Board games such as Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Trouble and Connect Four, and card games such as Go Fish and War, teach children to take turns, patience, perseverance, focus and sportsmanship. It is important to learn both to win with grace and to lose with equanimity. Focusing on the moves and plays of others helps children increase their attention span as well as to develop memory and learn to strategize. We play board and other games at school to teach these life skills as well as to reinforce concepts and skills.

Black Friday ads were full of items mostly related to movies, television, and the like. Many of these toys are long on commercial appeal but fall woefully short on promoting the development of imagination, creativity, problem solving, critical thinking and motor skills!

Preschool children (and children of all ages!) look forward to their favorite holidays, and this season is particularly exciting for most of them. But beware!

As we think about how much we have to be thankful for and how lucky we are, one can also reflect back to our core values - compassion, in particular. A large part of being compassionate relates to empathy. Though some people are innately empathetic and caring towards others, for many children it is something that needs to be taught and learned. Since young children are egocentric, we must help them become aware of the feelings and needs of others. It is important for them to learn to do good for the sake of helping others, rather than for any reward other than the good feeling they get as a result. They may not even be aware of that intrinsically good feeling unless we talk about it or point it out.

When addressing each of our Core Values with our youngest students, it seemed most appropriate to save integrity for last. Certainly not because it was the least important, but because it is all encompassing. A person with integrity knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses to do the right thing, even when it is a hard choice and/or no one is looking. A person with integrity is honest, trustworthy and has strong moral principles. People with integrity are the ones we want our children to look up to, emulate and become.