The Prouty Voice: November 2022
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
By Chloe Learey, Executive Director
One Wednesday, November 23rd the Early Learning Center is hosting a Stone Soup harvest meal, prompting me to reflect on the lessons this folk story offers – the value of sharing and hospitality, how food has power to bring us together. It also made me think of the axiom above, how the soup is greater than the individual elements that go into it, and how this is true for us as a community.
What are ingredients that go into building community? We say things like “it is all about relationships” and “it is all about communication”, both of which are true even if it feels like we say it too often or too glibly. Just saying things isn’t enough, though; it is what we do that matters. Harnessing the potential of the whole means understanding we all have a role to play and that we accept responsibility for contributing to the whole, no matter how big or small our contribution is. It means recognizing others’ contributions and inviting each other to participate. It means being willing to be speak up and step up, even if that feels vulnerable and scary. It means being wrong sometimes and being willing to repair. These are the actions of being in relationship and practicing good communication as a foundation on which to build.
Contributing to our community is some of the most important work we do at Winston Prouty. We understand that children and families thrive when everyone is doing well, and that we have a role to play in helping that happen. There is not a single person, committee, organization, or government entity that can successfully make our community flourish; it takes all of us working together, bringing our resources to share, to effectively make the whole greater than the sum of its parts – just like stone soup.
Resources & Events for Families
Recovery Families
Confidential, peer-to-peer recovery group open to parents/caregivers and expectant parents at all stages of recovery. Hosted by Turning Point Center. More info
WIC families have access to more fruits & vegetables
WIC is extending the increase in benefits for fruits and vegetables. The WIC Cash Value Benefit (CVB) for fruits and vegetables will continue at an increased level for each WIC participant over the age of 1 year, with extra money for inflation. More details
Early Learning Center News
School Class Photo Day: Thursday November 10
On Thursday morning we will take class photos. Individual student photos and class photos will be distributed later next week.
Acorn Room
October was quite a busy month in the Acorn Room! We loved meeting with families for conferences. Thank you for inviting us into your homes. October was full of leaves, pumpkins, and all the changing colors of the season. We took advantage of the beautiful, (mostly) sunny days and spent time exploring outside. We painted with hands and feet and made sensory bags. We bid farewell to Allie this month and celebrated our first Halloween with costumes and a school-wide parade. We joined All School Sing (when we were awake) and hung out with the big kids. We’re becoming good friends and working on the all-important skills of rolling over, sitting up, and crawling. Some of us are even standing and starting to walk! We are happy to welcome our new Teacher, Jen Ricker, who will join Darby and Taylor to form a new Acorn team!
Willow Room
October was a month full of fun and exploration at the ELC! The Willow Room has spent a lot of time outside exploring the changes of the seasons. Leaves have been a big hit in our room. The children have collected leaves, noticed the different colors and sizes of the leaves, and of course, tromped through the leaf piles! We also began to explore our woods spot this last week of October and have had so much fun adventuring through the forest. Balls, vehicles, and all things that move are still some of our favorite things to see and explore, we have even been bringing some of these favorite items out to the woods with us. The children continue to grow their confidence in themselves as individuals, as a class, and as explorers of the world around them, and it has been such an amazing experience to be a part of!
Elm Room
This month in the Elm room has been Falltastic! We’ve gone exploring in the woods and noticed the colors outside change, practiced our raking skills, and got creative with arts and crafts inside and outside of the classroom. Our friends love to glue, color, and paint with watercolors. Jack has been collecting the art made in the classroom, and displaying it on our walls. Eventually, we hope to have the entire back wall covered with their artwork over the course of the year. In addition to a class that already loves music, we’ve been incorporating more sign language in our songs and learning more signs to use with our friends to help with problem solving. Another goal that we have lifted off the ground this month, is the journey of trying on the potty! We ended the month off with our Halloween parade. We are looking forward to more creative adventures next month and preparing the class for the upcoming season of winter and all the exciting things that come along with the season.
Oak Room
During October, the Oak Room started out the month by reading the book “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds. Our focus has been creating marks, recognizing names, and signing our work. We have created a mural in the hallway leading to our classroom. Everyone got to pick where they wanted their art to be. We used a variety of art media which includes: charcoal, paint, glue, stamps, bingo markers, sticks and leaves. We also got a big pumpkin and used golf tees to hammer on the line (also making dots) to open the top up and dig the seeds out. We have been going on walks to the rock garden to get as much climbing in before winter comes. We celebrated two birthdays this month, Harriet and Cade. They got to decorate their own string balloons and tell us some of their favorites. We have been mixing up with the Birch room in the morning and have enjoyed having other friends to play with and different materials. We also said goodbye to our dear friend Jackson. We wished him well at his new school with ice cream leftover from the Open House.
In November, we will continue to work on writing and recognizing names. We will also update our murals as time goes on. We will explore all about us: likes and dislikes, families, how we are different and the same and that’s okay.
Birch Room
October was a month of fall exploration in the Birch Room. We explored apples, leaves, and pumpkins. We learned about how and why the leaves changed colors and spent lots of time outside playing in the leaves. We also read Leaf Man and then we each created our own Leaf Man. We did lots of climbing outside and went for woods walks. Many days we stopped at leaf piles and had a leaf throwing game. In the classroom we made applesauce, we starred in a play called Big Pumpkin and we made pumpkin pie for everyone at Winston Prouty. We also talked about the letters in our name and played several letter games at circle and small group. The science center with pumpkins has been a favorite spot in the classroom, as well as the building center and the art center. We are looking forward to more outside time in November and fall explorations.
Celebrations
Congrats to Brenda Brewer for achieving her Level IIIA certificate from Northern Lights at Community College of Vermont!
- November 2 – Richie is 2!
- November 6 – Vena is 3!
- November 17 – Happy Birthday Nancy McMahon, Consultation & Behavior Support Specialist and Lisa Atwater, CIS Family Support
- November 22 – Fern is 5!
- November 22 – Happy Birthday Lydia – HCRS Clinician
- November 24 – Shawn is 4!
- November 25 – Happy Birthday Molly, Oak Room Assistant Teacher
Dates to Remember
- Thursday, November 10 – School class photo day
- Friday, November 11 – Center closes at noon for in-service
- Wednesday, November 23 – ELC Family Harvest Meal
- Thursday, November 24 & Friday, November 25 – Center closed for Thanksgiving Holiday