Observations

Documentation and Participation: Solidarity between children, teachers and parents

“Through Reggio’s politics of education and learning, the meaning of the school comes up for democratic attention. It is a place for both the transmission and the creation of culture and values. It is a place that recognizes children as citizens. It is a place of possibilities, where knowledge and identity are co-constructed and learning processes are investigated, always in relationship with others—a forum, a place of encounter, a construction site, a workshop and a permanent laboratory are just some of the metaphors…And it is a place which is both a community in itself as well as an integral part of a wider community” (Dahlberg and Moss, 2006).

Dear Families and Friends,

And here we are in June, looking back at our experiences together over the past months. Through documentation we are able to revisit these moments and reflect upon the participation of children, teachers, directors and parents—together creating a culture of collaboration, solidarity, and choice.

I selected this photo of a Rosemary child on the studio deck, carefully choosing from a beautiful palette of colors, as a metaphor for an image of the child as a citizen with rights. By offering children the possibility of making choices regarding subjects, materials, spaces, time, connections and relationships, we are, with the children, simultaneously transmitting and creating a culture of democratic values.

We thank all of you for your participation as members of a community of teachers and learners. The work exhibited in May during our Hundred Languages Open House and the work represented in the teachers’ exceptional documentation books celebrates our work together these past months –and years. The children’s vibrant participation in the life of our little amiable school is also a tribute to our work together.

We wish children and families who will be leaving our spaces wonderful new beginnings at other fine schools— and we look forward to welcoming back those who will return to us in August. Thank you for choosing our school for your child’s early childhood education experience.

With warmest wishes for happy summer months,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Coming Events

• Atelier Books

• Small Group Documentation Books and Presentations

• PPS Faculty Announcements

• End of Year Invoices

• Summer Mailing

• With Appreciation

• June & August Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

Coming Events

Parent Orientation Meeting #1:
Friday, June 2 from 9:30 to 12:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall. This meeting is the first of two orientation meetings for parents of children who are new to the preschool. Topics will include parent participation, fundraising, and preschool policies and procedures. Please RSVP to Karen. Thank you.

Teacher Appreciation Luncheon:
Friday, June 2 from 1:00 to 3:00 at the home of Elizabeth and Alex Kendall. We thank our hosts for their hospitality and the Teacher Appreciation Committee, chaired by Elizabeth Kendall: Brandy Han, Chelsea Bent, Bianca Blair, Cindy Maloney, Leah Greavu, Fallon Epstein, Denise Wallace, Heidi Hendrix and Ken Wimer, Sean and Laurie Mihal, Rima Thierry, and Celina Meites.

After School Classes and Stay & Play:
The last day for Stay & Play is on Monday, June 5. On Thursday, June 1, children enrolled in Karate will have their Belt Ceremony. Ballet, Yoga and Percussion finished in May.

Catered Lunches and Picnics:
The last day for catered lunches this year will be on Monday, June 5. On Tuesday, June 6, children will have a pizza lunch provided by the school as part of the Carnival. On Wednesday, June 7, ALL children will bring a lunch from home. The Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children will enjoy their lunch from home in their classrooms at regular times. The Sunflower children will go to Reed Park for a “picnic” and play time. The Lavender children will have our play yard to themselves and enjoy their lunch outside or in the classroom.

PPS Carnival:
Karen is organizing the attractions for our annual Carnival, planned for Tuesday, June 6 on our play yard (Bounce House, Snow Cone Machine and Vendor, Popcorn Machine, Hair Braid and Face-Painting Artist, and Magician!). The Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children attend the Carnival from 9:15 to 11:00 and the Lavender and Sunflower children, from 11:00 to 12:45. All children will have a pizza lunch in their classrooms following the Carnival. CB & R children will go home at regular times: 1:00 and at 1:15. L & S children will go home at regular times: 1:30 and 1:40. We thank the Carnival Committee for their help with the set-up and clean-up and we thank each classroom community for helping to cover the cost of the event.

Lavender/Sunflower End of Year Celebration:
Thursday, June 8 from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Parish Hall. Teachers and directors, with help from Parker Bent, will present the children with their Portfolio as a symbol of their graduation from PPS—or from the Lavender room to the Sunflower room. Refreshments and a social time follow the presentation ceremony. We have hired a videographer for this event.

Last Day of School:
Friday, June 9. This short morning is intended as a quiet time for the children and teachers. The children help put away materials and say good-by to one another and their teachers. Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children will go home at 11:00 and 11:15. Lavender children will go home at 11:30 and Sunflower children will go home at 11:50.

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Atelier Books

In collaboration with teachers and Nancy, Nathalie and Valeria have each created amazing documentation books of the SKY investigation of the past months. Within each book, all children are represented as individuals within the context of the group. We have ordered the books for parents who signed up to purchase these beautiful examples of documentation and we will distribute them by the end of the school year.

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Small Group Documentation Books and Presentations

Summer, Craig, and classroom teachers are also synthesizing their documentation of the small group experiences in classrooms and outdoor spaces. These works are intended to support teachers’ professional development through a process of reflection and analysis. Some of these books will be available for order during the last week of the school year—distributed in September. Others will be available for order in September and also distributed in September. All of the documentation books and presentations will become part of our documentation archives and will also serve as presentations at future educator tours or workshop/conference initiatives.

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PPS Faculty Announcements

We are happy to share the good news that Brittany Russell will be returning to PPS in August. Some of you may know that Brittany chose to leave her work in the Lavender room last February in order to help care for her mother, who was ill at that time. As her mother is improving, Brittany will be back!

Former Rosemary teacher, Stephanie Goubert, has decided that she will spend the next school year at home with her baby daughter. While we will certainly miss Stephanie, we understand her choice.

Nancy has hired a wonderful teacher, Paige Laeyendecker, to join our faculty for the 2017-2018 school year. Paige is graduating from an amazing graduate program offered through a collaboration between Boulder Journey School (a large Reggio inspired school, serving infants, toddlers and preschool children) and University of Denver. Paige has experience as a teacher of young children at a mixed age school in Denver. She will move to our area in August. Welcome, Paige!

Lori Hernandez is expecting her baby in late August and will take an extended maternity leave at that time. We are planning to hire someone part-time to work as the lunch helper and to take over many housekeeping responsibilities.

We will be fortunate to have Lisette Sandoval in the role of support teacher, taking over some of Lori’s work with children and teachers.

We thank Raven Cole for her work this year as classroom Coach and Support Teacher in the Lavender class. It is possible that Raven will continue her relationship with our school as a substitute teacher in the new school year.

With the intention of creating strong teaching teams in all classrooms—and considering the importance of continuity for the children as they move to their new classrooms in August—Karen, teachers and I are working together to match teachers, studio teachers and age groups. We will share our choices in the August mailing and parents will have an opportunity to meet new and returning teachers at the Parent Orientation meetings on August 22 (New Parents) and August 23 (Returning Parents).

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End of Year Invoices

Karen is preparing final invoices for Stay & Play and catered lunch charges for June. She will also include charges for the Atelier book orders and other miscellaneous charges. We appreciate prompt payment of all outstanding amounts by Wednesday, June 7. Thank you.

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Summer Mailing

In early August, new and returning families will receive a packet with the Class List (including names of children and teachers and weekly attendance schedules), Preschool Calendar for 2017-2018, the Catered Lunch Contract, and other important information about the new school year. Please be sure that Karen has your current mailing address. Thank you.

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With Appreciation

We would like to express our appreciation to all of you who served on committees this year—especially to those who chaired committees. Your participation is so essential to the life our preschool.

We want to thank our wonderful Room Parents: Celina, Melanie, Brandy and Angela (Cherry Blossom); Michelle Dean, Cindy Maloney, Ann Sanchis, and Glenda Perry (Rosemary); Elizabeth Kendall, Catherine Griffin Matlow, and Robyn King (Lavender); Celina Meites, Michelle Vick and Erin O’Donnell (Sunflower). You have been fantastic Room Parents!

We are also appreciative of the many lovely celebrations many parents shared with the children on holidays throughout the school year.

A special “thank-you” goes to Jeff Rouze, who takes such good care of our facility during the school year and over the summer, making our school look beautiful when we open again in August.

AND, I would like to thank Karen Booth, my steadfast preschool administration partner, for her expertise, patience, understanding and competence in so many aspects of school life, and for her dedication to our work with children and families. Karen has worked at PPS for the past 18 years! Thank you, Karen!

Finally, I would also like to express gratitude to our PPS Board of Trustees, led by President, Rich Lin, and incoming President, Heidi Hendrix. Rich, Heidi, Allison, Celina, Catherine, Whitney and Jeff—your support and insight have contributed greatly to the stability and success of our organization. We will sadly say good-by to Rich and Allison as their children move to elementary school–and we will welcome returning parents, Michelle Martinez, Michelle Vick, Chelsea and Parker Bent and Scott Blair to the Board in the fall. We are grateful to you all for your commitment to the preschool. Thank you.

Rich, we will miss you, in particular, as a supporter of our school for the past 7 years!! We will miss you and hope that you and your family will visit us when you can!

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June Calendar

• Friday, June 2—New Parent Orientation Meeting #1 from 9:30 to 12:00 p.m. in Parish Hall
• Friday, June 2—Teacher Appreciation Luncheon at 1:00
• Sunday, June 4—End of the school year beach party at the Annenberg
• Monday, June 5 – Last day of Catered Lunches and Stay & Play for the school year—Regular Dismissal
• Tuesday, June 6—PPS Annual Carnival and Pizza Lunch—Regular Dismissal (1:00, 1:15, 1:30, 1:40)
• Wednesday, June 7—ALL children bring lunch to school (Sunflower children go to Reed Park)—Regular Dismissal
• Thursday, June 8—Sunflower/Lavender Graduation Celebration 9:15 to 10:15 Early Dismissal (12, 12:15, 12:30, 12.40)
• Friday, June 9—Last day of the school year—Children go home at 11, 11:15, 11:30 and 11:50, Staff End of Year Lunch at 1:00
• Monday-Thursday, June 12-15—Teacher Work Days
• Friday, June 16—Preschool closed for Summer Vacation

August Calendar

• Week of August 7—Teachers/Directors return to prepare for the new school year School Calendar, Class Lists mailed to all families
• Tuesday, August 22—Cherry Blossom/Rosemary Parent Orientation #2 from 10 to 12:30 in the Parish Hall
• Wednesday, August 23—Sunflower/Lavender Parent Orientation from 10 to 12 in the Parish Hall
• Thursday, August 24—First Day of the new school year
• Saturday, August 26—Family Picnic at Rustic Canyon Park from 10 to 12 p.m.

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Pictures from School Events

Puppet Show

Lunch with Loved Ones

Juice Bar

SKY Exhibit

TREE Necklaces

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Observations

Documentation and Participation: Solidarity between children, teachers and parents Gandini: One of the many questions that come up when talking about your program is how you succeed in enlisting and maintaining the participation of families at such a high level.

Malaguzzi: Family participation requires many things, but most of all, it demands of teachers a multitude of adjustments. Teachers must possess…an enriched evaluation of parental roles and skills–to talk, listen, and learn from parents…They must discover ways to communicate and document the children’s evolving experiences at school. They must prepare a steady flow of quality information targeted to parents, but appreciated also by children and teachers. This flow of documentation, we believe, introduces parents to a quality of knowing that changes their expectations tangibly. They reexamine their assumptions about their parenting roles and their views about the experience their children are living and take a new and more inquisitive approach toward the whole school experience.

With regard to the children…they learn that their parents feel at home in the school, at ease with the teachers, and informed about what has happened and is about to happen. We know we have built a solid friendship when children readily accept either parent saying, “I am going to school to talk with the teachers” (Gandini, 2012).

Dear Families and Friends,

Last month we joined other educators, parents and children in the celebration of Week of the Young Child, an NAEYC sponsored initiative aimed at bringing national awareness to the rights of children and families. We so appreciated your participation in our Breakfast with Loved Ones, Family Parade, Donations for Upward Bound House (in support of homeless families in our local neighborhood), and in Parent-Teacher Conferences. It was wonderful to welcome family members and extended family and friends to these events and activities. Each of these experiences brought focus to the importance of the family in the lives of children and to the significance of the family in the context of school life.

In the interview Lella Gandini conducted with Loris Malaguzzi (The Hundred Languages of Children, 2012), Malaguzzi noted the relevance of documentation in creating the connection between home and school. We thank you for taking time to read the Weekly Story, Microstories and Small Group Stories, panels, and weekly and monthly school newsletters in order to maximize your participation in the life of our little amiable school. We also thank you for your tremendous active participation in school events and initiatives—and on committees, in celebrations and fund-raising efforts.

At the end of the interview cited above, Malaguzzi concluded: “Finally, it is important for parents and children to realize how much work teachers do together. They must see how often teachers meet to discuss things. They must see how teachers cooperate on research projects and other initiatives, how they document their work with patience and care, how skillfully they wield their cameras and video cameras, with what kindness they hide their worries, join children’s play, and take responsibility. All of this represents for the children a range of models that make a deep impression. They see a world where people truly help one another” (2012).

Thank you for your partnership. The children’s school experience is deeply enhanced by our work together.

Warm wishes,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Week of the Young Child Initiative

• Documentation Books

• Ounce of Prevention Meeting

• Lunch with Loved Ones

• Hundred Languages Open House

• May, June, & August Calendars

• Tuition Invoices

• Pictures from School Events

Week of the Young Child Initiative

We would like to thank our Outreach Committee for organizing the collection for Upward Bound House this spring. We thank our PPS community for donating linens and towels, breakfast foods and personal items–or for making a cash donation to UBH. Committee members, Catherine Griffin, Tannaz Galker, Abigail Lufkin, Michelle Dean, Adriana Sagi, and Heidi Hendrix will deliver the items that parents are donating to this worthy organization in our Santa Monica community. Thank you!

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Documentation Books

Studio teachers, classroom teachers and our pedagogical coordinator are collaborating to create beautiful books representing children’s and teachers’ explorations together over the past several months of the school year.

Valeria is creating a book about the designing and making of the Sunflower Puppets and a second book about the Sunflower SKY research; Anne’s book will be about the Sunflower Juice Bar, a medley of dramatic play, literacy development, and early practice with monetary exchange; Ashi is working on a book about inclusion and the Rainbow Team characters created by the children in their storytelling. Nathalie is developing beautiful books about the SKY and TREE explorations in the Lavender class; Shelbi’s book describes the Water Wheel investigation involving design research. Marcela is working on an overview of the many and varied Bridge Building experiences of the Rosemary children, while Nedda’s book is about transformation and community in the Atelier of Taste. Ana’s book will make visible Cherry Blossom children’s original strategies for entering play; Linda is developing an in-depth analysis of the development of children’s storytelling in our Atelier of Stories. Summer’s book examines the body of studio work relating to our SKY exploration in both the indoor and outdoor studios. Craig is refining his existing book, Play, Imagination and Resourcefulness. Finally, Nancy is creating a book about Catching the Rain as well as a simple collection of documentation of the Sunflower children’s experiences with Traveling Voices.

Each book requires a great amount of analysis and synthesis of the photos, videos and authentic children’s work collected over the school year. Teachers collaborate with one another and with the pedagogical coordinator throughout the process. In addition to the writing of the books, formatting for the online publishing program is a lengthy and challenging step. For these reasons, teachers will continue to share a Weekly Story each week, but will suspend the writing of microstories and small group stories in the coming weeks so that they have time to work on their books.

Some of these new documentation books will be available for sale to parents during the last weeks of the school year. Other books will be dedicated to our PPS documentation archives. Please look for more information and an order sheet in mid-May.

Over the summer, Valeria and Nancy will continue the documentation work—creating books about the Sunflower TREE investigation and Tree Dances. New hallway panels may also be a part of the work for the summer months.

We look forward to sharing all of these reflections on our work with you and the children in June and in the new school year!

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Ounce of Prevention Meeting
with Pattie Fitzgerald
Thursday, May 11

This parent-only meeting is a mini-safety seminar about how to support children’s awareness of which people in their lives are “safe to trust.” Pattie Fitzgerald is recognized as an expert in the field of childhood sexual abuse prevention. She will meet with a maximum of 12 parents in the Library at 9:15. Please rsvp to Karen.

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Lunch with Loved Ones, Friday, May 12

In celebration of Families and of Mother’s Day, we invite moms, grandmothers, and other loved ones to bring a picnic lunch and a blanket and enjoy some special time with children and teachers on our play yard.

• Cherry Blossom/Rosemary picnic—11:30 to 12:15
• Lavender/Sunflower—12:30 to 1:15

Children in all classes will go home with families at the end of each picnic.

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Hundred Languages Open House
Wednesday, May 24 from 5 to 7 p.m.

This is a social event for all families (children and parents). The outdoor and indoor environments will be open for your viewing and enjoyment—and refreshments will be served in the Parish Hall. Please join us!

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Tuition Invoices

Most families have paid the June 2017 tuition payment in advance, so the May payment will be the final tuition payment for the current school year for most families. Karen will be billing for miscellaneous charges such as lunches, Stay & Play and documentation book orders in early June. We ask that all outstanding amounts be paid to Karen by Tuesday, June 6. Thank you.

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May Calendar

• Week of May 1—Sunflower Teacher Appreciation Week
• Thursday, May 4—Parent Tours
• Friday, May 5—Last day for donations to Upward Bound House
• Friday, May 5—Educator Tour for visiting educators from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 9—Tandy Parks mindful parenting meeting at 9:15 (last one for the current school year)
• Thursday, May 11—Ounce of Prevention meeting in Library with Pattie Fitzgerald at 9:15 (rsvp to Karen)
• Friday, May 12—Lunch with Loved Ones picnics (CB/R : 11:30 to 12:15/Sun-Lav: 12:30 to 1:15)
• Week of May 15—Book orders available for Documentation Books and Rosemary Teacher Appreciation
• Week Monday, May 22—Preschool closed for Work Day
• Wednesday, May 24—Early dismissal (12:00, 12:30, 1:00 and 1:40) and Hundred Languages Open House (5-7 p.m.)
• Monday, May 29—Preschool closed for Memorial Day holiday

June Calendar

• Friday, June 2—New Parent Orientation Meeting #1 from 9:30 to 12 in Parish Hall
• Friday, June 2—Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
• Sunday, June 4—Beach Party at Annenberg sponsored by PPS Board members at 10:00 a.m.
• Monday, June 5 – Last day for Stay & Play and catered lunch
• Tuesday, June 6—PPS Carnival and Pizza Lunch—Early dismissal (12, 12:15, 12:30 and 12:40)
• Wednesday, June 7—Children bring lunch to school for indoor and outdoor picnics
• Thursday, June 8—Graduation Ceremony for Sunflower and Lavender children in a.m.
• Friday, June 9—Last day of the school year—Early dismissal (11, 11:15, 11:30 and 11:40)
• Week of June 12—Teachers preparing school for summer closure and planning for new school year
• Friday, June 16—Preschool closed for Summer Break

August Calendar

• Early August—School Calendar, Class Lists, Lunch Contracts mailed to all families
• Tuesday, August 22—New Parent Orientation meeting #2 from 10 to 12 in the Parish Hall
• Wednesday, August 23—Returning Parent Orientation meeting from 10 to 12 in the Parish Hall
• Thursday, August 24—First Day of 2017-2018 school year

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Pictures from School Events

Breakfast with Loved Ones

Family Parade

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Observations

Reflecting on Children’s Growth: Honoring the role of the teacher
“We need a teacher who is sometimes the director, sometimes the set designer, sometimes the curtain and the backdrop, and sometimes the prompter. A teacher who is both sweet and stern, who is the electrician, who dispenses the paints, and who is even the audience—the audience who watches, sometimes claps, sometimes remains silent, full of emotion, who sometimes judges with skepticism, and at other times applauds with enthusiasm” (Malaguzzi).

Dear Families and Friends,

In this season of growth and new beginnings, it is important to find joy in the present—and also valuable to reflect upon the past and how our journey together began. In our preschool context, I am remembering Fall, 2016. So much development and learning have taken place! What an amazing collaboration between parents, teachers, children– and nature!

While we are certain that a myriad of interdependent moments have occurred over the past several months to bring us to this season of growth, I would like to express my own appreciation for the role of our teachers in this miraculous process. We are fortunate to have with us at Palisades Preschool a group of teachers who are very special as individuals and, also, as a community of teachers and learners. As Malaguzzi suggested, there is no one role for the teacher—but many. Our teachers shift roles numerous times throughout their day with the children and with one another: offering care and support, giving direct instruction, scaffolding learning with questions and materials, remaining silent as children solve problems independently, preparing environments, documenting children’s experiences, reflecting with colleagues to create the curriculum, engaging in professional development, and communicating with parents. All of these roles—and more– are played on any given day.

The work of the teacher is both demanding and uplifting—particularly for teachers working in Reggio inspired settings such as our own. The work requires a commitment to caring and thinking deeply—and requires a significant amount of time and energy beyond the moments spent with children.

We thank parents in each class for honoring teachers with Teacher Appreciation Weeks for each classroom team and we thank the Teacher Appreciation Committee for organizing the lovely lunch planned for early June. It is wonderful to be recognized—and for outstanding efforts to be acknowledged.

Teaching: a job for not thinking small (Malaguzzi).

Warm wishes,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Congratulations!

• Spring Egg Hunts

• Breakfast with Loved Ones

• Week of the Young Child

• Parent/Teacher Conferences

• April & May Calendars

• Pictures from School Events

Congratulations!

We are very happy to share the fantastic news that children from our school were accepted to many fine private schools in our area, including: PS1, Wildwood, Crossroads, The Willows, Seven Arrows, Carlthorp, John Thomas Dye, Village School, Mirman, UCLA Lab School (TK), and Edison’s bilingual immersion program (TK). We are fortunate to have wonderful private, public, and charter schools in our area and many of our graduates will head to these great schools in the fall. Congratulations to children and to their families!

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Spring Egg Hunts

As part of our celebration of Spring, we will hold our annual PPS Egg Hunts on Wednesday, April 5. We will ask parents on the Spring Egg Hunt Committee to hide the eggs on our play yard for the 9:15 Cherry Blossom/Rosemary egg hunt and for the 11:30 egg hunt for the Sunflower and Lavender classes. Special snacks provided by parents can also be a part of the celebrations. (We need a parent to put on our bunny costume and become the Spring Bunny!)

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Breakfast with Loved Ones

We invite our PPS Dads or other Special Loved Ones to join teachers and children for a simple continental breakfast in classrooms and on the play yard on Friday, April 21, from 8:45 to 9:30. This annual event initiates our celebration of NAEYC’s Week of the Young Child this year (see below). (We will honor PPS Moms on May 12 for Lunch with Loved Ones.)

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Week of the Young Child:
Celebrating Our Youngest Learners

We have once more chosen the sub-theme, Celebrating Families, as part of our recognition of NAEYC’s 2017 Week of the Young Child. Beginning on Monday, April 24, our community will have the opportunity to support Upward Bound House, a local nonprofit organization providing transitional housing to homeless families with minor children. Outreach Committee members will be in communication with UBH and let us know what items they are requesting this year. We will have a place in the hallway or in Karen’s office for your donations between April 24 and May 3. Outreach Committee members will provide a flyer with more information soon.

On Wednesday, April 26, we invite parents to join children and teachers in our annual PPS WOYC Family Parade around our neighborhood. Children can wear their PPS t-shirts. (Please see Karen if you do not have one.) We also invite families to create simple Family Flags to carry in the parade. We will gather in front of the school at about 9:15 and proceed to parade around the block, giving visibility to young children within the community and to our preschool. All family members are welcome!

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Parent/Teacher Conferences

As an appropriate conclusion to Week of the Young Child, the preschool will close on Friday, April 29, so that we can engage in spring conferences with our families. The teachers will share documentation of children’s learning over the past few months and we look forward to talking with you about your child’s many strengths—as well as areas of development that may need some support at home and at school. We will offer childcare for the time of your conference. We realize that sometimes 30 minutes is not enough time to fully discuss all aspects of your child’s growth and learning. If you believe that you will need more than 30 minutes, please consult with teachers to set an alternate conference time on May 1 or May 2. Thank you.

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April Calendar

• Tuesday, April 4—Tandy Parks mindful parenting meeting in Library at 9:15
• Wednesday, April 5—Egg Hunts (CB/R at 9:15 and Sun/Lav at 11:30)—Early Dismissal (12, 12:15, 12:30, 12:40)
• Thursday, April 6—Preschool closed for Spring Break
• Wednesday, April 19—Preschool open
• Thursday, April 20—Parent Tours
• Friday, April 21—Breakfast with Loved Ones from 8:45 to 9:30—starting Week of the Young Child activities
• Monday, April 24—Collection for Upward Bound House starts
• Wednesday, April 26—Family Parade around the neighborhood from 9:15 to 9:45
• Thursday, April 27—Preschool closed for Conference preparation
• Friday, April 28—Preschool closed for Parent-Teacher Conferences (child care provided for conference time)

May Calendar

• Week of May 1—Sunflower Teacher Appreciation Week
• Wednesday, May 3—Collection for Upward Bound House ends
• Thursday, May 11—Ounce of Prevention meeting in Library with Pattie Fitzgerald at 9:15 (rsvp to Karen)
• Friday, May 12—Lunch with Loved Ones-Moms and grandmothers honored-(CB-R: 11:30 to 12:15/Sun-Lav: 12:30-1:15)
• Week of May 14—Rosemary Teacher Appreciation Week
• Wednesday, May 24—Hundred Languages Open House for all PPS preschool families—5 to 7 p.m.
• Monday, May 29—Preschool closed for Memorial Day holiday
  

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Pictures from School Events

The Role of the Teacher

Sunflower Field Trip

Tree Dancing

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Observations

Documentation as a Strategy for Selecting and Designing Projects

“Progettazione is non-linear, interdisciplinary, interdependent, always readjusting. It is a temporary advancement of the knowledge, a strategy that allows us to move the interest during the course of the project—recognizing the autonomy and the provisionality of the paths” (Tiziana Filippini, 2017).

Dear Families and Friends,

Thank you for participating in our February morning and afternoon meetings with teachers in each classroom. The teachers and I very much enjoyed sharing examples of on-going documentation materials with you and receiving your responses to the moments represented by the videos and still images. We hope that the shared documentation of children’s and teachers’ current investigations helps provide understanding of how the investigations are designed and developed.

Also in February, five teachers and I had the good fortune to participate in two mornings of professional development on the topic of documentation with Reggio educator and consultant, Tiziana Filippini. She was presenting at a retreat at Temescal Retreat Center organized by some of our local Reggio inspired colleagues. I think that Tiziana’s presentations further illuminated the role of documentation in the choices we make in framing and designing learning experiences at our school. I would like to share some of these insights with you in this March newsletter.

The Italian educators use the word, progettazione, to describe a process of inquiry. Documentation is an integral part of progettazione as it serves as a means to “keep track” and to have concrete materials that can be shared among adults and children. Documentation is a way to understand, interpret, and frame teaching and learning experiences.

For example, in last year’s Rosemary class the children used the language of photography to observe the seasonal transformations of the beautiful liquid amber trees outside their classroom window as part of our school-wide investigation of Time. As children from the Rosemary class became members of the Lavender and Sunflower communities this year—and because we were listening to children’s words about the connections between the apples explored in the new atelier of taste and trees—we grabbed the opportunity to continue the investigation. Teachers had recorded children’s words so that we could, as teams, consider how to interpret and frame the investigation. Additionally, as a school, we hold an intention to nurture an “ecological sensitivity” within the community.

So, based on observation and interpretation, the choice was made for teachers and children to begin taking walks in the neighborhood to find out what kinds of trees live near our school. Teachers documented children’s interactions with the trees and with one another. In reviewing the videos, notes and photos, we agreed that the children were fascinated by: the size and age of the trees and by characteristics such as branches, leaves, roots and bark. Studio teachers, Valeria and Nathalie, suggested clay as the language to use to continue the investigation. Drawing, too, was a valuable language. And, as collaboration is another value held at our school, children were encouraged to work in pairs or in groups to create “Together Trees.” This phase of the project is almost complete, but we are offering line drawing tools and watercolor for children to consider the trees from an additional perspective—adding color to the representations. Size and roots remain significant interests and we are wondering together about additional opportunities to offer the children in this investigation: perhaps light and shadow as languages to allow children to work with large images and consider size—and also to give space for the elaboration of roots in the representations-?

Progettazione consists of first observing–and then developing an orientation or intention for the work. Next, documentation permits us to continue observing and interpreting, designing next steps—relaunching the project. These actions repeat as part of a circular process of investigation.

This approach to teaching and learning requires the teacher to be well-prepared, but also flexible. As the children’s play and thinking can be very fast paced and multi-faceted, the orientation (or intention) and the documentation together serve to help the teacher “hang in” and continue the investigation—rather than leave the topic completely and follow one of the many possible directions offered by the children in any given moment. However, the teacher is also open to a new possibility related to the topic. In this way, the outcome of the project may remain unidentified along the path of exploration. Progettazione “seeks to create a fluid and dynamic relationship between learning and teaching” (Filippini).

We plan to continue our meetings with parents once a month in the Library to share both on-going documentation and more final documentation of previous work (as this form of documentation, too, is a valuable reflective tool). We hope that you will continue to read and enjoy teachers’ microstories and small group stories—and also join us for the monthly documentation meetings. The more familiar we all become with the role of documentation in this work we do together, the stronger our alliance will become—and our little school will be able to travel its journey as a “hot air balloon,” seeing the world in a different way (Gandini).

Thank you.

With warm wishes,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Teacher Appreciation Weeks

• Pajama Night Fundraiser

• Raffle for A Date with Teachers

• March Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

Teacher Appreciation Weeks

Room Parents in each class have chosen a particular week for the purpose of honoring teachers. Each class has its own week: week of March 6-Lavender; week of March 27-Cherry Blossom; week of May 1—Sunflower; week of May 14—Rosemary. Room parents will coordinate with parents in their class to provide special treats for the teachers during the week. Examples include: coffee/tea drinks delivered to school one day, flower arrangements, or take-out lunch delivered to school one day. Each class has a budget for this initiative and parents are welcome to submit receipts to Room Parents as preferred. We ask that simplicity be favored over elaborate plans. Thank you. Teachers look forward to being honored by the parents in their class and so appreciate your kindness and generosity. Please note: the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon held in June is a separate initiative and has its own committee.

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Pajama Night Fundraiser

On Friday, March 10, the children are invited to return to school in their pajamas from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. While children are having fun in our classrooms and eating a pizza dinner, parents are encouraged to have a night out! All of our teachers and directors will be present to share the fun with the children, playing games and reading stories together. If you are not sure if your child will be comfortable in this novel situation, please consult with us. While most children do enjoy the evening, some of our younger children may find the change of routine a bit overwhelming—or the timing of the event may be too late for them. (If they miss this year’s event, they can participate in next year’s PJ Night.) Please see Karen to purchase tickets for $50 each. Larger donations are also welcome. The funds will go toward the cost of purchasing a new Mag Wall for the outdoor spaces. Thank you for your participation!

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Raffle for A Date with Teachers

In conjunction with the Pajama Night fundraiser, Karen will be offering raffle tickets for sale for children in each class to win an after-school date with their teachers. Generally, children and teachers enjoy ice cream or frozen yogurt after school for this occasion—arranged between Karen and parents on behalf of teachers. The cost of the tickets is $20 each. Winners will be drawn the week of March 13. The children love this opportunity to spend time with their teachers outside of school!

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March Calendar

• March 3—Evergreen teachers visiting PPS—regular schedule observed
• Week of March 6 —Lavender Teacher Appreciation Week
• Tuesday, March 7—Tandy Parks meets with parents from 9:15 to 10:15 in the Library
• Thursday, March 9—Parent Tours
• Friday, March 10—Pajama Night from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, March 12—Daylight Saving Time begins
• Monday, March 13—Preschool closed
• Monday, March 20—Teacher work day, Preschool closed
• Thursday, March 23—Board of Trustees meeting at 5:30 p.m.
• Week of March 27—Cherry Blossom Teacher Appreciation Week
• Wednesday, March 29—Fullerton College students and instructor visit PPS at 5 p.m.

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Pictures from School Events

Valentine’s Day

Puppets

Sky Investigations

Line Explorations

Afternoon with Teachers

The post March 2017 Newsletter appeared first on .

Observations

“The Pattern that Connects:” A search for relationships “Expression through the arts was considered by Gregory to be the most honest and pure form of human communication. It’s easy to forget that when we find meaning in a story or enjoy the beauty of a piece of music, we are engaging in the realm of thinking that is most in sync with nature. Metaphor is the language of relationships, the language of natural systems, in which there is room to communicate in spectrums of possibility, instead of tightly defined cul-de-sacs” (Nora Bateson, 2010, filmmaker and daughter of Gregory Bateson).

Dear Families and Friends,

As individuals and as a community, the New Year offers us an opportunity for reflecting upon and renewing our commitments to values we hold meaningful to our shared experience. At Palisades Preschool, 2017 offers us an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to better understanding the relationship between aesthetics and ethics.

In our continuing study of the Reggio Emilia approach, we discover (repeatedly) the importance of systems thinking. December’s Storyteller included a description of Bronfenbrenner’s systems-based theory of child development valued by Loris Malaguzzi: human ecology theory (1979). Another of the great thinkers whose ideas Malaguzzi highly admired was Gregory Bateson—anthropologist, biologist, psychologist and philosopher. “Bateson was one of the most original thinkers of the late twentieth century . . . He would often move himself across the boundaries of disciplines, and do so in highly innovative ways” (van Boeckel, 2011). Bateson believed in the importance of an aesthetic sensibility. He asked, “What is the pattern that connects the crab to the lobster and the primrose to the orchid, and all of them to me, and me to you?”

“His approach was radically different from conventional science, which is often more preoccupied with taking things apart. Bateson was a voice crying in the wilderness. ‘Why do our schools teach us nothing about the pattern which connects?’ he asked in despair. There was another side to this, and a cause for great concern. ‘Break the pattern which connects,’ he stated, ‘and you necessarily destroy all quality” (van Boeckel, 2011).

How do we nurture children’s developing aesthetic sensibility—their developing sense of the pattern that connects? Beyond the important role of children’s hundred languages in supporting dispositions of mind such as focus, perspective-taking, and critical thinking, Reggio educators show us that it is through children’s hundred languages that we enter into a dialogue with them about nature, beauty, community—ethics.

In many of our hallway panels and documentation books, the unifying topic of the investigations is beauty as a way of knowing (Vecchi). Our ongoing explorations of The Tree, The Traveling Voice, and Time are about patterns, communication, connections, transformation, and beauty. If we hope for children to become stewards of the earth —of its natural and human resources—we must first nurture their relationships with nature and with one another. Taking care is a metaphor for being “in relationship”—for feeling connected. Bateson asked “What is the pattern which connects?” not because he believed that there is a single answer, but because he believed in the necessity of searching for relationships.

The atelier, the outdoor spaces, the ateliers of taste, of storytelling, and of construction—along with our classrooms, our homes and our neighborhoods—can be places of “listening,” of caring. Using the hundred languages to dream, to create and to appreciate together is one channel we are choosing to better understand the relationship between aesthetics and ethics.

As we begin a new year together, we invite you to join us in our commitment to children’s hundred languages—and to applying them to the context of caring. “An aesthetic response is a response to relationships” (Bateson).

Thank you.

Sending warm wishes for a healthful, joyful and peaceful New Year,

Nancy Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• School-wide Intentions, Curriculum Choices, Professional Development and Aesthetics and Ethics

• “Green” Practices at PPS

• Mornings with Teachers / Afternoons with Teachers / Documentation Meetings

• Applications and Admission Agreements for the 2017-2018 School Year

• Financial Assistance for the 2017-2018 School Year

• After-School Small Group Classes for the Winter Session

• January Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

School-wide Intentions, Curriculum Choices, Professional Development and Aesthetics and Ethics

During the past few years we have had the honor and pleasure of working with two amazing early childhood educational consultants and two very provocative visiting experts from beyond our field as we seek to understand relationships. Visiting specialists from the Japanese American Cultural Center of Los Angeles, Ritsuko Akamatsu (President of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society) and Hirokazu Kosaka (Master Artist in Residence) each helped us to understand the search for the pattern that connects through their presentations and workshops: “The flower will tell you the best way to place it to show its beauty” (Mrs. Akamatsu), and, “Haiku is about sensitivity to things around us” (Mr. Kosaka). Lella Gandini and Harold Gothson also placed emphasis on relationships: “When a child makes a choice in the outdoor spaces, it is like a little bird looking for a seed” (Gandini), and, “In this photo of two children and one flower, there are three protagonists” (Gothson).

Our choice to investigate children’s sense of time and to create an atelier of taste both relate to the investigation of relationships. Please take a few moments to read the hallway panel documenting last year’s Time installations in our outdoor spaces, as well as the documentation introducing the atelier of taste. And, the Way of Tea panel, the Shoe Investigation panel, Living Organisms panel, Table and Chairs and Compositional Research panels all have to do with the search for relationships.

Ongoing explorations: Spatial Relationships, Bridges, Buildings—Inside and Outside, Storytelling and Puppets, What is a Machine?, Trees, Eco-Dying, The Restaurant—Roles in Dramatic Play, The Sky, The Traveling Voice, and Catching the Rain are all related to the understanding of relationships.

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“Green” Practices at PPS

Woven into our daily life at the school are several practices we hope are beneficial to Santa Monica’s efforts to support sustainability:

• Blue recycle bins for clean paper, cardboard and plastic trash placed in classrooms, studios and outdoor spaces
• Compost bins for extra food from snack, lunches and atelier of taste explorations
• Organically grown foods for snack, lunch and the atelier of taste explorations
• Eco-friendly sprays for surfaces (except during the nightly cleaning when stronger materials are used)
• Eco-friendly soaps for hands and dishes
• An organic garden in our outdoor space
• Recycling of ink cartridges used in school printers
• Rechargeable batteries when possible (we use very few regular batteries these days)
• Purchase of many furnishings and toys approved as eco-friendly
• Use of many recycled paper goods (copy paper, paper towels)
• Use of real plates, cups and utensils for most snack and lunch settings
• Use of compostable bowls and plates when teachers are absent and dishwashing is not possible
• Use of many natural materials in children’s investigations
• Use of many “loose parts” (recycled materials) in construction activities
• Appropriate recycling of paint and any hazardous materials used for school maintenance

We invite our Green Committee to meet during the first part of 2017 to review these practices and make additional suggestions.

Santa Monica residential hazardous waste disposal info: http://www.stericycleenvironmental.com/santa-monica/

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Mornings with Teachers / Afternoons with Teachers /
Documentation Meetings

During the coming months, each classroom community will be invited to join teachers, atelieristi and the pedagogista to look at recent documentation and to share interpretations, insights and ideas during A Morning with Teachers (Cherry Blossom and Rosemary) or An Afternoon with Teachers (Lavender and Sunflower). For the morning meetings, children are at play outside. For the afternoon meetings, children go to Stay & Play free of charge while parents meet with our faculty from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The first meeting is planned for the Rosemary parents and teachers on Wed., January 25—from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m. These meetings are in addition to the recently initiated Documentation meetings held in our Library which are open to parents in all classrooms. The next Documentation meeting is planned for Thursday, January 19, from 9:15 to 10:15. The topic will be THE SHOE STORE—a long-term investigation from the previous two years. We are choosing to share this work because it showcases the development of a simple observation into a long-term project that included literacy and mathematical thinking appropriate for 5 year old children in the Sunflower room. Parents who are making the decision about TK versus a third year at Palisades Preschool might be interested in attending this meeting. Please rsvp to Karen.

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Applications and Admission Agreements for the 2017-2018 School Year

In December, preschool applications for returning children were distributed to Cherry Blossom, Rosemary, and toddler Explorations families along with the new Schedule of Tuition and Fees for the 2017-2018 school year. Parents of current Lavender room children with summer/fall birthdays also received applications and new tuition information.

The applications will be due to Karen by Friday, January 13. Karen will then create Admission Agreements for returning and toddler Explorations families and mail them to each family. We ask that current Cherry Blossom and Rosemary parents submit the signed Agreement, registration fee and June 2018 tuition payment by Monday, Jan. 31. Toddler Explorations parents who are new to PPS are asked to submit the signed Agreement, registration fee and the May and June 2018 tuition payments by Jan. 31.

The signed Agreement, registration fee and tuition deposit secure your child’s space for the coming new school year. New families not currently enrolled in any of our programs will be contacted on February 9, according to our agreement with other local preschools. Please let us know if you have any questions about this year’s enrollment/admissions process. Thank you.

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Financial Assistance for the 2017-2018 School Year

Applications for financial assistance for the new school year should be submitted to Karen with the preschool application by Friday, Jan. 13. We have a process in place for the award of financial assistance to returning families and will notify families of the amount we are able to provide to qualifying applicants by early Feb. Please speak with Nancy if you have any questions about this process and if you would like to obtain a copy of the financial aid application. Thank you.

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After-School Small Group Classes for the Winter Session

Please speak with Karen to inquire about space/cost and to enroll your child in:

• Monday—Ballet
• Tuesday—Yoga
• Wednesday—Percussion & Movement
• Thursday—Karate

After-school classes will begin the week of Jan 17. Stay & Play will begin the week of January 9.

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January Calendar

• Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 5 & 6—Preschool closed for teacher work days
• Monday, Jan. 9—Preschool classes resume—Stay & Play is offered this week
• Tuesday, Jan. 10—Tandy Parks mindful parenting meeting in Library from 9:15 to 10:15
• Thursday, Jan. 12—Parent Tours
• Friday, Jan. 13—Preschool applications due for returning and toddler parents
• Friday, Jan. 13—Toddler classes resume
• Monday, Jan. 16—Preschool closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday
• Tuesday, Jan. 17—After-school classes begin
• Thursday, Jan. 19—Documentation Meeting (parents in all classes invited) in Library from 9:15 to 10:15—rsvp
• Wednesday, Jan. 25—Morning with Teachers for Rosemary community from 9:15 to 10:00 in Rosemary room
• Monday, Jan. 31—Admissions Agreements and tuition deposits from returning and toddler parents due Calendar change for

February:

Thursday, Feb. 2—Preschool closed for Professional Development–all teachers participating

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Pictures from School Events

Conferences

Holiday Celebrations

Songfest

Aesthetics & Relationships

The post January 2017 Newsletter appeared first on .

Observations and Reflections

Understanding Our Image of the Child: Where Teaching and Parenting Begin

“Imagine the school as an enormous hot air balloon. The hot air balloon is on the ground when the parents bring their children in the morning. Some parents think the balloon is going to rise up and fly around during the day. Others would really prefer that the balloon remain on the ground because that way they are sure their children are safe and protected. But the children want to go up and fly and travel everywhere in a hot air balloon, to see in this different way, to look at things from above. Our problem is that to make the hot air balloon fly we have to make sure that parents understand the importance of what the teachers and children are doing in the hot air balloon. Flying through the air, seeing the world in a different way, adds to the wealth of all of us, particularly the children” (Loris Malaguzzi, 1993).

Dear Families and Friends,

We each hold our own personal image of the child. It is based on our temperament and personality, our family culture, our experiences as children in educational settings, and is very much influenced by the larger community and culture. Our image of the child orients the way we interact with children as observers, listeners, teachers and parents. In many American preschools children play passive roles in their care and education—based on an image of the child as someone fragile, in need of protection, and in need of an adult to be in charge of and direct learning.

Malaguzzi affirms that “the child is very intelligent, that the child is strong and beautiful and has very ambitious desires and requests. This is the image of the child that we need to hold.” Children come to school seeking to understand and to build relationships—with other children, with adults, with materials, spaces and ideas. They arrive in our setting with great competencies to express, many questions to pose, and many theories to test.

The kind of image of the child that we hold directs the environments we create, the questions we ask—or wait to ask, the way we engage with children in the learning process, how we choose to observe without judging, how we make choices about the amount of ownership of routines and materials we offer to children in the classroom or home, or the extent to which we allow children to take (reasonable) risks–such as climbing up the ladder to the slide, jumping in a puddle, using authentic tools for woodworking and cooking, trying a new material for the first time, or approaching another child independently.

By the time you read this newsletter, the teachers and I will have engaged in two days of learning with Dr. Lella Gandini. She has proposed that our study focus on the relationship between the image of the child and the image of the teacher. She has provided us with articles to read as part of our preparation for her consultation—and our work on documentation and environments has also offered us another kind of preparation as we reflect deeply on our work prior to the consultation. Dr. Gandini’s observations in our environments during the mornings will help her to understand the image of the child we hold at Palisades Preschool and our meetings with her in the afternoons will present opportunities for worthwhile discussion. We know we have much to learn individually and collectively about this subject and look forward to our dialogue with Dr. Gandini. After her visit—and the November 1 Educator Tour—teachers and I will share reflections about these valuable learning experiences that will be made visible in a documentation piece for the hallway. Thank you for your generous support of our professional development initiatives—helping us to become “good hot air balloon pilots.”

Warm wishes,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Silent Auction—Friday, November 18 at the Annenberg Beach House

• Wonderful News

• Elementary School Applications

• Speech and Language Screening

• Thanksgiving Lunch

• NAEYC Conference Educator Tour

• November Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

Silent Auction—Friday, November 18 at the Annenberg Beach House

Last month the Auction invitations were emailed to all preschool and toddler parents and everyone was asked to follow the link on the invitation to the Givesmart website in order to register credit card and mobile device information. We thank you for your response to the invitation and for the wonderful donations that are starting to arrive!

The Auction is our large fundraiser for the school year and includes our own community as well as extended family and friends (as space at the venue permits). Dinner and dessert, wine, and beer are part of the evening’s experience. Each year’s event includes a few surprises, as well!

We ask that each family donate 2 Auction items–which can include tickets to sporting events, concerts or the theater, certificates to restaurants and spas, jewelry, art, wine, electronic equipment and passes to the LA Zoo—to name a few! Some families choose to put on a party of some kind (for children, for adults or for families) as their donation for the Auction.

We suggest that you check in with Karen regarding your donation choices to ensure that we do not have too many of one kind of item. Karen will be creating an Auction Program in advance of the event that includes all of the donated items and she will then email the program to our community. Donations and the donation sheet with the description and estimated value of the item will be due to Karen by Wed., Nov 9.

Room Parents are also coordinating one or two Class Baskets for each classroom and parents have been asked to make a contribution to these themed baskets in addition to donating two items to the auction.

Vacation Homes and Hotel Accommodations are often part of the Live Auction that takes place at the end of the evening!!

We greatly appreciate the donations many of you have made to help cover the catering and beverage costs—and other aspects of the event such as flower arrangements and table decorations. Thank you!

We thank our Silent Auction Committee and Co-Chairs, Celina Meites and Elizabeth Kendall, for putting on the event and our Room Parents for coordinating the donations for the Class Baskets!

We thank Karen for all of the work involved in organizing the auction items and their sale!! We hope you will all join us for an ENJOYABLE and SUCCESSFUL fundraising event on Friday, Nov. 18!

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Wonderful News

A very generous PPS family has donated $20,000 to our school in conjunction with the Silent Auction!! Our Board members and Auction coordinators have enthusiastically considered best possibilities for the inclusion of this amazing gift to our school in this fundraising event. According to the donor’s wishes not to put pressure on our community to “match” the donation during the end of the evening “ask,” but to encourage all parents to participate as appropriate for each family, we are proposing that the donation be applied to what our community is able to raise for the school in the overall Auction. The participation of each family will be maximized by the donation. I am sure our community joins me in expressing our great appreciation for this kind gift to Palisades Preschool. -ns

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Elementary School Applications

Families who are applying to independent schools for the 2017-2018 school year are aware of the application deadlines for each different school. As part of the process, the schools also ask that I complete an evaluation form. Please be sure to pass along these forms to me this month. In some cases, the schools will send them to me directly. As the work of thoughtfully completing the evaluations requires time, it is helpful for me to begin this month. Thank you. -ns

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Speech and Language Screening

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, Speech and Language therapist, Bernice Sedlik, MA, will be present at our school to offer speech, language and hearing screenings. She is a veteran in her field and has helped us refer children in need of further assessment to local speech and language specialists. Karen has forms for parents interested in having their children meet with Bernice on the 9th. The cost is $28 for speech and language only, $15 for hearing, or $30 for all. Please speak with Nancy if you have any questions.

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Thanksgiving Lunch

On Tuesday, November 22, parents in each class are planning to bring a special lunch to the children. If you have signed up to participate in this lovely initiative, please be sure to communicate with the teachers in advance about the foods you are planning to prepare. Food allergies and special diets are always considerations. The lunches will take place at the children’s usual lunch periods. The catered lunch will be cancelled on the 22nd, but we will follow our regular dismissal times: 1, 1:15, 1:30 and 1:40.

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NAEYC Conference Educator Tour Update

Our school will participate as one of five Santa Monica schools in the Pre-NAEYC Conference Educator Tour on Nov. 1. There are currently about 250 educators registered to attend the morning presentations by Lella Gandini and Amelia Gambetti at First Presbyterian Nursery School and about 200 educators who will also tour the five schools. We will have over 100 visitors at our site on the 1st for presentations by our teachers and director, lunch, and a tour of our school. This is a big endeavor for our individual school and for the schools in collaboration. In addition to the benefits to our own faculty, we will be contributing to the learning of many teachers. We thank the parents who will be joining us at First Pres. for the presentations and we look forward to sharing this experience through documentation later in the month.

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November Calendar

• Tuesday, Nov. 1—Preschool closed for Educator Tour
• Tuesday, Nov. 8—Tandy Parks mindful parenting meeting in the Library at 10:15 Voting for the election takes place in St. Paul’s church entryway (parking impacted)
• Wednesday, Nov. 9—Speech and Language screenings in the a.m.
  Auction items, Class Baskets and donation forms due to Karen
• Friday, Nov. 11—Preschool closed for Veteran’s Day holiday
• Thursday, Nov. 17—Basket wrapping for Auction in Parish Hall in the a.m.
• Friday, Nov. 18—Silent Auction at the Annenberg from 6 to 10 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 22—Thanksgiving Lunches in classrooms
• Wednesday, Nov. 23, 24 and 25—Preschool closed for Thanksgiving holiday
  

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Pictures from School Events

Halloween

Consultation with Lella Gandini

The post November 2016 Newsletter appeared first on .

Observations and Reflections

Developing an Identity for the Atelier of Taste:
A space of care and attention, research, pleasure and community

“Special care in offering tastes, in the good and attractive composition of the dish, in the aesthetics of table setting, the pleasure of sharing lunch with friends, and the opportunity to encounter the kitchen as a multisensory laboratory, are important strategies for creating a welcoming atmosphere for all and highlighting the individual in the group” (Maddalena Tedeschi, 2008).

Dear Families and Friends,

Children, teachers—and parents, too—are enjoying their experiences in the new atelier at our preschool: the atelier of taste. However, this space is about much more than taste. It is about transformation and about relationships—relationships with food and with the community. And, by connecting our school garden to the new atelier, we hope to provide a context for the living organisms that become part of our kitchen and our meals, further developing children’s relationships with the organisms and their importance in our lives– from the standpoint of nutrition and health and also in an aesthetic sense.

Teachers and I agreed that we would begin with seasonal fruits and vegetables. Grapes have been the first subject for children’s research– through deconstruction, investigation on the light pad, drawing and painting, tasting and eating, and juicing with hand methods and with the powerful juicing machine. Using clear glass pitchers, children have been able to observe the beautiful colors of the different varieties of grape juice and then taste the differences in the diverse varieties. Drying grapes to make raisins is another possible direction. Teachers have also brought in grape vines from their home gardens so that children could examine them and appreciate the connection between the grape and the vine. Apples are the subject of our current investigation, with many transformative possibilities. Of course,pears, pumpkins and pomegranates are also on our list ofseasonal foods to explore together this season—as are vegetables for juicing and for making soups and salads. . .

The atelier is, additionally, a place for small groups of children. The discoveries are so much richer when shared and scaffolded by a small group of friends and teachers. Next, the sharing of the findings and preparations with the rest of the class becomes an additional exciting and satisfying experience.

Another of our intentions in this new space is to emphasize beauty and care. “The sensitivity toward all the actions of feeding and eating becomes an essential and shared condition of personal care and taking care of others” (Tedeschi). How do we present foods to the children? How do children then choose to present foods to their friends? The creation of lovely table settings—including tablecloths painted by children and by parents—is part of this intention to create a beautiful experience for each other—for the community.

“We must not forget that one of the most important links between people and food is the principle of pleasure: the pleasure that derives from using the senses, but also the pleasure of discovery, the pleasure of manipulating raw materials to create foods, the pleasure of play and the pleasure of company, which at the table becomes conviviality” (Fabbri).

We thank parents for generously supporting the creation of our atelier of taste and we thank the Lufkin Family Foundation for the matching grant that was presented to the school in September in response to the fundraising initiative last spring. These donations allowed us to renovate over the summer and to create the new atelier. We so appreciate the support of our amazing parent community.

With warm wishes to all for a beautiful fall season,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Parent Education Meetings

• Documentation Meetings

• Professional Development with Lella Gandini

• Halloween Celebrations

• November Educator Tour and NAEYC Conference

• Holiday Wreath Sale

• Stay & Play and After-School Classes

• Appreciation

• October Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

Parent Education Meetings

We have invited parent educator, Tandy Parks, MPH, to share her philosophy of mindful parenting

with our community once again this school year. This first meeting with Tandy will take place on Tuesday, October 4, from 9:15 to 10:15 in the Library. Please let Karen know if you are interested in participating and we will maintain a wait list once the group is full (12 parents). Tandy will be meeting with us once a month (on a Tuesday) throughout the current school year.

To learn more about Tandy’s very interesting work and accomplishments, please consult her website:

http://tandyparks.com/about.htm

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Documentation Meetings

Nancy is looking at the calendar in order to include monthly morning meetings with parents and teachers in our Library for the sharing of documentation of previous explorations and of current work, as well. Please look for an announcement of these opportunities to look together at children’s and teachers’ investigations.

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Professional Development with Lella Gandini

We are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to be mentored once more by Lella Gandini! Dr. Gandini is an Italian author and educator best known in the United States for her role as a leading advocate for the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. She is one of the authors of the important resource, The Hundred Languages of Children (Edwards, Gandini and Forman, 2012) and numerous other fascinating books and articles. Professor Gandini has taught at the University of Massachusetts, Lesley College, and Smith College. She is originally from northern Italy, but lives in the U.S. and travels as an international speaker on the subject of children’s rights, children’s play and the Reggio approach.

Dr. Gandini has kindly agreed to join our faculty for two days during the last week of October—Oct. 26 and 27–to share her experience and wisdom regarding the topic, the image of the child—one of the essential elements of the Reggio approach that influences our approach to working with young children. She would like to observe in our environments during the mornings and meet with our faculty during those two afternoons. In order to make this possible, we will follow an Early Dismissal schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and on Thursday, Oct. 27. We appreciate the understanding and support of our parent community as we embrace this wonderful professional development opportunity. Thank you!

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Halloween Celebrations

On Friday, Oct. 28, we plan to hold our annual PPS Halloween Parades. Children in all classes come to school at their regular times—in their costumes. Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children start the morning outside, as usual, and parents stay to watch the parade from about 9:00 to 9:30. (We use the bike path as our parade route.) Following the parade, the CB and Rosemary children will go upstairs for the Halloween party put on by the parents who signed up to create that celebration. All children are welcome to participate in the parade. Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children will go home at 11:00/11:15.

Meanwhile, the Lavender and Sunflower children will come to school at 8:45 in their costumes and will begin their parade at 9:45 on the play yard while parents watch and take photos—and then come back inside at 10:15 for their classroom Halloween parties. Lavender and Sunflower children will go home at 11:30/11:40.

Costumes:

We advise that costumes be generally comfortable. It may be difficult for children to move safely with masks or cumbersome clothing. Please leave any props that are weapon-like at home. Super Hero costumes are okay for Halloween (but we continue to ask that no Super Hero clothing come to school after Halloween). We request that costume themes be appropriate for preschool ages. Please check with us if you have any questions. Thank you.

While the celebration of Halloween is not really a part of our curriculum, it is challenging to avoid Halloween-related topics at this time of year. “Real vs. make-believe” is one area of concept development that we like to support and the exploration of masks is an interesting possibility that helps children to better understand the difference between the character and the real person underneath the mask. We enjoy wonderful language and music/movement activities associated with Halloween as well as the lovely seasonal elements—pumpkins, gourds, fall leaves, etc.

As “commercial” as our LA Halloween can be—we will do our best to make it safe, natural and joyful for the children.

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November Educator Tour and NAEYC Conference

The annual conference organized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children will take place in Los Angeles from Nov. 2 through 5. Our school has been invited to participate as one of five Reggio inspired preschools in Santa Monica in a Pre-Conference Educator Tour on Tuesday, Nov. 1. This is a great honor for our community.

Dr. Lella Gandini and her colleague, Amelia Gambetti, will be keynote presenters at First Presbyterian Nursery School on the morning of Nov. 1. Following their presentations, participants will be transported by bus to our school and the other participating schools: The Growing Place, Branches Atelier and New School West. About 50 educators will have lunch with us, listen to presentations given by our faculty, and tour our environments. A second group of 50 educators will arrive in the middle of the afternoon to listen to the presentations and to tour.

The day will conclude with reflections and a reception held at First Pres. We are expecting a total of about 250 educators to tour the five schools. Each school will be able to include (free of cost) 25 parents–just for the presentations at First Pres. Please speak with Nancy if you are interested in being a part of the parent group. The preschool will be closed on Monday, October 31 and on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

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Holiday Wreath Sale

Yes, we are getting started with this small fundraiser organized by Karen each year. Karen will distribute order forms for the beautiful fresh wreaths during the week of Oct. 10 and orders will be due to her by Nov. 7. The wreaths will be shipped to your home—or as fragrant gifts to the home of the recipient. Please speak with Karen for more information. Thank you.

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SILENT AUCTION
Friday Night, November 18 at the Annenberg Beach House

Please look for your Silent Auction evite coming soon! Thank you, Ken, for creating the invitation for us again this year! We ask that parents RSVP by Wednesday, Nov. 9. The evite will include instructions for the purchase of the tickets.

We thank Celina Meites and Elizabeth Kendall for serving once more as Co-Chairs for the Auction! Again this year we will be using a mobile bidding system using cell phones.

This event is our large fundraiser for the school year and includes our own community (toddler parents, too) as well as extended family and friends (if the Annenberg has space once preschool families are registered).

Dinner and dessert, wine, beer and entertainment are part of the evening’s experience.

We ask that each family donate 2 Auction items–which can include tickets to sporting events, concerts or the theater, certificates to restaurants and spas, jewelry, art, wine, electronic equipment and passes to the LA Zoo—to name a few! Some families choose to put on a party of some kind (for children, for adults or for families) as their donation for the Auction.

We suggest that you check in with Karen regarding your donation choices to ensure that we do not have too many of one kind of item. Donations and the donation sheet with the description and estimated value of the item will be due to Karen by Wed., Nov. 9. Party information is due to Karen by Nov. 1. Elizabeth and Celina will be coordinating the dates for the parties once Karen has that information from parents. Karen will be creating an Auction Program in advance of the event that includes all of the donated items and parties. The list of items will be visible through the mobile bidding program .

Room Parents are also coordinating one or two Class Baskets for each classroom and parents have been asked to make a contribution to these themed baskets in addition to donating two items to the auction.

Vacation Homes and Hotel Accommodations are often part of the Live Auction that takes place at the end of the evening!!

We greatly appreciate donations to help cover the catering and beverage costs—and other aspects of the event such as flower arrangements/table decorations. Thank you!

We thank our Silent Auction Committee for putting on the event and our Room Parents for coordinating the donations for the Class Baskets!

We thank Karen for all of the work involved in organizing the auction items!!

We hope you will all join us for an ENJOYABLE and SUCCESSFUL fundraising event on Friday, Nov. 18!

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Appreciation

We would like to express appreciation to our Room Parents in each class for holding the Class Coffee meetings to launch the activities that will support the Silent Auction, as well as the teachers, children and parents in each community. Thank you: Michelle, Ann, Cindy and Glenda (Rosemary); Melanie, Brandy, Angela and Celina (Cherry Blossom); Michelle, Celina and Erin (Sunflower); Catherine, Elizabeth and Robyn (Lavender)!

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October Calendar

• Tuesday, Oct. 4—Tandy Parks from 9:15 to 10:15
• Thursday, Oct. 6—Parent Tours of the preschool
• Friday, Oct. 7—Toddler Parent Orientation meetings from 9:00 to 10:15 and from 10:45 to 12:00 in Library
• Monday, Oct. 10—Preschool closed for Columbus Day holiday
• Tuesday, Oct. 11—Wreath materials become available this week
• Wednesday, Oct.12—Auction Committee meeting in Library at 9:15
• Friday, Oct. 14—First class meetings for Toddler Explorations groups in Parish Hall—9:00 to 12:00
• Wednesday, Oct.19—Party Book information meeting in Library at 9:15
• Friday, Oct. 21—Preschool closed for teacher work day
• Wed., Oct. 26—Preschool open—Early Dismissal day (12, 12:15, 12:30 and 12:40)
• Thursday, Oct. 27— Preschool open—Early Dismissal day (12, 12:15, 12:30 and 12:40)
• Friday, Oct. 28—Halloween Parades, Parties and Early Dismissal (11, 11:15, 11:30 and 11:40)
• Monday, Oct. 31—Preschool closed for professional development
• Tuesday, Nov. 1—Preschool closed for Educator Tour
  

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Pictures from School Events

Atelier of Taste

Mini Atelier

New Atelier of Construction (with light)

Outdoor Easel

Gardening

Back to School Nights

The post October 2016 Newsletter appeared first on .

Observations and Reflections

“Connecting through Caring and Learning Spaces”
(Lella Gandini, in The Hundred Languages of Children, 2012)

You go inside the place. . .and after, your body decides whether to receive it or not” (Pietro, age 4 years).

“You recognize a place by the air” (Matteo, age 5 years).

“To listen to a place, you have to call your brain” (Lucia, age 4 years). ”

A place is here” (Benedetta, age 2 years, 3 months).

Dear Families and Friends,

As one of our first professional development experiences during the weeks before the start of school, teachers and I researched and discussed together one of the essential elements of our Reggio inspired approach: the environment as the third teacher. At the beginning of the school year, as children and adults enter our spaces, how do our environments support the development of a sense of place—a sense of community and comfort, a sense of harmony and pleasure–and also of curiosity?

We consulted an inspiring reference: Children, Spaces and Relations: metaproject for an environment for young children (Reggio Children, 1998). We discovered key words and metaphors used for “formulating general criteria and contexts” in the attempt to identify the desirable characteristics for an environment of young children: overall softness, relation, osmosis, multisensoriality, epigenesis, community, constructiveness, narration, rich normality. These words describe an environment that is an “ecosystem,” where inhabitants can be a part of a group or find privacy, an environment “characterized by the relations it is able to stimulate or permit,” an environment connected to the world outside, rich with sensory experiences, a space that is “flexible over time”—modified by children’s learning processes—a place for children and for adults to connect as a community, a space that supports investigation and constructivism, an environment that documents the processes of learning and communicates the values of the educational project, and, finally, an environment that represents a balanced interaction of materials and produces a “symphony of the individual parts.”

As we create our environments, we consider the effect of light, color, materials, smell, sound and the microclimate on our lives within the school and the impact of these elements on children’s overall comfort, happiness and learning—their willingness to enter into a relationship with the environment and its inhabitants. As we come together during the first weeks of the school year, we hope that we will encounter together a serene, amiable, joyful and livable place.

Thank you.

Sending warm wishes,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• The Welcoming Process

• Proposed Curriculum Intentions for the School Year: A guide for listening

• Faculty Collaboration

• Catered Lunches

• Licensing Forms and Other Intake Info

• Parent Participation

• Stay & Play and After-School Classes

• September Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

The Welcoming Process

“In the first days of the ‘settling in’ period, in the center, the goal is to create an atmosphere that builds relationships and binds together all of the subjects involved” (Spaggiari, 2015).

We are all, at this moment, participants in a welcoming process that helps to define the start of a new school year at Palisades Preschool. The two-weeks of professional development experiences for teachers in August, parent orientation meetings, communications from our PPS Board President, modified days for the Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children, conversations about separation strategies, Home Visits, “clay on the floor” and shared canvases, a water table for collaborative play with water and sand, a new atelier of taste for small group investigations, the Family Picnic, Back to School Nights, and Exchange Conferences– all are events, materials and experiences that support the developing sense of place and sense of community for children, parents and teachers. Making the new community visible, documentation, too, becomes a part of our welcoming process.

There is a tremendous amount of intention on the part of teachers and directors in creating the opportunities that mark the beginning of our school year together. Thinking deeply about the values that shape our work at PPS, we imagine strategies, materials, settings and language that will express our invitation to enter into a relationship–with one another, with environments, with materials, with ideas and theories, and with beauty. We understand that there is also a great deal of intention on the part of parents and children in responding to our invitations and in offering a reciprocal welcome to enter into a relationship. Smiles, laughter, and participation tell a story of developing trust and affection.

Why is the relationship-building process so essential to our play and work? Social constructivist theory affirms that individuals scaffold one another’s understandings, leading to the construction of theories and knowledge within the group. Additionally, the group supports the learning of each individual (Vygotsky, 1930). –Reggio educators further explain that the environment acts as another scaffold or teacher. In order for us to be able to work and play closely together, expressing thoughts and feelings through the “hundred languages of children,” we need to know one another—and trust one another. We have to feel comfortable in order to take a risk and try something new—whether it be a friendship, watercolor paint, the ravioli lunch, the slide on the play yard, or expressing an idea in the reflection meeting.

What does it mean to learn together? Beyond the beautiful “projects” that will emerge during the course of the school year, much of our learning occurs in all the moments we will spend together–in our daily life together. This is true for adults, as well as for children at our school. Even in the most “ordinary” moment, we may find that something very special is taking place.

We thank you for your—and the children’s– enthusiastic participation in the welcoming process that is in progress at our little amiable school. We look forward to getting to know each of you as a very unique individual—and to your membership in our community of learners.

-PPS Faculty and Staff

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Proposed Curriculum Intentions for the School Year: A guide for listening

Each year we try to select a topic or topics upon which to focus our study in classrooms, studios and outdoor spaces. Based on observations of children over past years and with thoughtful consideration regarding professional development opportunities for teachers, we have chosen once more to make transformation an area of focus in our research with the children throughout the current school year. We know from our experience, that children are fascinated by the changes they observe in themselves and in their environment—and in producing changes in their environment. Children’s physical growth, observation of the changes in season, color-mixing, cooking and juicing, play with light and shadow, water play, and experimentation with digital landscapes are just a few examples of experiences with great potential for creating and observing transformation. Applying this “lens” to our observations, interpretations and reflections– we intend to offer materials and settings that will provoke play and conversation about a very complex process. What questions might we ask that will support children’s language and thinking about what they do and observe? The research will require that teachers think carefully about their own understandings and language.

One important aspect of the investigations will be the suspending of our own adult knowledge about transformational processes in order to act as co-researchers with the children—resisting the temptation to give explanations. Instead, we want to know what children think. What are their theories? How can we help them to explore their theories and make adjustments in their thinking if necessary?

As part of our professional development opportunities prior to the start of school, teachers, atelieristi and the pedagogista engaged in discussions and workshops related to transformation and to our experiences in Reggio Emilia in May, 2015. Subjects included: living organisms (plants and flowers and their transformation over time), the exploration of mark-making and story-telling, and color-mixing. We were very privileged to have Hirokazu Kosaka, Master Artist in Residence at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles, speak to us in August about Haiku—”simple” poems that we believe children are capable of understanding and composing. Teachers’ professional development regarding these topics will continue throughout the school year and also include play with microlandscapes and digital landscapes.

A continued subject of study this year will be children’s experience of time. We are wondering about “lived time,” “intuitive understanding,” “measuring time by action sequences,” and children’s belief that “everything has its own time” (Simms, 2008). The Child in the World (Simms, 2008) provides some very interesting proposals about the ways in which children experience time and we would like to use Simms’ perspective as a point of reference for our observations, interpretations and responses. –And, children’s experience of time might have a relationship with their thoughts about transformation.

“Young children have a clear sense of time, but it is intuitive rather than logical-operational: ‘It is now afternoon because I have had my nap.’ Temporal scripts or frames allow children to grasp the order of events and, to a certain degree, predict the future. Time is tied to action sequences that are enacted repeatedly in particular places, and it is a function of the rhythms of daily life. For the young child, time exists not as the abstract measure of clock or calendar, but as rhythmic action time that encompasses a remembrance of the past, an easy flowing along with the present, and an anticipation of the future” (Simms, 2008, p. 159). However, we have observed that some children, at about the age of five years, become interested in systems for telling time—and part of our intention for the research with time might include invitations to Sunflower children to create their own strategies for naming and telling time.

As part of the systems we have developed over the past year and in previous years, we plan to continue with the exploration of identity, story-telling, and the language of flowers. Last month we invited our mentors from the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Los Angeles to return to our school to share more with teachers about this traditional Japanese art form—whose emphasis on intentionality, beauty and appreciation of nature reminds us of Reggio inspired values. Again, we anticipate possible relationships between transformation, children’s experience of time, identity, story-telling/poetry, living organisms and the language of flowers.

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Faculty Collaboration

As we begin to shape curriculum at the start of the school year, it is important for parents to know that the teaching teams in each classroom work closely with the support teacher, the studio teacher(s) and the pedagogical coordinator (pedagogista). Individuals and teams do not work in isolation. In this collaborative system of working, we attempt to balance the interests, skills, experience, talents, education background, observations and perspectives of each person on our faculty with those of colleagues. This approach to our educational project makes for increased breadth and depth in our understandings—and for some lively conversations after school.

Each classroom team meets once a week with the atelierista and pedagogista—either as a separate classroom team or as a part of the age group team (e.g., Sunflower and Lavender or Cherry Blossom and Rosemary). Additionally, many informal discussions take place throughout the week for idea sharing and the exchange of observations about children. –Even some of the smallest details are decided upon and realized in a collaborative manner.

On most Friday afternoons, our faculty meets as a whole group in the library from 1 to 3 p.m.—sharing documentation, discussing specific readings, evaluating logistics and environments, planning events, engaging in studio explorations, and many other large and small aspects of our work with young children.

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Catered Lunches

The purpose of our lunches served Monday through Thursday of most weeks is to create a sense of community in each classroom as children share meals at the table. We also wish to offer healthy seasonal and mainly organic foods to the children, to add culinary investigations to children’s experiences at our school, and to enhance children’s “table manners.”

Our caterer, Jessica Alexander of Bean & Thyme, will publish the lunch menus at the beginning of each month and teachers will be observing carefully, recording children’s eating habits during the first weeks of school. Chef Jessie has been very accommodating regarding special diets and will not be including any nuts, seeds, nut/seed oils or nut/seed flours in any of the lunches . You will see that she generally offers a fresh fruit, salad or steamed veggie with each lunch and children who cannot eat the chicken or turkey on Thursdays are offered a grilled cheese sandwich. Arrangements to bring a lunch from home may be made for children with other special diets, such as those who cannot eat dairy foods or eggs—or for children who demonstrate over the first weeks of school that they have very particular tastes and are not eating their lunch.

We thank you for your support of our intentions behind the lunches and ask that you be sure to communicate any concerns or questions.

The Sunflower and Lavender lunches started on Aug. 25. Lunches for Cherry Blossom and Rosemary children will start on Wednesday, Sept. 7. Karen has included the cost of the lunch on the September invoice.

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Licensing Forms and Other Intake Info

Please be sure that Karen has your current address and other contact info as well as the names and contact info for the people you authorize to pick up your child from school. She will need to have licensing forms on file in order for you to leave your child in our care. This is a legal issue and we appreciate your cooperation in making sure that we are in compliance with state regulations. Thank you.

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Parent Participation

Room Parents:
We thank parents who would like to volunteer to serve as Room Parents this school year! We plan to hold our Room Parent meeting in the Library on Thursday, Sept. 15 from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. –Class Coffee meetings begin the week of Sept. 19 through the first week of October (at the preschool or at the home of a Room Parent). The Class Coffee meetings help to launch efforts to collect items for the Silent Auction Class Baskets and to organize funds for teacher gifts during the holidays and at the end of the school year.

Parent Committees:
Thank you for choosing a committee or committees on which to serve this year! If you have not had the opportunity to join a committee, please speak with Karen. The Hospitality and Housekeeping committees could use more membership!

Celebration Sign-up:
Another way to be a part of your child’s classroom experience is to choose a holiday or tradition that you would like to share with the children. For example, if your family celebrates Chinese New Year, we would love to learn about how you observe this holiday in your family. Books, music, clothing, photos, and/or a special snack are possible items to bring to the classroom. We ask that you only choose holidays or traditions that are actually a part of your family’s culture. In other words, not every class will celebrate all the possible holidays that occur throughout the year—just those that are represented by the families in the class.

This month we will place a list of holidays on a clip board at the entrance to each classroom (or outside by the Sign-In sheets). Often, two parents will collaborate to share a celebration. Please be sure to talk with teachers to decide upon a date and time for your celebration. We generally use the snack time for these activities, but occasionally a time after lunch can also work. We also ask that you talk with teachers about what you are planning to share—especially the food you are considering. Children with food allergies must be carefully considered in advance of the celebration. Thank you.

Fresh Flowers:
Thank you for adding your name to the list of parents who will be bringing weekly fresh flowers to the classroom. As our spaces our small, one large bouquet or a couple of small bunches of flowers are usually enough to make the rooms beautiful. Children and teachers will collaborate to arrange the flowers during the indoor play time.

Parents and children in the Cherry Blossom and Rosemary rooms can bring flowers into the classroom before going out to the play area. We have small buckets that can be filled with a little water to keep flowers fresh until they can be placed in vases. Thank you!

Back to School Nights:
Sunflower/Lavender—Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Rosemary/Cherry Blossom—Thursday, Sept. 22 from 5 to 7 p.m.

These are parent-teacher-director meetings that begin in the Parish Hall and then move to the upstairs spaces and the outdoor play area. The topics for this year are in development. . . related to the Intentions described earlier in this newsletter. We hope you will join us!
Exchange Conferences:
Friday, Sept. 30 for all families. These 30 minute individual family/teacher meetings give parents and teachers an opportunity to discuss how each child is making the adjustment to classroom/outdoor settings and allow parents a time to share any additional information that will help teachers better understand their child. The preschool will be closed on the 30th, but we will provide child care for the time of your conference. A sign-up sheet for appointment times will be available later this month.

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Stay & Play and After-School Classes

Stay & Play begins on Monday, Sept. 12, from the time children are dismissed in each class until 2:30 p.m. Stay & Play is offered Monday through Thursday of most weeks. Parents can indicate on the Sign-In sheet if their child is to stay after school—or can call Karen to let her know. Karen will bill for Stay & Play each month according to use at the rate of $18 per use. (Generally, the Cherry Blossom/Rosemary children do not stay after school until they are well adjusted to the preschool routine—but children are welcome to try the experience and we can observe how they do.)

After-School Classes:
Starting on Monday, Sept. 12

In this fall session we will be offering:

• Ballet on Monday afternoon from 1:45 to 2:30 with the ballet specialist, Laura Mazur
• Yoga on Tuesday from 1:45 to 2:30 with Sunflower teacher, Ashi Mitchell
• Percussion & Movement on Wednesday from 1:45 to 2:30 with music/drama specialist
• Karate on Thursday from 1:45 to 2:30 with specialist, Carol Genovese

The size of each class varies, but is generally limited to no more than 8 to 10 children. Please check with Karen about cost and enrollment for each class. (Some classes are limited during this first part of the school year to the 4 and 5 year old children.)

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September Calendar

• Thursday, Sept. 1—No classes for Cherry Blossom/Rosemary so we can focus on Home Visits
• Friday, Sept. 2—Preschool closed for Labor Day holiday
• Monday, Sept. 5—Preschool closed for Labor Day holiday
• Wednesday, Sept. 7—Regular daily schedule begins for Cherry Blossom & Rosemary classes (with lunch)
• Monday, Sept. 12—Stay & Play and After-School Classes begin
• Thursday, Sept. 15—Room Parent meeting in Library from 9:15 to 10:30
• Wed., Sept. 21—Back to School Night (Sunflower/Lavender) from 5 to 7 p.m.
• Thurs., Sept. 22—Back to School Night (Cherry Blossom/Rosemary) from 5 to 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 29—Parent Information Meeting: Elementary Schools—9:15 to 11:00 a.m.
• Friday, Sept. 30—Exchange Conferences—Preschool closed
  

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Pictures from School Events

Family Picnic

CPR Training

First days

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Observations

“. . .our theoretical intuition suggested a new element was needed in schools to make work more complex and to encounter children’s complex ways of knowing the world around them.” -Claudia Giudici, pedagogista-

Dear Families and Friends,

With the intention of connecting this communication to our Hundred Languages Open House coming up later this month, I looked at a previous Storyteller article about children’s languages written while the teachers and I were contemplating the topic, “beauty as a way of knowing.” I would like to share some of the ideas from the article with you once more:

Teachers and I occasionally re-read and discuss an article from the Summer, 2009 issue of Innovations in Early Education: the international reggio exchange. The article asks, “Is Beauty a Way of Knowing?” (Cooper, 2009). To answer this question, Cooper shares the perspectives of several significant members of the Reggio Emilia educational experience over the past 40 years, including Vea Vecchi, former aterlierista at the Diana School, and Claudia Giudici, longtime pedagogista at Diana. Reflecting upon the creation of the atelier as a “research environment,” the Reggio educators speak of the languages that children employ as they investigate environments and materials and subsequently express their feelings and theories about these encounters—both individually and in small groups.

At the core of the conversation is an epistemological question: How do children learn? Within our social constructivist response to this question, we affirm that children acquire knowledge through a polysensorial process of exploration—and this is where the languages play an integral role. We know that some children (and adults) perceive and express beautiful ideas and feelings through paint or clay, while others find aesthetic pleasure in numbers or music. The list of children’s languages might also include water, sand, wire, dance, running, light and shadow, flower arranging, and block play. . .

If we think of the atelier as an interdisciplinary and intercultural space that offers children rich opportunities to engage in research using a multitude of inspiring materials and to express feelings, theories and an individual aesthetic sense, then, in a metaphoric context, we might consider the entire school as an atelier (Cooper, 2009).

Our May 13 Hundred Languages Open House is an event dedicated to making visible within our community “children’s complex ways of knowing the world around them.” We hope you will join us in classrooms, in the studio and in our outdoor environments, as we celebrate beauty as a way of knowing.

Warm wishes,

Nancy

The Hundred Languages

No way. The hundred is there.

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.

The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

–Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini)

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Matching Grant!!

• Handmade Books at the Pedagogical Institute

• Week of the Young Child Initiatives

• Documentation Books

• Family Donation

• Tuition Invoices

• Lunch with Loved Ones—Friday, May 8

• Hundred Languages Open House—Wednesday, May 13 from 5 to 7 p.m.

• Study Tour to Reggio Emilia

• New Parent Orientation–Friday, June 5, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

• May & June Calendars

• Pictures from School Events

Matching Grant!!

We are very excited to share the news that Palisades Preschool has been offered a matching grant of $10,000 from the Lufkin Family Foundation! Please look for more information in a mailing to all of our current preschool and toddler families and to many of our recent alumni families, as well. Thank you.

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Handmade Books at the Pedagogical Institute

Last month, Valeria presented a workshop to a group of early childhood educators at the Pedagogical Institute of Los Angeles. The topic was Handmade Books. Valeria is a master of this art and she has shared her skills with our own faculty throughout the current school year—and with other educators during the Winter Conference. As part of our intention to support the children’s storytelling work, the Atelier of Stories was created early in the school year as a place to research the telling of stories and the making of books. The children’s work has been amazing and we were pleased to share some of our learning with the early childhood community at the PI.

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Week of the Young Child Initiatives

Our collection for Upward Bound House is in progress and we look forward to delivering breakfast foods and linens/towels to our friends up the street at UBH. We thank all families who have been a part of this initiative!
The Family Parade on April 29 was fantastic! Thank you for your participation in our effort to express the importance of families in our communities as part of Week of the Young Child at PPS.

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Documentation Books

Nathalie and Valeria are collaborating with teachers, Craig and Nancy to create beautiful studio books of the children’s experiences with sense of place identity palettes during the past several months. The Cherry Blossom-Rosemary studio book is about the outdoor studio experiences, while the Lavender and Sunflower books are about the experiences related to the exploration of the classroom identity palettes. The books will be available for purchase in early June. (The sale of the books does not represent a fundraiser as the books are priced to cover the cost of their production and any shipping charges involved.)

All teachers are creating documentation books to synthesize the small group experiences in some way—and some teachers are creating a single handmade book to represent the children’s small group work. Nancy is working on a book characterizing our professional development experiences during the past (and upcoming) months. (These books will not be available for sale, but are for the archives of the school, allowing us to revisit the experiences in the future.)

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Family Donation

The PPS Board of Trustees joins PPS teachers and directors in thanking so many of our families for making the annual $500 Family Donation to our school. If you would like to participate in the Family Donation initiative, please speak with Karen. Thank you.

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Tuition Invoices

Most families have paid the June 2015 tuition in advance, so the May tuition will be the final tuition payment for the current school year. (New and returning families have also paid the June 2016 tuition payment in advance.) Karen will be billing for miscellaneous charges such as Stay & Play and documentation book orders in early June.

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Lunch with Loved Ones—Friday, May 8

This picnic in our play yard is especially for mothers, grandmothers, or other special loved ones. We invite you to bring a picnic lunch and a blanket to spread out on the grass and enjoy lunch with the children and teachers in your child’s class.

Cherry Blossom/Rosemary—11:30 to 12:15

Lavender/Sunflower—12:30 to 1:15

Children in all classes will go home with families at the end of each picnic.

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Hundred Languages Open House
Wednesday, May 13 from 5 to 7 p.m.

This is a social event for all families. The outdoor and indoor environments will be open for your enjoyment and refreshments will be served in the Parish Hall. Please join us!

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Study Tour to Reggio Emilia

Valeria, Nathalie, Anne and Nancy are privileged to participate in the NAREA Study Tour to Reggio Emilia from May 16 through May 23. The tour includes about 100 educators from North America who will come together to learn from Italian educators presenting at the Malaguzzi Center and at the Reggio schools to be visited–and from colleagues within the North American group. This is an exciting professional development experience, but also requires a good deal of stamina! Since there are no direct flights to Reggio, the journey is long both ways. The study tour days begin at 8:00 a.m. with a brisk 40 minute walk to the Center and end in the evenings at about 6 p.m. The week is full of the wonder of learning.

While we are away, former PPS teacher, Lisette Sandoval, will take Anne’s place in the classroom and Craig and Summer will work in the studio in place of Valeria and Nathalie.

We look forward to sharing our learning with the rest of the community!

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New Parent Orientation–Friday, June 5, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

This is a mandatory meeting for all new families (and returning families with children new to the preschool). We ask that each family be represented by at least one parent. The topics include policies and procedures and parent participation. The gathering is also a nice way to initiate our sense of place as a newly forming community. We look forward to this official welcome meeting. (Children are not included in this meeting. Thank you.)

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May Calendar

• Wed., May 6—Delivery of items to Upward Bound House
• Friday, May 8—Lunch with Loved Ones
• May 11 through May 15—Lavender Teacher Appreciation Week
• May 11 through May 15—Bike Week at Santa Monica City Hall with PPS Bicycology Exhibit
• May 16 through May 23—Study Tour to Reggio Emilia, Italy
• Friday, May 22 and Monday, May 25—Preschool closed for Memorial Day holiday
• Thursday, May 28—Last Parent Tours of the school year

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June Calendar

• Friday, June 5—New Parent Orientation meeting from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Parish Hall
• Friday, June 5—Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
• Thursday, June 11—Last day for catered lunches for the school year
• Friday, June 12—Lavender and Sunflower Celebration from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Parish Hall
• Monday, June 15—Children bring lunch to school (Sunflower children go to Reed Park)
• Tuesday, June 16—PPS Annual Carnival—Early dismissal—12:00, 12:15, 12:30 and 12:40
• Wednesday, June 17—Last day of the school year—Children go home at 11, 11:15, 11:30 and 11:40
• Thursday, June 18—Teacher Work Day
• Friday, June 19—Preschool closed for Summer Vacation
• Friday, Aug. 7—Faculty returns to prepare for the new school year
• Friday, Aug. 21—New Parent Orientation #2 from 10 to 12 in the Parish Hall
• Tuesday, Aug. 25—First Day of the new school year

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Pictures from School Events

Book Making Workshop

Egg Hunt

Loquat Tree

Breakfast with Loved Ones

Parade

The post May 2015 Newsletter appeared first on .

Learning through Play Together: Supporting the development of habits of mind
“The benefits of children’s having substantial control over the work undertaken extend beyond the early years. Marcon (1992, 1995) found that children from preschool classes that offered ample opportunity for child-initiated, as opposed to teacher-directed, activity showed the greatest mastery of basic reading, language, and mathematics skills” (Helm & Katz, 2001).

Dear Families and Friends,

Once more, the admissions process taking place at our preschool and at public and private elementary schools at this time of year seems to be the subject of significant attention, consideration, anticipation—and even concern. For families whose children are eligible to start kindergarten in the fall, the question may be, “Is my child really ready for kindergarten?” For other families whose children have been impacted by the change in the age requirement for public kindergarten, the question might be, “What is the best placement for my child in the coming transitional year before kindergarten?” Parents of children who are headed for kindergarten in the fall of 2016 may also be wondering about how best to support their children in preparing for the kindergarten experience.”Which class at PPS will be the best fit for my child in terms of laying a foundation for the primary grades?”

To answer all of these questions, we first have to establish a general definition of kindergarten readiness—and this is not an easy task as parents and teachers learn more about the increasing emphasis on specific literacy/math knowledge and skills required in kindergarten classrooms. While many preschool educators focus on social-emotional development and the encouragement of children’s natural curiosity as preparation for the early elementary grades, many kindergarten teachers are concerned with children’s ability to write their name and recite numbers, letters and sounds of the alphabet at the time they enter kindergarten.

At Palisades Preschool, we have made the choice to support child-initiated learning through play as a channel for preparing children socially, emotionally and intellectually for their first years of elementary school—and to promote their development as life-long learners.

Early childhood researchers Judy Helm and Lilian Katz (2001), have this to say: “While academic goals address small units of knowledge and skills, intellectual goals address dispositions; that is, habits of mind that include a variety of tendencies to interpret experience Some habits of mind that relate to intellectual goals include the disposition to:

• Make sense of experience

• Theorize, analyze, hypothesize, and synthesize

• Predict and to check predictions

• Find things out

• Strive for accuracy

• Be empirical

• Grasp the consequence of actions

• Persist in seeking solutions to problems

• Speculate about cause-effect relationships

• Predict others’ wishes and feelings

Along with many others not mentioned, these dispositions are all intellectual rather than academic in focus.”

Katz and Helm (2001) also comment on the correlation between children’s active involvement in their learning and their social-emotional development:

“Research suggests that there is a relationship between the role that children have in determining their own learning experiences and the development of social skills. A study of kindergarten classes using three different teaching approaches (direct instruction, a constructivist approach based on child-initiated activities, and an eclectic approach) found that the children from the constructivist class were more interpersonally interactive. They exhibited a greater number and variety of negotiation strategies and shared more experiences (Devries, Reese-Learned, & Morgan, 1991).”

I believe that most parents in our community have selected PPS because they also value child-initiated learning through play—as well as children’s participation in small group work, the role of the environment as the third teacher, the role of the teacher as a co-researcher, and the importance of documentation to make children’s (and adults’) learning visible.

We appreciate your support of our approach; however, we also understand that your children will leave our school and most often will join communities whose values relate strongly to teacher-directed (and district directed) instruction in specific knowledge and skills. I would like to reassure many of you that while supporting children’s social-emotional and intellectual growth, in most cases, our child-initiated curriculum prepares children to enter the more structured and “academic” environments, too.

The curriculum in our classrooms includes emergent literacy experiences with letters of the alphabet and the printed word in the environment, play with rhyming words, storytelling, and the utilization of many materials as languages for children’s expression of ideas, theories and feelings. Communication centers are present for message-sharing with friends and teachers; children dictate stories to their teachers, and, as children become interested in writing their names, teachers offer many opportunities to practice with special blocks, stamps, clay, wire and, yes, pencils and paper.

Laying the foundation for success with written language, teachers encourage children to listen to one another and to verbally express their feelings, ideas and experiences.

Mathematical thinking is supported in the many problem-solving experiences that evolve in the block room, the workshop, studios, and the classroom that include, for example, exploration of number, measurement, spatial concepts, symmetry, counting, and numeral recognition.

It may happen that some children need a little extra support at home in naming specific letters and numerals in order to pass kindergarten entrance interviews or to feel confident among other children who have had lots of explicit instruction prior to kindergarten. Since the alphabet, numerals and rules of punctuation are not generally learned through discovery, some direct instruction in these skills at home and at school may be useful to some children prior to kindergarten.

Nevertheless, we hope that you will continue to value children’s self-initiated learning through play—even in the face of Kindergarten 2015. Children are, naturally, very curious, competent, meaning-seeking and relationship-seeking individuals who learn a great deal from their play with one another in small groups guided by caring, and equally curious, adults.

The teachers, Karen and I are available to help parents navigate the sometimes difficult choices connected with the transition to kindergarten.

For further reading, I suggest Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Skills Every Child Must Learn (Galinsky, 2010).

Thank you.

Warm wishes,

Nancy

Click on the links below or scroll down for this month’s topics:

• Valentine’s Day Celebrations

• Admissions for the 2015-2016 School Year

• An Afternoon with Teachers

• Winter Conference
  Children as Producers of Culture: Looking Inward and Outward

• Keynote Speakers at Winter Conference

• PPS Endowment Fund

• Family Donations

• February Calendar

• Pictures from School Events

Valentine’s Day Celebrations
Friday February 13th

Each year we celebrate this special day by inviting the parents (who have signed up to participate) to share their own family Valentine traditions with the children in each class during snack time. Family participation might include a special snack, story, or a very simple cooking or craft activity. Please be sure to collaborate with your child’s teachers in advance. As part of the celebration, we do encourage all children to bring Valentine cards from home for their friends on the day of the celebration. In the Cherry Blossom and Rosemary classrooms, it is generally best to place the Valentine cards in blank envelopes so that children can deliver their Valentines to their friends’ Valentine bags without assistance. Many of the Lavender and Sunflower children are able to read (and to write) the names of their classmates, so the older children (or a parent) can address the envelope if they choose. Cards can be signed by children or by parents, according to children’s printing ability. The preschool is providing the bags that will serve as “mailboxes” for each child. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Admissions for the 2015-2016 School Year

We thank our returning and toddler families for submitting the application, Admission Agreement, deposit and registration fee to Karen at the end of January. We are now at a point in our process where we can better determine the number of spaces we will have in the fall for new children. Our next step this month is to contact potential parents who have applied to our school for the fall and offer them a space in one of our classrooms. The Agreements and deposits/fees for new families will be due to Karen by Feb. 12. The process continues until all available spaces for 2015-2016 are filled. At that point we will maintain a waiting list.

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An Afternoon with Teachers

We enjoyed our meetings with the Rosemary and Cherry Blossom parents last month. During these meetings teachers shared recent video clips and digital photos of the children’s small group work in several of our studio and classroom spaces. We appreciated the insightful comments and questions offered by parents and look forward to meeting with the Lavender and Sunflower parents this month, as well. The Lavender meeting is on Wed., Feb. 11 from 1:30 to 2:30 and the Sunflower meeting will take place on Wed., Feb. 18 from 1:30 to 2:30. Children will be dismissed a little early in each class to go to Stay & Play free of charge while parents attend the meetings.

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Winter Conference
Children as Producers of Culture: Looking Inward and Outward

On Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28, PPS will co-host a Winter Conference, sponsored by the Pedagogical Institute of Los Angeles and featuring keynote speakers, presentations by our teachers, and tours of our site. Please look for flyers with more detailed information. We are asking for parent volunteers to help with the registration (Friday morning, Feb. 27), continental breakfast (Friday) and box lunch (Friday and Sat.). Parents are also welcome to attend the conference; please go to www.thinkwithus.org to register. It is an honor for our preschool to be included in the Westside Collaborative as one of the schools hosting tours for this conference and our teachers and directors will certainly learn a lot from the experience—in addition to sharing learning with visiting early childhood educators.

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Keynote Speakers at Winter Conference

Friday, Feb. 27 in St. Paul’s sanctuary: Why Democracy Needs Schools, Harold Gothson, senior consultant at the Reggio Emilia Institute in Stockholm. Mr. Gothson will also be presenting a workshop at PPS in the afternoon.

Saturday, Feb. 28 in the First Pres. sanctuary: Expanding our View of the Possible: The power of group learning and documentation in classrooms and communities, Mara Krechevsky, senior researcher at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Saturday, Feb. 28 at First Pres: The Right to Play, Cheng Xueqin, regional director of early childhood education for the county district of Anji, China.

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PPS Endowment Fund

We very gratefully received two more donations to our newly established fund: one from the Greenberg family and one from the grandparent of a currently enrolled child. Thank you!

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Family Donations

We would like to express our appreciation to families who have made the $500 Family Donation to the preschool already this school year. Please speak with Karen if you have, in the Admission Agreement, stated that you are planning to make the Family Donation. Thank you.

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February Calendar

• Monday, Feb. 2—Nancy to attend Westside Collaborative leadership meeting
• Wed., Feb. 3—Fingerprinting initiative in Parish Hall for participating children
• Thursday, Feb. 4—Parent Tours
• Friday, Feb. 6—Educator Tour (of about 13 teachers) at PPS (regular Friday schedule)
• Monday, Feb. 9—Thursday, Feb. 12—Nancy and 2 PPS teachers to Intensive Practicum at Evergreen
• Wed., Feb. 11—Afternoon with Teachers—Lavender room—1:30 to 2:30
• Friday, Feb. 13—Valentine’s Day Card Exchange and Parties
• Monday, Feb. 16—Preschool closed for Presidents’ Day holiday
• Tuesday, Feb. 17—Tandy Parks group meets at 9:15 a.m.
• Wed., Feb. 18—Afternoon with Teachers—Sunflower room—1:30 to 2:30
• Thursday, Feb. 19—Chinese New Year celebrations
• Monday, Feb. 23—Preschool closed for Teacher Work Day
• Thursday, Feb. 26—Early dismissal –No Stay & Play or Karate
• Friday, Feb. 27—Winter Conference at PPS from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.—Preschool closed
• Saturday, Feb. 28—Winter Conference continues

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Pictures from School Events

Afternoon with Teachers

Lines

Australia Day

Toddlers

Bicycle Assembly

The post February 2015 Newsletter appeared first on .

WITH the introduction of universal pre-K in New York City, we have created a new entry point into our public school system. This raises a key question: What do we want our children’s first experiences in school to be? What does a good education look like for 4-year-olds?

This summer, Bank Street College of Education led training for 4,000 of New York’s pre-K teachers, including both veterans and hundreds of people who started teaching pre-K for the first time last month. Worried teachers talked about how the pressure to achieve good outcomes on the third-grade state exams has been trickling down to early childhood classrooms in the form of work sheets, skill drills and other developmentally inappropriate methods.

Click to read entire article at www.nytimes.com

The post The Building Blocks of a Good Pre-K appeared first on .

This week, NPR is focusing on questions about why people play and how play relates to learning.

When it comes to brain development, time in the classroom may be less important than time on the playground.

“The experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain,” says , a researcher at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. “And without play experience, those neurons aren’t changed,” he says.

Enjoy the featured video below, click here to view out the article at NPR.org.

The post Scientists Say Child’s Play Helps Build A Better Brain appeared first on .