Funny story - There is a group of guys who walk around our neighborhood as security who blow a whistle to let us know all is well. It's part of the background noise to me, like the barking dogs and traffic sounds. About a month ago, Ju suddenly became aware of them and kept saying it was a bird ("passarinho"), and I kept telling him it was the "segurança." Finally last night when he heard the whistle, he said "bird no. Seguarança." A little while later we were looking at a book with a parrot in it, and I told him something like "it's a parrot, a bird that is a parrot" to which he replied "parrot no. Segurança." I love how kids' brains work.

Did you know? Every year your child will have a new teacher, and there is an adjustment period that goes along with that. Did you know? Every child will have a bond with their old teacher until they make a bond with their new one. Did you know? Every child needs consistency and structure to feel safe and part of that is coming to school. Did you know? When a child comes late, they miss a big adjustment period of socializing with their peers which makes it more difficult to bond with their new group and feel safe. Did you know? When a child is the presence of a parent or other caretaker, they will isolate them selves more and want attention primarily from that parent or caretaker and will not socialize as much, or at all with their peers. Did you know? Children are affected by their parents' feelings, so if a parent is tense and mistrusting of a new teacher, the child will pick up on this an act accordingly, even if it is not verbalized directly to the child. Did you know? Every child needs a teacher's attention and the more a teacher must play favorite to one student or another to appease a concerned parent, the farther the other new students get. Did you know? We are teachers for the whole class and we cannot jump up and go have a chat with a concerned parent who decides to come in in the middle of a class day and talk about their concerns. Did you know?

While in Jersey, my husband picked up some DVDs for Ju, choosing them based on the fact that they were $1 each. A couple are not really appropriate for him (read: Japanese Animation) but one of Hermie and Friends has really grown on me. I have never been heavily into things that remind you that God is there - I think that is something we should remind ourselves of, rather than have it presented from an outside source. BUT, the message in the DVD is very light and presented nicely and I have to say I regret that because it talks about God directly because I can't take it to school to share with my kids. I hope I can find some more of them here somewhere, there are a lot of nice stories on the list.