How are you feeling?

An important part of our identity at any given time is how are are feeling. This week, we are starting our focus on identity in earnest, starting with emotions. Even adults can be confused with their emotions at times, so imagine how confusing learning the nuances of emotions can be for the children! That's why we are creating space for them to learn, explore, and express their emotions at school.

We do a few different things to demystify emotions for the children. We make a point during circle time and throughout the day to ask each child how they are feeling. Whatever answer they give (or choose not to give) is okay! Reiterating that children's emotions are valid is important. After all, it only makes sense that children feel angry after someone takes a preferred toy away from them, just like adults can get angry when the MTA has unexplained delays. 

We are working with each and every child to help them gain the valuable skill of saying how they feel, no matter if it's happy or sad, silly or angry. 

This week, we have been reading books and asking the children what the main characters are feeling. Their answers are sometimes surprising and insightful! 

In addition to spending time reading about different emotions, we also took some time to try on those different emotions, embodying what a feeling feels like! 

George showed us "happy." Yvie showed us "silly." Nora showed us "angry." Kyan showed us "silly." Eliza showed us "silly." Henry showed us "happy."

Stay tuned for more emotion pictures throughout the next few weeks. On Friday, I'll share some of the special activities we did this week! It's been a busy and joyful week thus far. At home, discuss your own emotions with your child. Ask how they feel! You can give prompts if they do not immediately answer. Include siblings or other caregivers into the conversations. Be sure to let us know if you or your child have any exciting emotions to share. See you tomorrow! 

-Miss Alana

Bake Sale!

The two words on everyone's minds this week were "BAKE SALE!"

We had a fantastic time selling our baked goods to benefit the Houston Independent School District after Hurricane Harvey. Each child worked hard to sell as many cupcakes and cookies as they could. All together, we raised over $220 dollars! 

We had a busy start to the week in addition to the bake sale. Aidan's birthday happened over our long weekend, so we celebrated on Monday with some of this favorite things. He brought a yummy treat to share during snack time, and Delphine, his mom, read us some of his favorite books from home. Happy Birthday, Aidan! We loved celebrating his birthday.

Monday we did music and movement. This week the biggest hit was "We Are the Dinosaurs" by the Laurie Berkner Band. Everyone had fun pretending to be dinosaur eggs, making their body so small, then cracking, cracking, cracking as they grew all the way to be a big, roaring dinosaur! By using imaginative play and movement, we started talking about the opposites of "big" and "little." 

Tuesday, we had clay day. Using rolling pins, children practiced fine motor skills as they rolled out the squishy clay into different shapes. It was a great sensory experience for all! We started our fantastic bake sale on Tuesday, raising over $100.  

Wednesday, it was Science Day. We made slime! The oozy, gooey, purple slime made it's way between everyone's fingers and even up a few arms. The children explored moving the slime around in the sensory table and then had a chance to practice doing a very thorough job of hand washing. We continued our bake sale, this time making over $120 to donate! Not bad, for two hours worth of sales. Since we have extra goodies left to sell, we will continue selling them in the afternoons until we have run out. 

We hope to see some of you shortly at the back to school picnic. We will have our first Literacy Thursday tomorrow, so get excited for some ABC's! 

See you tomorrow! 

-Miss Alana

Starting our Schedules

Hi families! It was a short week, but it sure was action packed.

This week, we got started with our schedule. On Monday, we did music and movement with Miss Alana. A favorite from that dance party was the remixed version of Itsy Bitsy Spider by Go Fish, from their Party Like a Preschooler album. Check it out! We also listened to some jazz music and had a wildly loud instrument play along. In the next few weeks, we will start doing more focused music and movement activities.

Tuesdays are usually our Clay day. To ease into working with moldable materials, the whole group worked together to make playdough. After the playdough was made, children used items found in nature, like seashells or pebbles to decorate it, making elaborate temporary works of art.

Wednesday we focused on science experiments. We made “hurricanes” and “rainstorms” in a big pitcher with water, shaving cream, and food coloring that we dropped in using paint droppers! This fun science experiment let the children witness what happens as different materials were mixed together. It looked like rain!

We had a great time starting to follow our weekly schedule. The first few weeks of school have all been about instilling a sense of trust and safety in the children’s environment. We did this by allowing them to explore the whole space, by trying tons of new things, and by getting to know everyone at school. For next week, we will be introducing even more structure into the school day.

Can’t wait to see you all on Monday, when we will celebrate Aidan's birthday!

-Miss Alana

First Week is Over!

Hello everyone! We have had such a fun and productive first week of school. The kids are adjusting to being in school and we love getting to know their personalities. This first week has been a great opportunity for the children to explore the school on their own time, as everything has been open for them and free play was encouraged. Now that they are more comfortable with the school and are starting to learn some routines, we will be following a schedule and splitting up by age group into our classrooms for much of the day. Each day will have a different focus, starting with Movement and Music with Miss Alana on Monday morning! The full weekly schedule is on the home page for the classroom, so be sure to check that out.

Have a fantastic weekend! Can’t wait to make music and dance a little with everyone on Monday.

-Miss Alana

First Week of School!

Welcome (and welcome back) to Buckle My Shoe West Village! We have had a fantastic time getting to know you and your kids during orientation and this first week of school. Every Wednesday and Friday you can expect a new blog post, covering some of the things that we are exploring in school that week. On our classroom website, there is a link to sign up to have this blog sent directly to your email address. Feel free to share this link with family members. One way that you can encourage children to talk about their day at school is to look at the blog together. Asking questions about what you have read and the pictures that have been uploaded can spark imagination, insights, and questions that lead to further growth.

Our main goal for this first week of school is to create an environment that is warm, welcoming, and safe. When children feel safe in a space, they can explore new concepts and try different things. When the adults feel comfortable and safe, it helps with the sometimes-dreaded drop-offs and transition into being at school part of the day! As teachers, we strive to help ignite joy in learning, ensuring that children are not only growing, they are having a joyful time while doing so. We do this by carefully selecting things that the children have shown us they are interested in, or that fit in with our theme of “identity” this fall. Everything from the materials in the sensory table to the books we choose to read to the children has been thoughtfully planned with the goal to help the children learn, grow, explore, and create.

Look out for another blog post on Friday. We are enjoying getting to know both you and your children so much right now and are excited to continue building relationships throughout the entire school year. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions!

See you soon!

-Miss Alana