ANNOUNCEMENTS

Just a few announcements!

*Mark your calendars...Graduation this year will be held on Friday, August 26th from 6:30-7:30pm at HO4K. Our graduates this year are Brace, Dayton, Lidia, Nevy, and Tanner. All students will be participating in a program and are encouraged to bring friends and family. We can't wait to celebrate how wonderful all our children at HO4K are!

*HO4K is thinking about offering a "NIGHT OUT" for parents once a month. This service would be supervised activities at HO4K while parents go out! Although we are throwing around ideas, we are thinking about 1 time a month on a weekend night, for a few hours. We are interested in any feedback from you! What do you think would be a reasonable fee? What time would work and for how long? Please leave a comment below by clicking on comment, or talk with JoAnn yourself. The more feedback, the more we can address your needs!

LIVING LOVE AND LOGIC TIP #12

When Kids Bring Home ProblemsWeekly Tip from the Love and Logic^® Experts

Connor was having trouble making friends. "None of the cool kids will play with me. Only the dopey kids will," he complained.

"Oh, no," Dad said with a wrinkled forehead and sadness in his eyes. "That sounds rough. What do you think you can do about that?"

"I don’t know," Connor whined. "The teachers won't help me."

"Hmm," Dad paused. "Would you like to hear what some other kids have tried?"

Connor grunted, "Guess so."

"Well," Dad continued, "some kids decide to forget about having friends. How would that work for you?"

"Not good. I'll never have people to do stuff with."

"Yeah, good thinking," said Dad. "Some kids decide to pick out some cool - or maybe just nice kids and try to be super friendly to them. They go out of their way to say nice things - stuff like that. How do you think that would work for you?"

Connor thoughtfully frowned. "I guess I could try that. But what if it doesn't work?"

Dad replied, "It'll be interesting to see, won't it? That's all the ideas I have right now. Thanks for telling me about this. Good luck, buddy."

Connor's dad gave him the gift of struggling with a problem. Many Love and Logic parents have enjoyed empowering their kids to solve problems using this five-step process:

1. Respond with empathy: "That's a tough one."
2. Send the power message: "Would you like to hear what some kids have tried?" 
3. Offer ideas: "Some kids decide to…" 
4. Ask about the expected results: "How do you think that would work for you?" 
5. Give permission to solve the problem: "Let me know how it goes. Good luck."

Have fun experimenting with this technique next time your child brings home a problem regarding friendships, or just about anything else.

Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.

Dr. Charles Fay

Staying Fit!

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association nearly half of American children are overweight or obese. These staggering statistics point out a major concern for the immediate health of our children and their future. At HO4K, we implement music and movement everyday as we learn across the curriculum. As you can see from past posts, students are actively engaged in the learning process and use their bodies and minds together to form connections between knowledge and skills. Click HERE  to read an article that provides 10 tips to keep your child fit! Now is the time to establish healthy habits! Get outside and have some FUN!

RADIO FUN

The Nevada Preschool Standards state that "Pre-Kindergarten children learn science concepts through active play and exploration of their environment.  Responsive adults facilitate discovery by inviting questions, asking open-ended questions, encouraging hands-on experiences, and providing opportunities to experiment and observe the world through a variety of media and realia (McGraw-Hill, 2003)."

At HO4K, children explore everyday problems and questions around them. So when the classroom radio broke after extensive use, the children tried their best to "repair" the problem. After failed attempts and many conversations of what to do next, students helped to take the radio apart. To encourage discovery, the students had the opportunity to explore the many different components of the radio.  The children have found great satisfaction as they continue to observe and discover the components and electronic parts inside. Cool!

1, 2, 3, 4...

Math is all around us and because young children are natural mathematical learners they are constantly investigating and learning.  Children naturally count objects, look for patterns and shapes, make comparisons, and explore relationships within their environment. The activities at HO4K focus on children's natural curiosity and exploration. Often children initiate their own learning. Below students are counting out crackers into groups. This simple step towards division, helps students learn about equal groups as they distribute the same number of crackers to classmates.Of course we want everyone to have the same amount of goodies! This simple activity enables a student to expand their understanding of numbers and the distributive property. This activity is one that can be repeated throughout the day easily at home!  

 Another engaging learning opportunity for children is games. Here students are playing UNO. Besides the obvious social and emotional skills that students develop and mature through games, often math concepts are reinforced. With UNO students are working with numbers, patterns, relationships, counting, etc. Playing games at school and at home help children to think about strategies, compare and solve problems, work comfortably with numbers and have fun!

READING BUDDIES

It is always more fun when we have someone to share a good book with! Brody the bear is part of our reading program at school that connects with the home. Students take turns bringing Brody home to spend a few days with them and their families. The student documents Brody's visit with pictures, illustrations and written stories. Then these experiences are shared with the class. It is so much fun when a student gets a turn with Brody because they can revisit and read about all of fun stuff he has done in the past with others.

This project alone meets almost all the language state standards located at http://www.doe.nv.gov/Standards/Pre-K/prekcont.htm. It is important to incorporate language skills throughout the curriculum as it is such a fundamental building block in our children's academic growth. Be sure to check out the standards so that you can see what Nevada requires from our early learners. Any extra practice at home is so beneficial to your children!

Using Our Imaginations!

By expressing and appreciating the arts, one develops thought processes and communication skills (Althouse, Johnson, & Mitchell).  According to the Nevada Standards, Early childhood curriculum should not be taught in isolated segments, but integrated across content areas.  The arts connect the content areas, and give children a means of developing new ways of understanding their world. 

         Having had the fourth of July recently, students have been learning about patriotism and discussing what it means to them. When asked about different ways to show their appreciation for our country, a student came up with the idea to create Statue Of Liberty Costumes. Students explored different art materials and worked hard at their creations. Here two students show off their patriotism and Statue Of Liberty Costumes!

  Another state standard that is addressed frequently at HO4K is when students create works that express or represent experiences, ideas, feelings, and fantasy using various media. Above you will see 2 students experimenting with bath sponges covered in paint. Students predicted what kind of shape or "splat"  would  form at different heights. Students took turns standing and dropping the painted sponges from high, higher and highest locations. Observing the different art created was fun as we compared and talked about their art pieces. Lastly, students were able to sprinkle glitter onto the paint and their masterpieces became beautiful sparkly "fireworks"!

Snow Crystals Day 6

We are watching as our snow crystals continue to grow. The picture above shows the crystals on day 6.  As we observe each day we collect data on the growth patterns, the changes in form and compare data from day to day. As you can tell the crystals are growing large and are visible both above and below the water line. Check out the crystals as you visit and ask your little one to share what they have learned!

LIVING LOVE AND LOGIC TIP #11

Remember the basics for placing your child in Thinking-Time!

• TT is a time for your child to compose themselves then to think about how they can better solve a particular problem. It is most effective when it is used for problem solving and not as a form of punishment. This is a teaching opportunity.
• The amount of TT should average between 3-5 min and is controlled by the child. "When you are sweet and calm, I'll set the timer."
• TT must be prefaced with an empathetic statement. "This is so sad, thinking-time for Randy. You can walk yourself or I can help you."
• TT doesn't have to be a place but a "thinking-area" might be helpful. When a child needs some TT, the child could pick the place. You can suggest some options such as a chair or a swing (if outside). If the child is out of control and will not cooperate then removing them from others to a designated "thinking-area" is appropriate. An out of control child that is disruptive to the environment and/or others needs to be removed to an isolated area.

Remember, TT is a great opportunity for children to learn how to problem solve. Sometimes adults need TT too!

MAKING MUD

At HO4K we want our students to express their own ideas of interest and initiate activities that are of exciting to them! When students wanted to challenge themselves to change our grey play castle brown, we allowed them to explore their options and methods to this process. Students of course LOVED every minute of the muddy experience. They worked cooperatively together and communicated with each other step by step as they piled on the mud and played in the water.

   Students love to see how different objects react when placed in water. Its amazing to see the "goopy muddy water" that is created when mud is combined with water. Listening to students try to express the feeling between our toes and fingers was priceless! Children need the opportunity to explore and investigate their natural world while using their five senses, even if its playing in the mud!

Don't worry! Its just as much fun to clean up as it is to get dirty! WOW what fun we have at HO4K!