SONGS: Baby Bumblebee

Some of you might like to change the ending of this song for your more....literal children :)

How to Say Goodbye

In every child's life, there will be a time when they have to say goodbye to their parents.  It may just be a trip to the grocery store, a date night out for mom and dad, or for some parents, a more routine goodbye as they are dropped off for childcare.  While it's never easy, a healthy goodbye is a skill that children (and parents) need to learn.  Here are some pointers I've put together to help moms and dads make that transition easier.

1.  Prep your child beforehand.  Kids feel more secure when they know what to expect.  If you can check out the place and do a "dry run" ahead of time, do so.  Explain in simple terms why you are leaving them, for how long (even though they can't understand fully) and who will be taking care of them.  If you can, give them a definite time of pick up they can understand, like "right after lunch" or "while you are sleeping."

2.  Be excited about it!  If you get pumped up about Sunday school, a night with Grandma or a new preschool, the will be (more) likely to look forward to it too.

3.  Be brief.  Make your goodbye's simple and quick.  Tell them you love them, you will be back to get them soon, and to have fun.  Then give a big kiss and a hug and walk away!  DO NOT HOVER.  This only makes the child think there is a chance you will take them with you and makes it harder.

4.  Say goodbye.  I have seen parents "sneak out" while their child was engaged in a toy or story.  Can you imagine their fear when they turn around and suddenly mom or dad isn't there anymore? Say goodbye, but make it quick.

5.  Don't "check on" your child five minutes later to make sure they are adjusting.  No matter how sneaky you are, your child will see you, and they will get upset again. If you want to see how they are doing, call or ask another friendly mom to peek into the room for you.

5.  Expect a few tears.  If your kiddo is used to being with you 24/7, being left with someone else , no matter how familiar, can be a scary deal.  Trust me, they will adjust. (And have fun without you! Gasp!)

6.  Be consistent.  If there is a regular place you will be dropping your child off, like Sunday school or preschool or a Moms day out, try to be there at the same time every time.  This goes back to the security in expectations idea.  If your kiddo knows that every Sunday they will go to the same room, they will begin to expect it and transition more easily.

7.  Pick them up when you say you will.  Don't be the schmuck parent that's busy chitchatting while your kiddo is watching all the other kids go home before them.  If you are going to be late, give a call and send a message to your kiddo.  If you pick them up when you say you will, you build trust.  The more trust builds up, the more easily your child will let you go.

Kindergarten Prep: Teach Your Child to Read, Part Three

Pre-Reading

Once your child has a good grasp of letter sounds and the fact that they are the basis for written language, they are probably ready for a beginning introduction to reading.   The next step is showing them how letters connect together to make words.

Reading is, at it's most basic level, two skills. Decoding and memorization.

Decoding: Decoding is the ability to put sounds of letters or groups of letters together in order to "sound out" a word.

Memorization:  Many very common words in the English language do not fit with the rules of phonics, so as readers, we just memorize them  (write, have, does, etc.).  Having a large bank of simple words that your child knows by sight is crucial for their success as readers.  These words are often the building blocks for larger words as well, and will help with decoding. If your child can read at, it's easier to read cat.  If your child can read am, it's easier to read lamb.


Teaching decoding:
Give your child lots of opportunities to put letters together.  Magnet letters, bath tub letters, letter cards, etc.

Play with your child.  Start by spelling their name (or Mom or Dad) and sounding it out.  Put letters together and sound them out slowly.  (Look! I made the word cat!  /c/.../a/..../t/)

Give your child word cards, or just write favorite words that are easy to sound out on index cards.  Have your child match letters to the cards.

While reading together, sound out common words your kiddo likes (cat, dog, etc.)

Don't attempt to sound out words that break any of the rules or use a letter's "other sound" unless your child asks you to.  Keep it simple.

This is one of those "aha" skills.  Your child will get it or they won't.  It will probably take a lot of modeling and you sounding out words over and over before you hear your kiddo start to mimic you with real understanding.  You'll know it when it clicks for them.  It might be at three.  It might not be until the reach kindergarten or first grade.


Teaching Memorization:  Exposure, exposure, exposure.

I bought Maggie a set of sight word cards at Barnes and Noble for $3.  To start, I pulled out the words she sees the most.  Almost every night, we run through the cards. I started off with two, then added more as she memorized them.

These are the ones that we have started with so far:
I, he, she, the, up, is, on, no, to, yes, have

Point out the words when you see them in the world.  Maggie and I will go on word hunts while driving down the road.  We'll search billboards and store signs looking for our sight words.

I point out the words we've talked about in various books, so she gets used to seeing them in different fonts.

Maggie loves to build sentences with her word cards.  She'll tell me "I need up!"  or "I need elephant!"  If the word didn't come with the set, I just write it for her on an index card.

Buy your child some books that are labeled pre-reader, or sometimes, level one.  They will be filled with simple, predictable text, and pictures that give a lot of clues as to what the story is about.  Start out reading the story to them.  Read it again, having your child read the sight words she recognizes.  As your child starts decoding, have them read more and more of the words themselves.  As you see in the video, Maggie likes to match her word cards with the words in the book.

Most reading at the beginning with be memorization.  This is great!  Don't be discouraged.  Being able to remember and recite a story back to you is a key skill for successful reading.

Make it fun, make it a game.  Make it special.  Don't let little brother or sister play with or read the "special" books.  This will make them more intriguing and motivate your reader to spend time in them.

Have fun and go at your child's pace and at their interest level.  Remember, as in everything, children develop differently depending on their interests, genetic code, and environment.  Just try to meet your child where they are and encourage them to develop those skills.  Have a good time and enjoy!

Number Knowledge

In kindergarten, your child will be taught to recognize, write, and order numbers up to 30, as well as be introduced to numbers up to 100.  They will also be taught to add and subtract single digit equations.  One of the most important things they will learn, however, is base ten.

I didn't understand how base ten worked until I got to college and took a class called "Teaching Elementary Math." I had this great aha moment and finally understood why we're supposed to carry the one.  Until then, most problem solving for me had been simply going through the motions.  I didn't "get it."

For those of you who may still be in the same boat, base ten just means that we as humans group things into ten.  Think about how we count.  1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..what's next?  We add another place value and say 10.  1group of ten and 0 ones.  Then we have 1 group of ten and 1 one (11).  Then 1 group of ten and 2 ones (12).  This system works on for infinity.  Every time we get a group of ten, we bundle it together and put it in the next place value.  10 tens makes one hundred.  10 hundreds makes 1 thousand.  And so on...

Why base ten and not base 5 or 6 or 20?  Before there was written language, people used their hands to represent numeric value.  Count your fingers and you've got your answer. I guess it got to hard to bargain for 500 hundred sheep with just the hands so they figured out how to write things down :)

To prepare your child for this, give them lots of experience with numbers.  Base ten is a hard concept.  Don't try to make you 3 year old an expert.  The most exposure they have to how numbers work, however, will give them a great foundation to build upon.

*Read lots of number and counting books.
*Count items around the house.  How many people are in our family?  How many birds to you see?  How many toes do you have?
*Build walls/roads/towers with blocks, ten blocks each.  Count then individually, then count by tens.
*Get an old egg carton.  Label the inside of the egg holders 1-12.  Give your child beans or something similar and see if they can fill each egg holder with the right number of beans.
*Write numerals with a marker on a hard paper.  Have them glue beans, sand, or salt onto the lines.
*Have your child use pipe cleaners (chenille wires) to create different numbers.
*Let your child make a number book.  Staple ten pieces of paper together.  On each page, write a number.  Your child can glue magazine images, draw pictures, or glue precut shapes onto each page to match the number.  If you want it last awhile, use contact paper to laminate the pages (or head to Mardel's).
*Go on a number hunt.  Find one of something in your house, then two, then three...
*Get some goldfish and have your child count them.  How many fish do they have in their ocean?  Tell a story about a big shark (Mom) wanted to gobble up the fish.  Oh no!  The shark came and ate a fish!  How many are left?  Then another big shark named (fill in child's name) came and ate one too!  Now how many are left?Use your imagination and be silly!

Below is an activity Maggie and I did today to count down the days until we leave for Ireland.  We made a chain out of paper, but before we taped it together, she watched me write down the numbers on each piece.  There were 53 links, and as I wrote each number, I said it out loud, emphasized the pattern.  I could tell she caught on  in the teens because she said "fourteen, fiveteen, sixteen."  In the twenties and thirties, I showed her how each number in the ones place grew by one, but the number in the tens place stayed the same.  Exposure, exposure, exposure.  Every night, she'll get to tear one off, which will also let her practice counting backwards!

Author Spotlight: Audrey Wood

Audrey and Don Wood are a husband and wife team that have created some of the best loved books for our preschoolers at my school.  Audrey is the author and Don is the illustrator, so you won't always see them together.  Any book illustrated by Don is beautiful.  His illustration style is often whimsical and has a depth that I really enjoy.

For your todds and up:
The Big Hungry Bear
The Napping House
Quick as a Cricket

For your preschooler:
Silly Sally
Alphabet Adventure
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub....absolutely hysterical.

Enjoy!

Kindergarten Prep: Teach Your Kids to Use Scissors

This is a simple skill that is used a lot in kindergarten, but stay at home moms may not think about it as an activity to do with their own kids. Your child will be using scissors quite often when they get to school, and cutting is usually not the ultimate objective in the activity.  Students will cut out objects and then do something with them, like ordering smallest to largest.  If your child is already proficient with scissors, it will clear the way for other academic objectives.  Plus, kids love to cut.  Preschoolers could spend hours just cutting paper.

Get a pair of kid's safety scissors at your local grocery store ($1.88 last time I checked at Walmart).

Teach them safety rules about the scissors:

1. Stay seated while cutting

2. No running with scissors (ha ha)

3. When passing scissors to other people, hold the blades, not the handle.

About 2 1/2 to 3 is a good time to introduce scissors, depending on your child's development and trustworthiness with potentially sharp objects.

Harder paper is easier to cut, so pick up some construction or scrapbooking paper while you're at Walmart.  

When cutting shapes, kids will try to move their hand around the paper, instead of turning the paper in relation to their hand.  Help them to use one hand to hold the paper and move it as they cut.  

Draw straight, wavy and jagged lines on a paper for them to cut along.  

Let them dig through old magazines and cut out pictures of things they like.  Let them glue the pictures onto paper to make a collage.  You can make color collages, nature collages, animal collages, use your imagination!

The Wonder of Playdough

Play dough is a fabulous thing.  Buy it or make it, roll it or squash it, it is a toy and a tool that can be used for a lot more than just making pretend tacos.  Playdough can be a great way to enhance your child's learning in a lot of different area.  It is a great way to build hand strength and small motor skills.

There are a lot of different ways to learn, through listening, speaking, creating, music, physical movement, etc.  Anytime that children can use two or more different ways to learn an idea, the more quickly and more permanently the information will stick.  Think about how often we use music or hand motions to memorize something.  We are using two different avenues to get the info into our brain, and it works.

So having your child use play dough is a  great way to learn and practice new skills.  Here are some practical ideas that you might like to use with your kids:

Language and Literacy:
Use the play dough to build letters and familiar words.  If your child has trouble rolling and creating the necessary shapes, you can build the parts for them and have them put the pieces together like a puzzle.

Make capital letters and lower case in different colors.

Math:
Make chocolate chip cookies and count how many chips each cookie has.

Make a pizza for everyone in your family.  How many will you need?

Cut your pizza in half to introduce fractions.

Make numbers out of the play dough.  Make small balls of play dough to match the numbers.

Science:

Make familiar bugs.  How many body parts does a spider have?  How many legs?  How about an ant?

We use the top of a large tupperware tub for our workspace.  Even Jack joins in the fun making play dough soup (taste testing and all).

Here is a good recipe for home made play dough.  

Cooked Playdough (flour and salt)

3 cups flour

1.5 cups salt

6 tsp cream of tarter

3 tbsp oil

3 cups water

Dissolve salt in the water. Pour all ingredients into a large pot.  Stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms by pulling away from the sides.  Knead the dough mixture until the texture matches play dough (1-2 minutes).  Store in a plastic container.

Sharkarosa!

Looking for a fun, new, and educational place to take your kids?  Try Sharkarosa, a privately owned exotic petting zoo in Pilot Point.  Yes, Pilot Point.  Who knew?

It's a small place, easily done in a morning or you can make a whole day of it.  Way better than a traditional  zoo, you get to be up close and personal with lemurs, kangaroos, zebras, and camels.  The main part of the trip is taking the safari tram around their large animal exhibits where you get to feed and pet a variety of exotic animals.  They also have informational presentations on kangaroos and different nocturnal animals.  When I went, they even brought out a couple of baby bears they have taken in.  So cute!  It's very kid-friendly and well organized (phew).

Highlights:  Kissing Rosie the baby camel for luck, riding on the bucket train, and knowing your money goes towards protecting the endangered and injured animals.

Lowlights: They are only open to the public on Saturdays, 10-5.  With tickets at $10 for adults and $8 for your 3 and uppers, it's not a cheap trip, but at least two and unders are free.

Things to know:  Bring your own lunch.  There are plenty of picnic tables and plenty of close parking.  All of the exhibits are outdoors, with little cover, so bring a hat and plenty of water and sunscreen.

Directions:
Take 377 North
Turn left on Farm to Market 455
Take the first right onto Massey Rd.  You should see signs for Sharkarosa.
Enter at the second entrance (you will see red and gray barns)
Estimated 30 mins. from central Denton

www.sharkarosa.com

Kindergarten Prep: Teach Your Child to Read, Part Two

Letter/Sound Recognition


Letter and Sound recognition is exactly what is sounds like.  Know the names of each letter and what its major sound.  I only teach the short vowel sounds.  (The short vowel sound is the most common...apple, egg, igloo, octopus, umbrella)  I like to teach that c has two sounds (/s/ and /k/)  because it is so common, but that's my only exception. 

First, teach the ABC song.  You know, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but with the letters of the alphabet instead?  Sing it clearly so they understand that L M N O and P aren't all one word :)

Read tons of ABC books.  Point out the names of the letters.  One of our favorites is the Dr. Suess' ABC Book.  I like it because it tells the letter names and it shows the upper case and lower case for each letter.  We read it so much for a while that I had it memorized and I would recite it to Maggie in the car.

Point out letters in your kid's world.  (I can think of one really big golden M right now that all children recognize.) Kids are most interested in their names and the names of those they love.  Write their names for them, point out the letters, sound out Mom and Dad as you write them.  As you read books, point to the letters that begin important words in their world.  "Look, an L, like your name Lauren!"

Don't be afraid to start teaching letter sounds at the same time as letter names.  "I see an M! What does M say?  Mmmmm...."  Again, use the ABC books as an easy way to introduce it.  Kids have amazing memories and the ability to pull information out of their brains way faster than we can. (They don't have to try and remember the to do list, the people to call list, and the trying to schedule in a shower for the day into their every day thoughts).

Not all words can be sounded out easily.  Any name that has double letters or ends in "ie" breaks the rules already!  If they ask, just simply tell them the exception to the rule and move on.  "When i and e sit next to each other, they say ee."  "Sometimes O likes to say it's name!  O!"  Don't stress over all the rules now (even English teachers can't remember them all).  Remember, this is just giving your kiddo the basics.

Give your child lots of time and materials with which to write and build letters.  Magnadoodles, markers, highlighters, tub letters, blocks, magnet letters, playdough....sit with them and write letters and names.  Talk about them while you write.  Kids are the great imitators.  They may not seem like they are paying attention, but they are.  Just be prepared to write their names over and over...and over...and over....

Play the "What else starts with...?" game.  Start with your child's name.  Say, Jason starts with J.  /J/, /J/, Jason!  What else starts with /J/?  Name some words yourself.  If they are interested, the will probably ask you to name some more.  After a while, they will start naming some of their own.  At first, it will probably just be imitation, naming off the words you've named.  But that's good!  They're interested and their brain is working in the right direction!

Flashcards with letters are great.  Don't be a dictator, just bring them out every once in a while and talk about the letters as long as your child is interested.  Put them somewhere your child can access them on their own.  You'll soon find them sorting through them and naming the letters on their own!  You might also find them strewn about your kitchen floor (that's okay too :)

There are tons of DVDs and CDs out there that can help encourage your child to learn their letters.  It's not necessary, but if your kid digs it, great. I'm not recommending any in particular (sorry) because the kind used in good schools cost way too much for normal people, and I've just never bought any cheaper ones for home use.

Next: Pre-Reading

Kindergarten Prep: Teach Your Child to Read, Part One

Let me begin this post with a disclaimer.  Every child learns to read at a different pace and shows interest at a different age.  Case in point: my brother, who is 3 year older than I am, learned to read at the same time that I did.  He was six and in the first grade.  I was three and hadn't entered kindergarten yet.  Today, we are both avid readers.  So don't stress over comparing your child to the next and saying "Why hasn't my kid learned his ABCs yet?" or worse "Hmmm...my kid can already spell his name.  He must be a bit smarter than Sally's kid."   As parents, our goal should be to instill a love of reading in our children.


Why?  Because good readers make better learners.  While society is becoming more and more image oriented, the majority of what your child learns will be through reading.  Textbooks, internet, summer reading assignments.  If reading is fun and already a habit, the learning comes more naturally.  (And they always have a source of entertainment for a long car ride!)


Teachers love it when kids come into their classrooms who already love to read, know how to handle books, and understand the basics of how our crazy language works.


So this thread of posts will be a progressive list of ideas to get your child from Goodnight Moon to "I can write serendipitous!" (Well, at least "cat".)

Step One: Setting the Stage: Create an environment in your home that leads your child to be a reader.

Talk, talk talk.  Your kids will learn most of their vocabulary in the first five years of life.  Oral language is directly related to written language.  The more variety of words and sentences your child hears and speaks, the faster they will pick up and understand new words and ideas on paper.  So talk about everything.  When they're babies, give a play by play on what you are doing.  When they're older, talk with them.  Ask questions, play word games, discuss the things they like to do.  Just talk!

Model, model, model. Let your child see you reading.  Not all of you are big book readers, but let your kids see you reading something.  If they see you doing it, they'll want to do it to.  

Read to your child all the time.  When they are babies, it doesn't matter what you read to them.  As a new mom, I would lay next to my newborn and read out loud to them whatever I was reading at the time.  (That this was the only time I had to read my own books!) As they get older, read nursery rhymes, board books, ABC books, anything that holds their interest!  

Don't be afraid to read books that are "above" their developmental level.  If they like the pictures, make up your own story.  Maggie's favorite books right now are the Berenstein bear books.  They are targeted to kids about 5 and up, but she loves them.  Does she understand the stories?  Sometimes.  What's more important is that she loves reading them and can recite the whole book to herself.  As she gets older we'll worry about  relating them more to her own life.    

Make the library your friend.  Check out their story times.  Go often and let your child pick out some their own books.

Relate things you've seen to books you've recently read.  "Look!  There's a little puppy, just like in the book we've read."  "Let's draw a giraffe with a long neck like in your animal book."

Teach your child how to take care of books.  Toddlers can be taught how to be "gentle" and "soft" with books.  Show them how to hold them in their laps and turn the pages.  Will they still tear a few?  Sure, but that comes with the territory.  Just put that signed copy of Mere Christianity somewhere up high for a while.

The Next Installment:  Letter/Sound Recognition

The Question of TV

Ah, TV.  Let's face it. Every house in a America has one, in some form or another.  Most homes have at least two.  The question is, why?  I've heard  lots of explanations, such as educational value, catching up on the news in the morning, presidential speeches....but really when it comes down to it, the main reason we have TV in our homes is for entertainment.  And like all forms of entertainment, we have to pay attention to the quality and quantity we are putting into our minds and into the minds of our children.

The AAP (American Association of Pediatrics) recommends that children under 2 do not watch any TV at all.  Between ages 2 and 4, only 30 minutes a day. 

Kids are born with a certain amount of potential.  This comes from dear old mom and dad.  How much of that potential is reached is up to environment.  Between birth and five are the most important years of a child's brain development.  This is the time when their brains are making the most connections and have the highest capacity for learning. 99% of TV does very little to enhance brain development.  Read: when your child is sitting in front of a TV you are possibly limiting their potential.

Here are some guidelines I've found to help keep TV in its place:

*Limit TV watching to AAP recommendations.

*Watch DVDs or other shows (Netflix instant viewing, etc.), not TV.  It's less tempting to "just watch one more show" and your kids won't be exposed to commercials.

*Watch the shows with your kids (at least the first time).  If you don't like it, don't let your kids watch it.  Our personal favorites are Kipper, Maisy and Thomas the Tank Engine.  (For some reason, the Brits really seem to know how to make good kids' television).  They are slow, quiet, and have great moral messages that aren't cheesy.

*Don't allow adult shows to be on while your kids are around.  Even during daytime television, movie previews can show vivid sex scenes, gun fights, and demonic images from horror movies.  Images stick.  That's why visual media is so successful.  If it's on, it's going into your kid's head and it's staying there.

*Don't let your kids eat in front of the TV.  This leads to bad habits that are linked with obesity.

Have I let Maggie watch Cinderella at Mammaw's house?  Sure.  Do I thank God that I can let Maggie watch  her show at 5:00 a.m. while I'm still  foggily trying to make a cup of coffee?  Every day.  Do I let her watch a little more TV than normal on days when she or I are sick or because Jack is hunting down bugs to eat around the house?  Of course.  I just try not to make it a habit.


A note about movies:

I have A LOT of kids in my Pre-k and Kindergarten classes who have seen Spiderman, Transformers and Iron Man. I don't agree with this.  I think their parents are doing the best job they know how to do.  I just don't think they are thinking through the repercussions of letting their kids watch PG-13 rated movies.  (I think I'm speaking to the dads mostly here.)  Now, I haven't done any scientific study or have documentation to prove my findings.  But I am saying that those kids who consistently watched movies and shows that were too old for them, according to the rating systems, have been (generally) more aggressive, less respectful, and had an attitude of "I'm a bigger kid than you."  The point is, they don't understand what they are watching.  Most four and five year olds can't follow the complexities in the plot line of a movie like GI Joe.  But the message they get is that violence, sexy girls and cussing is "cool" and "grown up."  They notice that they are one of the only little kids in the theater.  Just because a child can't fully comprehend what they are seeing doesn't mean it won't affect them.

Check out www.pluggedin.com for good detailed reviews on movie content for the latest flick.

I'd like to say this:  I don't think that kids are exposed to more evil in the world than the last generation.  The world is just as evil as is was when Cain and Abel were in disposable fig leaf diapers.  I do think today's kids are exposed to too much, too soon, before they are developmentally mature enough to process and handle it.

Keep your kids kids.

Article: Ridiculous Parent Products

I came across this funny article from Parenting magazine.  I can't say I'm not intrigued by some of these products but most of them are hysterical.  Or just plain gross.   I think my favorite is the stuffed pee pee and poo poo dolls.  Who wouldn't want to snuggle with those?

Ridiculous Parenting Products

Enjoy!

Kindergarten Prep: Teach Your Kid to Play by the Rules

I see parents do it a lot.  Let kids "win" by changing the rules to a game in order to build their confidence.  The heart behind it is good, but ultimately, what your teaching your child is going to be a hindrance when they get around other kids.  I see the results of this especially in only children.  For example:

I had a group of students who wanted to play Candyland.  All of them were cheering and talking about how they played the game at home.  Two of them were playing by the traditional rules, but the third child kept wanting to play by a different set. "No, when I get two yellow, it actually means I can go four!"  "No, I don't have to miss my turn when I land there."  He's probably been allowed to "fudge" the rules at home, either because parents don't want to him to have to lose, or because they wisely know that Candyland can actually take up to four hours to play :)  Either way, the other kids were getting mad and he was really upset when he didn't win.

Teach your kids to play by the rules and to be good losers.  Teach them how to respond to losing by congratulating the winner (Good game!) and consoling themselves with positive statements (Maybe next time!  That was fun! You win some, you lose some! and Maggie's favorite, Bummer dude!).  Teach them to be good winners. (Maybe you'll win next time!  Thanks for playing with me.)

Play games that are age appropriate so you don't have to change anything.  Or if you do change the rules, explain what you are doing and why, and keep the changes consistent.  Tell them that when they are older you will teach them the big kid rules.  If you've got a younger sibling that wants to play, ask your older child to help make a different set of rules for them.  Keep it in the open and on the up and up.  Explain that when the younger child gets to be as old as they are, they will play by the real rules too.

Follow the rules yourself.  If your child sees you breaking the rules, they'll think it's okay to do it themselves, then wonder why they get into trouble.

What this will mean for your child:  They will be more confident when they lose and more gracious when they win.  Future classmates may find other faults with your child, but at least he won't be labelled "cheater" or "unfair", banning him from all group games on the playground.

What this will mean for their teacher: A child she can trust to be in charge of teaching other kids the rules, whether they be how to play a board game or how to walk down to the office with a message.

Kindergarten Prep: Boundaries

There are several things I wish my kindergarteners knew when they walked through my door.  This category will contain skills to teach your child that will make them their teacher's favorite.  Okay, maybe not, but it will be one less thing standing between your child and the actual education you want them to receive.  

Kindergarten Prep:  Teaching Your Child Boundaries

In this case, specific physical boundaries.  At home, your kiddo can probably take their toy cars and have an adventure all over the house.  In school, he'll be confined to a rug in the corner of the room.  Teach your children ahead of time that certain toys have certain areas they need to stay in.  Not all toys. I mean, that's one of the best things about being a stay at home kid-you get to use your whole house as a playground!  This builds imagination and creativity.  But choose some toys that are required to stay in certain areas.  Make some areas of your house off limits, and tell them why. (Safety, this is Mommy's space, etc.)  Have your kids put toys back in the same place every time when they are cleaning up.  I find buckets of varying sizes to be great for this.  Maggie has organization down to an art. She knows where things go and is really good about putting them back there.  As anyone who knows me personally can tell you, she didn't get this from me.  A positive school environment has taught her this.  

Having a toddler will make this difficult, but kids as young as 18 months can understand this concept if it's taught consistently.  Keep at it... it will pay off in the end!

What this will translate into is this:  Your kid will be the kid building a lego fort at the table instead of the running around the classroom flying their lego airplane.

What this means for their teacher: One less child to run after, redirecting them back to the right place in the room.

This is part of our toy organization system.  Maggie gets a few buckets, plays with the toys in the living room, and ideally puts the bucket back where it goes.  Ha ha-as you can tell, we don't really hold to labels very much around here.

This is the kids' room after a Jack attack.  So our expectations for him are a little lower, but at least it all stayed in the room!  

Author Spotlight: David Shannon

I'll bet you've read his books, even if you think you've never heard of him. With classics like No, David and Duck Rides a Bike, he is sure to become a picture book standard.  What I think I like best about him is his wide range of topics and illustration styles.  The David series is wonderful with its predictable, simple text and bright illustrations.  Any child who has ever been told no will love these books.

His books target anywhere from toddlers to school agers.  Check him out next time you go to the library or book store!  I promise your child won't tire of any of his books (even if you do!)

Ages 1-3
David Smells

Oh David
No David
Good Boy Fergus!

Ages 2-5
Duck on a Bike

Ages 4 and up
How I Became a Pirate
Pirate Don't Change Diapers
Alice the Fairy
A Bad Case of the Stripes

A favorite of mine is called Rough Faced Girl.  It's based on a Native American legend that has hints of the gospel.  Check it out!

Hand Washing

Hand washing is the most effective way to keep your kids from getting sick and sharing those icky germs with their friends and siblings, right. But are your kids doing it correctly? The CDC recommends washing your hands in the a specific way and at specific times.

When washing hands with soap and water:

• Wet your hands with clean, warm running water
• Apply soap.
• Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
• Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing "Happy Birthday" or the "ABCs" twice.
• Rinse hands well under running water
• Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.

When should you wash your hands?

• Before preparing or eating food
• After going to the bathroom
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has gone to the bathroom
• Before and after tending to someone who is sick
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After handling an animal or animal waste
• After handling garbage
• Before and after treating a cut or wound

All childcare facilities are required to have this information posted above their sink areas. Even babies are required to have their hands washed with soap and water after having their diapers changed.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Who says that there are "right" and "wrong" words to a song? Sometimes trying to keep a child entertained while waiting in a long line can lead to a creative new version of an old favorite!

This is how this new, very simple, but wonderfully entertaining version of the Itsy Bitsy Spider cam about.

(Do the usual movements)

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again

(This time, make your motions REALLY big and make your voice deep and low)

The great big giant spider went up the water spout....

(This time, make your motions itty bitty and use a quiet squeaky voice)

The teensy weensy spider went up the water spout...

Sorry guys, no video this time. I think you all know the tune pretty well :)

A Lesson in Self Esteem

I have recently had a child in my class that spends at least ten times a day in front of the mirror redoing her hair. Fixing her headband, shifting her clothes, just paying more attention than normal to her appearance. This is unfortunately not a rare occurrence in preschoolers. I see more and more children saying things like "I can't get my shoes dirty outside, my mom will get mad." and "My hair is messy."

Children naturally become more aware of their appearance about the age of four. They start paying attention to who has the cool backpack, the pretty hair clips, and the newest toy. But how much of this is natural development and how much is taught by us, the parents? How often have we said things like "I just can't do anything with my hair today!" or "I have nothing to wear!" Kids hear these things and what they hear is "Outward appearance is very important."

Here are some practical ways to encourage a healthy identity:

Most importantly, teach them who they are in Christ. God loved them enough to come down in the form of a man and die for their sins. They need to understand they are sinful, but God loves them despite this, because of Christ. If they accept Christ as the Lord of their life, He will give them an identity that cannot be shaken, no matter what the world says about them.

Compliment them on their character, often and specifically.

"You were very brave when you went to the doctor."

"It was kind of you to help your friend up the stairs."

"You were very patient while waiting for me to put your brother's shoes on."

Assess how much importance you put on your own appearance. Do you always have to on makeup before leaving the house? Do you buy clothes every new season? Do you make sure your kids have matching hair bows, socks, and shoes for every outfit?

Tell them that you are proud of them. What can they do that is unique to them? Kids are much more confident if they feel they have a skill or talent that is "theirs." Maybe it's drawing, maybe it's music, maybe they are really good at building with legos! Compliment them on their skill and encourage them to develop it.

Teach them that healthy is the goal, not a specific clothing size. When they ask you why you work out, tell them you want to be healthier or to have more energy, not to look better or to loose that "baby fat."

How will our children learn to love the homeless, the poor, the different, in short, to love like Jesus, if they are worried about what they look like on the outside?

Psalm 118:8 "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."

Psalm 139:13-14 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

What to do when...

your child bites someone.

Yes, it happened today. Maggie bit her classmate because he wouldn't give her a book she wanted. To be fair, Maggie didn't go to sleep until 11p.m. last night after a fun-filled weekend out of town. No excuses, but I can't imagine anything else but sheer exhaustion prompting her to do this.

So how did we handle it?

Well, in class she was asked to apologize then spent some time on the time out rug. When I picked her up from class, I rejoiced at seeing her, praised her artwork, gave her a big hug, then took her to the car to have a heart to heart chat. I asked her what happened, and she gave me a very detailed and honest account. (Phew!) Then I gave her the bad news. When you choose to hurt a friend, you choose to play no board games when we get home.

She tried to mold what I had said into something a little more pleasant; "Yeah, Jack will eat the pieces." "But I didn't hurt Jack!" I clarified for her that she didn't get to play the beloved Candy Land and Curious George Beach game (which is really fun, by the way) because she hurt another person on purpose.

Sad choices=sad consequences.

And she was sad. Did she learn the lesson? I think so. Tonight, during evening prayer time, she asked God to help her be nice to her friends and to make John* feel better.

Mission Accomplished. For today.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Let's take a moment today to talk to our kids about why we celebrate this holiday. Sure, the fireworks and hot dogs are great, but if you're looking to get a little more out of the holiday, check out these neat ideas.

Talk about citizenship with your child. Being a good citizen for a preschooler can mean:

obeying the law,

picking up trash in your community,

helping the family with the chores,

respecting other people, regardless of how they look, act, or believe

and knowing what symbols and ideas represent our country.

Read some books about America and talk about them as you go. Below are a list of good ones you can get from the library.

America the Beautiful by Jane Yolen

Happy Birthday America! by Martha Wilson Chall

Clifford's Good Deeds by Norman Bridwell

F is for Flag by Wendy Cheyetter Lewison

Meet Our Flag, Old Glory by April Jones Prince

America the Beautiful: A Pop-Up Book by Katharine Lee Bates

Be a democracy for a day. Kids can vote on what to cook for dinner, what TV show to watch, or what board game to play. As kids get older, th

is can become a more regular part of your famili

es activities. (Of course, mom and dad get veto power.)

Pray together for the leaders of this country, as well as the soldiers at home and abroad.

Fireworks Art:

materials needed

cups of blue and red paint

straw

construction paper

water

newspaper or large cookie sheet with edges.

glitter (optional)

Cover your workspace with newspaper or have your child do their painting inside a cookie sheet with raised edges.

Add a little water to your paint to make it thinner.

Put small blobs of paint on the paper.

Let kids blow through a straw to move the paint around to make fireworks. Tell them to experiment-blow gently at first, then try fast bursts.

If you don't mind getting a little messy, let kids add different color glitter to the wet paint for extra sparkle!

Author Spotlight: Mo Willems

Mo Willems quite possibly writes the most hilarious picture books for children today. Some of my favorites are the Pigeon series and Knuffle Bunny.

Pigeon is a cheeky character that all children and parents can relate to ("I want a puppy!"). Start with Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Your kiddo will love telling the pigeon NO!

Knuffle Bunny is the story of a a little girl too young to speak who leaves her "Knuffle Bunny" at the laundromat. The efforts she takes to communicate this tragedy to her father and the search that ensues will entertain both you and your child. The illustrations are a combination of real life photography set in New York City and cartoon, giving the book a unique feel.

Icky Sticky Bubble Gum

This song is great for teaching little kids the names of their body parts. I also love it because you can make it last as long as you need to by adding more and more verses. Any song that lets the kids add their own words is great too.

Icky sticky bubble gum, bubble gum, bubble gum

Icky sticky bubble gum,

stuck to my hair. (stick hands to your hair)

And I pulled

And I pulled

And I... pulled! (pull your hands off)

Repeat verse inserting different body parts (shoulders, toes, etc.) Get creative! Stick the gum to your car seat, the sky, your sister....

Last verse:

Icky sticky bubble gum, bubble gum, bubble gum

Icky sticky bubble gum

Stuck to my mouth.

And I pulled

And I pulled

And I....mmmmmm....(chew your gum)...strawberry! (Kids can add their own flavor)

And because songs are really best learnt through hearing...

Choking Hazards

Below is a list of all the foods childcare facilities in the state of Texas are not allowed to serve to children UNDER FOUR because of the high possibility of choking.

•Carrot Sticks or rounds

• Popcorn

• Hot Dogs (Hot dogs can be okay if they are served cut into quarters. That means cut them in half lengthwise, then in half again. Then start chopping them into bite size pieces.)

• Apples

• Whole Grapes

• Marshmallows

• Nuts

• Seeds

• Raw Peas

• Hard Candy

• Hard Pretzels

For babies or small toddlers, food should be cut into pieces 1/4" or smaller. That's pretty little.

Other items that are not allowed in our school or certain classrooms:

Latex balloons (If these balloons pop, a small child may (read: will) put a piece in their mouth. The material can very easily get trapped in the throat and block air flow. If using them for decorations, keep them out of reach of kids under three.)

Any toy that does not meet the choking hazard tube test. These can be purchased at numerous online stores. Basically, it's a tube the size of a small child's throat. If an item can fit inside the tube, it should be kept out of reach of any kiddo who still likes to taste test his toys.

While you may say "Really?" to some of these items, I encourage you to think about the pros vs. cons of serving these foods to your little ones. If they made the list, it is because enough kiddos choked on them. It may be inconvenient to cut up food into smaller pieces, but it only takes a second for a piece of food to go down a child's throat the wrong way. The results are catastrophic. Is it worth it?

"In the Biz"

Why am I starting a blog? Good question.

Over the past 10 years, I have gained some experience working with children. I have been working for most of that time in a high quality private preschool. I have taught infant classrooms all the way up to after school programs. I have been the assistant director in charge of curriculum. I currently teach the Private Kindergarten program. I have also taught in not so high quality childcare facilities and taught second grade in the public sector. All that to say, when I had my own two kiddos, I felt like I had a "leg up" so to speak than a lot of other moms I knew. At least, I knew more inane songs to sing in the car to keep my hungry 18 month old happy while stuck in traffic. I knew that breast milk was never to be heated in a microwave. I knew what "tummy time" was and at what age I could expect my child to understand (if not obey) the words "Don't touch."

This is not a blog about how to raise your children to be upstanding citizens, the next president of the United States, or readers at the age of three. It may however, help you keep your kids be a little safer, be a little more ready for kindergarten, or perhaps most importantly, help you keep your sanity on the fifth rainy day in a row.