We are excited to welcome several new teachers to Persimmon Early Learning. Welcome to April Norman, Dianna McCune and Selena Vissar. We look forward to having you as part of our Persimmon team and working together to support the children and families in our community!

When you think of pretend play, you likely think of preschool age children dressed up as princesses, dragons, or fire-fighters acting out a story they are making up, but infants engage in pretend play too! At this stage, pretend play is based on imitating the actions of others and often involves tasks they see adults doing frequently, such as cooking, eating, cleaning, or talking on the phone.

In our Infant Development Center our teachers are always ready to support the children when they show interest in pretend play, offering them materials to encourage them to imitate the routines of adults. When infants first begin experimenting with pretend play, they tend to prefer objects that look like the real thing (toy phone, car keys, dishes, etc.), yet as they transition into the toddler years they become able to use one item to stand in for another, such as using a block as a phone or a stick like a screwdriver.

You can support your child at home by offering materials to help your child imitate you. Some good options are an empty pot and a spoon for them to play with while you are cooking, a small shovel for them to dig with while you work in the garden, or a damp cloth for them to wipe things with while you’re cleaning. Children also benefit from their caregivers engaging in pretend play with them, taking the play food they hand you and pretending to eat it, or having a quick chat on a toy phone. You can also encourage your child’s creative thinking by using objects in different ways, such as using a blanket as a cape or a leaf as a hat. Follow your child’s lead and have fun together!  

The children in our Toddler Program are busy thinking about space exploration. The book they are currently using for their storybook journey is “My Rainy Day Rocket Ship” by Markette Sheppard and Charly Palmer. This story is about a child who has to play inside on a rainy day, and uses items from around their house, and lots of imagination, to make a rocket ship. This story was chosen after our toddler teachers observed many children in the class building rocket ships out of blocks and other classroom materials.

In addition to making their own telescopes to see the sky, our Toddler Class is engaging in this story by singing songs and reading stories about space, using a rocket ship countdown to incorporate early math skills, and using an astronaut puppet to act out space stories. They will also be building their own giant rocket ship out of a big cardboard box for the dramatic play area of the classroom.

To support your child’s learning at home, take some time to listen to the author read the story, and talk about what you notice or enjoy about the book with your child (link below). You may even decide to build your own version of a rainy day rocket ship to snuggle up in and read stories together. You can also point out things you notice in the sky and talk to your child about what you see. During the day you might notice the sun, clouds, airplanes or helicopters, and birds up in the sky, and if your child happens to be awake after dark, you could take some time to look at the moon and the stars together.

In honor of the students graduating from our preschool program this spring, we are sharing some wonderful self-portraits they recently created, and some thoughts our graduates had on their experience in preschool and plans for the future.

We are proud of all of our preschool students, and pleased with all of the learning that has taken place in the preschool classroom this year! We will certainly miss the children who are on their way to kindergarten or first grade in the fall, yet we are also so excited for them as they move on to new adventures.

All of the student comments below are direct quotes.

“The playground.”

“Rocket ships take off.”

“Writing words.”

“Drive a limo.”

“Playing magnatiles.”

“To stay safe.”

“Play there.”

“Do grown-up stuff."

“My favorite thing about preschool is going to the park and playing karate.”

“I learned about love.”

“I don't know what we’re gonna do in kindergarten.”

“I want to teach kids of my own.”

“I just like to move furniture and use tape measures.”

“About my letters and writing my name.”

“Go to Flatirons Park because kindergarten is on Flatirons Park.”

“Do whatever I want, like do work, and when I get too old, I’ll die, but I’ll be working for a lot of times and being with my parents when I’m a grown up.”

We are getting excited for the growing season as we begin to build and prep our gardens! We will have three garden beds on the infant playground, three on the preschool playground, and two on the toddler playground. This year we plan to plant a variety of beautiful flowers, tons of vegetables, and a few fruits. We hope to send the families home with some fresh Persimmon produce over the summer and fall.

Above are pictures of our seedlings and some plant starts. It includes a variety of tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, lemon balm, lettuce, lavender, bell peppers, basil, and forget me not flowers. We will plant the rest of our seeds directly outside once the last chance of frost has passed.