January 2025: Speak, Listen, Ask.

**“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.”**

- Bernard Baruch

Mindful Focus: Talking and Listening

Explorations: The Human Body/Anatomy

Coming back after winter break is always so much fun! The children seemed to come back with a new sense of confidence and comfort in their school environment. We enjoyed making ice ornaments during Nature Time and hanging them on our class “Sit Tree”. We had to take advantage of the super cold temperatures while we could! Although they melted back into nature we enjoyed watching the sunlight glisten through them.

We learned about our bodies and how they function. We learned that everybody is different and that’s okay. We might meet people who are very different than us, it’s okay to be curious. Speak, listen, and ask. We can learn about each other and learn to love all through kindness and understanding.

This month our lovely Miss Lottie gave birth to a healthy baby boy! Although we miss her greatly, we are thrilled for her new journey of motherhood and can’t wait to have her stay connected with SimpleLife. We welcome back the well known Miss Lacey! Lacey has worked for SimpleLife in the past and has so much experience providing high quality care and learning in early childhood settings.

- Miss Demi

Bodies Exploration:

“Anatomy is taught to most people at school and is not only important in medicine and sports, but is also an inspiration for art and literature worldwide.”
*- The Importance of Anatomy, Frontiers for Young Minds*

This month we got to have a blast together learning all about the human body! The children had so much fun exploring all the different doctor tools and helping heal friends and stuffies. During our circle time discussions, together we learned about each system in our body and what job they do, from our digestive system to our circulatory system! After discussing the different parts of our bodies it was clear to see how important it is to keep them healthy! We shared in several engaging activities, testing out our strong muscles, playing a card game to see what yummy foods are healthy for our bodies and what foods are not so healthy or a “sometimes” food. We even got to explore our five senses! This was a favorite for both the teachers and the children to participate in. With the option to wear a blindfold we could focus on our sense of touch and discover different textures, then we were able to focus on our hearing by listening to different sounds or instruments then guessing what they were. My favorite part was our taste test! We each tried a sour lemon and the expressions did not disappoint! Of course we ended on something sweet, they enjoyed this one the most. Exploring our 5 senses was so much fun and truly helped us see how incredible our bodies are! There are so many different ways to take care of our bodies and we can all work on showing our own bodies some love, our monthly song is a good one reminding us to do just that. “I love my body from my head to my toes!” -Mother Moon

- Miss Mal

Our mindful focus for January was talking and listening. Children this age have SO MUCH to say. But learning to take turns and listen while others are talking can be very difficult. This age loves to compare what they know to each other. It’s not uncommon to hear one person describing an event and quickly hear another person telling us about a similar event they had. It gives us common ground to compare similarities. It can bring us together to know we are not so different after all. However teaching these children how to make those connections in a conversation (with many others) can feel challenging. We give encouraging reminders to listen and to wait, to raise your hand and wait until they are called upon, and to keep their stories for the end.

We spent extra time teaching them the appropriate ways to talk to others. One way we practiced this was when we taught them about diversity. Specifically when we talked about differently abled individuals. Children, by nature, are curious and observant of differences in each other. We showed them different pictures of people who had missing limbs or those in wheelchairs, etc. We explained to them that while these individuals may look different, they are a lot like us and have feelings. We taught them how to kindly ask them about their disabilities and that people usually prefer to be asked questions instead of being stared at or whispered about. We hope that our students understand how important it is to be inclusive of everyone no matter their differences.

- Miss Annie

Celebrating Freedom:

Supporting children to speak their mind and stand up for themselves and others in a peaceful and appropriate way.

This month at school we got to have another wonderful celebration about life and the world we live in! The kids love having these celebrations and always work hard to learn why and what we’re celebrating - even when it’s a tricky concept like it was this month. We talked with them about the freedoms we’re able to have, to be friends with anyone and everyone, and how people had to push for those freedoms. People like Martin Luther King Jr. We explained to them that the reason MLK is so special and still talked about is because he worked hard to change things peacefully. He saw that the world wasn’t fair to people just because they looked a little different and pushed for things to change. Of course, this is a difficult concept for them to grasp because in the child brain they just want everyone to play together! And so that’s what we focus on. We ask them if they would not want to play with someone because their eyes, hair, or skin were different and they always say no, and we follow it up by asking how they would feel if there was a rule that only kids with a certain color eyes could come to our school. We’re lucky to have such sweet kids and it’s heartwarming to see them instantly shake their heads and later remind their friends how much they love them.

My favorite part of this celebration day is reminding the kids that being different is what makes them special. And that our world would be really boring if everyone was exactly the same. I love watching the way they gain confidence in themselves as they find all the similarities and differences between themselves, their friends, and their teachers. They compare eyes, noses, skin, hair, and even notice their different voices.

The last special part of this celebration is their mini freedom march! This year we had most of the kids march inside, because it was so cold outside, and they loved taking turns leading their class throughout the basement marching and making noise with clapping hands, and especially working together to come up with a little “chant.” One of our classes said, “We’re glad that we’re together!” And another said “I love my friends!” And I also overheard “All kids can play together!” from some of the kids! I really love seeing all the things that stick out to them enough to make it into their class chant, especially as it shows how much they truly all love each other.

- Miss Sushi

Art Exploration:

Little hands, big learning

In January our preschoolers engaged in some educational and fun art projects that blended art, science, and hands-on learning:

3-D Wood Sculptures: The children built unique sculptures in two stages. First, they glued pieces of wood (and other repurposed materials) together, using creativity and fine motor skills. Once dry, they painted their creations with house latex paint. This project can help support artistic expression, problem solving, and hand/eye coordination.

Fingerprint Color Mixing: In this sensory activity, the children mixed finger paints together to create new colors. Though the focus was on the creative process, each child ended up with a handprint for their portfolio. This activity can support exploration of color theory, sensory engagement, and the fascinating process of mixing colors!

Body and Body Systems Art: The children laid on a large piece of paper while a teacher traced their outlines. With a lot of guidance, they then drew and labeled the major body systems. This project introduced basic human anatomy in a fun way, enhancing early science literacy and vocabulary.

We’re so proud of our little artists, and can’t wait to share more of their exciting projects with you!

- Miss Lacey