If you're new to this blog, one of the things I like to do is add some tidbits about the school where I teach.  We spend quite a bit of time in the outdoors and the children really enjoy it.  And sometimes I hear children say, "I'm bored!"  I love it when children say they're bored.  It's such an opportunity to discover and explore that they wouldn't have had otherwise.  

A very wise woman once said, "All great things were created because someone was bored."  It gives children an opportunity to think within the stillness and have room within themselves to have new ideas.  Just as we adults need time and room within our days to think and organize ourselves, children need the opportunity to be bored.  So, the next time you hear, "I'm bored", embrace it and allow your child to be in the boredom for a while.  You just might be surprised when they come up with something amazing on their own!

I went into school yesterday for a little while to find this:

While it's not too bad, there's a lot of work to do!  Today the carpets are being cleaned, and then we'll be able to go in and set up soon.  I'm looking forward to setting up the space putting works out on the shelves!

This year, we once again have 24 children in the environment and my co-teacher Jennifer and I.  We will also have an intern from Xavier University with us named Caroline, and she's very excited to be with us.

When things start to get settled, I'll upload pictures of a more organized space.  The excitement is building and I can't wait to get started!!

An interesting insight to the development of a child's brain from infancy through 5 years of age.

An interesting comment from the article:   Researchers have shown that when parents spoke to their infants often, children learned almost 300 more words by age two than did children whose parents rarely spoke to them.
One of the reasons why it's so important to talk with children rather than at children. 


O

While I'm still teaching at the same school, this year I'll be taking on some different roles.  I am going to be working with kindergarteners for part of the day exclusively on language/reading skills and speech is tied directly to reading abilities.  One of the most common symptoms of potential reading difficulties in preschoolers is the inability to come up with specific vocabulary for various items, as well as a delay in speech pattern development.  I've put this here as an easy reference.   Enjoy!

I hope to be updating this on a more regular basis with information about what I'm doing with these 5 and 6 yr olds in the environment.