SM Early Childhood Education Center
Carla Heintz, Principal
What's Happening
February
7- Parent Teacher Conference Night 5-8
18- President's Day- No School
19- Professional Development- No School
22- Early Childhood Screening
In the News
From the Principal's Desk
I hope you all have been able to stay warm and healthy these last few wintery weeks! I want to thank you all once again for your support with our new drop off procedures, I know it's not always easy getting yourself, your preschooler and other children out of the car to walk them in. Especially in this cold weather. But because of your help and support, we actually have been gaining back some class time. Children are able to get to their classrooms faster and leave all at one time. Please continue to use caution when driving past the buses, go slowly, and always exit out of the west exit. Do not exit from the east entryway.
Moving into February, I thought this would be a good time to talk about supporting your child's growing sense of emotions and working with them to navigate their feelings. Little children experience big emotions, but don't have the experiences or vocabulary to understand and express them. As parents and teachers we can support them first and foremost by responding empathetically. It's important to let them know you understand they are angry, or excited, or frustrated and that feeling their feelings is OK and a part of life. Get down on their level and talk with them eye to eye and let them know it's OK to cry, or to be worried, or that you know they are very excited. Reassure them they are safe and you are there. If they are responding to their feelings by acting out or misbehaving, that is a great opportunity to teach them that while they are feeling whatever they are feeling, there are lots of different ways to express those feelings. Validate their feelings and then work with them to problem solve alternatives. Giving them words to express their emotions beyond mad, sad and happy also helps them navigate the expression of these emotions. Using words like frustrated, worried, excited, and eager to talk about our own emotions and to help them label their emotions give them the ability to talk about them more freely. Providing that safe place to feel emotions and be supported creates a great learning zone as your child navigates these experiences.
Looking ahead we have parent/teacher conferences coming up February 7th from 5-8.
Please mark this date on your calendar and look for more information to come from your child's teacher in the upcoming weeks. We look forward to seeing you and and sharing with you your child's progress.
Parents you are always welcome in the building to see what is happening, and we want you here. However we do ask all parents contact their child's teacher, sign in the office and get a visitor badge before proceeding to the classroom and checking out through the office before you leave!
Notes from the Associate Special Education Coordinator
February
Happy February! I hope you were able to explore some of the literacy experiences with your child that were shared in January and are ready for some math experiences. Math? In Early Childhood? Absolutely! Some of the different components/priority standards of math students work on in Early Childhood are Measurement and Data, Geometry, and Counting and Cardinality. So what do these really mean for 3, 4, and 5 year olds? So just to name a few; students can compare objects by using measurable attributes such as length, size, capacity and weight, correctly name shapes, rote count in sequence, represent a group of objects with a number, counting when asked “how many”, and identifying whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group. If you are interested in seeing more detail regarding these components or additional math standards, you can find that information here: Kansas Early Learning Standards.
So let’s find technology that you and your child can experience together that relates to these math components/priority standards! Here’s a couple to get you started:
Free:
123 Genius; First Numbers and Counting
Cost:
Intro to Math It’s a bit pricey at $4.99, but it covers many concepts so may be worth it
Until next time…..Learn, Teach, Reflect, Grow, Repeat!
Shari Hardinger
Notes from the School Nurse:
Illness Reminders and Requirements:
Parents please see below and keep us updated on your children’s illnesses as we have seen an increase in Influenza and stomach related symptoms since coming back from Winter break. We are trying to keep our students as healthy and illness free as possible. If they are ill please do not send them to school. We ask that you provide us with a doctor’s note if a doctor was seen and that you call the school to let us know that they will be out and to provide us with their symptoms. If you have any questions about the new requirements below please call me, Nurse Katie, at 993-2602.
**The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued new requirements for Isolation and Quarantine of Infectious or Contagious Diseases. New this year 2018-2019:
Influenza: Physician diagnosed cases of influenza will be excluded from school attendance for 7 days following the onset of illness.
Mumps: Students who have not received age appropriate immunization for mumps will be excluded from day 12 to day 25 after exposure to the infectious case (in the past there was an opportunity for students to be immunized within 24 hours of being notified of exposure, it is now an automatic exclusion).
Early Childhood Screening
Do you have concerns about your preschooler’s development?
SMSD offers an early childhood developmental screening which includes the areas of vision, hearing, problem-solving, personal-social development, gross/fine motor skills, and speech/language skills. The purpose of the screening is to identify children who may have substantial developmental delays and who may be eligible for special education services. SMSD’s Early Childhood Screening (ECS) is appropriate for children ages 2 years 9 months to 5 years old who reside within the Shawnee Mission School District boundaries.
How often are screenings offered?
Screenings for 2018-19 occur monthly on a Friday morning and are by appointment only. Parent or other legal guardian must complete a request for screening and submit the required documents before an appointment is offered.
How do I request a screening for my child?
More information about the ECS program can be found on the district’s Early Childhood Special Education home page under Early Childhood Screening.
Marker Recycling Now Available
Social Media Sites
We have new social media sites this year! Please feel free to follow us and like us!!
Twitter: @theSMECEC
Instagram: SMECECSMSD
Facebook: SMECEC.SMSD
Pinterest: SMECEC SMSD
Or search for #EarlyEDSMSD to see what's happening district wide in PreK!
Shawnee Mission Early Childhood Education Center
Email: carlaheintz@smsd.org
Website: earlychildcenter.smsd.org
Location: 6701 West 83rd Street, Overland Park, KS
Phone: (913)993-2600
Facebook: facebook.com/SMECEC.SMSD
Twitter: @theSMECEC