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Whole Child Development

A Triple Scoop of Seuss

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Celebrate!, Learning through Play and Experience 3 Comments

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

This was Dr. Seuss’ first book to be published.  He said that as he was riding on a ship on a trip back from Europe, he became enchanted with the rhythm of the ship’s engine.  As he listened to the rhythm over and over in his head, the words forming this book’s title seemed to flow right into the rhythm.  This is great for helping children hear the rhythm in words (a key phonological awareness skill) as well as another great book celebrating the fantastic imagination of children!

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3-2-1-0 Day – Time to Blast Off!

by Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

It occurred to me this morning, that not only is this Dr. Seuss’ 106th birthday (in honor of which I will be posting more activities soon), but it is also 3-2-1-0 Day!  I thought that to celebrate a day made for countdowns, you may want to try Film Canister Rockets or Steve Spangler’s Mentos Geysers.   I don’t need much encouragement to do “blast-off” projects – it may be my favorite type of science activity- but a day that comes around once every century or so, seems like an exceptionally good reason!

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Celebrate!, Learning through Play and Experience, Unit Themes 6 Comments

I have always loved Dr. Seuss!  As a child and even a teenager, I was drawn to the wackiness of his themes and made-up words juxtaposed with the reason of his perfect prose.  As I’ve studied early education and early literacy, I’ve come to love Dr. Seuss even more!  His books are pretty much the best for building phonological awareness, the development of which is critical for reading (read more here).  They not only expose children to rhythm and rhyme in an enchanting, almost intoxicating way, but they also introduce rhyming with invented words, which emphasizes further the importance of sound in rhyming – not meaning.  These “nonsense words” also open the imagination and  creativity of children in a simply magical way.  In my opinion, his work is so critical to a good education, I refer to him as the Shakespeare of childhood!

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The Dangers of Multitasking with Little Fingers Around…

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An explanation to those of you who may have read the “Disengage” post and were left scratching your heads.  I was writing a draft when my children woke up.  I made the mistake of leaving the screen up while I switched gears into “Mom mode”.  After breakfasts and baths and laundry, I stole away a few moments to make some additions and realized that somewhere in the morning melee, some small fingers had clicked on the publish button.  From what I can see, there’s no way to change it back to a draft once it’s published; I can only edit.  So I guess we’ll just have to call it a cliff-hanger for now!

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Positive Guidance Tools of the Trade – Disengage

by Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Positive Guidance and Social Skills Leave a Comment

My childhood and teenage years were shaped quite a bit by the fact that my dad was a lawyer and then a judge.  Building and presenting a logical and convincing argument was a favorite family pastime.  We engaged in (usually) friendly debate the way other families play Scrabble.  As my father’s child, I learned the art of pursuing an argument.  As a parent and a teacher, I have learned the art of ending one.

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Book Activity: Please Write Back!

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

Please Write Back! (Scholastic Reader Level 1)In Please Write Back! Alfie writes a letter to his grandma- going through all the steps of letter writing addressing and stamping by himself- and then waits anxiously for her reply.  Finally, he gets something.  But it’s not the letter he expected, it’s a package!

After reading this simple story, extend the story and support sensory skills by doing a feely box activity.  Just as Alfie was anxious to find what was in his box, the children can take turns feeling an item in a box and guessing what it might be.  You can simply use a box and hold it high enough that the children can’t see – though someone will always try to peek!  You can create a simple feely box by securing a sock around the top of an empty oatmeal canister.  Then, cut the end of the sock, so that a hand can reach through it and into the box.  You could also make one with a small square box, using an inexpensive (and/or outgrown) stocking cap in the same manner.  Stretch it around the sides and then cut a slit in the top for a hand to reach through.

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Book Activity: Raymond and Nelda

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience, Positive Guidance and Social Skills Leave a Comment

Raymond and NeldaHere’s a quick one for those of you looking for more mail-themed reads.  Raymond and Nelda is a story of….well, Raymond and Nelda, of course!  They’re best of friends but have a falling out.  Their neighborhood mail lady sees both of them upset and urges them to work it out.  Through a series of letters they eventually come to understand that they each made mistakes and need to apologize because their friendship is more important than their pride.  This book is great for tying together the themes of friendship and communication!

You could follow this book up with a variety of mail-themed activities, but I usually have a short discussion about the social aspect of the books (being a good friend and making apologies) and then build some pre-reading skills by doing a little phonemic awareness exercise in small groups. 

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