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Parenting a preschooler can be challenging, and we hope that this newsletter will add to your parenting toolbox by delivering inspiration and expert advice to your inbox each month. Do you have burning parenting questions or a topic that you would like us to cover in a future newsletter? We would love your input! Please contact Nicole Casey at ncasey@fayschool.org with any questions, comments, or feedback.
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BOOK CLUB - The Thankful Book
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and it is the perfect time to teach children about gratitude and thankfulness. The examples in The Thankful Book provide children with a great starting point to think about and discuss all the different things, big and small, that they can be thankful for.
Lauren Cilley, the Assistant Director of Fay's Early Learning Center, suggests that after reading this book with your child, ask them to name a few things that they are thankful for and why. For example, instead of just "I'm thankful for my brother," encourage your child to explain why (e.g. "I'm thankful for my brother because he tells jokes that make me laugh"). Taking it a step further, you can also ask your child to think of ways to show appreciation for the people they're thankful for, maybe by making a card or delivering a special treat.
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ARTS & CRAFTS - Thankful Placemats
Materials Needed:
Instructions:
- Write the names of each person who will be attending your Thanksgiving gathering on a placemat. If your child is already practicing their writting skills, you can also help them write each name.
- Ask your child why they are thankful for each person, and then have them draw a picture that depicts this.
- You can spread this activity out over the days and weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, or your child can make the mats all at once.
- During your Thanksgiving meal, encourage your child to tell each person around the table about the details on their placemat and why they are thankful for them.
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LITERACY AND NUMERACY - Setting the Table
Counting is a key skill for kindergarteners, but it is often difficult to get preschool age children interested in practicing their counting skills. To make counting fun, try incorporating it into daily activities, like setting the table (instructions below), and playing simple counting games. Fay kindergarten teacher Lee Bogaert suggests that when playing hide and seek, ask your child to count by tens to 100 instead of from 1 to 10, for example, or ask them to count backwards. “It’s good for children to understand that counting isn’t always 1, 2, 3,”says Lee.
- Gather all the items you will need to set the table at your Thanksgiving meal (forks, knives, plates, spoons, cups, napkins, placemats).
- Figure out how many people will be attending your meal and tell your child this number.
- Have them count out each item needed to set the table based on the number of people.
- After your child has counted everything out, they can help set the table and see if their counting was correct. Is someone missing a cup? Is there an extra fork or plate?
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DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONE - Picky Eating
Are you already anticipating your Thanksgiving meal and seeing yourself trying to convince your child to eat more than the dinner rolls? If so, relax and know that as a parent, it is your job to provide your child with a healthy meal. It is then your child's job to actually eat it.
At Fay, our kindergarteners participate in family-style meals. They are all served the same meal for lunch each day, and they all get every part of the meal - including vegetables! It is up to each student to eat their lunch, and we have found that after a while, many suddenly become vegetable eaters who are willing to try new things. There are no real tricks; it is simply repetition because children need to be offered a new food as many as 10-15 times before they will eat it.
For more practical advice about managing a picky eater, click here for a resource suggested by Lauren Cilley, the Assistant Director of Fay's Early Learning Center.
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FIELD TRIP - Chestnut Hill Farm
Chestnut Hill Farm, located in Southborough, MA, down the street from Fay's campus, is a 170-acre working farm with 2 miles of walking trails and a farm stand that is open year-round. Their hiking trails even feature a StoryWalk, where pages from a children’s book are laminated and attached to wooden stakes. As you walk along the trail, you’re directed to the next page in the book.
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PARENTING ADVICE - 1,2,3, Eyes on Me: Six Strategies that Kindergarten Teachers Use to Teach Kids to Listens
To many parents, observing a kindergarten teacher at work in a well-managed classroom is like watching a master magician conjure a baffling trick. Somehow, they can hush twelve wiggly, giggly, boisterous five-year-olds with a single phrase and get those same students to perform a series of tasks that would take the average parent an afternoon to accomplish. How do they do it?
While it may look like magic, Fay kindergarten teachers Anne Canada and Lee Bogaert explain that they use techniques honed over years of working with kindergarteners. Those strategies are combined with empathy for the developmental perspective of a five year-old and plenty of patience! “It’s not always easy to listen to people, but you have to practice to get better at it,” says Anne.
Anne and Lee have shared with us some tips and techniques that parents can use to get their child ready to be a great listener in their Kindergarten classroom - and who knows, maybe at home too!
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Kindergarten is the beginning of your child's educational journey.
Make sure it's a strong start.
Learn more about Fay's approach to kindergarten, and what comes next, at our Virtual Admission Open House on Sunday, November 8 from 1:00 - 2:30 pm.
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