Hello QPP families! This month of remembrance tends to bring our attention to things we are grateful for, and I think it’s safe to say all of us would place family high up on that list. How many times have we be given the advice to slow down and embrace this magical time of childhood because of how fast it goes? Nice and well-meaning, but sometimes not so helpful when we’re in the thick of it. The struggle is real for many of us who have very busy work, school and extra-curricular schedules to take a moment to pause. But if you can find time in your day, even just a few times a week, to sit down with your children and share a meal, for an example, it will have many benefits for you and your children. More on this, as well as tips and recipes after important messages from our executive and teachers, as well as information on an upcoming Epicure fundraiser.
Message from our Executive Board
Happy November! This month we are looking forward to seeing all of you at our Annual General Meeting on a November 5th at 7pm. Bring your cash for raffle and beer or wine.
Our preschool is also organizing a wreath laying on Remembrance Day at the cenotaph, please join us with your children if you are available. Details to come.
Thank you to all the families that organized and came out to the class socials. It was super fun and we are looking forward to more in the year.
Message from our Teachers
3’s class
As we spent time together in September, we feel like children are more comfortable and started building new relationships and showing their character more and more at preschool.
Our spaceship project ended with amazing creative ideas! Many of the children enjoyed the space trip so much! We pretended to go to the moon many times, and now we’d like to announce ourselves as professional astronauts!
We’ve been reading a book called “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley and many children got inspired by the book and created so many different looking monsters! You’ll see the monsters that the children created at preschool, so you better watch out! We have new foamy circle blocks and balance beams at building area. We’ve been working hard to create an obstacle course and building our balancing skills! We also built a fantastic fort which one of the children spontaneously planned to make! It was very interesting and amazing that each child had a variety of ideas that they wanted to do in the fort.
We also opened a music instrument area, and it was a huge hit for 3 years old class! Many children enjoyed playing them and walking around the classroom like a marching band.
We enjoyed visiting to the Art Gallery. We played eye spy game with beautiful art works done by Robert Fee. We also ran into a senior dance club next to the gallery and enjoyed watching them dance.
Halloween season is here! Everyone was so excited to see pumpkins in the classroom and we did enjoy carving them together! Pumpkin patch was so much fun! The children were adorable walking around the playground looking for pumpkins! We just started a train making project, and teachers are looking forward to update where this project would lead us in the newsletter next month!
At last, special thanks to Simon who photographed and framed our class photo!
4’s class
Even though many of the children already know each other at 4 AM class, and a very small intimate 4 PM class, our relationships and trust has started branching out. We are happy to see children’s creativities and imaginations keep growing and expanding!
Our spider exploration ended with flourishing imaginations and expressions. Children learned about spiders from photos, toys, and real spiders! We’re still curious and willing to keep exploring spiders as we run into them in the classroom and outside area! We went for a quick nature walk and hung out under the beautiful autumn tree in the park. We’re going to practice to walk as a group more, and soon we’ll go for many more nature walks! It’ll definitely give us wonderful inspirations to explore, as we appreciate the nature that we’re surrounded by!
Our new monsters and ghosts theme started from a few children who share very unique and interesting stories about our fellow monsters and ghosts! It was also such a great introduction for children for Halloween! We’ve been reading a book, “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley and talking about costumes for Halloween! Also, Ms. Henda’s “Little Ms. Muppet” performance at circle time was a huge hit, and it was such a pleasure to see the children performing the little show.
We enjoyed an Art Gallery visit and got a lot of inspiration by the paintings by Robert Fee.
We are excited about designing and decorating our pumpkins, but not so many children were into touching the pumpkin’s slimy guts and seeds…We laughed together to see each other’s reactions! The pumpkin patch was very successful! It was so much fun to watch the children walking around in our playground for pumpkins!
We just started a train making project, so let’s see where this journey will take us in the next newsletter!
At last, special thanks to Simon who photographed and framed our class photo!
Epicure Fundraiser
We will be doing an Epicure Fundraiser in November to raise funds for the preschool. Epicure products are Gluten Free, Nut Free, free from preservatives, fillers, food dyes, impossible to pronounce ingredients and are designed to help busy families get healthy meals on the table fast! There are 3 collections to choose from; Extraordinary Trio, Weeknight Dinner and Healthier Desserts, these make perfect gifts as we head into the holiday season and the preschool keeps 40% of all sales. More information will be presented at the November GM meeting along with samples to taste!
November Nutrition Column
Before children, perhaps planning meals and cooking was a luxurious or even therapeutic process, as we took the time to carefully select ingredients, chop, breathe in the aromas and taste test with one hand while swirling a beverage in the other. A dream? A distant memory? How about the reality of throwing stuff around in your kitchen like a crazy person trying to get your kids fed at a decent hour let alone sit down with them! It can feel like more of a chore than anything else. So how do we do this?
Keeping in mind the benefits as motivation, just do the best you can. According to HealthLinkBC, on top of helping young children with their vocabulary and communication skills (as well as eat more nutrient rich foods such as fruits and vegetables!), some of the health and social benefits of eating together as a family include:
- Healthier eating into adulthood
- Lower risk of disordered eating
- Less use of cigarettes, drugs and alcohol
- Fewer behaviour problems
- Better self-esteem
And the benefits don’t end with our children! Do you recall talking about ‘rest and digest’ and ‘fight or flight’ in biology class? If we are constantly under stress and do not take the time to sit and relax, especially during mealtimes, we will not be digesting our food properly. You can have the healthiest diet on the planet and still be nutritionally deficient if you are not absorbing the nutrients in your food. Moreover, chronically elevated amounts of the stress hormone cortisol released during fight or flight causes your body to become depleted of the materials needed to make important hormones and neurotransmitters – this is known as adrenal burnout or fatigue.
So what does ‘rest and digest’ ideally look like? Turn off all devices and screens and enjoy some distraction-free time while you eat. Taking this time to rest and digest and sit with our families during mealtime as much as we can has enormous benefits for our health and wellbeing, as well as provides our children with an example we hope they adopt as they grow.
And if you are looking for some quick and easy nutrient dense recipes, here are some great resources for the whole family to enjoy:
- 25 kid friendly food blogs (Nourishing Meals is my favourite!)
- Weelicious
- Oh She Glows
Happy November!
Angie
QPPS Newsletter Editor
qppseditor@gmail.com
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