Week Two: A.K.A. "After the Meltdown"

Well here we are in week two. The week didn't start out with me crying on the floor of my bathroom while contemplating how appropriate it would be to start drinking at 10 in the morning, so I consider that significant progress! Yay, me! Give me a sticker! I was able to sit and enjoy my first cup of coffee of the day while listening to the chatter on the girls' computers. One is in the dining room, the other in her room. We realized during our test run the day before school even started that there is no way that they can be in the same room if they aren't in the same class. They seemed happy and pretty well adjusted if you forget about the epic clothing meltdown my 3rd grader had before school started. I am having them wear a modified uniform (polo shirt with bottoms of their choice)so they look presentable on camera and start getting back into a uniform mindset for when they do go back to the building. Natalie is going to have a rough time going back to uniforms after months and months of fashionista freedom... So week two seems to be much better. I'm really hoping this remains true. A friend and fellow librarian posted something on her Facebook over the weekend that spoke volumes to me. I told her that I want to print it out, laminate it, and carry it with me whenever I find myself struggling.

I hope you are all successfully navigating this new reality! In talking to my friends, both with kids in school and at home, I have discovered that uncertainty, concern, doubt, and anxiety are common among all of us. Take some time for some needed self-care. For me this involved purchasing super cute leopard print sandals that were on clearance(!), drinking a pumpkin cream cold brew from Starbucks, and binge watching several episodes of Gilmore Girls (one of my favorite shows EVER because you know I am a total Lorelai!) Talking to friends also helped immensely and made me feel a little less isolated. My teen librarian counterpart and I have also been brainstorming ideas for things we can do to be the crazy youth librarians we are amidst all the madness, so I am feeling a bit more invigorated career wise. Got some amazing news from a close friend too. Maybe things are finally starting to look up. If nothing else, I am thinking more like a super optimistic, shiny, perky children's librarian again!

First day of school meltdown

The first day of school (sort of - it was half day/prep day/learn to deal with Covid day) for my kids was this past Wednesday.  Tuesday night all seemed well.  Our decision to start the year with synchronous learning from home was sound(ish).  The girls went to bed at the designated time without a fight, and I was able to finish preparing everything I needed to do for the next day.  Then came Wednesday.  It started out okay.  The girls got up at school morning time for the first time in months and were ready to start testing and prepping everything they needed to do before a full day of classroom learning began on Thursday.  They weren't even fighting!  We had a plan to spend some fun time together as a family after we got everything out of the way in the morning.  Then it happened.  We had a gigantic, epic meltdown that put all other meltdowns to shame.  We're talking giant crocodile tears, screaming, hyperventilating meltdown that resulted in a big time out.  Only one first day of school picture was taken, and it's a real beauty.  Are you ready for it?

Yep.  It's me.  I captured this little gem of myself after having spent a large portion of time crying hysterically while sitting on the floor of my bathroom.  I had hidden myself away so my girls didn't see me completely losing my sh*t.  It wasn't pretty, and it resulted in a massive migraine.  What led to this incredible glamour shot you might ask?  It was all because of something that had brought me such incredible joy in previous years, something that I wait for every year around this time.  Back to school pictures.  I usually love them.  There's just something so fun about seeing the excitement on (most of) the kids' faces and thinking about all the possibilities and opportunities that await them.  I especially love seeing all the pictures of my kids' classmates and those cutie pies in their uniforms.  They're adorable.  You would think I would love this even more this year because I haven't seen a lot of those faces since March.  I was still happy to see their faces, but I quickly started falling into a major downward spiral into second thoughts, regrets, and fears.  The decision to keep our girls home was a joint one, but my husband was definitely more comfortable with it.  I had wavered back and forth up until the very last second a decision had to be made, and even then it was probably a 51/49 split.  For weeks leading up to the first day I was trying to see the positives and continuously shoved the negative thoughts into the back of my mind closet.  Well the doors burst open.  My biggest anxiety was feeling like my girls were going to be forgotten or ostracized for being at home when the majority of kids were at school.  I was very surprised to discover that virtual learners were very much the minority.  Both girls are 1 of 3 home learners out of 16 in each class.  I kept crying and thinking, "out of sight, out of mind."  My oldest turns 9 in October, and that is an age where girlhood really starts to rear it's ugly head.  I am so afraid that when she does go back to school in person, the other girls will think differently of her, or worse, not at all.  Girls are mean and vicious.  I experienced many mean and vicious girls in my youth, and that is one of my biggest parental fears.  Feeling left out sucks.  A big part of my anxiety and insecurities as an adult are still influenced by childhood experiences.  Looking at these pictures resulted in a big us vs. them feeling, with us being on the fringes and not a part of things.  Logic and reason were not present on the cold floor of my bathroom that day.  God love my beautiful and amazing mom friends who went out of their way to reach out and tell me how much they love me and my family and how important we are to the school community.  I had several girlfriends text me pics and gifs of my top 3 celebrity crushes to cheer me up as well (Matt Damon, Aaron Rodgers, Joey McIntyre if you're wondering.)  While this all helped a little, nothing could pull me out of my depression.  I completely and totally shut down on Wednesday.  I refused to do anything having to do with school, and I was mad, so unbelievably mad at the state of things.  Once my headache cleared enough to be able to see, I got in my car and drove.  It was just me and my Spotify playlist.  The last five months of Corona crap just came crashing down on me.  Everything just seemed so far out of my control.  I shut down.  I gave up.  I refused to deal with anything or make any kind of decision.  I checked so far out.  This breakdown made me realize just how not okay I have been.  I have been feeling physically ill and so completely drained.  Mental health is much more physical than you think.  I was broken and so completely filled with fear that this is something my kids won't bounce back from.  By Wednesday night I was running a fever, had a massive headache, and could barely move.  Of course I start fearing the worst...Covid.  It's not that irrational for me to go right to that thought.  Working in a public library that is open to the public....I have this fear about every five seconds of every single day.

The next morning I felt like I had been hit by a truck and knew that there was no way I would be any good to anyone at work.  I also was exhibiting several warning sign symptoms (headache, stomachache, fatigue, slight fever, funky tastebuds) that even though I knew were likely stress and anxiety induced, were enough to make some co-workers and customers panic.  Fortunately I have one of the greatest bosses on the planet who understands how much stress I have been under both at home and at work and how that can wreak havoc on your health.  He and my staff and several co-workers have been wonderful and supportive.  It is a blessing because that can be very rare.  In these crazy times, many of us are not taking the time to self-care or even stop for five minutes to relax and recharge.  We're running on empty.  We are literally making ourselves sick.  As parents we are in uncharted territory.  Raising kids in a pandemic was not in any parenting book we may have read, and we are testing the limits of sanity just trying to reclaim any bit of "normal" that we can.  I found myself lying in bed feeling the fear and uncertainty crawling up my skin.  It was the first day that my kids would be going to school with all of their classmates but doing it from the dining room table and bedroom desk.  This was when it would all start.  I dragged myself out of bed.  My mom had requested the traditional pictures of my girls on their first day and said I would regret it if I didn't take them.  My kids were really excited and couldn't wait to start the day.  This made me feel a little better, enough to get through the picture session and post them.  Throughout the day between my bed and the living room couch, I overheard both girls and their classes.  I heard lots of commotion, laughter, and chatting.  My girls were super smiley during lunchtime talking about their morning.  I also heard their various teachers multiple times addressing their "friends at home", calling on the kids by name, and making sure that they were just as involved as the kids in the classroom.  That made me unbelievably happy and so incredibly touched.  I have always loved our school and am so happy that our kids are 4th generation, but this just filled me with such a healing light.  I still have about a zillion worries and concerns, but this makes me less likely to set up camp on my bathroom floor.  I hope that their friends don't forget about them, and I really hope that all of this craziness and madness becomes a distant memory very soon.  The whole thing of some at school and some at home will continue to bother me.  At least at the end of last school year, we were all in the same boat.  There was some solidarity there.  Now it feels very divided.  And there is definitely some judgment there, when there should not be.  These decisions were not easy ones to make, and we wrestle with them every single day.  After school I asked the girls about their day and both had nothing but good things to say.  They love their teachers so much.  We struck GOLD with their teachers!  They told me about being able to see and talk to some of their friends.  It made me feel better, but I know that my oldest is struggling with not being able to see some of her friends.  Some moved, others are in a different class and she isn't seeing them at lunch like she would if she was at school.  She has been remarkably strong and resilient, but I know that it affects her.

It basically comes down to the fact that none of this is ideal.  None of this is normal.  There are sacrifices that need to be made, priorities that need to be refocused, and plans that need to be revised.  I am never going to be 100% okay with any of this.  Hell, even if it wasn't some crazy B movie that we seem to be living in these days, things would never be predictable.  Parenthood is hard as hell.  There are no easy paths to begin with.  I am viewing the fact that I am back at the library and not crying on my bathroom floor as significant progress.

So why did I write and post this?  Part of it is so I can look back when things are just a little bit easier and more predictable, but most of it is because I want parents to know that they are not alone.  I am not the only one to break down and fall apart.  I am not the only one who was already parenting with anxiety and depression only to have it magnified.  I am not the only one who has been clinging to sanity by a thread.  I want to normalize this.  We shouldn't have to hide in our metaphorical bathrooms.  We shouldn't be afraid to say that we are hurting, we are struggling, and we need help.  Everyone needs some kind of reassurance that things are going to be okay.  Temper tantrums and meltdowns are not limited to just toddlers.  Grownups have them too.  If you are struggling, tell someone.  If you need help, ask for it.  Support each other.  Be there for each other.  Send them gifs of a shirtless Joey McIntyre if you know that will bring them even an ounce of joy.  Love one another.  Cheer for the kiddos and root them on in their learning.  Getting back into a school mindset after summer vacation can be challenging.  Realize that it has been five months!  I wish you all a safe, happy, and healthy school year.  If you do find yourself needing to cry on the bathroom floor, know that someone else is doing the same thing somewhere else and know that you are not alone.

I leave you with this year's 1st day of school pictures (2nd and 3rd grade) of my crazy, reasonably well-adjusted children who may have inherited qualities from their mother, heaven help them!

School Readiness: The Arts

How can you help and support your child in the area of the arts?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Trying different art activities such as dancing, singing, acting, painting, and drawing
• Asking questions about and looking for new ways to dance, make music, act, or make art
• Using different materials such as puppets, costumes, instruments, paint, glue, scissors, and crayons
• Showing an interest in other children's art activities

It's the last of my posts on school readiness activities, and I have saved the best, most fun for last!  We're dancing, we're singing, we're throwing a marching band inside!  Today we explore our creative sides and embrace the power of imagination!  This is my jam!  Let's just call this topic "Miss Jen in a nutshell."  Okay, so I know that I said that social studies was my favorite subject in school, but any chance I had to dance, sing, act, or create was the best!  I took dance classes all throughout my childhood (ballet, tap, jazz, pointe), sang in different choirs, and loved being in plays both on stage and behind the scenes.  I wrote for school newspapers and did creative writing in grade school, high school, and college.  I was in show choirs, musical theater, and active in both the television and radio stations in college.  I love performing, expressing myself, and being creative.  And while I didn't quite inherit the drawing and painting artistic talents from my grandmother, I still find ways of creating through duct tape design, graphic design, and making art with preschoolers.  As a child I was always encouraged to explore my interests, test the boundaries of my imagination, and express myself in different and creative ways.  I owe so many thanks to my parents for this, and now that I am a parent myself, I can truly appreciate the sacrifices they made.  The arts are so important for shaping children and are a necessary part of education.  Sadly, arts programs are usually the first ones to be cut in school budgets, but they are so vital.  They promote creativity, collaboration, and perseverance.  They encourage children to learn new skills, practice what they have learned, and develop patience in the process.  The arts are important for children who are visual learners (like yours truly.)  They teach kids how to slow down and focus, learn to make decisions, and build confidence.  Various studies have shown how arts programs actually help improve academic performance.  There are so many activities that you can do with your child to promote the arts.  It can even be as simple as giving them a blank piece of paper and a box of crayons.

Readers theater fun

Whether you have an actual script or just try and retell the story, encourage your kiddos to act out the stories you share together.  Take it a step further and act out what you think happened after you stopped turning the pages.  It's like fan fiction come to life!

Let's get the band together

If you have musical instruments or toys, get them.  If you don't, make them!  Empty coffee cans make great drums, especially if you decorate them.  A box of rice makes a great shaker.  Start playing, start singing, start marching around the house if you want to!  Check with your local library and see if they have a toy collection.  Mine does, and you can request all kinds of instruments and musical toys for free with your library card.

Nature art

This was an activity I mentioned in a previous post, but it absolutely works here too.  Find objects like pinecones, feathers, leaves, stones, or flower petals and turn them into art.  Working together you can make a great college with these found objects along with other craft materials.  It's a great way of documenting a special hike, picnic, or other activity you enjoyed together in nature.

Recycle and upcycle

You can make art out of things like tin cans or plastic bottles (recycle.)  You can also make something together to teach your child the value of taking something and turning it into something new (upcycle.)  A project that I like to do with kids is taking old t-shirts and then turning them into library bags.  It allows for a lesson in learning to help the environment and reduce our carbon footprint, a bonus social studies activity!  A simple Google search can lead you to a number of things you can do with an old shirt such as turn it into a dog toy or "yarn" that can be woven into scarves or even jewelry.  That's a great fine motor activity.

Poetrypalooza

I say everything is better when it's a palooza!  Visit the 800s section of your local library's children's department and check out some poetry books.  Explore the different styles and then write some of your own.  May I suggest checking out some Shel Silverstein books such as A Light in the Attic or Where the Sidewalk Ends and read the funny poems together.  These were two of my favorite books as a child.

Channel your inner cinematographer 

My girls absolutely love taking pictures and making videos.  My husband gave them an old cell phone (SIM card removed, disabled WiFi) that they use to take pictures of their dolls and stuffed animals.  They also love making their own (fake) YouTube videos where they act out stories and show off their toys.  They could spend hours doing this if I let them.  It's so fun to watch and listen to them.  It's like they are following in their mama's broadcasting footsteps.  Plus some of the scenarios my 7 year old comes up with for her toys make me feel like I am watching a telenovela!  The drama!  The intrigue!  You can work together to write a script or have your child draw pictures of what the order of the story will be (storyboarding.)

Throw a concert in your living room

Play different kinds of music from the radio or from your own collection.  Encourage to child to sing and dance along to the music with you.  This is also a great time to introduce music and dance from different cultures, whether it's your own or not.

Explore the arts in your own community

This might not be so easy during Covid times, but when things begin to open up again, explore museums, go to free outdoor concerts, dance at a festival, or see a play.  Let children' see art in action and see that people in their community are making it, all while exploring their creativity, passion, and imagination.  In the meantime, there are a number of online resources that can help you do this from the comfort and safety of your own home.  Many museums offer virtual tours of their exhibits.  Musical artists are performing free concerts from home.  You can even view plays, musicals, ballets, and other performances from home.  Check out Google Art & Culture.  It's a free and easy way to see more of the world around you, and it is AMAZINGLY cool!

Take a class

Not only an your child take a class, but there are also opportunities for parent/child classes in a variety of areas.  There are also lower cost and even free options through scouts, local stores (think Home Depot craft making), and your good ol' local library, at least when things start returning to normal again.  Some library systems are offering virtual programs in the meantime, so take advantage of those for sure.  I know I have!  Many also offer databases as part of their collection.  If your local system does not offer Creativebug, ask them to!

Books

The 700s in your local library's juvenile nonfiction section will be your best friend here, along with poetry books found in the 800s.  A lot of books on other countries and cultures will have sections that talk about this too.  This would also be a great time to explore the biography section.  Some fiction keywords to search are art, music, dance, theater, imagination, pretend, make-believe, creativity, and crafts among others.  There are also a number of books out there that are illustrated versions of popular songs such as Happy by Pharrell Williams with interior photography by Amanda Platt, Footloose by Kenny Loggins with illustrations by Tim Bowers, and Octopus's Garden by Ringo Starr with illustrations by Ben Cort.  Jane Cabrera is known for her books based on children's songs and nursery rhymes.  Then one of my favorite's, Laurie Berkner has illustrated picture books of some of her most well known songs.

• What will these hands make? / Nikki McClure
• Studio : a place for art to start / Emily Arrow, James Buchanan, Melissa Buchanan
• Linus the little yellow pencil / Scott Magoon
• When Pencil met Eraser / story by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramos, Jr. ; illustrated by Germán Blanco
• Anywhere artist / Nikki Slade Robinson
• The music of life / Louis Thomas
• Pokko and the drum / Matthew Forsythe
• Play this book / by Jessica E. Young ; illustrated by Daniel Wiseman
• Bears in a band / Shirley Parenteau ; illustrated by David Walker     
• The ABC animal orchestra / Donald Saaf
• The bear went over the mountain / as told and illustrated by Iza Trapani
• Marvin makes music / Marvin Hamlisch ; illustrated by Jim Madsen
• Acoustic Rooster and his barnyard band / Kwame Alexander ; illustrated by Tim Bowers
• Punk Farm / Jarrett J. Krosoczka
• Punk Farm on Tour / Jarrett J. Krosoczka
• If you're happy and you know it / by James Warhola
• How do you dance? / Thyra Heder
• This is it / by Daria Peoples-Riley
• Sebi and the Land of Cha Cha Cha / Roselyn Sánchez and Eric Winter ; illustrated by Nívea Ortiz
• Cock-a-doodle dance! / by Christine Tricarico ; illustrated by Rich Deas
• Chicken dance / by Tammi Sauer ; illustrated by Dan Santat
• When you need wings / Lita Judge
• A little courage / Taltal Levi
• My rainy day rocket ship / Markette Sheppard ; illustrated by Charly Palmer
• Best day ever / by Michael J. Armstrong ; illustrated by Eglantine Ceulemans
• The book in the book in the book / Julien Baer ; illustrated by Simon Bailly
• Where did you go today? / Jenny Duke
• What to do with a string / by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by C. F. Payne
• What to do with a box / Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Chris Sheban
• If you had a jetpack / words by Lisl H. Detlefsen ; illustrated by Linzie Hunter
• Do you believe in unicorns? / Bethanie Deeney Murguia                 

School Readiness: Social Studies

How can you help and support your child in the area of social studies, also known as the study of people?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Understanding how people live today and how they lived in the past
• Talking about people from different cultures and backgrounds
• Knowing how people work, solve problems, and get along with others
• Talking about self, family members, neighborhood, and the community
  

What is happening in your world?  What does your neighborhood look like?  We're making maps, playing games, and expressing ourselves!  Community helpers are definitely something that kids will talk about in kindergarten.  This topic also makes me start singing "People in Your Neighborhood" from Sesame Street!  Fortunately I am a children's librarian, so it's not quite as weird if I am singing.  Honestly, I think people would find it weird if I wasn't singing or doing something others may view as "crazy."  It's why I went into this line of work!  I also have lots of fun talking about my job during community helper day at outreach visits.  Sorry to anyone who had to follow me because I got those kiddos fired up!

Make an all about me book

This is a popular first day of school activity.  Even in 2nd and 3rd grade, my girls will be doing this.  It's a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to ask children questions and encourage them to build upon those narrative skills.  Get out some paper, some crayons, and craft supplies and start creating.  When they are finished, ask them to tell you all about their book.  It's a great opportunity to introduce some million dollar words during your conversation.

Map maker, map maker, make me a map

Show children examples of different maps and then encourage them to make their own.  They can make a map of their bedroom, their house, and even their neighborhood.  This was actually an assignment my daughter had in first grade last year.  It doesn't hurt to start building these skills now so you are ready for later!

Follow the rules

There are rules everywhere, especially in school.  Work together to create your own list of family rules.  Play a board game together so they can see those have rules to follow.  Ask the kids to talk about rules they think they will have to follow in school.

Dramatic play

Dramatic play is a great way for kids to explore and discover.  Gather costumes, props, and other objects and encourage kids to pretend to be different community helpers.  Talk to them about what they are doing and why they are doing it.  Take a walk or drive through your local neighborhood and talk about what different people do to help the community.

Photo fun

Look through photo albums and talk about what they see.  This is a great way to talk about different family members.  It's really fun to show baby pictures and have kids guess who they are.  Tell the kids about where they come from.  Check out books from your library or go online to show them more about where their family comes from.

Around the world in your living room

Talk about people from different cultures and backgrounds.  You could do this by making a special meal, listening to music, or learning more about a holiday.  Encourage kids to explore, value, and celebrate differences.  Once all this Covid madness goes away, you can invite people over and enjoy such a celebration together.  My library has a database called Culture Grams that rocks!  Check with yours to see if they have this database or something similiar.  You can also check out books about different countries, religions, or cultural celebrations.

Body identification

Other activities that you can do include playing games like Simon Says or singing the Hokey Pokey to help kids learn to identify parts of the body.  "Simon says pat your head."  "You put your right hand in."  You get it.  Singing and dancing to children's music is another activity you can do.  Bonus points for getting exercise and having fun while you do it!

Books

Okay, so I have a lot of suggestions for this post, and I even narrowed down the list!  One book that I can vividly recall from my childhood that is still in circulation is People written and illustrated by Peter Spier.  It emphasizes the differences of the billions of people on Earth.  I loved it.  I swear I checked it out just about every time I went to the library as a kid.  It must have been the beginning of developing my people-loving, extroverted self!  Honestly though, I always loved checking out books and learning about different countries seeing how people are so alike and so different all at the same time.  Atlases and geography books fascinated me.  It's funny that I grew up having such a horrible sense of direction after all those maps from my youth!  Social studies was always my favorite subject in elementary school.  I was also a Girl Scout and loved all the cultural activities I got to explore working on badges.  Some of the most beautiful picture books I have ever seen could also fit into this category.  Learning about different cultures and backgrounds continues to fascinate me as an adult.  We can learn and grow so much from the stories of others.

Who else read this book as a kid?

You can find nonfiction books in 100s, 200s, 300s and 900s that cover these different topics.  Honestly, you could probably find something in every Dewey Decimal category if you really tried, but those are the biggies.  Some keywords to search for fiction books include family, community, identity, culture, diversity, population, personality, individuality, customs, holidays, occupations, environment, and multicultural.  Again, this is a long list, but I am barely scratching the surface.  Ask your local librarian for some of their favorite titles.  It's all about getting different perspectives!

• I am brown / Ashok Banker, Sandhya Prabhat
• Taking time / Jo Loring-Fisher
• Swing / Michael Hall
• Our favorite day of the year / written by A.E. Ali ; illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell
• Lulu the one and only / by Lynnette Mawhinney, PhD ; illustrated by Jennie Poh
• What if? : what makes you different makes you amazing! / Sandra Magsamen
• One big heart : a celebration of being more alike than different / written by Linsey Davis with Beverly Davis ; illustrated by Lucy Fleming    
• Intersection allies : we make room for all / by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi ; illustrations by Ashley Seil Smith
• I just like you. / Suzanne Bloom
• I'm an immigrant too! / Mem Fox ; illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh
• We've got the whole world in our hands / Rafael López
• We're all wonders / written and illustrated by R. J. Palacio
• Why am I me? / words by Paige Britt ; pictures by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko
• What's the difference? : being different is amazing / Doyin Richards
• One earth / written by Eileen Spinelli ; illustrated by Rogério Coelho
• Love the earth / Julian Lennon with Bart Davis ; illustrated by Smiljana Coh
• Greta and the giants : Inspired by Greta Thunberg's stand to save the world / [written by] Zoë Tucker ; [illustrated by] Zoe Persico
• The whole wide world and me / Toni Yuly
• The family tree / David McPhail
• The hello, goodbye window / story by Norton Juster ; pictures by Chris Raschka
• From my window / written by Otávio Júnior ; illustrated by Vanina Starkoff ; translated by Beatriz C. Dias
• Ways to welcome / Linda Ashman ; pictures by Joey Chou
• Drum dream girl : how one girl's courage changed music / poem by Margarita Engle ; illustrations by Rafael López
• Happy in our skin / Fran Manushkin ; illustrated by Lauren Tobia
• If kids ran the world / Leo & Diane Dillon            
• All kinds of families / by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang        
• Antiracist Baby / Ibram X. Kendi ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
• Common threads : Adam's day at the market / by Huda Essa ; illustrated by Mercé Tous
• I am the world / Charles Smith, Jr   

School Readiness: Scientific Thinking

How can you help and support your child in the area of scientific thinking development?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Wondering about things
• Asking questions
• Making predictions
• Using the 5 senses to get information about something
• Organizing information and talking about it
• Comparing and contrasting things, talking about how they are alike and different
• Using words to explain why something happened
  

Get your thinking caps on!  We are going to channel our inner scientists today!  It's all about questioning, exploring, and predicting!  You have tools around your house that can help you explore your world!  There is a lot out there for your little ones to discover.  Just think about how much is included under the subject heading of science.  It's not just about experiments, but also things like weather, plants, animals, space, and the environment.  This may seem a bit intimidating, but it doesn't have to be.  Science is another one of those subjects I was never overly fond of, but the way it can be presented to children now is so much more exciting and interactive than it was when I was a kid.  Now I find it all fascinating.  Scientific concepts and ideas are brought to life in a visually exciting and appealing manner.  Things are more practical and hands on which I think is absolutely fantastic.  Kids can get right in the action and learn without even knowing it, and you know how much I love that!  The "S" in STEAM is all the rage now.  Even within the last five years, books on different science topics have exploded on to the seen.  I also love the push to get girls interested in science and math as well.

Social media science

Okay, let me just start off by saying that I am not promoting the idea of getting your child their own account.  If you do, do you. That's the prerogative of the parent.  I am saying that many big names in science have a social media presence and often post short videos that can be very informative and exciting.  Bill Nye and Neil Degrasse Tyson are two that I follow.  Honestly there have been times when I find something in their videos so interesting, that I research the topic further on my own.  It's almost like movie trailers for science!  If you come across something that interests you, show the kids.  Learn things together.

Pinterest is your friend

Continuing with the social media thread, Pinterest has been a valuable resource for me in a variety of areas, but especially when I am brainstorming for ideas for programs.  Many an activity in my Preschool STEAM programs was born out of a Pinterest rabbit hole deep dive.

Dollar store science

The local dollar store has been a great source of items for scientific exploration and experimentation that won't break the bank.  It's also a source for items that can have many uses.  Ice cube trays are not just for making ice cubes.  These can also be sorting trays.  Or you can freeze paint in them.  That is a great activity for talking about states of matter as well as color mixing.  Candy isn't just for eating either.  You can test liquids to see what dissolves it.  You can even make a little magic with Skittles or M&Ms and make the letter come off and rise to the top of a glass of water.  It's so cool!

Find your green thumb

Now I have a black thumb, but you might be more blessed in the gardening area.  Plant a garden!  Think life cycle, think photosynthesis, think food pyramid!  A lot of math can come into play here too (measuring distance between seeds, sorting into food and flower seeds, 

Check out DVDs from your local library

I can actually look across my department right now and see the familiar blue Bill Nye the Science Guy DVDs on the shelf.  He covers so many different areas, and the lessons are geared towards kids (and adults) who want to learn but don't want to keep a scientific dictionary (is that a thing?) next to them.  Then there's the amazingly awesome show, Mythbusters.  My husband got me into them way back when.  Not only are they educational, but they are hilarious.  Plus I had a slight crush on Tory Belleci who was the class clown of the group and had that whole nerdy hot thing going on.  RIP, Grant Imahara.  He was probably my favorite of the bunch.  When I found out he passed away this year, I cursed 2020 even more.  Mythbusters tested out those crazy urban legends in very exciting ways.  I mean, have you seen the one where they blew up the cement truck in the desert?  Plus you will never look at powdered coffee creamer the same way ever again.  Seriously.  Google it.

Tory Belleci.  Yum.

Make up fun games

You can gather up the various stuffed animals in your house and then play a game.  Have your child draw pictures of different places animals live (ocean, forest, jungle, etc.) and then sort the animals according to where they would live.

Get out in nature

There are so many fantastic parks all around where I live, with really cool nature centers where kids can learn all kinds of things for free from rangers and other park staff.  Get out in your area and see what there is to offer.  Even just talking a walk around your neighborhood works.  Talk about the things that you see.  What is the weather like?  What kinds of animals might you see?  Are there lakes or streams that you can explore?  You can even gather found objects and make them into art.

Sink or float

Grab a bunch of random things from around your house, fill up your bathtub, and make your predictions.  Will it sink or will it float?  (Hmmm...that could be a fun game show experience!)  I have done this is so many programs with a variety of different ages.  It's always fun, and there are usually some surprises along the way.  Another fun thing to do while your bathtub is full is make aluminum foil boats and then test the design by seeing how much they can hold.  My daughter did this as a science project in 2nd grade.  They also got to decorate their boats, so you know my designer of a daughter had fun with Mama's duct tape and other random craft materials!

The S.S. Natalie

Books

More and more books about a variety of scientific concepts and ideas are becoming available on library shelves.  Science experiment books and science project books have gotten really cool.  Best of all, many of them are geared specifically towards preschool age children as well as school-age.  So many of the new books that have come into my department have caught my eye.  I read them, and I get inspired to create programs.  A few years ago, I even lead a family science night which was a BLAST!  Make science come to life for your children.  Make it memorable and meaningful.  Some keywords you can use in your search are science (obv), senses, scientific method, comparing, contrasting, STEM, STEAM, weather, animals, plants, outer space, seasons, and nature.  Basically the 500s of your local library juvenile nonfiction collection will be the place to go.  Here are some fiction books to check out as well.

• Princess and the petri dish / Sue Fliess ; illustrated by Petros Bouloubasis
• Dream big, little scientists : a bedtime book / Michelle Schaub ; illustrated by Alice Potte
• Cece loves science / Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes ; illustrations by Vashti Harrison
• Cece loves science and adventure / by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes ; illustrated by Vashti Harrison
• Cece loves science : push and pull / by Kimberly Derting and Shelli Johannes ; illustrations by Vashti Harrison
• Charlotte the scientist finds a cure / written by Camille Andros ; illustrated by Brianne Farley
• Charlotte the scientist is squished / Camille Andros ; Brianne Farley
  
• Georgia's terrific, colorific experiment / Zoe Persico
• Pete the Cat and the supercool science fair / by Kimberly & James Dean
• Thank you, Earth : a love letter to our planet / April Pulley Sayre       
• Can one balloon make an elephant fly? / Dan Richards ; with pictures by Jeff Newman
• Ada Twist, scientist / by Andrea Beaty ; illustrated by David Roberts
• The bot that Scott built / by Kim Norman ; illustrated by Agnese Baruzzi
• Toshi's little treasures / written by Nadine Robert ; illustrated by Aki  

School Readiness: Mathematical Thinking

How can you help and support your child in the area of mathematical thinking development?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Sorting objects by different traits (color, shape, size, etc.)
• Using words to describe things and what they are used for
• Identifying and copying simple patterns
• Using words to talk about position (over, under, in, out, top, bottom)
• Using words to talk about order (first, second, next, last, etc.)
• Counting objects
• Using words such as more, less, equal, etc. to show and understanding of numbers
  

We're playing with shapes, sorting like objects, finding patterns, and measuring today!  Math doesn't have to be scary.  It can even be a little fun!  This is coming from someone who is admittedly not a big fan.  Well, I'm not a fan when you start throwing letters, symbols, and punctuation marks into the mix.  Preschool math is a blast!  Besides educational games that are geared towards math, there are so many possibilities for things that you can do at home and around your neighborhood.  You will also discover that all of these school readiness skills come together and that these activities overlap in a number of areas.  That is not an accident!  This is preparing them for school and for life in general where everything jumbles together and overlaps.  Consider it early multitasking.

How to get your kids to help with laundry

Ask your kids to help you sort the laundry.  You can sort by color, by whose item it is, by type of clothing, etc.  You can also ask them to find matching socks and put them together.  I still do this with my 2nd and 3rd graders because I really, really, really don't like matching socks.

It's how big?!?!?

Visit your local library and check out a book with pictures that show the actual size of different objects.  Steve Jenkins is a good author to check out.  His books Prehistoric Actual Size and Actual Size are super cool.  It's wild once you start looking and comparing.

Shape sorters

Besides playing with actual shape sorter toys, you can also make your own.  Get baskets or even empty bowls and sort objects into different shapes.  You can also use baskets and bowls to sort things into different categories of your choosing.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt 2.0

Read the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt and act it out.  After that, work together as a team to create new verses that use spatial concepts like the ones in the story.

Create a new system of measurement

I saw something on Facebook that said that 6 feet is equivalent to 47 James Patterson books, so they tell their customers to keep 47 Pattersons apart.  You can come up with something similar to measure 6 feet, or develop your own system of measurement to compare something such as 5 mommy steps from the bathroom to the bedroom or she weighed a sack of flour when she was born.  Yep, my Natalie was equivalent to a  5lb sack of flour when she was born.  She loves this whenever I buy a new bag for baking!

Become a shape detective

Look around your home or neighborhood for different shapes.  Turn it into a scavenger hunt with someone looking for circles and someone else looking for squares.  You can even make it a competition if you want to add a little excitement to your day!

Get cooking!

There is so much math in cooking and so many opportunities to measure.  I have spent a lot of this crazy pandemic time cooking and baking with my girls.  Yes we are learning math, and yes they are learning life skills.  I am also ensuring that they can make and serve me food so I don't have to cook!  See above laundry activity for additional life skills teaching ideas. Ulterior motives are fabulous sometimes! 

Books

Keywords to search for books include perception, size, comparing, sorting, shapes, math, numbers, counting, patterns, addition, subtraction, geometry, fractions, and  spatial thinking.

• Pitter pattern / Joyce Hesselberth 
• Arithmechicks add up : a math story / Ann Marie Stephens ; illustrated by Jia Liu.
• Everyone counts / by Judy Sierra ; illustrated by Marc Brown
• Our world is relative / Julia Sooy ; illustrated by Molly Walsh
• Crash! Boom! : a math tale / Robie H. Harris ; illustrated by Chris Chatterton
• Max's math / Kate Banks ; pictures by Boris Kulikov
• Bean thirteen / Matthew McElligott
• I'm trying to love math / words & pictures by Bethany Barton
• Pigeon math / by Asia Citro ; illustrated by Richard Watson
• Count on me / Miguel Tanco
• Albert's bigger than big idea / by Eleanor May ; illustrated by Deborah Melmon
• Who's the biggest? / Delphine Chedru
• Dive in : swim with sea creatures at their actual size / Roxie Munro
• Life-size farm : horse, cow, llama, rabbit, and more--an all new actual-size animal encyclopedia / editorial supervisor of Japanese edition, Teruyuki Komiya ; photographer, Tamaki Ozaki ; Japanese translation by Junko Miyakoshi ; English language adaptation by Barbara Hauley Kempe
• The M&M's brand chocolate candies counting book / by Barbara Barbieri McGrath
• Count it! : fun with counting & comparing / Rachel First ; consulting editor, Diane Craig, M.A./reading specialist       
• Chicka chicka 1, 2, 3 / Bill Martin, Jr., Michael Sampson, Lois Ehlert
• 1-2-3 peas / Keith Baker       

School Readiness: Language and Literacy

How can you help and support your child in the area of language & literacy development?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Speaking clearly
• Asking and answering questions
• Paying attention to people and listening to people and stories
• Following directions
• Showing interest in books
• Learning about sounds in letters and words
• Recognizing letters and numbers
• Drawing pictures and trying to write and copy letters
  

Reading, rhyming, writing stories, and playing with the alphabet are activities that we are focusing on here.  Hopefully by following this blog and reading my posts, you are already well versed in things that you can do to promote language and literacy development.  I kinda talk about it a lot! :)

READ!

This activity is pretty self explanatory, but keep in mind things that I have highlighted in previous posts like asking open ended questions, prompting discussion, and pointing out letters and sight words.  Encourage kids to look at the pictures and explain what they think is happening in the story.  This is also a time to point out how to hold a book and turn the pages.  Show them different parts of a book like front cover and back cover, and author and illustrator.  Eventually you can even show things like a table of contents, index, or glossary.  There's a lot inside of a book, and those are things they may find in a school textbook.  Reading together is also an amazing time to bond!

Rhyme all the time

Point out a word in a story and encourage your child to think of words that rhyme with it.  Read a Dr. Seuss book and come up with a silly rhyme of your own.  Sing songs.  There are so many opportunities to rhyme all the time!  Just a word of warning, you may find it hard to stop once you're on a roll!

To the letter

Have some fun with letters.  Go on a letter scavenger hunt.  Choose a letter, look around, and see how many times you can find it.  You can also play a letter matching game with uppercase and lowercase letters.  Play with magnetic letters.  Read an alphabet book and search for the letters.  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr is a great one!

Shape up

In a previous post about the 5 magical activities to promote early literacy, I talked about how shapes and writing go together so well.  Show kids pictures of triangles, circles, and squares and ask them if they can think of letters that have similar shapes.  Go a step further and put shapes on different baskets and have kids put letter cards into the different baskets.  When storytimes start up again for me, I already have this on my list of activities to include!

Dry erase boards are magic

I don't know what it is about kids and dry erase boards.  They love them!  It really doesn't even matter how old they are either.  They just love writing on them and erasing.  Use that love.  Practice writing different letters and words.  Make pictures out of shapes.  Then make pictures out of letters.

Chalk the walk

Sidewalk chalk also holds the magical powers of a dry erase board.  Get outside and start writing and drawing!  Bonus points for making the world just a little bit brighter.

Books

Honestly you can use just about any book for these different activities or just to share together.  I hope that you've already discovered some new favorites from titles that I have shared on this blog.  If you are searching for more some good keywords are books, library, listening, talking, reading, rhyme, books in verse, interactive, alphabet, and wordless.  Yes, wordless.  These are awesome choices for kids to use to describe and create their own story.  Some of the illustrations are beautiful.  Pictures really can say 1,000 words.  Here are a couple of other titles to add on to the list of others I have shared.  Enjoy!

• The happiest book ever! / Bob Shea
• The night library / by David Zeltser ; illustrated by Raul Colon
• How to read a book / by Kwame Alexander ; art by Melissa Sweet
• Amelia Bedelia's first library card / by Herman Parish ; pictures by Lynne Avril
• Library lion / Michelle Knudsen ; illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
• Lost in the library : a story of Patience & Fortitude / Josh Funk ; Illustrated by Stevie Lewis
• High five / Adam Rubin ; illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
• Can U save the day? / by Shannon Stocker ; illustrated by Tom Disbury
• Animalphabet / written by Julia Donaldson ; illustrated by Sharon King-Chai
• Bigger words for little geniuses / Susan and James Patterson ; illustrated by Hsinping Pan
• Let's go ABC! : things that go from A to Z / by Rhonda Gowler Greene ; illustrated by Daniel Kirk
• Llama Llama loves to read / by Anna Dewdney and Reed Duncan ; illustrated by JT Morrow
• May I have a word? / Caron Levis ; pictures by Andy Rash
• LMNO peas / Keith Baker
• LMNO pea-quel / Keith Baker    
• Hike / Pete Oswald - Wordless
• Field trip to the moon / John Hare - Wordless
• Another / Christian Robinson - Wordless
• I got it! / David Wiesner - Wordless
• The carpenter / Bruna Barros - Wordless
• Imagine! / Raúl Colón - Wordless
• The typewriter / Bill Thomson - Wordless 

School Readiness: Physical Development

How can you help and support your child in the area of physical development?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Promote good muscle control and coordination (able to run, jump, climb, balance, skip, etc.)
• Develop hand-eye coordination (used for drawing, writing, cutting, stacking, zipping and tying)
• Personal hygiene (washing hands, brushing teeth) - BIG IN THE CORONAVERSE
• Learning good safety habits
  

These activities include things to build fine motor skills and increase strength in hand muscles as well as activities that encourage movement, balance, and coordination to build gross motor skills.  Think playground games.  Activities that teach things like washing hands or covering our mouths when we cough are helpful in promoting health and hygiene, more important than ever these days.  Now admittedly, this was never my strongest area.  I held my own in softball and dance, but I was not impressing anyone.  Just last month in my tap recital, I managed to mess up my knee that I had hurt from slipping in class the week prior.  It didn't help that I was dancing like I was 17 again and not in fact 41.  Anyway...

There are a lot of fun activities that you can do.  Bonus, you can do a lot of them outside and get some much needed Vitamin D!  Score!  There are also many activities that can help you reclaim your long forgotten inner child.  Hopscotch anyone?  Red Light Green Light?  Mother May I?  Post Corona I vote we get a big group together and rock out a game of Red Rover!

Jump Rope

I mean, if we're going old school playground days, then you have to include jump rope.  Extra credit if you teach your kids some back in the day chants.  No matter what, this activity is going to teach coordination real quick.

Hand-Eye workout

Way back in infancy we began to master the pincer grasp, the first step of building hand-eye coordination and fine motor development we would need for writing.  We're older now!  We're stronger now!  We can get crazy!  Think of activities such as playing a game of Operation.  Use tongs, clothespins, and even your fingers to play games of picking up different objects and moving them.  Who can move pompoms from a bowl into ice cube trays the fastest?  It could even be a good Minute to Win It activity.  Using something like a clothespin can even help strengthen your fingers.

Water table fun and a song

You could even use a regular old sink for this, but if you make it a whole water fun activity, that's even better.  You know the whole thing of singing "Happy Birthday" twice while you wash your hands to get them really clean right?  Well, make up a brand new song of your very own!  Singing is after all one of the five magical activities to promote early literacy.  You can even take it a step further and color hand soap with food coloring and then mix them together by washing and scrubbing your hands.

Toothbrush fun

Make up a song for brushing your teeth!  Why not?  Songs are fun!

Homemade scarves, shakers, and ribbons

If you don't have scarves, you can use a hand towel or even a kleenex.  For shakers, use anything that makes noise.  You can even put rice in a small container (make absolutely sure it is sealed first) and get shaking.  For ribbons, you can use actual ribbon, streamers, or even shoelaces.  Get creative.  It's all about adding a little something extra.

Build a fort

If you haven't built a pillow fort at some point in your lifetime, are you even really living?  Gather all the pillows and blankets you can and get building.  Cardboard boxes lend themselves quite nicely to the process, and you can even decorate them.

Could I BE Wearing Anymore Clothes?

You've seen the episode of Friends where they're all getting ready for Ross' big event at the museum right?  You know, the one where Joey puts on all of Chandler's clothes?  Why not do it at home and make it a competition.  Buttons, zippers, snaps, oh my!  Great fine motor skill practice and even better photo ops!

Dance it out!

Put on some music and start dancing!  Think of songs that have a lot of movement and specific actions.  While I am personally not a fan, The Hokey Pokey is a good one because it isolates different parts of the body, great for identification.  You can even make up and add extra verses to include more parts (nose, tongue, ear, elbow, etc.)

Mindfulness and yoga

This would be a great activity to do outside.  Getting in touch with Mother Nature can be very centering during a time when so much is out of our control.  It reminds us, that some things continue to operate as usual.  I like to use yoga and mindfulness activities in my programs, especially in my Music & Movement storytimes.  Below are two YouTube channels that I follow and use.  I have also noticed an increase in books on these topics geared specifically towards children and families such as I Am Yoga by Susan Verde, Bee Calm: The Buzz on Yoga by Frank J. Sileo, PhD, any My Mindful Walk with Grandma by Sheri Mabry.

    https://www.youtube.com/user/barikoral

    https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

Books

Again, it's my thing!  I will always share book ideas.  Even if I wasn't a children's librarian, I would still do it.  I always liked sharing book suggestions with people, even before I got the fancy piece of paper and graduation hood.  Some keywords to search for these books are health, hygiene, safety, exercise, drawing, movement, dance, nutrition, yoga, and mindfulness.

• Let's dance / original lyrics by David Bowie ; illustrated by Hannah Marks
• Shake my sillies out / Raffi ; illustrated by Maple Lam
• Hop, hop, jump! / Lauren Thompson ; illustrated by Jarrett Krosoczka
• Dancing feet! / by Lindsey Craig ; illustrated by Marc Brown
• If you're a monster and you know it / by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
• We're going on a bear hunt / retold by Michael Rosen ; illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
• From head to toe / Eric Carle
• Spunky little monkey / by Bill Martin Jr. & Michael Sampson ; illustrated by Brian Won
• Monster boogie / Laurie Berkner ; illustrated by Ben Clanton
• Dance is for everyone / Andrea Zuill
• Dinosaur disco / Deborah Kelly ; illustrations by Daron Parton
• The nuts : sing and dance in your polka-dot pants / by Eric Litwin ; illustrated by Scott Magoon
• Dance party countdown / Eric Litwin ; Tom Lichtenheld, [illustrator]
• Get up and go! / written and illustrated by Nancy Carlson
• The food parade : healthy eating with the nutritious food groups / Elicia Castaldi
• Bear moves / Ben Bailey Smith aka Doc Brown and Sav Akyüz
• Stretch / Doreen Cronin and Scott Menchin
• Bounce / Doreen Cronin ; [illustrated by] Scott Menchin
• Wiggle / Doreen Cronin ; art by Scott Menchin
• Ready, set, skip! / by Jane O'Connor ; illustrated by Ann James                  

School Readiness: Social and Emotional Development

How can you help and support your child in the area of social & emotional development?  Create activities that address the following areas.

• Getting along with others
• Making and keeping friends
• Learning how to handle emotions 
• Getting excited to learn about new things
• Starting and finishing something
• Learning how to take responsibility for things.

If kids are familiar with these concepts, they should do very well in school.  Of course it's not a one and done kind of thing.  These are areas where kids will continue to learn, develop, and grow.  Some adults should probably take some kind of refresher course on these, but I digress.  There are all kinds of ideas and suggestions that you can find online if you search, but these are some that I like to do in my programs and have done with my own children.  Possibilities are truly endless if you just use your imagination.  It is also important to remember that so often children learn by modeling the adults in their lives.  Be mindful of your actions, and do not be afraid of using the not so good ones as teachable moments.  Everyone makes mistakes.  It's okay.  We learn from them and we grow!

Fun with feelings

I printed out and laminated clip art faces from Microsoft Word and attached them to craft sticks.  In storytime I like to do different things to teach kids about emotions and feelings.  One thing I like to do is hold up the different pictures and ask them to imitate the face and then tell me how it makes them feel.  We'll also make faces and play guess what I'm feeling.  Results are often hilarious, especially with silly faces and angry faces.

Dramatic play

Dramatic play is a great time to encourage social & emotional development.  Have a tea party.  It's a great time to talk about different things like manners and making friends.  Playing with baby dolls can teach kids about caring for others.

Book discussions for kids

Read a book such as The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle, When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang, or Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods by Jamie Lee Curtis and talk about them.  Ask them if they've ever felt those emotions.  What did they do?  How do you think the different characters feel?

Make a feelings book

This could be a good extension activity after playing a feelings game or a funny faces game.  Encourage the kids to make their own feelings book.  Let them illustrate and dictate the story.  It's a great time to build writing skills.  Talk to them as they create.  Explain how you feel different emotions and why.

Be a construction team

This activity is great for building cooperation and teamwork.  If several kids are playing together they can take turns being the team leader and choosing what to build.  You can use blocks, Legos, or even plastic cups.  I have bought many plastic cups from Dollar Tree that I have used over and over at my library.  We've built trees, towers, and even barricades that had to be knocked down by catapulting marshmallows at them.  I do weird things!

Design a chore chart

Work together to create a special chore chart for the family.  Ask the kids what they can do to help the family. 

Play some board games

Playing board games will help show kids that there are rules and instructions for how to do different things.  It will also help you discuss being a good winner and not a sore loser.  There are a lot of educational games out there.  Increase your learning opportunities!

READ!

I mean, the librarian is obviously going to tell you to read.  There are so many great books out there.  I could easily list hundreds, but I will try my best to narrow it down to just a few.  Some keywords that you can search include cooperation, friendship, rules, teamwork, kindness, individuality, and manners.

• Take care / Madelyn Rosenberg ; illustrated by Giuliana Gregori
• The Good Egg / Jory John and Pete Oswald.
• The Bad Seed / written by Jory John ; illustrations by Pete Oswald  
• Someone New / Anne Sibley O'Brien
• Dear Boy / by Jason Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal ; illustrated by Holly Hatam
• Dear Girl / by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal ; illustrated by Holly Hatam
• Love the Fur You're In: Monster Wit and Wisdom : with art from 50 years of Sesame Street books
• Harrison P. Spader, Personal Space Invader / by Christianne C. Jones ; illustrated by Cale Atkinson
• Why Am I Me? / words by Paige Britt ; pictures by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko
• The Golden Acorn / by Katy Hudson
• Tomorrow I'll Be Kind / words and pictures by Jessica Hische
• I Promise / written by LeBron James ; illustrated by Nina Mata
• The Golden Rule / by Ilene Cooper ; illustrated by Gaby Swiatowska ; foreword by John Green   
• Tractor Mac : Teamwork / written and illustrated by Billy Steers     
• NanoBots / Chris Gall
• Being Edie is Hard Today/ written by Ben Brashares ; illustrated by Elizabeth Bergeland
• A Boy Like You / by Frank Murphy ; illustrated by Kayla Harre
  

A "Super" Way to Be a Good Human

Attention all superhero fans!  This one is for you!  As I was working on an upcoming post about how to work with children to help them develop social and emotional skill development and prepare them for school, this awesome book series came to mind, and I wanted to share it.  We have it in my library system, and it is awesome.  It is the DC Superheroes Character Education series by Christopher L. Harbo featuring various illustrators.  These books present character traits such as loyalty, fairness, and patience in a way that kids can easily relate to - through some of their favorite superheroes.  Concepts that are challenging to explain to young people in a way that they can truly understand are done in such a way that kids can connect them to the actions they see presented in these books as well as other materials they may have seen featuring these characters.

There are 10 titles in this series:

• Superman is a Good Citizen
• Aquaman is Fair
• Wonder Woman is Respectful
• Green Lantern is Responsible
• Batman is Trustworthy
• Batman is Loyal
• Supergirl is Patient
• Wonder Woman Perseveres
• Superman is Cooperative
• The Flash is Caring

They are colorful and eye-catching, and I have a difficult time keeping them on the shelves of my library which really isn't a problem at all!  Visit your local library and check them out.  If they don't have them, suggest them.  Not only are these concepts important ones for children to learn as they prepare for school, they are simply just ways to be a good human.  Maybe some adults should read them.  Just saying...

School Readiness: A.K.A. What do the tiny humans need to know to thrive.

In true librarian fashion, a lot of research goes into developing my kindergarten readiness programs and my preschool storytimes.  I have binders galore in my office, almost reaching Leslie Knope obsession levels that have all kinds of information and ideas.

 

From what I have read, children need to be supported in areas known as Domains of Learning in order to have a solid foundation that prepares them for school.  That sounds super official and even a little intimidating, but they are social and emotional development, physical development, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific thinking, social studies, and the Arts.  Phew!  That's not so bad.  We've heard of those!  Better yet, it is possible to make them all FUN!  Yay!  The good "f word!"  I would even be willing to bet that you are working on all of these areas with your kids already.

Social and emotional development means getting along with others, following rules, starting and finishing a task.  Having skills in this area allows kids to be able to follow a classroom routine.

Physical development involves fine and gross motor development, things like holding a pencil to running and jumping.  It also includes things like using scissors or drawing.  This is where kids also learn basic health and safety skills.

Language and literacy is my area!  I have shared a lot of tips for developing language and literacy skills in other posts on this blog.  This is where you develop the basics of knowing numbers and letters and being able to communicate with others.

Mathematical thinking sounds complex, but it really isn't.  These skills include being able to sort things into different categories, recognizing patterns, and counting.  No Calculus here!

 Scientific thinking is where you can help make concepts come alive for easier understanding.  It's all about exploring, questioning, testing, and discovering.  This is something that usually comes easily to kids.

Social studies is all about discovering and understanding more about the world around you from your immediate community to other cultures.  Think community helper books and "All About Me" posters.

The Arts rival language and literacy for my favorite area to explore in my programs.  Music, dance, art, make believe and the power of your own imagination are developed here.  It's awesome!

This is what I love about my job and what I miss most about it.  I love being able to play a part in helping parents and caregivers prepare kids for school and help set them up for success.  When parents and kids come back to tell me about successes they have, I absolutely love it.  I file these stories away so I can have them in the back of my mind on the days where my job is challenging.  Considering it has been very challenging lately, I really need to build up my supply of happy thoughts!  Hopefully sharing things via this blog is helping some of you out.  Please share your stories and your own ideas with me so I can not only make myself happy but share the wealth of that knowledge with others!

Here are some tips and words of encouragement to get your started.  Try different things.  Sometimes someone works one day that doesn't the next.  Mix it up.  If something isn't working, change it.  We want these activities and experiences to be fun and meaningful.  Don't reinvent the wheel.  On the flip side, if something works, stick with it but have the child play the role of teacher or leader instead.  Repetition can be very useful for building skills.  Use simple, basic things.  Dollar Tree and the $1 section of Target are your friends.  Even use things you have around the house.  A kleenex can be a scarf you use for singing and dancing.  A box of rice can be a shaker.  If you are trying a new activity, make sure you are familiar with it and gather things you need for it ahead of time.  Be flexible and willing to modify things.  Take advantage of your local library.  Besides books, they offer a lot of other things like online databases, toy lending, social media presence, and librarians that you can talk to.  Most of all, have fun with it.  I cannot stress enough that meaningful, nurturing activities done with love are essential for learning.  You get to be a kid again!  As someone who gets to do it for a living, I can tell you that it is pretty darn spectacular!  In future posts, I will explore each area and provide you with activity ideas, links, book suggestions, etc.  Keep visiting for more info, and let me know how I can help you out.

Starting Kindergarten in a Pandemic

I vividly remember both of my girls starting their very first day of kindergarten.  Granted, it wasn't that long ago, but it is definitely a huge milestone for children and parents alike.  I think my oldest was born ready for school.  She was so excited to go, waved goodbye with a big smile on her face and practically skipped into the building.  My youngest was cautiously optimistic.  I remember that whole morning, she was fairly subdued which is not typical of her at all.  Big sister was a 1st grader, so she was putting on a brave face to seem like she was totally fine with the whole thing, not worried at all.  As she began to see her friends from preschool and took pictures with them, she warmed up more.  By the time the bell rang, she was chatting away and gave us the quickest wave before getting back to business.  In both of these scenarios I was wearing big, dark sunglasses and feeling all the emotions one feels seeing their oldest and then their youngest start school for the first time.  With my kids being 19 months apart in age, I did this back to back years.  Brutal.  I was a hot mess.  I knew they were ready, and I knew that this was an exciting time for them, but I was not ready to let go of their "early childhood" years and move into "school-age."  It's one thing seeing this happen with my library kiddos, but with my own?  Forget it!  I cried so much, I honestly think I was a little dehydrated.  Starting 1st and 2nd grade was a little easier.  There's just something about starting kindergarten.  Now mind you I did all this BC - before Covid.  I can't even begin to imagine how parents of kindergarteners are feeling these days.  I know how I feel as a parent of rising 2nd and 3rd graders and all the nerves, anxiety, and emotions going into that, and my kids have both done the whole first day of school thing, pictures and all.  It's going to be different this year starting remote, although I still plan on pics because yes, I am THAT mom.  So many kids and parents won't have that whole exciting first day experience.  I know that I would have been devastated to not have that.  I was fortunate that my kids were fairly comfortable with the whole going to school away from mom and dad thing.  Now even if kids are comfortable with the idea of starting school, the reality of it is beyond what any of us could have comprehended.  For kids already nervous about starting kindergarten, now they have to do it in unprecedented times.  My kids are older, but both of them had a lot of reservations and nerves about going to school during a pandemic that ultimately played a big role in our decision to start the first 9 weeks virtually.  Like most everything else right now, there are so many complicated decisions to be made and heartbreaking emotions to be felt.  It's parenting on a whole new level.  Combine all these emotions with the realities of life.  Parents still have to work and may not have the option of doing what they most feel comfortable with.  We are blessed to be able to make a decision that we can grow to be comfortable with.  That just isn't always the case.

All of this aside, there are still the general parent nerves of "is my child ready for kindergarten" that still have to be addressed.  My cousin is going through this right now.  She recently moved to a different state where she doesn't have family besides her husband and two kids.  Her son is starting kindergarten.  She has a support system, but unfortunately it is hundreds of miles away.  It's already a situation where one can feel very isolated, but in 2020 it's almost unbearable.  I told her that I would do all that I can to help support her.  One of her biggest worries is wanting to make sure that he is learning everything he should be, especially because he is starting remotely.  That is part of the inspiration for this post and others that I have planned.  Usually around this time of year I do a series of kindergarten readiness programs and storytimes at the library, like a kindergarten prep boot camp, but done in a way where kids don't even realize they are learning.  I love doing that!  They think they are playing and having fun with Miss Jen, but the whole time I am planting seeds of knowledge and introducing them to routines and concepts that they will experience in kindergarten.   Since I am sadly not doing much of anything in terms of programs these days, I am going to use my blog instead.  It makes me feel like I still have purpose, and if I can share anything that might help parents, caregivers, and kids then that is a total bonus.  So prepare yourself for an array of kindergarten readiness themed posts featuring ideas for activities that you can do at home to support things children typically learn in kindergarten.

Before I get into all that, I want to highlight some of the typical benchmark things that children are expected to learn in kindergarten.  While the curriculum can vary wildly from state and state, the basic foundation is pretty similar.  Since I am not a teacher and since I work with families who have a range of school experiences, I like to keep things pretty general and basic.  I don't like getting too technical because that just isn't me.  I like simple.  It works.  Plus with everything else going on in the world, a little simple is a blessing.

Skills kids should know by the end of kindergarten:

• Know basic colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, brown, black, pink) and be able to identify the word for each.
• Identify uppercase and lower case letters and be able to match them.
• Able to identify and write numbers 0 - 20.
• Know their address and phone number.
• Know how to spell their first and last name.
• Count by ones and tens to 100.
• Identify basic shapes (square, triangle, circle, rectangle.)
• Be able to cut along a line with scissors.
• Understand concepts of time like yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 
• Be able to pay attention for longer stretches of time (15-20 minutes.)
• Be able to follow multi-step directions.
• Learn how to correctly hold a pencil for writing.
• Able to calculate basic addition and subtraction problems with numbers 0-10.
• Be able to retell main points of a story.
• Understand the relationship between letters and the sounds they make.
• Be able to express a thought or opinion by drawing, writing, or speaking.
  
• Be able to identify basic sight words (https://sightwords.com/)
• How to tie shoes.

In true Miss Jen fashion, I have lots of fun ways to include learning these skills into my storytime programs.   In previous posts, I have shared some concept book suggestions that I use that would be great for reading and sharing together at home.  For colors, I like to have the kids play a matching game.  I put up a picture of a color shape (I get double duty out of things!) and ask them to identify it.  Then I ask them to find the word that matches the color.  We talk a lot about how the word sounds and what letters we think it has before trying to find it on the board.  It's so simple, but they absolutely love it.  Another game we like to play I got right from the sight words website I linked above.  It's called sight words fly swat.  I break the kids into small teams and give them a fly swatter.  All around the room I have fly cards with a word on them.  When I say the word, they have to find it and swat the fly.  Hilarity and magic ensue.  I've had to provide a disclaimer to my co-workers before I do this in my programs so they know what all the noise is coming from the story room!  The cool thing about these simple activities is that they all can be fun little games to help supplement things they are doing in school.  And if it also means busting out some playdough to make letters and shapes, well that's just a happy bonus!  I had fun with the concept of multi-step directions with my kids.  I issued directions like challenges, like "Okay, Juli.  I want you to go in your room, take the clothes out of your hamper, and then put them in the laundry chute.  Ready. Set. GO!"  They wanted me to keep adding more things to the list!  Sadly, they quickly figured out my ulterior motive with that game, but hey, they got the concept down!

These are just some basics to get you started.  I will post more ideas related to specific subjects and developmental areas in future posts.  Just have fun with things.  Be your own game show host!  Much like their mother, my children thrive on some good competition!

Yes, it is going to be a crazy, unconventional back to school this year, and my heart is with you parents of kindergarten rock stars.  Think of it this way though, this is the first kindergarten class in recorded history that is taking on school like no one else has before!  They are pioneers!  They are warriors!  They will be able to tell future generations just how tough they were when they were just in kindergarten!  Their first year will truly be memorable.  Kids are resilient, amazing little creatures.  As long as we continue to love them, support them, challenge them, and believe in them, they will be just fine, and so will we as the ones who love them most!