ECE Connection
January 6, 2023
What's Inside?
Inside this edition you will find:
- Director's Message
- HECAC Parent Survey Link
- Wee Passport Update
- Directories for HOPES, Mile Square, and Wallace Preschool Wildcats
- Site Updates
- PIRS Corner
- Nurse's Nook
- Ms. Mara's Book of the Week
Dear Early Childhood Families,
I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful Winter Break. I know it was nice to unwind and spend some quality time with family and friends. 2023 brings us a new calendar year and more wonderful events in preschool. Save the Date for our next Parent Workshop Series on Challenging Behavior happening on January 27th, 2023. Like our previous workshops there will be a morning and evening option. More information to follow.
As a friendly reminder, please remember to call your family advocate and let them know the reason for your child being absent no later than 9:15 am. If you can not call your family advocate, please email dbrookes@hoboken.k12.nj.us. In your email, please state:
- your child's name
- provider
- site
- teacher
- reason for absence
- when we can expect them back in school
Our HOPES and MSELC school day starts at 8:30 and dismissal is at 2:30. If you are going to be late dropping off in the morning or picking up in the afternoon, please make sure to call or email your family advocate. Their information can be found in the directories below.
Important Upcoming Dates to add to your calendars:
Monday, January 16th, 2023 there will be No School. The Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Friday, January 27th, 2023 will be our next parent workshop. More information to follow.
Thursday, February 16th, 2023 we will be having a 1:00 PM dismissal. There are no Wrap services on this day.
Friday, February 17th, 2023 and Monday, February 20th, 2023 there will be No School. The Hoboken Public School District will be closed for Presidents Day.
Please continue reading below to see the link for our HECAC Parent Survey, Wee Passport Update, Directories for HOPES, Mile Square and our Wallace Preschool Wildcats, Weekly Updates from each site, PIRS Corner, Nurse's Nook, and My Book of the Week. Have a wonderful weekend!
Kind regards,
Kimberly Mara
Director of Early Childhood Education
HECAC Parent Survey
Wee Passport Update
HOPES Directory
Mile Square Directory
Wallace Preschool Wildcats Directory
What's Happening in Early Childhood?
Wallace Preschool Wildcats
770
Brandt
Calabro
Connors
At Connors in room 005, Ms. Kate and Ms. Denise’s students did Buddy Reading this week! The children got to choose a partner to read to and then took turns reading their book or listening to their friend read.
Students also enjoyed expressing their creativity during centers. They use blocks to build some amazing towers, created a Spiderman hideout out of magnetic tiles and in Art we had a student paint a winter picture.
Jubilee
Rue HOPES
Rue Mile Square
In Room 102 our morning message was "We are going to say the letter A sound. The children say the long A sound and short A sound. Afterwards, we went over to the table to write the letter A formation using the private speech "slant down, slant down, across." I stopped the music 3 times and asked the students a question each time. First, question "What letter are we making? Is it uppercase A or lowercase a?" Second and third, question what sound does the letter A make?" I had the students say each sound.
We read the book "The Adventure of Abby Alligator" written by Maria Fleming. referencing back on the letter A and its sounds. Our morning message was " We are going to say words that begin with letter A. The book had a ton of letter "A" words for the children to make connections to form the story with pictures that can help them generate letter A words. We then wrote the words down on the white board.
St. Francis
Wallace
PIRS Corner
Social Benefits of Play
We all can agree that play is an important part of our children's lives. Through physical play, children acquire gross motor skills and build their muscles and bones. Playtime that includes exploration with activities such as building, art, and music enhance other skills including cognition and fine motor abilities. Pretend play offers opportunity for children to use their imagination and creativity which helps them enhance communication, emotional and social skills. Games that are presented with rules also require and teach social skills. When children play with others, they learn how to take turns, cooperate and share. This also helps them to develop their language skills.
Our January newsletter articles will present different aspects of the benefits of play. This week we will focus on how play helps to promote the development of social skills and how parents can enhance these skills with their children at home.
Play offers children many opportunities to learn social skills and social rules/norms of behavior. During these interactions, children will need to communicate with others either verbally and/or non-verbally. During play, children will also be introduced to social concepts such as taking turns, sharing, compromise, teamwork, and empathy. Through these experiences, children learn how relationships work and how to build them. As play becomes more important in a child’s life, children typically enjoy an increase in the number and quality of friendships. It has also been noted that language skills develop along with social skills. Social skills that are gained through play are a vital part of language development.
The Role of the Parent and Family
Parents and caretakers are extremely important in the development of their children. As their biggest supporters, it is sometimes worrisome when there is not as much time to play with them as one would like. So while we do make time for play as much as possible during the day, it is also important to keep the following in mind:
Focus on the quality of your time together. Spending more time on play activities that are enjoyable may increase the likelihood of social growth for your child.
Trust your own playful instincts. Think about and remember your experiences as a child. Play that comes naturally will create opportunities for your child to explore their potential.
Your words and actions are impactful. Encourage your child. Praise your child. Laugh with your child.
Play Activities That Encourage Social Development
Take your Child to the Playground
Playgrounds are the ideal spot for many areas of personal growth. Socially, playgrounds offer children many opportunities to learn about leadership and cooperation. Playgrounds typically are places where children of any age, race, and economic status can socialize and play. Playground advocates note that social interactions on the playground benefit society as a whole because they are great settings for children to learn about the value of community from each other. Parents can enhance their children’s social development by asking questions about their children’s interactions with other children after they have visited the playground. For children who are shy or whose skills are not as developed, parents can prepare their children for a visit to the playground by teaching them how to initiate conversations with someone new. You can try practicing by pretending to be a “new kid” with your child. Don’t be afraid to be silly or say funny things when pretending. Humor will help to ease anxiety and make these lessons more memorable.
Roleplay
Roleplay is a safe space for children to develop social skills, though to begin with they may need guidance to understand social behavior, rules and expectations. Most children enjoy acting out what they know, such as taking care of a baby and cooking as well as scenarios that they have seen in movies, TV or real life. Roleplaying with toys or puppets can also add to the amount of “characters” in a practice scenario. Acting out social situations is a good way to develop children’s recognition and understanding of what to expect and understand social scenarios.
Pretend Play
When pretending, the sky's the limit for imagination and creativity. The following are some fun ideas for children from 3 years old and up. The descriptions have been included but be sure to clink on the links for full information.
Pretend Play Picnic - This is a great play idea to teach your child about a traditional and popular outdoor (or indoor) activity.
Toy Hotel - Imaginative play can strengthen role-playing skills as your child communicates with all the different types of guests “staying” at the hotel - providing an excellent foundation for improving social connections with others.
Stuffed Animal Birthday Party - Birthdays are one of the highlights of childhood, so this dramatic play idea for kids lets them recreate their favorite day of the year - and use their imaginations to celebrate their plush friends.
My Favorite Museum - Children create a collection of their favorite things and can give “tours” of their exhibit.
Listening to Stories / Storytelling
Incorporate storytelling and reading stories to your child as a way to enhance social learning. Thoughtful choices of topics can open up discussions and create meaningful connections. Keep stories short and high interest for the best results. Some children like to hear the same stories, over and over, which is fine since memorization is also an important cognitive skill.
Nurse's Nook
Flu Season
Respiratory virus season is in full swing! Flu season starts in the fall and lasts through the end of spring. Symptoms of the flu include fever, chills, headache, body aches, sore throat, cough, runny or stuffy nose, vomiting, and diarrhea. Treatment for the flu is supportive care, including rest, fluids, and antipyretic (anti-fever) medication such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Motrin) as needed for fevers. Always check with your child’s pediatrician to be sure that it is OK to give your child these antipyretic medications. Children younger than 6 months old cannot take ibuprofen. Most children get over the flu in about a week, however it can last longer in some children. If your child gets the flu, please note that they can return to school once their symptoms are improving and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.
For more information about the flu, see the link below:
Ms. Mara's Book of the Week
This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers has one of my favorite animals in it which is one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much! We meet Wilfred who owns a moose named Marcel. As we read on, we start to see the relationship that Wilfred and Marcel have and wonder if Wilfred really does own a moose at all. Enjoy learning all of Wilfred rules of being a good pet and see what happens to Wilfred and Marcel! I would love to have a pet moose. What about you?