Teach Gratitude not only on Thanksgiving.

At this time of year we are always more aware of giving thanks for what we have as we gather with friend and family to celebrate Thanksgiving and all that it brings.

At our school our children delight in preparing for a special “feast” or celebration with friends where they express their thanks for what they hold dear, their mom, their dad, their baby, their pet, their teacher, their home, their bed…the list goes on and on and is heartwarming to see their faces when they speak. 

Luckily our Montessori curriculum includes a Grace and Courtesy component, and on a daily basis we model and teach and model grace and courtesy.  We expect our students to say thank you to a friend who holds the door, or helps them clean up, to a teacher who helps with laces or zippers, or a parent who comes to read a book or do a craft.

“Thank you” - two very small and simple words that are big and important to both the user and the receiver.  Showing and receiving gratitude makes a person feel good and sets them up for positive interactions and relationships. Gratitude is a skill that will help children grow into healthy adults, therefore it is really important that we help our children focus on what they can and should be thankful for apart from material things.

Dr. Monisha Vasa in an article on mindbodygreen.com  recommends the following to encourage attitudes of gratitude in children:

·         Have them engage in random acts of kindness

·         Spend time in nature and learn to appreciate its beauty

·         Create a daily reflection ritual on the highs and lows, joys and challenges of the day

·         Practice mindfulness at meals, exclude toys and electronics to allow appreciation for the meal

·         Help children volunteer in age appropriate ways

We all know the importance of role modeling, if we can make gratitude part of our daily lives our children will too.

Colette B. Cross

The Importance of Parent-Teacher Conferences

This time of year is a great time to get together with your child's teacher to discuss goals for his growth and development. Conferences are an opportunity to collaborate on your child's strengths and come together to set goals and a game-plan for his success. 

In Montessori schools, progress is measured individually and through mastery of objectives, as opposed to a grade-based system that compares your child with other children. So, at conference time you should expect to hear about the skills your child has obtained and the future path of development planned for your child. Since lesson planning is done individually, don't be surprised to hear that your child may prefer one area of the room to the other and that the teacher is not concerned about broadening her lessons for now. Often children will focus on one task or subject for an extended amount of time until they have mastered the skill, at which time they will move to another task to master. This ability to follow the interests of each child is one of the amazing gifts of Montessori Education that promotes a true love for learning.

Since Montessori schools focus on the whole child and not just academic subjects, teachers will share information about social and emotional growth, fine and gross motor skill development, and your child's acquisition of practical life skills such as caring for himself. Strength in these skills helps to encourage the development of academic skills and build concentration. 

Overall, parent-teacher conferences are an opportunity to work together to share insights with each other so that the partnership between parents and teachers can be strengthened to best meet the needs of your child.

Boo Hoo – the End of Daylight Savings    ---      FALL BACK ONE HOUR

November 6, 2015

In the fall, the clocks ‘fall’ back an hour. What used to be 7:00pm is now 6:00pm and baby/child is tired and ready to sleep earlier than ‘normal’. While you may not be successful in helping your child make it to bedtime, the real problem comes in the morning because most children will wake early. Their normal 7:00am wake-up time now becomes 6:00am. Prepare to nap them a little earlier and allow them to ‘chill’ in the crib after waking from naps a bit longer.

Your best approach is to not worry about the plan and just go with what the clock is saying. If your child’s bedtime has been 7:00pm prior to turning your clocks back, still put your child down to sleep at the new clock time of 7:00pm. The reason you can ignore the time change is because a lot of our social cues like meals, bathing, leaving and returning from work and school, are all adjusted with the time change. Social cues help regulate a child’s sleep schedule. It is entirely possible that your baby will be tired before the 7:00 pm bedtime and you should absolutely read baby’s cues and put him down a little earlier if very fussy or obviously very tired. Remain strict adhering to usual bedtimes, wake times and nap times. This approach works best for good sleepers or those who have mellow personalities. What I would suggest, however, is that a little catnap for about 30 minutes offered anywhere between 4pm and 5pm may help take the ‘edge’ off before the normal bedtime.

Some parents find it is best to try to make gradual adjustments by making a slow transition starting on Thursday night (November 3) before the time change, moving your child's bedtime earlier by 15 minutes each night. By Sunday night you will be right back on schedule.

1.    Starting Thursday, November 3, move your baby/ toddler bedtime back 15 minutes each night. Your baby’s whole daily schedule moves back those 15 minutes the day after. This way, you will have shifted your baby’s schedule ahead by one hour by the time you have to move your clock back one hour. Therefore, your baby would be going to sleep at his usual time right away, based on the Standard Time.

2.    See the chart below for guidance. Note that this chart assumes baby’s current bedtime is 7pm and waking time is 7am.

3.    For an even smoother transition, you can start moving your baby’s bedtime back 10 minutes on Tuesday, November 1, 2014.

Adults as well as babies and children can take a few days to a week or even longer to adjust to the time change. And, this is perfectly normal. Be patient with yourself and your children until your biological rhythms catch up with the clock. Being diligent with your schedule will help your child, and you, to make that adjustment more quickly. If you find the adjustment challenging, consider the following suggestion: the day after the daylight savings time ends, Monday, November 7, 2016, your baby may wake up one hour earlier than usual (based on the clock). If this is the case, you will want to make your child’s naptime and bedtime 45 minutes earlier than his regular schedule the first day; 30 minutes earlier the second day; and 15 minutes earlier the third day.

The whole daily schedule adjusts to those changes accordingly. By doing this, your baby would be going to sleep and waking up at his regular times, based on the Standard Time, by Friday November 11^th. 

Pam "Mimi" Small

Newborn/Infant Care Consultant

Sleep Consultant 0-5 Years    

www.CalmBabyRN.com

Transition Steps	Current Time (Daylight Savings Time)	New Time (Standard Time)
Thursday, November 3	Move back your baby's 7pm bedtime to 7:15pm	7:15pm	6:15pm
Friday, November 4	Move back your baby’s daily schedule, starting at wake-up time 7:15am	7:15am	6:15am
	Move back your baby’s bedtime to 7:30pm	7:30pm	6:30pm
Saturday, November 5	Move back your baby’s daily schedule, starting at wake-up time 7:30am	7:30am	6:30am
	Move back your baby’s bedtime to 7:45pm	7:45pm	6:45pm
Sunday, November 6 (Fall Back Night)	Move back your baby’s daily schedule, starting at wake-up time 7:45am	7:45am	6:45am
	Move back your baby’s bedtime to 8:00pm	8:00pm	7:00pm
Monday, November 7 (Standard Time in Place	Regular waking time 7:00am	8:00am(Doesn’t apply!)	7:00am

Make Time for Books

Colette B. Cross

Read for the Record Day this year is October 27.  On this day over a 24 hour period, many many adults and children take part in a shared reading experience.  This program is facilitated by Jumpstart, a national early education organization, whose goal is to support more adults reading to children, and put more books in the hands of children.   Westmont has been a participating school for a number of years in this now 10-year initiative. 

Teachers, parents, grandparents, alumni students, siblings, and classmates provide reading experiences in our classrooms on an ongoing basis.  We see books in the hands of our students every day, from our youngest “Little Steppers” to our oldest Kindergarteners in their cozy dedicated reading spots.  We also welcome any opportunity to read to our students and enjoy a school-wide appreciation of a new shared book.  Each class received a copy of the book for its library.

Today, I had the pleasure of being the guest reader and read this year’s book selection The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach to all of our Early Childhood and Kindergarten students.  The animated faces, thoughtful observations, and creative responses to questions showed engaged listeners and provided fun interactions for all.  I do not have daily opportunities of reading to a large number of students and enjoyed the experience as much as the children.  I do, however, recognize the importance of giving a child the lifelong gift of enjoying a good book.

Research shows that children, who are read to from an early age develop larger vocabularies, become better readers, and experience greater success in school.  Providing literacy-rich environments will ensure that children receive the support necessary to develop pre-reading and appropriate cognitive skills, for school and for life.   We can do it together; remember to keep books in your car,  in your home, and read to your child daily.  Add a book to the birthday and holiday gift list, take trips to your local library and bookstore.  Make books visible and accessible, and take time to enjoy a good book yourself. 

If you click on the link below you can read or download this year’s Jumpstart book selection.

https://www.jstart.org/campaigns/read-for-the-record

Want your kids to tell you about their day? Instead of asking questions, try this.

By Sara Ackerman, Washington Post 

The recently begun school year brought with it the smell of fresh pencil shavings, the squeak of shoes on newly waxed linoleum and a new round of stonewalling to the question, “What did you do at school today?”

For generations, the most common answer to this question has been “Nothing,” followed closely by “I don’t know” and its cousin, “I don’t remember.”

When my daughter started preschool, I was desperate to know what she did all morning, but I couldn’t get any information out of her. Some experts recommend giving kids space and time to decompress before launching into questions. I tried that, but she still wasn’t forthcoming. Others advised me to make questions more specific, yet still open-ended. The Internet abounds with lists of quirky alternatives to “How was your day?” But when I asked my daughter who made her laugh or what games she played outside, I was met with sighs of irritation and emphatic replies of, “Stop asking me those fings!”

When school began this year, I tried a new approach at the dinner table. “Do you want to hear about my day?” I asked my daughter.

And on that day and every day since, she has never said “no.” So I tell her about meetings and photocopying, the jammed printer and how I lost and found my keys. I tell her about the games on the playground, the lessons I taught and how many kids asked to go to the nurse. I start with taking attendance in the morning and I end at dismissal. I am a teacher — at her school — although her class is on a separate campus.

Then, like she’s taking her turn in a game of Go Fish, my daughter tells me about her day. I learn what book she listened to at the library, that she changed from her rain boots to her sneakers by herself, and the cause of her brief venture into timeout. She tells me who was classroom helper and who she sat next to at snack time. She sings “Itsy Bitsy Spider” for me, crawling her fingers up the invisible water spout above her head. She leans in close. “Did you make letters in sand today?” she whispers. “I did that!”

Although being a teacher may make my days relatable to a child attending school, I think my daughter is most interested in unveiling the mystery of what I do when I’m not with her. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a software developer, a cashier, a blogger, a doctor, a bus driver or a stay-at-home parent, because it’s not about the minutiae of the work. It’s about sharing what makes us laugh and what bores us, the mistakes we make and what is hard for us, the interesting people we meet. When I model this for my daughter, she is more willing to share the same with me.

Work is usually the last thing I want to talk about when I get home. I often think that a rundown of my day would be a bore to anyone, including me. Maybe my daughter finds listing all her cutting and pasting and cleaning up blocks equally tedious. But I delight in hearing the details of her day, just as she delights in mine.

Tonight at the dinner table, as my daughter inexpertly wielded her knife and fork and I started talking about tomorrow’s plans, she interrupted.

“Mom? Aren’t you going to tell me about your day?”

Sara Ackerman is a writer and a teacher.

The Screen Time Dilemma

Colette B. Cross

How much screen time is too much?  In this day and age when screens are front and center in the day-to-day life of parents, children, schools, and communities in general, the question remains.  There is a field of thought that in order to keep up with the times, it is important for children to have access to all and everything there is to offer.   There is no doubt that young children are exposed to far more electronics/screens/video games, eBooks, etc., than ever before.  Parents know the magnetic draw and look to experts for advice.  The good thing is there are many articles and suggestions to support parents setting guidelines on this topic.  Paying attention to current research and setting family limits will help navigate this challenge.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), always vocal on its guidelines for our youngest ages, has recently changed its position on its recommendations for screen time for children. The Academy understands and recognizes the challenges that parents face with screens now appearing at every turn; the constant barrage adds to the dilemma. To read about the AAP’s current position on screen time, click on the link below to read an article published in the NY Times:

A Reconsideration completely of Children and Screen Time - The New York Times

In short keep in mind:

 

-  Media is just another environment

-  Role modeling is critical

-  We learn from each other

-  Content matters

-  Be mindful of “Educational Apps” - do your own research

-  Co-engagement with your children counts

- Playtime is important

-  Set limits and follow through with them.

For further reading, Google Lisa Guernsey, author of Screen Time and writer for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), who gives feedback on her recent findings on how electronic media affects young children.