Ms Mashaya's Classroom 2

Happy New Year from Classroom 2!

December was full of festivities in Classroom 2! We loved listening to Christmas music, discussing different Christmas traditions, and making Christmas crafts for our families. We also focused on self and social awareness, participated in play and activities that helped children learn about themselves and others while gaining an understanding of how individual roles make up the community.

For the month of January, we will be focusing on social and personal skills. Social and emotional development is the key to unlocking the door to learning. Social development refers to a child’s ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships with adults and other children. Emotional development refers to a child’s ability to express, recognize, and manage their own emotions as well as respond appropriately to others’ emotions. When parents and teachers develop positive, nurturing relationships with young children, the child feels more secure in the environment and are more likely to feel comfortable learning and growing. Caring parents and teachers make a positive, long-lasting impression on a child and how he/she feels about him/herself. Such relationships are likely to lead to a more emotionally secure and independent child. Social development serves as the foundation for relationships, giving meaning to children’s experiences at home, school, and in the community. Children will develop social skills and a sense of security through relationships with others who consistently meet their needs. Children will strengthen relationships with adults, begin to develop an interest in other children, continue to develop social interaction skills, and begin to show independence while maintaining strong attachments with caregivers. Examples of this would be children engaging in social games through playful back and forth interactions, expressing self verbally and non-verbally with gestures, recognizing a familiar person or someone in a photograph, engaging in parallel play by playing alongside another child, and imitating actions or using similar materials. We can’t wait to see what New Year has in store for us!