Stereotypes of expectations between girls and boys in the academic world have been around for eons. Just saying the title opens many feelings and opinions. Have you ever heard that girls don’t need to do math, boys don’t need to sit and read? How does society’s viewpoints affect our children?

Math based careers such as engineering and scientist are generally looked at as careers for boys. The myth: boys are better at math than girls. In the July 25 issue of Science (Vol. 321, No. 5888), Janet Hyde, PhD, a psychology and women’s studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her colleagues, dismissed the perceived gender gap in math performance by analyzing math test scores from 7 million students, grades two through 11. The team collected standardized math assessments from 10 states and analyzed the scores for male and female students. They found no difference in average performance. If those are the facts, then why do we see boys dominating these fields over girls?

The answer is simply due to the antiquated views of society. Girls aren’t told that they can do it. They aren’t encouraged to work at it. If math starts getting difficult, they are given the excuse: well you are a girl it’s okay to give up. Girls aren’t pushed to keep trying. The result is girls telling themselves that math isn’t for them because of their gender. They quit because they want to fit in to what society tells them is normal. Buck the system ladies, study math!

Growing up I was always the reader while my brother avoided books like the plague. It seemed normal. Boys are supposed to be active while girls are quiet and studious. Girls generally start out being more interested in books than boys. But instead of encouraging the boys to keep trying it is dismissed and pushed aside. The result: is by twelfth grade, more than twice as many girls as boys (5% versus 2%) scored as “advanced” in reading on the 2015 NAEP.

Again, the answer is simply due to the antiquated views of society. Boys are led to believe that they should be outside playing in the mud with cars over chilling out and reading a book. Because learning to read and enjoying reading doesn’t begin with the same enthusiasm with boys doesn’t mean it should be to the side. Some of the most interesting men in the world read books. So, gentlemen, pick up a book!

As I investigated this subject, I find that the way society views the skills girls and boys should and shouldn’t have undermines their confidence in those subjects. When these skills start to be challenging, we are told to let them go. Excuses are made. The ability of children should never be underestimated or determined by their gender. They need to be encouraged and guided on how to work through any frustration when learning a new skill or developing old ones. They can do anything if they are allowed to believe that they can!

Let’s change the world little ones!

-Ms. Dotty
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
NAEYC- Coordinator

Say you find yourself at another family get together.

The talk starts of which cousin knows what and how this cousin is advanced, and ultimately the conversation turns into a comparison game. Letter and number identification, who’s peeing in the potty, gah it just turns overwhelming really fast!

Of course, you’re proud of your nieces and nephews but you can’t help but think about your own kids. For me, I know I’m the oddball of my group. While I do recognize the importance of academics, I choose to focus on or boast about their problem-solving skills and when they self-soothe on their own. Again, not taking away the importance of academics overall, just shedding some light on other areas your children could be excelling at which are extremely important to your child’s early childhood education.

Social Emotional Learning happens in everyday instances from the moment a child wakes up, to when they lay their head down. (Which let’s be real is typically about an hour after you start the bed time process…)

Let’s start with explaining exactly what social emotional learning is.  SEL refers to the process of developing and using social and emotional skills. Kids aren’t born knowing how to manage their emotions and get along with others.

1. The first reason I focus on social emotional milestones is a kind child is more important to me then a genius. I want my child to welcome others and befriend all. I believe when we focus on teaching our children to be kind, the academics and respect will follow in line at the right time. When a child is kind it radiates off them and allows others to feel welcomed. It welcomes diversity with your child and builds confidence with in them. “When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world.”-Harold Kushner
2. Social-emotional learning helps kids work on things like coping with feelings and setting goals. When a child is welcomed to embrace their feelings, they become confident within themselves. Even bigger than a child embracing their feelings is knowing how to deal with feelings. Self-soothing and coping skills allows a child to problem solve and work out socially acceptable ways to deal with how they are feeling. Social-emotional learning boost confidence and encourages a child to set goals and dream big.
3. It also helps kids develop interpersonal skills and conflict resolution. Social-emotional learning can help reduce bullying and disciplinary complications. We want our children to be independent and be able to work out problems and work well with others. Children have to be introduced to the concept of problem solving and teamwork just like they have to be introduced to academics.

So the next time you’re at a family dinner and the comparison conversation starts, just keep these important life skills in the back of your mind! Every child matter and academically learns at their own pace.

Thanks for reading,

Ms. Michaela
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Social-Emotional Coordinator

Grandparents are a wonderful resource to children’s happiness. They fill shoes that us parents just never will be able to. So, we celebrate a day dedicated just to grandparents, and that day is September 8th. It just so happens that Teddy Bear Day is the following day September 9th. Celebrating these two days together can make for a really fun day!

Prepare some special goodies to give to your special grandparents for their special day. You and the kids can bake up some of their favorite treats, make them handmade cards, and find books specifically for grandparents to write a cute note on the inside covers. A few of my favorites are: The Little Critter series “Just me and my Grandma” and “Just Grandpa and me”. Think of grandparent’s day as the same we think of Mother’s or Father’s Day. Just make it fun and special day for your kids to connect with their grandparents.

Put together a fun grandparent and kids’ day. They will love that you put the thought into creating a kid date for them. Even offer to be the chauffeur for the day. Make reservations for lunch at a place everyone will enjoy. After lunch go to Build- A- Bear Workshop to make teddy bears together. What a cute and memorable activity for grandparents to share with their grandchildren. Next, hit your favorite book shop for a new book to go with your new stuffed animals! The grandparents and kids can pick out a book to share together later in the day. When everyone is exhausted from this adventure take everyone home for a nap. They can snuggle up with their new teddy bears and read their new books together. Parents can maybe get a little work of their own done now, or even join in the nap taking.

Being able to watch the bond grow between your children and your parents will be such a wonderful thing to watch. Celebrate the official and unofficial days of grandparents. They are the best!

Ms. Brooke
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Curriculum Coordinator
Literacy Coordinator

Visiting a school to enroll your child, or just popping in to see your child’s class and what you see is not what you expected. Instead of quietly sitting at tables practicing letters, numbers and academics you see the children bouncing balls, preparing dinner in a kitchen area, building roads in blocks, building with legos and cutting paper up with scissors. They are loud and everything seems a bit chaotic. Not at all what you want to see right? But don’t worry there is more going on than what meets the eye.

The children in the music area bouncing balls. They are learning hand -eye coordination, rhythms and working on large motor development. In the kitchen making dinner they are about nutrition, sorting and classifying food, table manners and reading skills with recipe books. Building roads for the cars in the block area they are using beginning engineering skills to solve how to get their car from point a to point b. They are building on basic math skills making shapes and measuring distances. Let’s not forget the science of friction and gravity while building different sized ramps. Now what’s up with those legos? Legos are great tools to help develop fine motor skills. Strengthening those finger muscles to prepare for holding pencils. Once again it’s engineering, getting those little bricks to form robots, stairs and buildings. Cutting paper allows for more fine motor development and also hand-eye coordination while trying to cut those lines. All these skills are needed to build their readiness for school. While all this is important it’s not all they are learning.

The most important thing to me that they learn while in play is the social skills. Watching the children in my classroom play I see them learning how to deal with the world. Conversation skills are running amok. Using vocabulary to express what they need, listening to their friends, expressing their feelings in a positive way. Then I see problem solving skills. What do you do when the block you want is being used by someone else? Taking turns and sharing happens in the moment. It’s not something you can plan. They work out feelings of frustration and anger when friends knock over their towers. They build persistence when something doesn’t work the first time and they have to try again. They learn independence when they want to play dress up and need to put that cape on by themselves.

Supervision and guidance is always necessary during play. There will always be times when the teacher will be needed as a mediator but it is during this time that they learn the best on their own. Play is a powerful learning tool. Play should never be underestimated, it’s magic!

Ms. Dotty
Lead Jr. Kindergarten Teacher
NAEYC Coordinator