Egg Shakers

Today we made egg shaker instruments. There were a few problems. The glue did not work as well as I had planned so we also used tape. The pearlized plastic eggs, which everyone loved, had little holes at the bottom so if rice was used, it started coming out. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun using them when we sang. It was nice to have instruments to accompany our singing and for the families to make and take home.

-Laura Hecht

Flexibility

Having taught Growing with Books classes in four different locations, I have learned that the class dynamics in each group varies greatly. Usually we put away the toys in our toddler classes before we start circle time. This promotes less distraction, and more participation in songs and more attention paid at story time. Recently, however, this practice seemed to backfire as one student in particular became the ring leader running the rest of the kids around the room. This has happened before in larger classes, but it usually only a couple of kids following the pattern. This class is smaller, and I was losing all of them unable to engage them in songs or storytime. So, I tried a new tactic...leaving a few toys out during circle time. This allowed my ringleader to occupy himself with the cars, and the rest of the children participated eagerly in singing and listening to the story. I was overjoyed to find a solution to what seemed like an overwhelming issue in this particular class.

-Dawn Noelle

Peek-A-Boo Books

We made peek-a-boo books in class. We used recycled holiday cards I had found for free at SCRAP a few years ago. Besides having a surprise for the children when they lift the flap, the adult can say so many different things when they read the book to the child. For example, in the book ¿Qué es?/What is it?, the parent might say, "This is an animal that has four legs and makes the noise 'woof, woof'." Another day they might say, "This animal is a pet, likes to run and does not usually like cats." The families were also invited to take a few pages home to use photos of the children or other family members. A book that is fun, has many ways to increase vocabulary, and that families will enjoy for a long time since it has such a personal connection!

-Laura Hecht

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

Even after three years of story telling to infants, toddlers, and their families I struggle in finding the right book and the right tone to really capture their attention. This week, three times in a row, I was able to maintain a captive audience with the book by Don & Audrey Wood about a little mouse trying to save his strawberry from the big hungry bear (who never actually makes an appearance in the book). The interactive nature of the story (the narrator is actually speaking to the mouse the entire time, so the voice is second person, I guess) the vivid pictures, suspense filled moments, and the familiar centerpiece of a larger than life strawberry really made for a great time as the toddlers, their families, and I all helped the mouse to eat up his strawberry at the end of the tale. I highly recommend this book. Stories that can keep the attention of 10 toddlers all at once until the last line is read...they are hard to come by.

-Dawn Noelle

The Early Literacy Crisis

I was very pleased to see the exclusive report in the March 2010 "Parenting Early Years" magazine on "The Early Literacy Crisis". It speaks specifically to the need we are addressing through our Growing with Books Classes. According to the report by Lisa Moran:

"Research has repeatedly shown that access to books and one-on-one reading time is an important predictor of future literacy skills. Reading to your baby from infancy on exposes her to the alphabet, to the sounds that words make, and to the idea that print letters translate into spoken words. Talking to your child about a story boosts understanding and vocabulary. In contrast, not having this language and literacy exposure can quickly set kids up for failure. Many children who enter kindergarten without pre-reading skills in place never catch up, according to "America's Early Childhood Literacy Gap," a 2009 report from Jumpstart, a national early education organization dedicated to advancing school readiness in low-income communities. "By second grade, we can predict with reasonable accuracy who will go on to higher education and who will not, based on their literacy skills," says Jumpstart board member Laura Berk, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Illinois State University."

You can read the full report here:
Exclusive Report

-Dawn Noelle

Learning Letters

A few weeks ago the activity for the toddlers and parents was to make the child's name with play dough. This is always a great activity since play dough is always so much fun and helps with the development of fine motor skills. Two toddlers sat with their mothers at the table working with the play dough to create their names. One said, "Esta es la letra de mi nombre. Esta es la Y de yo-yo." (This is the letter of my name. This is Y for yo-yo.) He continued verbalizing these connections to letters as he played. The second child matched up the stampers to make letters to the letters of his name already in the play dough. Here were these two children under 3 years old demonstrating early literacy skills that will eventually lead them to read and write on their own! It was so wonderful and rewarding to see this since I've known these two since they were babies who couldn't even crawl. It has always been fun for me to see my own children learn and grow, and it can be just as enjoyable to see it in all other children.

-Laura Hecht

Rolling my terrible eyes!

As we gear up for a new semester of Growing with Books classes, I'm reflecting on how I have come to enjoy storytelling since I began my work with The Reading Tree two and a half years ago. Though I have always loved teaching, I did not consider myself a "storyteller" in the true sense of the word. "Ratoncita Cuenta-Cuentos" (The storytelling mouse) is one such sought after story teller in Costa Rica, the birthplace of my twin boys. Even though I don't dress up as an oversized motherly mouse, I do get paid for reading books to children (among other things). "Professional Storyteller", however, seems too large a title for me just yet.

With the recent release of the movie "Where the Wild Things Are" I am pushed to ponder the original story by Maurice Sendak (the movie tells a good story, but it is a different story from the one Sendak told). I love this story book for read alouds - especially around Halloween time when scary monsters are out and about - which can be rather startling to our young ones. It is amazing that even the youngest minds seem to know what a "monster" is. This book is very empowering for children as Max booms "BE STILL!" and tames the monsters with the magic trick of staring into their eyes without blinking. The monsters, in this way, become smaller than a child's will while remaining larger than life itself. Even toddlers' eyes gleam with delight when Max asserts his own will to leave the monsters behind with a simple "No." I always read this word with a slight upturn, sideways movement of the chin, conveying the confidence of a child who has smugly realized his power. I have a lot of fun rolling my terrible eyes, gnasing my teeth terrible teeth, roaring my terribles roars, and showing my terrible claws in sync with the wild things.

If you haven't read this one in a while, it is well worth revisiting, with someone you love, and make sure you read it aloud. Don't forget to roll those eyes!

-Dawn Noelle