Snoodle

What It's All About

    
Thanks for the photo, Abby!

    I spent the (dreary) day in Montpelier for Early Childhood Day at the Legislature.  It's always a good opportunity to represent early educators as the professionals they are.  Since 70% of the brain is wired by age three, teachers lay the foundation for all future growth and learning.  It's an important job.  We carry the burden of being thought of as the servers of milk and cookies or "babysitters."  However, we are responsible for creating a curriculum for young children, observing, documenting, along with maintaining health and safety.

    Considering that 70% of children under five years old spend at least some of their day outside the care of their parents, it seems that monitoring the supervision of these children as well as ensuring they are in a safe environment would be of extreme value to the present and future of our state.  However, the startling reality is that, for the 1,600 early childcare programs in Vermont, there are seven licensors.  Yes, seven.  That's a caseload of 229 programs for each licensor.  The recommended caseload is 50. 

    As was stated in a work session that I attended, the need for more licensors is not a "sexy" topic.  In fact, it's kind of dull.  However, I hope that our legislators have truly heard how very important this regulation is to our profession.  It would be great if we could have enough oversight that we eventually build a relationship with licensors enabling us to work together to ensure quality.  While it's clear that we need at least 20 more licensors, it amuses me that we are merely recommending the addition of two.  I suppose we must be satisfied with "baby steps." 

    While I will keep in contact with my legislators, tomorrow is another work-day.  Back with the toddlers, I will set aside politics and go back to the stacking blocks and digging for worms.  After all there's learning to be done.  That's what it's all about.

    Wait a minute.  Maybe it's not!  Thanks to my niece for sending this along.  A blending of two of my personalities:  A little dramatic.  A little childish.

The Hokey Pokey Shakespearean Style

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.
        -- by "William Shakespeare"

 

Daughters of the Holy Ghost

This year's silent auction at Nora's school was bittersweet.  It was well attended, but watching as furniture and other mementos of the school got auctioned off for its last year was just about all I could bear.  I really wanted an old cupboard in which I remember manipulatives like parquetry blocks, geoboards, and wooden letters being stored in my second grade classroom.  Alas, once the bidding reached $350, I had to bow out.  I felt fortunate to win a lot of four framed photos of Daughter's of the Holy Ghost. Here is some more information about them:

On Sunday, February 3, 1929, all the adults at Mass were asked their opinion.  Those in favor of building a new school and willing to contract a $100,000 debt were asked to stand up.  They were counted.  The next day, Father Proulx told the Bishop that 1,667 persons wanted a new school and were willing to contract the debt.

The school was completed before the end of 1929.  It cost a little less than $200,000 plus $88,000 for the purchase of the property mentioned above.

The Roberge and Denault properties next to the school on Allen Street were purchased by the parish.  The two houses were connected and remodeled into a convent for Sisters.  The convent was nearly ready for the Sisters in September.

When the children reported to class in September, they were welcomed by their new teachers.  Twenty-two Daughters of the Holy Ghost, wearing a white religious habit, replaced the Ladies of Nazareth.  Father Pariseau, at the suggestion of Bishop Brady, invited them to Burlington.  They accepted the call.  Mother Francis was their superior.  Twenty Sisters taught nine hundred and twelve pupils from kindergarten through the eighth grades.  The remaining two Sisters cared for their living quarters.

excerpts taken from

History of St. Joseph Parish

Burlington, VT by Rev. Joseph N. Couture, S.S.E.

 

On their way to the Chapel of the Mother House

St. Brieux, Brittany, France

Feeding the Poor

Brittany, France

Two novices on their way to the Mother House Chapel and

Two Sisters in discussion

St. Brieux, Brittany, France

Provincal Superior

Daughters of the Holy Ghost

Hartford, CT, USA

While I adore these photos for their historical value and the ghostly nature of the photography, my mother actually recalls being taught by these Sisters and liking them especially because their white habits seemed to make them less intimidating and kinder.  I only had one Sister as a teacher -in second grade (the one with the parquetry blocks!)  I fondly remember Sr. Madonna's round face and smile.  I believe I have a photo around here of her.  I'll have to dig it out as I'm gathering my own mementos of a school that taught so many generations of my family.

Toddler Tuesday: Pie!

One of my goals for this year to learn how to make a delicious pie.  Not being much of a chef or baker, I thought I'd start with what I know.  So, instead of preheating the oven, I headed to my sewing machine to make a few for the Toddlers.  Nora got one, too.  They were super simple to make.  I used the little pans from the dollar store as a size guide.  The lattice is actually woven with a separate crust on the edge.  The heart was cut with an x-acto knife.  All edges were sewn down really well - especially the lattices.  I put some rice in the center to give it some dimension and weight to keep them in the pans.   A machine blanket stitch attaching the top to the bottom crust looks like they were crimped with a fork! I also made some simple aprons.  We opened our bakery adding some tart pans, handled trays, pot holders, and a basket of play breads from around the world.  The dolls are quite happy to be eating copious amount of baked goods in the dramatic play area, and I almost feel ready to attempt mom's tourtiere.

An apple pie without some cheese

Is like a kiss without a the squeeze.

 

 

Toddler Tuesday: The Nature of Autumn

I am a big fan of the nature table.  However, I also think that nature should be hands-on.  We have already explored leaves, milkweed, acorns in closely supervised projects and outside.  I wanted children to be able to explore Autumn on their own.  So, I got a little crafty to 'fake' a little nature.  Here's what I came up with:

 

The pictures on the back of the shelf are from old calendars.  

The pinecones in the basket are easily moved if infants are deciding that they might be delicious!  They are real, but I think I might make some  from ideas that I've already seen.  I'll need to try one and see how easily it can be taken apart... and is it worth it when we really can just use real pinecones?  They can make a little mess on the rug when an inquisitive Toddler starts pulling it apart, but they're great for stacking, putting into trucks, and balancing on the logs.

I like to add a book to go with the nature theme.  We've been particularly interested in:

 

I whipped up a dozen of these leaves.  They are made with 2 pieces of felt -I used different colors for each side.  I used a stencil to trace the leaf shape on the felt.  Then, *before* cutting, I sewed along the drawn edge.  Also, before I cut the shape, I stitched the veins, back and forth starting at the stem.  All of that stitching made the stem really strong.  Then, I cut out the leaf slightly outside the sewn line.  They are really durable -- I anticipate them lasting a few years worth of play.  Real leaves last seconds in the hands of a Toddler!!!

 

My darling husband has a great love for scotch and generously donated the sleeves that the bottles come inside.  I just want it to be clear that we've actually been collecting them for a year or so... and he gets some help with the scotch consumption with some friends!  They are made of super strong cardboard and have light metal caps that are hard to pry off (at least for Toddlers).  I thought about gluing on the caps, but I thought it might be nice to take them off at some point and use them as tubes.

I covered the bottles with wood grain contact paper.  The ends were painted, and I used marker to draw on the rings (an oddly difficult task!)  I wish I had used a brown sharpie because the Crayola smudged a bit.  

These logs have been great for stacking, balancing the felt leaves and pinecones, making pretend campfires, and even for babies to roll on.  They're super sturdy but light-weight.  I'd like to have some real logs, but haven't been able to get my hands on just the right thing.  I think I'm liking them for right now.  

Happy Autumn!

Toddler Tuesday: Dramatic Play Area

While Nora was having a great first day at Kindergarten, I was busy having my first day in my own classroom.  Because we're a multi-age group, I have some of the same children and some sweet new faces.  Chatting with the parents, I think this is going to be a great year with a strong family community.  Our center is open all Summer to meet the needs of working families.  So, it was really exciting that we closed on Friday so that all of the teachers could work on their classrooms.  I spent 11 hours resulting in some achy muscles, but I'm so happy with the results of my efforts.  I thought I would offer a gradual tour of my (fortunately, large) classroom. I love peeking in on classrooms in other centers.  If you are a teacher, I would be honored if you found some ideas for your own room.   

This is what you see when you enter the Toddler classroom.  Let's start at the top, shall we?  We have our lovely tin ceilings that leave lots of room for hanging artwork.  The radiators are cool (but not in Winter, get it?) and hang from the ceiling.  They make that great clanking sound when they're going.  For some weird reason, I kind of like it - a Vermont thing, I guess.  I sewed up the canopy over the house area.  It slides onto the copper pipes with a curtain casing and the tabs have velcro to go over the pipe.  The valance over the shelf is one of four that changes each season.  Oh, by the way, thanks for coming into my classroom, please, wash your hands.  Lots of mirrors are at face level to babies on their bellies to a standing toddler.  The steps are gradual and composed of landings to meet the needs of children new to climbing.  They can only fall down one stair and do not tumble down a flight.  One of my parents primed two shelves, and I'm so thankful to my co-worker, Jackie, who painted them.  Her husband built the climber that I was just talking about years before my time.  I set up a fire-fighter dramatic play area with the hats and trucks.  It has the potential to grow in interest in which case I'll add to it.  If not, I'll replace it with some other materials which will probably be Autumn-related.

Behind the shelf is our house area.  The step next to the kitchen works very well as a table.  The area is small but just the right size for two or three toddlers to cook and take care of dolls.  The dolls were playing outside when I snapped this picture.  The food is in a basket.  Dishes are in the cupboards.  There are aprons hanging on the hooks on the backside of the shelf.  The white blob on the front left is our waterbed!  Newly filled thanks, once again, to Jackie.  Its' great for babies to lie on and toddlers to jump on.  

I really like my classroom. I'm so glad that all of the shelves are finally painted the same blue.  The blue broadcloth that I used for the canopy and curtains matches really well, too.  It's very calm, and allows the  learning materials and artwork to be the focal points.