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PRESCHOOL NEWS MAY 17

By
Sandy
– May 16, 2012Posted in: Preschool News

              

May & June Calendar                                                      

  • May 19, Saturday, New Parent Orientation, 10:00 – 12:00

  • May 21, Monday, Switch a Roo Field Trip – switching schools for the day

  • May 28, Mon. Memorial Day observed, no preschool

  • June 6, Wednesday, Circle of Friends Celebration for all MWF & 5 day Classes – June 6 Church site @ 11:00  Grange site @ 12:00

  • June 5, Thursday, Circle of Friends Celebration for all TTH Classes – June 5                    Church site @ 10:00   Grange site @ 10:10                                                                                    

    June 5 & June 6 Tues. & Wed. Last days of preschool – No Afternoon Enrichment

Mother’s Day Tea! Thank you so much for all your feedback on the Mother’s Day Tea.  It was a difficult decision to change from doing the breakfasts with the whole school in the parish hall to lunch with each child’s class. Mommies said it was a very special event and dads said their “Sweetheart Lunch” was perfect!  So we are off to a new tradition at preschool.

Fun!Raiser Totals:  Thank you for your donations to the preschool instead of doing another small fundraiser.  We have reached $1,100.00 in donations.  I am still praying for the additional $700.00 so if you have not put your $25.00 in please do so, if you can.

Summer Camp:  At this time, the camp sign-ups have been very slow coming in.  Please get your registration form for camp to me ASAP so that I can plan accordingly.  We have teachers who need to work so we hope you choose us for your camp plans for the summer.  If you want to register but don’t have the funds at this time please send in your registration form and you can turn the fee in by the end of May. Get your place at summer camp – bring friends too!  The camp is for children who will be entering 1st grade too!

CHAPEL UPDATE:  I was looking through our story shelves and thought, “Oh, we haven’t told the story of Jonah and the Big Fish yet this year.”  Since time is ticking away, that’s what we’ll do this week.  The story can be scary if you think about it.  However, the emphasis of the story is that God didn’t forget about Jonah being in the belly of the whale and ultimately kept him safe.  We will talk about how God hears our prayers no matter where we are.  Chaplain Michelle+

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PRESCHOOL NEWS MAY 11

By
Sandy
– May 12, 2012Posted in: Preschool News

              

CALENDAR

May 19, Saturday, New Parent Orientation, 10:00 – 12:00

May 21, Monday, Switch a Roo Field Trip

May 28, Mon. Memorial Day observed, no preschool

June 5, Tuesday, Circle of Friends Celebration for all TTH Classes -minimum day

June 6, Wednesday, Good-by Celebration for all MWF/5-day Classes – minimum day

 

Dear preschool families,

The end of the year is drawing near so quickly, it seems.  Thank you to all the room parents for helping with the end of the year teacher gifts and being flexible to have it during our Teacher Appreciation Week.  Please see below for end of year celebrations.  There are many things going on at local schools so we will be having minimum days the last two days of school in order for the children to have their special end of year good-byes!

THE MOTHER’S DAY TEA WAS A REAL SUCCESS! THE CHILDREN ENJOYED THEIR TIME WITH YOU.

Switch A Roo Field Trip for MWF and 5 Day classes:

On Monday, May 21, the whole preschool will switch sites – teachers and all. You will receive more information from your child’s teacher but plan on dropping your child off and picking them up from the opposite school!  This will be from 7:30 until 1:00.  If your child stays for Afternoon Enrichment we will transport him or her to their “home school.”

CHAPEL UPDATE:  The conversation continued this past week with a group of 3 year-olds telling me which story had been their favorite this year.  I asked the teachers too, and one of them, Ms. Jamie, said that The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35) was her favorite.  I realized that we hadn’t gotten to that lesson yet this year.  So, Miss Jamie, as they say…this one goes out to you!

Library Books:  Library books will be turned in the week of May 14. All parent library books are due as well.

New Parent Orientation:  As part of welcoming the new parents to the preschool we offer a New Parent Orientation. Current parents make lunch for the new parents.  There will be a sign-up sheet for the current parents next week. If you enrolled your child late in the year this is a fun way to understand our Play-based philosophy.

 

END OF YEAR CELEBRATIONS

TTH Classes Tuesday, June 5 minimum day–no afternoon enrichment

Rainbow & Green Families                  Celebration 10:00

Yellow Family                              Celebration 10:10

MWF/5day Classes Wednesday, June 6 minimum day–no afternoon enrichment 

Rainbow & Green Families                  Celebration      11:00 

Blue & 5-Day Yellow Families            Celebration       12:00

 


 

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Spring Challenges II

By
Sandy
– May 8, 2012Posted in: Preschool Weekly Meditation

The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, D.D., Executive Director

The April 22nd edition of The New York Times carried a very sobering article about our highly-connected world. Writing on the topic, “The Flight from Conversation,” M.I.T. psychologist Sherry Turkle addressed the irony of how, in a culture where we are always communicating and constantly are connected, we are actually spending more time hiding from each other, being alone together, and keeping each other at bay. The big casualty, in her view, is the activity of conversation, where we truly tend to one another and see things from another person’s perspective. Today, in her words, “We expect more from technology and less from one another,” with no time for the patience, self-reflection, and slower pace that real conversation requires. This means that not only have our hand-held devices altered what we do, but actually who we are.

Turkle’s remedies include the introduction of “device-free zones,” be it at home, work, or school (something she ironically calls, “sacred space”). The other suggestion she offers is that we adults intentionally model real conversation to our children.

As I thought about her suggestions, particularly that latter one, I thought, “Have we come to this, that we actually need to model real conversation to our children or our students?” While I do not agree with the fullness of Turkle’s rather dismal diagnosis, I think there is real merit in the activity of modeling conversation. At some level, I think we collectively understand what is at stake, for as much as conversation is up for grabs in our highly-connected world, the national discourse at so many levels contains more references to the notion of having conversations on difficult issues as at any time in the past. We can tell what is missing by the many references to its importance as a solution.

Springtime in the life of a school is a period where any number of important conversations need to take place, but often do not for sheer lack of time. As we begin to bring closure to a busy school year, what things need to be both said and heard—reflecting the two-way nature of conversation—that have not yet taken place, be it between two people or within our school community? What conversations need to occur that will help bring the year to an appropriate conclusion, as opposed to leaving things dangling in the rush to the finish?

No matter how connected we are, there is no substitute for real conversation. Perhaps we do need as adults to model this more intentionally for the sake of our students, particularly during the time of year when—as difficult as it can be—it is most needed.

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PRESCHOOL NEWS MAY 4

By
Sandy
– May 2, 2012Posted in: Preschool News

Prayers for mommies at chapel

       

 

May 10 & 11, Thurs. & Friday “Mother’s Day Tea” @12:15

May 19, Saturday, New Parent Orientation,10:00 – 12:00

May 28, Mon. Memorial Day observed, no preschool

June 5, Tuesday, Circle of Friends Celebration for all TTH Classes  -minimum day

June 6, Wednesday, Good-by Celebration for all MWF Classes

Dear preschool families,

I am very sorry that I dropped the ball about the amount that you raised at the Spring Fun!Raiser.  I wrote the information to the Off 68newspaper and then I guess that I must have thought that I had spread the word at preschool too!  You all brought in an amazing $ 27, 371.25.  Thank you all, I hope you know how much your support means to the stability of the preschool. You are the best! SANDY

The fundraising dollar amount that was budgeted to sustain the program is $35,000. This number keeps the program’s student/teacher ratio at 7 to 1.  With those numbers here is how we did all year.

Nob Hill (using your Nob Hill grocery card)                                         $389.07

Cookie Dough, Butter Braids, & Artwork for Education             $5,501.82

Spring!Funraiser                                                                                             $27,371.25

Total for the year                                                                                              $33,262.14

We need to raise an additional $1737.86 to make budget before the school year ends.  I am proposing to everyone and will send a separate email to support the school financially one more time if everyone gave an additional $25.00 donation to the preschool we would make our school year budget.  Please consider, Thank you

CHAPEL UPDATE:  I had a wonderful conversation with the T/Th Rainbow Family this past week.  They started talking about all the stories we have enjoyed this year, and I asked them which story was their favorite.  Many of the children offered a different idea about their favorite.  I was most amazed, however, by the recall that they had about the story details.  It was really fun to think back on this fabulous year!  This week’s story will be Jesus and the Paralytic.  Chaplain Michelle+

Mother’s Day Tea:  Please bring your own lunch or bring a little picnic lunch for the two of you.  The preschool children will help make the “Tea”, pink lemonade.

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Calling All Introverts!

By
Sandy
– April 25, 2012Posted in: Preschool Weekly Meditation

The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, D.D.

In case you have not yet noticed, there is a lot of writing going on these days about introverts. Lately, however, the tone of the writing is very different: it is not about introverts being “a problem,” but about the actual advantages of introversion, even in the midst of what is a highly extroverted culture. As one writer describes them, “Introverts….are oriented toward the inner life of thought; they tend to be reserved and cautious. They find social interactions draining, and they need solitude to recharge. It’s not that introverts are antisocial as much as they appreciate fewer, more intimate friendships. They don’t like small talk but appreciate deeper discussions.”*

Of late I have been reading Susan Cain’s book on the subject, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. She has some very interesting things to say about how introverts can actually be effective leaders (I recall one search consultant saying that some of the best school heads are introverts that have learned how to do extroverted things), as well as talks of how the culture embodies extroversion to such a degree that it can make natural introverts (like me!) wince and retreat!

One of the things she alludes to but does not explicate in greater depth is the way in which our educational system is developing in such a way that it is not hospitable to introverts. To be sure, all introverts need to learn how to contribute to a classroom discussion, work in teams, and deal with the extroverts in their lives. But as we think about students we worry about—ie., those who are not participating in class, or seem shy or withdrawn at times—are we judging them by extroverted standards?

An optimal learning experience is one in which both introverts and extroverts (and everyone in between!) can both feel at home as well as be able to work with those who project themselves differently. But is our teaching and learning tilted more toward extroversion than introversion? One of the ways that I have always attempted to make room for introverts in the conversation is—whether in leading a classroom discussion or working with a group of people—to ask a question and let the question linger, should no one immediately spring to answer it. There is uncomfortable silence for some, but not for all. In fact, it can be a small way to make room for the introvert—a group of people for whom the opportunity for reflection is so often welcome, not to mention uncommon!

*William Pannapacker, “Screening Out the Introverts,” The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 20, 2012), p. A27.

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