Museum Trip

On Thursday April 29th we will be taking a field trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum. The cost is $7.00 per child to assist with paying for the bus and the field trip costs. There is a permission slip in student mailboxes. If you misplaced your copy please stop in to get one. The bus will leave at 9;00am. Please try to have your child here by 8:45 at the latest. The bus will return to St. Aemilian at 11:30. Lunch and nap time will be as normal.

Dramatic Play Pictures

Two children from Wee Learners 1 work together carrying a tray of baked goods.



Children from Wee Learners 1 show off their pretend play costumes.



Children from Wee Learners 1 show that even something as simple as a chair can become anything in a child's imagination.



Students from 4-K enjoy a meal in their classroom pizza parlor.



Students from 4-K create a train from chairs.


Children from 4-K show off the dress up clothes from their dramatic play area.



The Wee Learners 3 dramatic play center is set up like a house. Children have a chance to act out events that take place in their home each day such as talking on the phone or making and eating a meal.




A child from Wee Start drives a car in our playroom. Children often use these cars to act out familiar scenes from their lives such as going to the store or getting gas.


Two students from Wee Start dance together in the dresses from their dramatic play center.

Dramatic Play

Dramatic play is especially important for preschool children in learning how the world works. This type of play allows preschoolers to act out things they see in everyday life or on tv. It enhances their understanding of the roles we each play in our communities, families, and the world.

Each of our classrooms at St. Aemilian Preschool has a dramatic play center especially designed to foster this type of learning. As teachers we take opportunties to become involved to extend the learning when appropriate and take a step back to just observe children's interactions during this crucial play time.

Ann Barbour, PhD. has more to say about why dramatic play is key in your child's development.

“When children use their imaginations or pretend, we call that dramatic play and that’s the main type of play for 3-to7-year-olds. What they’re doing in dramatic play is representing in their own way their understanding of their experiences, rather than simply imitating what they see others do. They use objects and actions and storylines to symbolize the things that concern them. And in the process, they’re building thinking skills and developing social, emotional and language skills. Dramatic play is a very important context for learning.

Most preschool children love dressing up for a reason. It’s their way of learning. It’s a way for them to walk in another person’s shoes, so they understand what someone else is going through. So when your child is at home playing house, she’s not only imitating the actions of the people around her, she’s actually coming to understand at a deeper level what it’s like to be a parent. Also, when kids are engaging in dramatic play, there’s vocabulary development going on. Encouraging dramatic play encourages social and emotional development as well as helps with skills for academic learning.

Dramatic play promotes abstract thinking. When children use a prop (like a block) to stand for something else (a phone for instance), they are learning to think using symbols. The block symbolizes the phone. And that kind of thinking is the basis for just about everything children learn in school. After all, letters and words and numbers are really symbols for real objects or quantities. Dramatic play also encourages problem solving, and if children are playing with others, it builds social and emotional skills: learning about other peoples’ feelings and perspectives, negotiating, cooperating, etc. They also learn how to respond appropriately to others. In dramatic play kids can be anything they want just by pretending and that’s emotionally satisfying and builds self-esteem.

Pretend play also builds language skills. Kids often use words and phrases in play that you never knew they knew. They use language to plan their play with others and language usually supports the roles they adopt. At the same time, they can experiment with language and learn to use it appropriately. After all, doctors say different things than storekeepers do. Dramatic play also helps kids concentrate, be attentive and control their own behavior – all skills that will help them do well in school and in life. "

Ann Barbour, Ph.D.
Early Childhood Education Professor

Music And Movement

Each day at St. Aemilian preschool we strive to incorporate music and movement into our classrooms. This is not only fun for students but also a rich learning experience.

Melanie Schmutz Chalk, co-authored a book on the subject of creative movement for young children. Here she discusses what children gain from this type of creative play.

“Creative Movement is a joyful way for children to explore movement through music, develop physical skills, channel energy, stimulate imagination and promote creativity. Creative movement uses body actions to: communicate an image (the wind), communicate an idea (a journey) or communicate a feeling (strength).

Creative Movement provides children with opportunities for noncompetitive, success-oriented and creative experiences.

Through movement, children learn about their bodies, the space around them, and each other. Creative Movement activities can be used to enhance all areas of learning and growth.

DEVELOPMENT: Movement is one of the first forms of communication. From infancy, children love to move. Just watch the reaction of a young child when he hears music, an instrument playing, or someone clapping. He responds to the sounds with motion, whether it's swaying, rocking, clapping, or kicking his feet. Sheer delight is almost instantaneous. Developing that innate creativity is dependent on early influences. Creative movement enhances movement development that occurs between ages two and seven. During these ages, locomotor (creeping, walking, jumping, leaping, etc.), nonlocomotor (stretching, bending, twisting, shaking, etc.), and stability and balance skills are able to flourish when children are provided with practice opportunities.

SENSORY AWARENESS: Children perceive the world through their senses. Sensory awareness work leads to a greater understanding of themselves and their surroundings. It strengthens the imaginative powers and increases abilities to experience life with greater meaning. Learning is facilitated when a child's entire body is involved. All senses are engaged when children explore different aspects of movement. The kinesthetic sense increases as children literally feel the shapes and actions that their bodies are making. Visually, children respond to the images they see as well as the images they create. The auditory sense is stimulated as children respond to sounds (and music) they make or hear. Tactile experiences include running with bare feet, performing specific floor movements, or swirling a scarf. These sensory experiences help children appreciate the beauty in nature, art, literature and everyday living.

SOCIAL: The critical skills necessary for purposeful and self-directed living often are rooted in learning to: realize one's own uniqueness, recognize and appreciate the uniqueness of others, express personal feelings, cooperate within a social structure, and ultimately define and create one's self. Creative movement is rich with opportunities to fulfill these kinds of experiences successfully. It encourages an interactive environment where children share space as they explore movement together. They move their own way and gradually learn to observe different responses to movement ideas. The possibility of creating movements together becomes more appealing.

SPECIAL NEEDS: Children with special needs benefit because they can participate at their own level and ability. Children who are physically challenged can explore body parts or keep a beat by blinking their eyes. They will respond in their own unique way. Props, like a feather, can be placed or attached in an appropriate area of the child's body or equipment. Children with special needs can feel a sense of belonging to a group and experience the joy of learning.

HEALTH & FITNESS: Our urban environment has imposed many physical limitations. Children do not become coordinated and agile without a variety of movement experiences. Researchers are becoming increasingly concerned about the low level of movement in children and have observed that children are being socialized to prefer less activity. Movement classes are so imperative! Providing opportunities for locomotor activity contributes to children's fitness level.

LANGUAGE: Cognitive learning is stimulated by movement. Research shows that the right hemisphere of the brain (sensing and feeling side) functions through activities such as music, art and creativity. The left hemisphere organizes sequential and logical skills such as language and speech. Both sides of the brain must be developed during the critical learning periods in early childhood because of the cross referencing that occurs. When children are engaged in creative movement, they are involved in activities that will increase their memory and ability to communicate.

BODY AWARENESS: Children need to gain a better mental picture of their own body. Controlling their own bodies is the first type of control children have over themselves. It is the first step toward developing internal control and self-discipline. Body awareness is an essential part of becoming aware of our feelings, because they exist in our minds AND bodies. When we feel angry or excited, we feel it in our whole self. Body awareness is also important in the development of spatial orientation. Children who do not perceive the space of their own bodies may frequently misjudge distances or bump into things. It also helps with development of motor skills. Creative movement activities focus on body awareness, motor fitness, rhythmic skill, strength, flexibility, coordination, endurance, and physical vitality.

CONCENTRATION: Self-control is enhanced by the capacity to concentrate and focus. Children must learn what it feels like to concentrate. Once children learn what focusing feels like, it can be a frame of reference for other activities where concentration is more difficult to achieve. Concentration is essential in creating an environment for learning in the classroom.

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR: Children will always move! Creative movement gives children the opportunity for movement that relieves tension, which would otherwise be expressed as "wiggling." Also, children become more capable of determining what kind of movement is appropriate for different situations, for example, when to move freely and when to move carefully. Creative movement helps children gain more experience in concentrating, and develop higher levels of awareness of themselves and others. Contributions in the group will become more frequent and productive as children become more comfortable.

RESPECT: Experiences in creative movement can help children respect the working space of others, as they learn about 'personal space' and 'shared space.' Children also learn to recognize, appreciate and respect differences in the people they come in contact with. Children learn and respect the fact that all bodies come in various sizes and shapes. They also learn to respect these differences in their peers.

SELF-ESTEEM: Self-esteem is the GREATEST benefit from incorporating creative movement into any curriculum. As children learn more and develop new skills, their self-esteem increases. When a child exclaims, 'I did it!' or 'I know that!' they are showing the power they feel in their own competence. A child's self-esteem is also enhanced through participation in activities where their contributions are valued.
Creative Movement is an opportunity for all children, regardless of age, special needs, or developmental stage, to interact with each other. It is a great energy releaser.
And best of all, it's FUN!”

Constructive Play Pictures

Students from Wee Learners 3 build houses from small wooden blocks.



Girls from the 4-K classroom build a zoo from wooden blocks in the construction center.



Students work together to create a bus for the pigeon to drive in the 4-K construction center.



Boys from the Wee Learners 1 classroom work together to create a structure from wooden blocks.



Boys from 4-K make a plan before building.



A child from Wee Start builds a tower from big blocks in the playroom.



Children in Wee Learners 3 build together with alphabet blocks.



A child from Wee Start builds a tower from colorful blocks.

Constructive Play

At St. Aemilian preschool we provide opportunities for our students to engage in constructive play everyday. This important, developmentally appropriate play provides an unlimited amount of learning experiences that are fun for the children at our school.

Stevanne Auerbach, PhD defines constructive play as

“Constructive play is when children manipulate their environment to create things. This type of play occurs when children build towers and cities with blocks, play in the sand, construct contraptions on the woodworking bench, and draw murals with chalk on the sidewalk. Constructive play allows children to experiment with objects; find out combinations that work and don't work; and learn basic knowledge about stacking, building, drawing, making music and constructing. It also gives children a sense of accomplishment and empowers them with control of their environment. Children who are comfortable manipulating objects and materials also become good at manipulating words, ideas and concepts.”

Wondering what your child is learning through constructive play? Throught the week we will have information about this valuable play in the office. Stop in and play whenever you get the chance. Want to know more? Check out the following link for more information: Why Use Constructive Play?

Week of the Young Child 2010!

Each April the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) holds a week long celebration to raise awareness about the importance of early childhood education. This celebration, Week of the Young Child, is an opportunity for us to highlight the tremendous growth and learning that occurs during the early childhood years, showcase the developmentally appropriate practices that take place at St. Aemilian each day, and acknowledge the effort our staff puts into creating and maintaining positive learning experiences for the children at St. Aemilian.

The theme of this year’s event is Play: Where Learning Begins! As I’m sure you’ve seen in your child’s classroom, we are strong believers in the use of play as the primary learning tool for young children. Every experience your preschooler participates in at St. Aemilian is designed to be both fun and educational. Everything from group activities to independent play is an opportunity for growth.

April 12th- 16th, we will put a spotlight on play in the hopes that our families will gain a better understanding of play as an avenue for learning. In the office you will find a constructive play center set up featuring a different manipulative each day. In this center parents will have the opportunity to create a structure with their children, then label and display their creations in the office. Please take a moment to stop by and play with your child at drop off or pick up.

On the blog you will find updates on how we play to learn everyday at St. A’s, links to articles about the importance of play, and ideas for easy, meaningful play you can use at home. Please check back!