your child doesn’t want to wear a funny hat or pajamas.  We have more fun days planned in February and March.  New England winters are so long!

The Charles River Community Partnership for Children is offering a workshop series “for parents only”.  On January 23, “Conflict Resolution: Win-Win Approach to Family Living” will be presented.  On February 7, the topic is “Managing Anger in Young Children”.  On March 13, the presentation is “How Much is Too Much? The Overstressed Child”.  If you would like to register for any of these workshops, please contact Cathy.

First-time parent volunteers should plan to arrive at 9:15 a.m. in order to watch an informative video (25 minutes) on “The Role of the Teacher in the Preschool Classroom”, produced by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  We feel it is important for you to understand our approach and goals for the children before you volunteer for the first time.

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and our little ones certainly are!  Excitement abounds throughout all of our activities and discussions during this blessed holiday season.  During Thanksgiving week the children enjoyed showing their family photos and telling their peers all about their families.  It is a subject that each child feels comfortable talking about, and it helps the children relate to each other.  We also talked about what the children are thankful for.  Their spontaneous answers ranged from “elephants, lollipops, bananas and books, to sisters, brothers, parents, pets and ‘people who give you stuff’”!   After the Thanksgiving break our topic was

“community workers.” The children enjoyed guessing different occupations as the teachers gave clues, including donning a variety of hats such as those worn by a firefighter, police officer, train engineer, construction worker and chef.     

Our next theme was “shapes”.  At Christmas time we are surrounded with so many  wonderful examples:   triangular trees, square presents, round ornaments, stars, hearts, and more! As we get nearer to Christmas, all of our thoughts and discussions naturally revolve around celebrating our savior’s birth.  The children take turns (with a little help!) excitedly telling us of the preparations and activities going on at their houses, including decorating, shopping, baking cookies, and visits to Santa.  We have also enjoyed some quieter, more reverent conversations as the children share their knowledge and learn more about the story of the very first Christmas.

The Pre-K circles continue to be full of excitement and lots of information.  In November we first talked about families.  The children really enjoyed sharing their family photos with each other and talking about them in circle.  They also continue to enjoy looking at the other families displayed in our classroom.  We then talked about Thanksgiving, and what we are thankful for.  You will be happy to know that most children said they were thankful for their families and everything they have.  The Thanksgiving Celebration was a big hit, and it was great to see everyone there!  We ended the month talking about community workers, and what role they play in the community. 

December has been a busy month!  We started talking about shapes, and how everything around us is a shape of some sort. We also put different shapes together to