Education & Fun

The Importance Of Play

It is well-known that play is vital to a child’s early development, many times we watch our children interacting in their favorite center or playing with their favorite toy; it’s cute and creative and they are using their imagination. Yet, what exactly is play teaching a child?

Playing is an easy way to help a child increase their attention span. While playing, children are focused on the activity of their choosing for a long period of time and not an activity that they may not be interested in. The amount of time a child is capable of focusing on a project, activity or lesson is important for when they begin Kindergarten and must be able to give their attention to a lesson plan. Playtime strengthens their focus.

Children develop social skills during their playtime. Children with well-developed social skills are able to easily adjust to situations and circumstances as they get older as well as control their emotions and reactions better. They are also at less of a risk for behavioral issues or poor academic performance.

Playtime for younger children gives them the ability to practice cause and effect, to master physical accomplishments, to ask questions and solve problems [...]

What Discipline Style Works For Your Child: A Quiz

When your chosen career is Early Childhood Education you’re lucky enough to get to meet and know hundreds of children with different personality types. Every child is different, from their actions and responses to what type of guidance and re-direction will be the most effective. As an ECE I’ve learned to be adaptive to every child that comes into my classroom because my method of educating depends greatly on what is best for the child. As a parent, you know already that your child/ren has/have a personality all of their own but sometimes the discipline style that you think will work best doesn’t fit the personality of the child and we find ourselves hitting the internet to find more ways or seek advice from others.

While searching through the internet looking for creative language activities I came across a quiz about discipline style and what type of style works best based on the personality of the child. I’ve added the link here for anyone interested in some light reading or has a few extra moments in their day.

This quiz can be found on Parents.com and was posted in Parents Magazine.

A Snow Day for Pecan Ranch

It came as a surprise. A blizzard, INSIDE? What could we do!? There was nothing that could be done! The snow came in and it couldn’t be stopped! How would we ever clean this up!? Yet the children of Pecan Ranch had other ideas for such a strange snowy day….

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We filled up our buckets and we shared with our friends. We threw snowballs with laughter, barely missing our chins.

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“What are you doing?” we asked, “Playing with Christmas Snow” came the reply from little faces grinning with glee, such as amazing sight to see.

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Then the teachers joined in so the fun could begin.

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There were snow angels to be made, plenty of fun while we played.

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It was a [...]

Life Message and Donations

Over the past several weeks Pecan Ranch has been accepting donations to take to Life Message, a volunteer program that helps provide needy families with food and clothing. We exceeded our own expectations with the amount of donations that we received from the children and the families of Pecan Ranch. Thank you for your generous donations and helping bring a smile to the face of people in need.

Today our school-age students volunteered some of their time to help deliver the donations.

Our students were very helpful in unloading the donations and bringing them into the facility. Inside they were able to walk around and see how the food supplies were stocked, clothing sorted and how the volunteers of Life Message were donating their time to ensure that those in need would have somewhere to go and receive food and clothing during the winter.

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“I learned how the food goes to the people who don’t have money. So it’s free, so they don’t go to sleep without food.” -Michael M.

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“Giving is a wonderful , helpful and responsible thing to do.” -Taylin T.

Martin Luther King, Jr & Our Studies

 

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This week we felt it was very important for us to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King and his dream. We began our lesson by reading “My Friend Martin”, a story about MLK.  We also listened to “A Symphony of Brotherhood” by Miri Ben Ari. 

We discussed how each made us feel and why we felt each piece of media was important.  We concluded the week by creating Dream Silhouettes.  We chose to honor MLK’s memory by proving it is what’s on the inside, not the outside that makes us special.

The poems that each child wrote proved how similar, yet how different each child truly is.  For the actual silhouettes, we provided the class with an array of multi-cultural paints.  When we asked the children, what color they wished to paint their project, the majority felt they identified with all the different colors, thus creating uniquely similar silhouettes.  Once again proving that color doesn’t matter, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

 

The Pledge of Allegiance

Justice led Pecan Ranch in The Pledge of Allegiance. We start every morning off with the Pledge of Allegiance, we have a volunteer Pre-K student lead our Pledge.
Click to Hear the Audio: pledge

Coffee Filter Butterlies

In the morning, for most people, the first thought that will cross your mind is coffee. So we wake up, shake the sleep away and mosey our ways into the kitchen to find a coffee filter to begin making our much needed caffeinated brew. We don’t often think how fun they could be for the kiddos.

Butterfly Coffee Filters:

Needed:
-Coffee Filter
-Markers or Bingo Dotters
-Spray Bottle
-Clothespin

1. Follow Steps One-Four of the Coffee Filter Sun catcher
2. Lay coffee filter flat, and wedge into the opening of the clothespin.

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3. Using both hands, slide and bunch the colored coffee filter into the clothespin.

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4. Your Tie-Dye  Butterfly is complete!

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Coffee Filter Sun Catchers

With coffee filters so readily available at all times of the day, it’s no wonder that people with young children have discovered many other alternative ways to use them. This activity require little planning for those rainy days when the children are screaming, “I’m bored!”

Coffee Filter Sun catchers:
Needed:
-Coffee Filter
-Markers, Bingo Dot Markers
-Spray Bottle

1. Fold Coffee Filters in triangles.
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2. Allow children to use bingo dot markers, or regular markers to make designs on their coffee filter triangle.

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3. Using the spray bottle, spray the coffee filter with water until the color begins to bleed into each other.

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4. Open the triangle and allow to dry.

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