Old Friends, New Friends

As your child prepares for the new school year, it is a time to talk about friendships. Many children need reassurance that they will have friends in school. Often we tell them that they will know the children in their class, but that isn’t always true. There will be times they do not know anyone or only someone they didn’t really see as a friend before.

Prepare your child to meet new friends. We need to remind children that even if they have old friends in the class, it is a time to meet new friends too. Time to expand their friendship circle.

Here is a Kid President talking about making new friends.

Help your child brainstorm ways to interact with new friends. What can they say? What can they share? Listen to these children discuss how to make friends.

Remind your child that they need to branch out and meet children who are different than themselves. Helping your child see that the things that make you different are the things that make you special. Show your child the things that make them unique and different.

Hummingbirds

I have a hummingbird feeder outside my kitchen window. Have you ever seen a hummingbird? They are really small compared to most other birds. Let’s listen to the story Tiny Bird: A Hummingbird’s Amazing Journey by Robert Burleigh.

Check out this live stream of hummingbirds visiting feeders in CA.

Check out All Things Animal TV’s Hummingbird video for more information about hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds are 3-4 inches in length with a wingspan of only 4-4.5 inches in length. Today let’s do some measuring! Can you find items in your house are that are longer, shorter and the same length as a hummingbird? You can use a ruler or a post-it note which is typically about 3″ square.

Corn

Today let’s learn about another tasty summer crop… corn! Do you like to eat corn on the cob? Here is a story about some squirrels who really like corn on the cob, but their friend the rabbit does not. Let’s listen to Bob & Rob & Corn on the Cob by Todd McQueen.

Have you ever seen a corn field? This video show what it looks like to watch the field grow up from planting the seeds to picking the corn off the stalk.

What is your favorite way to eat corn? Corn the cob, popcorn, corn chowder, corn tortilla, corn chips? Ask your family and friends and make a graph to show the results of your poll.

Draw, paint or tear paper to make a corn cob.

Here are a few fun option for painting corn:

• paint yellow paint onto bubble wrap and then place the bubble wrap onto your sheet of paper. the bubbles will paint the dots onto your paper
• put yellow paint into a bowl or shallow dish and paint with your finger or with a q-tip
• use a Lego Duplo block with yellow paint. put the paint on a paper plate and dip the Duplo’s nubs into the paint and use that to paint.

Cut green or brown paper to be the husk. You could even trace your hands and cut them out as the husk.

Sandcastles

Who doesn’t love to build sandcastles? Here are some great sandcastle books

Super Sandcastle Saturday by Stuart J. Murphy (read by Stuart J. Murphy) -this story works on measurement

How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk -this story talks about taking a problem and breaking it down into specific steps

Now let’s watch SciShow Kids explain how to build a perfect sandcastle.

Now, if you live near a place that has sand, go build your own sandcastle.

Don’t have sand nearby? No problem!! Build a castle out of blocks, rocks, Lego blocks, or other items you have at home.

When you finish your castle, measure your castle. You can use standard and/or non-standard forms of measurement. The draw a picture of your castle and include the measurements in your drawing. After, write a story about what is happening in your castle. Who lives there? What adventures occur inside?

Strawberries

This weekend, my son and I went to pick strawberries. Have you ever gone and picked strawberries? There is nothing sweeter than strawberries picked fresh off the plant.

Let’s start by listening the Cherokee story The First Strawberries retold by Joseph Bruchac. In the story, the man went out to hunt for food and the woman stayed home and picked flowers. The man returned tired, hungry and upset, so the wife left. The sun offered to help the man and tried to catch the woman’s attention. Many berries were created by the sun, but it was the strawberry that caught her attention. The story ends by saying that the Cherokee people believe that the sweetness of the strawberry is a reminder that respect and friendship are as sweet and ripe as strawberries.

Watch this time lapse of strawberries growing . Draw out a part of the time lapse, or draw out a time line of the growth.

The watch Art for Kids Hub to draw a strawberry.

Create a list of favorite strawberry items.

Mushrooms

This morning I went to go check on my garden and there were sooo many mushrooms. There are mushrooms in the grass too. As you can guess we’ve had both rain and heat lately. I decided that it would be a good day for you to get out with your kiddo and learn a bit about mushrooms.

Let’s start with some science about these fun-guys… Fungi: Why Mushrooms are Awesome from SciShow Kids

Here is a fun story, similar to Jan Brett’s the Mitten, Mushroom in the Rain adapted from the Russian of V. Suteyev by Mirra Ginsburg. How many animals can take shelter under the mushroom?

Did you find any mushrooms in your yard? Can you count all of them? How many different types did you find?

Now create a picture. You can create a picture of one of the mushrooms you spied in the yard or the one from the story. What do you think would fit under the mushroom. Be realistic or creative in your answer.

Next… summer

Hello Readers,

I have missed posting for you, but life has been busy wrapping up life and the end of the school year. Here is a great story for the end of the school year And Then, Summer by Tom Brenner.

As you get read for summer, make a list of your favorite summer time activities. What activities do you look forward to doing this summer? What stories will you read? What games will you play? Will you go to the beach? Will you swim in a pool?

Start by planning the adventures of this week… What will you do in these last few days of spring and as you start your summer vacation?

Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm

Today let’s read the story Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley. When the farm animals do not want another bath, they decide to leave the farm. They travel from the farm to the city. This is a great rhyming story.

Can you find the rhymes in the story? Practice listening for rhymes (you say two words and your child says if they rhyme or not). Creating rhymes (you say a word and your child says a word that rhymes). Do these with your child leading too… when your child is able to create their own rhyming pairs and understands the difference between words that rhyme and don’t they are mastering one of the phonemic awareness skills needed for reading development. Want to read more about rhyming? Click here, here, or here.

Mrs. Wishy-Washy loved to give her animals a good scrub. Let your child rub and scrub some of their toys today. Fill up the sink or a bucket in the backyard and let your child wash their toys. This encourages sensory play which is important for development.

Sensory play is any play the stimulates the senses. Allowing children to play with textures- hard, soft, wet, dry, sticky, smooth, bumpy etc encourage and allows for acceptance of these various textures in other aspects of life. The use of sensory play is soothing for children who are anxious or frustrated. This play also helps develop and connect brain pathways that are needed in more complex learning. Want to read more? Check out this article Why Sensory Play is Important for Development by Educational Playcare

Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes are short poems/songs that children have learned for years and years. These are still important to learn today. They allow children to play with words. Also, by reading these simple rhymes in story book form, we encourage the connection between the text and spoken word. The goal is for children to recognize that they can tell the story. While we do not want children to believe that the way to read is to memorize all the words, we do want them to make the connection between what is said and what is written. We do want them to view themselves as readers. We do what them to gain the confidence that they can and will read books. So… provide your child with books they love. Provide your child with books they know. And read, read and read some more.

Here are links to nursery rhyme books read aloud:

• Hey Diddle Diddle
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• The Wheels on the Bus
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Hickory Dickory Dock

Over in the Meadow

This week we will look at how learning songs is important in literacy development. We will take one song format and listen to a different version of that song. For centuries and in all cultures, songs have been past down as teaching tools. We need to continue this tradition, and recognize the importance of using songs and music as teaching tools.

Today we will look at the song Over in the Meadow. This is considered an “Old counting rhyme”. It has been transformed over and over to focus on other ecosystems. But, we will start with the original. Over in the Meadow, illustrated by Jill McDonald.

Now, let’s listen to Over in the Jungle, Over in the Ocean and Over in the Artic.

The use of this song/story is much more than just enjoying the music, while this is important also. The use of this song works on counting, vocabulary development, rhyming and much more. When children learn to sing songs they are building language skills. When they learn songs that are easily manipulated they learn to play with language. Working on oral language development and listening skills are key pieces to reading and writing development.

Where do we go from here?

• Have your child pick their favorite version and illustrate an animal from that ecosystem.
• Pick a different ecosystem and see if there is a version of that song, or better yet, write your own.
• Re-write the song using items and animals you see in your backyard, your playground, your city block, or wherever your child has the opportunity to explore.