Infants A & B – Dreamers ~ Theme: Lullabies, Love and La! La! La!
We’ll bring peace and calm, through beautiful, enduring lullabies. The babies continue to master a sense of self through problem solving, exploration and play. Our routine allows baby to anticipate familiar events and notice the beginning and the end of a time interval.
Jr. Toddlers – Travelers ~ Theme: Guess How Much I Love You?
Continued experiences include activities that involve puzzles, finger plays, music and song where Valentine’s Day will take shape. The heart will be viewed as a symbol of love; and what better way to carry out activities in our loving classroom during the month of February?
Colored water in tubs, a Valentine collage, Valentine Tube Rhymes and open ended easel options round out this month.
Sr. Toddlers – Adventurers ~ Theme: Hearts, Rhymes & Valentines
Dental health, rhyme time books, poetry and winter activities will delight your child. Language skills, communication, space and time, all support the key experiences. Ground Hog Day will also make its entrance as the children learn about this special day that comes in February.
3s – Discoverers ~ Theme: Circles, Lines and Valentines
Listening is a way of loving as the children are taught this important concept. Children will understand the task of classification as it pertains to the attributes of objects which are the color red. In addition, they will also explore light and dark variations of colors. Hearts of many sizes will help them seriate from small to large. A heart hunt will add to their familiarity with this shape to round out experiences relative to the holiday.
4s – Voyagers ~ Theme: Shapes, Signs and Valentines
A wide range of activities will leave room for creativity and interests of the children. A simple geometry lesson and great sink and float activities will combine the holiday with science and sensory fun. Continued use of fingerplays, poems, rhymes and song will provide the balance of early learning that you have come to expect in your child’s classroom.
~~ Kindergarten Days ~~
Navigators ~ Theme: Sharing and Caring
Our navigators will learn the importance of being a good friend, a good child, a good sibling, a good person. We impart ways to share, care and everything in between. The children will have plentiful opportunities to express themselves while we continue to stress our character-building component which is woven into the Legacy Academy curriculum. While our students master the concepts within this context, they will better grasp the ideas of personal connections as they take place in the school, the neighborhood and in the wider community as a whole.
School Age Explorers
Theme: A Community Project will be planned to leave our legacy on the community.
Let’s explore how children develop relationships
Children are surrounded by significant individuals from the day they enter this world. The positive connections they make with others will help them learn about relationships and social skills.
Birth ~ 12 Months ~ Babies respond in different ways to those around them. Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety show they are forming attachments to others. They begin to feel a sense of security when they experience consistent relationships with others. As they approach the one year mark, they begin to imitate signs of affection such as big kisses, hugs, and snuggles.
1 ~ 2 Years ~ Young toddlers are beginning to explore relationships with others, but are still cautious around new faces. It is important that their needs are quickly responded to in order for feelings of security to develop around those who they are getting to know. Reaching out to hold hands with a friend, parent or teacher is a new way for these little ones to show affection.
2 ~ 3 Years ~ Two year olds are looking for reassurance from others that their new and expanding world is safe to explore. They may play a little and try new activities, all the while looking around to make sure an adult is nearby. They express their emotions with gestures and signs.
3 ~ 4 Years ~ Three year olds are comfortable, for the most part, away from their significant others. They are eager to talk and share their experiences with others. This trust brings out signs and words of affection to others as they begin to take chances and say those three special words, “I love you.”
4 ~ 5 Years ~ Four years olds are learning to be successful as little social beings in new settings, and as they explore new activities. They seek out the face of an adult to check their reaction, as they are eager to please others and make good choices. They transition into new situations well, ask for guidance when needed, and show affection in many ways with many words and actions.
A loving, secure relationship includes…
- Happy greetings
- Hugs
- Kind acts
- A secure level of comfort
- Snuggling
- Saying, “I love you.”
- Holding hands
- Jumping into open arms
- Blowing kisses
- Smiles, grins and winks
The Value of Kindness
Kindness shows our genuine concern for others through our words, our actions, and our attitude.
Relationships develop when we are kind to one another. There are many ways for us to help children learn about kindness and celebrate friendship. This month, teach your little ones how to draw hearts or trace heart cookie cutters. Teach them how an “X” and an “O” are the symbols for a hug and a kiss. Your little ones will enjoy making cards, pictures, and books to share with others.
Motivational author, Ben Tracy says it well, “In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.
To explore additional ways to show kindness, you may enjoy visiting http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/. There you will find kindness ideas, free resources, stories, and additional links. We can all play and leave our Legacy as we teach the next generation how to express kindness to others.
Your local library is a great resource for books on love, kindness, and values that really can help develop children’s social skills and emotional development.
