The Neighborhood School

Struggling with discipline? Here are some tips to help make it a little less dramatic.. katherinecaseyvoltzmft.com//disciplinethe-word-that-gets-t

Has your child ever started crying, or throwing a tantrum, seemingly out of the blue, and when asked, What happened?! What’s wrong?! You are met with I DON’T ...KNOW!!!! And you start coming up with a million theories and assumptions because SOMETHING has to have created this! Well, they aren’t wrong...they probably don’t know. Just like adults, children experience all the same big feelings we do. They feel overwhelmed, anxious, sad, angry, but unlike adults, they haven’t learned what these big feelings they are experiencing are. All they know is something feels weird inside of them and it’s causing them to have a reaction, which is really confusing!!! In these moments, instead of trying to solve the problem by bombarding them with questions while they are crying or angry, try connecting with them by acknowledging that they are upset and empathizing with their feelings. See more

By understanding our parenting style, we are able to better understand the type of parent we are, and the impact that has on our child as well as the relationship we have with them, and the type of parent we want to be.

For those parents of teenagers out there, we got you covered

Focus on the good

To go with the Autumn/Halloween spirit, we decided to do the very cool, yet slightly creepy project of making Apple head dolls with the Pre-k kids!!! While they may look weird to some, Apple head dolls are a folk art tradition dating back for centuries, and are are is a great way to educate children about identifying feelings and emotions, as well as different forms of art. To begin this process, we peeled the apples and then each child picked the facial expression they wanted for their doll, and with help, carved their apple persons face!! Fun fact: did you know that while Apple head dolls have been a long folk art tradition, especially in the Autumn, for centuries by colonists and many other people, it is said to have been a practice originating from Native Americans. #themoreyouknow

A little reminder....just in case you're needing it today #yougotthis

Struggling with discipline? Here's 10 tips from Katherine Casey Voltz, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, to help make things a little but easier!

Yesterday, while taking dried corn kernels off the cob in preparation for an art project today, a conversation was had about corn and the various things dried corn kernels could be turned into. While popcorn was briefly discussed, teacher Ana shared how if you grind the kernels it is turned into Masa, which is used to make tortillas- minds were blown. Everyone shared their love for various tortilla based things: tacos, burritos...honestly those were the two repeated...and in ...that moment it was decided that today we would be making homemade tortillas, and we did! This, this is what we mean when we say Emergent Curriculum. We as teachers had one plan, but we followed the Children’s lead based on their interest, and from that they gained knowledge of a culture, as well as a experience they truly will carry with them for the rest of their lives. It’s these moments that The Neighborhood School was founded on.

From all of us at The Neighborhood School, we wish you and your families a Happy and Safe Halloween this year!!!!

The pre-k class designed and created their own Halloween masks!! From left to right we have a monster, a witch, a mummy, The Hulk, a cat, a mummy, a witch, a vampire, and a bird!!

Halloween and dia de los muertos Lino Prints

Mixing potions...casting spells...boiling trouble...All of Them Witches are working together to create some special kind of potions....

SPIDER WEB THROWING!!! What better way to actually learn and understand how spider webs work and how spiders catch other insects than to actually BUILD our own web and try it ourselves?! (With Pom-Pom’s of course ) #progressiveeducation #theneighborhoodschool #NHS #whatwedo #handsonlearning #learninginaction