The bikes will be out next week as we think about all of the many ways we get around!

We’re winding down . . .

Two reminders:

All-school Picnic Sunday @ 3:00 (to 5:30) Mitchell Park

Memory Books DUE Friday May 25th

Parent Participation Calendar

May 21

• McQuinn
• Hagan
• Quo

May 23

• Peery
• Nanevicz
• Gottfurcht
• Galbraith

May 25

• Hodge
• Williams
• Defendi

The bikes will be out next week as we think about all of the many ways we get around!

Join Us!

All-school Picnic — 
Sunday @ 3:00 (to 5:30)  at 
Mitchell Park

Parent Participation Calendar

May 22

• Soderbery
• Karr
• Philliips

May 24

• Sheffer
• Espinoza
• Reller
• Soderbery

We’re enjoying the beautiful weather and we’re looking forward to making fish kites and blowing lots of bubbles next week!

Assuming the fair weather holds, we’ll be turning the hoses on again too, so be sure to have an extra set of dry clothes along.

Celebrate Our Teachers Event

Please join us at nursery school 
Saturday evening 
from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
even if you didn’t RSVP.

Book a sitter and help us celebrate Margaret and Claudia’s many years of dedication to First Congo!

Parent Participation Calendar

May 15

• Uchida
• Kacher
• Parent Needed

May 17

• Singh
• Reller
• Yeh-Lee

We’re enjoying the beautiful weather and we’re looking forward to making fish kites and blowing lots of bubbles next week!

Assuming the fair weather holds, we’ll be turning the hoses on again too, so be sure to have an extra set of dry clothes along.

Celebrate Our Teachers Event

Please join us at nursery school 
Saturday evening 
from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
even if you didn’t RSVP.

Book a sitter and help us celebrate Margaret and Claudia’s many years of dedication to First Congo!

Parent Participation Calendar

May 14

• Callaghan
• Defendi
• Darling

May 16

• Kristofferson
• Roberts
• Garr

May 18

• Helft
• Joachim
• Wedenig

We’re ready to let our imaginations run riot – kings, queens and pirates all!

Spring Book Fair

This year, Linden Tree Books is coming to First Congo!

May 9, 10 9:00-12:00

in the Social Hall

Order from a selection of over 40 carefully chosen titles — your books will be delivered to you at school.

How easy is that?!?

Parent Participation Calendar

May 7

• Defendi
• Reynolds
• Kelly

May 9

• Kristofferson
• Galbraith
• Tuteja

May 11

• Quo
• Souter
• Hagan

Our beautiful butterflies have emerged and will be ready to spread their wings out in the wide world next week!

Assuming the fair weather holds, we’ll be turning the hoses on again too, so be sure to have an extra set of dry clothes along.

Spring Book Fair

This year, Linden Tree Books is coming to First Congo!

May 9, 10 9:00-12:00

in the Social Hall

Order from a selection of over 40 carefully chosen titles — your books will be delivered to you at school.

How easy is that?!?

Parent Participation Calendar

May 8

• Saslow
• Granados
• Soderbery

May 10

• Yeh-Lee
• ten Vaanholt
• Wang

I’m sure that if you have a child in the 3’s or 4’s program you’ve seen some wild springtime behavior lately, and I’ve heard from some parents that they are at wit’s end with the testing, the bad behavior, and the rudeness exhibited by their children.

My advice to these weary parents: be kind, set limits, and be willing to tuck your child under your arm and exit any given situation that is not working. The two biggest tools your children will use to maintain control of a situation are tantrums and tears. Do not be afraid of these early childhood tools, rather embrace them and come to understand how it is they are being used.

If you set limits on behavior, your kind but firm discipline is teaching self-discipline, which is the ultimate goal of parenting. Once your child has achieved the self-discipline to control his or her impulses (to bite, hit, push, scream, tantrum, etc.) then they can move on to higher-level learning. As kindergarten nears, the children who have learned the art of impulse control are at a great advantage because they are ready to watch, listen, think, and respond, and they are ready for learning.

I’ll give you an example of how we set limits at nursery school. When we have a child in a snack group who is distracting the other students or is really testing, it can make it hard for a teacher to promote snack time discussion and get any of the children to pay attention. Now, let me reassure you that all preschoolers are working on the skills of focus, turn taking, listening, and sharing, but sometimes there is a particularly difficult situation where one child is really impacting a classroom. We’ll give that child loads of opportunities to tune back in, but if that doesn’t work we might give the child the choice between sitting outside with our resource teacher until they are “in control of their body” or staying at the snack table and being “in control of their body.” If it becomes apparent that the child cannot, for all sorts of different possible reasons like youngness, asthma meds, or desire for attention, keep it together, we’ll take them outside the classroom and have them sit quietly with a teacher.

They don’t get yelled at or threatened. We don’t roll our eyes at them or tell them that we are disappointed in them. We just have a teacher sit with them quietly until they are ready to go back in to try again and we let them know that we care about them. Some children sit with a teacher and sob. They are held close but not brought back into snack until they can pull it together. Some snuggle in and need reassurance that we still love them, which they get. But the vast majority of children just need the simple step of being walked outside to know that they have hit a boundary. These children quickly turn and say, “I’m ready to go back in.” This is limit setting in a kind but firm way.

You and your child can leave just about any situation that is not working: leave, remain calm, and carry on. Your child will learn about boundaries and behavior and make that important connection. Testing, tantrums, and tears are their tools, and your walking feet are your tools. You will be building your child’s self confidence as he or she grows in the ability to handle situations in more mature and appropriate ways.

And remember, you can always learn more about Positive Discipline and how to handle these tricky testing problems by borrowing one of our Jane Nelsen Positive Discipline books from the First Congo Lending Library.

From Kelly

Transition time is upon us, and the children are aware, however subconsciously, that things are about to change up. The result at school is that we are seeing a lot of ramped up energy and some undesirable behaviors. This is actually reassuring in a number of ways: first, it indicates that these children are right on target developmentally, doing what we would expect them to do; second, it indicates that these children are very comfortable and feel very safe here at school, knowing that they will be supported in their growth as they ‘try on’ new behaviors and explore boundaries; third, it is a reminder to us as educators about the power of consistency and calm as tools in guiding growth and supporting learning.

It is our hope that you will be able to share your anticipation of the move into summer schedules, and perhaps away from First Congo, in such a matter-of-fact way as to create confidence. Sometimes, if too much energy is brought to reassuring, it actually serves to undermine a child’s confidence because the unspoken suggestion is that there must be something to worry about! Your calm in the face of change can be borrowed by your child if need be, until he or she is ready to handle the changes that are inconsistent with what has come before, until those new realities become a consistent part of their experience. The teaching staff will continue to present our calm and consistent selves at school both for the sake of easing the upcoming transitions and in managing the day-to-day before those transitions occur, being kind but firm in our interactions with your delightful children. We hope you may be inspired to find your own calm and consistent self, kind but firm, so that you might discover your own delight in your sweet children!

Upcoming Calendar Items

May Fete Parade

First Congo families are invited to march behind our banner on Saturday, May 5th. Check the gate at school this week for information about where we will be lining up.

Celebrating Our Teachers Event

First Congo parents (current and former) are invited to join the staff in the garden on the evening of May 12th from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Please RSVP to info@firstcongonurseryschool.com if you plan to join us!

End-of-the-Year Picnic

Mitchell Park will be the site for our End-of-the-Year Picnic on Sunday, May 20th from 3:00 – 5:30. Watch for your invitation soon!

Registration Paperwork

All paperwork for students returning to First Congo in the fall is due on May 25th. All of the required forms are available on our website from the pull-down menu under Our Families. You may fill them out online before printing, signing, and returning to school. Photos for coat hooks may be submitted electronically this year.

Last Day(s) of School

May 29th, 30th, and 31st mark the last days for each of the respective Two’s classes. The Three’s will finish up the year on the 31st, and the final day of class for the Four’s will be June 1st. Families are invited to bring a sack lunch and stay on a bit after school for a picnic to mark the transition into summer!

Many Thanks

We’d like to give a shout out to Jen Glos (mother of Kashi in the 4′s) for organizing the Spring Moms’ Night Out event — thank, Jen!

A second shout out goes to Amy McGaraghan (mother of Paige in the 3′s) who will become our new Registrar. After years of dedicated service, Christie Callaghan is stepping aside as her youngest child moves on from First Congo — thanks for all you’ve put into the job, Christie! And thanks to Amy for stepping up to the plate, newborn in tow!

New Babies

The Graham family (Jessica, Paul, and son George) welcomed a second son (Hugo) into their home recently, and the McGaraghans (Amy, John, and daughters Paige and Fiona) also have a new baby boy (PJ) — congratulations to both families!

We’ll be making a duck pond in the sandbox – quack!

Class Photo

The Four’s class photo will be taken on Friday. Please return your order form to school before then if you’d like a copy of the photo ($6.00).

May Fete Parade

Join us on May 5th! Check the gate next week for line-up info — we’ll march together behind the First Congo banner!

Parent Participation Calendar

Apr. 30

• Callaghan
• Fazzino
• Kelly

May 2

• Kristofferson
• Nanevicz
• Gottfurcht

May 4

• Helft
• Williams
• Kelly

We’ll be making a duck pond in the sandbox – quack!

Class Photo

The Three’s class photo will be taken on Thursday. Please return your order form to school before then if you’d like a copy of the photo ($6.00).

May Fete Parade

Join us on May 5th! Check the gate next week for line-up info — we’ll march together behind the First Congo banner!

Parent Participation Calendar

May 1

• Peery
• Karr
• Uchida

May 3

• McQuinn
• White
• Reller

How do you hone your parenting skills? It is a longstanding First Congo tradition to offer parent education events in which we focus on different ways to meet the needs of preschool aged children. Sometimes we host parent education events that are facilitated by First Congo teachers and sometimes we bring in experts from our community. This week, Kelly and I will hold the first meeting of a two-part workshop focused on how parents can create meaningful learning opportunities for their children away from school. We’ll share our tips, hints, and suggestions about how to engage your child in ways that promote a love of learning while at the same time building real skills. Whether you have a child in the 2’s, 3’s or 4’s you’ll walk away with ideas about learning, discovery, cognitive function, and the tools that your child needs to be a successful learner. We’ll give you ideas to consider, activities to take home and try with your child(ren), and reading materials that might challenge the way you think about how children learn best.

If you cannot make it to this workshop, consider stopping in at our Third Thursday or Fourth Friday coffees, where parents are given a chance to ask teachers questions and chat with other parents about challenges they are facing. Don’t forget, we also have a fantastic lending library that contains over 100 parenting books on a wide range of topics. Last, but of course not least, some of the best parent education is done right here at school during a typical school day when helping parents get to watch seasoned teachers deal with rough housing, teasing, separation anxiety, testing, and all sorts of behaviors that come naturally to preschoolers.

We are dedicated to helping parents feel competent and confident about their ability to meet the needs of their children. We strive to do this by providing ample learning opportunities for our parents, and I hope that before the school year is out, you’ll find a way to take advantage of one or more of these parenting-skill building opportunities!

From Kelly

With March winding down into Spring Break, we are fast approaching that time of year whose busyness is rivaled only by December. Especially if you have older children in school, you’re only too familiar with that ‘got-to-fit-it-in-before-the-end-of-the-year’ rush of activities. It’s understandable, that desire to celebrate growth and come together as a group one last time before the groupings change, but the calendar can become so crowded, and the days so busy, that everyone ends up feeling stressed out and frustrated rather than nurtured and fulfilled.

Here at First Congo, we’re just about to jump into our workshops centered on notions of how we can create everyday learning opportunities for our children, and one certain idea keeps suggesting itself to us as we prepare our notes: sometimes less is more. This isn’t to suggest that there isn’t value in a sustained effort, but rather taking notice that the effort must be thoughtfully aligned with the child’s needs and stage of development, and that even then, the very best practices are organic and natural, such an unremarkable part of the daily rhythms of life as to be almost invisible.

As the spring calendar begins to fill up, we hope you’ll be able to stick to your family rhythms and rituals as much as possible, and be mindful of establishing intervals of calm and connection with your children. The best learning and growth occur in those times of connection, when engagement flows naturally because there are no other demands on attention or resources. So find ways to celebrate the accomplishments and transitions that June will bring, but remember, keep it simple!

Upcoming Calendar Items

Parent Ed Workshop

 Learning Everyday — Summer Enrichment and Beyond is the title for our next workshop which will take place over two evening sessions:

• Wednesday, March 28th, 7:15-9:00 p.m.
  
• Wednesday, April 11th, 7:15-9:00 p.m.
  

Come to either session or come to both!

Spring Break

First Congo will be closed from April 2-6. See you back at school the week of the 9th!

Parent Coffees

The Third Thursday Coffee is set for April 19th and the Fourth Friday Coffee will take place April 27th.
Special note: Dr. Louise Singleton will be speaking on the topic of children’s friendships at the Third Thursday Coffee this month!

Dads’ Day

The teachers look forward to welcoming the dads of the 3′s and 4′s to school on Saturday, April 21st, in the morning and afternoon, respectively. Watch your mail pouch for more information as the day draws near!

Celebrating Our Teachers Event

First Congo parents (current and former) are invited to join the staff in the garden on the evening of May 12th — watch for your invitation!

Many Thanks

If you’ve not taken the time yet to see our wonderful new benches, which sit out under Gayle’s oak at the back of the yard, please do make a note to do so! Our deepest thanks go to Scott Souter, father of Olivia in our 4′s program, for bringing his artistry and woodworking skills to bear on this memorial project: the poem he inscribed into the seats of the benches was one of Gayle’s favorites, and the effect is just right, providing a truly fitting tribute to the woman who was the heart and soul of First Congo for so many years.

Another father who deserves huge thanks is Farrell Smith, dad to Marcus in the 3′s. We are so grateful that he is able to bring his firetruck to school for the 3′s and 4′s to see — such a thrill!

Finally, we’d like to shout out a thanks to all who brought in items for the Baby Item Drive, and to Missy Reller for organizing the drive. The response was tremendous!