Is your preschooler getting tired of playing Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders?  Are you?

There will come a time when you and your preschool aged children can’t seem to find a game to play.  They will tell you that Candy Land is a baby game yet they cannot seem to find the patience to sit through an entire game of Sorry.

This is when it is time to search out games that are a little more advanced, yet not too time consuming.  At our house we recently found success with two fun games: Guess Who and Operation.  Our seven year old had received these games for Christmas and his birthday.  The recommended age on the box says for ages 6+ but our three year old is able to play both of them (with a few modifications).

Read the rest of this entry →

Friday’s Discussion Topic:

Should a preschool discuss death with children, when parents were NOT notified of the discussion?

This situation happened last month in my child’s preschool classroom.  To put it lightly, I was NOT impressed!  Now I am not a confrontational person.  I try to stay positive and look for the good in people.  But this situation, ruffled my feathers!

Here is what happened…Over winter break, one of the children in my daughter’s class lost a parent.  It was an unexpected and tragic loss for the family.  A couple parents heard about the news over break, but the majority of parents had no clue.

When we picked up our children from class on the first day back after break, we were notified of the family’s loss in a letter.  In this same letter, we were told that the teachers had discussed dying and loss with the children.  YES, you read that correctly.  The teachers had ALREADY discussed this in class!

I felt that this was very unprofessional and disrespectful to parents.  I believe that a letter should have been sent home stating what happened and that there would be discussion about it in the NEXT class.  This way parents would have the opportunity to discuss it at home with their child.  They could have also opted out of the the next class if they felt that their child was not emotionally ready to discuss this topic.

One little girl in class now wakes up at night yelling for her mom.  She also asks, “Mommy are you going die?”  This could have been prevented if her parents had the option to talk with her ahead of time.

Do you feel that this was appropriate to discuss in a preschool class?

Do you think that parents should have been notified in advance?

Did Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow this year?

He did.  This means six more weeks of winter.  For those of you not wanting to hear this news you can disagree with Phil and go along with Chuck’s prediction.  Staten Island’s groundhog, Chuck, did NOT see his shadow which means an early spring.  I was not aware of all the different groundhogs in the country.  There is Willie from Illinois, Jimmy from Wisconsin as well as a number of others.  For more Groundhog’s Day information check out the Raleigh Examiner.

Since there is going to be six more weeks of winter, I thought we would do another winter art project.  I was hoping to be doing a project about tulips and daisies but I guess it will have to wait.

Read the rest of this entry →

Did you know that February is I love to Read Month?

For those of you thinking it right now I will just say it… Why is there a specific month to love reading?  People should love to read no matter what month.  I suppose if they (whomever they may be) can declare October National Dessert Month, it is only fair to give reading its own month.

So my next question is, what activities will you do to celebrate I Love to Read Month?

One of the greatest gifts a parent can give a child is to instill a love of reading.  By reading to your child in the early years you are setting the example of the joy and importance of reading.  Continuing to read to your children helps to encourage independent reading.  Make a point to read to your children at least 20 minutes a day.  The benefits of being read to affect children more than you may realize.

Read the rest of this entry →

Will your kids be learning about the Chinese New Year at home or at school?

This year the Chinese New Year will be February 14, 2010.  It is the year of the Tiger!

Teaching children about other cultures and traditions is very important.  Most classrooms today are filled with a number of different races and cultures.  Preschool and elementary children are just beginning to notice differences of hair, eye and skin color.  By taking the time to teach children about various cultures, they are better able to understand and appreciate differences.

Read the rest of this entry →