Author Archives: The SEEDS Network

Children’s book and music for MLK Day

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MLKposterThe winners have been announced in our “I have a dream” CD giveaway … thanks for all who entered and shared their dreams for children! Now we want to share some additional resources that you can use in your homes and classrooms on Monday to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.

First up … music you can download (for FREE!). Daria is offering her “I Have A Dream” song as a free download this month. Based on Martin Luther King’s famous speech, the “I Have A Dream” song has become popular in schools, classrooms and community organizations to celebrate this day across the USA. Click here to link to the free download. You can find the song lyrics to the song on Daria’s monthly song page, along with a few other free resources.

Next up … learn about children’s book “Let Freedom Sing” by Vanessa Newton. “Let Freedom Sing” is a book for preschoolers that talks about the Civil Rights movement in the US. This story interweaves the book pages with the words from the song “This Little Light of Mine” and shows people singing. This book is reviewed in more detail by Carolyn Wilhelm on her Wise Owl Factory website. Included in her post is a FREE printable about the “march on DC” – which is suitable for preschool and includes signs that say roadblocks and open doors.

I hope you find these resources useful in your classrooms or at home with your children! Feel free to share any additional resources by leaving us a comment!

Make a hibernation book in preschool

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hibernation bookDuring the winter months, you can teach young children about hibernation and where/how/which animals hibernate. This activity focuses on concepts of science (nature, animals) and literacy(knowledge of books and print, reading and writing, story comprehension). This also provides children with an experience to practice fine motor skills(drawing/writing).

A great way to start of an activity like this is with a book! There are many great children’s books about hibernation, such as “Don’t Wake the Bear” by Marjorie Dennis Murray, “Hibernation Station” or “Bear Snores On“. You can start by reading one of those books with your child/children – and then make your own book about hibernation. Not only will they learn something about the animals and how they hibernate – but this early literacy activity can provide an experience for children in making their own book.

Start off by determining which animals you want to discuss or that the children want to learn about. In our class, we talked about bears, frogs and chipmunks. You can start by printing some of the page templates we created – or you can print/write your own.

Next, find some animal clipart to print or cut from a magazine. Our book focused more onWHERE the animal was hibernating, so the children drew/illustrated the location, rather than the animal itself. Depending on what you want to focus on, you can change that accordingly.DSC09580.JPG.th

Children/teachers would read each page, then the child would illustrate the hibernation location and then glue on the animal. For additional writing practice, children can then trace/write the WORD that represents the hibernation location (ie. “cave”, “pond”, “ground”).

Our last page was more open-ended, and allowed the child to think about where he/she would hibernate if they were an animal! Children can draw/dictate/write what they feel. You can have children glue on a picture of themselves to finish off the book!

Best of 2011

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2011I’ve been inspired by some of my favorite early childhood bloggers to create a “Best of 2011” list! It is fun to take a look on Google Analytics from this perspective and see which posts generated the most interest. Not surprisingly … the top posts also were some of my favorite activities that we did this year! So, before we start get too far into 2012, here’s a look back! So without delay ….

Here’s our TOP 5 posts of 2011

#1: Read “Llama Llama Red Pajama” and set a record

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I was so glad to help spread the word about Jumpstart’s Read for the Record Campaign on October 6, 2011. The purpose of this annual event is to spread awareness of the importance of early childhood literacy. I was particularly excited that the book to read was one of my favorites … and that we got to share some cool “Llama Llama” themed activities to go along with it!

#2: Melting Marshmallow SnowmenMelting marshmallow snowmen

Love the comments and feedback we received from this post!! I loved even more making and EATING these treats and look forward to doing this activity in preschool this month!

#3: Literacy Beginnings book study blog partyLiteracy Beginnings

It was a great experience to be able to participate in the “Book Study Blog Party” organized by Vanessa over at Pre-K Pages this past summer. Several great early childhood bloggers discussed chapters of the book “Literacy Beginnings” by Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas. I was particularly excited about using this book as a way to further my own professional development. We had several posts that discussed various chapters of this book and our own experience. The best part about this book study is that you can start it at ANY time and follow the chapter reviews at your own pace. If you haven’t yet read this book, make it your new year’s resolution to do so!!

#4: Pets in the preschool classroomIMG_1349

For preschool programs, having a classroom pet provides a wonderful opportunity for learning about nature, science and living things. In this post, we talked about the educational opportunities of having a classroom pet, as well as mentioning a grant available from PetSmart for Pre-K through 6th grade teachers to cover all the expenses of a classroom pet.

#5: Playing with nature on a sticky tablenature on a sticky table

Go on a nature walk … collect items such as leaves, grass, small sticks, flowers … unroll some clear contact paper … have fun! This reminds me that I want to revisit this idea again in 2012 using other types of materials. Any suggestions??

May the new year bring you new ideas, opportunities and blessings!

Parenting advice for when a child has trouble coping

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billcorbett_2We had a question from a parent for Bill Corbett (our blog Parenting Expert ). This parent has a child who is having difficulty coping with decision making. She worries so much that she will make the “wrong” choice – that she gets so upset and argues. Here is the original question:

“One of my 7 yr old daughters gives us a run for our money. She can be very moody and will throw a fit at times when she doesn’t get what she wants. She struggles making simple decisions (like which shirt to wear), and gets very worked up worrying that she is going to make the “wrong” choice. I’m always assuring her that there is no wrong choice and even limit her choices to just 2 things to make it less overwhelming. But when she is in one of her moods, there is no talking to her. And she also gets very “fresh” and argumentative with me about almost everything. When she gets that way, I generally walk away from her and tell her that I won’t listen to her when she is speaking to me that way and that I will only listen when she talks nicely and treats me with respect. Eventually she comes around, but this is practically an everyday occurrence. Bill – my other two kids are not like this at all, so I can’t really figure out how to deal with her. Her behavior really affects our entire family. If she is having a good day, the whole family has a good day. But when she is having a bad day.. watch out !! I’m considering taking her to a child psychologist or something since I feel she needs to be taught some coping skills in order to be able to better function in life. Any thoughts or strategies?”

Bill’s response:

Once again, let me mention the things you are already doing right: giving her a choice of two items to pick from and declaring the boundary that you don’t have to listen to her guff and walking away. Please keep in mind that you cannot control someone’s attitude or emotions, all you can influence is behavior through your own words and actions. Each child must learn “self-regulation”, which means learning how to calm and soothe the self. We can’t do it for them but we can help by remaining calm and not engaging in the emotion. I know this is easier said than done, but it is something you must do.

When high level energy (positive or negative emotion) from one person comes in contact with high level energy from another person, it escalates and increases. In other words, if we are angry and the next person we come in contact with matches our level of anger, both beings get angrier. But if the person we run into is calm and more peaceful, we are inclined to calm down to match their energy level. Again, this is easier said than done, but you are the adult and must model how to remain calm for the 7 year old to learn from. She may be expressing frustration with decision making and you must let her own that frustration and learn to deal with it.

It sounds like you are limiting her choices and not solving her problems for her… good job! Give her the space to be frustrated but you don’t have to be in her same space while she is like this. Go into a different room and lock the door if you have to. This will teach her that we must be responsible for the boundaries we set for others.

If her mood sets the mood for the rest of the family, the rest of the day, there is not much you can do. That’s the problem with families sometimes. Ask everyone else to remain calm and not get into any battles with her. If they do, it will energize her to repeat this behavior. And it is not a bad thing to seek out a good therapist. It is not out of the question that she may have some deeper issues that need to be resolved.

Thank you Bill for your advice. Do you have a tip or experience to share in relation to this question? We’d love to hear from you! You can also ask a question for Bill or any of our experts by using the blue form on the right!

Bill Corbett, the author of the book Love, Limits, & Lessons® and the founder and president of Cooperative Kids.

Parenting advice when kids are interrupting

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billcorbett_2We had a question from a reader that I think most parents can relate to. Her children often talk over and interrupt each other in an effort to be heard. This dynamic can happen at home and at school, and there are a few approaches to dealing with the situation. We asked our blog Parenting Expert Bill Corbett to provide some advice. Here is the original question:

“Hi Bill. Please help !! I have 3 young kids (7 yr old twin girls and a 4 year old boy). All 3 are very outgoing, outspoken and loud. Everyone constantly talks over each other in an effort to be heard. How can we teach them to stop interrupting and to be respectful of others when they are speaking? I swear my kids totally tune out everyone else and just focus on asking their questions (they are all extremely inquisitive). We constantly remind them to take turns speaking and at dinner we’ve tried having a ball to pass around so that only the one holding the ball is speaking at that time. But nothing seems to work. Are my kids just that inconsiderate? Or are there other things we can try?”

Bill’s response:

First of all I commend you for trying one thing right; using the ball to provide the power to speak while the others listen. You’re on the right track but dinner time is probably not the best family event to use this type of training. I suggest you begin holding a special family meeting one a week or every other week to conduct this training. To start out, break each meeting into two parts, the first just for discussion as a family and then a fun activity. Because you have a 4 year old, this gives you the out to keep the meetings short because of the youngest child’s short attention span. Implement the talking item and go over the rules. The consequence for not following the rules is that the family meeting ends immediately. Be sure that this consequence is set up in advance and when someone not holding the ball talks, silently end the meeting immediately.

It is normal for children to feel competitive when they are all together, feeling afraid that they won’t be heard. You can help them learn to be more patient by implementing a new rule that when mommy is talking to someone else (in person or on the phone), you are going to behave differently. When the child approaches you to speak to you and you are on the phone or speaking to someone else, do three things immediately:

1. Touch the child in a loving way (rub their back, play with their hair, put them on your lap, pull them close, etc.),
2. DO NOT look at the child, and
3. DO NOT speak to the child.

Role play this new behavior often and be sure to reward the child for waiting by being really excited and loving after you’ve ended your conversation with the other person. Finally, make sure that the adults in the family are not modeling talking over others.

Great advice that I know I’ll try at home and at school! Do you have a tip or experience to share in relation to this question? We’d love to hear from you! You can also ask a question for Bill or any of our experts by using the blue form on the right!

Bill Corbett, the author of the book Love, Limits, & Lessons® and the founder and president of Cooperative Kids.

Introducing our Parenting Expert!

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billcorbett_2When Tressa and I talked about starting a blog on our website, one of the main reasons we wanted to do this was to provide a way for parents and child care professionals to ask questions and receive ideas and support. One way that we planned to do this was by inviting professionals in the field of early childhood to become part of our “panel of experts”. Our experts will provide guest blog posts on specific topics, and help to answer questions that are submitted to us.

We are VERY excited to introduce our first expert, Bill Corbett, the author of the book Love, Limits, & Lessons® and the founder and president of Cooperative Kids. We met Bill when he was the keynote speaker at our Early Childhood EXPO in January 2011, which was attended by both parents and ECE professionals. Bill’s speaking style is down-to-earth, entertaining, and accessible. Since then, we have had the pleasure of seeing Bill at other early childhood events around Connecticut, and on his new cable TV show.

Bill is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the National Children’s Alliance (NCA), the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). He is also on the Resource Advisory Board of Attachment Parenting International (API) and spent 12 years as a parent educator and training director with the International Network for Children and Families. As a professional speaker and writer, he has won numerous awards with Toastmasters International and his syndicated column on discipline and child behavior appears in local family publications in many states across the country.

The methodology of Bill Corbett’s teaching is inspired by the studies of child psychologists Rudolph Dreikurs and Alfred Adler and is centered on the approach that effective discipline first requires a solid understanding of why children act out the way they do. “Misbehavior is communication,” Dreikurs wrote in his book, “Children The Challenge”, and this communication must be interpreted in order to use discipline effectively. His theory and methods are based on firm AND respectful discipline and assists parents in raising up cooperative and responsible children.

We are honored to have Bill Corbett on our panel, and we look forward to his guest posts. As both a parent AND a preschool teacher, I am looking forward to what Bill has to share with us!

Do you have a question on child behavior? You can ask your questions by commenting below, or using the ‘Ask the expert’ submission form on the right-hand side of our blog!

Make your own Jingle bells

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jingle stickReady for some homemade musical fun for the holidays? Time to recycle those little bells you have around the house or pick up a small pack from a local store and make your own jingling bracelets, anklets, belts or jingle sticks for thrifty family fun.

Although most folks think of jingling bells around Christmas time, you can hear them in a variety of folk traditions around the world. They are worn on the wrists and ankles of dancers from India, as part of belly dance clothing and also as part of Native American regalia. You can see them placed around the collars of reindeer up near the Arctic circle or on horses as they pull a “one horse open sleigh”. They seem to make everything they touch more graceful and musical.

Here are some ideas for making your own jingle bells.

WRISTS, ANKLES AND WAIST BELLS

Jingle bells of various sizes are available at practically any craft or sewing store. To make them into anklets or bracelets is simple. For the easiest project, begin with pipe cleaners in your favorite colors and wrap or twist the pipe cleaners stopping at regular intervals to string on a jingle bell. Stop when you’ve created the right length to fit your wrist or ankle. For a waist belt of jingles, keep twisting in more pipe cleaners and adding bells until you’ve reached the desired size.

If you braid or finger-weave (a finger and thumb type of weaving that is a bit like crochet), begin with yarn and string on the bells as you see fit. The result will look and sound great!

The nice thing about bracelets or anklets of bells is that it calls attention to movement. As a child moves his arms or legs or as a toddler dances, they can hear the sound and use their own body or arms or legs as an extension of the music instrument. It’s a great way to feel the beat!

JINGLE STICK

Start with a pencil and place one jingle bell in the middle of a pipe cleaner at the top of your pencil. Fold the two ends of the pipe cleaner down the sides of the pencils and begin to wrap with another pipe cleaner. Every so often, string a bell onto the sides of the pipe cleaner that are hanging down and then continue to wrap the pencil.

And then … play along with Jingle Bells or any of your favorite holiday music.

Have fun as you … JINGLE ALL THE WAY!jingle anklet

Award-winning children’s performer, DARIA (Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou) has five cd’s that have won national honors. She has the most awesome job of traveling the world to sing for kids and peace. Her website; located at dariamusic.com, was given a 2009 Parents Choice Award for its musical and cultural content. Read more about Daria. Check out Daria’s website for free songs, song lyrics and more fun musical craft activities like this one.

Put a book on every bed

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bookonbedThe other day I read this wonderful idea in the paper in the “Ask Amy” column. It was about a literacy campaign that she launched with the Family Reading Partnership called “A Book on Every Bed.” The idea is to put a million books at the foot of a million beds for a million children on Christmas morning. What a WONDERFUL idea! It’s a tradition I plan to start this year with my own children (two of which are well beyond the preschool years – but I think they will still get a kick out of it!) It is such a simple idea – and one that doesn’t even need to cost anything – the book you give can be one that is passed down. Here is the idea:

Take a book.

Wrap it.

Place it on a child’s bed so it’s the first thing the child sees on Christmas morning (or whatever holiday you celebrate).

That’s it.

“A Book on Every Bed” is an appeal to spread the love of reading from parents to children. As early educators we know that a love of literacy starts EARLY. Children who are exposed to books and stories while they are young will be more likely to have a love of reading throughout their life.

What can we do help to put a book on every bed?? If you work at a preschool or child care center, how about ….

Holding a book swap with the families at your center

Collecting used books in good condition and donating them to a women’s shelter

Organize a Scholastic book fair and take your profit in books to donate

DO YOU HAVE OTHER IDEAS?? Please share them!


VIDEO: Amy Dickinson and Sahela reading

Image credit: Amy Dickinson and the Family Reading Partnership

Vote for the GROUP here on the SEEDS Blog

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bestgroupblogWe are humbled, honored and super excited to have been placed on the short-list of nominations for TWO Edublog Awards this year!! These types of awards are a way for educational bloggers (and those that follow them) to recognize and show their appreciation for the resources and knowledge that these bloggers take the time to share each and every day. When we started this blog back in May, our plan and intent was to use this blog as a way to interact with parents and early childhood professionals. We wanted this to be a useful resource for people to ask questions, seek input and ideas, and get support from each other.

Flash forward to today … and we are on the list for BEST GROUP BLOG … woo hoo!! The BEST part about that is Tressa and I get to share this nomination with all those who participate on our blog with their expertise and experiences! So just in case you haven’t yet met them … here are the people who have shared with us on our blog since we started in May!

Bill Corbett of Cooperative Kids
We have been so fortunate to meet Bill back in January 2010 when he was the keynote speaker at our Early Childhood EXPO. Since then we have collaborated with him on various projects, including being guests on his cable TV show and panelists during a presentation at a recent CT AEYC conference. Bill is the author of the book series “Love, Limits, & Lessons®” and the founder and president of Cooperative Kids. Bill serves as our parenting expert and has provided some great posts answering questions submitted by readers of the blog.

Colleen Brunetti of Little Hands, Big Ideas
Colleen is our Early Literacy (and Signing) expert and a Masters level educator with a heart for kids who need that special boost! She has worked as both a special educator, a reading specialist, stay at home mom and is now the owner of “Little Hands, Big Ideas”, which specializes in sign language for kids, caregivers, and teachers. Check out some of Colleen’s posts on signing and early literacy.

Shannon Perry of SoccerShots
Shannon is our fitness expert and shares with us his experience on keeping young children active and healthy. Shannon is a former collegiate and professional player with 10 years experience working with children of all ages and is the Soccer Shots Connecticut Director. Check out Shannon’s posts on fitness.

Mary Tabb of Early Childhood Consultation Partnership©
The Early Childhood Consultation Partnership©, is a wonderful resource that is available to support the social and emotional development of children in your care and in your early childhood program. Mary Tabb is a consultant for the group who has given us permission to post some articles and information that the Partnership has put together and distributes to early care centers in their area. The work Mary does, and the information that she shares with parents and early childhood providers is so important to the development of of young children. Check out the posts we have on social-emotional development.

If you enjoy the information that we (and all our contributors) share here — we would love for you to take a minute and vote for us as BEST GROUP BLOG! You can vote once per day from now until Tuesday, December 13, 2011. Also please check out and vote for all the other ECE bloggers on the list who were nominated in various categories (see our Facebook page for a list of all ECE blogs nominated).

Do you have a question you would like answered by one of our experts? Do YOU have early childhood expertise that you would like to share here on our blog? If so, use the blue submission form on the right to send us an email! We’d love to hear from you!

Open-ended winter art in preschool

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Open-ended winter artToday we brought in some seasonal items from nature along with some play dough … and just let the children have at it! We used winter nature items from our area, such as pinecones and pine branches. Since I still had some extra scented pinecones – we used those. Some of the pine branches also had a good pine scent – so this was definitely a sensory experience for the hands, eyes AND nose!

Each child had a ball of play dough, a pinecone and a couple of small pieces from a pine branch to start off. We have various types of pine trees in our area, so we used a variety. I didn’t tell the children what to do with them. Most realized very quickly that they can make the pinecone and pine branches stand upright by using the play dough as a base. Other children noticed how they can make imprints of the pinecone in the play dough. And still others tried covering their pinecone entirely with the play dough.IMG2318.jpg.th

Then, I added a few other sensory items … some cotton balls and seasonal colored macaroni and white glitter beads. Of course, I was thinking that they could make a snowy scene with the materials. But, instead they made their own creations – some used the cotton balls to look like snow – others realized that the cotton would “stick” to the play dough. Some used the colored macaroni to decorate the pinecone. Others simply smashed the macaroni into the play dough.IMG2333.jpg.th

One child realized the pine needles looked like quills and made a porcupine! It really didn’t matter what they did – they very much enjoyed the process and creating their own masterpiece!