Thank you God, for everything

                                                   Thank you for the world so sweet,
                                                    thank you for the food we eat,
                                                    thank you for the birds that sing,
                                                    thank you, God, for everything.

This little prayer is recited at school each day. As we learned the story of the first Thanksgiving we also learned what it means to be thankful.

Here's a little of what I've learned about Thanksgiving from the very wise three, four and five year olds who teach me each day.

I thank God for:

• a new puffy winter coat that keeps me warm on chilly mornings
• news shoes, especially the pretty sparkly ones or the ones that light up when I stomp
• a fresh new batch of play dough
• the joy that comes from banging on rhythm sticks or jingle bells 
• a healthy body that allows me to run, climb and skip 
• chasing my friends on the playground on a sunny, 60 degree day in November! 
• being able to "read" my favorite book all by myself 
• getting a birthday treat from a friend at school 
• new smelly markers on the art table 
• finding a little treat food at the bottom of my lunch box 
• playing pretend 
• dancing to a song that I know the words to
• digging a hole on the playground and finding a squiggly worm 
• making a friend 
• my parents who pick me up each day and take me to the best place on earth--home. 

May your home be filled with wonderful sounds and smells and family tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Making the monsters go away

"Teacher, teacher I want the yellow bean bag!" shouted an excited little one as I was passing out colored bean bags for a favorite dance. "I'm sorry you didn't get the color you wanted, I explained, that's called being disappointed. Sometimes you don't get the color you want but you get what you get and you can't throw a fit." This little lesson, painful as it may be, is one of the ways we teach children how to deal with disappointment.

Preschoolers are just beginning to understand their emotions and a goal of our program is to help children identify and appropriately express a variety of feelings. The month of October and the occasion of trick-or-treat is a good time to talk about being happy, sad, frightened, angry and disappointed.

In addition to learning how to deal with disappointment, children need to learn how to overcome or adequately deal with their fears. (Don't we all!) In the weeks leading up to Halloween we talk a great deal about monsters, bad dreams and scary costumes. We learn that monsters are just pretend and that people can put on a costume and look different even though they're still the same person underneath.

But what about fear? How do you teach young children how to deal with the monsters under their bed or scary dreams? Faith in a God who is always watching over us is a way to reassure children and  adults.

The Gospel of Mark relays this story. (I've taken the liberty to paraphrase in kid-speak.) Jesus and his friends were taking a boat ride. It was a beautiful, sunny day and they were laughing and enjoying the weather. Jesus lay down in the boat and fell asleep. A short while later the winds began to blow (insert 4-year-old wind sounds here) and the waves began to get bigger and bigger (children rock up and down). The friends of Jesus began to get worried. It was becoming more and more difficult to row the boat on the tall waves. Then the rain began to fall and the friends were getting wet. The wind continued to howl and by now the friends were terrified. "Jesus, wake up!" they yelled.  "Help us, help us!" they shouted.

Jesus woke up and looked at his friends. "Why are you frightened? You know that I am right here with you," he said. And then Jesus performed a miracle. He stood up and said to the wind, "Be still!" He looked at the water and said, "Be still!" And the wind stopped blowing and the rain stopped and the sea was as calm as could be.

"Who is this man?" the friends wondered, "even the wind and the rain obey him." Jesus' friends were amazed.

As we plant seeds of faith in the hearts of our little ones we want them to know that God created them, loves them and is always watching over them. Jesus is with us when the storms come and when there are monsters under our bed and when we have bad dreams at night. We are never alone.

This story is not just for children. It's one I turn to when fighting monster-like adult worries.

If you aren't familiar with the "Veggie Tales" check out the song "God is Bigger." This catchy little tune is another great way to teach your child that God is always watching over them. The song is linked here.





Cheryl Hoover is the Director of Northampton Christian Preschool.

Confessions of a Wimpy Mom

Now that my children are grown I look back over parenting decisions I made and wish I had done a few things differently. By the grace of God my children are a healthy, happy bunch who are learning to make their respective ways in the world despite their mother's shortcomings. After teaching young children for 16 years I have greater wisdom today than I did as a young mom.

When our son was three years old, my husband and I enrolled him in a two-mornings-a-week preschool program. It was a wonderful little school staffed by nurturing teachers who were well versed in early childhood education.

Our son loved school. For the first month. Then he had an unfortunate but typical potty accident and refused to go back. We talked, cajoled and reasoned with him. (This may have been our first mistake. Who in their right mind thinks they can reason with a three year old!) He dug in his heels, cried and lamented that he was not going back to school.

It's hard to watch your child struggle and it's very hard to see them unhappy. I began to question our decision to enroll him. Does a three year old really need preschool anyway? Maybe he just wasn't ready for the big, bad world of school. Wouldn't he be better off another year at home with me? Was I causing grave psychological damage by insisting he go back? (This might be an overreach but what parent hasn't had this thought?) After a week of fighting I caved in and withdrew him. What a wimp I was.

Even though I went on to make decisions far worse than this one, I did my son no favors by pulling him out. I should have confidently told him that moms work and kids go to school. I should have calmly taken him back to school, let him cry a few minutes until he found something fun to do and returned at the end of the morning. The truth is I allowed a three-year-old child to control the situation and failed to be the parent he needed. I also sent a subtle message that he couldn't handle difficult situations on his own.

Children learn to be emotionally competent when they triumph over their fears. Their self esteem grows when they venture into new territory and find that they not only survive, but thrive. And, they learn discipline when they get to school every day even when they'd rather stay home and snuggle in their pajamas.

Some days school is a great place where you play with your best friend and get to paint at the easel. Other times a mean kid knocks your blocks over and you don't get a turn in duck, duck, goose. Children learn valuable lessons from all these experiences.

I don't believe my misguided decision caused irreparable harm to my son, but I wish I had sent him back to school and empowered him to triumph over a stressful situation. I'm happy to report that although he flunked out of preschool that year he is about to graduate law school. And today he is only occasionally mocked for this event by his sisters.

God made you a parent for a reason. Don't be afraid to lead your child and don't be too wimpy to let them learn lessons, even difficult ones, on their own.

                                   My son the preschool dropout and his wimpy mother.

What's Your Favorite Summertime Play?

Did you hear that? The collective "aah" signaling that school has ended for the year? Parents and their offspring are breathing a great sigh of relief as tests and reports and assignments are put on hiatus for the next 12 weeks. The long, lazy days of summer have officially arrived.

You remember being a kid in the summer, don't you? The freedom to roam about the neighborhood playing with friends and exploring to your heart's desire? Do you remember the joy of spending an entire day just playing? 

Dictionary dot com defines the verb play as; " engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose." Now to many parents (myself included) the idea that children should just waste their time playing all day is unnerving. We think children need to be actively engaged in serious learning. They should be reading or working on flash cards or taking a music lesson or engaged in some sort of enrichment activity. We're convinced that a child left with nothing to do but stare into the clouds and daydream is falling behind the rest of the pack.

Play is necessary and healthy for children and scientists now believe that some daydreaming fosters creativity. We all need to soak up some sun, stretch our legs and run, jump rope or swim in the neighborhood pool. We need to explore our artistic sides by playing with sidewalk chalk or painting rocks found in the backyard. We need to play sandlot baseball (do kids even do this anymore?) We all, but especially children, need time each day for play. The sad reality is the modern school day allows virtually no time for play.

With a blank summer calendar before us, I thought it would be fun to share ideas for encouraging good-old-fashioned play. Reach back into your memory bank and list in the comments below a fun summer activity of your childhood or your own child's favorite summertime play. Let's see how many creative ideas we can brainstorm and then try out in the next few months.

Are you ready? I'll start.

Catching lightning bugs in a jar. For an uncoordinated child like me this was not only fun but challenging! Most of the fun was just staying out past dark racing my sisters around the yard. We'd try to catch as many bugs as possible in our empty peanut butter jars before the mosquitoes chased us inside. We'd then put our jars next to our beds and watch the glow as we drifted off to sleep.

Now that I'm an adult I rarely see fireflies. But when I do, I fondly remember the fun I had as a child and the freedom to experience something unique to a beautiful night of summer vacation from school.

Now it's your turn. I'm looking forward to reading your responses!

The Secret About Kindergarten

When I began this preschool program, the last day of school was nearly unbearable for me. I would look into those sweet little faces as they said goodbye and fight back tears. I worried about the dangers of the world as they left the comfortable cocoon of our classroom. Part of me wanted to keep them young forever so they wouldn't experience heartaches or failures in the real world. I would watch their chubby legs march off with their parents, headed into the big scary world of Kindergarten and think it would be all down-hill from there.

But then I grew up.

How ridiculous it was for me to cry on the last day of school. What message was I sending to these sweet little beings? Were my emotional reactions teaching them that Kindergarten or any new life experience was something to be feared?

Our goal as early childhood educators is to teach children that learning is exciting and something to embrace. We want children to have the confidence to try new experiences, whether it's painting with your feet in preschool or hopping on the yellow bus to Kindergarten. We want them to continually reach for that next rung on the ladder, even when you're a little worried about letting go of the familiar.

As a parent I've watched four children grow from babies into adults. I've spent nearly 30 years worrying myself sick about my kids even as I've attempted to "be anxious for nothing."* I've stewed when I thought they were headed in the wrong direction and cheered with great pride as they've accomplished life goals. As every parent does, I loved them throughout all these experiences, even when they were pain-in-the-neck teenagers! In spite of my shortcomings as a parent, God continues to mold them (and me) into the humans we are meant to be.

If I were just beginning my life as a parent, I would pray more and worry less. I would soak up every precious minute with my kids instead of worrying about keeping to the schedule. I wouldn't grieve the passage of time, but would truly celebrate every milestone and be excited about the next chapter of life. As I celebrate Mother's Day this Sunday I'll vow to take this advice! 

Mrs. Mottice, Woodridge Primary School teacher and mother to Braden, came to visit last week. After teaching the children how to do the Kindergarten "bunny wave" and make fish tails with your hands behind your back, she told us the secret about Kindergarten--it's more fun than preschool. Actually, I asked her to relay this info to the kids and it's the same sentiment we'll send them out the door with next week. Not only is Kindergarten more fun than preschool, but every new stage in life is more exciting than the next.

Of course change is never easy, and there will be challenges and disappointments to be sure. But change, even when painful, is always good. God doesn't want us to stay caterpillars forever. He wants us to fight our way out of that chrysalis, dry our wings and soar to new heights.




*Phillipians 4:6 & 7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (New International Version)

Nurturing Creative Thinkers

Since the death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., much has been written about how to educate children to become future inventors and innovators. If you aren't familiar with his personal story, Jobs was a college dropout who spent 18 months dropping in on creative college classes. He stated that Mac computers were designed with such a wide variety of fonts because he once sat in on a calligraphy class. 

Does our current educational system encourage learning that will produce future inventors like Jobs? Or do children lose a vital part of their education when schools concentrate too heavily on tests and not enough on art, creativity and imagination?

Northampton Christian Preschool believes it is essential to nurture imagination skills in children. Our teachers prepare the classrooms to allow for long periods of pretend play, block construction and creative art activities. Crayons, markers, colored pencils, scissors, paper in different colors and textures, feathers, tape dispensers, and toilet paper tubes are some of the items routinely found in the Art Center.

The role of the teacher is to order the environment so that it is organized and inviting. Like this:

 

 These simple materials enabled this little Buzz Lightyear to create this:

If you look carefully you can see he's added "buzz wings" to his "buzz helmet." This young man worked all morning adding new details to his costume. The idea was his and the teachers provided encouragement and help when needed.


Due to the strong emphasis on standardized testing beginning in early elementary school, these experiences are often eliminated in preschools to concentrate on activities deemed more academic. We falsely believe that children who are just playing or using an entire roll of scotch tape on some silly project are wasting time they could be using to learn something important. But it is precisely during these times that children develop much-needed skills. Not only are they becoming proficient at using scissors and glue and pencils, but they are learning how to experiment and create and take chances. We want to encourage children to come up with an idea and act on it, even if it doesn't turn out the way they planned. As adults we know the best lessons are learned from mistakes and when we don't succeed we need to try again. We want to empower our children with this same sense of confidence.

But don't children need to know the alphabet and shapes and counting before entering Kindergarten? Absolutely, and those skills are taught in a developmentally appropriate fashion every day. But we also need to teach that joy comes from creating something all your own and there is great satisfaction in working hard to bring an idea to fruition.

I'll leave you with this link about a little boy who had a good idea that morphed into something completely unexpected. Thank you to Nora Davis who shared this gem with me. The joyful guy depicted in the video may be a future inventor. Northampton Christian Preschool hopes to raise a few of our own as well!



Cheryl Hoover works with future inventors each day at Northampton Christian Preschool. 

Can't Say Fat

At Circle time today, my little friends and I were running through some of our favorite finger plays. We began with "The Thousand-Legged Worm", which gave all of us (including me) the chance to practice our hopping. We moved on to "God Loves You" followed by "Leo the Lion". The children love to open their arms wide and let out a great "roar!" Afterward we turned our lion jaws into elephant trunks and repeated:

 The elephant is so big and FAT

he walks like this

he walks like that.

He has no fingers

he has no toes

but oh my goodness, what a nose! 

As we were trumpeting like elephants at the end of the song I heard an excited, "teacher, teacher!" "Is there something you'd like to share?" I asked a little boy. And his sweet voice replied, "you can't say fat."

Taking advantage of this teachable moment we talked about how the word fat would be a very mean thing to say to a person. Mean words make your heart hurt. We decided it was okay to say an elephant is fat because animals are different than people and don't have feelings. The children then named some animals that were large like elephants and thin like snakes. 

Preschool children are by nature egocentric which is why sharing is difficult for them. They are just beginning to understand that other people matter. The concept of feelings is new to them as well so I found it unusual that a child this young would be sensitive to a word like fat. I'm sure he's learned this lesson at his family dinner table. 

An important goal of our school is to teach children, after the example of Jesus, to love your neighbor as yourself and to be kind to everyone. It's a very simple concept. Or is it? I don't usually call people fat but am I always kind to everyone? Do I kindly wait behind the woman in the Produce Section who is taking her good old time when I'm in a hurry? Am I kind to people whose political views or opinions are vastly different from my own? Do I offer up a smile to the grouchy looking man at the post office or do I put my head down and avoid him? And am I always careful with the words I use?

Schools across the country are investing great time and money to institute anti-bullying programs. How much easier it would be if all children were taught at a young age, like this little guy, to keep your tongue from saying something mean.