Dear Wiggin Street Families,
It was great to have a full 5 day week with your kiddos! I talked with the kids on the announcements today about the importance of my job to keep everyone safe at Wiggin Street. Please reiterate at home that if they ever see someone being treated unkind or are unsafe, they should tell an adult. It's not tattling if it's helpful. Mrs. Carlson talks with students about big and small problems. Peer mediators can help with small problems, but it's best to get an adult to help with big problems. All adults in our building care for each student and love them, so students can ask for help at anytime!
Wednesday was the Global Day of Play. Free play allows children to play making their own rules as they go along and creating new limits within their own boundaries. "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation"-Plato
Not only is it fun, but play has so many benefits:
- Develops creative thinking
- Helps them stay physically fit
- Expands their cognitive function through healthy development of the brain
- Helps them learn to get along with others through collaborating, sharing, negotiating, resolving conflicts, and developing self-advocacy skills
- Develops problem solving skills
- Encourages independence
- Allows children to practice decision making skills, move at their own pace, discover areas of interest on their own
- Gives them ownership in their learning
- Creates happiness
We are lucky at Wiggin Street to have advocates for free play. It is not an easy day for our teachers because there are times when students have difficulty solving problems, and sharing, resolving conflicts. Our teachers are there to support students as needed and understand the importance of free play as well as a healthy balance of structured play.
We hope you all have a great weekend, and stay warm!
Best wishes,
Christy Grandstaff
