Parent Dispatch
South County Community Partnership
August 2018
It's Almost Back to School Time!!
Welcome to the first issue of the Parent Dispatch! Each monthly newsletter will include information and activities for families of children ages 0-8. Upcoming events will be listed in each newsletter - for more frequent updates and current information on events, please connect with us by email, on Facebook, or on our website at www.sccpartnership.wixsite.com/mysite
Upcoming Events
National Night Out
STEAM Workshops
Tuesday, August 14th 1:00 - 2:00 pm at the Pearle L. Crawford Library, Dudley
Wednesday, August 15th 10:00 - 11:00 am at the Charlton Public Library
August's STEAM Theme is Beach!
MESSY STEAM-related activities are geared towards ages 2-5 and registration is required as space is limited! Please email acelona@oxps.org for registration or additional information.
Storywalk at Kids Fest
Starting Kindergarten - Thoughts from Fred Rogers
Children’s Misconceptions about School
Some children are afraid to go to school because they don't know how to read and work with numbers, and they think they have to know all those things before they even arrive at school. Other children worry that there won't be any time for play once they get to school, or that they won't know when it's time to go home. They may worry about what could happen if they don't listen to the teacher or what they should do if they have to go to the bathroom. It’s helpful to encourage our children to talk about their concerns or fears so we can answer their questions, correct their misconceptions and give them more realistic expectations.
We can let them know that going to school is like discovering a new world, but not a world that's not completely unfamiliar. The more we help them recognize how much school is like home, the easier the transition can be. Like home, school has places to sit, places to play, a kitchen and bathrooms, and grownups (teachers) who care about children.
A Step Forward, a Step Back
When children feel uncertain about a new experience like kindergarten, it's common for them to behave in ways that they did when they were much younger --.clinging to their caregivers more closely than usual, thumb-sucking again, or even forgetting toilet training now and then. It helps to remember that such steps backward often come before big strides forward in a child's development.
Letting Go Can Be Hard for Parents
Parents, too, confront major milestones when their children enter kindergarten. It can be hard to face the fact that "my baby" is growing up. Many parents find it very difficult to "let go" those first days of school. They may even be remembering their own first days of separation from their own parents! No wonder there are so many teary-eyed mothers and fathers each year when school begins.
No matter how well things are going for your child at school, it can be very helpful to take the time to get to know your child's teacher and principal. Your child can sense when you're all working together "on the same team." If you have a good relationship with the teacher, you will probably feel more comfortable talking with him or her about your child's progress or special concerns.
Asking and Listening
As children deal with the different challenges of school, it can help them to know that we adults will gladly listen to what their day was like. Children need to know that their parents care about what happens at school and that their family is proud of the ways they're learning. There may be days, of course, when children won't want to talk at all about school, but if you've listened before, your child can trust that you will want to again when he or she is ready.
Share Your Own Experiences
Helping a child get ready for school often brings back feelings we adults had when we began school. No matter what those feelings are, if we can accept them truthfully and share them with our children, we can each have another important opportunity to grow. "I felt that way, too, when I was a child. Tell me more about what your day was like” is a wonderful way to begin to work on any new kind of growing.
Information from:
https://www.fredrogers.org/parents/first-experiences/kindergarten.php
Preschool Prep: How to Prepare Your Toddler for Preschool - Zero to Three
If your child is starting preschool this fall, you may be approaching this major milestone with conflicting emotions. You’re probably excited about all the fun (you hope) your child will have and the new friends he’ll make. At the same time, you may feel a little sad that your baby is venturing out into the big world without you. These emotions are normal. Your child is also bound to have a host of feelings about this transition, feeling proud to be a big kid but at the same time worried about being separated from you and starting something unfamiliar.
Having Fun With Preschool Prep
There’s a lot you can do in the weeks before to get ready for the big day. But try to keep your efforts low-key. If you make too big a deal out of this milestone, your child may end up being more worried than excited. Here are some ideas to keep the focus on fun.
Use pretend play to explore the idea of preschool.
Take turns being the parent, child, and teacher. Act out common daily routines, such as saying good-bye to mommy and/or daddy, taking off your coat, singing songs, reading stories, having Circle Time, playing outside, and taking naps. Reassure your child that preschool is a good place where she will have fun and learn. Answer her questions patiently. This helps children feel more in control which reduces their anxiety.
Read books about preschool.
There are many books about going to preschool available from the public library in your area. Choose several to share with your child over the summer before school starts. Talk about the story and how the characters are feeling. Ask how your child is feeling.
Make a game out of practicing self-help skills.
These skills include unzipping her coat, hanging her coat on a hook, putting on her backpack, fastening her shoes. For example, you might want to have a “race” with your child to see how quickly she can put on her shoes. When you play school together, you can give your child the chance to practice taking off her coat, zipping her backpack closed, and sitting “criss-cross applesauce.” If your child will be bringing lunch, pack it up one day before school starts and have a picnic together. This will give her the chance to practice unzipping her lunch box and unwrapping her sandwich—important skills for the first day!
Play at your new preschool.
Visit your child’s preschool together. Ask when you can tour the school with your child. Play on the school playground a few times before your child starts the program. These visits increase your child’s comfort with and confidence in this new setting.
Worries and Watching
Your child may also have some questions or concerns about starting preschool, either before or after he starts in the fall. Help him get ready with these two key strategies:
Listen to your child’s worries.
Although it’s tempting to quickly reassure your child and move on, it’s important to let your child know that his worries have been heard. No matter what they are, big or small, children’s worries about preschool can significantly influence their experience there. Will you remember to pick him up in the afternoon? Will his teacher be nice?
Let your child know it’s normal to feel happy, sad, excited, scared, or worried. Explain that starting something new can feel scary and that lots of people feel that way. It can be helpful to share a time when you started something new and how you felt. When you allow your child to share her worries, you can help her think through how to deal with them. For example, if she is worried about missing you, the two of you can make a book of family photos to keep in her cubby and look at when she is lonely.
Notice nonverbal messages.
As much as 3-year-olds may talk, most are not yet able to fully explain how they are feeling or what they are worried about. Your child may “act out” his worry by clinging, becoming withdrawn, or by being more aggressive. Another common reaction as children take a big move forward is to actually move backward in other areas. For example, if your child is fully potty trained, he may start have toileting accidents. He may ask that you feed or dress him even though he can do these things by himself.
It is natural to be frustrated by this regressed behavior, and you may be concerned that if you do these things for him, he won’t go back to doing them himself. In fact, letting him play this out often leads to children returning to their “big kid” selves sooner. Remember that your child is facing—and managing—a big change in his life. He may need more support, nurturing, and patience from you while he makes this transition.
The Preschool Countdown: What to Do and When
The last few weeks before starting preschool seem to fly by! As you begin the countdown to the first day, here are some things to keep in mind:
During the 2 Weeks Before Preschool Starts:
- Purchase a backpack together with your child. If possible, let your child choose it himself. This gives him a sense of control and emphasizes the fact that he is a “big kid” starting preschool.
- Label all items—backpack, jacket, shoes, blanket, teddy bear, etc.—with your child’s name and teacher’s name in permanent ink.
- Contact the preschool’s health professional if your child has medication that he or she takes on a daily basis. There will be special rules and forms to fill out for your child to receive medication at school.
- Figure out how your child will get to school and how she will come home. Talk to your child about the morning and afternoon routine so that she understands that she will be safe, okay, and cared for. Make sure your child meets her before- and/or after-school caregiver, if you are using one.
- Start using your child’s “school bedtime.” Children often go to bed later as the summer months, and longer days, kick in. Help your child get into a preschool schedule by keeping to his school bedtime, beginning about 2 weeks before school starts.
The Night Before Preschool:
- Answer any last-minute questions from your child.
- Let your child choose (weather- and school-appropriate) clothes for her first day.
- Make sure that your child goes to bed on time.
- Pick a bedtime that gives your child a good night’s rest before the first day. Keep the bedtime routine soothing and relaxing. Don’t focus too much (or at all!) on the first day of school unless he wants to.
The First Day:
- Wake up early enough so that you and your child don’t have to rush to get to preschool.
- Make breakfast for your child and, if possible, sit down to eat together—or at least talk with her as she eats and you get ready.
- Review the day’s routine (what preschool will be like, how your child will get to school/come home).
- Pack your child’s backpack together. If your child is bringing lunch, select foods that you know are his favorites. Having some familiarity on his first day is helpful as he adjusts to so many changes.
- Let your child choose a special stuffed animal or blanket to bring to school with her. These “loveys” can help children make the transition from home to school, and can also make naptime easier, too. You may want to send your child with a family photo or favorite book as well. These familiar objects can help if she feels lonely during the day.
Saying a Good Good-Bye
These strategies can ease the jitters of separating on your child’s first day at preschool.
Plan to stay a little while.
Staying for 15-30 minutes on that first morning can help ease the transition. Together, the two of you can explore the classroom, meet some other children, play with a few toys. When you see that your child is comfortable, it is time to leave. If he is having a harder time getting engaged, you may want to ask your child’s teacher to stay with your child as you say good-bye so that when you leave, he can turn to another caring adult for support.
Keep your tone positive and upbeat.
Children pick up on the reactions of the trusted adults in their lives. So try not to look worried or sad, and don’t linger too long. Say a quick, upbeat good-bye and reassure your child that all will be well.
Think about creating a special good-bye routine.
For example, you can give your child a kiss on the palm to “hold” all day long. Or, the two of you can sing a special song together before you leave. Good-bye routines are comforting to children and help them understand and prepare for what will happen next.
Resist the Rescue.
Try not to run back in the classroom if you hear your child crying, as upsetting as this can be. This is a big change and your child may, quite understandably, feel sad and a little scared. But if you run back in, it sends the message that he is only okay if you are there and it is likely to prolong your child’s distress and make it harder for him to adapt. Rest assured, teachers have many years of experience with helping families make the shift to preschool. Instead, you can wait outside the classroom for a few minutes to ensure that all is well, or call the school later in the morning to check in.
Information from:
https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/78-preschool-prep-how-to-prepare-your-toddler-for-preschool
Fluffy Slime Recipe - Little Bins for Little Hands
FLUFFY SLIME SUPPLIES
Make sure you start off with the right ingredients!
1/2 cup White Washable PVA School Glue
3 cups Foam Shaving Cream
1 tbsp Saline Solution {active ingredients should be sodium borate and boric acid}
1/4-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Food Coloring {optional}
Bowl, Measuring Cups, Spoon
Always follow the directions carefully! Slime making is a recipe just like baking cookies! An alternative for this slime is to experiment with the amount of shaving cream you want to use!
HOW TO MAKE FLUFFY SLIME RECIPE STEP BY STEP
- Measure and add 3-4 generous cups of foam shaving cream to a large mixing bowl. (Go ahead and experiment with an amount that makes you happy!)
- Next, add food coloring if desired and gently stir to mix color.
- Measure and add 1/2 cup of white glue and gently stir to combine.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon or so of baking soda to mixture and gently stir.
- Lastly, measure out 1 tablespoon of contact solution and add to bowl.
- Whip the mixture to activate the slime. It will begin to pull away from sides and bottom of bowl.
- Pick up your slime and knead it until smooth and stretchy and no longer sticky.
TIP: Squeeze a few drops of saline solution on your hands before picking up slime, makes it stick less while you knead it. Kneading it is important to improving the consistency of the slime.
Don’t go crazy adding more saline solution until you have spent some time kneading it. This will reduce the stickiness. If you add too much saline initially, you will end up with rubbery slime.
STORING YOUR SLIME
Usually we use a reusable container either plastic or glass. If you keep your slime clean it will last for several weeks.
FLUFFY SLIME: Fluffy slime doesn’t stay fluffy for more then a day or so.
As you know the foam shaving cream is filled with air and decreases over time. I wouldn’t suggest fluffy slime as the best party favors.
If you want to send kids home with a bit of slime from a camp, party, or classroom project, I would suggest packages of reusable containers from the dollar store.
FLUFFY SLIME SCIENCE
What’s the science behind the slime? The borate ions in the slime activator {sodium borate, borax powder, or boric acid} mixes with the PVA {polyvinyl-acetate} glue and forms this cool stretchy substance. This is called cross linking!
The glue is a polymer and is made up of long, repeating, and identical strands or molecules. These molecules with flow past one another keeping the glue in a liquid state.
The addition of water is important to this process. It helps the strands to slide more easily over one another creating ooze.Think about when you leave a gob of glue out, and you find it hard and rubbery the next day.
In the case of the fluffy slime, the foam shaving cream in in place of the water and creates the lift in the slime. Now, we know that foam shaving cream is filled with air too. What happens over time? The shaving cream loses the air and the fluffy slime loses a bit of the fluff. Still fun but the consistency will change.
When you add the borate ions to the mixture, it starts to connect these long strands together. They begin to tangle and mix until the substance is less like the liquid you started with and is thicker and rubberier like slime!
See https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/how-to-make-fluffy-slime-recipe-kids/ for full article!
South County Community Partnership
Email: acelona@oxps.org
Website: www.sccpartnership.wixsite.com/mysite
Location: 9 Clover Street, Oxford, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 987-6057 41120
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/South-County-Community-Partnership-466772353500492/
Twitter: @sccp_oxford