The last couple of weeks were very busy around Roaring Mouse.  Here are a few snippets from our first week of classes…

We decided to refurbish our outdoor play yard so now we have fresh green grass, a fabulous digging pile, and barrel of water, and lots of imaginative toys and tools.

Water play is especially popular!

There it goes!

All of our school day classes started last week, and things were hopping.  The beginning of the school year is always so exciting for the kids—and exhausting!  There are so many things to remember, so many new things to do and people to meet.  Figuring out how to get what you need, and still get along when someone else has the very thing you want, can be very tricky.

At Roaring Mouse, we understand this and try to give kids the tools and boundaries they will need to build a healthy community.   One of the ways we approach this is through Second Step, a curriculum developed by Committee for Children to teach children skills in the core areas of empathy, emotion management and social problem solving. To the left is a drawing a former student did to illustrate what the feeling nervous looks like for the classes’ Feelings Chart.

At one of our first circle times in the morning preschool, Kristy introduced Impulsive Puppy, a little puppet who was very excited about being at school and who found it a bit challenging to sit still, listen or generally notice anything other than how exciting everything was.  The kids’ job was to teach him how to listen and sit still so he could hear what others were saying.  Puppy was clueless, and as he kept up his shenanigans, one of our wise young students turned to Cheryl and said, “This is going to take a lot of work!”

In the afternoon preschool class, the conversation turned to sharing.  Kristy asked the students what it means to share.  Among the many thoughtful responses by the kids, came this one:  Sharing is when you give things to people who need things they don’t have.

Lessons in crafting the art of communication, friendship and community building are also offered in our Artists of the Heart class, available to students ages 4 -5.

Next week brings the beginning of a new set of after school classes.  Sign up today!  Don’t miss this opportunity for your child to work creatively with Cheryl Carder in our Open Studio class, or with Flint Crumpacker in Anyone Can Be An Artist!

And last but not least, we did it again!  After coming in as a runner up in two categories for ParentMap’s Golden Teddy Awards, Roaring Mouse is a finalist for yet another:  Red Tricycle’s Totally Awesome Awards in the category of Most Awesome Art Classes!  Over 20K nominations were cast by moms and dads over a 4 week period.  Voting has now begun and will remain open until October 14.  You can vote for us here.  Thanks for your support!