Children age 3-6 do not understand exactly what it feels like to be sorry and most of the time they do something to another child or adult they do it on purpose to convey their feelings.

When something makes a child upset or angry and they react. Maybe they yell, hit, push or even bite. This for a preschool age is normal (except the biting that is extreme). Children this age don’t take a minute to look at a situation and think “Maybe that was an accident.” Children just react. That is where the teacher or parent has to step in and explain.

Here is a possible situation:

Johnny is playing with the blocks and Suzy runs by and knocks his tower over. Suzy wasn’t looking where she was going, she didn’t do it on purpose but Johnny doesn’t see it that way and pushes Suzy down. The teacher has seen the whole thing. She brings Johnny and Suzy together and askes them what happened. Johnny says Suzy is mean and knocked his building down. Suzy says no I am not mean! I didn’t see it. Then the teacher will help them with their words. She needs to remind Suzy how we move inside. “We walk says Suzy.” That’s right, were you walking? “No” Suzy says. That is why you didn’t see his building. Is that right? “Yes”, says Suzy. Listening to this Johnny hears she didn’t do it on purpose, but he is still mad. Should they be made to say sorry?

Either child feels sorry. Instead of saying sorry we would encourage them to Talk about their feelings and say they will be more careful in the future. Johnny needs to be able to express he is still mad. The staff would ask Suzy how she can help Johnny feel better? Even suggest she help him rebuild the tower. This way Johnny feels better and Suzy learns to feel compassion and how to help when she makes someone upset.

Making Suzy say sorry wouldn’t teach her this. It only teaches her the correct and publicly scripted words.

At The Big Barn we are trying to teach the children to not only be responsible for their actions but to learn their actions have consequences. Making someone feel better after we hurt then either physically or emotionally is one of the most important things we can teach. The word “Sorry” is an adult word that has no meaning to a child. We need to teach how to be sorry before we teach the word or that word has no meaning.

Bonnie Kasman, Director

It seems that all the world is in a panic. How much of that is hysteria and how much is just sensible caution?

Let’s take a brief look at the facts, why they matter, how they may impact your family, and what you can do about it.

Some pertinent facts about CoronaVirus (COVID-19)

1. COVID-19 is a novel virus​. Many other viruses, for example the common cold, chickenpox, and even polio, have been around for thousands of years. During that time, therewith built up some level of natural immunity or developed it through medical technology. Until, at best, a few months ago, humankind had never seen COVID-19before. Therefore, we have no evolutionary immunity and haven’t yet had time to come up with a technological solution. At the moment, we are literally defenseless against it.
2. Your risk is actually very low​. We know that the first point seems rather alarmist so let’s throw in some perspective. Only 0.6% of people who get COVID-19 actually die from it. That means that even if you get it, you have less than a 1% chance of dying. So why the big deal then?
3. COVID-19 spreads quite easily​. Once a person is exposed to the virus, it will be about five days before they show any symptoms or even know they are sick. During that time,they are contagious and can unwittingly pass it on to others. The virus can live outside the human body in the air for about eight hours and on surfaces for up to two days. For these reasons, experts estimate that between 40%-70% of the entire human race will catch the disease within the next 12 months.
4. How bad can it be?​ The severity of COVID-19 varies. A few people who get it have essentially no symptoms. This can pose problems because they can still pass it on to others. For most people, it will range from being like a bad cold to being more like the flu.As long as you have a healthy immune system and get good care, you’ll get over it and be just fine afterward. Still, there are 327 million people in the United States. Going with the very lowest end of the expert’s estimates, if only 40% of them catch COVID-19, that means about 131 million people will get sick. Since, on average, 0.6% of them will die,that’s about 785,000 people in the United States alone.

How might all this affect you and your family

Again, we’re not trying to be alarmist. We’re just presenting the facts according to all the health experts who are most knowledgeable about COVID-19.

Nationwide, communities are essentially shutting down. Schools are closing, large events from conferences to concerts are being canceled, companies are sending workers home, travel has come to a grinding halt.

This isn’t panic; it’s a way of trying to prevent the spread of the virus. The fewer people you interact with, the fewer chances you have of being exposed.

Consider a classroom of twenty children. If each of them belongs to a family of four, that’s eighty points of contact. If just one parent each from only half those families went out shopping for groceries or other household goods, each of them likely came in contact with roughly 100 other people. Not even counting all the people that each of ​those​ people have been in contact with,the number of points of contact is already well over 1,000.

So you can see how the numbers escalate very quickly!

People are social creatures and that’s especially true of children. If your kids are going to be kept home, they are bound to feel cut off from their social circle. They will almost certainly want to have play dates or to hang out with friends.

• Pick just one other family with kids around the same age as yours. If both families agree to socialize only with each other and no one else, that goes a long way toward mitigating the risks for all involved.
• If you do let your kids get together with their friends, do not do it indoors or on any playgrounds or surfaces where the virus could be lingering. Instead pick a park or open grassy area.

We’d throw in the suggestion to arrange virtual play dates. Let your kids have a bit more screen time than you might normally. Make it supervised if necessary. Make sure they use this extra online time to have video chats with their friends.

When will it end?

No one knows for sure how long these precautions will be necessary but most experts say the worst should be over within two to four weeks.

Until then, COVID-19 should be treated with caution, not fear.

Fire Safety week at The Big Barn had a special visitor! A Fire Fighter! Ms.Bonnie dressed up as a fire fighter!