Snack Week: Oatmeal

Hummus, carrots, crackers, cheese, apples -- for most of last year, this simple combination was my "go-to" whenever my turn came up as snack parent. The kids liked it, it was healthy enough, and did I mention it was simple? But at some point in our second year, my snack combo just wasn't doing it for me. I was in a rut; I needed inspiration, so I turned to my fellow grown-ups, many of whom were decidedly more ambitious and creative than I in the culinary department, and some of whom shared my love for easiness, but brought some fresh ideas to the table (so to speak).

So this week, I'll be posting a few of these ideas and recipes -- let's call this little foray Snack Week. So grab a rice cake, and come along! First stop ...

Oatmeal Bar!

This one is so easy, and the kids really like it. Just whip up a big pot of oatmeal, and bring a bunch of fixin's for kids to spoon and sprinkle on themselves. It's like a salad bar, but for hot cereal. Some toppings might include:

Apple Sauce
Cinnamon
Berries
Bananas
Raisins
Dried Cranberries
Nuts
Yogurt
Milk
Soy or Rice Milk

Having lots of things on the table to spoon from gives kids the chance to practice, "Please pass the ..." and everyone likes to customize. This snack also generates lots of conversation around likes and dislikes, unexpected combinations of flavors, textures, etc.

Celebrating the Lunar New Year

Happy Year of the Tiger! Last month, CCC'ers enjoyed a whole week of activities celebrating the Lunar New Year. The children made and hung paper lanterns, decorated a large paper dragon with sparkles and shiny scales and paraded the dragon around the school with lots of noisy drums.

At circle time in both classrooms, teacher Kathy Chew explained Chinese New Year traditions and passed out red envelopes, with the help of her grandson. Below, she shares what this holiday means to her.

The Lunar New Year is a special time for our family, when we look forward to sharing time together and with friends. To prepare for the beginning of a new year, we clean the house, get a haircut and new clothes, and buy a bag of rice. We decorate our home with flowers or plum blossoms, set out a plate of oranges (for good luck), put up red and gold symbols for happy thoughts of peace, health and happiness and prepare a special candy box with treats to share with visitors.

During a two-week celebration, we visit family and friends. Children are given red envelopes, decorated with pictures or symbols to wish children a Happy New Year. At the end of the two weeks, there is a parade with many firecrackers, drums and cymbals; the loud noises are to scare away bad luck. There are also many lions/dragons, a symbol of good luck.

There are 12 years in our lunar cycle. Each year is linked to an animal. This is the year of the Tiger, special for me as I am beginning my fifth cycle.

At CCC, I shared how my family celebrates and invited our grandson Tyler to come help me pass out red envelopes and say "Gung Hay Fot Choy" (Happy New Year) to each front and back yard friend. What a special moment for me as a teacher, parent and grandparent.

-- Kathy Chew

Love, Sweet Love

Love was in the air at CCC on Friday with the annual Valentine's Day celebration. Children brought cards and other small tokens to fill each others' Valentine bags and decorated the classrooms with lots and lots of construction paper hearts.

Back Yarders traveled to the Front Yard for a group serenade of love songs, including favorites like If You Love Me and Skinnamarink. Then the older children escorted their younger schoolmates to the Back Yard classroom for the traditional "ice cream sodies"--Italian strawberry soda with vanilla ice cream... and straws, of course!

Afterward, both yards were open as the kids mingled, played beanbag toss, put on tattoos and painted their own faces. Meanwhile, the plum trees bloomed brilliantly all around, their pink flowers a perfect complement to the colors and joyful spirit of the day.

Thanks to Annie (Alex, FY) for the photo.

Looking at Art

Last month, Back Yarders enjoyed a field trip to the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, a short walk down the street from CCC. Lara and participating parents took the kids in two groups to view the center’s annual members’ showcase—a collection of diverse works all responding to this year’s theme of “red.”

BAC’s Suzanne Tan and Ann Weber greeted the children and quickly dispatched them on a lively treasure hunt through the gallery, searching the paintings, drawings, photos and sculptures for a list of images.

Afterward, each child was asked to stand next to his or her favorite piece of art, and to talk about why it was special. Before leaving, all of the children deposited money in the donation box, while Suzanne and Ann explained the role of donations in supporting the gallery. The kids really seemed to enjoy the outing and Lara hopes to plan more trips to BAC in the future.

For me personally, I was struck by how simple and effective the two age-appropriate activities were and it made me want to get out to more museums and galleries with Pearl, and certainly to do more drop-ins at the BAC, which is a free and easy outing on our way home from school.

I recently came across this article on the Savvy Source website, written by Ginger Carlson. She includes tips for helping kids to observe art, describing observation as fundamental to their own creative process. She has some great ideas for starting conversations with kids about what they see in a work of art and how it makes them feel.

And if you want to explore this topic more, she also includes a list of books on helping children “learn to look” and connect with the world of art on a deeper level. With any luck, these kinds of activities can plant the seeds for a lifetime of enjoyment and appreciation for the arts.

Sandbox Diaries Vol. 4: Poop!

Overheard at CCC, courtesy of Allyssa:

A picnic was underway in the Front Yard. Amy was serving food and Alex approached.
Alex (to Amy): "Do you have any poop?"
Amy, after looking carefully: "I have a little poop."
Alex: "I want some real wicked pirate poop!"


Henry, glaring at himself in the mirror: "Abracadabra! I'm gonna cast a spell and turn you into a stinky poopy bottom head!"

Kindergarten Q&A: Rick and Otto

If you enjoyed the Kindergarten Q&A with Anna and Elsa, read on for another interview, this time with Rick Reed and his son Otto, who graduated from CCC last year. Lay your kindergarten fears to rest, Rick says, "It's all going to work out fine." Meanwhile, Otto shares a somewhat contrasting perspective...

Where is your child attending school?
Rick: St. Paul’s in Oakland.

School choice is often a personal one, but do you have anything you'd like to share about why you chose your school?
When we were choosing CCC, it just felt right the minute we walked through the gate. All the rational ideas about what we were looking for were trumped by the “this is it” feeling. We looked at multiple options for kindergartens. St. Paul’s was the last place we looked. Until we walked in the door, no place had that “this is it” feeling like CCC.

Of course, just because the place felt good to us, didn’t mean Otto would like it, but, so far, so good.

How is your child's transition to kindergarten going? Any surprises?
It’s a really long day—8:30 in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon. There’s no napping! As working parents, we were counting on having Otto in aftercare. Aftercare was wonderful at CCC! But to our surprise, Otto has been too tired, and because the aftercare at his new school is for kids from K–8th grade, the little kids don’t get enough structured attention. The most challenging part is we miss Auden and the CCC aftercare.

How do you think your time at CCC helped prepare you and your child for kindergarten (and beyond)?
In terms of his parents, all the opportunities for participation in class gave us a window into the world of our kids. What a relief to see the range of different behaviors and how Otto fits. We also learned ways of talking with Otto (what’s your plan?), and of understanding his nature by watching how he approached his first weeks as a Front Yarder (he’s very slow to warm-up to new situations).

In terms of Otto, he really went from a feral beast to semi-civilized. He also made enduring friendships at CCC and to this day talks about his CCC buddies.

Any words of advice for current backyard families gearing up for kindergarten?
I can’t say that every family will have the Eureka! feeling we had when we toured St. Paul’s. But in talking with so many of the BY kids from Otto’s class, whether they are going to Cragmont, Thousand Oaks, Jefferson, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X or Park Day, they all report REALLY LIKING their new schools. So, I’d say as rationally challenging as it is for us parents to pick the “right school,” our kids are amazingly flexible and are likely to thrive wherever they land.

So, relax! It’s all going to work out fine.


Q&A with Otto:

What do you remember most about being at CCC?
Making tin foil swords with Teo.

What is something cool about being in kindergarten?
I haven’t decided on that yet.

How is kindergarten different from being at CCC?
(Unlike CCC), they make you do things in kindergarten and I don’t like it.

Concrete Pour: Go Behind the Scenes!

Coming back from the winter break, Back Yarders met with a delightful surprise: brand new concrete paths and patio in their play area. Many immediately took to the trikes and wagons, which had long been challenging to ride over the cracks and bumps in the old asphalt. What a difference!

The new concrete is stronger (with the addition of steel supports), and because the hard surfaces are all concrete, instead of the old concrete/asphalt mix, the entire yard is now unified, giving a sense of more space. The grade on the paths is also easier for kids to manage and there is no longer an issue of rainwater running towards the building.

Here Andy Brucker, Buildings and Grounds Chair, shares some of the behind-the-scenes action, which included threats of rain, major demolition and an accidental concrete spew! Read on for the details:

Over the break we removed all the existing cabinetry. Next we started the demo process, which took three days. The demolition contractor had to bring out a mini-bobcat (small tractor) with a concrete breaker, which made a lot of noise but helped get the concrete out. The concrete was much thicker than expected and really took a while to remove. I think there were seven people lugging the concrete up to the dumpster for two days.

Next up was the layout phase: trying to figure out how to slope the concrete to allow the water to run off in the right directions and make it safe and pleasurable to walk, run and ride on. I did the layout with the contractor and his foreman. It took about four hours.

Then it was time for the big construction crew to come in and build forms for the concrete and set up the re-bar (structural steel). The crew was six people, and that took a day and a half. This took place during Monday of the second week of the break.

Then it was time to pour the concrete, except the weather reports were always calling for a chance of rain, which was making it look like it would be impossible to finish the concrete before the kids returned on January the 4th. That was definitely the hardest part of the entire job for me, worrying about the weather is a tough slog.

Anyway, we decided to pour on New Year's Eve day. At first the concrete pump broke and spewed concrete all over the place (Front Yard and Back), and the rain clouds seemed to be coming in. But eventually the sun broke out, and everything started going smoothly.

I woke up New Years Day and took all the family and Caroline and Sage up to see the beautiful new Back Yard that would be there to enjoy for years to come. That was a great way to start a new decade!

Plans and fundraising for the project were in the works for more than two years. Contributing to the design were Andy, the CCC teachers, Saul Picardo (CCC alum and architect) and Phil Worman (CCC alum and former B&G chair). Demolition of the cabinets was accomplished by the B&G crew. A big thanks to Andy and the B&G crew, and to all families past and present who donated time and money to this wonderful improvement!

(PS: For anyone needing help with concrete, Andy would like to recommend Mike Lozica, Lozica Contracting Inc. who did the demolition, concrete and finishing. “Mike was a pleasure to work with and a great concrete contractor. His number is (510) 334-6029. If anyone needs any type of concrete work done, he's reasonable and reliable.”)

(PPS: Want to see more photos of the pour in process? Join CCC's facebook page and check out the photo album: http://www.facebook.com/cccpreschool )