CCNS Twos Drop Off Program’s Unique Plan to Ease in to School

Comforting a sad child
Spending one on one time

 

Dropping a child off to school for the first time can be a traumatic experience for both the child and the caregiver. At CCNS, Twos Head Teacher, Lini Ecker, has developed a unique system to ease children in to the program resulting in much less separation anxiety. Lini often provides the example of dropping a toddler off to school for the first time as if one was dropped in a foreign country with no money, no transportation and a lack of ability to speak the language and then told to “go have fun!” The first few days of school can be very daunting especially for our youngest ones who usually do not have the language to express their needs and feelings. They often need to rely on the intuition of their caregivers to decipher their needs.

At CCNS, all of the children visit the classrooms with a caregiver before school begins to see their classrooms, meet their teachers and walk around with the safety of their caregiver right beside them. Usually that is enough for many of our Threes and Fours, especially since most of them have been at CCNS for the Twos program and/or Threes program and know the school a bit.

For the twos, the goal is to earn their trust and to make school seem really fun before they feel anxious, so that they WANT to return. The first day for our twos is only an hour long. The caregiver stays with the child in the classroom and only half the class attends. During this time, the teachers may ask the caregiver to step out of the room for a few minutes and use this time to gauge the level of separation anxiety for that child. This is individualized for each child. The children enjoy free play and a short story before heading home.

 

Getting to know the teacher with mom still there
Separating from mom just a bit

 

The following week the regular class time is shortened a bit.  Caregivers are asked to arrive 30 minutes early and join the class in the outdoor classroom.  They can choose to stay together and play or take their child home if he/she seems ready.

 

Meeting caregivers who arrived early

 

The regular classroom schedule of a two-and-a-half-hour day begins the third week with almost all the children eager to enter the classroom and find his/her favorite activity. For those with remaining separation anxiety, the teachers work individually with families to find the best plan to make the child feel safe and happy at school. This can include comfort items from home, a special routine upon arrival, a home visit and other techniques that the Twos team is adept at implementing.

Happily reunited with mom after a good day

 

This is the case in all of our classrooms. We read stories about leaving home, entering school and how caregivers always return. We set up special routines for children that may need extra comfort upon arrival and also work closely with families to help ease all of our students into their new classroom environment. We always try to send a photo home of the child who was left initially crying at drop off happily engaged in an activity to ease the separation anxiety for the caregiver. At CCNS working with families as a team is one of our most important goals. From our youngest children to our big kids, we want to make them all feel safe, secure and understood, so they can concentrate on their work: PLAY!

Safe Haven-A Parent’s Perspective

All decisions these days are different. The question of whether to send our children to school and the uncertainty of what that would look like consistently weighed on us all. Now that we’ve all made our choice and taken a collective deep breath, I’d like to take a moment to share what our school year at CCNS has looked like so far.

This fall, I have had the unique privilege of being a parent to a child in both the 2s and 4s class, a staff assistant in the 2s as well as a CCNS board member. In a year where we’re all limited by COVID-19, what has struck me the most is what has remained consistent. From the children’s eager run onto the playground, to the thoughtful weekly classroom setups; from teacher guidance that empowers, to joyful songs and stories, what CCNS has given its families is a return to a normal thing under abnormal circumstances.
Despite beginning this school year by jumping into the unknown, my primary emotion since returning has been gratitude. All communications from the school have been clear and detailed, procedures and policies are being respected and followed by us all and most importantly every staff member and child that climbs the hill each day is genuinely excited to be there. While I know that everyone is ready for our first working parent shift to begin, I can assure you that in the meantime our community has evolved into something even more beautiful under these trying times.
As multiple perspectives have always been a strength of CCNS, please find some additional parent feedback below:
I was very hesitant to send my kids to preschool this year but I am so glad that I did. The CCNS staff put a tremendous amount of thought and planning into this school year to create a safe environment for the kids. Even with the restrictions, it still feels like a warm and nurturing preschool, and both my kids are having a wonderful year.
-Parent of a child in the 2s & 4s class
Although I miss being a working parent in our school, CCNS and our incredible community have made being a working mom feasible, even during a pandemic. While nothing feels like it used to in the world at large, our school offers a sense of comfort, support and home to us and our kids, whether that’s in Board meetings, Zoom meetings or chats out car windows.
-Parent of a son in the Threes class
Post written by Mary Nevin Gauthier

“Hands out, ready to fall!” Embracing the YES! at CCNS.

Preschoolers are often dare-devils and thrill-seekers who naturally test the limits of what’s possible at home, at school and on the playground. It’s what they do.

As parents, our instinct to keep our children safe prompts us to caution our little risk-takers to Be careful! Slow down! Get down! – or the easiest option – No!

At CCNS, we seek to offer children the “yes” that allows them to safely test their limits and take acceptable risks that will make them more experienced, confident, and resilient in the long run.

If a child wants to climb the big rocks, we encourage them to have their “hands out, and be ready to fall.” 

If a child wants to build a block tower beyond their reach, we encourage them to ask an adult for support while they climb onto a chair to add blocks to the top.

Children are allowed to use real tools at the workbench provided they wear googles and their work is supervised by an adult.

The philosophy of saying “yes” whenever possible works in tandem with helping children learn what it means to “be safe”.

As one of our three core behavioral expectations in the classroom, “be safe” means we take care of ourselves.  “Be safe” is an intuitive concept for preschoolers; it’s positive and simple vocabulary that children can both say and understand. We use the words be safe every day in many ways in the classroom and on the playground:

We remind the children that our rules are designed to keep them safe and praise them by specifically calling out how their actions are keeping themselves and others safe.

We model being safe, and ‘think out loud’ as we show them what being safe looks like. We may narrate our actions with ‘Hmm, someone trying to get through this area where I am building might trip on these blocks. I’m going to move them over here to make a safe path. Would you help me?”

And when we need to ask our little risk takers to stop doing something, we specifically call out why their behavior is not safe, such as “Walk with that stick. Running with a stick is not safe”

Applying our school’s core behavioral expectation consistently and using the words be safe as a universal language around behavior every day has helped teachers and working parents provide the children with consistent guidance and positive (re)direction. What’s more, it’s given the kids a common vocabulary that they all understand and can use to describe their behavior and that of their friends. For example, when one child tells another “don’t do that, it’s not safe” instead of just saying “stop it”, the child almost always achieves a better, quicker result and in turn feels more empowered to advocate for themselves and solve problems independently.

At CCNS, we strive to offer a safe environment where we say “yes” to opportunities for children to test their physical and mental limits through active play every day. Reasonable risk-taking is an important part of childhood and a critical aspect of healthy social-emotional development that results in the ability to share original ideas, investigate, experiment, invent and accept failure as a learning experience.

We encourage and empower CCNS children to be adventure-seekers, dare-devils and risk-takers… as long as they honor our school value of being safe and they are prepared… with their ‘hands out, ready to fall”.

Be safe. Be kind. Be responsible.

As Miss Adele says, “Every day is an adventure in the Threes!” That’s true… in the Twos and in the Fours, too!

For young children, every day IS an adventure… filled with new experiences, new concepts, new challenges, new words and new emotions. With all the ‘new’ constantly coming at them… it’s no wonder children crave a stable environment marked by predictable schedules, consistent routines, and clear expectations.

Knowing what to expect and what’s expected of them gives children a sense of security and makes them more confident and willing to participate, ask questions, take risks and express their creativity.

At CCNS, we help children understand what’s expected of them by consistently using three core behavioral expectations. They are:

Be safe – we take care of ourselves.

Be kind – we take care of others.

Be responsible – we take care of things, we follow directions.

These simple, easily understood expectations are introduced during the first days of school, are posted year-round in the classroom, and are shared with CCNS families to foster a universal language around encouraging and managing children’s behavior.

In school and on the playground, these core behavioral expectations are used by teachers and working parents as the basis of all acknowledgement, guidance and discipline. For example, you might hear:

The trucks need to stay on the ground. It’s not safe to take them up on the slide.

I noticed you took turns on the tire swing when others were waiting. That was very kind.

It’s clean up time. Please be responsible and tidy up the things you were using in the dramatic play area.

By referencing these core expectations every day, the children are more likely to behave in ways that meet those expectations and are quicker to correct when a teacher, parent or another student puts their actions in the context of being safe, kind and responsible.

Ultimately, and ideally, successful application of our core behavioral expectations results in being able to spend more time on active, engaged, thoughtful play – which is great… because as we know, these children have a lot of adventuring to do!

NAEYC Accreditation

2018-19 is our first full school year of operating with NAEYC Accreditation, an important stamp of approval earned by less than 10% of all child care centers, preschools and kindergartens nationally.

The process to earn Accreditation from NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) was rigorous, and our achievement has been celebrated by parents, staff and the community. In recognition of the significance of this commendation, Senator Bob Duff presented a Legislative Citation to the school, then joined the Fours Class on the carpet and read a book to them which was fun for everyone!

 

To achieve NAEYC Accreditation, our staff and board members worked diligently over three years to document and demonstrate what a high-level educational facility we’ve always known we are. Days, nights, weekdays and weekends were dedicated to updating and organizing all the systems, manuals, by-laws, job descriptions, staff review processes, training systems, and financial practices of our school to ensure they met NAEYC standards. During the review process, NAEYC Assessors visited CCNS to verify that our school met the ten program standards and hundreds of corresponding criteria. And going forward, our staff are always prepared for unannounced quality assurance visits which are an integral part of maintaining the NAEYC Accreditation.

At CCNS, we have always strived to exemplify best practices in early childhood education, and earning NAEYC Accreditation is validation that we are achieving our goal.

To learn more about NAEYC Accreditation, visit the NAEYC website.

Outside Every Day

“First the snow pants… then the snow boots… then the jacket… then the hat.  And, then last we put on mittens… so we can go outside and play.”

This little ditty, sung to the tune of Oh My Darlin’ Clementine, is a stalwart CCNS favorite. The process of gearing up to go outside on cold, New England winter days can be daunting for a preschooler, but this catchy tune is a helpful prompt that exemplifies a few things about the CCNS approach:

Independence… Zipping coats, buckling boots, and sliding all five fingers into a glove correctly can be challenging tasks, especially for eager three year olds itching to get outside and play. This musical mnemonic is easy to remember and guides the children in the most logical order of how to put on their outdoor clothes. We work on being able to independently suit up to go outside, which gives CCNS kids a sense of accomplishment and, as any parent who’s taken children skiing will tell you, is absolutely priceless.

 

‘Be prepared’...  Like the Boy Scout motto, these children are prepared for whatever their outdoor time may bring. They know that, with the proper outdoor gear, they will be able to take another sledding run, shovel a bigger pile of snow, or be able to ‘frost’ their messy, mud pie masterpiece. When your fingers are warm and your clothes are dry, you can keep going. CCNS kids wear snow pants in winter, rubber pants for wet and muddy days, and always have a few changes of clothes in their cubby, just in case fun = really messy that day.

 

We (always) go outside.  Neither snow nor sleet nor rain nor mud nor ice nor slush will deter these kids from the freedom and imagination they gain from outside play. As long as the temperature is 22° or above, we play outside. Some days, we tweak the schedule to catch the sun or avoid a rain shower and that change in plans is entirely worth it – seeing the children exploring their environment, developing an appreciation for nature, and using their muscles to run, swing, jump, pedal, and hop is a key component of the CCNS experience.

And on days when it’s -22°?   We simply bring the snow inside!