Choice Words
I am taking a class this semester therefore some of my blogs will focus around being “back in school”.
For class I read, “Choice Words, How our Language Affects Children’s Learning”, by Peter Johnson. https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Words-Language-Childrens-Learning/dp/1571103899
My first reaction to the reading was that this would be an easy read, after beginning to read I then thought, “what did I get myself into?” as the reading had me reflecting and then re-reading!
I experienced a range of emotions from the reading that I will convey in this reflection.
I am stricken and angry thinking how many interactions I had with my teachers growing up that “stopped” my learning. I am evolved enough to let that go and today it deepens my resolve to learn the skills of being a teacher who not only creates a collaborative learning community but sustains it. I am very fortunate to work with management that supports this developmental model. I read the book wearing two hats. One as a teacher of young children and the second as a mentor to young adults.
I reflect that as a teacher of young children, I am quite capable of allowing and supporting mistakes and retries. Allowing children to take risks and try things out is a common occurrence in my classroom. I noticed that within the daily structure I have emphasized correction, “have to” and/or set up situations leading to an expected or anticipated result. I will be conscious of that going forward. Within the first chapter of the reading there was a reference to “telling mode” this irritates me in my personal life yet I see that at times I have behaved that way in the classroom. At this I feel frustrated. The author reminds us that “we don’t know what we don’t know” which relieves some of my frustration and encourages me to think and grow.
Working with young adults I see that I have followed many of the examples from the reading. Allowing each person accountability, responsibility and ownership for their thoughts and actions creates the productive learning community the author speaks of. I employ many examples of the prompting language he suggests. A few weeks ago I read an article about adult learners that helped to identify for me the assumption that all teachers should “know” a rule, policy or teaching strategy and how frustrating it is if they do not. http://www.childcareexchange.com/article/helping-adults-succeed/5021316 The author of Choice Words supported this as well, challenging us to know our audience and to identify them in terms you want them to be. I am in the habit of identifying the teachers as professionals when we talk, similarly to the way the writer identifies the children as readers and authors.
I am proud to think that I have evolved more to this model however I am interested to observe my own practice and the practice of those around me. Of particular interest is noting how many teachers are teaching from the IRE model (teacher Initiates, student Responds, teacher Evaluates). How often do we give infants/toddlers/children/other teachers the opportunity to explore, experiment, take risks, fail, and conclude for themselves? How often do we respect their opinion with an open mind? Are we using gender neutral questions/phrases?
I like open our weekly teacher meetings with asking for any follow up, concerns or comments. I am really happy to be able to shift to “any compliments?” I imagine it will set the tone for great conversation. I have had the conversation many times trying to figure out why it is natural to assume negative intent, yet now I see I have set that up in my opening statement every week. Time for a change! Have you ever received a phone call or had someone say to you, “Let’s meet in my office” and be given no more information and then assumed the worst or jumped to a negative conclusion. I have and I have witnessed others do the same. The line of open ended questions similar to “which part are you sure about and which part are you not sure about” will help to clarify in the future.
I am excited to practice. I am armed with an arsenal of references to powerful language!
Documentation Board: For Families
This is a simple explanation of a documentation board for families in your program.
A Documentation Board is a visual communication tool. These boards are organized around a theme, with artwork, photographs, dictation, anecdotes, work samples, and educational information to communicate with you. They are also used by the teacher to deepen and extend the learning in a classroom and to inform future classroom learning goals.
A documentation board is created by observing, recording, interpreting and sharing the processes and products of learning.
A documentation board will enhance communication with you by:
- Allowing for a deeper understanding of how children learn
- Sharing a visible record of classroom learning
- Sharing your child’s learning
- Deepening our relationship with your children and yourselves
- Encouraging you to ask questions
Children can re-visit, reflect and respond to the visuals of a documentation board, enhancing their learning experiences.
Additionally, a documentation board allows your child’s teacher to reflect on her practice which completes the cycle to start over again.
Painting Ideas
I have been working on this list of painting ideas for the last half year. Here is my start.
Try painting:
WITH
Water color
Water color then cover with plastic wrap, let dry and remove plastic
Do a dot (bingo dabber)
Do a dot on dark paper
Frozen paint
Pudding
Kool aid
finger paint
tempra paint
Watercolor on ice block
How about painting on:
ON
Newspaper
Cardboard
Boxes
Laminating
Tubes
Crumpled paper
Ice
Tin foil
Wax paper
Paper towel
Felt
Big branch
Mirror
Rocks
Shells
You might try:
USING
Pine Cone
Pine needle
Flower
Weed
Yarn
Balloon
Ball
Bumpy ball
Cotton ball
Marble roll
Tea bag painting
Lego
Dinosaur
Animal
Brush
Foam brush
Roller
Sponge
Squeeze bottle
Eye dropper
Kitchen gadget
Fork
Scrub brush
Fly swatter
Spray bottle
Spaghetti
Rocks
Cups
Tubes
Bow
Comb
Bubble wrap
Car
Truck
Train
Cardboard scrapper
Teabag
Feather
Painty elastics around a tray, twang
ADD this:
Spice
Sand
Corn syrup
Baking soda ADD vinegar after for fizzy
ADD AFTER painting:
Salt
Can you add to this list?
Potato Container Garden
Want to try container gardening with your little ones? We had success with potatoes! Here is why it worked for us!
First, seed potatoes or potato eyes are large enough for little hands to manage. Have you ever tried planting tiny carrot seeds with young children………you get the idea, potatoes are doable!
Second, the potato grows under the soil so there is minimal disruption if a child or children pick the leaves of the potato plant. Unlike, if a just forming tomato is picked, the project is over!
Third, the potato is not delicate. Children can dig into the box at the end of the growing period and find the potatoes without harming the produce.
Here’s how to set up a potato container garden.
You will need some kind of big container, soil, starter potato, a trowel,water and mulching material.
We used an old window box, filled it with soil, dug a few holes into the soil, plopped the potato in and covered the whole box with more soil and a layer of old leaves and straw. Place your container in a sunny location.
Water your container steadily if you don’t have rain from time to time. Water it, watch the plants grow and when the plants die off sometime about 10 weeks from the start of the project, it is time to dig up your potato!
Small potatoes, big impact!
Process Art Experiences
NAEYC has written a great article about process art experiences. I have edited the content to show the benefits of process art. The whole article is here. http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/process-art-experiences
Many of us still look for “cute” projects. Cute is usually not art, it is craft and product based. Pinterest has made it easy to find product oriented “cute” projects. One needs to understand the difference between process and product art and use that knowledge when offering art experiences to young children. There are many ideas online however don’t be fooled by posts that come up with the heading process art but are product art in disguise!
The following is about process art as summed up by NAEYC.
Characteristics of process-focused art experience
- There are no step-by-step instructions
• There is no sample for children to follow
• There is no right or wrong way to explore and create
• The art is focused on the experience and on exploration of techniques, tools, and materials
• The art is unique and original
• The experience is relaxing or calming
• The art is entirely the children’s own
• The art experience is a child’s choice
• Ideas are not readily available online
What children might say
“Look what I made!” “I’m going to do another!”
“Can I have more time?”
Provide open-ended, creative art experiences by offering activities such as
• Easel painting with a variety of paints and paintbrushes (with no directions)
• Watercolor painting
• Exploring and creating with clay
• Finger painting
• Painting with unusual tools like toothbrushes, paint rollers, potato mashers
• Printing and stamping (stamps purchased or made with sponges)
• Creating spin art using a record player and paint, squirt bottles, paintbrushes, or markers
• Stringing beads independently and creatively
• Weaving cloth, yarn, or paper
• Drawing with pencils, art pens, various sizes of markers, or crayons
• Using homemade doughs
• Making collages using tissue paper, various sizes of paper, glue, paste, glue sticks, scissors, and recycled materials
Tips for leading process-focused art
- Approach art like open-ended play—for example, provide a variety of materials and see what happens as the child leads the art experience
2. Make art a joyful experience. Let children use more paint, more colors, and make more and more artwork
3. Provide plenty of time for children to carry out their plans and explorations
4. Let children come and go from their art at will
5. Notice and comment on what you see: Look at all the yellow dots you painted
6. Say YES to children’s ideas
7. Offer new and interesting materials
8. Play music in the background
9. Take art materials outside in the natural light
10. Display children’s books with artful illustrations, such as those by Eric Carle, Lois Ehlert, and Javaka Steptoe
11. Let the children choose whether their art goes home or stays in the classroom
12. Remember that it’s the children’s art, not yours
What children do and learn through process-focused art
Social and emotional
Children relax, focus, feel successful, and can express their feelings
Language and literacy
Children may choose to discuss their art and add print to it (on their own or by dictating to a teacher)
Cognitive
Children compare, predict, plan, and problem solve
Physical
Children use small motor skills to paint, write, glue, use clay, and make collages
Full article is here: http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/process-art-experiences
Creating a Win-Win
How do you create a win-win situation with your toddler?
The young preschooler by nature is the master of battles. We have witnessed and experienced the change of season clothing battle, the “I want it the way I want it” battle and the “I don’t like it” battle for the past few weeks! It is important to choose your battles wisely and create a win-win for you both!
Let’s look at how to create a win-win situation, since that is the preferable outcome.
When your young child is thrashing about, stomping, yelling or whining, you might want to banish them to the moon until they grow up. Not possible? Then remember this, your child is not being disrespectful but rather learning how to be a leader. He/she is learning how to voice his/her opinion and looking for your respect. The young child is learning how to navigate the world by asking why (over and over) instead of accepting your word. So let’s see, raise your hand if you want your child to blindly follow the leader! Not so much. You want your child to listen and respect, remember respect is earned.
There are several ways to make things easier for both of you and empower your child at the same time. First, create an environment of mutual respect. For the young child this means, listen to their side of reason. It might be completely unreasonable to you that suddenly your three- year-old wants to wear her party shoes to school. Stop to find out why and there may be a great explanation or story how she and her friend had a plan to have a princess dance party at school. If the rule is “shoes with ties for school” you now have a place of understanding for compromise. Remember you are not giving in, just respecting his/her opinion which is part of your win-win plan.
Second, offer choices and make sure that either choice is acceptable to you. Put out two pairs of pants that you find appropriate and then let your child choose. Your young child is just beginning to understand that he/she has an individual voice, and that it can have an impact on his/her world.
If compromise or choice is not possible, explaining helps your child learn that there is thought and reason behind what you have asked him/her to do. This goes back to raising a leader not a follower, remember perhaps your child is not being disrespectful but rather he/she is seeking an explanation to a situation that makes no sense to him/her.
Lastly, to fend off some outcry try to give clues or “warnings” that a transition is about to occur. In nursery school we have a timer or we flicker the light or we give a verbal reminder. This helps to set the children up for what is ahead.
We all want to win, child and adult alike. Cheers to setting up win-win situations!
Eliminate a behavior
Expectations for behavior are defined by our culture, by society and the environment in which we are in. We have different expectations for behavior in the library or church than we do for the playground. We want to guide young children to behave in a defined way as appropriate to the situation.
There are some behaviors we’d like to see in any environment such as manners (yet even the definition of manners can vary widely). What happens when we wish to eliminate a behavior?
First, ask yourself what is my child doing and why? What needs is he/she trying to meet? Then think, is this behavior unacceptable? Is it important to stop? Also consider, is the behavior age appropriate?
If yes, then reflect, can I adjust?
If you cannot adjust, focus on the behavior and its effect on others not on the child (person). “Yelling is loud and hurts my ears”. Refrain from saying “YOU are (pick one)___________ “loud”, “bad”, or “naughty”.
Make observations that you can see and or hear without making a judgement. “Wow that is loud.”
Do not wait to respond. Ten minutes after an incident is too long for a young child to process the feedback you are providing. Allow the child time to process what you are saying, this could take a few minutes.
Give information and not advice. Communicate clearly why the behavior need to stop. Allow the child to come up with solutions for themselves. The ultimate goal is self-regulation. You may offer to help by brainstorming. “Yelling is loud inside, is there another place we can yell that might not cause your friends to cover their ears?”
Lastly, be flexible and make all solutions appealing when possible. “Can we yell into the trashcan?” I would personally prefer waiting to yell until we go outside. Occasionally, I have to be flexible in accommodating an immediate solution so we yell into the trashcan!
Welcome New and Returning Families!
Welcome New and Returning Families!
We are so excited for the new school year and cannot wait to get started! This year will be filled with exciting adventures, fun projects and educational activities. These will be designed to help prepare the children for life’s endeavors, understand dynamics and engage in small and large groups, and become familiar with concepts they will further develop throughout elementary schooling and beyond.
We are welcoming so many new families, and are also mixed with bittersweet emotions as we send off our graduating students to continue their academic journeys in kindergarten.
Please join us for the end of summer playground playdate and Art Show on Friday, August 28th from 4:00-5:00 PM.
FGNS Kids
Please label everything your child brings into school. Each child brings hundreds of personal items into the school throughout the year and it is not possible to keep track of what belongs to who. Things fall out of cubbies, children take things off and throw them on the floor, give them away to another child or put them in the wrong cubby. In order to avoid confusion, we respectfully ask that you label absolutely every personal item that your child brings or wears into school. This may include but is not limited to sippy cups, thermoses, water bottles, lunch boxes, containers, jackets, hats, mittens, boots, slippers, comfort items, blankets ect. Anything special, valuable or irreplaceable should not come into the school. If your child comes home with something that does not belong to them, please return it in a timely manner. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Welcome New Teachers!
We want to extend a warm welcome to our new staff who will be officially beginning their journey teaching at Friendship Garden Nursery School full time for the 2015-2016 School Year. They are all thrilled to be part of our team and excited to further enrich the children’s lives with excitement and intrigue. Their objectives in the next few weeks will be to learn all about the children and their families, and continue to offer the structure, social, emotional and academic education the children need to thrive.
We appreciate your understanding and patience as everyone continues training for the last few weeks of summer. We recognize the importance of consistency in caregivers and are committed to maintaining a high standard of excellence in the quality of early education experiences offered here at FGNS. The new teachers were carefully selected, are in the process of undergoing comprehensive training and each has offered their assurance they are reliable caregivers and focused educators.
Meet Our Staff
Alexis Turner is our new Lead Teacher, stationed in the Toddler Room. Alexis has over 20 years experience teaching in preschool and toddler classrooms. She is also the mother to 3 wonderful daughters, Ashton, Emily and Ava. We are thrilled to have Alexis on our team as we know she will bring a whole new level of excitement for our amazing group of toddlers. 
Olivia Fluker will be the full time Teacher for our Pre-Kindergarten classroom. Olivia is developing a comprehensive curriculum plan to prepare the children for kindergarten and beyond. She is working hard to create a full schedule of fun and engaging activities and projects. She will be working in collaboration with Megan and myself to implement these plans effectively throughout the year.
Megan Foster will be the full time Teacher Assistant in the Pre-Kindergarten classroom. Megan is so happy to pursue her career as a preschool teacher. She will be working more closely with the young preschoolers to allow them more flexibility in academic based projects and increased support in social emotional development and potty training.
Loose Parts
Young children learn most when they are actively participating in the learning process by interacting with adults, each other and the environment. The materials that children interact with are placed in one of two categories, open ended or closed materials. Open ended materials are materials that can be used in many different ways, opposed to closed materials that have one intended use. Wind-up toys, puzzles, talking toys, worksheets and coloring pages are a few examples of closed materials. These types of materials have only one correct way to use them and they require very little higher order thinking.
Loose parts are categorized as open ended. Open ended materials encourage thinking, creativity and experimentation. Loose parts play is intended to be limitless and timeless. It is helpful to think of loose parts as something that will inspire imagination and creativity for each child based on their unique personality and temperament.
Loose parts can be natural or synthetic. They are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. Loose parts can be used alone or combined with other materials. There are NO directions with loose parts.
Let’s look at aluminum cans. They can be stacked, rolled, used as containers, hollered into, kicked, used in the play kitchen as imaginary food, become a telescope, etc. They are virtually indestructible, easily replaced and free (except for the original contents).
Here is a list of loose parts in the environment. It can be found here: ribbonshttp://extension.psu.edu/youth/betterkidcare/early-care/our-resources/tip-pages/tips/loose-parts-what-does-this-mean
Loose parts in a natural play area:
water • sand • dirt • sticks • branches • logs • driftwood • grasses • moss • leaves • flowers • pinecones • pine needles • seeds • shells • bark • feathers • boulders • rocks • pebbles • stones
Loose parts on a playground:
balls • hoops • jump ropes • tires • sand • water • dirt • straw • boulders • rocks • stones • pebbles • buckets • cups • containers • digging tools • chalk • scarves • ribbons • fabric
Loose parts in an indoor environment:
blocks • building materials • manipulatives • measuring • pouring devices (cups, spoons, buckets, funnels) • dramatic play props • play cars, animals, and people • blankets • materials • floor samples • water • sand • sensory materials • recycled materials (paper tubes, papers, ribbons, caps, lids, wood scraps, wire, foam, cardboard) • plastic gutters • small plungers • tools • art materials (buttons, spools, natural and colored popsicle sticks, beads, straws, paints, brushes)
What else can you collect?
Boys Need to Move a Lot, Why?
I recently returned full time to the classroom with our recent move to Alaska. I have a class of 6 boy’s ages 2.0-2.5 years. This fact has caused me to look more closely at the early development of boys!
Boys need to move a lot, why? The boy brain and the girl brain develop in a different sequence. A boys’ interest in these big body actions is driven by brain development. One of the differences that drives this need to move is the development of the cerebellum. The cerebellum is located at the base of the brain. The cerebellum is responsible for big body (gross motor) movements, balance, and posture. During the first few years of life, the cerebellum in both boys and girls develops rapidly. In girls, the brain tends to begin developing language and fine-motor centers sooner than for boys. In a boy’s brain, the cerebellum develops for a much longer period of time than it does in a girl’s brain. Hence, boys’ interest in movement and their need to move – a lot! How do we manage this in the classroom?
First, I provide many opportunities for “big” movements. Indoors, moving chairs, boxes, baskets and objects heavy enough to engage the muscles. Provide materials and assistance for sweeping, mopping, dusting and moving laundry from the washer to dryer.
Outside moving buckets of sand, large blocks or boxes along with the usual activities of throwing, running, jumping, and riding.
Next I provide creative outlets that allow the use of the whole body. Sitting is difficult for boys. Allow boys to stand for a full range of motion. A fun alternative to standing is having the children lie on their backs and draw under the table (on paper of course). Sitting for snacks/meals/stories becomes easier if boys have experienced big movement.
I have always enjoyed the energy of young boys, and now I have a better understanding of how their brain develops.