Rachel Samoff's blog

Everyone who has ever been around babies knows that they communicate from the very beginning. Who can ignore a new-born's cry? I've not met that person yet. Whether we are the parents, grandparents, or just someone else in the room, an infant's cry gets an immediate response from us.

I had such a lovely thing happen to me recently that I just have to share it. Currently I am spending time in one of our toddler rooms to support them through some upcoming transitions; so I pop in and out frequently. Sometimes I stay and play. Other times I'm in and out more quickly.

This proves a bit confusing to the children. Why is Rachel coming in so often? Why doesn't she just stay with us rather than leaving?

What to do when a child runs to you crying after getting hurt? Is your first objective comfort and distraction from the pain? You might be surprised by the advice in the article from an organization called Hand in Hand. This is a parent education organization that has lots to offer. While I sometimes find I do not agree with everything their articles say, I always come away impressed by their stories and their focus on connection. Take a look!

http://www.handinhandparenting.org/news/196/64/Scrapes-Cuts-and-Dustups-...

I have talked about the issues of how raising children to keep themselves safe by learning good risk assessment skills is important and how our instinct as parents to keep our children safe from harm plus the attitudes toward liability in the US encourage everyone in our society to protect children from all risk. This article by John Tierney published in the New York Times states the argument for incorporating some risk in your child's life quite effectively. Take a look by clicking on the link below and see what you think.

We hear more and more about how research confirms that young children learn best through their play. We recently
devoted most of our Staff Development Day to learning how best to structure early childhood environments so that
children can play productively, with teachers facilitating how they make meaning of their direct experiences with the real
world.

The other day I was in the Junior Preschool yard. It was a warm day and the children had spray bottles filled with water.

A very impressive discussion took place in one of our older preschool classrooms the other day. A normally very quiet child came in with his parent. The parent told the teacher it had been a rough night so they were both tired. The teacher asked the child what was bothering him. The child said he had been being teased by some other children in the room and it really made him very sad and he couldn’t sleep. And his daddy couldn’t sleep either and that made him sad too.

Some 3 year olds found a very intriguing project set up in their classroom last week. There were cylinders containing two different colors on the table. When they shook the cylinders, the colors combined to make a new color. So when the red and blue cylinder was shaken, the colors combined to make purple! When the children stopped shaking, the colors separated again. So clearly, red and blue make purple!

Happy New Year everyone! Over the past week many of you have been at home with your children. It's probably very fresh in your minds that finding quality television for young children is always a challenge! I ran across news of a new set of PBS programs focusing on science for preschoolers that looked intriguing. I watched a few episodes and found them appealing, with good content that I thought many preschoolers would both learn from and enjoy. I have attached information on the shows and where to find them.

I walked into the Robin Room the other day to find a conflict in progress. Charlie and Alex (both fictitious names) were having a problem! They were both on the stairs to the loft. Charlie was on the upper stair facing down yelling at Alex. “I don’t like that!” Alex was angrily jumping up on Charlie’s feet. So of course he “didn’t like that!” There was no move on either boy’s part to find a solution. Charlie was yelling at Alex and Alex was angrily jumping on Charlie’s feet.

My last series of parent meetings have been centered on how children learn to regulate their emotions. This is a very important skill that takes years to develop. Actually most adults still find it a challenge at times. Young children are just beginning to have the skills to regulate their emotions and behavior by the time they reach 3. There is a lot we can do as parents and teachers to lay the groundwork and the beginnings of the ability to recognize and regulate emotions between infancy and the preschool years.

I have a story to tell you. It’s about teachers and children making connections. The first thing any teacher of young children needs to do if learning and growth is to happen is to form loving, supportive relationships with each child. So when our children move to their new classes in September, teachers and children work hard on forming these connections to lay the foundation for the learning and growth that needs to take place.

Our NAEYC Accreditation is something of which we are very proud. It is a confirmation that our school maintains the very highest standards of early care and education. In the past few years, the NAEYC Academy which administers the NAEYC Accreditaiton program added a new component to its oversight of schools in this program. They conduct random, unannounced visits where they spend 10 hours looking at records and observing half our classrooms to verify that we adhere to the Accreditation standards in our everyday operations between Accreditaion renewal periods.

Setting limits with our preschoolers is challenging for the vast majority of us. We struggle to do this effectively. Sometimes the best technique when a child is really upset and not doing what you want, is to simply let the child be angry until they're done. I watched a parent do this very successfully one evening when her child was lying on the floor of the office refusing to get up and join the rest of the family who were waiting outside the front door to go home. First the child wanted her mom to come in and get her. After the mom and dad changed places, she cried for her dad.

Awhile ago I posted a blog on risk taking and young children. I find this a really fascinating topic. Every human parent takes keeping their child safe as a fundamental responsibility. So why should we let our children take risks? How does that fit in with keeping them safe? I ran across another really good article on this subject I want to share. It makes the point that teaching children to assess risk is a very important part of their learning. Enjoy!

I often say children are little learning machines. You really don’t have to tell any child that learning is a good idea. They know that. They spend all their time and energy on the task of learning. As I was walking through the toddler yard the other day I saw a fantastic example of this that contains important feedback for teachers and parents.

You have heard from me before about the very important role dramatic play has in a young child’s learning and education. To help us focus as a school on enriching our dramatic play, we have been having regular time set aside in our staff meetings for teachers to report on the dramatic play that is going on in their classrooms. At our last staff meeting one of our teachers shared a terrific example of how rich in educational content dramatic play can be.

On July 16th at 4:00 in the afternoon, after several weeks of practice, our graduates, their teachers, and the families of the graduates gathered in the Senior Preschool yard for their graduation ceremony. Graduation clothes were donned, performance props were gathered, chairs were arranged . . . we were ready! The parents were seated and when all was ready, the graduates danced in to a jazzy piece of music to take their seats.

I had a really eye-opening conversation with one of our teachers the other day. This teacher was working her way through some challenges in her life. I asked her how she was doing as I greeted her one morning. She recounted how the children were helping her and giving her the strength she needed. Here’s what she said. (The names below have been changed to preserve privacy.)

I have two stories on how children develop an understanding of time.

One comes from my 91 year old mother who went with my sister, her children, and grandchildren for a week at the beach. Two of the grandchildren are 3 years old. They spent a lot of time commenting on how old their Great Grandmother was. They would ask her questions like, “Why are your toes so lumpy?” My mother would smile and reply, “Because I’m really old!”

Children start working on peer relationships even before they are mobile. During the years between birth and six, children spend lots of time and energy working on social skills. As the article, 'Children's Peer Relationships Have Enormous Influence' indicates, a child's skills at entering a group of peers, self expression, assertion, listening, negotiation, empathy, and forgiveness are very important for a successful learning and a satisfying childhood.

We’re all seeing articles and reports of research on the importance of giving children unrestricted and unstructured time to play. In our busy lives with our emphasis on education, some of us tend to fill up our children’s time with lessons, excursions, and lots of coaching from the adults. What gets left out is time for children to simply play and work on their own ideas, relying on their own resources.

Take a look at this article 'Plugged-In Parents' to help you reflect on the quality of your time with your children when you are with them as you drop them off at school, pick them up, or take them to the park.

I was passing through all our classrooms this morning greeting teachers, parents and children as I normally do. Aidan, a 3 year old, was working on a sticker/drawing he was creating. I knelt down and watched him working. “What are you making?” Silence. I waited a bit while Aidan drew dark purple lines on his paper. I tried again. “You have 3 motorcycles there.” Aidan said, “Hate!” “Hate?” I queried. “Hate,” he repeated. “Is that hate you are drawing?” “Yes!” “Did you have a hard morning?” “No.

Here's an interesting perspective on testing young children's intelligence.

The Myth of Testing Gifted Children

During my walk with Nicolas (who just turned 1), the sun behind us cast a very sharp, clear shadow of both of us moving down the walkway. Nicolas definitely noticed it. I saw him looking at his shadow. I could see that he noticed that it moved when he moved. If he had the words, he would have said, “Look at that dark thing on the walk! Hmmmmm. That’s really interesting! And it moves! Hmmmmm. Look at that!”