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This week’s Coping Skill questions you can ask your child:

What do you do if you’re thirsty at preschool? Children can find their cup in the kitchen (they are glass jars labeled with their names and color coded for their class schedule) and either get help filling it or fill it themselves at the fridge water dispenser. If children bring their own water bottle from home they are allowed to use it anytime (and carry it around with them).

What do your do if you’re hungry at preschool? There will always be food available for hungry children. Sometimes children bring their own food which they are allowed to eat anytime and teachers will help them find a space to eat. Our saltine crackers are back and available for a pre or post snack nibble.

What do you do if you’re hot at preschool? Children can remove outerwear, long sleeves, socks, shoes, etc. In warm weather months they can stand under our HVAC vents or use a paper fan. Some children like to have a cold wet paper towel pressed gently on the back of the neck, chest or forehead (and if you blow on the wet skin it is even more of a cool down effect!).

What do you do if you’re cold at preschool? Children can put outerwear on or use one of our many blankets (there are a variety of textures and sizes). In cold weather months they can stand under an HVAC vent to feel the warm air. Cuddling with another person or rubbing their own arms/legs can also meet the need. Circle Time is under one of our vents and one child cared for his being cold by getting very cozy under pillows and blankets:

What do you do if you have to pee or poop? They go! With the bathroom connected to our classroom there is never a need for children to wait (unless someone else is using it). Children are allowed to go to the bathroom anytime and do not need to ask permission. At the same time, I will always assist children who need or request help with any part of the bathroom experience. We talked about digestion at Circle Time too:

What do you do if you don’t want to sit at Circle Time? They can lay down, stand, get a pillow, etc. What is most important in this skill set is noticing what their body wants to do and honoring it. If a child is uncomfortable for any reason sitting “criss cross applesauce,” I want them to move and adjust. We have several cozy corners children can retreat to anytime….one friend brought a photo of his mom and dad with him:

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Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:

How did you get your apple project to smell like apples?

After painting with red paint sticks, we brushed some apple and cinnamon scented oil on it. Some friends thought it smelled like apple juice, some thought apple pie and some thought it smelled like a candle. That all makes sense to me!

What did you eat for snack today?

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In the morning we had a birthday snack of donuts, string cheese and applesauce, just like the farmer in our book made!

Both classes got to help set the table and a couple of new morning friends were delighted to crawl under the tables to get them clean!

In the afternoon we had applesauce and goldfish crackers. The applesauce was again like our book about the farmer and the Goldfish reminded us of the book of Curious George wanting to go fishing. It’s not at our library, but you can borrow it from us…he tries some silly things and then poor George fell in!

Did we find the dog on every page? Did we find the cat on every page?

The short answer is NO. While reading Apple Farmer Annie (which was extra interesting for our afternoon class because we have our own Annie preschool friend), we looked for her pet dog and cat on every page. The dog was almost on every page except for the one where Annie was driving to the city. And the cat had to stay home from the trip to the city so they were not on any of those pages either.

However, the silliest page is when the cat is sitting on a chair.

This book doesn’t appear to be at our local library, but you’re welcome to borrow it from preschool if you’re interested.

Both morning and afternoon friends did play dough work that was like our book too: making big yellow apples and apple muffins!

More peeks at the classroom on this fun first day:

While I welcome all expressions from children, it seems notable that there were no tears from any children today and lots of social engagement. I’m grateful and excited for this year.

Thank you, friends and families! Love, Ms Kristin

Once upon a time there were 13 children whose grown ups signed them up for preschool. The plan was made that they would come on Friday mornings. 12 of the children started in September and one sister waited until she turned three years old. In this class we had 2 sibling pairs and 2 friends who go to childcare together. Some of the children in Friday’s class were toddlers and babies during our year of online preschool in 2020-2021 and would join the Zoom classes. These children had purple labels by their names because we called Fridy the “Purple Day” class. Then on a Friday in May, it was the last day that this group of 13 children would be together. The school year was over.

Here is how we spent our last day together:

We had little brothers visit: toddlers who turn 2 today and a baby. We added the finishing touches to our big butterfly prints. We played with everything we wanted to: the underwater plastic animals, the pillows, finding the tiny cars, dry erase markers, turning Ms Kristin into a clown with the playdough and rolling pin magic wands, puzzles and playground adventures. We ate snack out our School Boxes and Ms Kristin dropped in packages of Smarties since we are all so smart…some of them were very sour, some were tropical and some were original! We sang through all our favorite songs at Circle Time and drew a picture of Aiken Drum that was a little bit scary. We talked about Kindergarten, preschool and summer. We looked at a picture of Ms Kristin when she went to Kindergarten. We went outside and played. We sang We Wish You Well to each other and thank you to Lane: he brought us Sunny D drink bottles! We had a such a special day today.

Once again, thank you to all the moms. dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, childcare providers and friends who made it possible for them to attend. We are grateful. Six of these friends are graduating which makes it even more tender to say goodbye today.

Once upon a time there were 13 children whose grown ups signed them up for preschool. The plan was made that they would come on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. 11 of the children started in September and one sister waited until she turned three years old. In this class had 2 sibling pairs who were cousins as well! One of the friends has a dad who was a preschooler here himself and ALL of them were valuable parts of the class. These children had yellow and blue labels by their name because we called Tuesday the “Yellow Day” class and Thursday the “Blue Day” class. Then on a Thursday in May, it was the last day that this group of 13 children would be together. The school year was over.

Here is how we spent our last day together:

We did painting on a big board with foam shapes on it to make butterfly prints! We helped sort things from our School Boxes (markers, crayons, scissors and glue). We ate snack mix from Max out of our School Boxes! Ms Kristin dropped in packages of Smarties since we are all so smart…some of them were very sour. We tried seaweed and fed some to Baby Rosie the Robot. We thanked Grandma Bonnie for all the extra clean up she did after snack time. We went on the big swing and got really quiet to hear the creaking sound. We matched the plastic eggs and went in the sound tunnel. We worked with the months of the year and holidays during Circle Time. We talked about Kindergarten, preschool and summer. We looked at a picture of Ms Kristin when she went to Kindergarten. We went outside and played in the drizzling rain and did Show and Tell in the pavilion. We sang We Wish You Well to each other and then had a dance party to Zander’s “Who Let the Dogs Out” singing toy. We had a such a special day today.

Sorting the school box supplies which led to cutting cardboard from the recycling bin.

Here’s to a precious group of children. Thank you to all the moms. dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, childcare providers and friends who made it possible for them to attend. We are grateful. Six of these friends are graduating which makes it even more tender to say goodbye today.

Once upon a time there were 14 children whose grown ups signed them up for preschool. The plan was made that they would come on Wednesday mornings. 11 of the children started in September and three siblings waited until they turned three years old. On Wednesdays we had 3 sibling pairs, two who went to one childcare together and three who went to another childcare together, one whose mama was a preschooler here themselves and ALL of them were valuable parts of the class. These children had green labels by their name because we called Wednesday the “Green Day” class. Then on a Wednesday in May, it was the last day that this group of 14 children would be together. Two of them were gone on a trip, but we remembered them all day. The school year was over.

Here is how we spent our last Wednesday together:

We continued working on our butterfly prints…everyone will take one home on their last day. We ate snack out of our School Boxes! We had a very special snack mix and made a graph of favorite parts. Ms Kristin dropped in another package of Smarties since we are all so smart. We thanked Grandma Mona for all the extra clean up she did after snack time. We went on the little round swing. We matched the plastic eggs and went in the sound tunnel. We worked with the months of the year and holidays during Circle Time. We hid the spots with our feet at Circle Time too. We talked about Kindergarten, preschool and summer. We played with favorite things and did Show and Tell outside. We picked flowers and watched some city workers use the fire hydrant. We held hands to play a Circle Game at the end of the day and sang We Wish You Well. We had a such a special day today.

Here’s to a precious group of children. Thank you to all the moms. dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, childcare providers and friends who made it possible for them to attend. We are grateful.

Once upon a time there were 14 children whose grown ups signed them up for preschool. The plan was made that they would come on Monday mornings. 13 of the children started in September and one little sister waited until she turned three years old. On Mondays two of the children were brother and sister, two of them went to one childcare together and three of them went to another childcare together, two of them have mamas who were preschoolers here themselves and ALL of them were valuable parts of the class. These children had red labels by their name because we called Monday the “Red Day” class. Then on a Monday in May, it was the last day that this group of 14 children would be together. The school year was over.

Here is how we spent our last Monday together:

As was the promised plan, we started our butterfly prints…everyone will take one home on their last day. We cleaned extra for snack time and we ate out of our School Boxes! Malcolm brought rainbow fruit kabobs, rice cakes that tasted like Cheetos and rainbow sherbet for us! Ms Kristin dropped in a package of Smarties since we are all so smart. Ms Eliza came to visit and help. We went on the big swing. We did math work. We had Show and Tell inside. We worked with the days of the week during Circle Time. We talked about Kindergarten, preschool and summer. We started taking individual portraits with Rosie the Robot. We played with favorite things and read books. We helped little brothers join in. We had a such a special day today.

What a precious group of children we’ve had every Monday.

Thank you to all the moms. dads, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, childcare providers and friends who made it possible for these children to attend. We are grateful.