Tag Magazine - May 2013

Advertising Supplement | May 29, 2013 | Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Newbill safety fair continues its mission

Tag! columnist Judy Sobeloffunearths the dirty secrets togardening with children

UNPLUGGED

Thegrowingseason

A Kids-Eye View of the Palouse

magazine

ALSO INSIDE Kids calendar | Coloring contest | Summer reading

2 | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS A Kid’s-Eye View of the Palouse | Tag

I needed to write anarticle about gardening with kids, interview

experts about gardening, start our garden, and get our kids to garden, all at the same time! What to do?

I summoned my children, ages 9 and 11, for a little light weeding with Mother. They came running, like storybook children. “Reducto!” I shouted at the menacing thicket. Nothing happened. “My arm’s tired from baseball,” the younger one said, edging toward the hammock. I could see his point.

So, I was surprised the next day to come home and find the kids out back with the

shovel and the garden claw, filling a humongous green garbage can with the weeds of their labors. They were gardening, in what they’d now officially claimed as the Kids’ Garden. Ah.

All I needed to do, I soon realized, was fund the enterprise and get out of the way. The kids would take care of the rest.

They were happy to help with the “family garden,” too, it turned out. They would do ex-actly the jobs they wanted to do, and not the other jobs, which turned out to be incredibly

helpful and exactly right.Three other things surprised me. One: My

kids wanted to plant flowers and herbs in their garden, not vegetables, and to relegate vegetables to the family garden. Two: They were so intent on weeding that the younger one turned down the opportunity to go see a moose. Three: Our neighbor, Jay, and her daughter, Anna, happened to come by while we were weeding the family garden, and were happy to help us make short work of the big-gest problems.

Back to the big picture. Here’s a bit of what the organic farmers and gardeners I talked to had to say.

GARDENING WITH KIDS

Organic farmer Kate Jaeckel of Moscow, mother of Avery, 12, and Ellis, 8, says, “It’s

Tag | A Kid’s-Eye View of the Palouse MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS | Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | 3

Kenworthy PerformingArts Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Moscow Food Co-op . . . . . . . . . 4Hansel and Gretel . . . . . . . . . . .5Palouse Empire Gymnastics . . 6Palouse DiscoveryScience Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7GTR Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Dissmores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Bonkerz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Zeppoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Moscow Day School . . . . . . . . .10Eastside Marketplace . . . . . . . 12

TAG ADVERTISERSKIDS ARE THEIR BUSINESS

ABOUT TAGTag is published threetimes a year in theMoscow-Pullman Daily News. The full magazine is available for viewing online by visiting dnews.com and clicking on the SpecialSections link. For moreinformation on how to advertise, contact the Daily News at (208) 882-5561.

UNPLUGGEDBY JUDY SOBELOFF

The growing season

A Kids-Eye View of the Palouse

magazine

ON THE COVEROrganic gardener Ellis Jaeckel, 8, carries one of the chickens his family raises at its home in Moscow.

Photo by Dean Hare

Organic gardener Kate Jaeckel, right, pulls weeds from the strawberry patch while talking with her son, Ellis, 8, center. Kate’s daughter, Avery, 12, also pulls weeds May at their home in Moscow.

Dean HareDaily News

See Growing Page 4


great to plant a garden because you can get any kid to eat food from the garden that they would never eat at the table.”

Even the pickiest eaters will happily chomp on raw kale, chard, and carrots, Kate says; my own kids would eat peas and beans out there all day. Kate adds, “It’s great for kids to be part of it from start to finish so they can see, ‘Look at these seeds, we helped them grow.’”

When my kids were younger they mostly wanted to hold worms. Longtime organic gardener Nancy Hampel, who is running a gardening camp in June at an inviting spot along Paradise Creek, explains: “Most kids tend to be fascinated with dirt and worms and roots. They just naturally love getting their hands in there.”

STARTING SMALL

Lahde Forbes of Moscow, a self-described “old organic farmer,” advises starting small. She recommends the book Square Foot Gardening and suggests starting with one or two five-by-five foot beds. “You can get a lot of food out of a little space. One zucchini plant will keep you going all summer. Chard and kale keep producing all summer. Just

pick the leaves off, rather than picking the whole plant.”

Also, Lahde says, “You can often harvest one thing and then put something else right there after you’ve loosened the soil a little bit.”

Moscow’s Rachel Caudill, who has been gradually transforming her front and back yard into a farmyard, concurs. “The key is not to get overwhelmed,” she says. “I just do one thing at a time, taking these teensy little steps.”

WHAT TO PLANT

Most things are easy to grow on the Palouse, Lahde says. She first plants crops that will do well in cool weather such as lettuce, spinach, and radishes and waits to plant crops outside that need warmer weather such as tomatoes. Those who don’t want to wait can build a cold frame or “make a cloche with PVC pipe and rebar and put plastic over it.”

“I’ve run out at night and put blankets right on my zucchini plants,” she adds.

While what you can plant when depends on how wet and cold the spring is and how warm the summer is, Lahde suggests the following as a rough guide: In April, peas and slow-bolt spinach. May: greens, car-rots, parsnips, chard, cabbage, broccoli. “If there’s a sunny spell, get out there and plant

something!”GETTING THE GROUND READY FOR PLANTING

As far as clearing the soil of grass or whatever was already growing there, “after spring rains, it’s really easy to pull sod up,” Rachel says. If the ground is already dry, she suggests soaking the area with a hose beforehand, though not enough to turn the soil to clay.

Alternatively, Nancy Hampel suggests putting down a blanket or straw over news-paper on top of the place where you’re going to want to plant as early as possible, ideally before the new grass starts growing.

Longtime organic gardener Joe Pallen does things “all year round” to help build nutrients in the soil. He puts straw and grass clippings on his garden in the summer after the plants are tall enough, for weed reduc-tion and water conservation.

At the end of the growing season in the fall he piles leaves on top of the garden, then lets them sit on the garden all winter before tilling them in. He also adds compost from a worm bin and sometimes adds steer manure, which he notes is not organic. He says, “The soil in parts of my garden is get-ting really good after several years.”

He tills everything in with an electric tiller as part of his campaign to Liberate Yourself from the Evil Two-Stroke Combus-tion Machine.

“You have to wait to till if the ground is too wet, otherwise it will just turn to muck.” Ideally Joe likes to let the soil sit a week or two with the manure tilled in before plant-ing, the more time the better. This lets the worms crawl through it, and the water soak in, he says, and decreases the chance of hav-

ing your plants get “burned” by nutrients in the manure or compost.

Topsoil, manure, sphagnum peat moss, and compost are all available by the bag locally. Those with larger gardens can get topsoil by the truckload from Wasankari Construction and W.S.U. Compost by the truckload from Moscow Building Supply.

WATERING

Joe observes that many people over-water. “I think you need to go out and check the soil. You don’t water on a schedule. Look at your plants: do they look stressed, do they look happy?”

If his family will be going out of town, he waters the garden well before leaving and tries to find someone, preferably someone who gardens, to water once during the time they’re gone.

Speaking of which, the need for contin-ued maintenance raises a dilemma perhaps central to gardening—that it lends itself to rootedness, both of plants and people. Rachel Caudill notes that “there’s this very deep intrinsic reward that starts happen-ing with these little things, and that’s when I started getting the ideas for the bigger things. Once it gets started, it gets harder to stop.” Because of this, she says, she’s had to make significant choices. “It’s not like we’re going to pick up and travel all summer.”

She adds, “I can’t stop myself from look-ing out the front window three to four times a day and seeing the garden. And then eat-ing out of the garden is just divine.

“If you just start with one bed, you can see how it feels.”

Growing from Page 3

Geoff Crimmins/Daily NewsRachel Caudill plants tomatoes in raised garden beds outside her home in Moscow last week.

See Growing Page 6

marketa new program for kids at the

Pick up your Market Sprouts Activity Book atthe market, or at the Customer Service Desk in the store.

Fill out each section and earn Market Bucks, which you can use to buy fresh veggies, eggs,

pizza, ice cream and more from our local producers!

Moscow Food Co-op121 East 5th Street in Moscow

208.882.8537 | www.moscowfood.coop


By Erik Fink | for Tag

The Officer Newbill Kids Safety Fair returns to the Eastside Marketplace in

Moscow on Saturday. The fair started in 2005 and has continued to grow in popularity.

“The number of people that at-tend annually has probably tripled,” said Jon Kimberling, former presi-dent and current secretary for the nonprofit organization that orga-nizes the event. “The first year we estimated having between 300 and 400 children go through the fair, and I believe each and every year it has continued to grow. Last year we gave away over 800 bike helmets.”

Sharon Plemmons, president of the fair’s organization, said there were only six or seven tables of

sponsors in 2005. There will be more than 20 this year.

Kimberling said the fair commit-tee saw early on that the fair was sustainable in the community.

“This has to be one of the greatest examples of community coopera-tion you can point to in Moscow,” Kimberling said.

Kimberling said the yearly budget for the fair is usually between $8,000 and $9,000. He said one major con-tributor to the budget comes from the annual Jay Owenhouse Magic Show, which donates 10 percent of its proceeds.

“The single largest source of money for us is the cut, if you will, of his revenues that (Owenhouse) gives back to the safety fair,” Kimber-

Annual fair makes children happy to be safe

Daily News fileMorgan Cummings, left, Jasmine Eng, center, and Jade Eng, pet Payton, a Dalmatian serving as a volunteer fire dog with the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department, during the Officer Newbill Kids Safety Fair on June 2, 2012, at Eastside Marketplace in Moscow.

Newbill event set for Saturday at Moscow’s Eastside Marketplace

See Safety Page 6

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Other things sprouting

Children’s Gardening Camp: June 17-28 (Monday through Friday, 8:30-11:30 a.m.) on a half-acre in Moscow next to Paradise Creek. Led by organic gardener Nancy Hampel, (208) 596-1404, [email protected] .

Co-op Kids, Herb’In Garden: Join the Co-op Kids group in planting herbs in planter boxes outside the Co-op on June 4, 9-10 a.m.

When the herbs reach maturity, the kids (and the general com-munity) will be encouraged to snip off some of the herbs to take home and use in a meal. For more information, contact [email protected] .

Free worm bin workshop: taught by Laura Zak, June 19, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Moscow Food Co-op patio. Bring wide shallow bin (e.g. 8-10 gallon plastic storage

bin) and two plastic lids. For more information, contact [email protected] .

GROW-Op garden: meets at the Hamilton Community Garden, 1724 East F Street , on the first and third Sundays of each month from 1-4 p.m. Come learn about gardening and help produce food for local food banks.

Local community gardens: Pullman Community Garden at Koppel Farm — Still has two or three 20 X 20 foot plots available. $50 for the year, which includes water and the use of tools. Email [email protected]; Hamilton Community Garden — 20 X 20 foot plots available just east of the Hamilton Indoor Recreation Center , 1724 East F Street . $78.25, which includes a $25 refundable clean-up deposit, 883-7084; Moscow Community Garden — across from the Em-manuel Lutheran Church on West C Street , 882-3915.

Judy Sobeloff is a teaching artist and freelance writer who lives with her family

ling said. “That’s probably $3,000 to $4,000 of our $9,000 we raise each year.”

Kimberling said last year the committee spent between $4,000 and $5,000 on bike helmets. He said another expense are the Shield and W.H.A.L.E. stickers which go in car seats and bike helmets.

“The W.H.A.L.E. stickers go inside the bike helmets and the ac-ronym stands for ‘We Have A Little Emergency,’” Kimberling said.

Kimberling said the stickers have personal and medical infor-mation on them so emergency response personnel know who to contact and what the child is allergic to.

Plemmons said the children who attend the event are always excited to be there.

“You see the kids and their allowed to go inside the fire truck or police car or sit on the motor-cycle and there’s nothing but huge smiles on their faces,” Plemmons said. “Last year for the first time

we had this little station set up for the kids to decorate their helmets and they just had a blast with that.”

Plemmons said the fair is run completely by volunteers. “One of the stipulations at the safety fair is that everything at the fair has to be free,” Plemmons said. “Businesses aren’t allowed to sell anything, it all has to be given away.”

In 2007 the fair was renamed in honor of Moscow Police officer Lee Newbill who was shot and killed on duty.

“He was such a huge part of helping with the car seat safety checks and that’s why we went in that direction,” Plemmons said.

“This is just a way to honor him.”

Kimberling said Newbill worked with the safety fair from the begin-ning. He said the fact that the fair was so important to Newbill has drawn attention to it.

“There are a lot of people, especially those who served with him in the Moscow Police Depart-ment, who work at this every year that I think that strengthens their connection to this event and its

importance,” Kimberling said.The fair is from 10 a.m. to 2

p.m., in the Eastside Marketplace parking lot. Helmets will be given away to children 16 and under. Other activities will include child IDs, fingerprint kits and DNA kits, a bike rodeo and tours of an ambulance, fire truck and helicopter.

This year’s sponsors for the Officer Newbill Kids Safety Fair are Moscow School District, Moscow Chamber of Commerce, City of Moscow, Eastside Marketplace, Gritman Medical Center, Paradise Creek Bicycles, Old Navy, NRS, University of Idaho, Moscow Volunteer Fire Department, Moscow Police Department, Latah County Sheriffs Department, Gilbert Auto, Idaho Child Safety Lab, Northwest Medstar, Wells Fargo, Kimberling Insurance Agency, Farmers Insurance Group, Avista, Safe Route 2 School, Staples, Z Fun 106, Applebees, Rotary International and Palouse Empire Gymnastics.

Erik Fink is a summer intern with the Daily News. He can be reached at (208) 883-4686, or by e-mail to [email protected].

Growing from Page 4

Safety from Page 5

We’re flexible and so is our schedule!

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We know that summer schedules can be hectic with vacations, camps and work schedules. So we try to make scheduling gymnastics classes easy on families. We’ve got a wide variety of classes and camps to � t your busy schedule. We have discounts for siblings and multiple class or camp attendance. New to Palouse Empire Gymnastics? � e � rst class is FREE. Mention this ad and receive 10% o� any summer camp. Visit our website to download the schedule.


JUNE 1Moscow Farmers Market, Friendship

Square, Main and Fourth streets, Moscow. Highlights include fresh produce, meat, homemade baked goods, nursery plants, flowers and handmade crafts. Local musicians perform 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. No animals, except for ADA service dogs, are allowed. Info: www.ci.moscow.id.us/art

Officer Newbill Kids Safety Fair, Eastside Marketplace, 1420 S. Blaine St. , Moscow. Info: www.newbillkidssafetyfair.com

JUNE 2Mighty Squirrel

concert, 7 p.m., 1912 Center, 412 E. Third St., Moscow, ID. The four musicians of Mighty Squirrel offer a mixture of songs and musical influences from all over the globe -- Appalachian, Yiddish, Celtic, French-Canadian, folk and gypsy jazz -- creating a unique sound they call “old time music from around the world.”

JUNE 3Storytime, 10:30 a.m., 706 Broadway,

Colton. Colton Library. Storytime is for children ages 1-6. For info: (509) 229-3887

JUNE 4Co-op Kids, 9 -10 a.m., Moscow Food

Co-op, 121 E. Fifth St., Moscow. Cafe: Activities for children and their caregivers. All events are all free, with snacks and materials donated by the Co-op. Free. Info: [email protected].

Wonder!Science, 1:30 p.m., 950 NE Nelson Court, Pullman, WA. Palouse Discovery Science Center. Free. For info: (509) 332-6869

Afterschool Science, 4 p.m., Palouse Discovery Science Center, 950 NE Nelson Court, Pullman. Info: (509)332-6869

Moscow Food Co-op’s Tuesday Night Music Series, 5 -6:30 p.m., Moscow Food Co-op, 121 E. Fifth St., Moscow. Moscow Food Co-op. Free concert in the deli. Information: [email protected].

Round Dance Lessons, 7 -9 p.m., Lena Whitmore Elementary School, 110 S. Blaine, Moscow. The Palouse Promenaders will provide round dancing lessons every Tuesday evening in Moscow.

JUNE 5Time for Twos Storytime, 10:30 -11

a.m., Neill Public Library, 210 N. Grand Ave., Pullman. Children 2-3 years and their parent/caregiver are invited to attend. Great fun with books, songs, rhymes and movement activities. For info: (509) 338-3258

Motherhood Connections, 510 W. Palouse River Dr., Moscow. Held at the Martin Wellness Center, this is a free discussion group open to all new moms and their babies.

Kinder!Science, 1:30 p.m., 950 NE Nelson Court, Pullman. Palouse Discovery Science Center: Free. For info: (509) 332-6869

JUNE 8Log Cabin &

Farmhouse Tours for Genesee Days, 1 -6 p.m., Genesee, White Spring Ranch,

1004 Lorang Road, Genesee. Visit a historic farmhouse built on an 1884 homestead, with 1904 additions. Step into a time capsule on the Palouse. Free, but $5 donations welcome.

JUNE 10Summer ArtCamps with Jeanne

Leffingwell, Studio 835, 835 N. Mountain View Road, Moscow. Registration is now open for ArtCamps with Moscow artist Jeanne Leffingwell at Studio 835 in Moscow for ages 8-15. Info: (208) 882-7211, www.jeanneleffingwell.com

JUNE 13Magic show at Colfax library, 10:30 -

11:30 a.m., Whitman County Library – Colfax, 102 S. Main St., Colfax. Kenneth K performs magic. Free. Info: Sheri at (509) 397-4366. Sponsored by the Friends of Whitman County Library.

JUNE 14Moscow Artwalk 2013 opens, 3 -10

p.m., Downtown, Moscow. Participants are provided with a colorful brochure that directs them on a self-guided tour of participating Moscow businesses displaying the works of local and regional artists. Info: www.ci.moscow.id.us/arts/Pages/artwalk

KID AND FAMILY EVENT GUIDEThese are selected items from the INland360 event calendar at inland360.com. To submit your event to the largest local event calendar on the Palouse and in the Valley, go to inland360.com/your-voice/submit-an-event/

Join us for Science Camps this Summer! Grades SessionsRobo Camp 4-6 July 22 - 26 1-3 July 29 - August 2 4-6 August 5 - 9Explore the world of robotics using LEGO Mindstorms and WeDo’s!Dino Camp 1-3 July 15 - 19Dig into Science!Space Camp 2-4 June 24 - 28Join the PDSC for a week in space!Kitchen Chaos 1-3 July 8 - 12Science takes center stage as you discover what cooking and chemistry have in common!To register for summer camps please call Pullman Parks & Rec at 509-338-3227.

OPEN:Tuesday 10am To 5pmWednesday 10am To 3pmThursday 10am To 3pmFriday 10am To 3pmSaturday 10am To 3pm

950 NE Nelson Court, Pullman | (509) 332-6869Visit us at www.palousescience.org

SaturdayJune 22

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At the Palouse Discovery

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SaturdaySataSaturdayune 2e 2ne 2222JJ e 222e 22June 22

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By Michelle Ward | for Tag

Summer is just around the corner but that doesn’t have to mean school is out. Here’s one activity your child can

do that is fun that will keep them learning and can help reinforce all of the information they’ve learned all year long.

The answer is … music lessons! Here’s why

It’s science

Making music is about sound and sound is science. By changing a note that is lower in sound to one that is higher in sound on an instrument, kids learn first hand how vibrations affect the sound of notes. Every instrument, from piano, to voice, guitar, flute, drums, and bass have a special way of making low, high, loud and soft sounds and when you learn how to use them, it makes the songs you play fun and a lot more interesting.

It’s history

Quick, what Halloween song has been a pop song favorite in almost every decade since 1962? Answer: “The Monster Mash.”

It was a hit when my mom was in col-lege, when I was in grade school and high school, and it’s a hit again for today’s kids. The melody to Elvis Presley’s “It’s Now or Never” was adapted from a popular Italian song “O Sole Mio.” Those are just a few

of the countless examples I could cite. Many classical and kids’ songs have been turned into rock tunes and visa versa. Even the theme for Angry Birds has been arranged for orchestra. Music really is timeless.

It’s math

Don’t worry, you won’t have to solve for “X” and you won’t have to worry about a train leaving a station. Instead, your child will have fun learning how eight little notes can be used to create favorite songs, melodies and chords. Tim-ing, as they say, is everything and your child will learn how simple

and easy rhythm and counting is and how it helps organize music much like the letters of the alphabet are used to make words, sentences, paragraphs and eventually, whole stories.

Taking music lessons also helps them develop and improve problem solving and critical thinking skills. One of the unique benefits of music is learning how to work

through a playing error and keeping your focus instead of stopping and starting over again from the beginning. Those are just some of the many examples of how learning a musical instrument can enhance a child’s academic experience over the summer as well as being just plain fun. As a matter of fact, when we share those ideas with our students, it’s fun to see them get excited and say, “Really? That’s pretty cool!”

Just because it’s summer vacation doesn’t mean you have to stop learning and that learning can’t be fun. To find out more about our programs, scheduling and starting lessons we invite you to visit us online at www.GTRStudio.com or call (208) 882-6733.

Michelle Ward is director and an instructor at GTR Music Studio in Moscow and has a Masters in Music from UI’s Hampton School of Music. She performs regularly with her band The ColdRail Blues Band. Advertisers in Tag! were invited to submit articles for publication. This is one of those submissions.

Fun ways to keep kids learning this summer

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We balance musicianship & fun by making sure that each lesson incorporates a new technique or theory concept into your lesson and ends with something fun such as playing your favorite song, ri� or � ll!

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By Deb Allen | for Tag

Play in a child’s life often determines their success as adults. Child behavior experts believe that play is a child’s

work. Parents can participate in their chil-dren’s success by interacting playfully with them; they can give their children the power to determine roles, model relationships and stimulate creativity and spontaneity. Play is the opportunity for children to practice real life in a nonthreatening and safe manner.

Not only will a child practice life but they will also develop gross and fine motor skills, learn to solve problems, and develop language and social skills. “Let’s pretend that … ” is our favorite phrase we hear spoken by children at Bonkerz Indoor Playcenter recently opened in Moscow. The meaning of this phrase far surpasses the three simple words it contains. Translated, this is what it means.

Let’s

The hyphenation of “let us.” Socially this is the evidence of group cooperation. Children are developing the skills of corporate activity.

They are recognizing that “I” am not alone. A child has matured from the “me” stage to the “we” stage. They recognize they are a part of a whole, society has emerged for them.

Pretend

For children this word opens their world. Pretend to a child means imagine, create, role-play, solve problems, become relational, exchange ideas, and much, much more. They have entered the realm of their parent’s, teacher’s or guardian’s roles, problems, conver-sations, and work. Pretend is their opportunity to safely adventure into someone else’s life all the while determining the rules that guide their outcome. It becomes their opportunity to practice power.

That

A word that introduces an idea. Creativity and spontaneity occur, a child’s brain is stimu-lated and their cognitive thinking is triggered. Their imaginations can explore scenarios that might otherwise be intimidating or frighten-ing to them. Child therapists use pretension

activities, the “thats,” to help children heal from emotional traumas and hurtful situations that may have occurred within the home and family.

Play is powerful; it is an activity that when allowed as a child and practiced as an adult, can change the direction of our society. For us adults, “let’s pretend that” we’re children play-ing peacefully and joyfully together, model-ing happy relationships to our children and regarding others with kindness.

And, let’s not pretend that playing an extra hour with our children or reading them another book at bedtime or coming home an hour early from work really doesn’t matter to them, because for real, you matter, and our future society depends upon you playing with your children.

Take your kids out to play and, “Let’s pretend that … .”

Deb Allen is the mother of Bonkerz owner Anna McGarrah. Advertisers in Tag! were invited to submit articles for publication. This is one of those submissions.

Go ahead, ‘let’s pretend that … ’This year’s summer reading pro-

grams are bigger and better than ever at your local libraries. The Tag! staff had hoped to print a grand calendar of all the events, but it did not take long to realize how many events there were and just how much is going on across the Palouse.

We’re instead providing these valu-able phone numbers and web links to our great libraries. You’ll be sure to find something fun to fill your time and keep your children’s minds sharp during the summer. Enjoy.

> Whitman County Libraries: Phone: (509) 397-4366; Website: www.whitco.lib.wa.us/

> Latah County Libraries: Phone: (208) 882-3925, ext. 15; Website: lcldyouth.wordpress.com/ or www.latahlibrary.org/

> Neil Public Library: Phone: (509) 338-3258; Website: www.pullman-wa.gov/departments/neill-public-library/

PALOUSE SUMMER READING RESOURCES

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$5 Discount for signing up at Dissmores!


By Elizabeth Sutherland | for Tag

I can tell you how your child’s day went. I helped her do a puzzle, worked on a poem with her, held her hand when we walked downtown for Story Hour. While we worked on

an art project together, she told me all the reasons that she loves you.

I know when he’s struggling with social boundaries, I’m there when he needs a hug, and I’ve thought for hours about how to

give him the self-confidence to keep trying to write his name. It’s my privilege.

In today’s world, many parents work, and choosing a preschool or childcare center isn’t a decision made lightly. You considered class sizes, academic activities, opportunities for play, field trip options, preparation for kindergarten, and teacher interactions.

I know you didn’t have to pick my classroom to leave your little one in every morning, but I’m thrilled that you did.

Spending my days with your children

makes me better.I come home exhausted, covered in paint,

snot, or — worse — glitter, worn out from creating an environment that meets the needs of so many personalities. I wouldn’t say that my job is easy. Nothing that lasts is.

I’m up late at night researching different play-dough or puffy paint recipes, look-ing for new ways to help a struggling child develop a skill, or cutting out one hun-dred and sixty-three pieces for a craft that complements this week’s library book.

The copy of my favorite childhood book that I brought to share, A Child’s Book of Poems, has pen marks on the cover and the occasional torn page. Do I mind? Not really.

After talking about treating books like friends we picked a new poem to learn, be-cause what really matters is that they absorb and enjoy words and use them to describe the world around them in new ways.

When we venture out on field trips I become a mama-tigress, counting and triple-counting heads as I tread backwards down the hill, shouting songs all the way.

Strangers get a three-second “smile-at-cute-kids window” before I teacher-glare them. Why?

It’s my job to protect the edges of the world, making it secure so that my kids — your kids — can explore it safely.

I do call them my kids sometimes. Not to imply that they’re any less yours when they’re with me, but because I give each one of them part of my heart, and I don’t get it back when they move on.

In the end, that’s the hardest part of being a preschool teacher; saying goodbye after a year or two and knowing that by the time they reach adulthood, I’ll be at best a vague memory to these precious tiny people that I spend so much time with. So thank you for trusting me with the time I have. I’m doing my best to stuff it with things that are true, good, and beautiful; and I promise to keep telling you about the little details of their day.

Elizabeth Sutherland is a preschool teacher at Moscow Day School, a nonprofit, parent-run organization that has been part of the community for 34 years. Advertiser in Tag! were invited to submit articles for publication. This is one of those submissions.

Glitter and snot: The joy of being a preschool teacher

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Documents

Tag Magazine - May 2013