Dear CCP Families,
As I consider all the things going on in our world today, I often have to stop to breathe and pray in order to handle my big emotions. (Thanks to my faith and to my skills of Conscious Discipline!) I am especially grateful for our preschool teachers who spend much time teaching our students peaceful ways to handle conflict and techniques to calm their bodies when they are upset. Self-regulation and an assertive voice are two of the most important things we teach. These skills will help your children to be prepared to manage what life throws at them now and in the future! Read the Conscious Discipline moment at the bottom for more on Assertive Voice.
CONFERENCES - Watch for your teacher’s sign-up genius in a blog post or email, so you can sign up for a convenient time for a conference.
TUITION - Please remember that your March tuition payment is due Friday, March 1. (It’s considered late after March 5.) Thanks for paying your fees on time.
ILLNESSES - Looks like pink eye has finally slowed down, but tummy bugs, upper respiratory infections, and even Covid are still showing up in our community. Please keep children home a full 24 hours after symptoms are gone to be sure they are well. Please refer to the 23-24 Health Guidelines I gave you at the start of school. Each class wishes their absent friends well and sends them love.
SUMMER CAMP - Camp applications for Ladybugs, Ducks, and Whales went out this week. We have spots for 28-30 campers with 4 teachers. Camp is June 6-9 from 9:00-1:00. Bring your compoleted application and fee to the preschool office.
CHAPEL CONNECTION - This week we learned that Jesus asked us to be light to the world! We remembered how our song “This Little Light of Mine” reminds us to shine our light to all people. We shine God’s love through us by being kind, helpful, and sharing our smiles with everyone we meet.
FOURS FOR 2024-25 - We still have room for a few more 4-year-olds for next year. If you know of a friend or neighbor who will be 4 by Aug. 31, please encourage them to contact me at darena@christmethodist.org or 919-969-1690. We would love for their family to join our preschool family!
A VERY IMPORTANT CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE MOMENT (a little long, but well worth the read!) - Here is an important word about the skill of assertiveness, paraphrased from Dr. Becky Bailey. There are 3 voices that we can use to communicate - passive, aggressive, and assertive. The goal of passivity is to please others. Using a passive voice relinquishes your power by leaving decisions to others. Aggressive communication aims to win by overpowering. Aggressive people often speak for others and they frequently use the words "always" and "never" as forms of attack. Assertiveness allows us to express our needs, wants and desires constructively, without devaluing the other person's needs, wants and desires. Assertiveness teaches others how to treat us. The goal of assertiveness is clear communication that paints a picture of what we want others to do. It has a voice tone of "no doubt" and comes from an intention of helping children be successful instead of making them behave.
How can we give assertive commands successfully? By using an assertive voice worded as a command. Commands are about non-negotiable compliance. (Requests offer a choice.) We don't want to confuse children by wording commands as requests if there is really no choice. For example, "Keith, would you take out the trash?" actually meant, "Get up now and take the trash to the curb." There was really no choice, so an assertive command works better, “Keith, take out the trash.” Usually safety issues need to be worded as commands in an assertive voice. "Hold my hand while we cross the street." "Put your notebooks away and line up for lunch." "Walk in the hall just like this." (demonstrate what you want the child to do.) These are phrased so there is no question, no doubt.
Using an assertive voice as an adult models assertiveness for your child. Assertiveness lets you set your boundaries on what behaviors you consider safe, appropriate and permissible. It enables you to say "no" to your children, and teaches them how to say "no" to others (a very important skill. ) You may ask me any questions or go to www.consciousdiscipline.com and search assertive voice.
You may find it helpful to save the Conscious Discipline website information for future use. You may discover that in the packed elementary school schedule, they just don’t have as much time to work on the skills of composure, empathy, self-regulation, assertive voice, making choices, etc. These are the areas where preschool teachers really shine! Help your student carry these important life skills into the future by practicing them at home.
Sending well wishes and peaceful thoughts,
Debbie