You're Doing Fine

Parenting is not a job for wimps. Before I had children, I was a strong confident woman that could answer any question. In fact, shortly after my husband and I met, we spent one of our dates sitting around his kitchen table asking each other questions out of The Little Book Of Questions. I answered every question without hesitation. He took more time and sometimes said he just didn't know what he'd do...he was already a father. Things that seem simple and black and white take on new gravity when you become a parent. Add to it, all the advice of experts and you really start to second guess yourself. You may mention that you co-sleep to a dear friend and she'll warn you about the danger of smothering your child. You may say you rather sleep in your own bed and you'll be lectured on the benefits of attachment parenting.

The truth of the matter is that you a doing fine. In fact, the more simply you live your life, the better you are probably doing. Do you let your kids have plenty of opportunities for unstructured play? Great! Do you balance it out with maybe one extra-curricular activity (if they are six or older) during the week? Great! Do you enjoy your kids and feel relaxed when you are around them? Great! Do you read to them...even if they are school-aged? Awesome!
You are doing great!

What if you feel you are not doing great? You may feel that you are not doing enough. The problems begin when you start to worry. Does you infant seem distracted when you put flashcards in front of him? Put the flashcards away and engage him in a game of peek-a-boo. Is your child so over scheduled that he often sleeps in the car or bus while traveling to an activity? Stop the activity. Is your child obsessed with video games? Get rid of them! If you are worried about how your child is measuring up, stop, take a deep breath and read on...

I'm talking here about worry in general. There is a difference between that and a genuine concern in particular. If you have a genuine concern, seek out professional help and educate yourself as fully as possible with whatever it is that concerns you. If you have a general worry that your child "doesn't have an edge," or "he's not on par with his peers," or "he's never going to succeed at this rate," then the problem doesn't lie with your child, it lies with you. If you are cranky and running yourself ragged so your 4 year old can take music and karate, in addition to preschool. Stop!

I'm about to make a radical suggestion. If the above sounds like you, take a one month break! For the period of one month cease all or as many activities as you can. If you are working and your child must go to daycare, then just do that for one month. I'm talking about no t.v., no video games, no extra-curricular activities. Nothing but time with your child. For the first week, you are both going to be a little stir crazy. Your child will want to be entertained. You will feel that this is more difficult than running around. This is the time to establish a rhythm, if you haven't already done so. Be strict about your child's bedtime routine.

Now at the end of the month you may notice some changes in both you and your child. Your child's creativity will flourish. His ability to entertain himself will have increased. You will realize that play dough is not as messy as you imagined. You will learn that cleaning up watercolor spills are easier than running all over town with a tired child in tow. You will both be more relaxed and there will be more laughter and fun in your home. In raising your children always keep in mind this quote from Henry David Thoreau:

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

Blessings,

Alida

Playing Where Danger Lurks

As you know, we feel very strongly about the importance of play in a child's healthy development. It may come as no surprise that because this is Oregon, we play outside every time it's dry and sometimes even if it's raining. Right now we've been enjoying some pretty awesome weather and the kids have been outside most afternoons. We practice our writing skills using sidewalk chalk. We practice our math skills by chanting the multiplication tables or addition facts while tossing a catching beanbags. We skip rope, play jacks, play with a hula hoop.

Of course the kids are awesome about coming up with all types of creative play. They've made their own obstacle courses. The made an exploding volcano with mud (and vinegar and baking soda) and many of the plastic dinosaurs perished during the eruption. The play structure has been a fort, a look out post and a ship.

Yesterday, they took the jump rope and would let down the slide. One child would grab hold and two children up on the structure would pull and pull until they managed to pull the child on the bottom of the slide all the way up. They then took turns and played this way for over an hour!

At first glance, I almost put a stop to it. In my mind I could just picture all the dangers and accidents waiting to happen. After all, we are talking about school aged kids, a slide and a rope. It's a recipe for disaster. The rope burns, accidental strangulation, accidental falls from the top of the structure were all vivid in my mind's eye. Did I mention the rope has wooden handles and each time they flung it down the slide it came oh so close to taking out an eye? All these worst case scenarios where playing out in my head. Then I realized I WAS RIGHT THERE! The most serious thing that could happen was the someone would get a rope burn or get hit with the wooden handle. I stopped them for just a second and point out these dangers, reminded them to be safe and let them continue playing. I'm so glad I did.

Later they each talked about who the strongest kid was, who was the fastest coming up the slide, who did get a little rope burn and how they knew after that to let go immediately. They spoke excitedly and quickly among themselves, sharing information, deciding that that was an awesome game, making plans for improvements and they unanimously decided they would play again today.

I learned that danger lurks around every corner. I can make that the focus and try to protect kids from every possible scenario and kick myself when I miss something and they get hurt. I can choose to focus on the learning, point out the dangers, remind them to be safe and let them figure it out. I think the latter makes for better adults in the long run.

September - We Begin Again

I love September. I feel like it's a new year all over again. As much as I love the leisure, warm days of summer, I love the crisp mornings of September, the familiar routines, the looking inward after spending all of summer outside.

Come Tuesday we have so many wonderful things going on. Preschool enrollment is closed. We have two openings available for the after school enrichment program. I'm spending the weekend redoing the classrooms. The summer themes, sea shells, sand, fish etc, will be replaced with shades of Autumn, pumpkins, gourds, apples, orange, red and yellow leaves.

As always, our September theme for preschool is friendship and the changing of the season. For school age, because we have third and fourth graders and because it was such fun during summer, we will be going back in time in September. This time the emphasis will be Oregon history specifically, but we will be doing things the pioneers did including making raised beds and getting them ready for our spring plantings.

Our books this September will include:

For Preschool

Wild Child One of my very favorite

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

Friends

Help, A Story of Friendship

For School Age

The Courage of Sarah Noble

On to Oregon

Wishing all of you a safe and fun filled Labor day weekend. See you next week!

Alida

Fairy Tales

This week we are focusing on fairy tales. The first one we read was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It's one of my favorites! There is repetition and somehow the bears are not scary like the wolf in Red Riding Hood. In fact, in the one I read it states that the bears are polite and very well mannered. I love any book that gives me a chance to talk about manners. After reading the story each child drew and colored a picture of a bear. In the afternoon the kids put on a play! We used our housekeeping and reading corner furniture for props and used the napping mats for the beds. One girl was Goldilocks, one child was papa bear. He carried a stuffed teddy baby that was baby bear. One child was mama bear and the rest were the audience. What fun. It was a good way for me to see how much of the story they remembered and understood. Later in the afternoon, they organized and put on their own play. They made some changes as some of the kids had gone home, but all in all it was a wonderful production.

A Very Special E-Course

I am just in awe of the connections that I've made through the internet. No, Sergio and I did not meet in a chat room. Do those even exist anymore? I have found a wonderful network of like minded women and men, teachers, mentors and new friends. I'm excited to have opportunities to learn new things in my own time and in the comfort of home. I've taken a few e-courses and participate in a several tele-classes. I have not been disappointed. I have also never been as excited about an e-course as I am about this one. I use Fairy Dust Teaching as a resource for both the preschool program and my home school enrichment programs. Sally does such a great job of illustrating the concepts or projects step by step. She's creative and her enthusiasm for teaching comes across in each post.

The Dash of Wonder E-course begins on July 10, 2011. I just can't wait!

The Good News

I write about what's "wrong" with our public education system. The good news is that there are a lot of individuals and organizations that are doing things right. For me, doing things right means simply offering a choice, a differing opinion, someone who is giving us something to think about. In the circles that I gravitate to, there is talk about a paradigm shift. I see it. I feel it.

This new paradigm is about creativity. It's about doing things in a new way. It's about fearless teaching and learning. It's about trusting the process and understanding that learning is continual, though not necessarily linear. It's about sharing what you know even if you don't have a degree. It's about creating something meaningful and knowing that a hand knitted baby beanie made of the softest lambs wool is as beautiful and as beneficial as creating new fuel technology. It's about understanding the value of fairy tales and myths and really believing that the fastest doesn't always win the race. It's knowing that knowledge comes in many forms and that the most important thing in life is to be ever curious.

This weekend I leave you with a list of links to sites that are prompting these values. I hope you take the time to look them over and share you thoughts.

• The Alliance for Childhood
• The Parenting Passageway
• The National Institute for Play
• Fairy Dust Teaching
• Playscapes
• Lynn Jericho

There are many, many more, but these will give you some good reading material for the weekend.

I would like to wish all the dads out there a very happy Father's Day. You are as varied as your children. Some of you work day in and day out to provide for your families. Some of you struggle because you lacked an appropriate role model. Some of you are stay at home dads trying to find your place in a world dominated by women. Know that all of you are loved by your children and appreciated by those whose life you make a little sweeter. Thanks and enjoy.

Alida

The Science of Art or The Art of Science

The after school program has been bustling lately. We have two weeks of a subject, so we can get into the nitty gritty of things and really explore without too many time restrictions. The weeks usually overlap each other. For instance, we did art for two weeks. We explored how moods can be interpreted through art. We then turned our attention to the weather and how that could be interpreted through art. We moved on from art to science. We explored clouds and weather patterns. Then we moved into flowers. Now we are working on art and science. We are doing scientific illustrations of flowers in our Science Journals. Next week is a one week program on spring and Easter. We are studying the colors of nature and how to showcase those colors in our art work. I'm loving it, but even better, the kids are really enjoying themselves.


I love these pictures. The weather or time of day is depicted through the use of water colors. This little girl usually uses lots of bright colors. Her pictures always have names like "Rainbow Unicorn Glitter!" (The exclamation mark is a must.) For this picture she explored using more somber colors. I don't remember the exact name (It's on the back of her painting) but it too was toned down. It was something along the lines of "Seagulls in a Storm."


The colors of these watercolors are much more vivid in real life. This one below has quite a bit of pink in it. The young artist told me she was depicting Spring. ("See the flowers?" she said.) She also feels love blooms in Spring. We been watching the birds busily getting their nests ready. The kids say it's because soon they will be getting married and having babies. This girl wanted to convey all that in her painting. She named it, "Love is in the Air."



This young man worked very diligently at getting his colors just right. He drew his house with precision and cut it out very carefully. I love to see the individual personalities come through as they work. He named his art "House at Sunset."


I was surprise by how much work this next boy put into his art project. He is not one to really enjoy painting or any project that may lead to getting messy. He was so into this project. He really did a great job choosing the paper for his castle and putting it all together. He named his, "Sandcastle in a Storm." We even talked about what his picture would look like after the storm. He said, "Well, the sandcastle won't be there, that's for sure!"



Luckily for us daffodils are blooming all over our garden. We used them for our flower studies. We picked them, we dissected them. We viewed them under a microscope. We took some pollen from some cut lilies I had and viewed that under the microscope too. We put the daffodils in water with blue food coloring and watched as the petals got some green spots on them. The kids spread themselves out all over the class to work on their journal entries. This girl wanted to make a poster. I'm so lucky to have the dollar down the street. Poster boards are two for a dollar, so I always have some on hand.

Picky Eaters

I know this doesn't pertain to most parents, (I'm being sarcastic) but today I'm going to address the segment of the picky eater population. I'm an expert in this field. I was a picky eater, I have a son who is a picky eater. There are three secrets to get your picky eater to eat healthy.

1. Have only healthy food at home.

2. Model eating healthy food

3. Relax, your child won't starve.

Do those three things seem drastic? Be honest. If they seem drastic it's time to take a step away from worrying about your child and look at your lifestyle. Why is there junk food in your house? Is it something you buy because you are in the habit of buying the same thing without thinking about it? Is it a matter of finances? Junk food is cheaper at the moment, but so much more expensive in the long run. Do you find buying things like pizza, boxed Macaroni and Cheese, hot dogs and ice cream because it will ensure that your child will eat?

As parents we sometimes have to make difficult choices for the good of our kids, but even more importantly we should be making good choices for our benefit. We need to be healthy in order to be the best parents we can be. Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up full of energy and be able to fully engage with our children throughout the day? Wouldn't it be wonderful to not worry about EATING but instead concern ourselves with nutrition? Are you ready? It's not going to be easy but it's going to be so worth it for you and your children!

• 1. Sit down and write down your regular shopping list. Now look at it! What is it that you've written down? Ready to eat, microwavable items or whole, colorful, fresh foods?
  

If you wrote down mostly whole, colorful, fresh foods you probably don't need to read the rest of this. If you wrote down mostly ready to eat stuff, go on to number 2.

• 2. Rewrite your list and this time include mostly whole, colorful, fresh food. The best place is your local farmer's market, but if you are busy, don't put off buying healthy food until you can make a special trip to the farmer's market. You can buy fruits and veggies at the grocery store.

So now your child is whining because he's hungry and there are no chips, now what? The best way to deal with any whining is to acknowledge the issue, offer ONE alternative and then tell the child you will ignore any more whining, because there is nothing else you can do. This is not easy! As parents we are the problem solvers, but it's a good thing to let kids realize that you cannot solve every problem. You can follow this model:

Child: "I waaant a cookie! I'm huuuunnnngry."
Parent: "Oh honey, we are all out of cookies. You can have some sliced apples with peanut butter. That's yummy."
Child: "NOOOO!"
Parent: "Okay, sweetie. Now no more whining. I have nothing else for you to eat at the moment."
Child: "But I'm hungry."
Parent: (sings softly while ignoring the whining.)

Understand that many food issues are easier to handle if you establish set eating times and you model healthy eating yourself. Also remember that very young children do not get choices when it comes to food. You do not ask a child what he wants for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner! You are the parent you decide. As your children get older, they may choose a snack or in my case, because I am not an early riser on the weekends, my kids can choose and get their own breakfast on Saturday morning. They know they have several things to choose from such as, yogurt, granola, any fruit available, toast with peanut butter and honey, milk or juice. I'm still not comfortable with them using the stove without supervision, so no pancakes or omelets.

• 3. Model healthy eating. Have set eating times and make sure you give yourself time to prepare the meal. Have your child help you. Sit down and enjoy. Serve cut up oranges or strawberries for dessert. Introduce prunes...which really are as sweet as any candy. Talk about all the energy and nutrients this wonderful meal will provide for your body to grow strong and healthy. You may not think they don't understand or care, but you would be wrong. Kids are born to thrive and unless taught otherwise, it's ingrained in them to want to thrive.

• 4. Relax. Your child will not starve. If you particularly worry, like I do, give them a multi-vitamin. While not a substitute for a good meal, it's helps keep parental worries at bay. Know that not unlike adults, your kids will go through phases. Sometimes my son cannot get enough strawberries. I can seriously but five pounds and they'll be gone by dinner. Of course we all pitch in and eat, but he devours them. Then all of sudden, he doesn't like the way the seeds feel on his tongue and he won't even look at them! That's fine, we always have bananas, or mangoes, or apples, or oranges.

• 5. Be patient. Children have way more taste buds than adults do. So don't fret if your child can't stand the taste of tuna or celery. There are a lot of healthy options. Remember that many children are sensitive to textures. Introduce new foods slowly, without hoopla. Just serve it in pretty and appetizing way. Bring out the pretty platters and dishes. Let your child see you taste it. Moan and say, "Oooooh, that's yummy."
  

What about treats? You got to have treats! If you must have sugary foods (and I must). Make them yourself whenever possible. This creates wonderful scenarios. First, baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies with your child creates wonderful memories. It teaches your child skills, such as reading, chemistry and math. (can you say FRACTIONS?) It also helps the child connect with the food he eats. You should be conscious of how much work it takes to make something delicious. Children gain a great feeling of satisfaction. "Look what I made." Greater still, it takes work to bake cookies, so you are not going to do it everyday. This is a great way to keep the less healthy choices at bay. Around here we make a big batch of dough and then I freeze it. Sometimes for a whole week we'll have one cookie after dinner. I scoop out four tablespoons and bake those. When the kids ask for more (which of course they always do.) I can honestly say, I'm sorry we are all out of cookies.

I hear you screaming at me through the screen, "What about time? I don't have time to prepare fresh food!" I hear you. I work and home school and there is nothing worse than realizing it's 6:00 PM and everything is frozen. It's not easy, but planning is essential. Once you get in the habit of planning, it gets easier and easier. Meals don't have to be fancy, in fact, the best meals are often simple. If you have a menu, you can bring out your frozen stuff and put it in the fridge two day ahead of schedule. So if you are have steak tacos on Thursday, bring the steak down into the fridge on Tuesday. Prepare a pasta dish ahead of time and freeze it. Then just stick it in the oven and serve. Bean soups are wonderful, especially if you add lots of veggies and it freezes well too. Just heat and serve with a nice hearty slice of 10-grain bread and it's a complete meal.

Conscious living and conscious parenting takes time, but it is so worth it. This is the only shot you get at making your life meaningful. Shouldn't you take the time today to make it so? Put away all your excuses and really look at your diet and that of your child. It reflects so much more than food choices. Let me know if you need some healthy ideas for snacks and meals. I'd be happy to share them!

The Value of Play

An astonishing forty percent of elementary schools in the United States have now cut recess altogether. Fifty percent have cut gym. The implications of such measures may lead to some dire results. Most articles that debate the issue focus on the physical implications. They point to the increase in obesity and the propensity for an increase in diabetes and other health related issues. This is extremely important but only one consequence of prohibiting non-structure play in the developing child. Some articles may branch out and point to an increase in academic scores for children who participate in recess. This too while important is a limited version of the benefits of play.

Playing as defined by Merriam-Webster is : : recreational activity; especially : the spontaneous activity of children. A web definition describes play as: engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion.

For anyone who has worked closely with children and who as an adult enjoys playing these definitions fall a bit short from the mark. I personally like my friend Pam's definition. Pam defines play as joyful learning! Now we are getting somewhere. Play is the foundation of learning. It is not only crucial for our physical and cognitive health, it is essential for our very survival. It is also not just for children! Play is the foundation of all learning. I need to stress this again because through play we learn about ourselves, our world and others. We learn social rules and norms. We learn how things work, what doesn't. We learn about patterns, sequences, growth, nature and science. We learn about our emotions and how to appropriately deal with them.

It is unfortunate that much of what we know of play came about through a tragedy. In 1966, Charles Whitman, a seemly normal and even pleasant individual went up to a tower at Texas University and shot 17 people dead and wounded 47 others. The governor of Texas put together a team of experts to investigate what could possible lead a person to commit such a heinous crime. Among the experts was Dr. Stuart Brown, a psychiatrist at Baylor University College of Medicine. May factors were found to contribute to Mr. Whitman's actions but one of the glaring conclusions of the panel was stated as follows:

A lifelong lack of play deprived him of opportunities to view life with optimism, test alternatives, or learn the social skills that, as part of spontaneous play, prepare individuals to cope with life stress. The committee concluded that lack of play was a key factor in Whitman's homicidal actions – if he had experienced regular moments of spontaneous play during his life, they believed he would have developed the skill, flexibility, and strength to cope with the stressful situations without violence.

The key word in the statement above is "spontaneous play." Mr. Whitman was a bright child with an above average I.Q. He was an Eagle Scout, an altar boy, he played baseball in high school yet he was deprived of "spontaneous play" with dire results. Dr. Stuart Brown found these results so fascinating he went on to create The National Institute for Play. In a study using mice, the mice were divided into two groups. One group was allowed to play normally while one group was deprived of the opportunity to play. A cat scent was introduced into the cage and all the mice did as they should. They ran and hid! Eventually the mice who were allowed natural and spontaneous play time started to sniff their surrounding and came out of hiding. The play deprived group starved to death because they never came out. When autopsies were conducted, the play deprived mice were found to have much smaller brains. It seems the play is essential for survival.

"The opposite of play is not work, it's depression." ~Brian Sutton Smith~

Play and learning are naturally intertwined. A child squeezing play-doh is hard at play, but also hard at work and learning. Squeezing play doh develops the muscle between your thumb and your pointer finger which is a precursor to holding a pencil, which in turn leads to writing etc. While playing we are allowed to work out emotional issues. Has your child ever played school after coming home? You can pretty much determine by the type of play if it was a good day or a bad day. Through play children try on adult roles, work out problems. Play gives children and adults an opportunity to release the pressure of a work or school day. Through play we relax, sometimes we find inspiration or just let the time melt away. I know that come spring I can spend three or more hours in my garden and I'm always shocked because it literally feels like I've only been out there a few minutes. Although I rarely describe my gardening as play, it's truly what I'm doing. I'm playing in the garden. I have a sense of purpose when I'm gardening. Sometimes I work out problems dealing with the lack of sunlight. I usually lose track of the time. I find myself lost in sheer joy. I've learned more from being in my garden than from any gardening book. The garden provides me the opportunity to test things I've read and see if they work. All these things are part of playing which are also part of learning. Best of all, when I'm done, I'm physically tired, emotionally refreshed and all around happier.

On my next post I'll be listing the types of play and give some suggestions for providing opportunities for playing with your children.

Until then,

Go out and play!

Alida

Spring Equinox

You would hardly know that spring has arrived except for the beauty of the daffodils. Daffodils always manage to cheer me up just in the nick of time. The bright yellow smiling faces of the Daffodils stand in for the much awaited sunshine that's not quite ready to make it appearance. Today we begin our Spring celebration. Somehow children make each season so special. As spring arrives, I realize how much the children have grown and changed. I see what special friendships they've forged and I am reminded daily how exciting learning can be.

For the next two weeks we will be learning about spring and more specifically the weather. I'm hoping for enough dry weather to go out with the kids and dig up our garden. This weekend I'll be picking up seeds for our pizza vegetable garden. I'm picking up tomato, bell pepper, zucchini, onion, and garlic seeds and bulbs. I can't wait and I can feel how excited the kids are.

Today we are working on a play. Each child has a part to play. One is the sun, one is rain, one child is the wind, one is the seeds. Each child works on the props for his or her part. I read the verse and the each child acts out his/her part.

A Seed Needs

I see you are a seed,
Tell me what do you need,
I need some soil to grow,
And then the sun to glow,
Water to make me wet,
Air for my leaves to get,
Space for my roots to spread,
Now I'm a plant.

Iram Khan

Everyone is looking forward to the play, but especially to warmer weather, sunnier days and lots of outdoor activities.

I Don't Pay for Them to Play!

Play to an adult may seem or feel frivolous or irresponsible. It may feel like a major waste of time. As adults we rarely play...even when we do. Many spend hundreds of dollars on gym membership, but surely this is not play, after all who really looks forward to the gym. ("Not I," said Alida) Some adults are even on teams playing baseball or softball or basketball, but surely this is not play! It's exercise, it's blowing off steam, it's staying fit but rarely do we describe it as play. Some adult even "play" video games, but they do it to relax, to disconnect after a hard day at work. This surely cannot be play. It has a purpose, a reason, we engage in these activities because they are good for us. We rarely stop to take note of ALL the benefits of play, especially for the youngest among us.

Sometimes when parents come to see the preschool they tell me about other places that they have visited. I have heard about babysitters that sit in front of the T.V. all day while the kids play all day long. My mind is simple. It thinks, T.V. all day - bad. Children playing all day - good! I've heard parents tell me they want to know what kind of academics are offered, because they are not paying to have their children play all day. My mind thinks, academics - good. Children play all day - good! I can totally understand wanting to reap some very specific benefits from any kind of learning environment, especially if you are paying top dollar. While we do offer an academic program, we do it through play. Play after all is the work of the child.

On Tuesday, March 29, 2011 I am speaking at the Salem Central Library on this very topic. Joining me is Pam Houghton from Mrs. Houghton's Gingersnaps Child Care and Playhouse. We will be discussing the value of play in child development. We will be detailing what exactly your child is learning while he plays. We will be listing what the best toys are and I guarantee you'll be surprised! We will also be leading a workshop where you will be making a toy to take home for your child.

If you are a parent looking for quality care or a child care provider wondering how to explain the importance of play to parents of children in your care, I urge you to join us. I will be revisiting the subject of play many, many times on this blog. For now, I will leave the details of our workshop and I headed off to "play" with the kids.

Ivy League-West and Mrs. Houghton’s Gingersnaps present:

The Value of Play in Children Development

Join Alida Chacon and Pam Houghton as they share their views on the value of play, which toys elicit imaginative play and what ways you can engage your child through play.

Come share your thoughts, questions and ideas. Make a toy to take home for your child to play with the next day.

Salem Central Public Library

585 Liberty St. Salem Oregon

Plaza Room

March 29, 2011

7:15 pm to 8:45 pm

Cost: $5.00 in advance $7.00 at the door

Seating is limited. Call to reserve your seat today.

503.510.1136

Color, Color Everywhere

Autumn is ablaze with colors. Red, orange, yellow, gold and even green. How do children learn colors? They learn colors the same way they learn anything else, by exposure and manipulation. Bev Boz has a quote on her site; ""If it hasn't been in the Hand... and the Body... it can't be in the Brain!" Children learn through all their senses. The challenge for teachers is how to teach to the senses, how to involve the "whole" child in the learning process, especially with something so abstract as color.

The first step to teaching color is to expose children to it. Point out the changing leaves. The yellow ones, the red ones. Take two or three and say look I think these are different, but how? They may point out that some leaves are big and some are small. Now you point out that they are also different colors. One is red, one is yellow and one is still green.

Ask your child in the morning or the night before what color they would like to wear. Would they like to wear white or pink socks? Would they like to wear their favorite blue shirt or the black one? Slowly the children will come to recognize and be able to name the different colors. Perhaps just one at first. Soon they will start to remember the different names for the colors.

Here at Ivy League-West we start by painting with red, then blue, then yellow, then we mix the colors to see what new colors we can make. We also play yummy juice bars. What? You've never heard of yummy juice bars? Well, I'll tell you, but you must know that if you introduce this game you will be playing it over and over again...right after you read their favorite book for the millionth time.

Materials:

Different color construction paper
Scissors
Popsicle sticks
Glue


Cut out 2 popsicle forms of each color and glue them together leaving a portion of the bottom open so that you can insert a popsicle stick into the cut outs. Draw a star (or use a star sticker) on one of the popsicle sticks. Like so:

Now to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, you sing the following:

Can you find the little star hiding inside my yummy juice bar?
Think real hard and then decide, which flavor is it hiding inside?
Can you find the little star, hiding inside my yummy juice bar?

At first the child may just point at one. You say "ooh you want the pink one." (or whatever color he pointed to) and then you say, "The pink one can be strawberry or watermelon." Then you slowly pull out the stick and see if it has the star. If it does, you congratulate the child for finding the star. Then you put that stick into a another color and continue the game.

Soon the child will be naming the colors and their flavors!!

Enjoy!

Alida

Welcome Autumn

Today it feels like Autumn. I know it officially started the 21st of September, but we've been having some nice weather and it seemed even the leaves were holding on to summer for as long as they could. Today it rained and I sat watching the leaves rain down too. I love Summer, but I must admit I really, really like Autumn.

I am excited thinking about all the leaves in the back yard. It will be so much fun to rake those up into a pile and let the kids jump in. It's a great time for science lessons. During Autumn we get to view nature in a blaze of glory. It's last hurrah before going dormant for winter. This is the time of year kids learn to classify. We classify leaves by shape, by tree, by color. We measure rain water. We talk about the wind. We get to feel all three caress our cheeks. This is the time of year for baking healthy treats. I can almost smell the cinnamon in the pumpkin bread now. This is the time of year for pumpkin patch visits and for jumping in puddles.

It's also the time of year were as teachers we are at our busiest. Autumn means more rain, it means winter is approaching quickly. It mean more time indoors, more planning on our part.

Well, we've got it covered. Through this season I'll be posting ideas and projects to keep little hands busy and moms and daddy's sane. Be sure to check often for inspirations and don't forget to jump in a pile of leaves or at minimum a puddle or two.

Peace,

Alida

Less is More

Have you ever stood in a supermarket aisle and felt completely overwhelmed by the number of choices available? I'm all for choices and especially for freedom of choice. Recently however I was standing at the supermarket aisle and felt that if I didn't get out of there soon, I would have a panic attack. I was buying band-aids. Simple...right? Not really because I realized that I could buy waterproof, clear or a multi-box that had various sizes. I could buy Spiderman or Cinderella. I could get them with or without ointment. I could buy band-aid brand or the store brand. Suddenly I was sucked in to comparing prices and quantities and quality and I stood there numb and unable to make a decision.

I often write about Little Tikes and how I don't like all that plastic. I really don't have anything against Little Tikes. There are built well and built to last. I think my problem is when I walk by daycare center or home daycares and I see Little Tikes toys strewn in the yard like weeds. I find it overwhelming, like trying to find a box of band-aids in the supermarket aisle.

When you walk into Ivy League Daycare the first thing you'll notice is that it doesn't look like a "preschool". We did this on purpose for two reasons. First, it is our home and we want it to look like a home and secondly, I find being surrounded by primary colors for 10 hours a day overstimulating. The colors on our walls are muted, the furniture is painted in a serene light green. There are splashes of red and yes there is even some plastic, but not much at all. There are toys, but only enough so that the children can choose what to play with without being overwhelmed by choice.

What about stimulating their creativity? I smile whenever someone asks about this. I think that in an effort to sell products, companies have put on a great campaign and we parents have taken the bait, hook, line and sinker. The campaign states something along the lines that we must stimulate our child's imagination or creativity by buying them this (usually brightly colored plastic) toy. Actually nothing can be further from the truth! First, your child comes equipped with an active imagination and geared for creativity. I think that as parents and educators, we should provide some thing to allow their imagination to take flight, but we need not go out and spend a fortune to do it. Paper, crayons, paint, rocks, shells, scraps of cloths, needle, thread. Other than that, some pots and pans, a broom and dustpan and you have hours of entertainment for your child.

For a while, my children had a ton of toys, yet more often than not, they were making forts with the sofa cushions or making "music" with the pots and pans. They would "wash" dishes for hours. They made fishing poles from sticks and yarn. My daughter still beams with delight at the sight of Styrofoam.

The whole purpose of an imagination is to actually leave something to the imagination. Let the kids color in the primary colors. Let them build something from scratch. Maybe you won't even recognize what it is, but to them, it's a bird or a plane. I'm excited to see all the wonderful things children are capable of doing once they are in an environment that allows them to do it.

The Schedule

I've been working on a schedule. Funny how we revert back to our comfort zone, even as we are in the midst of a break-through. I had a schedule all made up. I had broken into half-hour increments. After posting it on the web-site and looking at it for a few days, I realized this was exactly what I did not want. I scraped it and just sat on the idea of a schedule for a few days.

I imagined what the days would look like with 5 to 8 kids in tow from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. I thought about the rhythm of the last seven years, what worked, what didn't. Slowly, I started picturing the days as they flow. I decided that in order to have the type of preschool that I want, the type that is tranquil and flowing but yet fun and exciting, I cannot have a set schedule!

How can I have rhythms without a set schedule? I decided to break the day into chunks; morning, afternoon and evening. This allow for rhythms without a rigid schedule that can stifle creativity.

The morning flow will be a bit more structured in the sense that I will be more involved in guiding children through the activities. The afternoon consists of lunch, clean up and rest time. The evening will consist of self-directed activities and wind-down in preparation for going home.

A sample of morning activities may be making musical instruments, using them in the circle gathering. The children may work on the flower garden, planning and planting. The children will always be involved in snack preparation and clean up. There will be other activities available for children who finish their work. Those who delve into their projects with more aplomb can spend more time on them without a break in the rhythm. So the morning continues with activities and chores until lunch time. Yes, you read that correctly, children will be doing chores. Clean up is an essential part of learning.

Lunch is not viewed as something to get through so we can go outside and play. In fact lunch becomes as integral to the learning as any cognitive activity. The children, with guidance will set the table with real dishes, glasses and utensils. No plastic sippy cups or divided plastic plates. Those are convenient for travel, but have no place during a fine dining experience. The children will wash, dry and put away the dishes. After lunch, it's time to relax, reflect and perhaps even time for a nap.

Late afternoon or evening allows children to express themselves in self-directed activities. You'll be surprised the great things little ones come up with if given time and minimal involvement. Depending on the time most children get pick up, we will start winding down about 30 minutes prior. Wash up, read or tell stories, talk about the day, anticipate the next day.

Simple, predictable and flexible...I like it.