Greetings from Pine Village Preschool

Hello South End friends! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jen Doyle, and I've just begun working with Pine Village Preschool in the area of communications, which will include regular postings to the blog. Just to give you a little bit of background, I'm the mom of three - Lucy (12), Will (10), and James (2) - two of whom are Pine Village alums, and on of whom (I'm sure you can guess which!) will be entering the Brighton school in the fall. We are thrilled to be back! 

Over the coming months, I hope to bring you more about what's happening at Pine Village (particularly at our South End location), what's happening with our teachers and directors, and what's happening out there in the field of early childhood education, bilingual education, and just some things that might be of interest in for the day-to-day experience of loving and raising our kids. (If there's anything in particular in which you're interested, please don't hesitate to send me a note at pvpjen@gmail.com.)

This month all of the Pine Village schools are focusing on science. Back when Lucy was in her first year at PVP, she came home one night and kept going on and on using words that sounded suspiciously like "vertebrates" and "invertebrates." Since she was all of three years old (and not exactly a whiz at pronunciation -- because, yes, she was three), my husband and I wracked our brains trying to think what she could possibly be trying to tell us since, obviously, the concept of whether a creature had a spinal column or not (full disclosure -- I had to actually look that up just now; I mean, I was pretty sure that I knew what it meant, but still...) seemed a little bit beyond her age range.

But lo and behold, the next morning when I walked in to drop her off, there was her teacher Alicia pointing out the various wildlife around them (birds, squirrels, even the ants on the pavement) and asking these tiny little beings -- i.e., our precious children, not the birds, squirrels, ants, etc. -- to think about whether each of the animals and insects they were seeing was one as opposed to the other. To this day I attribute my older kids' curiosity and joy of learning to a preschool environment that both challenged and inspired them each and every day. Although the teachers and we parents are always thinking about school in terms of 'curriculum,' to them it's just another day of fun.

I look forward to bringing you more about the fun they have throughout the rest of their Science-themed month as well as future curriculum themes of Artists and Authors. Until next time...