WHPS is committed to ensuring that our teachers, directors and support staff receive the highest level of training available in early childhood education. You may have noticed a couple weeks ago that a number of preschool teachers - and even the campus directors - were off site for professional development at the California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAAEYC) Conference. We spent three days immersed in a wide variety of workshops, ranging from teaching science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) to social-emotional learning (SEL) to Kindergarten readiness, and much more. Our school administration also attended the CAAEYC Leadership Summit at which we studied emerging trends and issues in early childhood education and participated in site visits to other leading preschools, including: Pacific Oaks Children’s School, Glendale Community College Lab School, and the Outdoor Classroom Project at the Child Education Center.

One of the keynote speakers at CAAEYC was John Medina, a molecular biologist and bestselling author, who has applied “a robust scientific filter” to parenting research. Medina is the director of The Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University.

Medina discussed his seminal research while working on Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five in which he addresses common parenting questions and debunks some myths:

• Does telling your child they are smart actually help boost their confidence?
• What’s the best way to get your kid into Harvard?
• Will playing Mozart to the womb make your baby smarter?
• Will listening to language DVDs boost your toddler’s vocabulary?
• Do toys that promise to exercise your baby’s brain actually work?
• And, more importantly, how do you raise a happy child?

One of Medina’s key points that is widely accepted among early childhood researchers and educators is that Executive Functioning is far more predictive than IQ when it comes to a young child’s future success. “A child’s brain can be trained to enhance self-control and other aspects of executive function,” according to Medina, and building Executive Function is one way to help that baby get to Harvard. Says Medina: “Executive Function is actually a better predictor of academic success than IQ.”

If you are curious about Medina’s research and some of the parenting questions and myths he addresses or debunks, I recommend trying out his 20 question quiz: Are you a Brain Rules parent? How did you do? Consider taking it with your spouse/partner or co-parent.
Hint: a clue for question 1 can be found in the above paragraph.

Enjoy!
Seth Pozzi
Asst. Head of School
 

Thank you PAWS for co-sponsoring this professional development.

The month of April was very busy with springtime activities and Earth Day celebrations. Taking care of our precious Earth was also a focus of our Emergent Learning. The children learned to reuse and recycle different materials like paper, plastic and glass.  Both the Collins and Oxnard campus held a “Get Outside” event to help educate children about nature and on how we can preserve our planet for future generations.

Some of our discoveries also brought the opportunity to study the life cycles of plants, animals and insects. Most of the children watched caterpillars change into beautiful butterflies. Children around the world, food, dinosaurs and the solar system were also explored. Lots of wonderful planting and gardening is taking place. Be sure to check it out!

May flowers are coming along with growth of your little ones. You may notice a new sense of maturity and self-confidence as your children are getting ready to move forward to the next level.

We look forward to seeing all of you at Open House.

Wishing all of you wonderful mothers a very happy and restful Mother’s Day.

Dear Elementary Families,

Happy May! It’s hard to believe the year is coming to an end. Please mark your calendars for our annual all-school Zuma Beach trip on Wednesday, June 6. All parents are encouraged to attend as this is a parent carpool trip. It is a wonderful way for our whole community to come together and celebrate the end of another year together. Please keep an eye out for more information!

We are excited to announce our staffing for the 2018-2019 school year. With the WHPS Team Teaching Model, we take time each spring to evaluate and leverage all the unique strengths of our staff. You can see the teaching teams for 2018-2019 listed below.

All elementary staff are returning for next year, with one exception. Our beloved first grade teacher and Athletics Director, Mr. Jonsen, and his wife are planning to relocate to Austin, Texas. We were very saddened to hear this news as I’m sure you are, too. However, we are happy for Mr. Jonsen and his family and wish them all the best on this next adventure. We are truly grateful to Mr. Jonsen for his contributions to WHPS and our families over the past four years. Rest assured, we have already launched a search for a talented and experienced teacher to take Mr. Jonsen’s place as Room 16’s Co-Teacher, and we have narrowed the field to several qualified candidates. Stay tuned for more information in the very near future.

Teaching Teams for 2018-2019