Mornings in the Woodland Suite by Tamara Treviranus

Mornings in the Woodland Suite

By Miss Tammy

Hello Dear Families,

As the days have become colder, mornings in the Woodland Suite have included a little more indoor play time.  Many of our young friends really look forward to seeing each other and greet each other excitedly by name. There has been a lot of musical play with jingle bells, rain sticks, kalimba and a little drumming on pots and pans.   Other favorites are swaddling baby dolls and playing with cars and trains. We tidy up and then enjoy a warm snack before getting ready for outside play.  All of the children continue to work on taking off their own slippers and putting on their outdoor gear.  With a little help and encouragement, many of them are quite capable! We are lucky to have had a little bit of snow now and the children have pulled each other in sleds and eaten snow.  After some fresh air and hard work getting off our outdoor gear, the children are quite ready for another warm meal and nap. Thank you for sharing your children with us!

           

Something New from the Kitchen by Jeremy Bucher

Something New from the Kitchen

By Mister Jeremy

            I frequently search food websites for new recipes that I can try out for the children at LifeWays. I only have a few sandwich recipes in my catalogue so I decided to search for a few recipes that I could make a lot of in a short time. I discovered this veggie burger recipe and chose to try it out in the next month or so. I have been adding curry to both the quinoa and the lentils that I serve as a part of several different meals. The children seem to enjoy the flavor and I think these burgers will be an excellent addition to our Monday meals here at LifeWays.

Curry-Spiced Veggie Burgers

·         1/2 cup plain Yogurt (or soy or coconut yogurt substitute)

·         1/2 teaspoon Curry powder

·         Coarse Salt

·         1 teaspoon Lime juice

·         1 - 15oz. can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed

·         2 Scallions, finely chopped

·         3/4 cup cooked Basmati Rice

·         3 tablespoons shredded Carrot

·         2 tablespoons Breadcrumbs (or gluten-free breadcrumbs)

·         2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro

1.      In a small bowl, combine yogurt, curry powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and lime juice. Let sit for 15 minutes

2.      In a food processor, pulse chickpeas, scallions and 1/2 teaspoon salt until a chunky paste forms.

3.      In a large bowl, combine chickpea mixture, rice, carrots, breadcrumbs, cilantro and 2 tablespoons of yogurt mixture.

4.      Form into patties and cook until lightly golden and heated through, about 4 minutes per side.

News from the Forest by Belinda Kenwood

News from the Forest

By Miss Belinda

Happy New Year, Dear Parents!

The season has turned from Autumn into Winter, the transformation taking place over our holiday break.  And though we have yet to discover the joys of winter, the children and I took full advantage of our beautiful autumn weather.   We began our Kinderforest season in September with the color green surrounding us in the grasses and the leaves on the trees.  Bees were buzzing, mosquitoes were biting, flowers were still in bloom, grasses were lush and tall, the sun felt warm upon our faces, the trees were still dressed and we could hear the wind rustling through the leaves of those trees.

As the weeks went by, we were thrilled to discover the signs of Summer giving way to Fall and our songs and verses during circle time as well as our stories celebrated the summer into fall transition and lead us into our daily explorations of signs of Fall.  The children were observant noticing the leaves changing from green to yellow, gold, orange, red and brown, until one day, one of our young friend’s called out, “Look…the tree is naked!”  Yes, the tree was, indeed, undressed.  Brother wind had begun blowing the leaves off of their trees, and we were soon hiking through a blanket of leaves from Grandfather Oak as well as from Grandmother Maple.  The children began finding more of Mother Earth’s autumn treasures…little round acorns with caps as well as without caps, big and small dark brown chestnuts, as well as shells of all shapes and sizes.  Oh, and let’s not forget, the joy in finding glorious mud when the autumn rains fell.

While playing by the river we noticed Mama ducks and Daddy ducks swimming peacefully, sometimes dunking their heads into the water leaving their tails straight up in the air.  We saw several people dressed in rubber suits and boots wading out into the middle of the river with fishing poles for the running of the salmon.  We even saw and heard the big splashes of water as the salmon jumped out of and back into the water on their descent down river.  Two times we witnessed a big sand crane with its huge wingspan flying up river.  And of course we’ve observed Squirrel Nutkins nibbling on acorns and chasing each other up and down the trees. 

The children’s play has been industrious…hiking and running up and down big hills and little hills, climbing up and down trees (within boundaries), balancing on and sitting upon felled tree trunks as well as hanging from low branches, swinging on vines, playing house or movie theater in shelters made of fallen sticks and branches, participating in chasing games, collecting sticks and branches, turning sticks into fishing poles to catch “fish” from the river, tossing stones and sticks into the river, and, of course, finding treasures provided by Mother Earth to tuck (or “stuff” as the case may be) into our backpacks and pockets to take home with us. 

During the children’s play, I recede into the background staying close but not to close so I am able to observe their play.  I strive to give them the experience of being able to play without a lot of adult intervention and hovering in order to allow them the freedom to go deep into their play and to be able to work out some issues they have with their friends.  For young children, play is the way they make sense of their world.  Where we, as adults, are able to think, process and talk about the experiences affecting us from day to day, developmentally, young children do not yet have those capabilities.  Play is the way children work through their fears and anxious feelings as well as their feelings of happiness and joy.  I stay in a place where they can see me and know that they can come to me if they’re hurt or if they need help in working through a problem with a friend.  Many times, they are able to solve issues on their own often times with help from their friends.

I am also pleased to tell you that the very important skill of learning how to dress our own self in our outdoor clothes and boots is coming along very nicely.  All of the children are very capable, and when given the time and expectation, all of them are able to get dressed on their own with minimal help from me.  I am also able to ask the first ones dressed to help the others who aren’t quite ready.  I do let them know that they can come to me and ask for help when needed, and they also know that I do expect them to try it themselves first.

For projects, we collected leaves from the forest to use when creating our own lanterns for November’s Lantern Festival, and then we dipped leaves into melted beeswax and gathered sticks to make our leaf mobiles, worked with green, yellow, red, orange and brown crayons as well as our collected leaves to create autumn leaf rubbings, and we dipped pinecones in melted beeswax and then sprinkled a little glitter onto the warm beeswax to create our sparkly, beeswax dipped pine cone ornaments.  The children very much enjoyed making each one of their creations…they told me so!  J

I look forward to exploring with the children the season of Winter in the forest, and in closing, I share with you one of the songs we sing while gathered for our Good Morning Circle in the forest clearing:

We turn again to the sun (turn and face the east with arms outstretched at sides)

Arise, everyone (raise arms upward)

We open our eyes to greet the day (point to each eye)

Open our hands to work and play (hold each hand out in front of you, palms up)

Open our hearts and begin to sing of all this day will bring (cross hands over heart)

From Seven Times the Sun by Shea Darian

The Lost Mittens by Sandra Schmidt

The Lost Mittens

By Miss Sandra

Several years ago, when I was still working in Viroqua, I had a young friend named Elizabeth who could not keep track of her belongings. Mittens would go missing, socks and shirts--a hat too. It was very upsetting for her mother and she made her unhappiness know to Miss Shannon and me. Yet we had 18 children in our care and the primary responsibility we felt belonged with the children (ages 3-6) to manage their possessions. Elizabeth was not a particularly dreamy child in fact she was quite observant--she was the child to ask who a glove belonged to or who had left a scarf in the hall. Yet she was unable to identify and keep track of her own belongings. Miss Shannon and I decided to observe Elizabeth and hopefully come up with a plan to assist her to keep track of her belongings. What we observed was that Elizabeth's mother loaded and unloaded the backpack. It was her mother who hung up her coat and put her mittens on the shelf above her hook.  Elizabeth had no real connection to her possessions or how they ended up where they did.

The act of moving her mittens from the mitten basket at home to her pockets to her hands to the shelf above her hook would have tremendous value in helping her keep track of her belongings.  Working together with Elizabeth's mother we were able to help Elizabeth gain a connection to her belongings by having her take charge of them. While it might take longer for a child to load their backpack or hang up their coat than a parent or caregiver, in the long run it is beneficial. A child as young as three is able to manage their belongings if given the opportunity and a child as young as 18 months can make their boots "happy".  A big part of my responsibility when working with the young child is to help them on the path of independence -- to be free human beings. And hanging up one’s own coat is a small step (among many) on that path.

A Visit to KinderForest by Amanda Quesnall

A Visit to KinderForest

By Miss Amanda

While Miss Belinda welcomed baby Bea to her suite I got the privilege to teach forest kindergarten last week. The first day we went on a huge hike and found the perfect sledding hill. By the end of the morning the children had learned to take turns, climb up a different spot where others were not sledding down, and to move out of the way once they reached the bottom. The second day we hiked through the forest and found a giant cut down tree. It was so enjoyable to observe their play and watched how it progressed. At first the tree acted as a dungeon with each branch being a different prison. Ian, Arwen, and Zeya were captured while Clayton, Everett, and Silvia were trying to break them free. Then the tree acted as a pirate ship, they collect long sticks and built off of the tree making sails, a deck, and rooms. One of the most enjoyable parts of the day was when Everett struggled lifting a log and then Zeya said “I know, we can do teamwork”, her and a few others then all helped lift and moved the log. I had a great two days with the forest kindergarten crew not only can they get dressed by themselves, they enjoy helping one another, they use their words to solve their own conflicts, and they let their imaginations run wild while allowing everyone to join in their play. They are a great group of children and I enjoyed spending the morning with them.

A Snapshot from the Sunshine Garden Suite by Belinda Kenwood

A Snapshot from the Sunshine Garden Suite

by Miss Belinda

Winter Greetings to You, Dear Parents ~

A warm welcome back to you all from the holiday break. It was so good to see everyone again, and the children seemed to transition back into the fold with ease. We also warmly welcome three and a half month old, Baby Bea.

With caring for our new wee one, the little girls are making use of the baby dolls, blankets and bottles in their play, sitting on rocking chairs and feeding the dollies their bottles and swaddling them with the warm blankets.  All of the children come up to watch Bea drink her bottle, greet her with a, “Hi, Bea”, and come to check on her when she’s crying.  She is a source of endless fascination for the children, and I’m seeing all of the children’s caring and nurturing tendencies coming through, from the youngest to the oldest. They’re trying really hard to remember to use quiet voices and feet around the baby because her tiny ears are still so tender.  Of course, Baby Bea does not yet know how to use her quiet voice, so at naptime some of the children grumble as they are awakened when they hear her cry when waking up from her nap, but when I quietly pick her up and sit down with her in the rocking chair to either feed her or give her a cuddle to help her back to sleep, most of them quickly go back to sleep as well. 

And speaking of napping, as it’s getting a bit late, and I’m feeling a bit sleepy, I thought I would share with you a few little bedtime tidbits from Sharifa Oppenheimer, author of the book, Heaven on Earth:

Tried and True Bedtime Snack:

v  Buttered toast with honey and warm milk with honey and cinnamon.  This combination of foods can help create a relaxed, sleepy effect on children.

Bedtime Stories – things to consider:

v  Offer only one story or book before saying goodnight.  Two or more stories and books can overwhelm a little mind.  You can use the same book or story for several consecutive evenings.

Carefully choose books that:

v  Feature a luminous central image in each illustration (for example, Grandfather Twilight)

v  Model social behavior

v  Portray high character

Try making up your own stories.  These can be little nature stories or stories about your own childhood told from the heart.  Children love to hear about the experiences their mommy’s and daddy’s had while growing up.  And they love to hear them over and over again.

Bedtime Story Pointers/Flexible Guidelines:

For infants and babies

v  Finger and toe rhymes

v  Lullabies and rocking rhymes

Twos through Fours:

v  Stories of home, yard and animals

v  Stories about their own day (you could tell them the story of their day in reverse beginning with their bedtime routine and ending with waking up at the beginning of their day.)

Fives, Sixes and Sevens (some Fours):

v  Fairy Tales (particularly Grimm’s fairy tales) *It might be a good idea to read the tale on your own first to see if there might be anything in it that could frighten your child.  The younger the child, the simpler the tale. 

v  Images of fine human qualities

Eights and Up:

v  High Adventure

*Note about Television Viewing – it is associated with altered sleep patterns and sleep disorders in children, so try to have the children refrain from television viewing several hours before bedtime.

Bedtime Blessings and Verses – Two of my favorites (there are so many lovely blessings and verses out there to choose from):

Guardian angels, whom we love,

Shine on us from up above.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

And in the morning when I wake,

Show me the path of love to take.

Blessings on our sleep.

The dark comes like a blanket, protecting us at night.

(make gesture of wrapping blanket around yourself)

The moon shines like the heart of God, providing gentle light.

(make gesture of moon above your head)

The stars call forth our sparkling dreams like waves upon the shore,

(gently make back and forth gesture like waves above your head)

to greet the nighttime pilgrims as we journey through sleep’s door.

(make gesture of going to sleep with hands folded at one ear and head tilted to the side)

Blessings and Sweet Sleep to you all.

The Importance of Warmth by Belinda Kenwood

The Importance of Warmth

By Miss Belinda, October 24^th 2015

Greetings, Dear Parents ~

The cool weather months are descending upon us and a key “ingredient” for a child who feels comfortable and free to explore in nature as well as participate in all outdoor activities (including discovering the play possibilities of wind, snow, mud and puddles) is warm, sturdy, protective clothing.   

We all know that if children are to grow into happy, healthy individuals, it is essential to wrap them in the warmth of our love.  For the young child, physical warmth is just as important.  Children are developing their physical bodies during the first seven years of their lives and at the same time, they have not yet fully developed their sense of warmth and may not realize when they are cold.  When this happens, energy that should be going to build healthy organs is, instead, expended in heating the body.  A baby or toddler that is not dressed warmly enough can become restless, experience cramps, or cry a lot.  Simply dressing them more warmly can change their behavior and level of contentment dramatically.   Small children have a thin skin and they spend time on the floor inside and on the ground outside.  If you’ve ever sat on a hardwood or tile floor, you may have noticed how cold it is.  A first step for parents and caregivers is to realize that it is important to dress a small child warmly enough. 

Because children under the age of 7-years do not yet know if they are too cold (or too warm) they typically will not or cannot articulate their discomfort but may, instead, misbehave or, as mentioned above, cry.  If children are dressed warmly enough during the day as well as during the night, it is much easier for them to feel at home in their bodies.  Also - being cold can decrease immunity and make children more susceptible to germs and viruses.

How do you know if your young baby and/or child is dressed warmly enough?  Start by feeling his/her little, thin-skinned bodies.  Babies and young children need to have warm feet, warm legs, warm hands and arms.  Cold legs, cold feet, cold arms and hands are indications that the baby/young child needs extra clothing.  On the other hand, if a baby or young toddler’s neck and the area between his shoulders feels warm or a bit wet, take one layer off.

At LifeWays, our recommended rule of thumb when the outdoor temperatures fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit is 3-layers above the belt and 2-layers below. With this in mind, we ask that you have available to your child each day of attendance the following Essential Items:

v  Base layer for above and below the belt - long johns top and bottoms/long underwear top and bottoms.  Thick tights or leggings can also be worn as a base layer below the belt.

-          The base layer is important, because it prevents valuable heat from escaping the core as well as wicks away moisture.  Natural fibers such as wool/wool blends and silk/silk wool blends are excellent fibers for base layers because they are breathable and can absorb a lot of humidity without feeling damp. Cotton does not work well as a base layer, because it acts like a sponge instead of wicking away hypothermia-inducing moisture.  *We also recommend the wearing of undershirts/camisole tops as a base layer under shirts/tops/dresses during all but the warm days of summer.

Middle layer – cotton/cotton blend long sleeved turtlenecks, henleys, and other types of shirts.

Third layer – wool/wool blend sweaters or vests, cotton, flannel shirts, or vests/light jackets made of synthetic blends (fleece, etc.)

Outside layer:

v  Snow pants or Snow suit

v  Warm Jacket

v  Warm, waterproof, well-fitting mittens *gloves do not work well for children under the ages of 6 or 7.  They are very challenging to put on.  When the fingers and thumbs are tucked cozily together in a mitten, it provides more warmth.

v  Warm hat that fits well and covers the ears. 

*Regarding babies and toddlers – their heads are larger in proportion to the rest of their bodies than those of older children.  The small soft spot in the middle of a baby’s skull, the fontanel, is still open, and the head is also often still nearly bare.  Therefore, a baby’s head radiates a great deal of warmth.  Wearing a hat both indoors as well as outdoors made from wool/wool blends, silk/silk blends or cotton/cotton blends can help babies more easily maintain their body temperature.  For a newborn, these types of hats/caps are a necessity. 

v  Neck warmer/gator/scarf to cover and protect the vulnerable chest/neck area

v  Insulated, well-fitting boots

Last thoughts:

v  During the seasonal transitions from spring into summer and summer into the cooler temps of fall, temperatures are unpredictable and can fluctuate greatly throughout the week or even throughout a single day, especially being located, as we are, close to Lake Michigan.  More often than not, the high temperatures for the day are not reached until 3:00/4:00pm or later.  It’s important that the children have the proper clothes and foot wear on hand and available to them in order to accommodate any changes in the weather.

v  Regarding clothing in general – At LifeWays, our motto is function over fashion.  Please dress your child in clothing that is comfortable, uncomplicated and easy for them to manage in the bathroom as well as during dressing for outdoor play and undressing when coming back indoors – a great confidence booster.  Tight fitting jeans as well as pants or shirts with hooks, buttons or snaps are very challenging to manage for the 4-years and under group. 

v  Label, Label, Label – It is so incredibly helpful to us when the children’s articles of clothing are labeled.  It does not guarantee that clothes will not go missing or accidently go home with another family, however, it sure is a whole lot easier to find them when they do.

Thank you for working with us to help develop your child’s sense of warmth, thus strengthening their immunity and laying the foundation for healthy bodies and healthy organs in their adult life.  Please do ask us if you have any questions or need suggestions or recommendations of where to find clothing items.