.
- Play games with your eyes shut. Can your child touch her nose or make a big X with her eyes shut?
- Give extra proprioceptive input when your child is learning a new skill. For example, make shapes in sand or playdough, place your hands on your child’s shoulders as he skates or goes up or down stairs.
- Massage not only gives good proprioceptive input, but it is also a wonderfully calming activity for both parties. Make this natural thing an enjoyable thing, too.
Coming Up
Show and Tell – If your child is talking they can participate in show and tell every Tuesday. Show and tell offers the students the ability to talk/give a presentation in front of their classmates. Often show and tell can help rid children of the fear of public speaking, it also helps to build confidence. Parents should talk with their child about what they are bringing and help give them the words to use when taking to their classmates.
Infant Teacher – We are sad to announce that our new infant teacher was never able to join our family, she told us she was diagnosed with Covid19. We are conducting interviews for a new teacher but getting a new teacher will unfortunately not happen overnight. After taking time to conduct interviews and then picking the perfect candidate there is a FBI background check that can take up to 2weeks. Please know we are not understaffed for the number of students we have and we are in compliance with Texas licensing.
Homework - “They are only in pre-school why should they have homework?” When homework comes home its purpose is for your child to practice a skill that the teacher fells is necessary. Homework also helps to bridge a gap from home to school and shows the student that you are aware of what he’s doing while at school and you show interest. When homework comes home make it important and make a point to see it gets competed. Approach homework with joy and make it fun, that way you are not forcing the child to do it they want to do it.
Holiday – The school will be closed Wednesday, Nov. 24, as well as Thursday and Friday, Nov. 25 and 26, in recognition of all those things for which we need to acknowledge gratitude. The school will also be closed the week of Christmas December 20-24
Oak Asp – One of our teachers found an Asp on her car which caused us to take action. While on the playground the students in the primary class gathered around as the teacher showed them the captured Asp and told them is was dangerous and to never touch it and inform a teacher if they see it. Just a slight touch of furry gray colored venomous caterpillar will cause severe pain, be on the lookout in your neighborhood.
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