Sticks and Stones

For children, there is something very empowering about carrying something twice the length of his body, collecting two dozen twigs to make a bouquet, or using sticks as props in play to bring a sense of completion.  Carrying around stepping stones challenges the strength, just as carrying long or bulky pieces of tree challenges the coordination and spatial awareness.

I can imagine our Neolithic ancestors hunting and gathering, using the same skills that the children are practicing in their play with sticks and stones.  For the stone age people, hauling heavy carcasses and tree trunks and gathering seeds and vegetation for food was part of their survival.  Could our ancestry be rooted in the type of play that I see in the yard, creating with it an inherent sense of gratification?

I used to have a hard and fast rule about sticks, which I viewed as dangerous in their ability to impale or poke out eyes or be used as a whip.  “You can use sticks if you are sitting down,” I would declare, never realizing that what I was actually saying was, “I don’t trust that you can walk around with that safely.”  I mean, it’s not like I’m handing over a chainsaw (although one day a child found the perfect branch with an appendage that made a perfectly shaped handle—he couldn’t have been happier--it really did look like a real chainsaw!). 

One day after discussing the sitting down rule with the other teachers, we decided to change it.  For one thing, it was really hard to constantly remind the kids to sit down while using sticks.  It wasn’t fun that way.  So we decided that as long as the children’s feet were on the ground (e.g. not on a climber or slide or bike) then they could use sticks.

At first, I watched very carefully how children handled these long dangerous spears.  For the most part, they understood the inherent danger in the sticks and seemed to use them carefully.  But what was impressive was the length of time spent using the sticks.  They would literally have their sticks for the entire outside time, only taking breaks to eat.

With supervision, sticks and stones can offer tools for open-ended play and also challenge children on a physical level.  The birthday cake in the sandbox isn’t complete until there is a twig candle in it.  The workers in the yard cannot carry out there business without their saws and hammers and large planks.  The child trying to explore her own strength wants to carry heavy and dangerous objects to feel a real sense of power.  Sticks create an extension of the body that allow for spatial awareness and also bring a sense of being bigger.

We have these two saplings that grew from a mother tree.  The kids used the branches, leaves and all, like long palm fronds, and asked the teachers to pull them off until there were none left.  Now that the trees have no branches left, I feel kind of bad.  But they make for a great large motor area.  Kids go to these twin tree trunks often to show off their "cool tricks" and "exercise".

 Beyond the children using sticks is Ta using the tree trunks to get some exercise.

 Rocks make the perfect open-ended prop and bring with them an aesthetic property only found in nature.

*Stephanie*

Shaving cream table paint...making way for new ideas

   Bl felt how I felt as a new teacher, watching the kids take the art project in a whole different direction than planned.  It took him just a couple of minutes to open up to the new direction that this art project was headed.  I wish I could say that I evolved that quickly as a teacher.

The longer I teach, the more I value what the children bring to the table.  Today, I had a plan, and luckily I knew that a group of twelve strong-minded kids laugh in the face of a plan.  So part of the plan was letting go of the plan.  You are a very frustrated teacher if you haven't learned this skill.

My initial inspiration was this marbled print post that, while geared toward much older children, had components that I wanted to try with the kids.  We would do a collective shaving cream mess, and then make a print of it.

Needless to say, the kids had a way better idea of how to make this project completely fun.  My favorite part, besides the sunny day which allowed for a washing station in the water table, was watching how the kids interacted with each other in a completely cooperative and respectful and silly manner.  I didn't have to intervene at all, even when resources became limited (the usual cause for arguments).  I have been really blown away by the level of cooperation and communication between the kids. (For those of you outside of our direct community, they are ages 3ish to 4ish).

There were too many photos to upload to Blogger so please join me in a journey through Picasa, where the rest of this post is narrated through the photo captions...

Click here

This activity is my best so far...this week : )

*Stephanie*

Graham Crackers for Snack

Today the kids made their own graham crackers for snack!  It was fun for them to roll out the dough, poke the dough with a fork to make holes (so the crackers would stay flat and not puff up), and then use the pastry roller to cut out cracker shapes.  Pizza cutters might have worked better because the guard on the pastry roller kept getting caught in the dough.  Some kids cut their graham crackers into four, some into ten tiny little crackers, but all enjoyed the process.  Cookie cutters work, too! And they store surprisingly well.

If you are a teacher or parent looking for a fun (and forgiving) cooking project to do with your kids, this one is for you : )  Me and the first couple of kids to arrive made the dough, and everyone else did the rolling, poking, and cutting.

p.s. Leslie made Banana-Cashew Balls in the afternoon.  This no-bake, cookie-dough-esque treat was a big hit with the kids (and, ahem, me).

Cinnamon-y Graham Crackers
Adapted from this recipe
Yields equivalent to about 12-14 of the store-bought graham crackers

Dry:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar or 1/3 cup sucanat or dehydrated cane juice
1/2 teaspon baking soda
scant 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet:
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons molasses, rice syrup, honey, or maple syrup (molasses works best)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup water or non-dairy milk (we used almond milk)

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment (or spray with nonstick spray).

Mix dry ingredients with a whisk.  Make a well in the center and add wet ingredients, giving it a quick whisk and then stirring it into the dry mixture with a wooden spoon.  Knead with your hands as needed to create a dough that holds.  Add a bit of water or milk if the dough is too dry (not too much!).

On a floured surface or between two sheets of wax paper, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut the crackers into the shapes you want (this can be perfect rectangles or, as the photos below suggest, very imprecise...it doesn't matter much.  Pierce the dough with a fork a few times so the crackers don't puff up when baked.

Trasnfer the crackers to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 11-12 minutes.  They should be darkish around the edges.  When it's time to take them out of the oven, you will smell the done-ness when you open the oven door.  They will harden as they cool.

Talking to kids about race

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is a great time for reflection on how to raise children with healthy racial attitudes. 


I always assume that because our school represents a range of ethnicities and skin colors that children would grow and learn to naturally embrace diversity and love everyone regardless of skin color. However, according to the book Nurthure Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, we have to speak very directly to children about race for them to form healthy racial attitudes.  Mere exposure is not enough.  In fact, says the book, according to Dr. James Moody from Duke University, the more diverse the schoool, the more that children self-segregate by race and ethnicity.  Because as it turns out, kids are looking at the most visible thing about each other--skin color--and categorizing accordingly.  

"The brain's need for categories to fit perfectly," Bronson states, causes children to "make distortions to defend those categories."  To effectively intercept the child's categorizing and drawing negative conclusions, researchers have found that "conversations about race have to be explicit, in unmistakeable terms that children understand."  This means that if the parent is not intervening with appropriate conversation, the children draw their own conclusions that support the differentiation and hierarchy (ie. "my group is better than the others") rather than the similarities and equalities.


What is an "appropriate" conversation?  The book asserts that it's not enough to say "we're all equal".  Specific attention should be made to details.  "[Children] are developmentally prone to in-group favoritism; they're going to form these preferences on their own.  Children categorize everything from food to toys to people at a young age..."

Children who grow up without conversations about race tend to form negative opinions about racial groups outside of their own.  According to some studies, they also assume their parents do the same.

My best friend growing up (also named Stefanie, isn't that something?) was African-American.  I grew up in a household that did not talk about race and did nothing to support healthy attitudes toward other ethnicities.  (Does it say something that my spell check doesn't like the word "ethnicities" or am I reading too much into it?  Or spelling it incorrectly?)  Anyway, about my friend Stefanie.  I remember making a comment once to her and her dad that I try not to see color because everyone is the same.  They told me that instead of ignoring the differences, that they celebrate the differences and love that we are all individuals.  They were proud of their heritage and did not want it to be ignored or taken for granted.  Suddenly I realized that I had been pacifying my discomfort by putting on a show of colorblindness, when in fact it was something to be embraced and even talked about! 

To an alarming degree, it is very uncomfortable for white parents to talk about race, a fact that was discussed in Nurture Shock.  White parents, who often don't really identify with an ethnicity themselves, just don't know what to say.  Pointing out racial differences feels like drawing attention to something and implying something wrong with racial differences.  However, children need exposure to this type of language.  I would venture to say that it is better to address the uncomfortable feelings around it out loud than to ignore it all together.  Parents help children by reasoning certain things out in front of them.  It's good role modeling.

We've had discussions, usually initiated by the children, about race at Beansprouts.  They have come up about skin color, hair color, hair texture, and spoken language.  We capitalize on these moments to and use them as learning opportunities.  "Yes, her skin is darker than yours.  And look, your skin is darker than mine! Isn't it great that we can all be friends and have different skin colors?"

The word "weird" entered the preschool one day.  It was used to describe something about another child that was different than himself.  At first I was a little hooked, thinking "oh, great, his older sibling must be teaching him interolerance and look, it's working."  After acknowledging my own initial adult-oriented reaction, I realized that this child is simply mimicking, which is only a seed of an attitude and not an opinion itself, and what a great moment to actually address the thing that was "weird" and maybe call it what it was.  Different.  I said, "yes, that is different than yours.  Sometimes we look a little different from our friends."  Later, I heard him use the word "different" and my heart brimmed with joy.  I felt compassion for this child, that he would grow up in a culture where often times differences are "weird" rather than just, well, different.  So I guess what I'm saying here is that healthy racial attitudes have a foundation not only in the language we use around it, but how we foster healthy attitudes about all things "weird".


I feel a sense of joy that during the process of writing this article, I have come to acknowledge and love my own ethnic background.  My ethnic identity has always been a bit confused to say the least, but I've done some reflecting on how I got to be where I am today.  A lot of people had to make some hard decisions, travel long distances away from their families, and under go extreme turmoil for me to even be alive today.  There have been times where being a woman and being Japanese could be a great disadvantage.  I have great freedoms and a great life today. 

I applaud Dr. King and other activists that propelled equal rights movements.  I don't want to take for granted the time, energy, and persistence with which he carried out his work.

*Stephanie*

New Dimensions in Play

I remember hearing in an ECE course that a 2-3 year old classroom could look a lot like a 4-5 year old classroom.  If you offer the same materials to a two-year-old, s/he will interact with it differently than a 5-year-old.  But if they are preschool-appropriate open-ended materials, both ages will use them and be likely to benefit from the experience.  Open-ended materials allow children to construct their own uses of playthings and build on what they've learned from previous experiences.  They expand on the way they used to use toys, and bring their developmental progress into new dimensions in play.  The children at Beansprouts have been elaborating on the conventional uses for things and thinking out of the box. Their play is a reflection of the developmental changes that continue to emerge.  Watching the creative and analytical process that goes on during play, and overhearing the in depth conversations that ensue, can be inspiring and uplifting.

Not only did they discover the use of Magna Tiles on the magnetic board...

 They became 3D!

 And quite elaborate

Airplanes  and vehicles

Duplos...sideways

Reading books...with the eyes shut! (A popular story, possibly guessing what she'll see on the next page?)

 Masking tape pirate beards (there were also "bandaids" and elaborate--graphic-- stories about why they needed them).

Stickers

Sticker activities have the potential to be instant entertainment for kids.  Whenever I'm at Diddams or the craft store and I see a deal on stickers, I buy them up because I know on some rainy day, I'm going to need an instant activity that interests them enough so they all down quietly.

However, if you know me, and you know Beansprouts, you know that it doesn't stop there.  I can't just sit down with the kids to do a sticker activity without completely over-analyzing the situation.  Each activity, each moment, has information locked away that the quiet attentive teacher can access.

This sticker activity was that moment.  And this post isn't about what the kids learned from the activity.  This is about what I learned...

Each child got one page of stickers and one paper.  They received no instruction as to what to do, except that a couple minutes in I set the marker block on the table and said they could add to the bugs' surroundings with markers if they wanted.  What did I learn about the children?

 Te was more into the story around the stickers, and drew the "water" where the bugs lived.  And she was the mommy bug.  Did I know she was at a level of representational art where she could draw with purpose (as opposed to looking at it afterward and labelling it)?  No!  But I do now, thank you very much Lakeshore clearance stickers.

 Le (on the end there) saw the water bug artist drawing and wanted to draw, too.   But there was no explanation behind it, nor should there be.  It's the process of creative expression that matters, not my adult need to extract forced meaning out of kids' art.

 One of these kids even left her bed (her bed! She never wants to leave her bed!) to come and do that activity.  I learned that her interest in doing activities with friends exceeds her desire for cuddling on her bed with her stuffed animals.  (This surprised me).

 The linear fashion in which Ro took her stickers from the page was SO in the sequence of the direction that we read, that I couldn't help being startled at her pre-reading skills.  She wanted to show me how many she used (no those are not my tiny little fingers holding that sheet).

 This child had a long attention span in this activity.  After she distributed every last sticker very evenly on her paper, she filled the back of the paper with her name (sort of a collage with the letters of her name).  Do you think she felt complete when she was done?  Absolutely. 

 This child was challenged with the fine motor task of removing and re-applying stickers.  How to help?  Offer him more small motor activities and make them fun.  Later that day we had clementines for snack that had a starter peel at the top and the kids were to peel the rest themselves.  They did it beautifully (so did the guy who had trouble with stickers!).  It was a great way for them to practice fine motor skills and be successful (and get the delicious reward at the end!).

 We had another linear thinker in the group.  Their brains are telling me that they are preparing to read.  Children are exposed via written language in the environment to linear and left-to-right thinking. That is because as a culture that's how we read (in some other cultures this is not the case).

 This child had a not-so-long attention span during the activity.  What will help him?  Supplying activities of interest that will hold his attention so he can practice long periods of focused involvement.

A lot of time people assume that I'm a preschool teacher because I "love kids" or am "patient".  Um, not really.  Too cliche : )  Of course the kids and I love each other, but this is not the gratification that rewards what I do.  I do this because I'm so inspired by what children reveal to me throughout the day.   Attentiveness to each moment unlocks the door to profound knowledge about each child, and what's going on underneath the behaviors and actions.  This sticker activity gave me great insights about the participants today.

*Stephanie*

Circle Paintings

Anyone who knows our preschool knows that we are not the "stay inside the lines" kind of school.  We like children to explore outside the box.  This is especially true when it comes to creative expression like in art, dance, music, dramatic play, or storytelling.  Our kids have a really healthy sense of how to explore the infinite range of possibilities and ideas within a given parameter.  (For instance, dance all you want inside, but when it becomes a run-around-the-room-fest, we bring it back to what's appropriate to do indoors).

So on Friday during the painting activity when I handed out white pieces of paper with black circles drawn on them, I held no expectation that children would color within the circle, or make an intricate mandala, or draw a face, or anything like that.  It was simply to see where the children would take it.  (I fully expected at least one child to figure out that if you turn it over, you have a "clean" side, but no one did).  Other ways we have changed the dimensionality of a simple painting project is to cut the paper into a shape, or cut a shape out of the paper to create negative space.  (Maybe we'll do that with hearts on Valentine's Day!)

Here's what they did (these are posted in time sequence so you can sort of see how they evolved):

 *Stephanie*

Children Need Open-Ended Play: A roundup of recent links

I just came across this article in the NYT Health and Fitness blog about the play deprivation facing today's youth.  Amazingly, the article reports that children spend an average of 7 1/2 hours hours in front of a screen per day (what?!?).  

And, well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  My professional mentor Rachel has linked up this list of PBS shows that are of higher quality than the average show.  Zoom in to read the article that is linked.  I have to admit, our 9-year-old nephew stayed with us during the holiday break and when he woke up before I was ready to make breakfast, I would automatically turn on the TV so I could go back to bed. 

This article on outdoor play addresses the advantages of playing outdoors (like we did when we were kids, remember?).  Beansprouts kids get lots of outdoor play during the week (about 2-3 hours per day during the winter,  3-4 during the other season!).

I'm amazed at how the kids convene with nature in our humble little backyard.  They dig in dirt, collect natural objects like stones and sticks, they find puddles and worms and bugs, they listen to birds and watch squirrels scurry by.  They find the oldest and dirtiest objects in the yard and have the most fun with them. 

Of course, a most exciting part of our outdoor time is seeing the occasional airplane or garbage truck, or watching the neighbors' gardeners work on the lawn, or seeing Roger come to collect landscaping equipment from our garage.  Other advantages to outdoor play:

• Walking barefoot over bumpy outdoor terrain puts pressure on nerve receptors in the feet that stimulate the brain and organs.  
• Fresh air is important especially during winter months where airborne germs hover generously in the classroom.  
• Sunlight allows the body to produce vitamin D.  
• Space, glorious space, is abundant in the yard.
• There is maximum opportunity for open-ended play outside, as most objects are functional (like buckets, shovels, bikes, climbers) but there aren't very many pre-scripted toys (the most scripted toys would be the construction vehicles in the sandbox).
• Getting messy in the yard is just not a big deal.  Being covered in paint inside could get a little inconvenient for the teachers.

Last up, if you get a chance, check out this article from my friend Annie over at Explorer Preschool.  She speaks to the importance of open-ended toys versus, as an example, battery-operated toys that "do most of the playing FOR the child".

Do you know the Muffin Man?

Yesterday we made muffins!  Now that the children are bringing their own lunch to school, we thought we would spice up the snack menu a bit.  This means trying to limit servings of over-processed crackers and cereals and doing more homemade and wholesome foods.  Over time, we hope that snacks become a time where children participate more in the preparation of their food, and where we can offer new and exciting treats.  Looking at the snack menu this week, one can see how the snack menu has already evolved drastically!  Goodbye monotony, hello...


...muffins!

How is it possible to do baking projects like this with twelve children, you ask?  Don't they go crazy in their chairs just watching the teacher do all the work?

Well, first of all, they all know that eventually they will get a turn doing something, even if that something is simple pouring in the vanilla or measuring out the baking powder (they are excited even by getting to scoop out baking powder and leveling it off on the leveler that comes in the container!).  That is usually motivation enough to sit and watch.  Sometimes when we're done mixing they get to taste the ingredients.  Because most of our projects are vegan (they don't contain animal ingredients of any sort), they can even taste things like cookie dough and cake batter without the risk of ugly things like salmonella.  (Well I guess that's not entirely true now, is it, in light of recent spinach, peanut butter, and celery recalls?)

Another thing that keeps kids focused: it's an optional activity.  If and when the sitting down gets to be too much, they can leave the project and go play.  More often than not, they all want to stick around.  What's more motivating than food, anyway?

We also have different ways of making these projects manageable for ourselves.  I often tell our student teachers that if they want to do a cooking project they should do it with a very small group of kids.

Another way that I keep kids engaged is that if it's a very wiggly group that day, I give them all something to hold as they wait for their turn.  A wooden spoon, utensil, the bottle of vanilla (depending on the kid, of course), or another mixing bowl.  Somehow having a prop to hold keeps them more centered.

Leslie had a brilliant way of making the project manageable for herself yesterday.  When she brought out the tray with ingredients, all of the dry ingredients were in separate bowls, pre-measured.  This way the children could scoop from one bowl to the other without a concern for accurate measuring.  She knew that whatever was there would eventually be sifted into the dry ingredients.

[drumroll please]  And now, the recipe.  Notice it contains no refined sugar.  Did they scarf down the muffins anyway?  Yes!

---
Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
Adapted from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds*
1/3 plus 1/2 cup nondairy milk**
2/3 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 350.  Prepare  silicon muffin liners or grease a muffin tin.  We also used paper liners and they worked fine.  Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour wet into dry and stir just until thoroughly moistened.  Scoop batter into muffin cups and stick them in the oven.

Bake for 17-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

*You can probably substitute the flax seed meal with an actual egg or two.  Add the egg to the wet ingredients and adjust liquids accordingly.
**You can substitute 1/3 cup of the milk with dairy or nondairy yogurt, which is what the original recipe calls for.

Yields 12 regular-sized muffins, or more if you make them smaller.
---

Thanks, Leslie, for doing our first baking project of the new year!

Here are some more muffin recipes from Te's family...they bake them in tiny silicon baking cups and then send the whole muffin (baking cup and all) into Te's lunch.  These baking cups come in many different shapes and sizes and can be found here and other retailers.

Applesauce Oat Bran Muffins from eat me, delicious
Chocolate Chip Granola Bites from another lunch

*Stephanie*

Lunch = HUGE SUCCESS!

Before 9am this morning Beansprouts was already a buzz about who brought what for lunch and all the cool new lunch boxes!  I'm not exaggerating.  The majority of my greetings this morning, after a two week long break, involved the hot new topic of lunch!

Excitedly bringing lunch boxes out to the patio.

I want to give you a little background before I dive into how amazingly well lunch went today.  One of the first things I loved about Beansprouts was the healthy and very delicious looking food served here.  We have great parents who express care for their children's nutrition, but I've seen so many kids live off of donuts, goldfish and chicken nuggets, that I was over the moon with a preschool that ensured it's students were being served at least one healthy meal a day.  I loved how Maria would be in the kitchen every morning cooking up something delicious and nutritious.  It wasn't long before I realized the kids weren't nearly as excited by all this meal planning.  I can't tell you how many lunches I've sat down to and watched the kids throw away nearly everything on their plates.  It got to be such a guessing game.  Maybe if we try... We tried just about everything, to no avail.

Everyone did such a great job unpacking their own lunches.

It was with much hesitation that we introduced the new lunch protocol.  We thought and discussed, thought and discussed until it was just time to try it.  No more excuses were left.  The kids weren't eating.  It was just that simple.  Once the decision was made, I was confident it was the right one.  Little things kept reminding me how poorly our lunches were going and I began to look forward to the new routine.

I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge feeling a little nervous leading up to our first day of lunches from home.  Lots of what ifs were floating around and the big question was looming, "Did we do the right thing?"

It's only been one day (and I know the excitement will simmer down), but I am soooo happy with the decision to bring lunches.  I firmly believe that if I could sit each and every parent down and show them what lunch has been like for the past several months and what it was like today, it would wash away all the concern and skepticism.

The lunches were so impressive.  Lot's of healthy options and well balanced meals consisting of food the kids know and enjoy!  I'm proud of our parents for giving this big change a chance and I'm proud of the kids for handling it so well!

Lots of healthy choices for everyone.

Some adorable presentation!

A few highlights from the day include:

• Ak marched into the classroom with her new lunch box and immediately started showing me all she brought for lunch.
• All the kids were so excited about their lunch boxes they all took them out of their cubbies after circle and were disappointed when we reminded them that it was actually snack time, not lunch time yet.
• Beansprouts did a great job learning the new routine, putting lunch boxes into their cubbies, getting them out for lunch, pulling out all the food items and storing the boxes under their chairs.
• One of our pickiest eaters sat at the table for thirty minutes!
• Em brought both a fork and chopsticks!
• A child who typically doesn't eat without prompting and encouragement ate independently and ate well!

The kid's excitement could not be missed. There was lots of, "look what I brought today" and no, "I want your lunch instead of mine."  Our time at the table was doubled for just about everyone.  So many kids would ask what's for lunch and decide not to eat before we even started serving.  We would ask them to sit for a while, but usually, the decision had been made.  More time at the table also meant LOTS more eating.  I can't emphasize how much of an improvement this was!  We loved seeing all the fun lunches and we're already learning more about what the kids like to eat at home.

We store our lunch boxes under our chairs while we eat.

We will run into some bumps along the way, I'm sure, but the progress made today is hard to deny!

--Leslie

Welcome Back

Hi everyone!  Happy New Year!

Boy, it's been two whole weeks (feels like longer) since we've seen the kids and families and I admit that I'm ready to get back into the preschool routine!  This has been a real vacation... relaxing, unwinding, and really getting out of work-mode (which is hard to do when preschool is at your house!).

My friend Katy sent me this awesome article on play-based preschool programs and I just loved how it brought to light the important things that we help children work on each day.  Impulse control, coping skills during transitions or times of emotional upset, turn-taking, inquisitiveness, problem-solving (individual and collective), becoming flexible, making meaningful decisions...these are all things that children get to practice each day in play-based programs.  I know many adults that lack some of these very basic life skills.  In fact, I lacked them when I got into this field...it was by reflective teaching practices and a commitment to personal growth (and some really amazing mentors) that I've been able to get a good quality preschool education myself.  It's such an honor to be able to work with these children and watch them develop valuable life skills that will help them not only in the block area today, but in elementary school next year and in the workplace years later.

When you walk into a developmentally appropriate early childhood education environment (what a mouthful!), there is a palpable feeling when the teachers are doing it right.  No, no, not that there's a right and wrong way, but there are underlying tenants that should drive our teaching--I won't go into it here but there just are, in my opinion.  And when children are in those high quality environments, it shows in their interactions with each other and the adults, how autonomous they are in their play and self-care routines, and in many other ways.  I also think a necessary component in all that is love, but that's also another post.

The last circle time that we had here (it was the last Friday we were open) I got very choked up as I sang holiday songs with the children.  I looked around at the kids, deeply engaged in the collective music by singing enthusiastically or listening, and I got to really appreciate the community of children that we've created at Beansprouts.  I truly believe it's because we are play-based, because we do what we know and what the research says is best for children.  I think that Beansprouts is a really, really good place for children, and it shows with how connected the children are to each other, the teachers, the curriculum, and themselves.  I'm so grateful for and inspired by this.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow...hope you are enjoying the last hours of your holiday vacations!

*Stephanie*