The Chicken or the Egg.....

Over the past few months I have shared our teaching team's bios and all the qualities that they have that combine to make BELA such a  special place. The one bio I haven't shared yet is that of our Director of Education, Jody Rutherford who is  the founder of BELA and my Mom! Throughout my life I have often wondered if my Mom is such a wonderful Teacher because she is a such a great Mom or vice versa...the age old question, which came first.....

When my sisters and I were growing up, my Mom worked, a lot! She was always at the school and we spent many weekends there playing, or when we were older practicing our various sports in the gym while she worked. She spent early mornings and late nights there. As an Administrator she was forever running here or there on weekends or evenings to meet with a staff member who needed her or a parent who just needed to talk. She sat up late at night worrying about this child or that, wondering if they were getting everything they needed at home, and if they weren't, making a plan  to ensure their time at school the best and most impactful that it could be, to sustain them while they were at home. If they weren't getting the love and compassion they needed at home, she would pick that one special teacher or assistant to put them with, knowing they would spend seven hours a day, five days a week feeling special. Could that make the difference for them? Often it did, but when it didn't I know it hurt and she still talks about those children today. I am shocked that we didn't end up with 50 or 60 more siblings over the years!  She sees gifts and abilities in children that others don't and sees challenges that children face that others sometimes can't acknowledge. As teenagers we often talked about how much my Mom loved her job! I still do not know anyone who loves their job as much as her, who has the passion that she has for education and who will put in the kind of time that she did and still does everyday to be a positive influence in the lives of children.

As a Mom to three girls I am sure there were some extremely challenging days, in fact I know there were because she told us! She has always been honest about the joys and challenges of parenting, especially as a working Mom , with a demanding career. She knew each of our strengths and gifts and gently pushed us in the direction that would best utilize our talents. She also knew our weaknesses and challenged us to focus on them and improve, to set goals and make plans to achieve those goals. Though she worked a million hours a week she spent her weekends driving us to sports & dance. She rarely missed a game, even when I played in College. Most weekends I would look up into the stands and see her and my Dad there. She spent early mornings taking us to practice before she went to work and  late nights patiently listening to the current heartbreak and  drama of teenage girls! Her gifts as a teacher were often used in our home- most definitely her ablility to instil in us a strong sense of self.

I never had the opportunity to work with my Mom until she decided to start BELA. Education is not my background or area of expertise but she brought me on board to help her with the business side and it is a decision that I will never regret. Making her dream  a reality is truly a gift to me and our family. That being said, I don't think I truly understood the depth of her passion for education until now.  She fought her way through miles of government red tape to bring her vision to life. She will fiercely defend her decisions to purchase items at the school, even if I say I am not sure if we can afford it at the time. Her argument is alway the same, " But the kids need it!" So it is my job to find the money to make it happen. It is a challenge but I've always loved a  challenge! We are now back to watching her worry about some of our students and push herself to find ways to support them in any way we can.   I see her again spending extra time with parents, just lending an ear and if needed offering solutions. The things that bring her the most joy at BELA.....watching our student's awe and excitement as they work on a science experiment, seeing a student write their name on their own for the first time, seeing a shy child come out of their shell under the guidance of the team we have put together and sharing ideas with our staff about how to instil a love of learning in our little students!

If you haven't read my Mom's BIO before, I urge you to take the time to read it.  If your child attends BELA I think it's important to know the level of experience and knowledge your child is exposed to every day through our programming and through interactions with Jody. I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty impressive bio and makes me proud to know all the things my Mom has accomplished over her 35 years in Education.

I am not sure if I have the answer to the chicken or the egg question. I believe that her background and experience played a strong role in her approach to parenting but I also believe that her love for us carried over into her love of all children and her passion for helping them. It took me awhile to write this post as I found it difficult to be objective about a person who has influenced me everyday for 33 years! Then I realized.....it's okay to throw the objectivity out the window and just share my view of a lady who is both my Mom and now my partner at BELA. So while it may not be objective, every word is a glimpse into  my life with a lady who is a phenomenal educator and parent. And which came first....maybe we will never know. But I do know that I am  blessed to have a Mom who has the background that she does, who has now become a Grandma and is doing all the things she did for me for my babies. A Mom who I can ask almost any question about my boys and she has not only an answer but a strategy and a plan in minutes! And all her students have been lucky, whether they knew it or not to have a teacher  and or administrator with a true passion for helping children, the tenacity to fight for what they need and the ability to see each child as an individual with all their gifts!

Thanks for everything Mom, Love you!! xo
-CP

Through Those Little Eyes....a post by our Mrs. P, Early Childhood Assistant


              “I am making a hotdog tea!” was the response I got from one of the students when I asked what they were making in the kitchen center. Would you find that rather funny or surprising? Who would ever think that you could make a tea with a hotdog flavor?  That’s how imaginative our students can get at the preschool. Sometimes adults think that young children have the craziest ideas in the world and that those ideas are nonsense most of the time. While some of their ideas may sound crazy to an adult, by the age of three and a half, a child’s ability to imagine is a crucial part of their development.  By the time a child is four to about six-and-a-half, their imagination fully functioning. (childrennatureandyou.org). 

        

              

                 Along with this ability to imagine comes a variety of other abilities that begin to develop, especially when they enter preschool. One is the ability to represent the world symbolically (Jean Piaget’s Insights).  Although young children have these abilities, it doesn’t mean they would have an easy grasp, or clear understanding of the world around them the way that adults do. Developmental researchers say that children of this age do not yet have a theory of the mind* (Child Development, Psychology, 2008).  Theory of mind (often abbreviated "ToM") is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own.

        

                Parents may have high expectations of their children once they go to preschool or kindergarten in terms of the child’s intellectual, emotional, social and even physical skills. Expectedly, these children won’t be able to meet all of the expectations, even if the children are considered “early maturers”, much more so for those children with exceptionalities.  As a result, adults sometimes get frustrated.  At times, many of us forget that children are not miniature adults and we regard them by our own standards.  Let us remember, they learn at their own pace.  Every child will make progress, some more slowly than others but all progress is something to celebrate!          

        

                The Preschool curriculum of today has become more responsive to the needs of young children, preparing them for higher learning and more stimulating experiences. But according to Vygotsky, when children are presented with tasks that are outside their current abilities, they need the help of culture and society, usually parents and teachers to accomplish them. When a more skilled individual helps a child, the child is able to incorporate new skills and ideas into his or her repertoire of behavior (Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, Psychology, 2008). So let us be there for the children.  Let us see and understand the world through those little eyes, so that we can best support them in their learning.

            - CP

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         * Further researches on Theory of the Mind was conducted by Janet Wilde Astington, Professor Emerita at the Institute of Child Study, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, where she has held a faculty position since 1990.
Email: janet.astington@utoronto.ca
http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~jwastington

                                                                                

Character Education - a post by Jody Rutherford, Director of Education

   Happy New Year to our BELA family, and those who follow our Blog!

   This is a time of year for reflection – on all that we are, and all that we would wish for our children.  Which brings me to speak of one of my driving passions – character education!  Some would ask, why is character education important, isn’t that the responsibility of the child’s family?  The oft used phrase ‘ it takes a village to raise a child’, has never been more important, we all choose the virtues and values we wish to instil in our children.

 Recent events have caused great joy, and great sadness, as I have had the opportunity to meet and follow the mission of Jamie McDonald– every day hero.  A young man giving of himself, visiting our country, to run across Canada with no support team, to raise funds for Children’s Hospitals in each province.  It was an honor and a privilege recently,  to hear his message regarding the genuine goodness of all people he has encountered on his journey! Jaime encouraged all of us to find our ‘inner hero’ and believe that we can do whatever we set our minds to accomplishing. The resiliency and selflessness of this young man is truly inspirational!  Which is why, recent events in Banff, which resulted in Jamie being assaulted and his belongings taken, bring shame and sadness on behalf of our country.  What a terrible way to thank this courageous young man!

 Before we decide that this type of thing only happens in places like Banff, and larger centers in our country, we need to reflect on the use of social media during our recent election, to batter and bully those individuals who chose to let their name stand in the hope of representing us in local government.  Is this the behavior we would model for our children?  Would we be willing to stand face to face with these individuals and say the things that were said via social media?  I believe that technology brings us even more challenges, as we strive to model good character for our children, and we should not model the use of social media, as a means to bully others.

 But we must have faith, that the character of Canadians will rise up!  Jamie’s supporters, and followers, utilized social media and individual determination to ensure that his belongings were returned to him. The groundswell of support will continue to grow, as those individuals who chose to try and strike down this resilient young man, have brought enhanced attention to his heroism, and a renewed determination among his supporters, that Jamie will succeed with his mission.  Canadians are people of strong character, with an international reputation for peace-keeping and supporting those less fortunate. Jamie McDonald will succeed in his mission, because we care, and are determined he that he will!

 And as a community, we will continue to make the choices which determine the type of City we wish to live in, and can choose to model the virtues we would develop in our children.  Activities such as food and clothing drives; fund raising events to provide funds for those struck down by natural disasters such as the recent hurricane in the Philippines; and opportunities to model positive character by helping someone stuck in the snow, or shoveling the walk of an elderly neighbor; all combine to teach our children the importance of virtues such as: caring, kindness, perseverance, and determination.  The Virtues Project, recognized internationally as a program that teaches the importance of teaching and modeling character development, is one which I have found during my educational career, to have a definite impact on the positive character development of children.  As a community we choose, the type of town or city we live in, and the type of character we model for the children of our community. This is why at BELA, we strive everyday to model appropriate behaviour for our students. We treat each student and parent as an individual and make it our focus to treat each with respect and compassion. Just as we teach our students to become responsible citizens, to “fill buckets” and respond to others with kindness above all else, we ask our community to strive to do the same.   It does take a Village to raise a child, so let’s work together to develop the character of our children – they are our future!

For more information about The Virtues Project, see the link below: http://www.virtuesproject.com/

- JR

Jamie McDonald & Team Bumblebee....

I haven't been able to follow up my last post about TEAM BUMBLEBEE until I had some time to reflect on the week and the time we spent with Jamie. Julie gave us the opportunity to spend some time with Jamie in her home as he shared videos, stories and answered all our questions, some serious and some silly! Having just completed a very difficult portion of his journey,  running in unbelievably cold temperatures Jamie was still suffering the emotional toll that  had taken on him. But he was able to open up and share both the darkness & the light that came out of it. And as Julie mentions in her blog post I think we all hoped that spending time with Julie, and the rest of team bumblebee would allow Jamie to put those days behind him for good! The great thing about someone as inspiring as Jamie, is that each person can take away something different from his story! As Jamie says, if it's that his stories restore your faith in humanity,  or  gives you the push you need to take a leap, or if it allows you to believe that you can do anything- then he's done his job!

The thing that struck me most about Jamie, is the fact that he is just 27 years old! Generally speaking your 20's are not a time of great awareness of the needs of others. It can be a time of selfishness, of living your life within the small scope of those you interact with on a daily basis. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. However, the fact that jamie is in his 20's speaks volumes to his character, to his depth of compassion for others, his understanding of the challenges of today's world and suggests that Jamie is, perhaps a very old soul!

After we spent that evening with Jamie, we knew we needed to spend sometime running with him, just sharing in his journey a bit and keeping him company. We knew after listening to him that our job would be keeping him distracted from all the pain he is in after 170 marathons! We talked our way through the run as we delivered Jamie to another location to share his story, before we would run him out of Brooks. I don't think we felt a minute of cold or fatigue during that run, being there with Jamie but also because we were accompanied by an amazing little dude, that we'll call 'R'! He had run the entire morning with Jamie- over 10 miles! That's an accomplishment for anyone, let alone a boy of 11! We were all pushed to do our best to follow his example and of course the example Jamie has been setting over his entire journey! Jamie himself, humble as he is was really inspired by 'R' and we were lucky to share in the experience.

The time Jamie spent in Brooks also gave us a chance to see our community come together to support him as he raises funds for Children's Hospitals in Canada. All the money he raises while running in Alberta will go towards the Alberta Children's Hospital! Thanks to the hard work of Team Bumblebee, their auction held in honour of Jamie, raised over $12,000!

My sister, Tara and I left Jamie to run with another friend and BELA Dad, Jay Olson but not before we gave him some big hugs and held back some girly tears! ;) Jamie said to us, "whatever you do, don't worry!" We all laughed, as at this time Jamie was standing on the side of the highway with 4 Moms! Worrying is what we do best!  So we will watch, wait and worry a little until Jamie reaches his final destination and completes his 5000 mile journey!

Thank you Jamie....for the once in a lifetime opportunity! You left us humbled and inspired! xo

Team Bumblebee

Today, a little bit about the fabulous TEAM BUMBLEBEE! We are fortunate to have Mrs. Julie Jenkins as both a friend & a BELA Mom :) She has been working hard over the last several weeks to help Jamie McDonald in his cross Canada venture in support of Children's Hospitals. Jamie started out on this adventure months ago...his goal, to run 5,000 miles or 200+ marathons coast to coast, across Canada, without a support crew to raise money for sick children in Canada and the UK.  Jamie truly is a real life super hero! He is getting close to Brooks now and Julie has amped us her efforts by starting an online auction with all proceeds going to the Alberta Children's Hospital, in honour of Jamie. You can check out the auction items here and place your bid! On behalf of BELA we wish Jamie the best of luck and safe travels over the days and weeks ahead! And to Julie.....we are so proud of how you have stepped up to help a cause so very near and dear to your heart. You and your own little super hero are an inspiration to all of us!

Making Messes & Memories- A post from our Mrs. M, Early Childhood Educator

As I sit with my laptop writing my first ever blog post, I’m remembering Christmases past. Memories brought on by the delicious sweet taste of the mandarin orange that I just finished devouring.  Today and every single time I enjoy the sweet tasty treat of a mandarin orange, I am brought back to the age of 10, on Christmas Eve sitting on my Grammas’ knee in our living room. The smell of her hand lotion is strong in my memory, as is the scent of the mandarin orange that she is peeling for me. My mind sees the soft glow of the green-glassed jar candle on my mom’s coffee table that’s resting on an awful brown shag carpet.  I can hear loud chatter and laughter of the rest of my family in the kitchen enjoying a huge spread of “Christmassy” snacks.  A feeling of pure joy, contentment, peace and love overcomes me, remembering this time spent sitting on my Gramma’s knee.

You may wonder why I am sharing this memory with you. “It is through our senses that adults and children learn. Children learn best and retain most information when they engage their senses. Many of our favourite memories are associated with one or more of our senses.” (Developing and Cultivating Skills through Sensory Play, Danielle Steinberg).  In sharing one of my personal memories with you, it is easy to see the truth in the statement above and maybe even bring one of your favourite memories to mind. Just the scent of mandarin oranges brings on my favourite Christmas memory, that of sitting on my Gramma’s knee. Sensory exploration is a child’s way of examining, discovering, categorizing and making sense of the world.  

Since young children explore and learn with all five senses it is extremely important as early childhood educators and parents that we give ample opportunity for our children to engage in messy sensory play, such as finger painting, play dough, water and sand play. This messy sensory play “promotes sensory integration which is the ability of the body to integrate and process all of the information it receives from all five senses; touch, taste, hearing, vision and smell. Stimulating the senses sends signals to children’s brains that help to strengthen neural pathways important for all types of learning. Sensory play can be extremely calming for children. It’s not just about making a mess and getting dirty, it’s an essential component to learning that encourages exploration and discovery through play”  (Creative Connections for Kids) Sensory play often uses our fine motor movements and helps to build and develop these motor skills as children poor, scoop, measure and mold. It promotes pre-math concepts by comparing sizes big and small, teaches science skills as children learn what happens when they add water to the sand. Sensory play also promotes language development by building upon a child’s vocabulary.

But most important of all, it is a chance to have fun interacting while getting messy with your children. Watch their faces light up with joy as they learn a new skill or discover that they can make big waves with boats in the water table, build dinosaur mountains in the sand table or make tire tracks in play dough as they drive toy cars in it. The creative ways to engage your child, while helping them learn & explore are limitless.

I will end by leaving a recipe following this post for snow play dough that I cannot wait to make and put out for our children at BELA to explore and enlighten their senses with. It uses peppermint extract to ignite the sense of smell, silver glitter to promote visual stimulation and of course the doughy texture to mold with their hands promoting their fine motor skills and sense of touch. Stay tuned to the blog for more ideas about how you can create sensory play opportunities at home!

Have fun getting messy and discovering with your child!

- KM

Glittery Snow Play Dough

*1 cup of flour

*1/2 cup salt

*1 cup water

*1 tsp. Oil

*1 tsp. Cream of tarter

*1-2 tsp peppermint extract

*2-3 tbsp. Of ultra fine glitter

In a large saucepan, mix together the flour, salt and cream of tartar.  Add the water and oil and stir until mixed well.  Place on stove over medium heat, stirring constantly.  After a few minutes it will cook down to play dough consistency.  Allow to cool (cover with a damp cloth while cooling to avoid drying out), and then knead in the peppermint extract one teaspoon at a time. Once the peppermint extract is kneaded throughout the dough knead in the glitter one tablespoon at a time.