Celebrating Innovation

This past January, President Obama encouraged the nation in his State of the Union address to "out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world". Much of the President's focus was on the innovation and technology that America has been known for, particularly in the fields of math and science. And as the President mentioned, the state of our math and science education across the nation is not where we want it to be. Unfortunately, those statistics are even worse for Hispanic children, particularly those facing the additional obstacles of living in poverty and having to learn English as a second language.

 Only 3.4% of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) jobs in the United States are held by Hispanics. In 2009, only 44% of Hispanic fourth graders were able to test even at a basic skills level on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress). That means 1 out of every 2 Hispanic children in fourth grade essentially failed science. A Carnegie Report puts thirteen year old Hispanic children four grades behind in science skills.

 

It is absolutely crucial that we start intervening in these gaps at a young age. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 32% of “at-risk” children (from families where English is not the primary language, live below poverty level, or whose parents did not get past high school education) were able to demonstrate basic math skills in kindergarten, compared to 65% of non at-risk children. These children are coming into kindergarten at a disadvantage not just in literacy and language skills but also in math and science. Focusing on these skills during preschool could make a dramatic difference—what takes only thirty minutes a day in catching up at the age of 4 or 5 takes two hours at the age of 8 or 9.

 

Each Mi Escuelita site held a Math and Science night on April 8^th, where the parents came to the school and participated in Math and Science activities with their children. It is important to show our parents how easy it is and what it might look like to engage their children in math and science learning at home. Our teachers have been tackling this issue of improving our math and science curriculum with a lot of innovation themselves. In fact, this year, our Bethany site had a particularly special night: they had a science fair with all the parents and the children! The teachers sent home different ideas of science experiments that the family could do together. The families worked on the experiments at home, and presented their findings to the other parents and children during Math and Science Night. It was a very special time to see the parents so engaged in what their child is learning. There are some pictures below of proud parents and children and their experiments.

As President Obama said, a quality education “begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It's family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair.”
 

Week of the Young Child

"Children are the living message we send to a time we will not see."

- Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood, 1982

We've all heard the saying that "the children are our future". While this is certainly true, another lesser known saying is one that appropriately balances out this famous quote. That particular saying goes:

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, that we sometimes forget that he is a child today.

It's interesting to truly examine the times we live in and to consider how youth is experienced by children today. If the above quotes teach us anything, it's that children are a representation of all of modern society, not just our education systems. If a child can pass a standardized test and that recorded score goes down in the annals of history, what good is that score if the child doesn't learn proper social behavior skills or how to keep physically fit or how to simply have fun? Celebrating a child's life should offer us a prime example of the exuberance of our world as seen through the eyes of the young.

This week is the Week of the Young Child, an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Its purpose is to raise public awareness on the needs of young children and their families. One of the main goals of raising this awareness is to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet the needs of such children and families. At Mi Escuelita Preschool, we are proud to not only be one of these programs that services the Dallas community but we are also firm believers in truly celebrating what it means to simply be a child (and all the fun that goes along with that).

All week long, throughout our five campus, Mi Escuelita site staff and teachers will be dedicating a portion of class time to celebrating what it means to be a kid. From crazy hair day to parent-produced puppet shows to an end of week carnival, each Mi Escuelita campus is incorporating unique themes into the student's daily routine. Some of the activities, such as the children portrait projects, is specifically aimed at helping parents express to the entire school just how much they value and appreciate their children. They accomplished this by creating paper doll cutouts of their children and decorating them with words of encouragement and love. These works of art were hung in prominent areas of several of the Mi Escuelita campuses, where the children pass by everyday and are able to see for themselves just how special they are to their parents.

Mi Escuelita's St. Matthew's site in east Dallas combined fun with safety with "helmet day", emphasizing the importance of wearing bicycle helmets when enjoying a bike ride.


Mi Escuelita's Bethany Site in northwest Dallas celebrated Week of the Child with a special "dance day" where the children showed off their dance-floor skills while being introduced to new dances from various types of music.

And of course, a week as important as Week of the Young Child deserves a proper send off. At the end of this week, each of the Mi Escuelita campuses will have a site wide carnival where all the children can let loose and have fun. Face painting, parent readers and games are just a few of the festivities planned for Friday. Even as I write this blog, the room I am in is buzzing with parent volunteers furiously constructing banners, preparing games and planning snacks for the "big day". Wait until you see the pictures of the kids enjoying this special event that celebrates their lives and the people who help them grow. Those photos of smiling children, parent volunteers and Mi Escuelita Staff all joining together in joyous appreciation of one another is what should stand as history's proof that in this place, in this time we understood and celebrated the pure fountain of youth alive in us all.

Find out how you can celebrate our community's young children by visiting our involvement page here at Mi Escuelita Preschool's website. Show a child you care, today.

A Peek into the Classrooms in March

March at St. Matthew's was a busy month! They had a Dr. Seuss parade and a St. Patrick's Day parade as well, which was a huge hit with all the children and teachers. On March 21st, our Program Director, Prerna Richards, came and celebrated Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors, with the children. One of the parents who also celebrates Holi came and shared henna designs with the children, which they were excited to show off. The children also learned how to do the "Dandiya stick dance" and painted their faces with bright colors, like the tradition of the festival. Later in the month, Daisey and Patricia, our health services specialists, came and did a presentation on "Good Touch and Bad Touch" where Tia Medina, the nurse puppet, was a huge hit among the children.






Cockrell Hill welcomed Ms. Montoya, who joined their office team this March, and Ms. Hernandez from Wesley Rankin who joined Class 5. This month they took 72 children on a transition field trip to L.O. Donald Elementary school, where they acquaint the children with the school they will be attending for kindergarten. The kids loved the gym "because they can play outside regardless of the weather"! Also this month they had a Magnet Mania presentation from the Dallas Science and History Museum. The site manager, Ms. DeLeon, said she couldn't tell who was having more fun learning--the children or the teachers! March is the month of projects, where all the classes teach on different themes that they come up with. Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Fernandez are doing a "ball" project and have had parents and volunteers help by playing baseball, soccer and football with the kids and they're loving it! The adults end up getting a work out as well, and the parents even attended a health presentation.


This month Crossover is highlighting Ms. Graciano and Ms. Solis's class. They are doing their project month on snakes and have done an outstanding job. One of the students' homework activities was to create a snake--some came back made out of socks, others out of paper, all very creative! They learned about how snakes sleep with their eyes open because they have eyelids; rattlesnakes have to have more than one rattle to make the rattling sound; you can tell how old a snake is by its segments; and snakes have teeth not just in their moth but inside their bodies! Who knew?



Buckner had their visit from the TWU nursing students this month and they worked with the children on brushing and flossing their teeth. They also celebrated their first Grandparents Day, which was a great event! Thirty grandparents attended, had breakfast and socialized with other grandparents as well as spent time in the classroom doing an activity with their grandchild. Buckner would like to highlight Ms. Gonzales and Ms. Urbina's class this month, whose project theme is cows. The children learned that there are many different cows in many different colors. Their dramatic play area is decorated as a dairy products store where children learned how to milk a cow and tasted two different kinds of cheese. Another class is learning about dogs and really enjoyed their special visit from "Pico", the Bichon Frise.




At Bethany, children are learning about plants and insects. They got to plant seeds and observe them sprouting. They also learned about insects, their movements, and the life cycles of butterflies. They had a visit from the Museum of Nature and Science as well as a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum where the children were introduced to flowers and listened to stories. They had lots of questions about planting seeds and got to practice planting sunflower seeds.



Hope you enjoyed a virtual look into our classrooms! You can see more pictures of different events on our Picasa page: https://picasaweb.google.com/miescuelitapreschool?fgl=true&pli=1.

What Words Are Worth

The 2010 Census results are in. While the majority of the national talk surrounding the census figures has focused on ethnic population growth across the country, some of the most interesting statistics that hit closer to home is the economic data of the Dallas area population. This is particularly important to Mi Escuelita Preschool, and you as a Mi Escuelita supporter, because ongoing research indicates a direct link between income and vocabulary development in children.

Studies show that low-income parents tend to speak less to their children and use a far more limited vocabulary. A well known landmark study titled Meaningful Differences in the Everday Experiences of Young American Children by professors Betty Hart and Todd Risely closely monitered and recorded the interactions of parents and their children in a variety of income settings. Their focus was on words heard by children during the first four years of their lives, a key time in a child's brain development. The study found that children living in poverty heard an average of 616 words per hour, compared to 2153 that a child in a wealthy home typically hears. That's 1537 more words per hour, that an upper-middle class child is exposed to. It's no wonder there that our low-income children are ill-prepared for school.

Its no surprise that educational institutions around the country have already recognized the link between early vocabulary development and academic performance. A child with a firm grasp on the English language will inevitably do better in school; it's a fact. At Mi Escuelita Preschool, these latest Census 2010 figures simply add purpose to our mission and reinforces the idea that these communities are in desperate need of our services. If Dallas area children are to be shining examples of what Texas education is all about, then a quality education must begin during preschool and it can successfully begin with strengthening vocabulary.

If you look at the latest income map of Dallas produced using the Census 2010 income data, Mi Escuelita's five campuses fall directly in some of the lowest income areas of the city. In fact our Crossover and St. Mathew's campuses are located in the lowest income bracket illustrated by this map. You can check out this interactive income map here www.tinyurl.com/incomezip .

Examining this map and considering that Mi Escuelita Preschool's primary mission is early language intervention, it very clear why the families in these neighborhoods need a school like ours. Children in Mi Escuelita classrooms are exposed to three new vocabulary words a day; words that are introduced by their teachers at the beginning of instruction and then incorporated into activities through the rest of the school day. This means by the end of the current 2010-2011 school years, Mi Escuelita students will have added 504 new English words to their vocabulary. If attending school for two year, these children will learn over 1000 new vocabulary words at Mi Escuelita. 1000 more reasons why these bright, young children will defy the odds and rise above the statistics of their neighborhood.

If you are interested in the study conducted by Hart and Risely, here is some information on the book published about their findings: http://tinyurl.com/4sbdbz7. Next week, we'll talk about another Mi Escuelita component that seeks to positively impact this correlation between income and vocabulary development...inside the home life of the child.

Measured in Smiles

The debate over classroom sizes in the United States has been in the news lately. The current financial state of education has brought the fundamentals of math to the forefront of this debate; math, as it pertains to ratios in classrooms.

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), a staff-to-child ration of 1:10 for 3- to 4-year-olds is highly recommended for classes with fewer than 20 children. Mi Escuelita Preschool, accredited by NAEYC, aims to do one better than this recommendation. Mi Escuelita maintains a 1:9 teacher-to-child ratio, meaning that there is one teacher for every 9 students in the classroom. The average Mi Escuelita classroom has a total of 18 children in it.

While the ratio of teacher-to-student may be a "hot button" issue in today's news, Mi Escuelita has always believed that more opportunity for one-on-one instruction allows children a better chance at success. What better way to accomplish this than giving students and teachers an ideal setting where all children have equal opportunity to have their needs addressed.

In their study "Eager to Learn: Educating our Preschoolers", the National Research Council suggests that an optimal learning environment for preschoolers combines a small staff-to-child ratio with a small class (or group) size. This optimal learning environment is the very reasoning for Mi Escuelita's maintaning of a 1:9 ratio in the classrooms. Its the simplicity of the math that makes sense for the children of Mi Escuelita; two teachers in every classroom means more personal attention and an overall structured environment for all Mi Escuelita students.

Research, math and common sense all play a part in Mi Escuelita's classroom ratio guidelines, but how are these measured? Walking into a Mi Escuelita classroom and observing the children, the outcomes become very apparent. The close knit community that is formed within the classroom. The undeniable, loving bonds the children form with their teachers. The flexibility teachers are given to allow their talents to shine. The huge smiles on the faces of the students and the teachers. These are measurements of an optimal learning environment; not measured in increments of numbers but by the number of lives touched.

The Month of February

We enjoy posting our monthly overviews for you to have a peek inside the classrooms. Some of the activities you've already seen in earlier posts, but here are a few more highlights from the month of February!

 At Bethany, children got to practice dressing up in Chinese clothes in the house area. Michelle tried very hard to learn how to use chopsticks, and after several tries, she was finally able to pick up some food! The class also put on a performance for Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church and acted out Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Desiree read the entire story on her own! The dinosaur hunt which happened on the playground was also very exciting--who knew there were such incredible things to find in our own backyard? As part of our Give Love project that you had a sneak peak of earlier, the families at Bethany also raised donations of teddy bears for Scottish Rite Hospital. It's a joy to teach our kids to give back to those in need.

At Buckner the Foster Grandparents were a huge help in celebrating the Chinese New Year! They made props and even cooked Chinese pork dumplings for the staff! One of the Foster Grandmothers in class 3 brought red envelopes with money per the tradition. We also have a new Foster Grandfather from Russia, Mr. Viatcheslav NIkolotov, whom we are very excited to welcome to the center. If you're interested in more information on the Foster Grandparent program, you can check out The Senior Source site. Some of the classes have been exploring black history throughout the month. Ms. Cross's class acted out the Rosa Parks story, and Ms. Eshiett's and Ms. Villareal's class made friendship bracelets using multicolored beads to represent the different cultures in the community. They also created "Freedom hands" in the art area, where they made hand prints of various colors to represent the skin complexions of many cultures. They are also very excited to say that one of our students from Class 3, Katiuska, demonstrated during a Bingo game that she knew all the letters of the alphabet, and helped lead the class in playing Bingo!

Crossover would like to welcome Ms. Alvarez, the new Family Advocate, and Ms. Cortez and Ms. Aguero, teachers in the new Class 5, who all came from the Wesley Rankin campus. This month was quite the opportunity to rise to the occasion for Ms. Cortez and Ms. Aguero: on February 15th, what used to be the resource room was filled with items from Wesley Rankin that needed to be washed, sanitized and sorted, and it was supposed to be turned into a classroom by February 16th! It seemed an impossible task but with help from parents, Ms. Roman, Ms. Castillo and some of the other teachers, and with an incredible positive attitude, Ms. Cortez and Ms. Aguero turned that resource room into a classroom overnight and were ready to welcome the children the next morning. They've done a great job making the transition from Wesley Rankin and helping our children in the process as well! If you care to see more Crossover activities, check out some of the previous posts about the Give Love project at Scottish Rite and the Dr. Seuss parade.

Cockrell Hill also welcomed new children and staff from Wesley Rankin and everyone has adjusted very smoothly. Ms. Cano's class was particularly excited to have a few Chinese volunteers from Northwood University. The children asked a lot of questions about their country, language and food since they had just been learning about the Chinese New Year! It was a great experience for them to continue their learning, and they were excited to share with their visitors what they had been learning.

St. Matthew's has also had a big transition this month as Jessica Reich has become the new Site Manager and Ms. Garcia and Ms. Cortez are new in Class 4, all from the Wesley Rankin campus. St. Matthew's now has a new Head Start classroom and a full house! For the Give Love project, St. Matthew's students took scarves, hats and stuffed animals to the senior residents of Cathedral Gardens. Also for Valentine's Day, the fathers were invited to have breakfast and do an activity in the classrooms with their children, which was a fun opportunity to see the dads interacting with their children. There also pictures of Class 1's Chinese New Year celebration in a previous blog post.

We also had visits from the TWU nursing students to all the centers both in February and in March. They taught the children all about the heart, and what to expect when they visit the doctor's office. Thanks so much TWU!

That's it for our February overview!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

March 2nd would have been Dr. Seuss's 107th birthday if he were still alive, and in honor of this great contributor to children's literature, we celebrated his birthday with a parade. The children of Crossover and their teachers dressed up as different characters from the iconic books.

Class 1 dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 (and 18 other Things!).

 

“Look at me!
  Look at me!
  Look at me NOW!
  It is fun to have fun
  But you have
  to know how.”

The Cat in the Hat

Class 2 dressed up as the meddlesome monkeys that attacked Horton, and Ms. Brassil was Horton! 

  “…I meant what I said
 And I said what I meant….
 An elephant’s faithful
 One hundred per cent!”

 Horton Hatches the Egg

Class 3 had a Grinch in their midst, along with plenty of Cat in the Hats:

 "You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And
you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll
decide where to go."

Oh the Places You'll Go!

And they were joined by many more Cat in the Hats from Class 4!

“UNLESS
someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.”

The Lorax

And Class 5 came as their own polka-dotted zoo!

"Today you are you!
That is truer than true!
There is no one alive

Who is you-er than you!
Shout loud, “I am lucky
to be what I am!"

Happy Birthday to You!

For more Dr. Seuss pictures, check out our Picasa album. 

“Because, after all,
a person’s a person,
no matter how small.”

Horton Hears a Who!