Barnyard Bulletin | November 2026

November at The Little Red Barn

>> Thank you for helping to keep our the school clean, organized, and free of small critters. Please continue to keep all food, drinks, packages, and containers labeled with first and last names. This includes not only your food, but the kids too. As the weather gets cold critters may start looking for other food sources. All kids snacks should be placed in a labeled zip lock bag. If you need extra bags, we have some in the resource room.

Please make it a habit to label! This will help us keep our shared space tidy and prevent mystery items from piling up. This is especially important when someone other then you is in the classroom. If you don’t have time to label something put it in the child’s bag. Parents often bring in sweaters and jackets not labeled. To prevent mix-ups, just place it in their labeled bag they bring daily. 😄 Thank you! 💛

🧹 We now have enough mop heads to change them out daily. Please make sure clean mop heads are being used at the end of every day.

💦💦Every Friday, please send home water bottles to be cleaned by the parents💦🥤

>> 🤧 Cold & Flu Season — Stay Ahead of the Germs and viruses that come with the season

For your protection, please wear a disposable mask when you are cleaning up diarrhea or vomit. These illness’s are often air born illnesses, and wearing a mask helps prevent you from catching the virus, from cleaning it up. Smocks should be changed daily, especially when viruses such as diarrhea and vomit are present in the classroom. It’s like wearing the same clothes to work for two days in a row:)

Fall means more sniffles! Just a reminder to reinforce frequent hand washing, sanitizing high-touch surfaces and toys, proper diapering procedures, and staying on top of classroom cleaning throughout the day. If toys are mouthed place them in the dirty toy bucket. Would you share a utensil with a co-worker? That’s what it’s like when the same toys are being mouthed. Young toddlers are in a developmentally appropriate oral phase. So when they chew on something it should always be cleaned. This will ensure that staff and kiddos remain healthy!

>> 🧼Hand washing
Make sure you and parents are washing children’s hands at drop off! Teachers should be actively helping children build handwashing into their everyday routines. We understand it’s can be a lot, but the more it is done, they healthier everyone is. It not only keep germs at bay, but this can also be a calming, language activity that is easily incorporated into the day.

>> 💬 Parent Communication Matters!

Please take a moment at pick-up to share something meaningful about each child’s day—not just meals, diapers, and naps. A new word, funny moment, activity they loved, or milestone gives families a connection to their child’s day.

Daily reminders:

• Please complete and check off all daily and weekly cleaning checklists to ensure nothing is overlooked.
• We need to be using the Wash | Rinse | Sanitize process for EVERYTHING touched by kids. Make sure to sanitize tables, chairs, high chairs, and frequently touched surfaces after EVERY use.
• Don’t forget to clean under shelves, cribs, tables, and other hard-to-reach areas as part of your weekly deep cleaning.
• All staff need to have closed-toed shoes to wear inside classrooms. This ensures your saftey, and is a licensing rule. 💕
• 👟 Shoes On Outside!
  • Please make sure you are wearing shoes anytime you are outside on the playground. Staff should not be going outside in socks and then returning to the classroom in those same socks. Please take the extra moment to put your outside shoes on before heading outside—even for a quick trip!
  • Children should also be wearing shoes outside if they are mobile.

>> 📸 Quality Over Quantity in Playground
Photos should show children actively learning, playing, creating, and engaging. Curriculum photos should help families see the purpose behind what we’re doing—not simply document that an activity happened. Make sure photos aren’t blurry!

>> Incidental learning

Incidental learning occurs unintentionally during activities in which learning is not a conscious goal. It can be beneficial in many contexts, making it important to understand. It is especially significant during the early stages of native-language acquisition.

One study described incidental learning as unintentional learning that occurs without awareness of the learning itself. Another defined intentional learning as “learning which occurs as a result of specific training accompanied by instructions to learn” and distinguished incidental learning by “the absence of any specific training.”

Incidental learning can sometimes be more effective than intentional learning. For this reason, educators may deliberately create opportunities for it through activities such as educational games, which help students absorb material in an engaging, intuitive way.

However, incidental learning is not effective in every situation and may not help learners achieve specific goals. For example, a student preparing for an exam on advanced statistics is unlikely to master the required concepts through incidental learning alone.

Incidental teaching promotes learning in situations where individuals are not consciously trying to learn. For example, a parent may support incidental learning by reading a history book with their child and discussing the ideas that arise naturally.

(Incidental Learning: Learning Without Trying to Learn, https://effectiviology.com/incidental-learning, 2026)

>> ⏰ Making the Most of Downtime

When the kiddos are sleeping or there is appropriate downtime in your classroom, please use that time intentionally and productively. There is always something we can be working toward to help our classrooms run smoothly whether it’s preparing upcoming lesson plans, completing trainings, organize classroom materials, restock supplies, or tackle cleaning and deep-cleaning tasks, or do trainings!✨

>> 🍎 Daily Classroom Expectations

• 📱Playground Photos and Captions: Aim for 2-3 photos per child daily! One of these pictures needs to be curriculum! Add a short learning caption (doesn’t need to be long, just meaningful!)
• 📚 Don’t fall behind on Portfolios: Remember to start completing anecdotal observations and developmental checklists for Conferences!
• 🎨ART: Make sure you are doing an art project once a day! You should be saving art for portfolios and hanging some in your classrooms – this looks great for incoming parents! Product art is ok, process art is HIGHLY encouraged!!!

>> Outdoor Play🌻 Please prioritize taking kiddos outside!

• Make sure infants are dressed appropriately for weather!
• Piglets | REQUIRED that you go outside AT LEAST once a day, weather permitting
• Cuddly Calves | REQUIRED that you go outside 2-3 times a week | daily if possible – weather permitting