Absences:
I strongly urge you to keep your child home when she is
sick. I don’t want your child to feel like she is penalized for catching a
cold, so if/when you have a sick student, please feel free to make up a day. If
your child attends the two day week, she is absolutely invited to attend a
Friday make up day.
If I need to cancel school (I only did once for 2011-2012
and once for 2010-2011), I will offer an additional day on a Monday or
Wednesday to make up for my cancellation. This is a rare occurrence, but one
that is planned for just in case. I will give you as much notice as possible in
this situation.
School breaks:
To ensure we get to spend as much time with our families, I
follow the Alpine School District’s calendar. This is why I do not teach on
Mondays at all. More often than not, the days off fall on Mondays. I don’t know why exactly, but they do. When your
older children are out for UEA, we’re off.
The same is true for Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. I
think it just simplifies our lives as Moms.
Snacks:
I provide snacks. We eat all kinds of yummy treats. Often
they go along with the theme or season we’re in. Special days such as birthdays
or class parties find us eating special snacks. Typical snacks offered range
from cheese sticks and graham crackers to alphabet cookies or pretzels. I will
offer fresh fruits that include apples, oranges, grapes, etc.
It is very difficult for little ones to learn with an empty
stomach so I urge you to encourage students to eat good breakfasts. Our snack
time is usually at 10 a.m. That can be a long time to wait for a little tummy.
Bad behavior:
I very much adhere to the idea of positive reinforcement. I
would much rather school be a place of learning new behaviors than punishing
bad behavior. I never, ever use corporal punishment. Not as a Mom, not as a
teacher.
There are several behaviors that can warrant a time out.
Hitting, biting, repeatedly taking things away from another
child—aggression will become a big
problem in elementary school and that make our classroom an unsafe environment
if left unchecked. I do teach the children to apologize and help them come up
with other ways to express their feelings other than through aggression. I only needed to discipline in a time out
and/or send a note to a parent 4-5 times throughout an entire school year. Odds
are, we won’t encounter problems. If we do, I will work with the child here in
our class. If needs be, I will send a note home.
Sometimes it’s the toy that is the problem: like swords. Our
Wednesday/Friday class needed the swords to be unavailable last year.
A solution can always be found.
School can be a frustrating place. There are routines to
learn and situations that may come up that aren’t the most desirable to a four
year old. If your child loses her cool and has a meltdown (and what preschooler
doesn’t some time?), I allow them time to visit with our stuffed animals and
breathe more easily for a few minutes until she is ready to rejoin us.
Surrounded by furry things, but within sight and hearing of her classmates, she
can regain her composure and follow along when she is ready. Transitioning back into what we’re doing is
easy when she never “left” us to begin with.
