Even though Fall officially started 2 weeks ago it sure hasn’t felt like it. Thank goodness that seems to have changed. Cooler days certainly make outdoor time much more enjoyable. Please be sure your child comes to school each day dressed appropriately for outdoor play. Layers that can be added or removed as needed work best.

Lately outdoor time has offered many opportunities for practicing gross motor skills and coordination. The children have been excitedly practicing balancing, jumping, catching and throwing, kicking, crawling, climbing, and hanging upside down by their knees.  The look of pride on their face when they master a new skill is priceless.

So far, we have been spending or time focused on learning about ourselves and others in our lives. We’ve talked about what it means to be a friend and how we can show kindness every day. We’ve compared how we are the same and how we have many differences to cherish. We’ve investigated all the things we can do to stay healthy from good food choices, exercise and proper sleep.

This week we will be move on to Feelings and Emotions. As adults we have learned to manage our emotions. Children are still learning to recognize and manage their feelings in an acceptable way. One way we help them do this is to acknowledge the way the feel in words. By telling a child, ”Your face is telling me you are feeling sad, what can I do to help you?” They start to learn what it means to be sad and what they can do about it. It’s important for children to know that emotions are not a thing to be ashamed of and we all have them.

Next week we will focus on” Manners”. Good manners start with learning to say “Please and Thank You” but there is so much more. It is important that adults model good manners for children. As we all know with any skill,  practice makes perfect and manners are a skill that children need to practice in order for them to become a natural habit.

Next we will move onto a week of “Fun with Monsters”. There are some great children’s books that take the scary out of monsters for children. We will have fun enjoying “Where the Wild Things are.” ,” There’s a Monster at the End of the Book” and more. The kids will even have opportunities to create Monster masks and Monster toast for snack. We will wrap up the week on 10/25 with our annual Trick Or Treating in the adjacent Sunnen business park. We welcome all parents to join us for all or part of the morning. Please let us know if you will be attending. We will need to leave school no later than 9:00 am so please have your child here and ready to go, in costume, by 8:45. They will each need a container or bag for the goodies that they will collect. The next week we will move on to other Halloween fun. Pumpkins, Ghosts and Witches oh my! The kids will have a blast making Halloween decorations and snacks as well as decorating their own pumpkin.