Welcome to

Director's Corner

AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PA EARLY CHILDHOOD STANDARDS

MAY, 2010

     St. Paul’s Preschool follows the Pennsylvania Early Standards as we create and adapt our curriculum to the various age groups within our school.  Each month I will examine one of the standards we are focusing on in the classes and explain how the teachers are implementing it into their curriculum. 

            CA 9.2B  Show beginning understanding of movement
                          Elements and techniques
            CA 9.2C  Respond to different forms of music
            CA 9.2D  Demonstrate ability to use movement and music

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.   -Aldous Huxley

     Quality music experiences enhance listening; invite intuitive and steady beat responses; and aid learning of vocabulary, sound and pitch discrimination, emotional responses, creative responses, memory, and many hours of fun for young children.  Music helps us make sense of the world and through sound we can give an expressive shape to our experience.

     Recent research emphasizes the benefits of learning music:

·               Music aids the development of speech. Singing simple songs teaches children how language is constructed.

·               Music helps children to learn math.  When children learn rhythm, they are learning ratios, fractions and proportions.

·               Music enhances social skills.  “Children who take part in music develop higher levels of social cohesion and understanding of themselves and others, and the emotional aspect of musical activities seem to be beneficial for developing social skills like empathy.”  Alexandra Lamont

·               Music enhances children’s intellectual development.  Music helps improve children’s ability to reason abstractly.

·               Music encourages self-expressions and self-confidence.  Music allows a means of expression to a shy child who finds it hard to communicate through speech.

      Did you know that children go through similar sequences of development in music, just as they do in all areas of development?

     From 18 months to age three, toddlers are busy growing and developing in all areas.  Music can be a great way for children to develop language skills.  Singing may help children talk earlier.

·               By eighteen months, your baby may start to respond to music in a coordinated way

·               Language skills can develop further through singing and imitation

·               Moving and responding to music can help develop memory and hand/eye coordination

·               They will learn to distinguish between loud and quiet, fast and slow

·               They begin to be aware of a beat in the music and recognize different rhythms

·               They will learn the words to simple songs and develop the coordination needed to play simple instruments (i.e. simple drums or bells)

·               This is when they begin to find out how to cooperate with other children

     During the preschool years (ages 3-5), children really enjoy music.  Your child may begin to become more aware of pitch and rhythm.

·               They will lean to sing more complex songs as language skills grow and their vocal chords develop

·               They can cope with more sophisticated movement to music

·               They will take pleasure in playing and exploring new sounds and instruments

     As children enter elementary school (ages 5-7), music begins to be more formally presented.

·               Your child will acquire new vocal strengths and increase their range

·               They will develop a better memory of music through repetition of songs and patterns and an understanding of simple musical concepts

·               They will be able to play simple percussion instruments and, give the opportunity, will be able to pick out tunes on instruments such as keyboards or xylophones

·               Some may develop a passion for pop music now, though some start earlier

·               This is a crucial age for encouragement as many children especially boys stop singing naturally and are often reluctant to persevere with playing a musical instrument

     The children in the four and five year old classes at St. Paul’s Preschool have a weekly Music/Movement resource class.  They are introduced to various percussion instruments, different types of music, composers, rhythmic songs and finger plays, and movement to music activities.  We believe that during our weekly class the children are learning in the following ways:

1.      Music develops listening skills.  This helps children hear the same and different sounds of letters in the alphabet.

2.      Music invites intuitive responses since music is the “universal language”

3.      Music strengthens aural discrimination.  This helps the child develop greater phonemic awareness.

4.      Music helps children (and adults) remember.

5.      Music helps children speak clearly and pay attention.  For example, if you speak nursery rhymes and pat a steady beat, then the child will speak more clearly.

6.      Music makes transitions in the classroom go smoothly.

7.      Music helps children cooperate, think, and problem-solve. 

8.      Musical instruments provide beginning experiences in pitch, timbre, and texture

9.      Music is fun!  The body, voice, and brain are united for optimal processing.

     So, sing, sing, sing with your children and help promote these valuable learning skills. 

 If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing!  -Zimbabwe proverb

QUESTIONS FOR THE DIRECTOR

Each month I will focus on a question or two from the parents. Please send your questions to the director at:   kidsrus@nauticom.net. Many of the questions come directly from the “Getting to Know You” forms which were handed out at the Parent Orientation meetings before school started in September.

QUESTION: Why don’t you have a curb drop off for the children?  It would be so much easier for parents to just pull up outside the door.

ANSWER:    We believe it is important to create a sense of family and community within St. Paul’s Preschool.  When you bring the children in to the building you have a chance to see the artwork and classroom space.  You will be greeted personally by the teaching staff and will have an opportunity to let them know any pertinent information regarding your child for the day.  This type of entry into the day also helps the children with transition issues.  A calm, sensitive separation is achieved when parents walk their children into the classroom, help them with their beginning routines (such as hanging up their coats, putting book bags into baskets, finding name cards to put in the daily charts, etc.), and have a chance to see those special parts of the classroom or favorite toys and friends.  The director is often in the hallways to greet children and families and to make sure that everyone’s needs are being met. This type of drop off also makes it easier for parents to get to know each other.  Many life long friendships between children and parents have begun in the hallways of St. Paul’s Preschool!

QUESTION: How often are items cleaned in the preschool areas?

ANSWER:  This is an important question due to the amount of children, which use our rooms daily!  The preschool follows a specific cleaning and sanitizing schedule.  These items are cleaned and sanitized daily:

·               countertops and tables

·               food preparation and service surfaces

·               floors

·               door and cabinet handles

·               carpets and large area rugs

·               small rugs

·               utensils, surfaces and toys that go into the mouth or have been in contact with saliva or other body fluids

·               mops and cleaning rags

·               hand-washing sinks, faucets, surrounding counters

·               soap dispensers

·               toilet seats, toilet handles, cubicle handles and other touchable surfaces, floors in bathrooms

·               toilet bowls

·               doorknobs in the bathrooms

·               changing tables

·               any surface contaminated with body fluids

These items are checked and cleaned weekly:

·               toys

·               dress-up clothes

 The staff follows procedures for standard precautions in maintaining a healthful environment.  These include:

·               Surfaces that may come in contact with potentially infectious body fluids must be disposable or made of a material that can be sanitized.

·               Staff use barriers and techniques that minimize contact of mucous membranes or of openings in skin with potentially infectious body fluids and that reduce the spread of infectious disease.

·               When spills of body fluids occur, staff cleans them up immediately with detergent followed by water rinsing.

·               After cleaning, staff sanitize nonporous surfaces

·               Staff clean rugs and carpeting by blotting, spot cleaning with a detergent-disinfectant, and shampooing or steam cleaning

·               Staff disposes of contaminated materials and diapers in a plastic bag with a secure tie that is place in a closed container.

 We want to make sure that St. Paul’s Preschool is a clean and healthy place for the children, families and the staff.

Accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children