Movers and Shakers

May is a month where Home Sweet Home is getting BIZNESS accomplished! Heck, it started in March (okay August). Many thanks to our tremendously dedicated families for making all of our program growth and development possible.

Home Sweet Home has a lot on its plate this month of May: Big Friends have Presentation of Learning (POLs) and job interviews, BASE seniors have firewalks and graduation. Child Development interns are planning to attend the Early Childhood legislative day in Sacramento on May 25th. Interviews for HSH Summer 2011 interns are coming up, and we are including HSH almuns on the panel for the first time!

It is important to acknowledge the thought and care that have gone into Teacher Appreciation Week, especially by the PAC Events Committee volunteers lead by Heather Jennings.

Sharisse Huie has agreed to be our AIA Board Parent Representative for 2011-2012! We are grateful for her time and talent.

Thanks to Rebecca Huang for coordinating the Alameda Farmer's Market walk, and Sharisse and Sky for coordinating our Sulphur Creek trip and to all our field trip chaperones and drivers.

With a big shout-out to our Earth Day-inspired April 30th BUILD crew: Anakata, Attias, Brandt, Colla, Conley, Davidson, Doyle, Elias, Fletcher, Hebert, Hondrogen, Mintz, Owens, Palmer, and Speed supported by Cierra and Sky. What got done? Removing the dreaded bars, reconfigure the stage and log cabin, create the new garden space, reinforce the shade structure, and beautify the big garden with pruning, weeding, planting and supporting the irrigation system. We also planted an oak tree! (Okay seedling, but check back in 8 years.) With special thanks to Jacqueline Bruhn (HSH alumni Leo's mom) for her mentorship.

Parent - Teacher Conferences May 6th

Home Sweet Home staff want to thank families for honoring our staff development day on April 21st. Amazing conversations took place around the possibilities for collaboration between parents and teachers. By analyzing the success of the year, teachers identified that there is strong inclination by parents to support program with their talent and presence, but an opportunity to more strongly communicate the details of program needs to make this support practical. Teachers are identifying ways to invite these collaborations to create a more seamless program, with richer process reflecting parents-teachers-youth and children. Please stay-tuned!

The Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Friday, May 6th. Teachers would like to meet in teams with parents to support a greater capacity for sharing. Logistically, this is difficult, but staff worked on the following schedule and hope that parents can hold tightly to it. Please email Kathleen if you CANNOT make your spot and keep to the allotted 30 minutes time.

BUTTERFLIES
8:00 - Ava; 8:35 - Jackson; 9:10 - Elisa; 9:45 - Marcus; 10:20 - Lexi; 10:55 - Jack; 11:30 - Michael; 1:35 - Dylan; 2:10 - Katy; 2:40 - Lake; 3:15 - Mylie; 3:50 - Brody; 4:25 - Vinnie; 5:00- Elizabeth

BROWN BEARS
8:00 - Cash; 8:30 - Charlotte; 9:00 - Leah; 9:30 - Dylan; 10:00 - Margaret; 10:30 - Emmett; 11:00 - Sophia; 1:00 - Gabriel; 1:30 - Billie; 2:00 - Violet; 2:30 - Cosmo; 3:00 - Shani; 3:30 - Pierce; 4:00 - Lucy; 4:30 - Adrian; 5:00 - Giuliana; 5:30 - Kira

Hollow Block Celebration

Our parents worked hard to fundraise for them, and now our hollow blocks are on their way! At Home Sweet Home we want to celebrate the arrival of our Hollow Blocks! How can parents and teachers message to children that the group has selected this product and worked together toward providing it for our learning community? Home-to-school-connection: Parents are asked to "notice" architecture with children. In addition to buildings, big and small, any structure (a crate, a dog house): how is it framed? What shapes are represented? Please have intentional conversations around these themes with your child, including now leading up to when our hollow blocks arrive in two weeks. Parents are invited to volunteer to support block play. Hollow blocks add risk and enrichment to the preschool classroom. Children will be introduced to the hollow blocks in small groups to best be able to explore all their properties. In this way, children will be able to gain competency managing this new resource. Parents are invited to partner with teachers and big friends to explore the possibilities of hollow blocks with our children, to add a level of safety during this introductory period as well as heighten excitement and a sense of occasion. Please let us know if you would like to support this from 3:00-5:00 any afternoon the weeks of May 2 - 13. Why do we love blocks? "It’s been more than two hundred years since Friedrich Froebel introduced wooden shapes for children to explore, take apart, and put together. Since then, blocks have been shown to aid the development of young children. Jean Piaget’s theory of stages, for instance, tells us that children develop social, physical, and logico-mathematical knowledge through playing with manipulative materials such as blocks.When children play with blocks, they are practicing mathematical skills. In selecting blocks of different sizes and shapes and comparing surface volumes and areas, for example, they are unwittingly using classification and seriation (Hirsch, 1996). Cleaning up involves math too: sorting identical and dissimilar shapes, and organizing by size (Henniger, 1987). Because it involves measuring lengths, widths, and heights (if only by eye), block play develops a child’s ability to mentally visualize relationships. Such manipulations are similar to those used in geometry and algebra during the child’s later school years (Henniger, 1987). Constructive block play also involves the use of spatial configurations (Reifel, 1983), a vital aspect of mathematics and science generally (Casey, Pezaris & Nuttal, 1992). A study that evaluated the block constructions of four-year-olds (in 1982) and compared them with their test scores in high school (in 1998) supported the hypothesis that a child’s ability to create complex block constructions can predict mathematical ability. Interestingly, the study found a difference in achievement levels between boys and girls only when the boys were given greater exposure to blocks. When both were given equal ­opportunities to develop their skills, there were no gender-related differences (Stannard, Wolfgang, Jones, and Phelps, 2001). In short, unit blocks do not only afford long-lasting play, but also fundamental educational lessons that will be invaluable in later life. Because of this, adults who work with young children would do well to learn the names of geometric shapes, the built-in mathematical concepts their children will draw on in playing with blocks, and the developmental stages exhibited by children during play. Unit blocks ought to be an integral part of every childhood." (Pamela C. Phelps, Ph.D. and Laura L. Stannard, Ph.D.) Why are Community Playthings hollow blocks considered high quality? The soft maple wood happens to grow fast, reforest well and come from the Northeast—close to the woodshops instead of thousands of gallons of gasoline away. And that smooth protective gloss is a carefully selected water-based lacquer chosen specifically for its low emissions—hollow blocks are indoor air quality certified. Community Playthings upholds these high standards for health, safety and environmental responsibility: Forest Stewardship Council certification for a growing selection of products assures they come from responsibly managed forests. Call us about FSC-certified p. Indoor air quality certification protects the air children breathe every day.Indoor Advantage Gold™ is the highest level of indoor air certification in North America. US Green Building Council membership pioneering environmental non-profit and developer of the LEED Green Building Rating System.

Week of the Young Child

The Week of the Young Child is April 10-16. Sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (www.naeyc.org) this is an annual opportunity for our local communities to come together to honor young children and all those who make a difference in children's lives. Young children need and deserve high-quality early care and education. Home Sweet Home preschool recognizes that early years are learning years for all young children. As much as children need high quality early childhood care and education, parents also need dependable providers to care for and educate their children when they are at work. This week please take time to reflect on how our coummunity, state and nation reflect children and working families. It is a time for celebration of the relationships that create high quality learning environments for young children, and a critical opportunity to lend a voice of support to the power-brokers and policy makers that determine how we invest in the future by supporting programs for young children. "Gentle Hands Make Happy Friends" is a performance created by Youth Act, the Alternatives in Action's West Alameda Community Programs Child Development class in celebration of the Week of the Young Child. Wednesday, April 13th at 3:30PM in the Big Room at Bay Area School of Enterprise. All are welcome. 2011 Early Learning Advocacy Day: Seize the Moment for California's Youngest Children! May 25, 2011AM: Capitol Plaza Ballrooms1025 Ninth Street (at K Street)PM: State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814 10:00 a.m. - Program and Brunch 1:00 p.m. - Legislative Visits Don’t miss this opportunity to meet with your state legislators, network with early learning advocates from across California and learn about this year’s early learning policy issues.

Animals - Extinct and Endangered

Since the beginning of the school year, dinosaurs and anything prehistoric related has always been an interest in the Brown Bear room. Although it never took off as a theme, the children are always engaged in conversations about prehistoric life. Whenever I read an article about a newly discovered dinosaur (or planet), I bring up the conversation during circle. When I read an article in early March about the discovery of a woolly mammoth and how scientists want to bring it back to life, the children thought that was amazing. They thought it would be great to go on a mammoth ride. They began talking about other animals they want to bring back to life; mainly dinosaurs and a saber tooth tiger. Different animals were mentioned and the conversation ventured into the difference between extinct and endangered. A few children knew the difference and were able to explain the difference to their friends. Extinct means that the animal is no longer alive and endangered means that the animal is almost "all gone." In order to support this interest of the children, I checked out a few books from the library of both animals that are extinct (mammoths and dinosaurs) and endangered animals (tigers, camels, and elephants). Such books included Almost Gone and Gone Wild. The children showed much interest and requested that I read about the different animals every day during circle. Before I go to the library, I always ask the children what books they would like me to check out. Books about woolly mammoths, tigers, dinosaurs, princesses, and dragons were requested. I also brought books about sharks (which was a giant hit), spiders, rhinos, and camels. I also found a chapter book called The Mammoth Academy that has been a huge hit with the children. I've only been reading it for two days and we are already on chapter 6; halfway through the book! The conversation that took place in regards to why animals were endangered was that their habitats were being destroyed, not enough food to eat, and/or climate change. A few children knew about over-hunting and this too was discussed - buffaloes, elephants, and possibly mammoths.

Children began bringing in toy animals for sharing and Charlotte brought in her dog. The children have been looking for worms and other insects outside. I brought in more books from the library that was not so much about endangered animals but cultural books in which animals were the characters. I also brought in pictures of tigers and dolphins from my days at Marine World. During my research on this theme, I had the idea of "adopting a tiger" from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In my previous preschool, the classroom adopted a tiger and we received a plush tiger, along with photos. To develop social, writing, and cognitive skills, the children were allowed to take the tiger home for the weekend and write and draw about their time with the tiger in a "Tiger Journal." During the Monday morning circle, the child talked about what they did with the tiger during the weekend. This is one idea I have for the Brown Bear class.

As you may all know by now, we are also taking a field trip to the Oakland Zoo. This is a great way to support the Brown Bear's interest in animals, both endangered and extinct. After the field trip, the teachers will observe the interests of the children and support that interest. In addition to talking about animals, we have also talked about ways to take care of plants, trees, and flowers. This has been supported by books that relate to gardening and the habitats of animals. It is our goal to bring all these themes together by building, maintaining, and taking care our own habitat - our playground garden areas. We plan on building birdhouses and feeders, as well as ordering butterflies so the children can observe firsthand the metamorphosis of the butterfly. Sky and I are also looking to fill out tanks with different insects and possibly a turtle. With living organisms in the classroom, supported by books, conversations, our garden, projects, and field trips, we believe that this theme is a great way for the children to learn about animals, both alive and extinct, as well as caring for animals and our Earth.

- Jose Castellanos