A mother of 4- Born in Europe, lived in 3 continents , New Yorker for 30 years. Holds an MBA in International Relations . Strong interest in Metaphysics, how things work in the Universe, searching for the answer..... Has been consulting for 23 years after a desperate need to educate her own children .
A little boy’s bedtime ritual includes a story, a goodnight kiss from his mother, and whispered conversations with his beloved stuffed animals. Greedy Goose, Blue Horse and Fat Rabbit share their day: “ the what, the who, the why and the way…the whole wild thing…turned out okay.” Part wordless, Stringer’s luminous illustrations capture the delight of a child’s imagination. A peaceful and comforting story that is perfect for bedtime reading. Ages 5-6.
Reason for Reading: Like everyone else I was enchanted with the short film when it came out and linked it on my blog and FB right away. When I saw the book was out I just had to read it!
An absolutely wonderful, whimsical story for book lovers of all ages. A delightful story that just lets one become enraptured with the celebration of books and the story they tell. And even though this “book” is available in true book form here, as a movie, on an eReader and originally as an iPod app, it truly honours the traditional book form in all its ancient glory. The story is joyous and yet slightly bittersweet, leaving one with the feeling that no matter what happens in the future, true books will always be with us in our heart of hearts. We just won’t let them go!
Identity Crises and the pressure to conform can sometimes seem overwhelming. The author creates an indescribably unique picture book about “a proud normal girl” wanting to be herself, wearing a uniform of “brown pinafores, plain black headbands and brown shoes with the shoelaces triple-knotted.” She takes a brave journey all the way to Norway, then comes to appreciate herself as being different.
Her parents alone- her mother, a tiara designer and father, fighting his own identity crises, are nothing short of, as one of the reviews stated- “a parable about growing up in contemporary Williamsburg with parents who wean you on Colette and the Ramones.”
We live in a society where every step of the way is pre-calculated, defining what we/it should be. No one has the answer to anything, let alone originality, spontaneity of character – Let it be! It reminded me in many ways of the avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama’s story. It is wonderful to be different!
Recently I read the story to a young student of mine. When I asked her opinion about the book, Tamako exclaimed:” Normal is boring! Can we be different?” OF COURSE!
Allowing our children to be present with their own personalities, to be who they are, is a key to a happy child.
Though the school year is ending, opportunities for children to learn and parents to facilitate development are plentiful, particularly in the summer months. Here are a few ideas to help you think about simple ways to promote your child’s growth in each of the key domains of development:
Self-Esteem and Independence
Self-Esteem is important. Your child’s development depends on whether he/she is confident in him/herself and capable of accomplishing the goals that are set before them even if their goals consist of coloring within the lines. Having high self-esteem can lead to independence for your child and more free time for you. Here are some summe-time activities to help boost your baby’s confidence:
Since the pace of summer is typically slower, allow time for children to do as much as possible for themselves (e.g., eating and cleaning up, washing, dressing, and packing a backpack). The resulting increase in independence will promote self-esteem AND help prepare the child for new responsibilities at school next year.
Sharing ideas provides an opportunity for children to discover the value of their contributions. Allow time for leisurely conversation while sipping lemonade or taking a walk. Invite the child to suggest activities for the day, ways to celebrate a special event, or items to pack for a picnic lunch.
Interaction and Cooperation
Summer often brings more time with extended family and friends, which encourages important social interactions. The longer days and special activities, on the other hand, often change sleep schedules and other important routines.
Sometimes nap time isn’t at three. You might be entertaining more often now that the warm weather is here. If your child isn’t ready to nap, let them play out their energy. Nap time should be a regular event but if it starts at three-thirty rather than three, then so be it. While it is important to learn flexibility, you’ll find that children are best able to cope with the necessary changes when they get enough rest and enjoy the comfort of consistency.
Interacting with siblings, cousins, playground partners, etc. all provide opportunities to practice taking other perspectives and negotiating. These valuable skills can be learned best when adults help children to think in advance about situations that might arise. Anticipating another child’s interests, planning to choose one activity the child likes and one the peer likes, and considering ways to handle a sibling’s refusal all help the child respond more appropriately when the time comes.
Communication is Key
Spoken language is the foundation for the written word. We encourage our children to speak from the day they are born, so why not encourage them during their play time? Here are some fun ways o encourage communicating with your child:
Extra car time during summer travel is wonderful for word games and songs. Looking for license plates with letters or singing some of your child’s favorite songs will encourage your child’s communication development.
Read a book. Read it again. Reading is the best way to get your child’s communication skills to improve. While sitting with your child, try to get him or her to read along with you or better yet read to you. If you want to change up the same old story, consider alternate endings. Creating a new path for Goldilocks or Kermit the Frog to take can make the same boring children’s books a little more interesting and fun for you and your child.
Creating with your child will encourage the development of words and thought processes.
Not only is the written word helpful for your child’s communication development but so are images. Your child’s artistic talents can help in her cognitive and motor-skill development.
Notice and draw attention to art EVERYWHERE! The shapes and patterns in nature offer intricate examples. Designs on posters, buildings, bridges, etc. can inspire children’s own creations. Have your child create a mural of different colored leaves from different tree species or draw animals at the zoo to get those little creative juices flowing.
Your child is a character so let them act it out! Pretend is the most entertaining medium for your child so let them ham it up for you on an imaginary stage.
Discovery and Exploration
Every day is new for your child. Your child is learning about his environment and discovering more about the world around him.
Ask questions that promote thinking about how and why things happen the way they do to engage your child’s thinking. Use “I wonder …” and respond to questions with “What do you think?” The local library is a wonderful source of children’s non-fiction books for help in discovering answers.
Your little Einstein is curious and wants to know about everything around him. Choose a sunny space at home for observations and collections. Grow a plant, collect pebbles, or keep a pet bug for a while. It’s helpful to have a magnifying glass, trays for sorting, and a clipboard with paper and markers for recording observations.
Let’s Get Physical
Exercise for your child is important for their everyday development. While many of the ideas listed above include fine and gross motor practice, your child can also participate in household chores and other exercise exhibiting activities.
Helping with family chores both indoors and outdoors can also strengthen physical skills(as well as independence, which fosters self-esteem). Invite children to help with the gardening, laundry, table setting, dishes, etc.
Remember that children need to practice every skill repeatedly to develop effective coordination and build strength. Creating an obstacle course and developing “carnival” games are fun ways to encourage repetition.
Children are always learning and developing. Encourage their development with love and fun activities and you will be sure to see your child flourish. Have fun learning with your child and best wishes for a safe and relaxing summer!
In a snapshot, While using play dough our kids are learning………………
Social and emotional skills
sharing and taking turns using the props, cooperating to make something together, and feeling proud of their accomplishments.
Language and literacy skills
by rolling a long snake then forming letters, telling you about what they are doing and making, discussing new words, such as , cut, chop, and slice…
Creativity and Imagination
baking cakes,pies to sell in a bakery or building cages for zoo animals, schools and yards…..
Science and math concepts
by responding to your questions, such as” What do you think will happen when……?”,”How does it feel?”,
What can you do to make it….?”
What is bigger/smaller….
Fine Motor skills
by using hands,fingers,tools to pound ,push,poke,shape,flatten,roll,cut,and scrape the dough.
How can parents use play dough at home?
PROPS-
open your kitchen drawers and cupboards to find rolling pins, plastics knives, cookie cutters and birthday candles
Collect recycled items such as aluminum pie plates, buttons, lids, and bottle caps of different sizes.
Add a touch of nature with feathers,twigs,leaves,acorns,and dried flowers.
Look in your child’s toy collection for plastic and rubber people, animals, dinosaurs, blocks, and more.
Space
Cover a table with an easily cleaned mat or table cloth. An old shower curtain would work too. Some families use large cookie sheets as the play surface.
Time
3-4-5 year old need plenty of time to feel, touch, roll, mush, and create with play dough. They will enjoy being with you-talking, talking and talking again, laughing and learning.
Enjoy the process everyday playing with play dough!!!
HOW TO STAY HEALTHY DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON!
There’s little as sad as a child who’s caught something and becomes sick for Christmas vacation or even worse, on Christmas day. Yet, not surprisingly, our children get sick over the holidays far too often. Not only are our children likely to be overly excited, getting less sleep, and stretched thin from more activities than normal, they’re also usually lacking the healthy diet that their bodies have become used to, and to top it all off, the winter air environment is just right for the flu virus to flourish.
This year as we enter into the end of the year just around the corner, I
encourage you to follow some of these favorite tips of mine to ensure that your
children stay happy and healthy all through the holiday season.
Cut a Few Activities:
I know it feels like every activity is necessary, but sometimes there’s an extra ice skating party or a holiday get together that really isn’t absolutely crucial to go to. And when it means putting the kids to bed at their normal bedtime, sometimes it’s worth it. Pick the absolute must-go-tos (school plays and band recitals!) and then try to limit overly excessive activities out and about.
Watch Your Children’s Diet:
This is probably the tip that I would emphasize the most. When your child’s diet suddenly becomes less of the highly nutritional, well balanced meals that are norm and replaced with quick fast-prep style foods lacking nutritional value, your child is likely to become tired, irritable and even less focused on normal day-to-day tasks. Add lots of extra sweets and candy to the diet, and your child is even more likely to be all of the above. Not only that, poor nutrition and lack of necessary vitamins and minerals can also compromise the body’s immune system. This means you’ve got tired, irritable children who are already lacking resistance to fight off diseases that are running rampant right now.
Attempt a Routine:
Stress is another huge factor in compromising immune system. And, with all the hustle, bustle of the time period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, there’s bound to be extra stress in your child’s life. The easiest way to combat this is to attempt to stick as close to their normal routine as you possibly can. Even if there are two extra activities in the day, stick to a normal wake-up time, a normal “get-ready” regimen, and at the very least, a normal bedtime. Evenings will probably be the hardest time to stick to a routine, as that’s when most holiday outings are happening, but if you can make the rest of the day as normal and routine as possible, your child will not feel completely lost. Any semblance of normalcy gives your child a feeling a safety and of comfort. Unwavering at bed times and wake ups is an excellent starting point.
Plan in Advance:
Planning in advance will take some extra time and effort on your part, but it can be the difference between healthy kids and children who wake up sick. Plan to make and do things on a schedule so that you know exactly what you can and cannot make happen. If you won’t have time to pack lunches one day or you know that a sit-down meal will be impossible on another, schedule in time in advance when you can get those things done.
Start working of stocking the freezer now with healthy meals you can pull out
in a flash. Keep lots of fruits and veggies on hand so that you can pull them
out in moments of starvation and not resort to the plate of Christmas cookies
that just got dropped off. Find some fun, healthy “treats” you can feel good
about your children indulging in. Maybe instead of a freezer filled with
peppermint ice cream, you can go for frozen bananas dipped lightly in dark
chocolate and sprinkled with peppermint candies. Instead of sugary cookies, make your own rice krispies with the brown rice variety of your store and add in festive fun with food coloring instead of red and green candies.
Keep Your Home Environment Healthy:
If you can’t keep your kids away from germs any other place, try to maintain
your home as much of a germ-free haven as you possibly can. Keep lots of
disinfectant on stock and make it a habit to wash and disinfect hands as soon
as you enter the home. You can also help to prevent the flu virus from thriving
by using a humidifier in your home. Studies have shown that the influenza virus
is most likely to survive in dry, low-humidity conditions, the conditions that
enable it to stay airborne longer. By keeping your home air humidity up, you
can help prevent the flue from spreading, even if someone in your family does
come home with it.
While certainly not foolproof, hopefully these tips will help you keep your
precious children healthy all season long so they can make the most of it every
moment of every day. Here’s to a happy healthy season for your whole family!
Help your child develop self-awareness.
Point out the result of her actions.You put the toys away. That makes mommy happy. Now we have time to read another book before bed.
Help your child understand who she is as she grows.
Trying new things can feel scary to you. You need time to feel comfortable. Or, You have such strong feelings! Sometimes it’s hard to keep them in control. This kind of self-awareness helps children use what they know about themselves to manage successfully in the world.
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