KinderJam® is a fun, exciting, and high-energy Music and Movement program that emphasizes the kinesthetic and tactile learning of pre-academic skills and concepts while promoting positive parent engagement. Our classes are taught in a Parent and Me format and designed to enrich children from birth to Kindergarten entry. KinderJam® focuses on introducing and reinforcing basic pre-academic skills in a spirited manner that will capture and hold a little one's attention from beginning to end.
El Brown, the creator of KinderJam® , is a wife, mother, and teacher, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education. Prior to leaving the traditional classroom setting, El served as an Elementary and Early Childhood Educator in both the United States and on military installations in Yokosuka, Japan and Seoul, South Korea, for nearly a decade. While serving Military students in Korea, she met and married a Soldier. Some years later, her life was further enriched by the birth of her son. After becoming a Military spouse and mom, El made it her personal and professional goal to advocate and provide enrichment for Early Childhood Education and Military children. Being an Army wife, El understands the unique needs of families that proudly serve our country. With this knowledge she sought to develop a program that would empower military spouses by providing them with a completely mobile career option while enriching the lives of the young learners in our community.
In my family, we love to read! Everyday after school, My son and I read together...it's our special cuddle time. He is currently in love with Eric Litwin's Pete the Cat series...particularly I Love My White Shoes and Rocking in My School Shoes.
Recently while out, my son saw a big kid playing with a tiny robot. He was so excited about the robot that I promised him I would find the robot and purchase it on line. Well...I found the robot on Amazon. While shopping on Amazon, (one of my ABSOLUTE favorite pastimes) I decided to order Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. My good friend, the UPS man delivered them both today! I opened up the package and placed the book and the robot on a shelf in the foyer to greet my little man when he walked through the door from school.
When he and my husband came through the the door, I heard "WOW", "Awesome", "Yes!", and squeals of delight!!! I thought to myself..."Oh, he found his robot." ....BUT when he walked into the family room...he was holding THE BOOK!!!!!! #winning! The robot remains unopened in the foyer...and my baby just walked out the door to run errands with his dad with his Pete the Cat book in hand (insert "Proud Mama" smile here)!
El Brown, third from right, founder of the KinderJam program in
Monterey, joins a parachute game with KinderJam instructor Suzanna Vik,
standing at right, and her class of youngsters and moms at Hilltop
Community Center in Monterey. (DAVID ROYAL/The Herald)
Military mom's KinderJam program a hit in 5 countries
El Brown nominated for spouse of year
By CLAUDIA MELÉNDEZ SALINAS
Herald Staff Writer
With her family unit intact, military wife and stay-at-home mom El Brown didn't notice anything amiss with her 17-month-old son: He was playful, active, energetic.
Then her husband was deployed to Iraq in 2008. A month later, she noticed Ricky II, as she calls her son, wasn't even making attempts to utter words.
"We were on a play date, and the little ones would say words like 'juice,' 'please' and Ricky II wasn't even making any attempts to speak or mimic the words I was saying," Brown, 36, said. "And it was just me and my baby. This just can't be happening. I had nobody to bounce any ideas off. It was a rough time."
Eventually, Brown's professional training as an educator kicked in and she realized Ricky II — eventually diagnosed with a form of autism — may have a special way of learning. Because he was an active child, Brown began teaching him words with music and pantomime.
And KinderJam was born.
Brown, founder of the interactive program for preschoolers, was nominated for 2012 Military Spouse of the Year, an international competition organized by Military Spouse Magazine.
It is a crowded field. There are five candidates per branch of the armed forces: Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy, National Guard and Coast Guard. Candidates are nominated based on their commitment to help military families and the winner is the person who garners the most online votes.
Brown, a Monterey-area resident since 2006, is excited about the possibility of winning the contest as a tool to promote early childhood education.
"I've been working with 1,700 families here, but with this title I could have an in with other bases. It would open doors," she said. "Monterey is a very small military community. I could branch out to Fort Bragg or San Diego, where they have a large military population."
At first glance, KinderJam may seem like just fun exercise for tots — the program promotes "learning by playing and wiggling," according to its website.
But Brown sees it as a vehicle to empower parents. Not only are they their children's first teacher, but for military families on the move, parents are the constant in their lives. And it is important they know the educational vernacular so they can communicate with teachers and other educational experts.
"Although we love our children and we need to celebrate them, we also need to have information in our head" that will click if something isn't right, Brown said.
Born and raised in Florida, Brown earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Florida A&M University. She was teaching in the Atlanta public school system when she was recruited to teach at a U.S. naval base in Japan — which gave her a glimpse into what children in military families need. In Korea, her next assignment, she met Ricky Brown, the Army soldier who would be her husband.
"We were only engaged 12 days," Brown said. "He proposed and we found out he was going to Iraq."
With her husband's deployment, she began moving around as well. She moved to Colorado and Oklahoma, and eventually landed in Monterey, when her husband came to study at the Naval Postgraduate School.
It was a month after her husband returned to Iraq that Brown noticed their son wasn't attempting to communicate.
"Although I'm a mom, I'm also an educator. When my son started not meeting his benchmarks, I knew from my prior training something wasn't right," she said.
Brown began using exaggerated gestures and growls to impersonate animals. Then she would say the word: Lion. Bear. Ricky began using simple words.
She discovered "he can use words," she said. "I just have to make it interactive."
Later, Ricky II was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
At a play date, one of the mothers suggested Brown start a class for military families. Soon, civilians started trying to "sneak" into her classes, Brown said. When families began to be deployed, mothers inquired: How did I start a KinderJam where I'm going? Where do I sign up to learn how to lead a KinderJam?
"Now we have 15 classes in five countries," a beaming Brown said. "Thailand, Japan, Turkey, Singapore and the U.S."
Cathy Nyznyk, director of the Monterey Peninsula College Child Development Center, has known Brown as a student, parent and educator, and calls her a "natural."
"The child's learning is very visible to her," Nyznyk said. "She has a natural ability to hone in on what situation is going on with children."
KinderJam "is lively, it's fun," she said. "We want children to feel good about their bodies. With childhood obesity (so prevalent), we want them to move more."
After a three-year stint as an operations research analyst at NPS, Maj. Rick Brown is being reassigned to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, so the family is leaving in a few weeks. It will be bittersweet, El Brown said, because they have family back east but Monterey feels like home.
"Ricky II was born at CHOMP. This is where I started my business," she said. "It will always be a special place."
Make brushing teeth and going to the dentist fun for your kids!
Healthy oral care habits start with daily brushing as a child. LoveYourTeeth.net provides a fun, free, and non-commercial teeth brushing chart for anyone to use to help motivate children to have good brushing habits. By clicking on one of the links below you are taken to a page where you can print a customized brushing chart that is more than just a traditional behavior chart. Children can track their progress every day on their special chart, all the while working towards completing the chart and winning a "prize". The greatest prize of course, is healthy teeth and a solid foundation for a lifetime of wellness. You can see it in action at http://www.loveyourteeth.net
Help your child measure 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of honey or corn syrup, 1 cup of powdered milk, and 1 cup of oatmeal
Once the ingredients are measured, help your child combine them in a large bowl. As he works with the ingredient, talk about how they are changing as he mixes them. This is hard work!
Once the mix is dough-like he can spoon out some of the play dough and mix it using his hands an fingers. Ask him if it is sticky. If the answer is yes, add small amounts of oatmeal and powdered milk.
Encourage your child to explore the edible play dough. If desired, your child can make "snowballs" by rolling the a rounded ball of dough in coconut flakes or powdered sugar.
As he plays with the dough, remind him that it is okay to eat a little as well!
My son is fascinated by volcanoes right now. So I decided to capitalize on his interest and introduce a fun science project...making a volcano. I first went to Amazon to purchase a kit but many of the customer reviews said, "Don't spend your money. It's easy to make one at home." I searched the internet and found this cute playdough volcano activity. It was super easy and super fun! Best of all, I had all the supplies in my house!
Supplies Needed:
Tray or container(large tupperware/plastic container works well to catch lots of lava mixture after numerous eruptions)
Paper cup
Tin foil
Scissors
Playdough
Step 1.
Instructions
1. Place a paper cup on your tray and wrap tin foil around it, folding the tin foil over the rim of the cup and shaping the remainder tin foil to resemble a mountain. You may need to use 2 or 3 pieces of tin foil for easier shaping.
Steps 2 and 3.
Instructions continued
2. Roll out playdough with a rolling pin and place over tin foil. Fold playdough over rim of cup as well. You may need to use 2 or 3 sections of rolled out playdough for easier shaping.
3. Decorate your volcano with trees, animals and buildings if you wish.
Step 4.
4. Make the lava mixture:
3 tsps Baking soda
1/2 to 1 cup white vinegar
Food coloring
5. After your volcano is built, put the baking soda into the volcano paper cup. Mix the food coloring with the vinegar in a separate cup. Pour the vinegar/food coloring mixture into the volcano and watch the eruption!
Remember to have lots of lava mixture on hand as kids will want to see this again and again!
We teach our children to say "please" and "thank you" but good manners require much more than just saying the "Magic Words". Teaching your children good manners gives them lifelong survival skills and the tools to build, strengthen, and maintain relationships with others. Below are some activities you can do with your child to reinforce good manners.
1. Show your children the manners you expect at home first. The next time you eat dinner together, have your children pretend they are eating at a restaurant. How should they talk to each other? What should they say when the waiter brings their food? How do we sit in our seat? What do we do if we finish eating before the rest of the family?
2. The next time your children mentions something nice that another person did for them. Discuss how did that person's actions made them feel. Then suggest they write a thank you note to express their appreciation. A thank you notes doesn't have to be a lot of words; it can even be a picture.
3. You can write short thank you notes to your children for things they do that you appreciate.
4. Explain to your child the importance of taking turns. Practice taking turns with a favorite toy or activity. For example, if your child absolutely loves swinging, practice swinging for a prescribed amount of time then moving on the another activity, in an effort to allow another child the opportunity to swing. This will be a beneficial skill to possess on the playground, and in school yards.
5. Meetings, Greetings, and Good-byes make for a fun family game that can give your child an opportunity to practice polite ways to meet new people, greet people they know, and say good bye. With your child, role play meeting new people (peer, adult, teacher...). How do you greet a friend, relative, or pediatrician? What are some of the ways you can say goodbye after spending time with someone?
Children can benefit from learning that little acts of appreciation, caring, and respect can make others feel really good. And manners are a part of appreciating, respecting and caring for the feelings of other. Try fun learning activities and role playing at home to instill good manners in your child. Good manners start at home and spread abroad.
X,Y, Z is for Zucchini!!! Turn your next trip to the commissary or grocery store into a fun learning experience with our KinderJam Grocery Hunts. Happy Hunting!!!!
For PC: Right click on the image below and select "Print Picture".
For Mac: Right click on the image below and select "Open in New Window". Click on the image to zoom out. Then print.
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