Weekday Program Web site: www.fumcplanoweekday.org

Weekday Update

February 2008

Director's Report

Dear Parents:

If you have ever seen me out in public, you might have noticed that I spend most of my “waiting time” reading. Almost always I am reading about children…how they develop, how they learn and how we can best help them to become healthy, happy adults. Recently I read a book by David Elkind, titled “The Power of Play”. Dr. Elkind starts this book with the following statement: “Children’s play-their inborn disposition for curiosity, imagination, and fantasy-is being silenced in the high-tech, commercialized world we have created.” He further states that “growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral and developmental needs are not being met by the very institutions that were explicitly created to take care of them.” Some of what he is referring to are schools that press academics without allowing children the time they need to play. Not play that is dictated to them or organized for them, but play that is active, spontaneous, child-directed and child-centered. When academics and structured play are pushed too early, children often lose interest early and fail to build the foundations that are really necessary to make learning meaningful. The exact thing that parents and schools are pushing is lost in the end!

What Dr. Elkind states in his book backs up what we do here at the Weekday Program. Here, children are allowed to explore and play freely, in a social setting, which allows them to build the foundations needed for academic success when they are ready for it and the social and emotional development necessary to thrive in school and in life. They are allowed to solve their own problems, explore their own interests and build meaningful relationships. Academics are introduced through play when the children show interest and children are encouraged to work on their developmental level.

Experts will tell you that most 5- and 6-year olds will be ready for Kindergarten naturally because by the time they are 5 or 6, they have naturally developed the skills necessary to start working in an academic setting. Children who leave our program are not only ready for Kindergarten; they are ready for the world because they have the foundation needed to be successful: social, emotional and problem-solving skills. They trust the adults in their world and know that the adults in their world know them and trust them. Most importantly, they love learning!

Water, Water Everywhere

Hydration and the Brain

The Brain needs to be properly hydrated in order to be alert. Children who do not get enough water may appear bored, listless, and drowsy. Researchers recommend that we drink eight to fifteen glasses of water a day. Coffee, tea, and many sodas contain caffeine, which acts as a diuretic and reduces the hydration of the body and the brain. The body identifies fruit juices as food because of their sugar content. The body triggers the digestive process, which also drains water from the body. None of these “water substitutes” provides proper hydration. Both deplete the body of fluids. Only water gets the job done. Drinking bottled water will insure that eh water is free of contaminates

Ideas for Building Brain Power with Hydration

•  Model drinking water. Children learn more from our actions than from our words.

• Discuss drinking water with children. Explain in simple terms how water helps our brains work better. Our bodies, including our brains, need carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen to function effectively. Water is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, two of these essential elements, and is used in the brain to make neurotransmitters (chemical impulses) which carry information between neurons.

• Take scheduled water breaks.

• Let children have water when they ask for it. At first they will need to go to the bathroom more frequently but eventually their bladders will adjust. Keep water available all day long. Serve water with meals and snacks.

•  Provide small cups and encourage children to decorate their cups in their own unique fashion. Keep the cups accessible for drinking water.

From “Start Smart” by Pam Schiller

Please remember:

If your child has had a fever, thrown up or had diarrhea in the past 24 hours, has a green runny nose or eyes, or is taking medicine to prevent these symptoms, he or she will not be allowed to attend school.  Please help us prevent the spread of germs by keeping them out of the preschool.

think about it...

Learning Involves: images, space and time to plan, to gather, to tinker, to wallow and time to reflect.
-Bev Bos

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Any parent may request a conference with his/her child's teacher at any time. We too, will schedule a conference if we feel that there is an area of concern that needs to be addressed. Formal Conferences for parents of threes and pre-kindergarteners will be held between March 25 and April 2.  Your child's teacher will contact you with more specific details (times, room numbers, etc.) soon.

We look forward to this time to discuss your child's progress and development.

Interested in a Spanish Preschool Class?

We are considering the possibility of offering a Monday-Friday Spanish Immersion class for older threes and Pre-K next year. If you are interested, please contact the office immediately.  This class will have limited space and enrollment will be on a  first-come-first-served basis.

Home/School Connection

Early Science and Technology Development

Preschool children are developing the following science and technology- related skills:

Observing- Discovering knowledge about the physical world though all the senses (for example, looking at, smelling, touching, and tasting vegetables in the garden)

Classifying- Organizing  information, fitting new information into existing categories or changing categories to fit the new information (for example, from thinking of all four-legged pets as “dogs” to differentiating dogs and cats; distinguishing living and nonliving things)

Exploring materials- Discovering properties of objects and how things work, seeing how things change when they are acted upon by people or events (for example, seeing what happens when two colors of paint mix together; observing what happens on the screen after hitting different computer keys)

Drawing conclusions-  Offering explanation for what one observes, predicting- accurately or not- what will happen (for example, deciding the cat likes wet food more than dry food because it eats more of it; guessing someone is older because she is taller)

Communicating ideas- Sharing thoughts about the world with others though talking, drawing, writing, or other means of representation (for example, giving directions to a friend on how to build a tall block tower that twill not fall down; sharing how to make a computer program work)

From “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” by Ann Epstein

Mark your Calendars

Items in bold have been added or changed.

February:
11-PISD Holiday-No preschool **
14-PTC Family Dinner Night
29-Early Release 11:30 **

March:
13-PTC Family Dinner Night
17-Spring Break-No preschool **
18- Spring Break-No preschool **
19- Spring Break-No preschool **
20- Spring Break-No preschool **
21-Good Friday-No preschool or LFP
25-Threes and Pre-K Family Conferences
26-Threes and Pre-K Family Conferences
27-Threes and Pre-K Family Conferences
28-Early Release 11:30 **
31-Threes and Pre-K Family Conferences
 

**Little Friends' Place (before- and after-school care open as usual)

First United Methodist Church Weekday Program * 3160 E. Spring Creek Parkway Plano, TX 75074

phone 972.423.4910 * fax 972.633.9126