Librarian Visit and Drawings

The librarian came to visit us last Tuesday. The children had a fun time. She taught us new songs that were a lot of fun! At one point we sang “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” and at the end came the part about going to sleep. One boy that really enjoyed acting out the going to sleep part and was down on the mat. It was very cute.


I’ve also included a few photos of some of the drawing the children did that day. In the first one, the girl proudly displays her picture. She spent a long time drawing her family and the car. Unfortunately, I don’t think the details are very clear in the photo. The other photo is of some of the drawings the others made. A couple of the these children also spent a long time on them since they would leave and then come back to keep working on their drawing.

-Laura Hecht

Friendships

Besides the parents becoming friends and supporting each other, the children in our classes also develop great friendships. I have noticed that there are two girls that are very good friends. The families don’t always arrive at the same time. Usually one of the girls gets there first. Last Tuesday when the second girl arrived, I could see her at the door. She tapped on the glass and waved to her friend. Then she did a little dance and twirled her skirt. Her friend, sitting at a table with me, noticed and smiled a big smile. Of course, I had to smile also. There was so much sweetness in the moment. As usual, the two had a lot of fun playing together for the rest of the class.

While these two in the picture are different friends, it is also so great to see such affection towards each other with their hand holding. They started off in the baby class together. Now they are 1 ½ years old and are in the toddler class together. At this age there is a lot of parallel play between friends so it is always nice to capture moments that show they care for each other.

-Laura Hecht

Water Play

We went to the park last week. It was a great day to be outside. It was a warm day and the planned activity was to make bath toys to use in tubs of water. What a fun activity! Here are the toddlers enjoying the water play.

-Laura Hecht

¡Vamos a Leer!

After our first class of the semester at Good Samaritan Family Resource Center I met Christina in the hallway. She is one of the new teachers in the preschool program upstairs and she was taking her lunchbreak within earshot of our babies' class. She asked about the song I sing to the children as we transition into story time. In English (I sing it bilingually at the Tenderloin Children's Playground) it goes: "Now we're going to read a book, read a book, read a book. Now we're going to read a book, read a book, read a book." It is the same tune used as we transition from free exploration time into circle time singing "Now we're going to sing a song, sing a song..." (etc.) In my four years with The Reading Tree I have learned that having a familiar tune as a signal to transitions is highly effective. The last line of our song, after "...use our eyes..." is "...use our ears..." (or "vamos a escuchar" in Spanish) - and it is sung in a whisper. It is amazing how well this can quiet a group of toddlers - it is a well known (though often forgotten) secret among teachers - lowering rather than raising our voices to capture the attention of the young ones we teach. It is also great fun and sets the tone for something so special you have whisper about it: reading a book together! It can be like the smallest treasure held in the palm of your hand - a sunflower seed that will eventually grow into a beautifully tall and strong flower or an apple seed that will eventually grow into a tree to bear fruit of it's own. This is the magic of The Reading Tree. Each book read together can be a magical experience in the form of a seed settling into the fertile soil of memory and giving birth to a love of reading that will open uncounted pathways to future growth.

-Dawn Noelle

Ready for Circle Time!

Today was our first day back after summer break at the Tenderloin Children's Playground. In this group, free exploration time is followed by a free lunch program - and then we gather for circle time. I'm not sure which child got the ball rolling, but all on their own, once they had finished lunch, the kids started moving the chairs into a circle for singing, story-time, and their own book to take home. Caregivers, parents, and teachers alike were impressed with the impact this time has on these young children...enough to remember and anticipate our circle time even after a 3 month break!

-Dawn Noelle

¡Hola Maestra!

Here we are, right in the middle of summer, and I am still being called out as "maestra" around the neighborhood. Living in the mission means I see many of our families as I am out walking. This time it was little Mauricio in the aisle of Walgreen's - I recognized him, but he was with his older sister whom I had never met. Fortunately, just on the next aisle I found his mother and was able to say hello. "Mauricio is really wanting some new books!" she said. We are all looking forward to starting up again in the fall.

-Dawn Noelle

End of the Semester

Who would have thought that it would be raining in San Francisco in May? Well, it was. Unfortunately the rain made many families stay at home and our plans for the end of the year party had to be changed. Instead of meeting at the park, we met at our regular location. We still enjoyed some food and our time together. We said goodbye to a few of the children that would be moving on. It is sad to say goodbye, but hopefully I will still get a chance to see them out and about. It has been a wonderful opportunity to see the children grow and to get to know the families!

-Laura Hecht

Enjoying Books (2)

Here are a few more images of the children enjoying books:

-Laura Hecht

Nature Appreciation

The lesson was going to be to take a walk around the neighborhood to find interesting leaves, branches, flowers, or other natural items to stick on clear contact paper to make a something that could later be hung. It had been a rainy week so we had to skip the walk since everything was wet. Luckily, I was able to find plenty of leaves, flowers and twigs beforehand for the children to use. Everyone really enjoyed the project and there were some wonderful pieces to remind everyone about the beauty of nature.

-Laura Hecht

Enjoying Books

The month of February went by so quickly. I just wanted to share these two images of the children reading.

The toddler had set up a little rocking chair next to a shelf with books. I didn’t manage to get a picture in time, but she had also invited a friend to read with her.

The baby in the picture was really interested in the book. At first we read a different one. She protested when I got up, but she quieted down as soon as I came back with another book.

-Laura Hecht

Five Little Monkeys!

Since my multi-lingual class in the Tenderloin regularly sings "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed..." with the City College Childhood Observation Class teacher - this week's story was easy to read in English for all children to enjoy. I have been alternating a story in English with a story in Spanish each week - trying to translate one direction of the other bits and pieces of the story to maintain the interest of all my students. If I spoke Chinese and Vietnamese as well, I could be reaching each and every one of my students in their mother tongue!

-Dawn Noelle

Growing and Changing

It always amazes me to see the development in the toddlers who have been with us since their first months of life. This week I found myself in conversation with three of our toddlers at Good Sam. These three are at similar developmental stages both in language and in large motor skills. When we played the "Guess what's in the bag?" game, we not only made the sound, but we scattered like a mouse, prowled like a lion, waddled like a duck, scratched like a hen...all of this back and forth across the mat. It was a lot of fun.

-Dawn Noelle

Which language?

I was amazed to see one of our English speaking students completely engaged in singing this week. At The Tenderloin Children's Playground I adapt our original Spanish curriculum to a bilingual platform. At this center, in addition to the majority of Spanish speakers, we also serve Vietnamese, Chinese, Hindi, and English-only speaking families. My language skills only allow me to interact, sing, and tell stories in both English and Spanish, but little by little, all of the children are learning both the English and Spanish songs. The student I mentioned above is usually one to lose interest very quickly no matter what language is being used. It is great to see the developmental milestones in children after only five months of singing, working, and reading with them.

-Dawn Noelle

Saying Goodbye

I was sad to find out that one of my students, who has been with our class since he was a tiny baby, will not be coming back due to scheduling conflicts. But it was a good last day together as he "read" to me from Good Night, Gorilla. He doesn't even have an inteligible vocabulary yet, but knows how to flip through a book, and gurgles word like sounds out at each page, smiling as he goes along. This is what our class is all about. Tomás is barely walking, but he really can "read". Interpreting the pictures is just as much a part of reading as decoding the printed word. It was highly satisfying to see the fruit of my labor manifested in this little one today.

-Dawn Noelle

Names

The semester has just started up again. The classes this week were focused on the names of the children. For the toddlers we made a poster with a song in which the child’s name is spelled out. For the babies, we painted their names to be hung up.

-Laura Hecht