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Whole Child Development

First Friday Q&A 4.1.11

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience, Positive Guidance and Social Skills 11 Comments

Can you believe it’s First Friday already?  No Foolin’!  I selected just three questions this time to keep things more streamlined.  If you have a question for the next installment of First Friday Q&A, email those to my NEW address: questions@notjustcute.com .  Go ahead and do it today.  Trust me, the next First Friday will be here before you know it!

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More to Build On…

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience, Unit Themes 8 Comments

*I hope you’re enjoying the layout of the new site.  A big “Thank You” to Brandon Sunday of Sunday Ventures for his help!  I think it would have taken two years to figure it all out on my own.  We’re still fine tuning, so if you notice anything that needs our attention, please let us know.  It looks like email subscribers still need to be transferred from the old, so don’t fret if you haven’t gotten your emails yet, they should be back on track by the time the next post goes out!

When I wrote about activities for a construction theme a while ago, I left you hanging on a few activities I promised to add.  Well, today’s the day!

Word Building

If you have budding readers, you may want to try out this word family activity.  Draw a crane and tall building with windows on poster board.  (I’m pretty sure you can make yours look better than mine!)  Laminate so that you can use dry-erase markers to change up the word families in the windows. [Read more…]

Weekend Reads 3.26.11

by Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience, Snack Time, Weekend Reads 10 Comments

OK, looks like the switch has been thrown and we’re up and running with the new design, thanks to the amazing work of Brandon at Sunday Ventures!  There may be a few kinks to work out on this first run, your patience is appreciated.  In the meantime, enjoy these gems from around the blogosphere:

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Growing an In-Sync Child (Giveaway!)

by Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement 18 Comments

Growing an In-Sync Child

 Carol Kranowitz and Joye Newman had me interested before I even opened their new book, Growing an In-Sync Child.  I was already familiar with the Out-of-Sync Child books, written by Kranowitz as a toolbox for helping kids with Sensory Processing Disorder.  I had actually just picked up one of the resources to use with some of the consulting work I do when I was given a copy of this newer book.

The premise of the new book really struck me, and yet seemed so obvious.  The work that Carol and Joye had devoted more than 70 combined years to, has been life-changing  for children with SPD.  But children with SPD are not the only ones who become out-of-sync.  We all have our out-of-sync moments.  In fact, today’s pace and culture seems often to perpetuate this out-of-sync state.  As Joye and Carol question in their book, “Is it the child that is out of sync – or is it the world?”

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Dr. Seuss’ Birthday is on the Way!

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

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Dr. Seuss.  Not only is his writing creative, humorous, poetic, and lovably quirky, but as an educator I’ve found it to be the perfect vehicle for promoting phonological awareness, a critical skill for building readers.  With his birthday looming just around the corner (March 2), this is a popular time of year for all things Seuss!

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Have a Snack: Caramel Popcorn in a Bag!

by Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience, Snack Time 7 Comments

My sons and I were making this delicious recipe for caramel popcorn yesterday and I thought you might enjoy a fun snack on your holiday!  (Originally published 3/30/2009.)  Making popcorn is a great way to involve and discuss the five senses.  You can read more about the developmental benefits of cooking here, and check out this great post on cooking with kids from Simple Bites.

caramel-popcorn

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Will You Be My Valentine?

by Filed Under: Celebrate!, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments

Valentine’s Day is rolling in!  I have some Valentine favorites from the past that I often use, like these Five Valentine Treats ,and the sweet math activityValentine Candy Heart Count , and I always bust out my post office dramatic play area to coincide with the season of love letters.  But I’m always looking for some new ideas, and so I thought I’d share some of the posts that got me excited lately!

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Author Study: Robert Munsch

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience 20 Comments

Robert Munsch grew up in Pennsylvania, in a big family with nine kids.  Well, to be more accurate, Munsch specifies that he lived in Pennsylvania when he was young, and that he never really did grow up at all.  The prolific author struggled through most of his schooling, but always had a passion for writing.  He particularly enjoyed writing poetry, both the serious and silly varieties.  But writing was his past time, not something he, or anyone else, really valued at the time.

Fast forward a few decades, and you find Robert Munsch working in day cares and preschools, captivating children with his storytelling.   On his official website, Munsch recalls, “For ten years I did this without thinking I had any special skill. After all, while I made the best stories in the daycare centre, most of the other teachers made better play doh. I eventually got a long list of stories I told, but I never wrote them down.”

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