We blog on a regular basis on many differing topics related to raising preschoolers. I am glad to start a new mini series of blogs called “A Teacher’s Perspective”. You will enjoy hearing perspectives and nuggets of wisdom from different teachers in our building and on a variety of subjects.

We are kicking off this week with a post by Christa Roan, a teacher in our 4’s program. Christa has written a few thoughts on sharing the concept of love with her preschoolers.

 

Celebrating Love
by Christa Roan

February is known to be the month of love. It is a reminder to all of us about the people who are special in our life. Many will celebrate on February 14^th to express their love to one another. Many will have a special dinner or special gift picked out, and Valentine’s cards will be given to loved ones. There may even be traditions that family members will celebrate on this day, such as sharing a meal together at home. Children will celebrate Valentine’s day at school, making their own cards or special printed cards for love ones and for classmates. Many sweet treats will be eaten during this time. It is a great time to talk to your children about love and how special they are.

I have the privilege to be a teacher at Truro Preschool and Kindergarten. I have four- and five-year-old children in my class. Together we will talk about special people we love. Every child will name each member of their family (including animals!) that they love, and occasionally will talk about how much they love us, their teachers. It warms my heart to hear all the stories the children share about their families throughout the day in my class. It’s a connection that each child can make with me, where I get to hear the stories that excite them and let them know they are worthy of being listened to.

I try to the best of my ability to make each child feel special because they are special to God our Father. Each day we practice saying “What does Jesus think of me, I’m as special as can be, because I’m a child of God you see.” My hope is that each child knows how loved they are by God our Father, and by Jesus. This kind of love is very special, and we have wonderful ways to get to know this love in class.  We pray for each other, learn Bible verses, read The Children’s Bible, and go to an awesome weekly chapel-time.

Love is an easy concept to talk about at TPK. We encourage children to think about what they can do to show love to others. Here are some ideas:

1. Writing a card or drawing a picture for someone.
2. Making cookies or bake a cake for a neighbor.
3. Sharing a favorite toy with a friend or sibling.
4. Taking canned goods to a homeless shelter or foodbank.
5. Helping clean up.
6. Coloring or painting hearts on a rock and giving it to a special person.

In my class we will be making Valentine’s cards for parents, and the children will be picking out just the right picture to color for their friends and siblings to give them. We will also decorate bags to hold all the sweet treats, and the cards the children will bring from home for our celebration. We will take time to decorate and eat heart-shaped cookies with icing and sprinkles. It is a joyful time we spend together.

It feels like a gift to be a teacher at TPK. I get to pray every morning with the most loving people on this planet. We pray for all the children in our school, and for the parents, each day. I hope your child or children feel loved and special as part of our TPK family. May every parent know how special you are to us, to your children, and to God our Father!