We Don't Like to Pick Favourites....

We don’t like to pick favorites as far as our themes at BELA go but I can’t help it!  Since I am not part of the teaching staff I also feel that I can get away with it! Community Helpers is my fave! There, I said it. Sorry, Farmyard Friends & Forrest Creatures, Dinosaurs and ‘Amazing Me’….. I just don’t feel the same about you. You are all special and fun in your own way but…..

It is so neat to see how during this theme, our students play is rooted in reality.  Rooted in our world; a world of adults who know how all the pieces fit together. A world full of adults who, for the most part are no longer amazed and excited by how a community works together and functions.  A world of adults who may have gotten so caught up in our day to day that we forget to thank those who make our community run smoothly. We may have forgotten all the great people who are there to help us if we need them.

 

Our students are seeing a lot of this ‘behind the scenes’ work for the first time! They are starting to see that there is a big world out there, beyond that of their family and close circle of friends. They are just beginning to get an understanding of what the word community means.  It is really cool to watch them as they put all the pieces together. My son, Paxton will point out things that he noticed before and always asked questions about but now he might say, “ Look, Mom! That’s the construction crew. They are community helpers too!” (Same goes for the snowplow driver and the garbage man and sometimes a random skateboarder ;) ).

Our students are starting to see that they too play a role in our community. They will interact with all these people and may experience the services they provide! And oh are they interested in these people! So many questions!! Luckily we are blessed to live in a community where, our helpers will come in and teach our students about what they do! Over the past few years we have had visits from Nurses, Teachers, Physiotherapists, Firefighters, Doctors, Policemen and more! There is nothing better than watching these students try to wrap their brain around the role these community members play and then see them apply what they have learned in their play at BELA.

 Paxton asked me the other day, “ Ya, Mom but why are Firefighters and Police so brave? they just know how?  It's just part of the job?”

 Part of the job?!  ( this is the part where my heart might explode with love for this guy. He is so serious about work!!) Those words are something Pax heard, repeated to me and asked for deeper understanding about because they resonated with him! He feels so excited to be part of the world outside our home and family! He waves to the garbage man and yells, “ Great job, see ya next time!” He wants to tell everyone about the community helpers he met at the Emergency room last weekend. He wears his Auntie’s stethoscope around the house and listens to all our hearts. He is dreaming about becoming a community helper himself when he grows up.

So many reasons to love this theme! This is just the beginning for our little learners. When they reach Kindergarten and Grade 1 they will spend even more time learning about communities. I hope they will continue to feel amazed and grateful! I hope, as adults that we can pause once in awhile and feel amazed and grateful too! We, at BELA appreciate all the helpers in the City of Brooks and surrounding area that make our community a great place to live!  Thank you to those who came in to see our students.  They are enlightened, they are inspired and they are dreaming big dreams of being like you!!

- CP

It's Not a Report Card....and other important things to know!!

Prior to opening BELA we gathered community members together as a Focus Group to find out what parents were looking for in a preschool! We gathered a lot of valuable information from this experience, and it led us to do, or NOT do, many things at BELA!

One thing we heard from our focus group was that they weren’t sure “where” their child should be at, developmentally. They also expressed that in their past experiences at preschools, that they sometimes didn’t have a clear understanding of what their child was learning at school and how they were learning it!  Parents also mentioned that they felt they didn’t have much interaction with their child’s teacher.  Further, the parents asked,  “How will we know what to work on at home or what areas we should be focusing on?” and “ How will I know if my child is ready for Kindergarten?”  

The focus group result was  that 74% of parents indicated that a “variety of communication methods, including: in person and written formats throughout the year to update parents on student progress.” was very important to them. 82% of parents also rated the following as very important “Time to meet with teachers (specified times, feedback, emails) particularly for working parents,”

Communication is of the utmost importance to us and we strive to communicate often and in different ways. The focus group data sharpened our focus on communication and led us to create three specific experiences for our parents.

Twice per year we invite our parents and students to take part in Family learning Celebrations. On these evenings our excited little students get to show their families what they have been learning and teach them about their daily routines at BELA. It is a time for parents to watch, listen and learn as their child “teaches” them!  The children have a chance to share their Learning Portfolios with their parents.  This collection of work samples, collected over time, allows parents to gain information about their child’s developing skills and knowledge. Parents also have a chance to look through the class Science & Math Journals and see photos and descriptions of what our students have been learning. It is so much fun and we always look forward to these evenings.

 Additionally, twice per year we send our Learning Outcomes Checklists home for our parents. Our checklists, describe the specific learning outcomes for the three year olds, or for the four year olds, depending on the age of your child. These checklists are meant to inform the parents about learning outcomes appropriate for children at a particular age, or developmental level. This is not a report card, but rather is a checklist highlighting what a ‘typically developing child’ could be expected to know/do at this age. The learner outcomes are a combination of our BELA Program Statement, which is adapted from the Kindergarten Program Statement provided by Alberta Education, and current research regarding developmental milestones for children ages three and four years old. The checklist provides information for each individual child’s progress with the learning outcomes they are working on in their class, at this time.

We hope you enjoy these experiences, as they were specifically developed for you and for your BELA student.

 While we strive to communicate effectively we, at the same time put responsibility on the parents as well. It is both your right and your responsibility to come to us with concerns. The staff can only support you if we are aware of concerns you have. It is your responsibility to ensure you are aware of the details of daily life at BELA. We support you by notifying you in various ways. When our BELA parents needs to know something, we generally tell you in three ways or even four. We send a notice home or include it in the newsletter, post it on ourFacebook Page ,our Twitter account & and sometimes on our website We use different mediums to offer you choice in where you get your information. It is up to you what medium you use most often to check into the happenings of the school. Our Parent Handbook that you received at orientation is also a great source of information for policies and practices that are permanent.

Our door is always open. If you have concerns or questions about your child’s learning or about our practices at BELA, please come and see us. Thank you for communicating with us and being open to the information we are providing! 

- CP

This Is Why We Run.....

It's both simple and complex....the members of the run committee love to run!! We love to be outside and be active with our children, we want them to run! We want you to run, or walk and have an active lifestyle.  At BELA, Health & Wellness is one of our foundational building blocks and one of our core values! We actively promote and model a healthy lifestyle to our students on a daily basis.  And, we want you to have fun!

We also NEED to increase awareness of the importance of early learning & early literacy!! We want you to read to your children, we want them to love to read! We want them to carry their early literacy skills with them as they move onto a successful school career. We don't just want to  support the children in our community, we NEED to!

30.19% of children in Brooks & Newell County are experiencing great difficulty in one or more of the 5 early learning developmental domains, supporting early literacy development.

(ECMap Project Alberta Education, Spring 2013)

 This is higher than the provincial average. EDMap results 2009-2012 indicate that 26.96% of children in Alberta are experiencing Great Difficulty in at least one of the 5 Developmental Domains.

 (EDMap Project, Winter, 2013)

For an in-depth look at the 5 developmental domains see the chart here. 

It is essential that we work as a community to better the statistics on the development of our children in Brooks & area. We use the money raised by the run to buy books and literacy materials and to invest in the continued learning of our staff in the area of early literacy. This allows us to continue focusing on literacy within our school and better support our students as they move towards Kindergarten.

This event hosted over 130 participants and with the positive feedback received we know those numbers will be even stronger next year. Close to $2000.00 was raised and we were also able to donate 2 bags of books each to BCIS &  the Brooks Women's Shelter- Cantara Safe House!

The Run For Reading would not be possible without our partners, Enerplus, Gord's Running Store, Pop Up Photo Booths & Frontier Signworks & our amazing team of volunteers! We also received donations of goods or services from Heritage Foods, Duffy's Fun Center, Alberta Health Services, the City of Brooks, The Pita Pit, League Pipeline, Freson Brothers, Water Pure & Simple, BRK Equipment Rentals, SPEC , the Early Childhood Development Coalition, JD Hogg Consulting, and our awesome face painters Celina & Amber Everett

 Thank you to all who participated! You are helping us support literacy in our school & community and we hope you had fun doing it!!

- CP