How puppets can help with social skills

Puppets are a common device for playtime, and it's easy to see how children love to play together with puppets.  Puppets are also a great example of learning through play.  But what you might not realize is how helpful puppets can be in helping to teach children social skills, such as conflict resolution.

The use of puppets can also help with modeling good classroom behaviors, like asking a teacher for help.  This great article explains how these concepts are achieved, and how teachers prepare an effective and fun puppet show for your child.  Who knew puppets could be so beneficial?


Source: "Circle Time Puppets - Teaching Social Skills" Play and Children's Learning in the Classroom, NAEYC.org. Julia Luckenbill. Web.

Community Helpers

    One of the things that I have always enjoyed about the Steiner Ranch area is the sense of community.  Steiner Ranch really seems to rally together, whether it is a concert in a park, school fairs, or the various groups that meet throughout the week.  However, what does it mean to really be a part of a community, and what does that word mean?
   
 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community 
defines the word community as: (n) a unified body of individuals. 

    I don't know about you but those words can really make a person feel secure, confident, and warm inside.  Our communities are important to us, as well as the people that embody them.  
   How can you teach your child(ren) about community or help them to feel "a sense of community".  First, we must start by explaining to our children what a community is!  Our community is where we live and is full of people we often see! 
   In October our students will get the opportunity to learn about community and community helpers.  We will introduce the students to specific jobs/careers that are more popular when it comes to actually being a contributor to the safety of the community; police/fire men and woman, EMT, nurses, doctors, and soldiers.  In addition they will learn about the careers people chose that also benefit our communities; teachers, mail carrier, bakers, butchers, vets, bus drivers, etc. 
   Great ideas to get your children involved in the community are volunteering opportunities: serving Thanksgiving Dinner to the less fortunate, making cookies for the fire department, sending letters to the soldiers over seas, making thank-you cards for the police department, etc.

    Make sure to engage in conversation with your child throughout October asking them what they have learned and what their idea of a community is!  We will also have a mailbox set up in the lobby for your child to "mail" a letter to their teacher.