Coming Soon to a Location Near You!

With all this lingering snow and ice around, it's hard to imagine that spring is right around the corner. (Wait! Not right around the corner – this week! Yesterday!!!! Officially, at least. My slip and fall on the ice in front of our house first thing yesterday was not my favorite way to celebrate, however. Yes, that's me and my Hello Kitty band-aid at the right. Alas.) So folks at Pine Village have been working on lining up spring and summer events.

As you know, last Thursday night we held Open Houses at all of our schools. We'd also planned Open Houses for this past Tuesday morning but the snow thwarted our plans – we'll be sure to post new dates as soon as we have them. Nevertheless, it was great to see so many new faces last week – we can't wait to see everyone again soon!

And what better way to do that than to have you all come to Education Director Jacie Feinberg's (also rescheduled) CD Launch on March 22 at the Newton school (10:00 a.m.). As you may recall, the launch was originally scheduled for a couple of weeks ago, but we had to postpone that due to snow as well. (Um, hello? Spring? Are you out there?) Bring your family, bring your friends – we hope to see you there! (If you haven't had a chance yet, please read more about Jacie and the CD in the blog post from March 7.)

Additional CD Launch parties will be held on Saturday, April 6 (10 a.m.; South End School) and Tuesday, July 2 (noon; as part of the Kendall Square Corporation's Free Summer Concert Series at 300 Athenaeum Street). These events are free and open to the public. For more event details (including an RSVP form) and school locations, see the Pine Village website.

In addition to the above events, we'll be at the 2013 Cambridge Science Festival's Science Carnival on Saturday, April 13, noon – 4 p.m. The Carnival takes place at the Cambridge Public Library and grounds, the CRLS Tennis Courts, and the War Memorial Field House (449 Broadway, Cambridge). See more at: http://www.cambridgesciencefestival.org/  We're not sure yet where we'll be specifically, but we'll let you know when we find out. The event happens rain or shine. Be sure to mark your calendar! (Update: Our booth will be located in the tennis courts, in the tent across from the library!) 

We also plan on being at the event for SLOAN students in early April as well as some association events in Kendall Square and the South End. And we welcome your suggestions on other events that you'd like to see us attend, not to mention local organizations you think we should join. As our friends and families, you are our ears on the ground, so to speak, so don't hesitate to let us know what you think. You can send suggestions and ideas to me at pvpjen@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Spanish Tip of the week: Estar afuera

Estar Afuera!

(Being Outside!)

Some days it feels like Spring- and some days it feels like the groundhog must have seen quite the shadow, because we are clearly in for several more weeks of winter. But no matter how it feels, the fact is that we’ve almost arrived. It’s almost that time of year when when sunshine, flowers, and raindrops on roses replace snow, sleet, and "wintery mix". Lots of time will spent outside, and the places we go, the games we play, and the toys we use will change. You're creating memories every day as a family... why not create them in two languages?! Here are a few phrases to help you prepare and to keep your spirits up, even if the mercury isn’t. (Again, we’re almost there!)

Let's go/we're going… 

Vamos…

to the beach	to the pool	to the park	to the sprinkler park
a la playa	a la piscina	al parque	al parque de los   aspersores

Do you want to play...

¿Quieres jugar...

with sand	with water	in the sprinkler	in the back yard
con arena	con agua	en el aspersor	en el jardín

Diviértanse!  
(Have fun!)

Spanish Tip of the Week: Open Ended Questions

This month at Pine Village, we will be learning all about famous artists and recreating our own versions of some of their famous masterpieces!

You don't have to speak a lot of Spanish to encourage your child to do so.  Simply ask an open ended question and let them respond with as many words as they like! (If you don't understand the reply you can ask them to repeat themselves in English.)

Even if you speak Spanish fluently, open ended questions give your child a chance to express themselves fully.  It's a great way to spark deep imaginative thought and self-expression in any language.

Here's one quick art-related example:

Try asking your child in Spanish,
“¿Qué ves?” 

(Kay Vase) 

What do you see?

Come Sing With Us!

UPDATE: Come join us on 4/6/13 at 10:00 a.m. at our South End school for Launch Party #2! 

This week PVP Education Director Jacie Feinberg unveils her first Spanish-language CD with songs written for the toddler/preschool set. There will actually be several launch parties, the first being tomorrow (Friday, 3/8) at PVP Newton (1326 Washington Street, West Newton) at 10:00 a.m. Bring your kids/family/friends for the sing-along; everyone who attends gets a free CD.

Music has been a part of Jacie Feinberg's life since she was a little girl. She played piano for nine years and took several guitar lessons when she was in seventh grade. Although she and her teacher's style didn't quite mesh, she was determined and ended up teaching herself to play guitar. She's been doing covers and writing original songs ever since. She stopped playing guitar in high school, but picked it up again when she began working in early education in 1998 and incorporated music into her circle times.

"I think it's a wonderful way to bring music to life," she says. "Having the guitar was such a great way to travel and visit other schools." It gave her the chance to bring music to as many kids as she possibly could.

With a background in Spanish education (Jacie started taking Spanish as a seventh grader and has always felt a connection to the language and culture), she started out thinking that she'd be working in the 7th-12th grade range. But in college, as soon as she began a job with a family childcare, she knew that she wanted to focus on the early education piece. She hasn't looked back.

When Jacie joined Pine Village, she started doing weekly music classes in her own school (after a year of being a Pre-K teacher, she became Director of PVP Newton in 2008). Then she branched out and brought her music to other Pine Village schools. After having twin girls, Jacie returned in December 2011 to become Pine Village's first Education Director. The new position showed the growth not just of Jacie, but of Pine Village as well. With eight schools now making up the Pine Village family, part of Jacie's job has been to help unify and systemize the curriculum amongst all of the locations by creating unified templates and ways of presenting the curriculum to all of the PVP families.

She distributes curriculum ideas to all of the staff on a monthly basis as inspiration. And each week, she sends out her “Ideas de Inspiracion” in an internal blog to the teachers that documents what's going on in all of the schools. Topics range from bulletin board design to pictures of each school's dramatic play areas to ideas on how to document each child's progress. The overall common factor, though, is that these tools allow Pine Village to really tap into the wealth of resources from all of the teachers in all of the schools. Jacie also provides curricular support, training for new teachers, and, basically, whatever other support she can provide so that teachers can be at their best every single day. 

It's been a longtime dream of Jacie's to compile the songs she's used in her classes and have a CD as another home/school connector. As she visits all the schools, parents often say to her, 'I want to know the songs. How do I sing these at home?' The CD provides a way for the kids to relate to the language and listen in their cars, but it also allows the parents to learn along with their children.

Although this was part of the reason behind the development of the CD, Jacie has seen the evidence of this firsthand with her own kids. "Ever since I received the CD," she says, "I've listened to it to and from the school every day – because my girls ask for it on the hour commute. They get so excited. Because they listen to it every day, and the songs are so repetitive – which is how they're designed – they anticipate the songs, they know what's next in the order, they repeat the phrases over and over again. And they're 19 months. I see the benefit in the way they are beginning to communicate."

And for those of us who aren't native Spanish speakers? Jacie's mother doesn't speak Spanish at all but through the CD she's picking up phrases and connecting with her granddaughters on that level as well.

The CD has a mix of traditional and original songs – out of a total of thirteen songs, eleven are original. When it comes to her own inspiration, the world is Jacie's oyster, so to speak. "I have a song about a fish who doesn't know how to swim," Jacie says. "Adding that element of silliness to a song makes it memorable for the children. Imagining a fish that doesn't know how to swim, but it knows how to fly, run, jump, sleep, read..."

Jacie wants to get the kids moving, and she likes to use props so that the kids have hands-on experiences. “With the language learning, I feel there's a total physical response (TPR in language-learning circles). The children are associating movements and actions with the words in the songs; it helps them to memorize, to internalize the songs, to start to reproduce and communicate and sing along. The song called "En Mis Botas" is about jumping in different colored boots. As the kids jump along, they sing along.” Using catchy melodies allows children of all ages to be able to connect with the language.

Doing the music is just a component of Jacie's job, but it keeps her connected to the kids and teachers, and, as she says, it fills up her "metaphorical cup of happiness." Getting into the schools, connecting with the kids, having them call her name when she walks in because they're so excited… It's what teaching is all about.

For Jacie, the ability to combine her love of the language of music and of working with young kids has been a dream come true. "I love Pine Village," she says. "I love working for Pine Village. Just to be able to send my girls to such an amazing program – to be able to give my kids the exposure to a foreign language and another culture – is such a gift. I see the results already within my own children."
 
If you can't make it to this week's Launch Party, join us in April (4/6/13, 10:00 a.m.; Pine Village South End) or July (7/2/13, noon; part of the Kendall Square Corporation's FREE Summer Concert Series, 300 Athenaeum Street) instead. Or come to all three!
All events are free and open to the public.

Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?

Although there is still snow (o.k., dirty piles of ice) everywhere on the ground, many of us are looking ahead to September. Happily, my two older kids are set in their same schools for next year -- not always a given with Boston Public Schools! But, as I've mentioned here before, James will be moving out of daycare and into Pine Village in the fall. And many of you are thinking about whether or not your child is ready for kindergarten next year.

Kelly Cisneros, the Director of our Newton school, has recently shared an article from the Scholastic site, "Ready for Kindergarten?" These are some of the traits that the authors talk about:

• Enthusiasm Toward Learning
• Solid Oral-Language Skills
• The Ability to Listen
• The Desire to Be Independent
• The Ability to Play Well with Others
• Strong Fine-Motor Skills
• Basic Letter and Number Recognition

(Keeping in mind, of course, that ability to, say, listen or play well with others, and willingness to listen are two separate things. :) )

I found this article fascinating to read, especially coming from the perspective of a parent of a 7th grader at Boston Latin, a 4th grader in Advanced Work -- and a highly precocious two-year-old who manages to keep up with both of his older siblings. I love reading books with James at night -- love how he sits back against me and twists my hair around his hand and recites the words to Snuggle Puppy right along with me. Is he reading? No, of course not; I mean, I'm pretty sure he's brilliant, but he's not quite there yet. But, as they talk about in the article, he's building language skills. He's making connections between the book in front of him and the words that lie within it. He's putting together a+b and coming up with... Well, o.k., 'ab' isn't really a word, but you know what I mean.

One of the things that has always struck me about Pine Village, though, has been how much gets packed into every day -- what gets packed into the overall experience. It's not just the tangible skills such as learning numbers and letters and how to write one's own name; those are a given. But in a way, those are the least important skills that our kids learn there every day.

Don't get me wrong, now. Of course those are important skills. Giving your child a head start on those skills is one of the main reasons you chose pre-school over all of the other options out there. But take a look at some of those other bullet points: enthusiasm toward learning. Ability to play well with others. Desire to be independent.

Sound familiar?

Thinking back to Lucy's first day of kindergarten just drives this all home. Leaving Pine Village is hard -- really hard. And in those days leading up to the first day of kindergarten, you wonder how you're possibly going to leave your child with someone who isn't Alicia or Adrienne or Rocio or (name your teacher here). But then you approach that school with the line of kids wearing their first-day-of-school best and standing underneath those bunches of balloons as their new teacher smiles and shakes her head when you ask if you can just come in for a minute or so. And you look at your child and think what can I do that will make this day easier for her so that she doesn't miss everything that's come before?

Then she smiles and waves and turns away, already giggling at the joke one of her new classmates has told. (I'd tell you that it was probably a joke that involved poop in some way, but that would take away from the bigger message of my story. And anyway you totally already know it was.)

Because she was so excited -- enthusiastic, I dare say, to be there at the Big Kid school. And she already knew that everyone was going to play well with her because, darn it, she knew exactly what that meant, thanks to Pine Village, and she was going to make sure they all knew too. And because it wasn't just a desire to go out there and do it on her own, it was pretty much a given that that was exactly what she was going to do. Flash forward to this past September and her first day at Boston Latin and, with the exception of the poop jokes (or, at least, I assume that to be the case), it was pretty much the same.

So I say thank you to Alicia and Adrienne and Rocio and (name your teacher here) for instilling the idea that school can be fun. For teaching them the rules of playing well with others -- and that occasionally there's a reason to skirt around them. And for encouraging that streak of independence rather than break it.
 

If you're wondering about your child's kindergarten readiness, definitely take a look at this article; it's at http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/what-to-expect-grade/ready-kindergarten.