This week the children were introduced to more centers and materials and were exposed to new expectations and skills.  Among my favorite activities with the Stargazers were introducing Tucker Turtle and playing a game I call “What’s Missing? No Peeking!”  With "Los Tots," I loved singing songs and "clicking sticks" in the outdoor classroom.  We all delight in watching them make thier way to and from the outdoors.
Tucker Turtle is a puppet we use at school to talk about how to stay calm when experiencing big emotions.  The “Tucker Turtle Technique” helps children pause and not act on impulses that might lead to hitting, kicking or yelling, and allows for more pro-social coping strategies.  As an adult, I think through Tucker’s Techniques, too!  Practicing this skill while children are calm helps it be more automatic when they are dysregulated.  
There are 4 steps: 
1- Recognize your feeling. (Name it!) 
2-STOP (at this point we cross our arms in front of our bodies). 
3-Tuck inside your shell and take 3 deep breaths. 
4-Once calm, think of a solution.  
You can help reinforce this by reading the story, and practicing at home!  The link below has a story that is designed to be used at home. If you would like a printed copy to use at home, let us know! https://www.challengingbehavior.org/docs/TuckerTurtle_Story_Home.pdf
We also played, “What’s Missing? No Peeking.” This iteration of the game used our emotion “tree cookies.”  To play, I lay out 5 emotions, recite them in the order in which they are arranged, cover them up with a blanket saying “What’s missing? No peeking!” and as I pull the blanket away, I also remove one of the emotions.  The children have to figure out which one is now missing!  This game builds cognitive capacities like working memory and critical thinking.  By working with the emotions in this case, we are also building emotional literacy.  Children are learning or reinforcing the names of emotions, what they look like on our own and other’s faces, and we also discussed some of the times we have felt these emotions before.  All of this will help with Step 1 of the Tucker Turtle Technique!
Looking to help your child build additional social skills?  Check out the Healthy Early Years Clinic at SDSU. They host a periodic Social skills group, specifically designed for young children. This group will take place on Wednesdays from 4-5pm, starting on October 7th and ending on November 18th (there will be no group taking place on Nov 11th for observance of Veteran’s Day).The group will be open to children ages 3-6 (we will not be able to have any children over 6 join the group this time) and will cost $30 per child. We will be offering a group for parents/caregivers at the same time as the children’s group at no additional cost.

One week in!  In both classrooms, the children are adjusting to new routines, making new friends and getting increasingly comfortable with new and familiar teachers.  Wednesday and Thursday are my days in the classroom with the Preschool group (now officially named “The Stargazers”), and we had a great time!  There were impromptu math lessons led by children, discussions about our families, and who lives in our homes.  We got messy and enjoyed paint, mud, water, playdough and small loose parts.
We all love watching the toddlers (now officially named “The Tots, or Los Tots”) make their way out to the outdoor classroom, and then back inside again later.  They are learning about following a teacher, staying together, washing hands on top of all the fun new materials they are exploring.
I know from the Family Playdate, daily interactions and the Child-Parent-Teacher meetings that we have a loving, invested, engaged group of parents.  Your children are so lucky to have you!  We look forward to our home-school partnership growing over the course of the year and urge you to reach out to myself (email or the “admin only” thread in brightwheel if you want to keep it between us, or your teachers directly in person or via the “all staff and parents” thread in brightwheel.  There is no such thing as too much communication from you!
Thank you to those of you who completed the parent participation google form.  Emails went out today to those who indicated interest in being part of a committee.  If you decide later on you would like to get involved somehow, reach out anytime!