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!