Whole Child Development
Fizzing Sidewalk Paint {Quirky Mama}
Environmental Print and Logos {Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers}
Raising Optimistic Children {Stress Free Kids}
Parenting Styles: Reactive or Proactive? {Childhood 101}
Regaining Childhood: Parenting a “too fast too soon” generation {Dr. Michele Borba}
Enjoy your Easter weekend!
Top photo by Matthias Wieland. [Read more…]
This is a repost of one of the very first blog posts I wrote. Since there were only about three of you reading here back then, I thought it might be time to revisit!
Alphabet books are a great way to reinforce alphabet knowledge, one important piece of emergent literacy. One of the beautiful things about exposing children to the alphabet through books is that it provides a rich, meaningful, and varied context in which to place these otherwise abstract characters. Learning letters is ultimately about reading, so what better place to learn about letters than in a book? Here are more than a few of my favorite alphabet books, and what I love about them.
Combining the concept of letter form and sound, Now I Eat My Abc’s
Last Friday, I spent about 8 hours in a technology classroom earning credit toward the renewal of my teaching license. The topic was podcasting, and of course, if I’m doing work I prefer to make it count for as much as possible, so I thought I’d focus my project on something you could enjoy. I was required to record and publish two podcasts, so I decided to record the Introduction and Chapter One of my ebook, Parenting with Positive Guidance: Building Discipline from the Inside Out. So if you’ve wanted to find out what the book is about, here’s a great opportunity. You can listen to the first two sections on your computer by clicking on the icons below. You can also click on the links to blip.tv and download the files to your mp3 player.
“Arts and crafts” is a common label in the early childhood world. And while the label implies that they are two different but similar categories, it is unfortunately used too often as one overarching label. But the two have subtle differences: the difference between process and product, creativity and the created, following inspiration and following directions. Of course there is rarely a black and white separation of these two, rather a spectrum of sliding degrees. While I would never want to completely exclude one in order to elevate the other, one must be cognizant of the differences in order to be intentional in the creative experiences that are planned for the children we love and teach.
Water is a fascinating topic for exploration! At this time of year, it’s particularly exciting to explore water in the form of rain. If you’re enjoying some April showers, you might want to build some connections with the children you love and teach by jumping into some of these great books and activities.
I’m really excited to share this guest post with you from Rachelle Doorley of Tinker Lab:
In my most recent list of Weekend Reads, I linked to a wonderful post from Janet Lansbury, 10 Secrets to Raising Good Listeners. A friend of mine posed what I thought was a very good question. “What about the ways adults can do a better job of listening to kids?” It got me thinking. So here’s my list. I’d love to hear what would be on yours.
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