We hope that you have recovered from your Halloween celebration from This week, the oldest three classes will enjoy Chapel time with Ms. Lara.
November tuition is now due. Our Annual Fund Drive is coming to a close this week. Thanks to your generosity, we are almost to our goal! Please note that you may add your fund donation to your tuition check, or make a donation online.
Have extra Halloween candy at your home? Bring it to FUMP! We are currently taking donations for our Mobile Loaves and Fishes Kitchen. The candy that we receive is added to the meals for our hungry neighbors. The donation bucket is right by the preschool hallway.
Save the Date! FUMP will celebrate 40 years of excellence in early childhood education on Sunday, November 17 from 1-3pm. We will have a come-and-go style open house for current and former families. Let’s celebrate our fantastic teachers and welcome back our families from years past. If you are in touch with a former FUMP family, please spread the word about the event, and/or route them to our website to complete a short form about their remembrances of FUMP. For more information, see our FUMP ANNIVERSARY page. If you are interested in volunteering with our photo displays or with refreshments, please contact the PRESCHOOL OFFICE.
Teacher Column: Ms. Stacy. Don’t Kids Need to be Punished to Learn? Or Why We Don’t Use Punishments in our Classroom
In our classroom, we don’t use punishments. Yep, you heard that right. We don’t punish people for bad behavior because our goal is always to teach skills. Punishments are punitive penalties for an offense. We are not in the business of dealing out penalties. We are here to support and nurture your littles and equip them for living their best life.
So how do we handle situations where one child takes a toy away from another child or pushes a child out of the way or yells at a friend?
We ask a question.
“Did you like it?”
That’s it. We ask the upset child, “Did you like it?”
They answer usually with a resounding, “No!”
We then coach them to say, “Use your big voice and tell them you didn’t like it.”
Say, “I didn’t like it when you took the toy away. Next time, you need to ask me first.”
Or, “I didn’t like it when you pushed me. Next time use gentle hands.”
Or, “I didn’t like it when you yelled at me. Next time use a quieter voice.”
The other child will sometimes agree peacefully or they might be upset. If they are upset, we usually do deep breathing with them (I know it sounds corny but it works). Then they might want to tell the other child something they didn’t like.
The child who is upset gets to tell the other child what they didn’t like and what they would like them to do next time. Or they might say that the other child needs to wait their turn. This type of guidance, where the child who is upset gets to choose, is very empowering.
We have only been working on this technique a few weeks, and I have already seen improvements in the way children handle frustrations and upsets. If we want 5 and 6 year olds who handle things calmly and communicate, it starts with 2-4 year olds.
Check out a video demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaRmA2hKCq8
If you are interested in learning more, this is a technique paraphrased from Conscious Discipline. Follow them on Instagram and FB to get lots of helpful tips and tools for empowering your kids through healthy guidance. Or feel free to come talk to me about Conscious Discipline.
