PlayDateJam: Enjoying the Wind

March is in like a lion and out like a lamb.  With the change of seasons, many of us trade our winter wear and snow shovels for windbreakers and picnic baskets.  In many parts of the world, early spring is known for it’s windy weather, perfect for playing with pinwheels, paper airplanes and flying kites.  

Of course, flying a kite is a great way to play with the wind.  You can buy a kite or make one from scratch.  If you find yourself out at the park with no kites in sight, tie the handles of a plastic bag together on a string and viola! you have instant fun. When your out playing, you can always break into song with this verse from Mary Popins:

For more windy day fun, try bubbles. Homemade or store bought, bubbles are a sure winner.  Try chasing down a herd of bubbles, blow one at a time,  or let the wind blow your bubbles for you.  Expand your bubble wand collection by bringing a variety of kitchen and playroom tools (spatula, straw, strainer, butterfly net, wire coat hanger).  Add science to the fun by forming a hypothesis about the shape of your bubbles when using different kinds of wands.

When you’re all done your day in the wind, don’t forget to take some quiet time looking at the clouds.  Windy days are great for observing changing clouds.  No clouds in the sky?  Find some small seeds to blow into the wind.  If March is still to cold where you live to go outside, you can enjoy windy days through the world of books. Check out It looked like It Looked Like Spilt Milk, and The Tiny Seed, during your next Library trip.

AurthorJam: Dr. Seuss

Each year the National Education Association hosts Read Across America week in which thousands of our nation’s schools celebrate children’s literature.  It is a week to encourage reading, create excitement for books and it culminates on Dr. Seuss’ Birthday, March 2 (or the closest school day).

Why Dr. Seuss? Out of the thousands of children’s author’s in history, why do we pick Dr. Seuss as our national icon for reading? He wasn’t the first children’s author and illustrator to create engaging stories.  So why do we single out this one author?

Because Theodor Seuss Geisel’s books changed the concept of modern children’s literature.  

Many of us have grown up with Seuss’ playful characters: The Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, the Grinch, Thing 1 and Thing 2.  Geisel carefully created each character to spread simple yet whimsically told morals.  Seuss’ books teach important and mature themes such as responsibility, standing up for what is right, protecting those who cannot protect themselves and environmental conservation to name a few. But imagine a world without colorfully written text and nonsense rhyming words.  Imagine, if instead of seeing a Wocket in your pocket you could only see Dick and Jane run.  This is the world that Theodor Geisel changed for ever.  The Dr. Seuss revolution opened the door to the engaging, imaginative and socially relevant stories we casually read to our children every night.

So celebrate reading with your family! Even if your children do not attend school, make March 2nd a tradition in your home. Here are some simple Jammin’ ideas for your new: 

Seuss   Day  Traditions

Spend a car ride, or breakfast time rhyming real and nonsense words.

Wink while you drink pink ink, aka Lemonade. (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)

 Check out this recipe for  Green Eggs and Ham, or just add Spinach puree to your scrambled eggs.

 Plant a tree or some grass in a homemade green house after reading the Lorax.

 Make up a Tall Tale at the breakfast table like the boy in “To think that I saw it on Mulberry Street.”

 Pretend it’s Christmas in Whoville and exchange gifts (handmade books come to mind)

 Have a family Read-A-Thon.

Go to www.suessvill.com, the official Seuss site.

 Pick 10 words from the dolche sight word list and rhyme them with nonsense words.    

      Make a Seuss-inspired family book.

Create an Oh-The-Place’s-You’ll-Go PCS dream sheet! Have each family member list where they want to move Next. 
Don’t feel the need to limit your list to real bases.  Your 

     little one might want to move to Dinkerville (Hurray For Diffedoofer Day)

Learning to Read Part 3: Reading Strategies

Reading strategies are the tools children use when reading.  The more strategies an adult can teach their reader, the more independent a child can be when reading a book.  Here are a few common strategies.

Sound it out
Phonetic awareness is only one tool a new reader can use when learning to read fluently.  It is often unreliable if your child hasn't mastered phonetic rules and acceptions used in the English language.  In order to use this tool effectively when reading with your children, it is important to know what phonetic rules your child has already learned (like silent E; When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, Th, Sh and Ch, and so on).  Sound it out is most effective when reading a word that follows the most common phonetic rules such : C-A-T or J-U-M-P.


Picture Clues
Using illustrations to understand words is very useful and increases a child's reading comprehension and fluency.  When your child gets stuck on a word or sentence, instruct them to use a picture clue.  Because most modern children's literature is illustrated in a way that tells the story, observing the picture will give your little one a good idea of what the words say.

Rhymes or word families
Remember all that rhyming you did with your child when she was a pre reader? It's about to pay off.  If a child can recognize rhyming words, then they are also likely to visually connect word families.  Rhyming words (and word families) all end the same way.  So all words that end in -at should rhyme.  If your child can read cat, then she can read a number of English words.  Cover the beginning of the word and tell her, "This word is in the -at family."  Then cover the -at and show her the beginning of the word. "What does P say?"
Breaking down the word in this way makes it less intimidating and helps your child to connect her rhyming skills with her reading skills.

Chunking

Chunking, is vital to fluent reading.  It is the process of reading more than one word at time, or relying on prior knowledge to comprehend the text instead of understanding each word individually.  Chunking is important to beginner readers because the faster a child reads, the more he comprehends.  

The best way to help your child to chunk words is to repeat what he has read before you turn the page.  A new reader spends a lot of energy phonetically reading  and may not connect how each word makes a sentence.   

Co reading or lead reading
     A major obstacle for many beginner readers is fatigue.  Sounding out words and reading independently takes more energy than being read to and may decrease your child's enjoyment of reading time. This is simply a problem of reading fluency.  When a child hears the words being read to at a fast enough pace, the story will make sense.  If your child is intimidated by seeing a page with more than once sentence, or is just getting tired at the end of a book, you can offer to read it together.
     This strategy is called Co-reading.  The master reader should slow their reading pace to one beat above your beginner's natural pace.  Read the first few words in a sentence and listen to make sure your reader is following along.  You're reading is helping your child to chunk the words on the page, and that is helping her better understand the words being read.
   

Learning to Read Part 2: Picking books for your young reader

Image found on www.empoweringchildren.org

Now that you have identified what reading level your child is, it is time to pick some books.  Because the young mind is always growing, your child’s reading level is always changing.  It is important to model reading at least one level above what your child can read on her own.  This helps to bridge the gap between levels.

   

Of course, when reading to your children, any book of interest will do.  However, when picking a book for your emergent or beginner reader to read to you, look for the following traits: 

Simple, repetitive  sentences

     Your emergent reader just sounded out a word. Great! Now for the rest of the book.  
Many early childhood books have repetitive sentences like, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  Once your child has sounded out a word, you can point to it through out the book, "You know this word.  You read it on the other page." Or she can practice sounding it out over and over again until she knows it by sight. Beginner readers benefit from repetitive stories because the repetition helps to increase their fluency, or speed of reading.
     Prereaders enjoy the poetry of repetitive stories.  They can memorize the story and mimic reading it themselves, an important step to becoming an emergent reader.

Song Books, Prayer books and other familiar stories 

     Because your child may have already memorized the words to common songs or prayers,  she will not have to rely on sounding out every word. Reading books like, Wheels On the Bus, or The Our Father,  may help to improve your child's reading skills and confidence because they already know what words to expect.  When sounding out "round," for instance, your emergent and beginner reader may sound out the first sound, then relay on her previous knowledge of the lyrics to finish the word.
     The illustrations in these books will bring new life to songs and prayers for the pre reader. These children will also practice the mechanics of reading, such as holding the book, looking left to right, turning the pages at the right times and looking for clues in the pictures.

It is important to note that all levels of readers will benefit from both Song books and Repetitive books for different reasons. A pre-reader will be able to recite the words on the page and gain understanding through the illustrations.  The emergent reader will recite the words she already knows, and then connect that what she is saying matches the words on the page. A beginning reader will read these books with a higher fluency because she does not read each word individually, but in chunks like a master reader would.

Repetitive Sight words

     Dolche Sight words are a list of commonly seen words, categorized by grade level.  They are known as sight words because many of these common words cannot be sounded out and therefore must be memorized.  Sight words can be practiced by flash card, by games like Bingo or Memory, or by rote reciting.  Most successful reading programs incorporate a combination of phonics skills and sight word instruction to successfully teach children to read.
     Although sight words are not a factor for pre-readers,  a main difference between emergent and beginner readers are the number of sight words they recognize.  This is because the less time a reader spends sounding out individual words on a page, the more of the story she will understand.  Go Dogs Go, by P.D. Eastman, is a fantastic example of a sight word book.  The text is made almost entirely of Kindergarten level sight words, making it a wonderful way to put the flashcards and rote memorizing into practical learning.     
     Another fun activity would be to use your sight word flash cards to make sentences and then create your own book, where your child is the main character.  

When your child is done reading a book to you, reward them by reading a story to them.    Modeling fluent reading is vital for children.  Proficient readers must model fluent reading for all levels.  Even master readers may need modeling when learning new vocabulary (such as in a Biology text book or a historical character’s name).  And beyond the mechanics of learning to read, the enjoyment of books and stories begins at home.  So make reading a part of your daily schedule.

Learning to Read: A Parent's Guide., Part 1

image found on the SG Enterprise website

     Most parents understand the importance of reading to their child.  However, many adults know little about the process of how children learn to read. There is a lot of information out there and many theories of reading. This month's blogs will be dedicated to breaking down the process of learning to read, so parents can understand.  The better informed you are, the better teacher you will be to your little one.  

     In order to teach your child, you must identify your child's reading level.  Young children usually fit into one of 3 categories: pre-reader, emergent reader or beginner.  

PreReader:
     A pre-reader is someone who has not yet mastered the alphabet or letter sounds. They are more concerned with the illustrations than the letters or the words on the page.
     Most often, pre-readers are very young and consequently have short attention spans. Alphabet, counting and story books with short sentences are appropriate books for these readers. It's ok to pick a book based on the pictures and change the words when "reading" because these children aren't looking at the actual words.
     PreReaders benefit from being read to. We do not use the same rhythm when talking that we do when we read. The more any child hears proficient readers model reading for them, the better readers they will become.

Emergent Reader:
     Someone who knows all her letters and letter sounds and has memorized a hand full of sight words, but has not yet “clicked” into full reading, is an emergent reader. She has the tools to read, but needs a little something extra to bridge the gap to full fledged reader.
     When reading to an emergent reader, slow your reading speed and point to each word. Encourage your child to read words on the page that she might know. Before reading a book, take a picture walk and talk about the illustrations or go on a letter or word hunt and try and find the letter A on the page.  If the reader is familiar with the book, it will be more predictable and therefore easier to read.
     Emergent readers will benefit from reading familiar stories and simple books that use easy to sound-out words like the Bob Book Series. Use environmental print to encourage reading. Emergent readers also enjoy home made books with words and pictures they know like their names and the names of family members.

Beginner Reader:
     A beginning reader is someone who can read 3 to 5 word sentences made up of simple words and relies on simple reading strategies (like sounding out, picture clues and rhyming/ word families) while reading.
     Continue to build on your beginner's skills whenever possible, and encourage them to read through out the day: directions, recipes, the grocery list, or to a younger child. Be sure to give your child time to read because many beginners read very slowly. If necessary, after your child reads a sentence, repeat the sentence. If your little one has spent to much time reading each word, she will not be able to hear how the words form a sentence and will loose meaning in the story. Repeating what she has read will help her to improve her comprehension.

     No matter what your child's reading level, make reading time fun.  It is the perfect time to cuddle, have one-on-one time or make your little one the star of the family for a moment.  These reading experiences you create at home are unique and special and cannot be duplicated in the classroom.  They are the moments that make parents child's best teacher. 

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.