Stillwater Early Childhood Family Education

Have you heard of The Connect Center? They strive to create a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or circumstances. They are providing FREE monthly community meals on the 4th Friday of every month. Our ECFE program joined this wonderful community-building event last week!

The next community meal is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 27th at 5:30 pm at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Stillwater.

https://theconnectcenter.org/

Join our team and make magical moments happen every day!

We're hiring an Early Childhood Special Education teacher who is passionate about sparking joy and wonder in our little learners.

Apply today and be a part of the magic! stillwaterschools.org/ecjobs

Come see Miss Stacy and Kimberly at the Washington County Fair Thursday starting at 9 am!!!! They'll be over by the main stage!

https://washingtoncountyfair.org/calendar/ecfe-family-day-4/

Send a message to learn more

Come see Miss Stacy and Kimberly at the Washington County Fair Thursday starting at 9 am!!!! They'll be over by the main stage!

ECFE Family Day - Washington County Fair

If you weren't able to participate in the June Conversations of the Valley discussion on Brain Development in a Rapidly Changing World, you can now view it on Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMJhDeelkC4

If you're an early childhood educator or a parent or caregiver with a neurodivergent child, you may want to check out this FREE virtual summit led by one of Stillwater's former special education teachers.

https://www.preschoolautismsummit.com/preschool-autism-summit/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1XTrXDYdfr4Sn2a8DWxgFZb1SbCcnLa9pmsujh6slVar-owAc-mVv5EhA_aem_vhI5r-nRVPy_kMlRPzbyVQ&affiliate=jason24

Preschool Autism Summit A 3-day virtual event for special educators, SLPs, and related service providers working with preschool-age autistic children.

Did you know that June 29th is International Mud Day?!?! Today from 4-6 pm International Mud Day is being celebrated (a day early) at Brekke Park. Exploring in mud is such a great sensory experience!

Stillwater ECFE is proud to support anti-racist and social justice work in our communities. This summer parents our coming together to discuss the book, Social Justice Parenting. As the parents meet to discuss the book, their children are playing among them. With the children present the parents are even having opportunities to role model and support their children in building friendships, cooperation, problem-solving skills, etc.

Today is Juneteenth! If you'd like support in explaining this very important day in history to your preschool (or older) children, here's a great story that is read aloud on YouTube to view alongside your child. If the concepts seem too challenging for your child to comprehend, you can listen to the story on your own to give you ideas as to how you could talk to your child about Juneteenth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPTGD1D9pCI

Please join Stillwater ECFE on Tuesday, June 18th for a panel presentation on the importance of the first thousand days of a child's life, what challenges are being observed in families, how ECFE is working to build resiliency among these challenges, and what community members and partners could do to support the development of young children and their families.

This is a FREE event! Register below to access the Zoom link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZIb_fbS0ROqq9inTrPP1qg #/registration

Each year every Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) Program in the state of MN is asked to do a community needs survey to assess how well we are meeting the needs of the families in our community. The information gathered through this process will help guide our future program offerings.

If you have some time to fill out the survey for this year, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you!

https://forms.gle/owvQ7XcghsemnPc89

Tomorrow (June 8th) is a FREE Park day at ALL Minnesota State Parks. Go enjoy some time exploring one of our many state parks in MN!

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/free-entrance-days-minnesota-state-parks.html?campaign_name=may-2024&utm_medium=trailblazer&utm_source=govdelivery

Thank you to the St. Croix Valley Foundation we are offering FREE prenatal parent education classes focused on parent-child attachment. We are in week 7 of 8 weeks of our first section. Our first baby was born from this first section a couple of weeks ago. He and his mama joined for class last week. Welcome to the world sweet little one!

We still have openings in our next section of this course if you are interested or know someone who may be. These classes are open to anyone welcoming a newborn through birth, surrogacy, or adoption in the next few months.

https://stillwater.ce.eleyo.com/course/ecfe/6354/summer-2024%E2%80%941/secure-attachment-thriving-kids

Saturday's Baby and Toddler Play Time was a big hit! After some time exploring indoors, we headed outside for a full sensory experience by touching tree bark, grasses, sticks, cattails, and fuzzy leaves. We even spotted a Polyphemus Moth! One of the toddlers was so excited to hold the moth on a piece of bark as he and the other children continued to observe its movements. We hope you can join us for our next Baby and Toddler Class on July 13th!

There's still time to register for the Social Justice Parenting book study. We only meet 3 times, 5:45-7 pm at the ECFC playground area. Your children can play amongst us as we discuss the book. We hope you can join us for thought-provoking conversations about raising children in our current culture.

https://www.facebook.com/events/7338243656212162/

Last week Stillwater ECFE staff along with School Psychologist, Jody Kinney, had the opportunity to share about the services and classes provided through ECFE and the B-3 program at the First Thousand Days convening through the St. Croix Valley Foundation. Participants got to hear from a panel of experts on the importance of the first thousand days of a child's life and what communities can do to support these very critical years of development.

There will be another First Thousand Days convening on June 18th held virtually. Jody Kinney and Parent, Child, and Family Educator, Jenny Hanlon will be presenting at this next convening.

Register here (it's free, virtual, and held over the nap/ lunch hour): https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZIb_fbS0ROqq9inTrPP1qg #/registration

Yesterday was the last day of preschool. The tradition continues: the children got to dress up as their favorite Letter Land character! The end of the school year always brings mixed emotions. So much growth has taken place and so many wonderful relationships were formed. It can be hard to say goodbye, but the children are all heading off ready for their next adventure!

Our Friday ECFE Park Picnic and Playdate currently has low numbers of registrations. If you plan to register, please do so today so we know if we can still hold the class.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1165187787983413?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[]%7D

This year's ECFE spring event was another big success! Babies enjoyed tummy time looking in a mirror as they experienced all the senses of the outdoors. Toddlers immersed themselves in the scents of the outdoor classroom! Children and parents planted bean seeds together to take home. Hands got to fully explore in soil with root vegetables. Many children and parents enjoyed camping and even "roasting marshmallows".

One of the parents in our program brought one of her chickens and other bird feathers for the children to examine. Thank you, Krista!

A community volunteer and beekeeper also joined the event to teach the children and families about beekeeping. Thank you, Donnette!

Thank you to Sally Manzara Nature Center and Annie Berres for being here too!

Sarah from First Words Dance Party put on a very popular and engaging show! Thank you, Sarah!

Miss Kim from Stillwater Library is always a hit - she was the grand finale for the event with one of her amazing story times. Thank you, Kim!

Last, but not least, thank you to all the parent volunteers to help put on this event this year! Alyssa, Jess, Kali, Tyler, Maureen, Britta, Sandi, Brant, and Tracey.

Thank you to Ian, Maya, and Tessa for helping the children plant and to Rose Floral for the donation of seeds and soil!

One more day until our big spring event! Come play with us!
Saturday, May 18th, 9:30 am - 12 noon

- plant a seed to take home
- dig in soil
- meet a beekeeper
- touch some feathers from various birds
- blow some bubbles
- go camping!
- cook in our mud kitchen
- make a picture with animal stamps
- make a bird feeder to bring home
- climb on logs
- look for worms
- First Words Dance Party at 11 am!
- story time at 11:40 am

https://www.facebook.com/events/383849100906091/

Join us THIS Saturday for our annual spring family event! The activities are geared toward children ages 5 and under and their caregivers. This is FREE and will be held mostly outdoors unless the weather moves us inside.

9:30 am-12 noon, ECFC, 1111 S. Holcombe St.

Activities will close at 11:40 which is when Miss Kim from Stillwater Library will lead a story time in our lobby.

https://www.facebook.com/events/383849100906091/

Have you heard of the Merlin Bird app? You can record the sounds of the birds you hear and the app will not only save the recording but will also show you what birds were making the sounds. This is a fun app to use as a family whether you are in your neighborhood, at a nature preserve, or even in your own yard or complex. Some of our ECFE classes have been walking over to the pond on campus to watch and listen to the birds. Here's an image of the birds we heard during one of our visits!

Many of our early childhood classes have been observing Painted Ladies from caterpillars to chrysalis and eventually to butterflies! Last week many of these were ready to be let go. Many of the toddlers were excited to be so close to the butterflies and some even wanted to hold them! Connecting with nature in this way is a great way to build self-regulation since it's naturally motivating to hold their bodies still. If they don't, the butterfly will fly away!

Registration for our weekly ECFE classes for next school year begins tomorrow, Monday, May 6th at 7am. We hope you can join us!

Here's some information to know about registration: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13AfV9-iQXd6f3BRMK52GhFrAE4mqEj-Y8YQ-0DIrwNU/edit?usp=sharing

One of Teacher Jenny's favorite tools to keep close by when with her students is a measuring tape! You never know when a child might want to measure a worm or another item in nature!

Save the date! We're only 18 days away from ECFE's big spring event! This is geared toward children ages 5 and under and their caregivers. The early childhood parent advisory council has been busy planning and preparing for all of the fun to be had! We hope you can join us! This is a FREE event and is open to ALL families, whether you have participated in our early childhood programming or not.

April is Autism Acceptance Month!

Some people prefer the term "autistic person" while others prefer "a person with autism". Like many things, it's important to ask the person directly (or their caregiver, if they are unable to answer for themselves yet) what their preference is.

No matter the preferred term, autism comes with many strengths and nuances that families and staff shared on our board in our lobby throughout April.

It was the perfect day to get outside to jump in puddles, look for raindrops on plants, and find worms!

Getting ready to share a meal with her friend!

Pretend play provides children an opportunity to actively experiment with the social and emotional roles they will encounter in life.

Little critters (insects, worms, animals, etc.) spark connection, empathy, and communication.

Statements said by toddlers about this worm:
"Awe, he's so cute!"
"He's my best friend."
"Night night worm."
"Pet worm" with sign language 'please'