Busy Bees and Love Bugs meet Jiji the Penguin- 4s start ST Math
This week the Love Bugs and Busy Bees started their ST Math journey with Jiji the Penguin. ST Math is an online program that teaches math using fun puzzles that keep the children interested and entertained. The first step is starting to learn their 13 character password- which sounds daunting, but feels like a matching game. The expectation for Pre-K is 30 minutes per week. We are doing small group sessions of 10 minutes 3 times a week: Love Bugs MWF and Busy Bees TWTh.
To learn more about ST Math and to play games, visit bit.ly/welcome-stmath. For more information about ST Math or to download free family resources, visit stmath.com/parent-math-resources.
So far the kids have really enjoyed the time together learning from Jiji! We will keep you updated on our progress.
Kindergarten Readiness: A Discussion Series
Common Ground has been around 49 years.
In that time, we have made some incredible discoveries about how children learn and thrive.
Having a curriculum dedicated to kindergarten-readiness for our 3 yr and 4 yr class rooms has proven to be essential to a child’s comfort, confidence, and comprehension in their kindergarten classroom.
Disclaimer: This does not mean we want your three year old sitting at a desk all the time!
We actually want the opposite of that! We have talked about how essential big body activities and play-based learning are to a child’s holistic development. We have discussed the need for peers to really create a learning space rife with new ideas and curiosity.
As a parent AND a teacher, I covered my initial concerns for children not in kindergarten readiness programs HERE. I especially touched on children who were not in any kind of program during the Covid-19 social distancing effort.
Having a daily schedule in a classroom completely dedicated to their exploration with peers who provide endless inspiration is key to a learning spirit. We want to share our experiences, our research, and our findings with you by taking a deeper dive into how a two year kindergarten readiness program benefits:
Natural number sense — an awareness that mathematics is present in all things
Scientific process — independent search for answers to their questions
Emotional regulation and social confidence
Physical fitness and general endurance
Attention, comprehension, and participation
Learning as a PROCESS over a destination
Prewriting and Imaginative Independence — We discussed at length how Emergent Writing is nurtured from ages 3-5 HERE, but will touch on it as we discuss other aspects of a child’s growth and development
We will be discussing Rising Kindergarteners and our Private Kindergarten on February 9th, but we encourage anyone with a child who will be 3 by September 30th, 2021 to enroll them in a readiness program. Follow our journey, ask questions, and do your research! We will also provide further reading on the subjects at the end of each post and discussion.
We are constantly learning and growing as well! As teachers, we love learning almost as much as we love your kids, and want to nurture them with you. Let’s do this together!
Warmest Regards,
Ms. LJ
Concerned Parent -- Kindergarten Readiness
My daughter is a “young five.” This means that she just made the cut off for Kindergarten the year she turned five. While she is quite precocious and has a great love of learning, I was hesitant to put her into kindergarten simply because being socially and emotionally confident is just as important as being intellectually ready. Fortunately, I have had her in the incredible preschool program at Common Ground Childcare. Their play-based learning style and patient, nurturing teachers helped her really blossom into the confident student she is.
Unfortunately, she turned five during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I am a teacher, too. I have taught four and five year olds, and I know just how much these littles can change in a season. I had quite a few “young fives” in my classroom that I would have advised holding back if asked in March, only to see them blossom by summer.
Our little fours and fives of 2020 didn’t have that essential March to June nurturing period to hone their pre-kindergarten skills. They did not have the summer to tumble and play with their peers so that they would be resilient and self-assured come September. They are “young” in their classes, and it shows.
Fortunately, with the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine we are going to be seeing a new, more familiar “normal.” The one, two, and young three year olds will likely not even feel that “pause” on their lives.
BUT…
I am so worried about the three and four year olds of 2020. What essential life lessons are they missing out on? My students absorb so much during these years, more than they ever will again, I just wonder how long it will take to catch up on those key childhood skills, especially because it is likely that kindergarteners will still be in a hybrid class system September 2021. This usually fun, joyous experience is now so disjointed and uncertain.
Resourceful parents have turned to online worksheets and apps to help catch up on pre-literacy and early number-sense exercises. There are a lot of inventive games and learning programs that do have an overall positive SUPPLEMENTAL effect on a children’s education. They are not meant to do the heavy lifting on a child’s education.
Even without COVID-19 ravaging our normal schedules, 1 in 12 kids are as fit as the average child 35 years ago. Attention spans are suffering under a sedentary education style. Sensory training, emotional regulation, physical stability, these are as key to learning as letters and numbers, and much harder to master after age 5. There is no substitute for peer to peer social training and whole body lessons with trained childcare professionals.
If any of you out there have kids that will be kindergarteners in 2021 that aren’t in a dedicated program with their peers, I would strongly advise you to consider a rising kindergarten program.
There are excellent classes around, like the Honeybees Program at Common Ground Childcare, that strictly follow Health Department regulations to protect their teachers and children from the pandemic, while still letting the kids be kids. Common Ground teachers are also preparing for that “new normal” by helping their students learn appropriate mask-discipline and basic tech usage for when they have to distance-learn.
I think it is essential that all kids have a safe preschool experience that helps them be confident and kindergarten-ready. If a child really is not ready for kindergarten, there is nothing wrong with holding them back! But even if you decide to keep them out of grade school for another year, I would still keep them in a play-based curriculum in their peers. They will go into kindergarten as a much stronger, confident kid.
-Miss LJ
Common Ground: Winter Activities and Winter Attire
We are looking at A LOT OF snowy days coming up this winter!!
And we cannot wait for all of our outdoor winter adventures. There will be some days that are too wet or too cold! We will have little movie and popcorn parties and days where we do art while the weather outside is frightful.
But more and more studies are coming out showing how essential outdoor play is to our kids, and how the loss of consistent outdoor playtime is absolutely detrimental to their holistic well being. Kids are meant to play. They are meant to get dirty and windswept. They are meant to eat snow, trip in their swishy snow-pants, to fall down and find they can get back up again.
Play to Learn, Learn to Play Examples:
1. Building an Igloo with Friends: Promotes core strength, cooperation, simple machines and tools usage, basic engineering, imaginative play, patience, sensory endurance
2. Snow Walking and Rolling down Hills: Inner Ear training, strength training, leg and inner core training, aerobic workout
3. Snow Writing: Using natural tools to promote fine-motor practice. You can also use markers to do color work.
4. Winter Walk: Aerobic Exercise, Seasonal Cycles and Lessons, basic biology flora/fauna studies
Our preschool teachers are especially focused on “Kindergarten-Readiness.” This involves working on letters and numbers and pre-writing skills, but it also involves physical health and social-emotional independence. Outdoor lessons and games help cement fine-motor and gross-motor work. Operating in varying weather helps develop their sensory resilience which is essential for increasing attention span inside and outside of the classroom.
What do we always say? NO BAD WEATHER. ONLY BAD CLOTHES!
Is you child really set up for this winter? Here are items that we have on our student supply list that we highly recommend purchasing as soon as possible:
Kids Snow Boots — Snow comes in all different shapes and sizes, but it is always cold and always wet. An insulated, water resistant boot that goes high up a child’s leg will keep them warm and dry while they play. PLEASE NOTE: While rainbows will keep a child’s foot dry, they are not properly insulated and do not offer any protection against the cold. Snow boots are most appropriate in cold, wintry weather.
Snow Gloves — Snow gloves protect against the cold, but they are also water resistant. Cotton gloves, while warm, will become wet very quickly and will do more harm than good when trying to keep your child’s hands warm. Please make sure they have snow gloves available.
Snow Pants — Snow pants are key to making sure a child is warm and happy for a longer period of time. The water resistant fabric makes sure that the pants they wear to school stay as dry as possible so fewer clothing changes are required.
Thermal Underwear — We recommend these over sweat suits because they keep a child warm without overheating them or keeping their sweat in. These are perfect for layering winter clothes and helping a child regulate their body temperature while they play rough outside.
We will keep you all posted on our winter lessons and activities! Stay safe!!
— LJ and the Common Ground Crew
Child Led -- Honeybees have a say in their curriculum
At Common Ground Childcare we are STAUNCH BELIEVERS in child-led learning.
I know some of you are picturing a wild-rumpus free-for-all where children reign supreme, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth!
Ms. Adella, our lead teacher for the four year old class, has been writing her own curriculum for over a decade. The Honeybees use Creative Curriculum as a spine for their project-based learning, but Adella deviates frequently to suit the specific social and intellectual needs of her students.
She also stays in tune with what the students are passionate about. Are they really into space? Have they been wondering how to be super heroes in real life? What clothing do you wear when you want to combat a volcano? Child-led learning is all about taking their passions, their interests, and plugging it into your lessons. They still have to work, but the work is suddenly inspiring rather than what they do to GET to the fun part of the day.
This holiday season, Ms. Adella and Mr. Josh have been doing lessons with “Holiday Spirit” as the theme. The crafts and letter practice have all had a jolly, winter feel to them, and the children are excited! But more than anything else, our Honeybees have been extra passionate about music. Several students have brought in their ukuleles to sing with Mr. Josh and rock out together in their own band!!
Instead of telling the kiddos to save their instruments for center or free time, our teachers have incorporated music as a big part of their theme. The children are practicing several holiday songs, learning how to count rhythm and keep time, and learning how to play together and take turns as a group. It has become an integral part of the lessons. More importantly, the kids feel like they have a say in what they’re learning. They know their teachers care about what they have to say, and their feelings, which bolsters confidence in themselves and the support of the grown-ups around them.
If you are ever looking for “themed” activities to do with your children that really get them excited, check out Teachers Pay Teachers! You can find activities and crafts in ANY theme they like.
Happy Learning!
Ms. LJ
Saving our Planet: Recycling
Okay! So you want to be more green! You want to get those three R’s in action.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
But where do you start?
We all know that change needs to happen on a world-wide scale. It seems all-encompassing, overwhelming. What can we do as our house, our family, our one person self?
Well, our kiddos are learning about just that. Starting in November, our Rising Stars and Honeybees classes will begin a RECYCLING unit! They will be sorting their recyclables, creating new things from old, and learning life-long habits to reduce their carbon footprint .
We recommend these books to help cement those essential insights on how to protect their world:
Lift-The-Flap Questions and Answers about Recycling Trash — Katie Daynes
A comprehensive, interactive book all about recycling that answers all your curious kid’s questions! The pictures are enchanting, the facts are sharp, the message is STICKY.
Planet Earth Mazes — Sam Smith
Does your kid love to doodle while they learn? Planet Earth Mazes is a book chock full of facts and enchanting images to capture your child while they solve complex mazes and exert their logic skills.
Be the Change, Make it Happen — Bernadette Russell
As we said above, it can be overwhelming to want to help, to enact BIG CHANGE, but be a small person. Bernadette Russell shows kids how even the littlest changes (and the littlest person) can change the course of the future.
These are incredible books to feed your kids’ appetite for knowledge and can be purchased at any time. But if you purchase them this weekend (October 23-26th) Common Ground gets 10% of the funds!
(Visit our Book Fair here)
In the meantime, here are some steps to get you going at home!
1) Look up your local recycling facility HERE
2) Learn which items can be recycled and how HERE
3) Find some creative/fun REUSE projects to do with your kids HERE
4) Find some ways to REDUCE your use of disposable products HERE
We will be posting more ways to do those 3R’s on our Facebook as well as easy tips to reduce your carbon footprint, so check us out! PLEASE also let us know what you are doing at home! We need to work as a team to keep this planet GREEN!!
Have a FANTASTIC DAY!
LJ and your Common Ground Team!