Mrs. Jen

From a Preschooler's Perspective:

Preschooler to Teacher: "Can you put (my friend) in time out? He's not listening to me!"

Mrs. Jen

Eleven years ago, when we first opened up the Samuel Morey Preschool, Jen Parenti was brought in to be the classroom assistant. At the time I didn't know Jen, but I quickly came to value all of the exceptional qualities and the special personality that she brought to our preschool environment. After six years with us Jen left the preschool to become a home based child care provider. This year we have been very fortunate to welcome Jen back to the program as our primary substitute teacher.

As Jen has already been in for a good amount of days this year, I am again reminded of how exceptional she is with the preschoolers and how quickly she forms close and caring relationships with them. Since Becka, Jen and I all worked together over the course of several years, we have all enjoyed our "reunion" and have found ourselves reminiscing about children that we taught years ago and many of the special and funny moments that we had with them.

A highlight of last week was on Thursday when the preschool band "Jenormous" got back together. When Jen was with us as the classroom assistant, she and Norm Page (who had been the Samuel Morey custodian) performed for the preschoolers on a regular basis with Jen playing piano and singing and Norm playing guitar. At times they were joined by various additional musical guests. It was great to have Norm and Jen playing together for us again and, as usual, their musical talents and Jen's beautiful voice captivated their preschool audience.

I believe that one of the really exceptional things about the Samuel Morey Preschool experience has been all of the meaningful connections that have been made between children, parents, families, and staff over the years. Having Mrs. Jen back with us this year is another reminder of the the positive relationships that are formed while we share the responsibilities, and the joys, of caring for our wonderful young students together.

Mrs. Jen With Charlotte


The Return of Jenormous!

Preschoolers Dancing to Jenormous


Mrs. Jen With Preschool Friends

Preschool Friends

From A Preschooler's Perspective

More Preschool Vocabulary:

A preschooler who had the hiccups told me, "I can't stop hicking!"

Another preschooler was describing a toy at home that "viberates".

And yet another preschooler was excited to identify a "patteren".

Preschool Friends

In our program, due to our focus on promoting positive social behavior, we don't observe too many interpersonal difficulties amongst the preschoolers. We continuously do see examples of the children being respectful of each other and playing happily together. Having been in many educational and early childcare settings over my years as an educator, I know that this level of positive social engagement is not always the case.

There are many ways that we promote positive socialization amongst the preschoolers. It all begins with the very close and caring bonds that we create and maintain with our students. Continuous modeling of considerate and empathetic behavior is also crucial in this regard. Having high expectations for how children treat each other, and consistent follow through in maintaining these expectations, is also very important.

A more in-depth look at how we promote pro-social behaviors is included in the Curriculum and Learning section of the blog. Below are some photographic illustrations of the very positive ways that the preschoolers typically engage with each other at school. When I am looking through the pictures that I have recently taken of the preschoolers, there is nothing that I enjoy seeing more than children who are genuinely enjoying each others company and treating each other in a a caring and empathetic way!