All posts by lambrickparkpreschool

Community

Upon reflecting on this past week and its activities, the word “community” stands out for me in numerous ways. My experience at this year’s silent auction gave me a sense of community. The auction committee successfully delivered an evening that invited our immediate and extended families and friends to share in the goal of raising funds for our preschool. At the same time, we all had the opportunity to get to know each other a bit more and have fun (play!) as we dressed up in the photobooth and shop for some fantastic items!
On Thursday I had the opportunity to speak to a group of Peninsula Early Childhood Educators at one of their meetings. Sharing what we do at Lambrick Park Preschool & Childcare and specifically HOW we do it (as a community) offered an inspiring message to the Victoria area community. We had fun and played at this meeting too (there are not too many professions around where you can sing a Hello song to start things off!)
On Friday, the morning 4’s class participated in our annual Lakehill/Lambrick preschool swap! We spent the morning at Lakehill preschool and they came to our preschool to play. We shared our special place, toys and playground. I felt proud to share what we have with our larger VICPA preschool community. We all had a fun too (more play!)
Finally, (what a busy week!) we had our first clean of the year this past weekend. The preschool was in desperate need of a good once over with a scrub brush. With the summer camps happening throughout July and August along with just finishing off a busy few months of preschool, everything had been well used. It was a true gift to wander into the preschool this Sunday evening to see how our immediate preschool community had come together to do such a thorough job getting everything sparkly clean and organized (and I hope they had fun while they did it?!!).
Who knew that a small preschool in Gordon Head could do so much in a short time to create such a strong sense of community throughout our members, our extended families and our larger communities. And it’s all because of you guys – the preschool families of LPP&C.
Thank you.

Planting a Tree

Thanks to a very artistic preschool mom a tree has been planted and grown inside the preschool!  The level of detail in this gorgeous creation is incredible!  Can you find all five ladybugs?  Make sure to take a close look at it the next time you’re in the preschool!

What Kind of Underwear Does Batman Wear?

The question came up, purely by accident, at the snack table the other day. As I’m sure you can imagine, the discussion of costumes and dress up and Halloween is frequent during this time of year. Children are eager to share their costume plans as the candy day draws nearer.
“I’m going to be Batman!” one of the 4’s children shared with me as we dug into our cut up apples and fishy crackers at the snack table. He stood up from his chair and puffed out his chest.
“I have a cape! And a mask! And a belt!!!”
“WOW!” I replied.
He smiled at me – a proud and somewhat powerful smile that helped me understand how connected he and Batman had become. He was going to take on this powerful, heroic persona on Halloween day and he was ready for the challenge.
My mind went to where many 4 year old minds tend to wander (which is odd as I am not near that age anymore, but tells you how involved I get into my work).
“Does Batman wear batman underwear too?” I asked.
He looked at me oddly – questioning my authority on the subject. How could I ask such a ridiculous question?
“No,” he replied. “He wears Spiderman underwear…..” and then he turned his head, and quietly said “Just like me….”

A Special Visitor

We were so excited to have a special visit from the Victoria Conservatory of Music,  teacher Georgina Craig on Thursday afternoon. She brought her suitcase full of musical treats and shared a fun, musical interactive story with us.
The children enjoyed playing Freeze Dance, using her parachute and trying different instruments and ribbons. They identified the animals in the book that were playing in the jungle and helped with the rhyme.
Gerogina is going to come again on the 7th of November to read and sing the with the 4’s am class. She wasn’t able to fit in the am 3’s class this time, but we will hopefully be able to have her back in the spring to do a musical program with each class.

How lucky we are to have such a wonderful resource in our community!
Thank you Georgina and the Victoria Conservative of Music.

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Stepping Back

We noticed something interesting the other day during free play.

When one of us was in the dress-up room (now a grocery store) and sitting as an observer and supervisor to the play, there were a number of incidences where we thought some assistance or support was required by the educator to help the play continue smoothly.

At one point the ECE had to be come out of the grocery store to help another child in a different space. The four children playing grocery store stayed in the dress up room and continued their play.

It became very, very quiet in the room. After a quick peek, we saw that everyone was still busy playing. Each child had a role and was engrossed in what they were doing.  Although there was no dialogue between them, on occasion they bumped into one another or got in each others way. Yet there were no problems or support required by outside help. Left on their own, they sorted it out.

Of course, we stayed close and within ear shot, to make sure each child was playing the way they wanted. Yet we discovered a new awareness and respect for the capabilities of the children.

How often does it happen when children can sort things out on their own? How often do we as caregivers/parents/educators unnecessarily or prematurely step in to save the day? And what do children learn, or miss learning, when that happens?