Search results matching tags 'preschool' and 'reading'

Connecting the "DOTS" School + Home Connection by Dr. Danny

Anonymous — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:30:00 GMT

Connecting the “DOTS”

Hello from the International Reading Association’s annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. As luck would have it, I am presenting a seminar entitled “The Power of Parents: Building School and Home Connections,” based on a series of kits I have developed. The kits train parents, teachers and administrators how to work together to best meet the needs of each particular child.

As a parent you need to know that your child is important to her teacher. Your child is vital to the success of her teacher’s classroom and the school. Good teachers and administrators recognize how important you are to the development of your child, and they are excited to work with you to help your child. Contrary to what a lot of policymakers and folks in the media will try to have you believe, most public schools are doing a good job. As a matter of fact, their success is severely understated and under-reported, while the extraordinary successes of a few well-funded private and charter schools is heralded (there is plenty of data to show that a public school receiving the same funding as these success stories would achieve the same, or better, results). We can talk about that in a future column.

Let’s talk about you. You are your child’s single greatest teacher, and we educators need you to work with us. Together, we can move mountains.

I understand what you are going through, as I am a proud (and sometimes frustrated) parent of three. I know a lot about education, and even I can find the school system overwhelming. So what can we do together to do what is in the best interest of your child?

We simply need to connect the “DOTS.”

Do Play. The “D” in “DOTS” stands for “Do,” as in “Do Play.” It sounds like common sense, but – as my friend Davy Tyburski likes to say, “common sense is not common practice” nowadays. The role of play is critical in your child’s development. It sounds so easy, and that is why many folks scoff at its importance. Well, standing, walking, talking and eating are all fairly “easy,” yet critical, processes. The benefits of playing with your child are as widespread as a healthy diet, so make sure to “feed” your child’s emotional and psychological development by playing board games, going on outings and spending plenty of silly moments together.

Observe and Model. The “O” in “DOTS” stands for “Observe,” as in “Observe and Model.” Being the father of three children who have all grown up under the same roof, I am constantly amazed by how different my son and two daughters are from one another. All are gifts from God who have their own distinct gifts, and my job – as their father – is to determine their strengths and weaknesses and accommodate them. While my oldest daughter is naturally very motivated, my son can take some prying to do certain things. Meanwhile, my son is one of the kindest souls I have ever seen, while my daughters often fail to empathize with those around them. As parents, we need to observe our children and model for them expected behaviors. As an educator I can confess that before I meet most students’ parents on “Back-to-School” night, I can easily match them with their children, as they behave similarly. Kids who are late to school usually have tardy parents, quiet children often have quiet parents, etc.

Talk About Books. The “T” in “DOTS” stands for “Talk,” as in “Talk About Books” with your child. What can I say? Reading is my passion, and I have gratefully passed along that passion to my children (despite school’s attempts to take it away by requiring meaningless exercises, like book reports). If you want your child to succeed in school and in life, your child needs to be a passionate, efficient reader. Make life easier on your child by giving her the joy of reading. I can guarantee that children who like to read usually turn out to be better readers than their peers who detest it. Why? They choose to do it on their own outside of school, and every extra minute your child spends reading enhances her “reading muscles” the way exercise helps your overall physical fitness.

Support/Reward. The “S” in “DOTS” stands for “Support,” as in “Support/Reward” your child’s reading. By support I mean that you need to follow the interests of your child: if she wants to read nothing but fashion magazines, let her read fashion magazines. If she is fascinated with lemurs, help her get her hands on as many texts about lemurs as you can find (I speak from experience on this one). And when I suggest you should reward your child for reading, I do not mean you should give her pizza and candy for getting through Little House on the Prairie. That just creates a new generation of obese children who think of reading as a chore. Rather, reward your child with frequent trips to libraries and bookstores. Heck, discount stores like Dollar Tree and 99 Cent Store have all kinds of inexpensive books, writing supplies and other items that send the message to your child that reading is a reward in and of itself.

Parenting is not easy. Nobody hands you a manual at the hospital.

You need to understand, though, that you are doing a good job. If you read this column, I know you are a good parent because you are a concerned parent (my theory states that concerned parents = good parents). You want what is best for your child, and by working with your child’s teacher and your school’s administrators, I am confident that together we can move mountains with your child. More importantly, we will make learning fun and meaningful for your child so that she becomes a lifelong learner.

Danny Brassell, Ph.D., is “America’s Leading Reading Ambassador,” helping parents and educators inspire kids to love reading and achieve more. He is the author of 14 books, and he acted as the lead consultant for the Building School-Home Relationships kits (Shell, 2012) that have been enthusiastically adapted in school districts across the country. A father of three and professor in the Teacher Education Department at California State University-Dominguez Hills, he is the founder of The Lazy Readers’ Book Club, www.lazyreaders.com, Google’s #1-ranked site for cool, “short book recommendations” for all ages. Watch video tips and learn more from Danny at www.dannybrassell.com, where you can check out his TEDx-Village Gate talk The Reading Makeover and download other free resources.

All Things MUD Books + Art Projects

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:00:00 GMT

APRIL SHOWERS BRING “MUD!”

It is that time of the year when I watch the plants poke their little heads through the damp, cold, muddy earth. Every child should have the chance to see this spring event. They should be able to predict:

what will happen as the flowers grow

what color will they be
what kind of flower is it (daisy, tulip, etc.)
how does it smells.

Invite children to make a flower garden using a pop bottle, paper plate and paint. Invite the children to pick their colors and then give me brushes and paint to make the stems, leaves, and soil for their flowers. They can add any touches like the sun, butterflies, birds, rain or whatever their imaginations can conjure up.

As April showers fill our world with mud it is great fun to get mud from a familiar area for the children and invite them to finger paint with the mud.Talk about how the mud feels, smells and who lives in the mud. This is always an opportunity to talk to the children about WORMS

PLANTING

When a project like MUD, turns the conversation to another topic such as worms, seize the moment and find a good book.

Enjoy the beauty of spring as each day brings more color and experiences outdoors. Visit me *** www.storytellin.com, Facebook and check out PrekandKsharing EEE!

Mary Jo Huff

Author, Storyteller, Puppeteer

www.storytellin.com

26 St. Patrick's Day Primary Printables {Free}

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMT

St. Patrick's Day can still help you teach your standards when you bring in quality, free printables. With St. Patrick's Day themed printables to cover math, language arts, treats and make it all feel fun - you can bring St. Patrick's Day green into your classroom. Here are 26 free downloads for primary grades on bringing the Luck o' the Irish...

Continue reading at Teaching Blog Addict under the "MORE" tab or cut and paste this into your browser: http://www.teachingblogaddict.com/search?updated to see the latest news!

Holiday Reading Ideas by Dr. Danny Brassell

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Holiday Reading Ideas

You’re getting ready to drive to your relatives’ place for the holidays.

Perhaps friends and family are coming to your place.

Or maybe you’re looking for ways to entertain your children that do not include a screen.

What’s a parent to do to occupy children during their holiday breaks in a fun and meaningful way?

My antidote is “reading.”

A lot of people think reading refers to pulling out a “Classic” written in Middle English about subjects most children (and their parents, for that matter) have little interest in or understanding. Readinghas evolved to become much more, however. This holiday season, why not give your children the gift of reading? There’s lots of ways you can make reading come alive for your child.

Books on Tape. While driving long distances, why not turn off the annoying DVD player in your Toyota Sienna and opt for a book on tape checked out from your local public library (by the way – books on tape have evolved to include CDs)? For many – and especially for children, the beauty of allowing someone else to read aloud a story to you is that it literally allows you to avoid the work and stress of sounding-out unfamiliar words in favor of focusing on the situations portrayed in the story. Technology has allowed a wide range of talented performers to read aloud books. For my money, though, there is none more talented than the actor Jim Dale, who manages to create the voices of over 100 unique characters in his delightful read alouds of the Harry Potter series. Books on tape are also a great way to acquaint children with particular authors, as many choose to narrate their own works.

Play-Up the Classics. While simply saying the term “Classic” can turn most kids off to reading, the holidays provide a safe haven for traditions that I have noticed many children will no only accept but – in some cases – relish. How many of you remember a special person reading aloud ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas? Done properly with the right balance of flair and mischief, any good read aloud can turn even the most reluctant reader to the most ardent supporter. And one of our most important jobs as parents is to create experiences that our children remember fondly for the rest of their lives.

Compare & Contrast. I have never understood folks who deny children the right to watch movie versions of their favorite books. How silly is that? Not only do I allow children (including my own) to watch movie versions of books, I insist on it. Why? How many movies have you ever seen that told a story better than the book? Encourage your children’s critical thinking by reading aloud books with your children, watching movie adaptations together and then discussing the similarities and difference, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of both forms of media. I am willing to bet that in almost all circumstances, your child will prefer the printed version. This is a great way of stimulating children’s interest in why that may be so, that’s why I also encourage parents to…

Gifting Literature. What better way to stimulate your child’s interest in reading than by placing emphasis on it in the form of presents. I can honestly say that some of my most treasured possessions are books with inscriptions from my loved ones. My family loves the annual ritual of watching A Christmas Story on television. It was my interest in this movie that drove me to find the terrific Jean Shepherd book that the movie is based on, In God We Trust…All Others Pay Cash.The book in no way makes me like the movie any less – but I can honestly say that as good as the movie is, the book is better. And for a father like me who never knows what presents to buy, I can purchase the book and the movie!

And that leads me to my most important point.

Keep Reading! Your children have momentum now. Readingshould not just be a school event. We need to keep reading outside of school if we truly want to improve. Many folks have heard of the “summer reading slump,” where many students leave for their summer vacations and fail to read during their entire breaks. This is perhaps the biggest tragedy I see in schools today, and I feel the reason this happens is because schools often assign reading or insist on students creating silly projects to “prove” they read their books. Do your children have to prove they watched a television show or played a video game? Of course not! They enjoy those things.

Reading should be an activity met with as much anticipation as opening presents under the tree. Remember: you are your child’s best role model, so please read in front of and to your children as much as possible. Let’s let our children enjoy reading during this holiday break.

Danny Brassell, Ph.D., is “America’s Leading Reading Ambassador,” helping parents and educators inspire kids to love reading and achieve more. He is the author of eleven books, including his top-selling Secrets for Successful Readers. A father of three and professor in the Teacher Education Department at California State University-Dominguez Hills, he is the founder of The Lazy Readers’ Book Club, www.lazyreaders.com, Google’s #1-ranked site for cool, “short book recommendations” for all ages. Watch video tips and learn more from Danny at www.dannybrassell.com, and check out his TEDx-Village Gate talk The Reading Makeover next month.

Best Free Kids Ebooks Daily on Amazon by No Twiddle Twaddle

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:43:00 GMT

Today, my special guest is Bethany from the kid lit and play blog No Twiddle Twaddle. One of her most popular features is the almost daily list of the best free kids' eBooks available on Amazon:

I'm so excited that some of my favorite bloggers are letting me share my list on their blogs today!

Download the books today since they may only be free for a couple of hours and remember to check all prices before downloading. International customers may be charged a surcharge. If you don't own a Kindle, you can still download these books and read them using the free Kindle app.

Free EBooks for Toddlers and Young Preschoolers:

I Love . . . by Cindy Bracken
Little kids will love this sentimental picture book with its cute photos of babies and moms. Author Cindy Bracken is a former Kindergarten teacher and school librarian. This experience flows into her books which are free from grammatical errors and always have large, bright illustrations.

Seven Days in a Week by Dianne Miller
Miller, who is both a successful artist and mother, has published a number of delightful books that she wrote for her own daughters while they were young. Her book Seven Days a Week is a simple explanation of the days of the week illustrated with her popular Little Bunny. Most of her other books are short stories that help explain small life lessons to young children. I especially love that you can go to Miller's website and download free printables to go with her books. In fact, I think I will be printing out her Seven Days a Week Coloring Sheet Mural myself!

Free EBooks for Young Elementary Age Children

Pequena the Burro by Jami Parkison
Pequena learns to take pride in her heritage and use her natural strengths to help others when she is chosen as a special burro for a birthday party.

This book is part of a series of twenty-five picture books that teach character traits through multicultural stories. The watercolor illustrations in this series are always nice, and these books feature a special tap-to-zoom text that allows you to double tap the text to enlarge it.

Today, you can also download from this same series:

Kylie's Concert

Tessa on Her Own

Free EBooks for Tweens

Pibbin the Small by Gloria Repp
I used to read Gloria Repp's chapter books when I was a kid, and I remember reading them over and over again. I'm delighted that Repp is now releasing books in the Kindle store and even occasionally promoting one for free. Her books also have black and white illustrations by artist Tim Davis.

True Betrayer by Robert Elmer
Successful author Robert Elmer has written several adventure series for children which are available in the Kindle Store and routinely promoted for free. With a bit of patience, you should be able to collect almost all of his books since a new one appears almost every week. This particular series originally was published by Bethany House and is currently out of print.

Free Books for Teenagers

Asking for Trouble by Sandra Byrd
In this first installment of the London Confidential series published by Tyndale Publishing House, American Savvy Smith learns to live out her Christian faith and personal goals while attending a new British school.

You can find more free eBooks for kids today via a Listamania list on my Amazon profile:

Free Kindle Picture Books and Novels

Today's Kindle Deal for Kids

I also feature the Kindle Deal many days. The Kindle Deal is a highly discounted book that while not free is usually still a great price on a high quality book.

Tales from the Odyssey (Part One) by Mary Pope Osborne
Today priced at $1.99
I'm very excited about today's deal since Tales from the Odyssey was the first chapter book series that my preschooler really listened to and enjoyed. Even my husband and I enjoyed Osborne's storytelling skills in this wonderful series. Note: This book is Greek mythology and does have some graphic depictions of violence.

If you enjoyed this list, I hope that you will consider checking out my free kids' eBook lists on No Twiddle Twaddle. I have several subscription options, and I try to publish a list almost every day to be sure that my readers don't miss out on any books!

THANK YOU BETHANY! I ***pe you will visit her amazing blog. You might also be interested in my ebooks (and print) on Amazon: Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs and Tasty Treats for Teachers and Parents and The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn. Both have been number 1 bestsellers on Amazon and would make helpful gifts for parents and teachers.

What is your favorite children's ebook?

A little singing, dancing AND learning!

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:00:00 GMT

By Laura Eldredge

A few weeks ago, I had the great opportunity to attend and present at the NAEYC annual conference in Atlanta, GA. My partner Tressa and I presented a workshop called "Through new eyes: Enhancing preschool literacy experiences" on Thursday morning.

In our workshop, we combined lecture, discussion, lots of classroom photos and movement activities that provided ideas for incorporating literacy experiences into all classroom early learning centers. A large part of our presentation talks about how literacy links to movement, and how music and movement activities can enhance language and literacy learning - which we demonstrated by having everyone up and doing a little “Book & Boogie” activity! (You can learn more about “Book & Boogie" by following the link).

We had a really FUN group doing some "Book & Boogie" during our presentation!

A little singing, dancing and learning with BOB!

After being presenters ... we had a couple of days to be participants and attend some great workshops. A frequent presenter at the conference was a childhood favorite of ours ... Mr. Bob McGrath from Sesame Street! How fun it was to sing songs that I remember from the show (all the words come back to you!). As an early childhood professional, it's interesting to look at all those songs with different eyes ... and how those songs tie into early learning concepts for children.

Bob McGrath presents at NAEYC in Atlanta.

Very calming and entertaining, Bob McGrath gave a great presentation in Atlanta, despite arriving very late the night before due to the winter storm that hit NY that week. And much to our great delight ... he talked about how all those fun songs from Sesame Street can be used with your preschoolers to extend learning topics that you may already be working on with your children at home or at school.

A "Book & Boogie" in the making

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One of our favorite songs that Bob performed was "Everyone Asked About You", which is basically a song version of this book. I love the rhythms in the music and the story that is told through the book and song.

In the story, Nora experiences that feeling of being lonely, which children can relate to. So it opens up an opportunity for discussion with your children ("Why do you think Nora didn't want to come out at first?" "How was she feeling?" "Have you ever felt that way?"). When all the very colorful and vibrant characters come at the end of the story, it's a great celebration!

The song component really helps to make this a story that the children will remember. And if we add some movement to it as well ...then it will become an visual, auditory AND kinesthetic language and literacy experience. I think I feel a new "book & boogie" coming!

Laura Eldredge is a teacher and curriculum coordinator at a NAEYC accredited early childhood program in Connecticut. She also co-founded the website The SEEDS Network, as a way to provide early childhood professionals with ideas and resources that support them in their quest to provide quality care and education to our youngest learners. She blogs at www.theseedsblog.com.

FEasT on Books as a Family by Dr. Danny Brassel

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:00:00 GMT

As the holidays beckon, many parents will find plenty of extra time with their children at home. Why not make it quality time and cuddle up behind a bunch of great books? My children and I try to “FEasT” on three a day.

Alright – I’m no fan of teaching acronyms either. Still, I am a huge proponent of simple mnemonic devices constructed to make my life easier. The “FEasT” acronym stands for the types of books I’d like you to read every day during the holidays with your children: a “F”avorite book, an “Eas”y book and a “T”ough book.

Favorite book. Remember what your favorite book was as a child? Maybe you marveled at the mischief of Curious George or yearned for your grandfather’s reassuring read alouds of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Perhaps you loved it when your mother sat you are on her lap in the family rocking chair and rocked away as you both enjoyed Robert Munsch’s Love You, Forever. All of us had favorite books as children, and I like to encourage parents to especially read these books to their children. You may not know this, but you read these books a little bit differently, and your children will pick up on that.

Additionally, when your children show preference to a particular book, you want to read those books constantly. If your children insist on you reading a chapter from a Harry Potter book, by all means – read that chapter. Have children who delight in the silliness of Captain Underpants? Read away! Almost all parents I have ever met can share a story of a book that annoys them to no end because their children insisted on them reading that book aloud 875 times. Sound familiar? You need to understand that your child is memorizing that book. This is a great confidence booster that will attract your children to read more. That is why easy books are so vital…

Easy book. This is a book that you read again and again with your children. I have three children: Kate (a third grader), Sean (a first grader) and Samantha (a preschooler…and a handful!). While Kate and Sean may act cool in front of their baby sister, it never ceases to amaze me how transfixed they will become as Samantha enjoys Sesame Street on television or brings me her favorite Humpty Dumpty-shaped treasury of nursery rhymes for me to read to her. Easy books build confident readers. Even though Kate is a pretty good reader in her own right – reading plenty of chapter books about Judy Moody and Magic Treehouse sleuths Jack and Annie – she still delights in any of our endless collection of titles featuring The Berenstain Bears and Arthur. And Sean marvels almost as much as me at the true genius of Dr. Seuss, who manages to always include meaningful messages embedded in rhyming confidence-builders designed to interest anyone in reading by making all audiences view themselves as bonafide readers.

Tough book. When I work with teachers, I usually point out that this is the greatest failure I most frequently see in schools. I bet just about every first grader in America saw the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, and I bet you all of those first graders understand the movie. I also bet that most of those first graders would not be able to read the script. Our listening comprehension significantly outpaces our reading comprehension at a young age. Thus, parent read alouds are vital.

While I love that schools across the country celebrate Dr. Seuss Day every March, I am incessantly annoyed to see so many adult volunteers go to classrooms to read aloud Dr. Seuss books. Have you ever noticed that in the upper right-hand corner of many Dr. Seuss books there is a Cat in the Hat with the slogan “I Can Read It All By Myself” arched around it? That statement is meant as a reaffirming message for children, not adults. Kids can read Dr. Seuss books! They cannot read more complicated, “wordier” texts. So why not pick out more challenging texts with topics that will intrigue your child? My father was a history major in college, and he passed down his passion for history to me by reading me stories about explorers, our Founding Fathers, astronauts and an array of other figures. Parents have a responsibility to pass along this wisdom.

So, the children have vacation from school. Mom and Dad have extra time off from work. The malls are packed, the freeways are parking lots and nothing decent seems to be on any of your 357 television channels. Why not spend this holiday season by visiting your local library, bookstore or even your personal home collection of books? Wouldn't it be great if more folks would choose to pig out on something that will boost their children’s intellect rather than their waistlines? “FEasT” on three books a day with your children during the holidays, and you can inspire your family to become a household of readers.

Bring Back Rhyme Time to Teach Reading Skills

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:21:00 GMT

How does rhyming teach literacy skills? Katie Norris and I are guest posting at Carrots are Orange. You'll love her amazing blog. We give you reasons to bring out the rhyming books to help your child develop reading skills. Just click on How Rhyming Teaches Kids Literacy Skills.

Do you need helpful gifts for moms and teachers? For a glimpse into Kindergarten see my book for tips from a teacher who has seen it all. Would you like inexpensive ideas, activities, and games to teach your child through play? Mommy with Selective Memory and I can help save your sanity, one project at a time, with The Happy Mommy Handbook: The Ultimate How-to Guide on Keeping Your Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy, Out of Trouble and Motivated to Learn. Both have been number 1 bestsellers on Amazon.

Fall: Pumpkin Patch, Scarecrow + Fire Station

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:26:00 GMT

{Note from the editor. We're having a few challenges in blog-land. MaryJo has a gazillion ideas to share, but the photos are having an issue being uploaded. They are well worth your returning to see them and will be inserted at our earliest convenience. In the mean time: use your IMAGINATIONS!}

Fall Leaves Begin to Herald Season's Change

The beauty of our world is peeking through my windows. The leaves are so many different colors, the fall flowers are in full bloom and the air is crisp. This is a favorite time of the year as I drive back roads from Southern Indiana to Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Indianapolis and down to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. I pack my orange suitcases, grab the puppets and away we go. Children are so receptive to learning about the changes, the seasons and different types of songs, finger plays and food.

One of the best ways to get parents involved with the children is to create books that travel from school to home and back again. These books are kept in the classroom so children can read and reread during the year and reference what time of the year the book was made.The pumpkin pattern is from Jonesborough, Arkansas. It laminated with 5 mil. Laminate and attached with a metal ring. The holes on the white pages are reinforced with circle reinforcements.

The children visited the local pumpkin patch and took their own pumpkin home after designing a face on the pumpkin.

PARENT DIRECTIONS: Share your favorite pumpkin picking adventures. Your child will illustrate and dictate and return the book the following day.

Pickin’ Pumpkins in the Pumpkin Patch is a song by Jim Coffey and can be found on the CD Peeper Pizzaazzz along with the story of the Orange Ghost on Storytelling for Kids.

A visit to the local fire department is always a highlight for children and attending parents. After the trip this book was sent home so the children could dictate their favorite thing at the fire station. If you cannot visit the fire station call your local volunteers and ask if someone can bring the fire truck to your school or center.

Take It To Your Seat activities are designed by Evan Moor a great publishing company. The pictures are in color and all you need to do is cut them out and attach to a bag. The best idea is to purchase or ask for donations of bags and attach the SCARECROW to the outside with Velcro.

The directions are attached to the back with Velcro also. This way when the bag is worn all you have to do is replace the bag.

Inside the bag are the interactive TAKE-IT-TO-YOUR-SEAT activities. This idea was used the entire year and was set up as a center. When the children understood the directions it became a favorite center and they always anticipated the changes in the bags. The items attached to the bags were laminated with 5 mil. Laminate as were the activity cards.

Two of my favorite books to read along with others listed on my website.
Yes I read!!! Someone asked me if I always told stories and I said “Of Course I do!” then I realized that they were referring to reading to children. I read all the time as tI still do with my grandchildren but when a good story begs to be told and retold I am on it right away.

I will insert a few pages from a parent/child, class book. These ideas worked to connect our families and to get the children ready to become the best readers.

Each child had a page in the book and as you can see some parents spent lots of time and others just had a cup of coffee. No matter what the seeds were planted for parent involvement. This book was recopied and each child took a book home. We did this several times during the year. Budget restraints kept us from sending home a copy of every book.

Enjoy a healthy food activity to accompany this time of the year.

INGREDIENTS: Volunteers to help so each child can create their own edible pumpkin.

Raisins
Cheez Wiz
English Muffins
Spreading knife
Toaster

DIRECTIONS: Invite the children to choose a toasted English muffin half. Place the muffin on a paper plate and direct the children as to spreading the Cheez Wiz on the muffin. Tell them to cover the top of the muffin. After they are finished spreading the cheese on the muffin tell them to use the raisins to make a face on the muffin. They can then eat the muffin for their snack.

Each year at this time we talked about and explored spiders and how they spin a web. The following picture is of a paint reverse. Be generous with Elmer’s Glue to make the pattern of a spider web and paint it white and place a piece of black paper over the painted web, and rub it with your hand. The children spend many minutes rubbing the paper because they can feel the web under the paper. Pull the paper off and hang to dry. Children are always amazed at this process and it can be repeated throughout the year with different shapes.

This web is black and was reversed on orange paper.

Have a great rest of the month and keep the children’s minds wondering what you will come up with next. Some call this intentional teaching (a new buzz word) but at our center we have always taught with the intention of the children learning while having fun.

Check out my web site at www.storytellin.com to find the CDs with music and stories, and sign up for my newsletter.

Mary Jo Huff, Author, Storyteller, Puppeteer and Song Writer.

Structuring Reading Routines at Home by Dr. Danny Brassell

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Structuring Reading Routines at Home

When I speak to Parent-Teacher Associations in school districts across North America, one of the first questions parents inevitably ask me is how to promote reading at home. The secret to inspiring kids to love reading is simple, yet often ignored (especially by education policymakers): reading should always be fun. There are all sorts of ways to entice children to read.

First and foremost, parents need to read in front of their children. Kids aren’t stupid. If they never see us reading, they’re never going to read. Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, says that “giving a kid a passion for reading is like giving a kid a cold: you can’t give it if you don’t have it.” One of my favorite television commercials promotes Direct TV. A father gets frustrated with his cable television and hits the TV in front of his daughter. His daughter, in turn, gets in a fight in school, starts hanging out with “the wrong crowd,” marries a punk and mothers a “punk” child. The father looks at his grandson in leather and realizes he probably should not have hit the TV set in front of his daughter. So my Direct TV ad would sound something like “when you read in front of your children, they read more on their own. When they read more on their own, they excel at school. When they excel at school, they earn scholarships to elite universities. When they graduate from those universities, they’re offered high-paying jobs. When they earn lots of money, they bankroll your retirement.” The point is, kids pay attention to everything we do. It’s important that we model positive behaviors in front of our children.

Now, one of the things I have learned as a teacher and a parent is that it is wise to have a few tricks up your sleeve. So let me share some of the ways I’ve made reading a part of my family’s standard daily life.

Reading materials everywhere! Want to know what the most read item is in America every single morning? It’s the backs of cereal boxes. If that’s the case, don’t you think it is a good idea to have some books, poems and magazines on your breakfast table? Think about places where you and your children spend lots of time: on the sofa, in bed, on the toilet – and stock those areas with reading materials.

Play good, old-fashioned board games. Before video games and social media, many families used to interact with one another by rolling die, flipping cards and guessing where one another’s battleships were. Board games spark conversations, and those are good for developing reading skills. Some games include a fair bit of reading, and that is good for developing reading skills. All board games promote family interaction, and that is good for developing family skills.

Price of admission. Can we accept the fact that television is here to stay? Now, there are still some folks who have chosen to live in homes without televisions, and I applaud those folks. For the rest of us parents trying to raise readers in a world of television, X Box and computers, we need tips. One of the rules in my home is that before the television is turned on, my children have to bring me a book to read. They never protest a 15-minute read aloud if it means they can watch Max & Ruby or The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for half an hour. Would I rather see my kids not watch TV and choose to read a book, build a model or play outside? Yes, but fatherhood has taught me something our leaders in Washington could use a refresher course in: compromise.

Turn on the closed-captioning. Speaking of television, most parents fail to recognize that they have an unlimited supply of text in their living room available on the boob tube. Since the early 1990s every television sold in Americarequires closed-captioning. So if your kids have to watch television, make a rule that the closed-captioning has to be turned on. It is very difficult for any of us to watch a program with subtitles without looking at the subtitles.

Read before you go to bed. Bedtime stories provide great bonding opportunities for parents and children. Reading can be a good way to wind down otherwise hyperactive individuals. My own children do not realize that one can go to bed without reading. Think about how 15 minutes of reading before you go to bed can add up. The phenomena is not dissimilar to compounding interest on investments, and this investment will benefit your children’s reading abilities for a lifetime.

There are all sorts of ways to structure reading in your home, but the most important thing to remember is to always make reading fun. Human beings are attracted to things that they like and things that they are good at, and the more you get your kids reading for fun and spending quality time doing it, the greater the likelihood is that your child will be a reader for life.

Danny Brassell, Ph.D., is “America’s Leading Reading Ambassador,” helping parents and educators inspire kids to love reading and achieve more. He is the author of nine books, including Readers for Life: The Ultimate Reading Fitness Guide (Heinemann, 2006). A father of three and professor in the Teacher Education Department at California State University-Dominguez Hills, he is the founder of The Lazy Readers’ Book Club, www.lazyreaders.com, Google’s #1-ranked site for cool, “short book recommendations” for all ages. Watch video tips and learn more from Danny at www.dannybrassell.com.