Thanks to grant money received from the Trees Forever organization, in collaboration with Black Hills Energy, Sunflower was able to plant 22 trees on Sunflower property that will greatly enhance our outdoor environment!
The tree planting event took place over two days – holes were dug and most trees were planted on one day – in the rain – and the official ceremony was conducted two days later. We had a very rainy week – Mother Nature was providing the water for the trees for sure!
Because it was cold and rainy, children were brought outside for the ceremony and pictures for a shorter time than would have normally happened. The trees planted will provide a great deal of shade for our playground area, green space, and for children to enjoy sitting under, perhaps to simply read a book
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Sunflower follows Iowa Child Care Resource and Referral's recommendation to utilize and teach family-style dining to our children!
What exactly IS family-style dining you ask?
It involves teaching our children from a very young age to sit at a table, converse with their friends/teachers, learn how to pass bowls of food, put food on their plate, eat with utensils, learn and use table manners, talk about their day, and much more! Lunch time is also learning time! A sense of community is fostered in a very meaningful way.
It is also recommended that children eat IN THEIR CLASSROOM - there are many benefits to this, including less wait time for children, fewer transitions for children to tolerate, etc.
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CLASSROOM UPDATE:
Our 1, 2, and 3 year old classrooms are well on their way with family-style dining! Staff is currently working with the 4 year old state preschool room and VERY SOON will implement the change into the baby room - yes! We will have the cutest little table and chairs you have ever seen - will be seating about 2-3 of the "older" little ones at a time and helping them learn these life skills, too!