Earthquake Safety

The recent Napa Valley earthquake is a good reminder to talk about safety. Your child's safety is very important to us! Rest assured, we have a full emergency plan and keep supplies stocked at all times here at school.

Every month we practice a fire drill. The children know how to quickly line up and walk safely with teachers to the front of the school. Periodically we also add a "duck, cover, and hold" earthquake drill. Today was an earthquake drill day.

Earthquake & Fire Drills
We started by showing the children a short video clip about being "Turtle Safe" during an earthquake. (Here is the link if you want to watch it and practice at home too.) Later we did the earthquake drill, then lined up and went outside like a fire drill, just as we would do after a real earthquake while the building gets inspected for possible damage.

These drills happen at various times of the morning each month so that everyone will know what to do if they are inside or playing outside during a real emergency. (We usually do drills in the morning so that our half-day children will be included.) Infants in Green Room are obviously not ready to "duck, cover, and hold" in the traditional way, but their teachers do have an age-appropriate plan in place.

Contact Information
Has your phone number, email address, or home address changed in the past year? Is there anyone you would like to add to or subtract from your child's emergency pick-up list? In the event of a natural disaster, realize that traffic and road obstructions may make it hard for you to get here quickly, so the more people you have listed, the better. Anytime your contact information changes, please let us know right away so we can keep current records. That way we can be sure to get in touch with you in case of an emergency.

School is prepared.
In addition to stocking emergency supplies and practicing our emergency drills, we subscribe to a system called SchoolReach that lets us call and text every parent's home, cell, and work phone numbers simultaneously if needed. We would use this system to keep you updated in case of a school-wide emergency or natural disaster. In any type of emergency, teachers would stay with your children until every child has been safely picked up by an authorized adult.

Are you ready?
We encourage every family to make and practice an emergency plan at home. Do you and your children know how to duck, cover, and hold at home? Do you know two ways to get out of your room and out of your house? Do you have a meeting place outside of your house (such as a neighbor's front lawn) in case you all have to evacuate quickly? Do you have supplies on hand in case you have to shelter in place for a few days? Do you have enough medications or supplies for anyone in your family who has special needs? We encourage you to talk about these plans and practice them periodically so everyone knows how to be safe in an emergency at home. Here is the video link again if you want to practice being "Turtle Safe" together. 

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to talk to Jennifer or your child's teachers. Thank you!

- Teacher Jennifer

Welcome to the Green Room blog!

Welcome to the Green Room Blog! I’m excited to have a place to share more about what happens in our classroom. I’d like to start by sharing some information about our classroom philosophy and goals.

We believe children to be capable, competent, curious, whole people deserving of respect. Our goal is for children to leave our room confident, independent, and able to solve their own problems. We encourage these skills by allowing children to work through and solve their own problems, while offering support and guidance as needed. We begin nurturing these skills with even our youngest infants and continue as each child grows.

It's a delicate balance, being able to offer support and guidance without interfering when it’s not needed. We do this by “sportscasting” or offering a play-by-play of what is happening. A teacher would wait for a child to “check in” before offering any commentary. We are careful not to interrupt when a child is deeply engaged in an activity. Instead, we stay nearby and present so that we are available for the child to invite us into their play. We need to be able to read the situation, know the children involved, and be able to stay calm in the moment when the child may be frustrated or upset. We need to understand and respect that some children can handle more frustration than others.

I didn’t realize until I started writing this how much time we spend supporting these skills. It really involves almost every aspect of our day, from supporting young infants who are just learning to roll over, to crawling babies who get stuck in new places, to older toddlers who are asserting their independence, to watching a child figure out how a toy works. Each of these instances offers an opportunity for a child to learn just how much they are capable of. When we help when its not needed, it sends the message that the child is not capable. It may be easier (and faster) for us to solve their problems, help when they are stuck, and show them exactly how that puzzle piece fits. We recognize that in some cultures, intervening in these ways is a way of showing love. But by helping them work through frustration, offering them other options instead of answers, and helping only when really needed, we get to see the satisfaction on a child's face when they can do it on their own. Those "I did it!" moments may seem small, but each one builds a child's confidence.

This balance of observing and interacting allows us to really get to know each child and their interests. We use these observations when planning activities and curriculum for the classroom.

What’s happening in our classroom?

Lately, the children have been very interested in our dramatic play area. Younger infants are enjoying exploring play food, filling and dumping pots and pans, and cuddling with baby dolls. Our older toddlers have been using the play food and dishes to cook "soup" and have "tea parties." They pretend to feed baby dolls, each other, and teachers. Recently, M and S were playing with the tea set. S began to pretend to spoon feed M, who would say “thank you!” after each bite. After a few times, they switched roles and M began pretending to feed S.














We are excited to extend this and will be doing some real cooking activities in the coming weeks!


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