Love in many languages

Posted on February 1, 2013 by The SEEDS Network

These pictures are of a cozy/quiet space decorated for Valentine’s Day created by Ms. Katelyn at our preschool. Our “cozy cabana” is used when children need a place to go to be alone; and is filled with quiet activities to help a child work through their feelings – (possibly of saddness, tiredness or being overwhelmed). I love how Katelyn decorated this for Valentine’s Day … with words of love written in the hearts in all different languages. It looks so visually appealing, and maybe a child who is feeling sad at the moment will see the hearts and know that they are loved.

I also really like the use of other languages to say the word “love”. No, the 4 and 5 year old children in this room can’t necessarily READ the words. But think about how this LOOKS to them.

1) First, they can associate the shape of a heart with the word “love”. So, even though they can’t read the word “love” in all those languages – they can still look at those hearts and KNOW what is written on them.

2) Second, what they are learning about language is that there are so many ways to say the same word … “love”. Keep in mind that early literacy is “everything children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write.” And so a visual such as this teaches young children that their language is not the only language in the world. And for some children who are learning a second language, they can help to teach some of their classmates how to say the word “love” in their families’ home language as well.

And .. it just looks beautiful, doesn’t it?

Source: Multnomah County Library

Heart-shaped art in preschool

Posted on January 28, 2013 by The SEEDS Network

Looking for an easy Valentine’s Day craft for toddlers and preschoolers to make on their own? In this video clip (filmed for ehow.com), I show you how you can use a heart shaped doily to make pretty Valentine’s Day art!

heart
Using liquid watercolor, watercolor paints or large dot markers, children can decorate the doilies. The thin paper of the doilies works well with the watercolors; allowing colors to bleed and blend (slightly) as children paint or dot their hearts as they like. Once dry, parents and teachers can mat the doilies with construction paper or cardstock for durability. Great art that can be used for making Valentine’s Day cards or displayed in classrooms!

Preschool director reflecting on Newtown

Posted on January 14, 2013 by The SEEDS Network

As a parent of two young children, the events in Newtown at Sandy Hook Elementary School continue to haunt me. As a Director of a Child Care Center, I feel that my job has forever changed. A sense of security has been robbed from all of us and like many school administrators across our state and country; I begin to relook at our policies and procedures.

I find this process to be extremely emotionally challenging. I find myself lying in bed late at night, thinking about different scenarios that could occur at my center and how I can protect my students and staff to the best of my ability. During the past month I have contacted our local Police Department and Fire Marshal for extensive consultations and suggestions. Our Board of Directors has also met a number of times to fine tune policies and procedures. I continue to research high-tech security systems in hopes in making our facility as secure as possible.

Yet, still so many questions run through my mind: If faced with a threatening situation…. How can my infant room teacher get four babies to a safe location? How can my toddler teacher keep eight two year olds quiet if needed? Will my staff be able to recall our procedures in the event of real threat? How will we explain lockdown drills to our preschoolers? How can I help parents feel safe, how can I help staff to feel safe? I am saddened that these are thoughts and scenarios that I have to prepare for now.

Since the terrible day in Newtown, I often think about the Principal of Sandy Hook Elementary. Dawn Hochsprung acted swiftly in her attempt to stop the gunman in order to save her students and staff. And it is in honor of her that I, as well as hundreds of administrators across our country, will do all we can do to make our schools safer. We will not let violence over-take our schools and centers. We will not let fear stop us from delivering quality care and education. Most of all we will not let terror stop us from teaching children how to love themselves and one another.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the families, children and staff in Newtown. We will never forget.

For resources on dealing with the aftermath of school violence … visit NAEYC’s page on “Coping with Violence“?

P is for Penguin in preschool

Posted on January 10, 2013 by The SEEDS Network

During the colder winter months, a popular topic in preschool is winter weather … featuring snow and ice! And how about those animals that live in icy climates? Arctic animals can be fun to learn about, and who doesn’t love a cute penguin? We had a teacher make an adorable penguin door display at our school …. so I searched around for some fun penguin activities to go along with it! P is for Penguin in preschool

Penguin Door Display

Use the shape of a door frame as the canvas to make a LARGE penguin!

Toilet Paper Tube Penguins

Show children pictures of penguins, talk about the environment where they live, the penguin life cycle, etc. Then you can have children cut out shapes, glue and assemble a penguin out of a toilet paper tube.

Shape Penguins

Have children explore various shapes that can be used to make a penguin (ovals, circles, triangles). Older preschoolers can practice cutting these shapes themselves (teacher/parent can pre-trace the shapes for children to cut out, if needed). Then they can assemble shapes onto a black penguin body.

More Penguins on Pinterest

There are so many other great ideas from bloggers that we found and pinned on Pinterest related to penguins and other arctic animals. Check it out to see penguins made out of footprints and waterbottles .. and polar bears made from cotton balls and styrofoam cups!

I have a dream handprints

Posted on January 2, 2013 by The SEEDS Network

This project is a great addition to a celebration of Martin Luther King Day, or any discussion on peace, friendship and diversity. This year Martin Luther King Day falls on January 16, 2012.

If you are celebrating MLK Day, you can talk to your child/children about Martin Luther King Jr. and explain that he was a very important man whose birthday we celebrate on the third Monday in January. You can talk about how Dr. King wanted to end “discrimination” (that’s a big concept for young children). You can explain that discrimination is treating someone differently because they are not like you. Explain that Dr. King wanted everyone to be treated fairly, no matter what color their skin is. Tell them that Dr. King “had a dream” that one day everyone would be treated fairly and have the same opportunities.

You can talk about the diversity in your classroom, how everyone has different hair, eye and skin color – and yet they are ONE community and that they are all friends. Ask them to think about a dream they have for their class, for their family or for the world.

Then, give each child a piece of white paper shaped as a heart, in the center write “I have a dream…”. Have the children write or dictate their dream and write it on the heart. Glue the white heart to a slightly larger red heart and then glue to the center of a rectangular sheet of construction paper.

Then, using multicultural skin tone paints – have the children dip a hand in one color paint and press onto one side of the paper. Then have the children dip their other hand in another color and press on the other side of their paper. Explain how this symbolizes our friendship with each other, and that we all have the same dreams for a better world!

You can hang these on a bulletin board, along with the following poem/song (author unknown):

(Sing to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”)

Let’s all live in peace,

Let’s play in harmony.

Red, yellow, brown, or white,

We’re all one family.

Celebrating Martin Luther King Day in preschool

Posted on January 2, 2013 by The SEEDS Network

Monday, January 16, 2012 we will be celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. in the US. It is a good opportunity to talk to our youngest students about fairness, equality, friendship and peace. Parents and preschool teachers can recognize this day with some age appropriate art and learning activities.

We are different and the same activity
You can talk with young children about how even though we are different in many ways (skin color, hair color, eye color, age, etc.) – that EVERYONE is special and we have many of the same hopes, dreams and feelings on the inside. A simple activity that highlights this concept uses brown and white eggs. Show the child/children how the eggs look different on the outside. Ask them what is different about the eggs? Then open them up and show them that even though they look different on the outside – they are the same on the inside, just like people. Afterwards, you can cook up the eggs for snack – compare how they taste!

Handprint wreath
An art project that you can also do on this day is to make a handprint wreath using multicultural skin tone paints. In a classroom setting, this is a beautiful way to reflect the diversity in your classroom … in a home setting, it is a wonderful way to explore all the lovely shades of skin colors that exist in the world. Paint children’s hands with the paints and have them make a print on a sheet of paper. Once dry, cut out handprints and arrange them in a circle on a bulletin board or large sheet on easel paper. Display with the heading “Love comes in many colors”!

Other MLK Day ideas from around the web
There are so many great resources available online to get more ideas to celebrate MLK Day. Here are just a few that I found, take a visit and get inspired!

“I have a dream” handprints The SEEDS Network

MLK Day ideas Our Pinterest MLK board

Teaching diversity to children PreK and K Sharing

Learning about Martin Luther King Jr in preschool Teach Preschool

Crafts for Martin Luther King Jr Day Frugal Family Fun

Martin Luther King Activities Twiggle Magazine

Martin Luther King Preschool Plan It

Mad DOT challenge!

Posted on December 31, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

This challenge just seemed “irresistible” to me!! My friends Donna and Sherry over at Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning posted about the MAD DOT CHALLENGE they were doing along with their friend, Marc Armitage.

The challenge … to take something that is completely white, give young children a bunch of DOT stickers … and let them stick to their hearts content! They loved the opportunity to just stick the stickers anywhere they wanted. The creative activity was also great for fine motor development … and a wonderful group project the whole class can feel proud of!

The challenge for me … what could I find that was ALL white – and that was ok for the children to decorate with stickers? Luckily, we were finishing up our “exploring countries” theme and I thought about the columns one of our teachers created for our Italy classroom. PERFECT!

When I told them what we were going to do with the columns, the reaction was … “ooooohh!”

Many children tried to put their dots up as high as they could reach. Others worked to make patterns or grouped them by color.

This activity is also fun paired with the book “Press Here” (see a review of this book with another DOT activity over at Teach Preschool).

Our top posts of 2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

Just like we did last year, we thought it would be fun to see what our top posts were from 2012! It is fun to take a look on Google Analytics from this perspective and see which posts generated the most interest. A key part of our blog has always been featuring guest posts from others in the early childhood field that we network with – so that we can share a broad range of advice, expertise, tips and ideas. It was great to see that many of our guest posts made it to our top 5 most popular ones! So here we go, our TOP 5 posts, starting with #1 ….

#1: Pre-K teacher tax deductions

Maybe not the funnest topic to talk about (TAXES), but our readers were very interested in tax deduction information as it relates to teachers (and it showed, as it was shared all over Pinterest)! Financial consultant, Steven Daar approached us with this topic, and we asked him to give advice that would specifically help preK teachers understand what expenses they can deduct on their own income taxes. His advice is clear and easy to follow, and we very much appreciated his expertise! Since we are coming into the new year, the post is again timely – so if you didn’t check it out in 2012, head on over now to take a look!

#2: The parent-teacher conference (part 1)

Another guest blogger topped our list in 2012! Veteran educator and public speaking coach,Charlie Margolis shared his ideas and insights about how to have a successful parent-teacher conference. Another timely topic, as we enter into the new year! Charlie also had a PART 2 post on this topic, definitely worth checking out (see his fun “helpful hint” at the bottom!).

#3: Handling undesirable behaviors in preschool

Image used here with permission from Bill Corbett

Another guest blogger, with another hot topic … undesirable behaviors. Parenting coach, Bill Corbett answered the following question from one of our readers … “At my school, children seem to be copying the wrong behavior from one another. Let’s just say, it’s not behavior that is desirable. I need to come up with a positive behavioral plan that HAS worked for others. Any suggestions?” Check out the post to see Bill’s response!

Because of the high level of interest in this topic … we thought it would be great to get additional strategies from veteran educators and early childhood bloggers that we network with. So, if you would like to see additional ideas on this topic from Vanessa Levin, Rick Ackerly, Barbara Street, Matt Halpern and others, check out Undesirable behaviors PART 2 (which was our #6 top post) and Undesirable behaviors PART 3.

#4: Oh, the things you can reuse!

Earth Day is celebrated in April each year, and last April many of us from the Preschool Blogger Network got together to share books and activity ideas related to Earth Day, recycling and repurposing. This post was put together in preparation for that … and it generated a lot of hits, because EVERY DAY can be Earth Day. Here we shared some of our favorite recycling projects that we’ve done, and that other bloggers allowed us to share here.

This topic is so relevant … we set up a “Green Room” page on our website to feature additional resources and ideas for teachers on recycling and going green in the classroom.

#5: The MAD DOT challenge!

This challenge just seemed “irresistible” to us!! Donna and Sherry over at Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning posted about the MAD DOT CHALLENGE they were doing along with their friend, Marc Armitage. The challenge … to take something that is completely white, give young children a bunch of DOT stickers … and let them stick to their hearts content! See how our classes took on the challenge!

Thanks for following and inspiring us each day! We wish you, your students and families a wonderful and prosperous New Year! — Laura & Tressa

Reindeer art for toddlers and preschoolers

Posted on December 18, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

Here’s an instructional video that we filmed for ehow.com that shows two cute reindeer projects that you can do with your toddlers and preschool-age children. You can read the instructions, and then view the video to see more.

Handprint Reindeer

The first project is a really adorable hand print craft that you can do with infants, toddlers, or preschoolers. Using brown washable paint, simply paint their hand, and have them make them hand print on a piece of colored construction paper or cardstock. Once it’s dry, simply silhouette cut around the hand print. And now, it looks like a face with the antlers. Add on some googly eyes and a nose, with glue dots or some tacky glue. You can use this cute reindeer as an ornament, or put a magnet on the back to hang on the refrigerator.

Toilet paper tube Reindeer

The next reindeer project is made out of a toilet paper tube. Beforehand you will need to cut a rectangular piece of brown paper the same height as your toilet paper tube. And then, you can have the child wrap it around, take some tape and attach to the tube to make the reindeer body. You can use some glue dots with some googly eyes and have the children stick those on, along with a red pom pom for the nose. And then, they can take a marker, they can decorate it any way they want to make the face.

For the antlers, help children take a pipe cleaner and that has been cut it in half, make a cross and then, wrap it around. Then, they bend each end up, so that it looks more like a W (view the video to see how this is done). The antlers then get taped onto the inside of the toilet paper tube, and you have your reindeer!

For a look at the projects — take a peek at the video!

Counting and literacy activity with Pete the Cat

Posted on December 3, 2012 by The SEEDS Network

The “Pete the Cat” series of books are loved by children, teachers and parents! (We are pretty big FANS ourselves!)

While doing a recent “Book & Boogie” activity with the story “Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons” at our local library, I wanted to have something for the children to take home with them so they could retell the story. The activity below provides a hands-on counting component to the story while you read it – but can also be used to retell the story afterwards.

Beforehand, print out shirt clipart (or do a freehand drawing) onto some yellow cardstock or construction paper to look similar to Pete’s shirt in the story and then cut it out. Provide one to each child.

WHILE YOU READ:
Before you read, have children put 4 circle/dot stickers on their OWN shirt (you can put 4 dots on each circle with a marker to make it look more like a button, if you wish). I also put 4 sticker buttons on my shirt as well. As you read the story and Pete looses a button, have the children take one of their sticker buttons off their shirt and put it onto their yellow paper shirt. Have them count how many buttons they have left on their own shirt – to go along with how many buttons Pete has left on his shirt.

Continue until all the buttons are off their shirts and onto their paper shirt. They can then bring their paper shirt home to be able to re-tell the story. Or they can use their paper shirt in the art center, draw a picture of Pete and glue the coat on.

AFTER YOU READ:
You can laminate some yellow paper shirt and put them in the reading center along with the book and stickers. Children can put 4 buttons on the shirt, and as they look at the book, they can remove a button from the shirt just like in the story. Laminating the cardstock shirt with clear contact paper or a laminating machine will help with durability, and for ease of the stickers to be peeled off and on.

Don’t forget that there are FREE song downloads available for each “Pete the Cat” story – and after you listen and read, you’ll definitely be walking around and singing “My buttons … my buttons! My four groovy buttons“!

The SEEDS Network

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