Welcome to 'Songs, Sunshine and Small Wonders'!

The creation of this blog is for our preschool families to refer to for resources, thoughts and postings of our preschool journey.

This is a memorable time for your child as (s)he builds a foundation and love for discovery, learning and being a part of a school family. I delight in teaching this precious age group as young children are full of questions, eager to explore, think out of the box and create something new each day! My goals are to engage children in authentic learning experiences which nurture the whole child (social, emotional, physical, creative and cognitive development), and to develop a caring community where the children feel connected and encouraged. By creating an inviting learning environment, children are motivated to interact, learn and try new things. Providing rich experiences that emerge from the children's interests, "foster rather than force" their growth and disposition to wonder, think and investigate the world around them.

As an early childhood educator, I appreciate each child for who (s)he is and where (s)he is developmentally. Children in my care feel valued and cared for as I am dedicated to understanding each child and celebrating their individual journey. I am thrilled to be a part of your child's development and to provide a nurturing environment where (s)he will thrive.

Shadow Dancing!

Children learn through first hand experiences. Our children's interest of shadows peaked last week when a child began dancing in a sunbeam shining through our window. Everyone took notice to her shadow twirling around the floor.

Children's knowledge and understanding grows when they make connections. Last week as we began our exploration of shadows, many of the older children made the connection between shadows and the sunshine. This week we will continue investigating where we can find shadows and how they change (e.g. size, movement, clarity). Can we make our shadows move behind us...in front of us? Can your shadow touch a friend's shadow?

We are using the light projector in our room and the children are delighted by the different shadows we can make on the wall! With a variety of materials, the children are experimenting with the cause and effect of blocking the light with different shape objects. Their understanding that a shadow is formed by blocking light is quickly developing!

Our shadow exploration has been a favorite as it has turned into games of shadow tag, shadow stories, shadow puppets, and more!

The Lines of Illustrations

Last week we learned how many illustrations in books are simple lines (e.g. squiggle lines, curved lines, straight lines) that the illustrator puts together to create a picture. Breaking it down into these simple parts had everyone feeling like they were capable of putting lines on their paper.

This week we continued looking at lines in the objects around us, and how illustrators draw the lines on paper to create a picture of the object. The technique of drawing was so engaging for the children! By the end of the week they were teaching each other how to draw trees and houses, and the wonderful part was watching as the children were applying the tips their friends had taught them. "Look," I said to a child, drawing attention to his friend's illustration, "she is making the trees just like you showed us to!"

Vocabulary is Key

Our first parent workshop was a success! Mary Masson was the gem that she is as she described how parents can nurture their child's language and literacy development. She explained that a child's vocabulary plays a primary role in his/her reading comprehension in elementary school. Exposing a child to a library of books reveals words and language a child simply does not hear in everyday conversation. Just listen to this passage from the children's book Come Along Daisy:

Something big stirred underneath her. Daisy shivered. She scrambled up onto the river bank. Then something screeched in the sky above!

Hearing and discussing such language now when children's vocabulary is growing at a rate higher than any other stage in their life, develops a "sophisticated" language that will aide in their reading and writing in elementary school and beyond.

The opportunities for discussion held within one picture book are amazing! Last week while reading The Little Red Hen, we talked about "wheat" as a plant and how it is ground up into flour that is an ingredient in many of our foods. The next day we talked about the word "snooze" and looked at the picture of the lazy animals sleeping the day away to figure out the meaning of the word. The next time you are reading with your child, take a moment to enrich their vocabulary.

Everyone Has a Story

Our study of authors is underway! When you read stories with your children, make sure to read the author's and illustrator's names. Every day in the story corner before we begin reading, I share the author's and illustrator's names. We discuss why Kevin Henkes wrote the book we read, or Dr. Seuss made his books extra silly. You will see this month that we are looking closer at who an author is and how we are authors and illustrators in our own right! Last week we watched a short clip of a video on Dr. Seuss. I shared the portion that highlighted Dr. Seuss as a boy, with pictures of him as a child in his Halloween costume, pictures of him when he was a baby, etc. It's important for our children to see that Dr. Seuss was just like them...a child with stories that he put to paper.

When I asked the children why people make books, their response was that "it's fun," "they like to," "people love books," and "they like to tell stories." Wow! This is a testament to how our children have a love for stories in their early years and are confident in 'making books' and storytelling. How then can we nurture this enthusiasm and confidence so that when they are in fourth and fifth grade they are still saying that writing stories "is fun" and have the self-esteem and capability to compose worthwhile stories? It starts by filling our homes and schools with a genuine love for reading, talking about what we read, and storytelling.

We need to inspire our children. Stories are what connect us; they are the fibers of our life. Whether it be around the kitchen table when your spouse asks, "How was your day?" and you respond with, "the funniest thing happened," to the passing of my grandma, which followed with days of storytelling. Stories of her childhood in a coal mining town in Pennsylvania were shared, through to our most recent memories that I will pass down to my children. There is much to learn through stories, yet for now, I just want you to think about how we are surrounded by stories, and if we just highlight and celebrate those moments with our children, how their enjoyment for telling stories, reading, writing and language will be richer for it.

Mary Masson is Coming!

I am thrilled to share that I have arranged for Mary Masson, an educator and literacy consultant with Oakland Schools to join our parents on Wednesday, April 28th for a workshop on reading aloud to young children. I have attended numerous workshops that she has presented and have learned a great deal from her. She's funny, interactive, expressive, knowledgeable and down to earth. I am delighted that she has agreed to visit with our Tyndall family to model what engaging read alouds sound like and what our children are gaining from these interactions.

Reading Aloud

"Nooo!" the children cried out when I told them we were going to put a bookmark in the book and continue the story later. It was a lengthy story and we had been sitting for quite a long time, yet our young three, four, and five year olds who so often are on the move, wanted to sit for the remainder of the story. What more can I say? Reading aloud is one of the most important gifts we can give our children. Lucy Calkins says that these stories become a "part of the fabric of who we are." Yes, our children are learning that all those jumbled black marks are words. Yes, they are learning that we read from top to bottom and left to right. Yes, they are learning the important 'concepts about print.' Yet when I talk to you about "reading aloud," I want you to think of the story.

We read to make meaning of the story and our children as Jane Yolen describes, need to "fall through the words to the story." When you talk with your child about a story, try to ask open-ended questions that have no right or wrong answer, simple questions that encourage your child to share his/her thinking (e.g. "What would you say to (the character)?" or "What do you think will happen next?").

Mem Fox reminds us that, "The more expressively we read, the more fantastic the experience will be. The more our kids love books, the more they'll pretend to read them, and the more they pretend to read, the more quickly they'll learn to read."

Block Play

Did you notice who was on the parent board this month? We were! Photos of many of our children were displayed to reflect what children learn through block play. Did you know that block play engages all areas of development during just one play event?

Social Studies~

• people and their work
• interdependence of people

Language Arts~

• symbolic representation
• signs
• labeling
• questions
• planning
• naming
• exchange of ideas
• stories
• oral language
• vocabulary

Mathematics~

• size
• space
• shape
• symmetry
• order
• number
• fractions
• length
• height
• width
• depth
• area
• volume
• classification
• measurement
• problem solving
• one-to-one correspondence
• patterns
• physical representations of addition and subtraction

Science~

• gravity
• stability
• weight
• balance
• systems
• trial and error
• inductive thinking
• discovery
• properties of matter
• interaction of forces
• cause and effect

Art~

• patterns
• symmetry
• balance
• creative and critical thinking

Physical Development~

• hand manipulation
• eye-hand coordination
• visual perception

Social/Emotional~

• cooperation and collaboration
• respect for the work of others
• self-confidence
• autonomy
• initiative
• decision making
• responsibility

Now that you've read through the areas of development, look back at the photos and try to find examples where the children were exploring symmetry, balance, length, story, et cetera. The next time you see the children 'playing' with blocks, take a second look...The planning, interactions, & dialogue that take place among the children is quite thoughtful!