We have been interviewing teachers for the holistic gardening position and we have narrowed it down to several qualified exceptional candidates. Some have planted and educated children and adults abroad in the field of sustainable living, some have worked locally with children in Santa Barbara, what I do know is that in the last few weeks the children have learned about solar energy, gardening, planting, how seed germinate etc. All of the people interviewed share the message of creating a space for the children where they can imagine, explore freely, be challenged and the final teachers understood what it meant to facilitate and see where the class led the discussion and projects. This is a sample documentation that was done about their experience with this new program last week.
Today the children helped each other plant seeds from tomato, pepper, lettuce and basil plants. We talked about the different parts of a plant and what plants need to grow. The children explored plant parts and patterns as well as many other objects with magnifying glasses, which they seemed to love using. We also talked about insects and their role with pollinating and dispersing flowers and seeds and played with some toy insects that I brought in. Many of the children enjoyed drawing on the white board while waiting for turns to fill pots with soil, plant or use the magnifying lens. In general the children were very involved and excited about the activities and were good about sharing and helping each other. I really enjoyed working with them and their curiosity.
The projects that have been done focus on the children ability to explore and discover new things relax and be outside. We are really looking forward to adding a holistic gardening and education documentation board in the hallway in the coming weeks; it will be fun to see what can be created in the garden this year. We are hoping that once our garden starts to produce the cooking teacher will then again be able to cook with items that we have in our yard. Will update blog next week with official times and information about what is to come from this program in the next month. We also have several UCSB Students who will be doing a class project on gardening with children and will be doing projects with the kids in the next few weeks. We welcome students into our center to help educate and inform the community about our programs and to help other teachers explore the benefits of gardening, composting and making sure that all aspects of their class reflect a class who cares, loves and respects each other the community and the earth.
Transitions to a greener cleaner facility- There is a lot of talk about what it means to be green, and it seems like now days “green” has become a buzzword. What we have noticed in the last several weeks is that everyone’s idea of being green means something different. In our school we buy mostly used furniture, toys and decorative accents, we use lamp lighting if we use lighting at all most of the time the sun lights our classrooms. And we protect the safety of the indoor air quality and stay away from harsh chemicals in our cleaning products, room deodorizers and we use natural pest control remedies (cinnamon) etc, for ants and spiders in the facility. We have Asthma action plans for the facility set up to meet the needs of children with allergies and asthma and are a peanut free facility when there are children with nut allergies to meet the needs of those children . In an effort to take the school to a whole other level we have decided to focus more attention on gardening and planting a “hopefully” sustainable garden, we are currently hiring a new holistic education teacher who will be responsible for all aspects of our gardening, composting and holistic education program. The children are so motivated in this area we have made the decision as a school to move forward in this direction. So that you know what “green” means to us in the next several weeks we will be focusing on and displaying works that has been done by the children. All the materials in these projects are recycled and have been donated by the parents and the community. It will take the whole community working together to make the Learningden a place where recycled materials feed inspiration and creativity to our children. So that all of the community is able to share in the experience we will invite the community for an art showing displaying the children’s work as well and provide documentation for why and how all the works were done and created. It is the chance to really focus on taking what we teach the children about what it means to take care of the earth and each other, and share with the community through documentation and art so that they get an idea about how it all comes together. Stay tuned for further details on the Learningden Preschool recycled material project. We are hoping that the exhibit will be ready for the week Earth day 2010. We will have a reception, and have the school open for viewing for 2 evenings.
All of the staff at The Learningden Preschool wish our families and friends a safe happy holiday filled with joy and family togetherness. We love all of our families so much and hope that you all have a great start to the New Year!! We will be open the week between Christmas and New Years but many of you will be gone so we look forward to your return in 2010.
Love Erika, Karin, June, Vivienne, Hillary, Calvin, Amalie, Mali, Melinda, Gabriella, and Cassidy
We opened our school up to the community on Friday night to have a parent’s night out. It was the first we have offered to everyone and we will definitely be doing it again!! We had a great turnout, we did holiday projects, played in the light room, and had dinner. It was a great time for all. We got to meet new friends and the children got to have fun while their parents had a couple hours to finish shopping or just have a date night!! Thanks to everyone who came and joined in the fun. We will be offering these nights to Learningden families as well as the community in 2010 and it is open to children ages 2-10 we have affordable rates and so if you missed it this time look for it in January.
On Tuesday December 15th, The Learningden Preschool took a field trip to Villa Santa Barbara to make cookies with the seniors. It was a great day, the children were very excited and for some this is the fourth year they have gone to do this trip. This year the weather was much better than last year so we did not have to contend with the rain. We loaded up the kids and we were off to Villa for the morning. Ms Karin and Ms Erika had Aiden, Gino and Laila in the car and on the way they told us about their holiday plans, and about their Christmas trees. I told Aiden that I got my tree from the garage and he told me that his tree was not in the garage it was in the house where they could all see it. He told me that they got their tree at a place where everyone else gets trees. The other children in the car also spoke of their trees and none of them understood why mine was artificial. It was a great conversation and when we arrived the children could not wait to meet up with their friends and go inside. When we walked in the receptionist greeted us, as well as Grandma Claudia who was waiting by the door for us. We took a group photo and were off to the tables to decorate cookies. We had a good turn out and though one of the children was frightened of the wheel chairs at first they got used to it and had a really good time. That is a reminder of why we do this trip and how everyone benefits from the experience. The children get exposed to people and things that they might not see every day and the seniors get to be around the children who remind them how important and special they are in these children’s lives. It was a great trip and we will visit more homes to do great projects later in 2010.
The Learningden had a booth of arts and craft at the Marathon’s children festival on Saturday. It was a great time. We made vases, had a beading station, set up easel painting, decorated a lampshade at one station, made cards at another table and had a bicycle wheel station with ribbon for the children to create whatever they wanted. Some of the children stayed for hours with their parents doing arts and crafts alongside them. For older kids we offered hair coloring, some of the children and parents got very creative and the spray ended up on paper as art rather than in their hair. There were some really beautiful creations made, and all of the materials used with the exception of the hair spray were recycled. It was great to meet new families and to see that the parents were having as much fun as the children. We had a great turnout and cannot wait to do it again at next years Marathon.
It was great to see Olivia and Norah at the event. We always love to see preschool children outside the school at events. The Children’s festival took place on Saturday before the marathon on Sunday. There were children races and many fun activities set up for the children. We applaud June and Rusty Snow, the organizers, for really making the Marathon a weekend where families could come together with the goal of health, fun and fitness. There was truly something for every member of the family. Sunday was really fun to go and watch. Erika went down Sunday morning to cheer on Chrystee and Elena who ran in the Marathon. Chrystee came in third with a time of just over 3 hours; it was truly amazing and exciting to watch. Erika waited a few minutes longer but had to leave because it was Camila’s nap time. It was fun watching all the support runners had as they ran the race. Elvis even made an appearance at the finish line to keep the people waiting pumped up. I hope that everyone was able to go and enjoy some part of the Marathon; it is something that our community really needs and if you missed it this year make sure you mark your calendar for next year. This event is not to be missed.
The Learningden preschool has just received a certification through the Green Care for Children of Santa Barbara County. We have been added to a small list of child care providers that have made a pledge to uphold superior green standards in our program to make sure that children in our care are happy and healthy, as well as introduce ideas of how to be more environmentally friendly in the children’s home. The Learningden is committed to conservation by what we teach the children, materials and cleaning products that we use, energy conservation and using natural light in all of our classrooms as often as possible. To become a green care provider you must meet 18 of 25 standards which the Learningden met. We are very excited to be recognized for our efforts and we continuously look for new ways to expand our education for families and children about being green. We have added a description of what Green Care for children is but we would also encourage you to look at their website if you are interested in finding out more about their program.
“The GreenCare for Children Vision:
- Children will live healthier, more productive and more fulfilling lives if exposures to conditions detrimental to their health are eliminated in the child care, home, and public settings.
- Exposure to these conditions will be eliminated willingly by early care and education providers through clear, accurate and useful information, and through systematic support from all sectors of the child care community.
- Early care and education providers are uniquely positioned to promote healthier environments for children, and their stewardship will positively influence conditions in the home and public setting.
History of the Project:
- The GreenCare for Children program began in 2002 as a project of the Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara, California. In 2003 and 2004 GreenCare surveyed 748 regional early care and education providers to determine if there was a potential for exposure to environmental hazards in the child care setting; to identify information gaps in risk management; and to measure interest in environmental risk management training.“
Thank you to all community members who have dropped off donations of fabric, buttons, containers, paper, and other art supplies. We really appreciate all of you who contribute to the green education of the children at the school. So far this month we have done some really elaborate projects all from materials that were donated to us by individuals and businesses in the community. Some of these projects include our vases which were made from the plastic liners of pots donated by a local nursery and lampshades which were donated by a local hotel which was redoing the rooms. All of the paper material we used to decorate the lampshades and vases were donated from a nice family at a garage sale. We have been sending pictures and going in person to show people what the children have created with the material they have donated. So far the response from the community has been very positive and people have really been excited to donate their material to the children. We have had many great donations of materials but these are the ones we have used so far. Keep looking back to see what other things are being created. We will keep updating the blog with new pictures. If you have something to donate please contact Erika or Karin and we will arrange pick up or drop off of you donations.
Thank you to Montecito Frame and Gallery for their donation and time to seal our Lampshades that the children made! We really appreciate it. Montecito frame has a great selection of children’s art materials, frames and other great gift items. They are located in Summerland 969-1129 feel free to call Michelle if you are looking for something special for the holidays, she can get almost anything that you are looking for and the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable.
This week was filled with holiday activities including a two day trip to Lane Farms. Wednesday we took the Green Turtles and Rainbow Fish. It was a small group and the kids got lots of time to explore the Pumpkin patch. Pierce had fun sitting on the tractor; all of the children enjoyed the Hay ride. Thursday we took the Purple Sharks and The Blue Dolphins, this was a much larger group and we would like to extend a special thank you to Traci Fiscallini for taking time out of her busy day to drive and make sure that all the children got to attend. The weather was beautiful both days and the children really got to spend time, enjoying everything that the pumpkin patch had to offer. The animals were a big hit and the children in Ms Erika’s car were talking about how they really wanted to see the big horse and the pigs. When we arrived that was the first thing that they all went to see. The group really enjoyed the large pumpkins, and throwing hay in the hay area, even Ms Erika joined in on the fun. We woke up the scarecrow and he entertained the kids and got them moving. Both trips were a lot of fun and I think that it has set the stage for a great start to the holiday season.
