AuthorJam: Julie Vivas

Picture from: The Nativity

Julie Vivas, renowned Australian illustrator, has a long list of books that use lively watercolor art work.   The Nativity, Viva's renowned Christmas book, is my favorite by far. The captivating illustrations bring the amazing Christmas story to life while the Bible verse text educates children on the true meaning of Christmas.  Like many of Viva's books, this book is published in both English and Spanish.

Whatever you celebrate this December, KinderJam wishes you the very best for you and your children. May the new year bring you happiness, adventure and happy memories.

ArtJam: Craft with your Kids

Art, and exposure to art materials, is very important for child development.  That is why all quality childcare centers offer some type of daily art activity and allow children access to numerous art materials for most of the day.  

While at daycare, a teacher may sit with a student and observe her free art creations or instruct the child how to preform a particular skill.  Creating time and space at home to craft with your child is one way to establish yourself as your child’s first and best teacher.

Consider approaching home art projects like a teacher would.  For instance, a teacher's training includes observing, modeling and encouraging your child.  Keeping these three teaching techniques in mind during home projects will enrich the experience for your little artist.

 Before starting a particular project,  observe what your little one can do on her own. You may want to record what you see by writing what she can do in a note book, take a video, picture or simply make a mental note when you notice she has attempted or mastered a new skill (like cutting on a line, writing her name or squeezing the glue bottle without help).

After observing,  try modeling a skill that you know she has not mastered.  Preform the skill yourself so she can copy you. For example, cutting on a line, writing letters and words or making play dough balls are all skills that a child may not learn on her own and could learn by watching someone else preform these tasks.  If you are ready to start a project with an end product in mind, like a Holiday gift, be sure to show your child a picture or a sample before starting.  This form of modeling will help to plan out the project and learn how small parts come together to make a whole, like cutting eyes and then gluing them to a snowman's face.

During any craft activity, especially open ended art, it’s important to encourage your child to think creatively, attempt new skills and ask open ended questions.  For example, ask questions like, “Tell me the story of this picture,” instead of, “What is that?" 

Early childhood educators agree that the process of art, and not the product is the most important and educationally beneficial approach to crafting with young children.  This phrase is commonly used in the early educational field and simply means that what ever your child ends up doing is not nearly as important as what she did to accomplish it.  Cutting on a line with scissors, deciding what sticker goes where, rolling play dough to represent an object are all milestone skills that are not reflected in the end product, not matter what it looks like.  

Always remember, the most important part of crafting with your child isn’t the practicing of skills or the art you will produce.  It is the time you spend together.  By spending time crafting together, you are spending time getting to know your child and creating memories.  This time of year is a great time to craft and make traditions.  Visit KinderJam’s Facebook page if your looking for art ideas to do with your child and make sure to have a fun time doing it.

MathJam: Domino Games the Whole Family Can Play

Domino's: Fun for the whole family! 

Does your family have a hard time finding a game everyone can play?  Have no fear. Dominos are here!  Of course, you can always play a traditional game of Domino's, but depending on your children's age range, some of your kids could enjoy the game, and some of them could end up chewing on the bones.  With the following adaptions, your family could be spending your next Friday night playing a lively game of Math'minos.

Basic Rules to Math'minos: 

Each player receives 10 dominos, or enough for everyone to have an equal amount with some still left in the middle. Set a timer. The time may very depending on your child's abilities.  Start with the standard 1 minute and adjust to your family's desire. Each player completes their age appropriate task during the time given.  If a player completes her tasks before the clock runs out, she may trade for new dominos from the center.  After the buzzer goes off, the player with the most completed tasks wins the round.  Continue the game for as long as you are having fun.

Here are some examples of Age Appropriate Tasks:

Toddlers

Stacking and Lining: 

Children as young as 8 months love stacking blocks. Babies can stack dominos on top of each other like a tower. As your young one grows, she can line up the blocks next to each other.  Two year olds will enjoy counting as they stack, and may even like watching the dominos fall.

Preschoolers

Each player preschool level and above should have a writing tool (crayon and paper or wipe board and marker).   If your child can’t complete these suggested tasks on her own but is interested in attempting them, team her up with an adult or older sibling.  Or modify the tasks to your child's abilities.

Counting and writing numbers.

One to one counting is a developmental milestone for young learners. So is knowing when to stop counting and remembering which dots have already been counted.  Writing the corresponding number that is represented on the domino is yet a 3rd skill that can be practiced during this game. 

Kindergarteners

Making a math sentences

Each domino has two numbers represented. A domino with 2 dots in one square and 5 dots in the other can be written out as 2+5=7. This is a Math sentence.  Remember, every math sentence can be written 2 ways as addition and 2 ways as subtraction!  *Older children can write multiplication and division sentences.

Elementary and beyond

Writing opposite problems

Use the numbers represented on the domino's to write an addition problem and a subtraction problem.  Using the same numbers to make both an addition and subtraction problem is making opposite problems. It is also a pre algebra skill.

10’s place and 1’s place 

Instead of treating each square of the domino as 2 separate numbers, treat them as parts of a double digit number.  Before picking the dominos, your child should draw the 10's and the 1's space charts on her paper.  When the timer starts, your child should write the digits represented on the domino in the chart on her paper, then show what number that will create.  

Each domino can represent two 2 digit numbers.

Adding and Subtracting 2 Digit Numbers

Pick 2 dominos at a time to create math problems using 2 digit numbers.  Encourage both adding and subtracting.

As any elementary school teacher will tell you, the greatest challenge in teaching math is making it fun.  You can foster your child’s love of Math at home. Always remember that you are your child’s first and best teacher and that learning begins at home.

LibraryJam: Picking books for Native American Heritage Month.

November is Native American Heritage Month

While you're visiting your local library this month, please keep in mind that November is Native American History Month.  Some  great books to look for are; Remember Me: Tomah Joseph's Gift to Franklin Roosevelt by Donald Soctomah, Jean Flahive; Muwin and the Magic Hare by Susan Hand Shetterly and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie DePaola.  A more through list of books depicting the many Native American cultures can be found at The Children’s Literature Network.  

Visit www.oyate.com if you have any concerns in picking a culturally appropriate book for your little ones. This thorough web site is a wonderful resource to visit.  The Books to Avoid tab does not list titles for you to boycott, but instead lists a series of questions to ask yourself, encouraging you to critically think about the literature you choose to share with your children.  

For adult reading, the website contains a First Thanksgiving Myth and Facts page.  This knowledge can help you to orally edit any books your child comes across regarding the common American story and the national holiday.

For Americans, November is a time of giving thanks. It is an opportunity for us as parents to teach gratitude for what we have and to appreciate the sacrifices of those who came before us.  We at KinderJam hope you and your family have a safe and healthy Thanksgiving!

BabyJam: Get creative with Tummy Time.

Tummy time is Fun time!

Many new parents struggle with tummy time.  The importance of tummy time is reported by doctors, baby blogs and media, however, putting baby on his tummy while he cries for 5 or more minutes is more than most new mommies can handle.

Prior generations put new born babies on their tummies to sleep, providing 8 or more daily hours of time on the stomach.  After the American Academy of Pediatrics began the Back to Sleep campaign in 1994, which decreased the incidence of SIDS by 50%, pediatricians noticed delays in American babies’ development. 

About the same time the Back to Sleep campaign began, products became widely available to the consumer such as the car seat travel system and portable baby swing.  These products are now common place in the American house hold because of their convenience .  Due to these new products and the Back to Sleep campaign, babies spent more and more time, not only on their backs, but also in a contoured position, restricting muscle movement.

Consequently, many babies experienced delays in reaching major milestones such as holding up her head, and pushing up with arms.  These milestones are so important because they are prerequisites to crawling, tracking and other brain and motor developing experiences.  It is vital that babies experience time on their tummies where they can explore and practice using their muscles and coordination.  

The term “tummy time” was created to encourage parents to provide free movement playtime on the stomach for baby.  Tummy time is meant to be fun exploration time, but for many babies, tummy time feels like torture time.  You can make tummy time more fun for baby by adding some creative changes your baby might like.

Lying on your back and cuddling with baby tummy to tummy, especially during the new born stages, provides the same opportunities for muscular exploration that it would if baby were on a mat on the floor.  Add baby message as a part of your daily routine to add extra time on babies tummy.  As baby grows, add tummy time games like airplane, sing songs or make silly faces while baby is on your knees or in your arms, making tummy time bonding time for your and baby.  

Recording Your Child's Play with a Purpose

Do you have seemingly endless footage of video and pictures of your children?  Baby’s day out, things they have built using blocks, how messy they have gotten using paints?  Most parents do.  And since the common use of digital cameras, hand held devices and smart phones, these images are taken more frequently and shared more readily than ever before.

Early Childhood teachers have begun using such media as a form of recording observations.  Many quality care programs require teachers to observe and document children’s progress in the classroom.  In some cases, these observations are used to plan lessons and pick units of study.

As parents, we should think of videoing and photographing our children’s play the way early childhood educators do. Ideally, the parent records the child without their knowledge, or videoing becomes so common place that it does not disturb the play.  For proper documentation, the parent should record the process of what the child is doing, and not the product.  For example, recording your child while she colors, including the words she uses when she asks for crayons, if she holds the crayon in a fist or pencil style, uses her right or left hand, and recording what she says about her picture while she draws, will tell you so much more about her thinking process and physical development than just asking her to hold up her finished product and say “Cheese!”

There are a variety of ways you can use your new recordings besides keeping them as precious mementos.  First, you can create a blog of your child to share with far away grandparents or your deployed spouse and to also organize your observations.  Second, you can show your children your observations allowing them to see how they have grown and developed over time, or even to help them master a current skill.  This comes in handy when for instance, you are teaching your child how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle and he insists the bike is tipping for no reason.  Showing him a video of himself leaning to one side gives him a chance to see how he can correct his movements and assist in his learning process.

Finally, and most importantly, you can use your new documenting skills when speaking to professionals about your child’s development.  It can be difficult to explain concerns you have about your child, especially if you do not fully understand the behaviors you are concerned about.  But showing documentation you have recorded over time regarding your child’s development will make your discussion with a professional more efficient and make you a better advocate for your child.

KinderJam’s philosophy is that parents are child’s first and best teacher.  Thinking like an early childhood educator will benefit your child and better prepare you for the times you will have to advocate for your little one.  Plus, having extra video of your child’s growth will give you something to watch when he’s a teen ager!

What to Do About Separation Anxiety

http://life2getherblog.com/2010/09/16/on-separation-anxiety/

Separation Anxiety is what your baby may be experiencing if she suddenly begins crying when you leave the room.  This phenomenon, common among children ages 10  to 18 months, correlates with your baby's achievement of the object permanence milestone.

First observed by Jean Piaget, object permanence is when a young infant realizes that an object currently out of view has not disappeared and therefore can be searched for. There are many stages to this milestone.  Your child is showing signs of object permanence when she is interested in games like Peek-A-Boo, Jack-in-the-Box and dropping a ball down a tube.

As exciting as it is to know your young one is reaching milestones, separation anxiety is stressful for parent as well as baby.  There are a number of things you can do to ease the anxiety, such as staying close to baby, leaving baby with a well known caregiver and transitioning her into childcare by taking frequent visits to the facility before your first big day.

When your child shows signs of anxiety, it is very important that you do not sneak out of the room.  This seems to be the easiest fix however, it is counter productive in that it enforces your babies misconception that you have disappeared.  Eventually, your baby will learn that Mommy and Daddy always come back and she is in good hands until you return.  Separation Anxiety is considered a normal stage of development and most children pass this stage by 24 months.

But what to do when the parent is the one with the separation anxiety?  For many mommies, leaving baby behind is a kin to leaving an arm with someone while going out to get some fresh air.  Many adults do not understand this feeling and give advice like, "Leaving the baby is good for her and you," or the not so helpful, "She's in good hands, go relax and have fun."  Separation anxiety in mothers can cause physical symptoms such as shortness of breath and agitation.  Some mothers even report hearing baby cries, making the goal of relaxing very difficult.

No matter what anyone tells you, remember that you are the parent and therefore you know what is best for your child.  If anxiety in either you or your child is causing unwanted stress in your family, it is not "good" to be unnecessarily separated.  This stage will not last forever, in either you or your child, so if staying close to baby is right for you right now, then by all means, cuddle away.

However, if your goal is to have anxiety free outings away from baby, and especially if your goal is to go back to a full time job outside the home, be sure to easy your way into it.  If your or your baby's anxiety is sever enough, you may have to start with a 10 minute walk around the block as a type of dress rehearsal for the big day out.  Ideally, leave baby with a permeant care giver like a grandparent or the babysitter you plan on using for longer outings (leaving your baby with your spouse will not help your anxiety if your goal includes having a date night).  As the anxiety decreases and your able to leave for longer periods of time, plan on doing something you can't do with baby in toe like going dancing with your spouse, taking a Zumba class or getting a massage.

Young childhood will go by so quickly.  Soon your baby will barely hug you in public let alone scream when you leave the room.  Have peace that this phase will pass and be sure to make the most of the time you spend with your little one!

ScienceJam: Bones

Skeletons! They are more than silly Halloween decorations. They are Science! If you celebrate Halloween or not, the overwhelming presents of skeletons around your Exchange, neighborhood or school can be a great opener to discovering Human Anatomy with your young learner.

Children are natural scientists.  They are programed to be curious and discover through play and daily observations.  To “show” your child the bones inside of him, take a moment to examine a paper skeleton you see while walking around.  Have him squeeze his arms, legs or face and ask if he feels something hard.  Explain that the skeleton is what we all look like under our skin.  If your child is interested in the discussion, go on to explain the squishy parts are our muscles and you can even introduce the vocabulary word, “cartilage” by squishing noses and comparing that feeling to the stiffness of bones and the squishy feeling of muscles.

Search the Usborne book site for some great nonfiction books about the human body.  If you feel these books are to high content for your child, try a puzzle.  Both Melissa and Doug and Learning Resources have great floor puzzles for the curious young mind.

Finally, culminate your Halloween home lesson with handmade decorations for the holiday. Check out Family Fun Crafts for some great idea.  Or, for more scientific study about bones, go to Science Kids for games and activities.

AuthorJam: Tomie dePaola

In honor of Halloween, this AuthorJam is dedicated to the creator of my favorite witch, Strega Nona.  The Strega Nona books are a series about “Grandma Witch” a local healer in a small Italian village.  This lovable character brings traditional customs, Italian language and elderly wisdom to American youth through the writings and distinctive illustrations of Tomie dePaola. 

Tomie dePaola is an American children’s writer with Italian and Irish ancestry,  who dreamed of becoming an artist at the age of 4.  He has illustrated over 200 books for children starting with the scientific book Sound in 1965.  These books include board books and Nursery Rhymes for babies, religious, cultural and fantasy picture stories for young readers and autobiographical chapter books for elementary age children.

The artist credits his family for encouraging his talent.  Reading to him at a young age, giving him art supplies as gifts and even converting half the family playroom into his art studio were all supportive ways his extended family helped him to be one of the most recognized illustrators in children’s literature.

About reading, Tomie says that, “reading is the most important thing a parent can do for their child, besides feeding them.”  He goes on to state that parents should read to children as soon as possible and allow them time to observe the illustrations.  He believes that when parents read to their children, there should be physical contact such as sitting on the lap, and that complex stories are the most motivating ways to encourage reading.

For more information about dePaola and access to his work, visit the Tomie dePaola page on amazon.

In this month of goblins and ghosts, remember the words of my favorite witch,

 "You must blow three kisses and the pot will stop.  For that is the Ingrediente Segreto, Love. . . It is the same with all your magic. Always Love!”

Using Environmental Print in Your Teachable Moments

“S-T-O-P spells Stop!”  Repeating this sentence every time you pass a stop sign will help your children learn the rules of the road, and help to create a teachable moment.  Eventually, when your child sees the sign and recites the sentence, you will have your chance to point out the letters, practice the sounds separately and possibly even pick you little one up to touch each letter.  Expanding his learning in this way will allow your child to fully experience the letters and sounds in meaningful way.

Environmental Print is the practical application of print in a child’s daily life.  It is the logos and the street signs  children see each day. This is not reading in the sense that your 2 year old could recognize each letter individually and sound them out. But it is emergent reading because your child is recognizing the picture and associating words with the letters that make that picture.

Use KinderJam’s environmental print scavenger hunt to see just how much environmental print your child can already "read".  What can your child recognize just from the logos on the page?  If the logos used here are not regular occurrences in your daily life, make your own poster at home using wrappers and pictures of things you come across often.  Make sure the whole word is on the wrapper (example: The word Boston Red Sox and not just the trademark B) so the child gets used to seeing the entire word.

After getting into the habit of pointing out print in your daily life such as observing stop signs and over pronouncing the J in Jamba Juice, your child will be ready to learn more. 

Here are some ideas:

When you come across an S while reading a book, say to your child, “That is the same letter on the stop sign! What letter is that?”  

You can cut out all the J’s from the used Jamba Juice cups and glue them on a paper.  You and your child can think of words that start with J and write those words on the page, using the cut out J’s as the first letter.  Make up a tongue twister or use random words.

As your child’s reading skills grow, cut out the letters from logos in chunks or individually.  Use the CH from a Cheerios box and the IN from a Wheat Thins to spell a new word.  

Encouraging reading in daily life is a great way to bring letters and their sounds to life.  Happy Reading!

Using Technology to Keep in Touch

Family separations are never easy. Unfortunately, they are a regular part of military life. Be it deployment related or living 3 time zones away from the closest relative, military kids know the heart ache of long distance relationships.

In the recent years, technology has made many gains that military families greatly benefit from. Here are a few ways you, your little ones and your loved ones can keep in touch using these new advances:

1. Skype and FaceTime:

My favorite use of Skype was watching a Dad participate in a KinderJam birthday party while on deployment in Afghanastan.  Thanks to his wife's iPhone 4, he could watch his little girl Tooty-Ta and she could hand clap while he Woo-Hoo-ed.

Bringing a wifi accessible tablet like an iPad to KinderJam classes, the dinner table or even the first day of school, will allow grandparents and other relatives to meaningfully participate in the lives of your children.

Some go-to Skype conversations we commonly use in our house are: 

A) What was your favorite part of the day?

B) A game called, "I'm thinking of an animal." One person thinks of an animal and everyone  
     else has to guess.

C) How big is the plant? One family planted seeds the day Mommy deployed.  During
     FaceTime conversations, the children showed mom how big the plant was getting while
     she was gone. That way, the kids always had something to talk about with Mom.

2.Video Emails

Because of strenuous work schedules and varying time differences, we can't always Skype when Dad is away. When this happens, I take short messages of the kids during daily activities or special events and email them to our service member. He sends us messages just to say hi and has a special message for each kid (and me).

3. DrawSomething and other drawing apps

My kids love to Play DrawSomething with their aunt. My oldest really tries to guess and create pictures with accuracy. My youngest just likes to make circles. Either way, my sister loves playing and seeing what the kids do. And we all huddle around the iPad to see what she draws.

There are other drawing apps like Doodle Buddy, that allow you to email your drawings to others and apps that let you decorate and email family pictures like Disney's Totally Tangled. 

4. Pre deployment videos:

These are nothing new. Videos of parents reading books before leaving home are a staple of pre deployment preparedness. With recent advances in built in cameras, personal videos are easy to record on a laptop, smartphone or tablet. 

Because of its recent incline in popularity, the video message isn't just for deploying active duty anymore.  One mother recorded grandparents blowing kisses to her baby.  She showed baby the messages over and over and when they were reunited, mother reported that her little one did not show the stranger anxiety that is common for one year olds around new adults.

5.  Record-your-voice toys:

Personalized dolls and toys are more accessible now as well. Hallmark carries recordable books that allow people to record themselves reading.  The book plays the recording as the child turns the page and the reader can add personal messages to the child.

You can also order a personalized BuildABear using a "say it with sound" chip.  These chips can even be ordered over the internet. The person making the recording just needs to call in the special message.

These recent advances in technology have been nothing short of a miracle for the separated family.  Creating strong bonds with the important adults in a child's life is curial for later development in self esteem, social emotional well being and academic success.  For the child, keeping in touch with family members brings a smile to their face and memories in their hearts.  And that deserves a big Woo-Hoo!http://imgur.com/gallery/PjtBd

Play, Learning and Intentionality

Play is the fundamental way children learn, but it is not automatic.  Play itself is learned.  Young children observe others, such as siblings, neighbors or classmates. In the absence of playmates, children rely on adults for opportunities to interact with the world.  This observation, made by Deborah Leong, professor of Emertia of Psychology at Metropolitan State College in Denver,  is illustrated when a younger sibling attempts skills the older sibling just acquired.  Similarly, the parent who reports, “He doesn’t really know how to play with other kids.  He spends most of his time with us.”

So now that you know your child has his little scientist glasses on, observing you and others around him, making sense of the world and how to interact in it, how will you fill your day?  What opportunities for learning will you introduce in your child’s play?

Of course, many sources discuss “teachable moments.”  These are the times when your child is quiet and interested in what you have to say.  When you can pour knowledge directly onto your little one’s sponge of a brain.  Moments like these are found at the grocery store when a child asks, “Where does milk come from?” and you can actually answer him because he is sitting in the cart, attending to your every word. 

But you can’t count on teachable moments to appear out of no where.  What if they never come? What if I’m changing the baby’s diaper the moment my daughter wants to discuss quantum physics?  As parents, we must plan for teachable moments.  The National Association of the Education of Young Children refers to intentionality as the processes in which the teacher sets up her environment, curriculum, schedule and playtime with the intentions of instructing a particular topic.

When using intentionality in your parenting, children will of course take the lessons beyond what you had planned. That is the marvel of the creative mind.  An example of intentionality is when a parent takes her child to KinderJam.  You intend that the KJ class will include letters and numbers in an exciting way.  You are prepared to help your child count the 5 monkeys on his finger and to search letters on a letter mat.  The teachable moment  is when, for the first time, your child finds the letter G and says, “G is for Grandma.” You will be there to add, “That’s right! G has 2 sounds.  G in Grandma and G in Giraffe.  Do you remember going to the zoo and seeing a giraffe with Grandma?”  

Always remember that you are your child’s first and best teacher.  The bond you have with your little one qualifies you in a unique way to customize every learning opportunity just for her.  Treat playtime as learning time and have as much of it as possible!  

Use Kinesthetic Learning to Improve Behavior

Is your young child a kinesthetic learner? If he learns by doing, then the answer is yes.  Have you ever considered utilizing this learning method when your child misbehaves?

Here are some examples:

Listening

Instead of saying, “Listen to me,” tell your child to “turn your listening ears on” and motion for her to touch her ears and pretend to turn a volume dial up.  If you need to redirect her again, consider handing her pretend batteries, or pull invisible listening ears out of your pocket and tell her, “your listening ears need an upgrade.”

Whining

Next time your child starts to whine, direct him to “take the whine out of your mouth.” Encourage him to put his hand to his mouth and make a spitting motion with his mouth.  At this point I usually ask my child to put the whine in a trash can,  throw it out the window or even drop-kick it “out of the park”.  This can also work for naughty or unkind words.

Using words
Try pretending to hand a bag of words to your child if the common phrase, “use her words,” doesn't work.  Tell her, “Pull the word please out of the word bag,” then encourage her to swallow or pretend to chew it.

Rough touch

If your child has a problem being rough with his peers, hand him imaginary “gentle touch gloves.” Help him to put the gloves on.  Similarly, “sharing gloves” can help remind a child not to grab from others.

A tactile method of child rearing will usually bring a smile to your child’s face (and yours). It engages a child’s imagination and gives the little one a physical understanding of abstract behavior concepts that are otherwise difficult for young children to grasp.

Discipling and redirecting children is not the fun part of parenting.  However, engaging a child tactily can help elevate some stress and provide the child with tools for success.  And that deserves a big Woo-Hoo!

Potty Training: There's an App for That!

Potty training: There’s an app for that.  Several apps to be exact, ranging in price and content.  For instance, Elmo’s Potty Time book is available as an interactive ebook for ipad and iphone and so is the renowned book, “Once Upon a Potty" for boys or girls.  

The market is saturated with products for parents ready to potty train their child.  Take a quick trip to Amazon and search  “potty seats" to see what I mean.  You can buy a custom made potty throne complete with book shelves and a toilet paper roll holder in queen or king style. There are port-a-potty seats and seats for the youngest of babies.

Parents have plenty of motivating factors that drive them to begin potty training their child. The cost of diapers, big boy poops and diaper rashes are just a few off the top of my head.  Whatever your reason for wanting to potty train your child, you are not alone.

Sadly however, it is not the parent who needs the motivation in this endeavor.  No matter how much we plead, beg or bribe, we parents cannot force our child to go potty. If they are not ready for it, we will have to accept that.  

Desire to use the toilet has nothing to do with developmental readiness, or cognitive skills.  You may have a completely independent and capable preschooler with fantastic verbal skills who considers the potty an interruption of her play time. Or, you may have a 1 year old who watches older siblings and insists that he no longer has need of a diaper, but does not understand why he's wet when he pees in underwear.  If you have concerns that your child's potty training motivation is not age appropriate, by all means, ask your pediatrician.  Most likely, you will be told, “some kids want to use it, others don’t.”  

Yes, there are lengthy debates over rewarding children for using the potty and what age is appropriate to introduce the toilet.  I wish I could hand you the perfect answer in this short blog post.  However, if I knew the secret that made all children want to use the bathroom instead of a diaper, I would be a millionaire.  The only advice I can give is what my grandmother passed on to my mom, “Hardly anyone walks down the aisle not knowing how to use the toilet.”  

With that in mind, be supportive of your child’s accomplishments, and don’t get to disappointed over the accidents.  Make the potty as cool and as exciting as you can possibly make it.  Read plenty of books and yes, even apps, about the potty and be sure to talk about it when you can.  Eventually, your child will become motivated to use the toilet consistently and when he does, be sure to give him a big Woo-Hoo from his friends at KinderJam!

AuthorJam: Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Peter Rabbit is arguably the most recognized children’s book of all time.  Beatrix Potter’s illustrations of a well dressed, mischievious rabbit has been loved by genrations of children since it’s first publication in 1902.  The story still holds the attention of young readers and the high vocabulary and sentence structure found in Potter’s books is hard to come by in children’s literature these days.

Beatrix Potter published 23 books made for young children.  Jemimma Puddle Duck, Tom Kitten, Benjamin Bunny and Squirrel Nutkin are just a few delightful characters in Potter’s collection. A website dedicated to her work: http://www.peterrabbit.com/us, is currently celebrating 110 years of Peter Rabbit.  The website is a fantastic resoures for children of all ages and includes games, printable coloring sheets, a timeline of Beatrix Potter’s extrodinary life and information on the new ebook, The Further Tales of Peter Rabbit (coming on September 18).

Search iTunes to find a handful of apps involving the naughty bunny and his associates.  You will  find that PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Loud Crow Interactive Inc. is a pricey but precious ebook for ipad and iphone.  In the app, the story is read out loud, while your youngster can play with the illustrations, pulling tabs to see the picture move and tapping on characters to watch them wiggle. Another company, Poppin Games, LLC is offering their normally $2.99 app for free as a promotion to celebrate the 600,000 download until September 30. This app features the story of Peter Rabbit as well as games. A free ebook of The Tale of Tom Kitten is available as well as the Tale of Ms. Moppet. 

As a centry of classic tales enters into the cyber world of apps and downloads, be sure to take time with your child to introduce Potter’s beloved characters.  Be it ebook or the old fashioned paper kind, you can share a part of your childhood with the next generation through reading.  Who knows, given enough practice, your child can introduce the Peter Rabbit app to Grandma! 

Chore Jam

During my husband’s first deployment, it took about 2 days of listening to my kids say things like, “Mommy, you're vacuuming too loud. I can’t hear the TV,” before I created our first chore chart.  I have tried numerous types of charts, rewards and consequences since that first I’ve-had-enough moment, changing the system to adjust to my growing children and our family’s needs.

Even if you have very young children, pitching in around the house is an important lesson for kids to learn. If your child can walk and understand simple sentences, then he can throw trash away.  When milk is spilled, hand your toddler a towel and encourage her to help wipe it up.  Keep a spray bottle filled with water or home made cleaning solution so your 2 1/2 year old can wipe down the table after meals.  Teach your preschoolers how to fold towels and allow her to help with the laundry.  You will be able to judge what your child can do and what type of chores you are willing relinquish control over.  As I had to explain to my husband when he got back from deployment, “If you can’t find where the forks are, it’s because our 5 year old empties the dishwasher now.”

 If your child is having difficulty completing a chore you have given her, make sure the task is age appropriate, and that you have properly explained how to do it.  Some complaining is natural, because rarely does anyone want to do chores.  After  establishing a chore system where every child has something to do, eventually the complaining should subside. If whining does not demising in time you can add “complete chores without whining” as part of a reward system.  

Check out these ideas for chore systems:

Make a chore book for each child.

Make a list of chores with money amounts for children to earn.

Let your child pick a chore from the jar. That way you're not nagging them to do it, the jar is.

Buy a wipe board chore chart or make one of your own.

Children who do chores are independent, responsible and better citizens.  It might not be something they like to do, but it is something that they will benefit from.  Completing chores goes beyond kindergarten readiness skills, they prepare your child for real world tasks through out their lives.

BabyWearing in KinderJam

Everywhere I go, more and more parents are using baby carriers; at the grocery store, at the playground, even during KinderJam classes. Especially for parents of more than one child, carriers help mom or dad keep up with their toddler or preschooler while still tending to the needs of baby. The use of Baby Carriers, or “Baby Wearing” has been making parent's lives easier for generations, and is making a triumphant return to mainstream America.  

There are many benefits to Baby Wearing.  Strollers can be clumsy, especially if you live in a city or frequent rough terrain areas like cross country hiking or the beach.  Many babies enjoy being held, however this can cause muscle fatigue for parents.  Although your oldest may love her baby sister, toddlers do not always have an appropriate sense of safety, making mommy or daddy's arms the safest spot in the house for baby.  There is research that suggests Baby Wearing supports bonding between parent and baby, and that small infants will feel more comfortable closer to Mommy’s heart beat during the first few month of life.

A google search for Baby Wearing, or Baby Carriers, will lend an overwhelming amount of information, both mainstream and not so mainstream.  Some sites are so dedicated to Baby Wearing, they leave the average parent feeling guilty for owning a stroller at all.  There is also an eclectic collection of baby carriers on the market, ranging in price, weight restriction and ways to hold baby.  

If you are new to carriers or the concept of Baby Wearing, check out BabyWearing International as a good resource to help you find the carrier that is right for you.  This information should help explain why some carriers are so much more expensive than others, why some carriers can be used on the front and back, and help you decide what types are best for you. 

 For instance, consider the simple diagram above when selecting a carrier to maximize your child's comfort and support.  As you can see, the carrier on the right supports baby's hips, simulating the "sitting on hips" position that many parents use naturally.  The carrier on the left, may be less expensive, but will not be as comfortable for baby,  diminishing your caring experience and may increase fussiness in baby.

If you choose BabyWearing or just holding your baby in arms, be sure to enjoy this time you have with your little one.  Give as many smiles and kisses as you can because soon enough he will be Jammin on his own!