Pumpkin Week

Harvest Week

We enjoyed watching this video of "Ten Apples Up On Top!":
Ten Apples Up On Top song in the style of Jason Mraz

Our annual field trip to the pumpkin patch

So thankful for the wonderful families that continue to participate in this fun tradition!

What a nice surprise!

A local family blessed us by passing on their handmade wooden block set, and our group has enjoyed exploring the different shapes and building a variety of structures.

"The Book with No Pictures": Our New Favorite!

We just got our copy of "The Book with No Pictures" today, and I can see that it will certainly be one of our favorites. I had such fun reading it aloud to the kids - hilarity ensued! We read it several times today, with huge uproarious bursts of laughter each time. Highly recommended!

The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak

On the Amazon page, there is video of the author B.J. Novak reading the book... I watched that video and was convinced that we needed this innovative book for our collection.

Autumn activities

'Mystery Bags' Sensory Game

During our 'Five Senses' themed-week, we played a guessing game. The children were presented with a group of sealed paper bags.

 

We felt and shook the bags, trying to guess what item was inside of each one. Our predictions were recorded. Then we opened the bags:



Here are the results:

Music Week

Fun with Math: Fish Game

Our group had great fun collecting goldfish for our snack through playing a math game!

Photos from the start of Fall session

The last of our Summer photos

Mixing Lab

One of our activities this summer that the schoolagers found particularly engaging was a Mixing Lab. Available supplies included cornstarch, baking soda, salt, vinegar, water, paint, and milk.

Back to School Bash

This summer, the children helped to plan a party to celebrate all the fun we had and the start of the upcoming school year. As a group, we decided what kind of foods to have; we voted on treats, and chose ingredients.  We talked about our favorite games from the summer that we wanted to share with our families.

We addressed invitations and mailed them to parents and grandparents:

Then, we watched the calendar and counted down the days. 

Another fun family event! Thanks for all your help, kids. :)

Article: The Decline of Play and Mental Health Disorders

http://www.celebratetherhythmoflife.com/2014/06/the-decline-of-play-and-mental-health.html

From Celebrate the Rhythm of Life:

The Decline of Play and Mental Health Disorders
We all know deep within our very being.

 Children need to play. Play supports life. Play is crucial to healthy development. Play is the foundation for learning. Play is the wellspring of life.

Those of us who are old enough to have experienced play in childhood, as described by the speaker below, have a living picture, a living experience of what it means to play, to take risks, to resolve problems, to be free and to feel competent.

Yet we, as a culture, have reached a critical point in that the generation of new parents of today most likely did not experience play in childhood, at least not with the freedom and not to the extent described in this talk.

This need for play is universal. All children need play and without it, they suffer.

My reader, I encourage you to give up 16 minutes in your day to watch this TED X talk by researcher and professor Peter Gray who explores what it means when children do not grow up with the freedom to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk

Oh, I thank you Mr. Peter Gray for so eloquently naming the problem and suggesting solutions.

I'll add to his suggestions that we seek out neighbors, parents, grandparents, older people in our communities and ask them about their memories of childhood...
How did they play?
Where did they play?
What risks were they able to take?
How did it shape who they are?
What can each of us do to support play for all children?

Carrie Dendtler, over at the Parenting Passageway speaks to the need for time out of doors in childhood with the movement towards  Forest, Farm and Field programs here. Can you imagine what it might look like if all the social, political, and financial energy put into pre-k programs in this country were turned towards supporting free, child initiated play as the most important element of a healthy childhood?

Photo Update - Summer Fun!

Article: In Pitching Veggies to Kids, Less Is More

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/business/in-pitching-veggies-to-kids-less-is-more.html?_r=2
By MATT RICHTEL

This was an interesting read. The conclusion, "Let children make their own decision, with a major caveat: Choose what food to put in front of them. Don’t pitch, but also: “Don’t let them do the shopping" is very much aligned with our approach toward food at Kinder Beginnings.

_________________________________________

Full article:

One of the fiercest marketing battles in the world takes place in kitchens and at dining room tables across the world. The sellers are parents, trying everything to persuade their children to eat their vegetables.

Now, new research shows why parents — and food marketers — might be doing themselves no favors. The problem is the pitch: It is too aggressive, even at its most well-meaning and heartfelt. The best way to pitch food to children, the research finds, is to present it with no marketing message whatsoever.

Don’t tell them it’s healthy or it will make them smart or strong. Telling them it’s yummy is O.K., but even that message doesn’t seem to help the cause. “You just need to give them the food. You mess them up by giving all kinds of messages,” said the paper’s co-author, Ayelet Fishbach, a professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. When giving food to children, “nothing helps beyond no message whatsoever.”

The findings, to be published in October in Journal of Consumer Research, offer insight not only into children’s decision-making around food, but also, more broadly, into the powerful and counterintuitive ways that overzealous marketing can misfire — with adults and children alike.

The idea for the study came from Michal Maimaran, a visiting assistant marketing professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern and co-author of the paper. She wondered why her tactics could backfire when she tried to sell healthy food to her children, ages 7, 4 and 2.

To be scientific about it, the two scholars devised a series of experiments that they ran with the cooperation of a Y.M.C.A. outside Chicago. In the first experiment, children ages 4 and 5 were read a story about a little girl named Tara who ate some Wheat Thins before she went out to play.

But not all the children heard the same story. In one version, Tara ate the Wheat Thins and “felt strong and healthy.” The children who heard this version were reminded that the crackers are good for their health. Another group of children heard that “Tara thought the crackers were yummy, and she was happy.” A third group heard that Tara ate Wheat Thins but without any description of whether the crackers were healthy or yummy.

Then each child got a moment alone to snack from a bowl of Wheat Thins. The number of crackers the children ate varied sharply depending on which version of the story they heard.

If children heard that Wheat Thins were healthy, they ate, on average, three crackers. If they heard that the crackers were yummy, they ate 7.2.

But most noteworthy, the researchers said, was the choice made by children who got no information at all about the character of Wheat Thins: They ate nine. In subsequent studies, the researchers discovered the same phenomenon in younger children, and with carrots.

Why was no message the best message? One possible explanation has to do with the “dilution effect” — the watering down of a marketing message that makes too many claims.

For instance, a video game system that is marketed as a movie player/video game console/Internet device might fare less well among consumers than if it is pitched as an “entertainment system.” Too many claims devalue each one.

Similarly, the researchers hypothesize, if children think food is good for them, it can’t also taste good.

So what to do? Let children make their own decision with a major caveat: Choose what food to put in front of them. Don’t pitch, but also: “Don’t let them do the shopping,” Professor Fishbach said.

New Resource for Enrolled Families

I am pleased to announce that Kinder Beginnings now offers a lending library of books related to child health and development, parenting, and family.

The books are currently grouped into the following categories:

     Activities
     Diapering
     Family
     Health
     Infants
     Nutrition
     Parenting
     Pregnancy

Our list shows titles and their availability.  Books may be borrowed for up to 30 days at a time, at no cost to enrolled families.  We will accept any donated books in good condition that are related to these topics to expand the lending library.

Our lending library list can be accessed here:
http://goo.gl/w0gEDs

Painting Class

The older children in our group had a fantastic time painting under the instruction of my grandmother (an artist who taught classes for years), and my mother (who has studied the techniques and done some painting of her own).  Several of the children surprised me with the interest that they showed, and the amount of attention they had for mixing colors, brush strokes and other techniques.  Each masterpiece was all their own work!



Link to view the slideshow in full size:
http://s178.photobucket.com/user/kinderbeginnings/slideshow/2014_Summer/Painting_Class

Article: Why It’s Imperative to Teach Empathy to Boys

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/why-its-imperative-to-teach-empathy-to-boys/

By Gayle Allen and Deborah Farmer Kris

Some of my favorite points from the article:

• Empathy, “an understanding that other people have feelings, and that those feelings count,” is a learned behavior. For boys, as for girls, that learning begins in infancy.

• It’s clear we need to cultivate empathy in all children, but gender stereotypes — often reinforced in playrooms — risk leaving boys, in particular, with a social deficit.

• Given all the benefits associated with empathy for success in life and work, it seems like now, more than ever, we need to mind the gap.

-------------------------------------------------

Full article:

When searching for toys for their kids at chain toy stores, parents typically encounter the following scenario: toy aisles are color-coded pink and blue. They shouldn’t bother looking for LEGOS, blocks, and trucks in the pink aisle, and they certainly won’t find baby dolls in the blue aisle.

While parents, researchers, and educators decry the lack of STEM toys for girls — and rightly so — what often goes unnoticed is that assigning genders to toys harms boys, as well. Too often children’s playrooms reinforce gender stereotypes that put boys at risk of failing to gain skills critical for success in life and work. The most important of these? Empathy.

Meg Bear, Group Vice President of Oracle’s Social Cloud, calls empathy “the critical 21st century skill.” She believes it’s the “difference between good and great” when it comes to personal and professional success. Researchers at Greater Good Science Center out of the University of California, Berkeley, echo Bear’s assertion. They define empathy as “the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.

Why is empathy important? First, empathy breeds courage. In a recent study of nearly 900 youth, ages 11-13, Nicola Abbott and Lindsey Cameron’s, psychology researchers at University of Kent, found that participants with higher levels of empathy were more likely to engage in “assertive bystander behavior.” In other words, they were willing to stand up to a bully on behalf of someone outside their peer group. This kind of courage can be life changing for a victim of bullying and prevent the damaging effects of social isolation and exclusion that often lead to anxiety and depression.

It’s clear we need to cultivate empathy in all children, but gender stereotypes — often reinforced in playrooms — risk leaving boys, in particular, with a social deficit.
Empathy also yields happiness. People with empathy have stronger interpersonal connections and are more eager to collaborate, effectively negotiate, demonstrate compassion, and offer support. They’re team players, and employers recognize this. So important has this skill become that a research team in England, after engaging in a six-month review of its schools, submitted a report that placed empathy in the top three of important outcomes for its students. Similarly, employers, when asked to compile a list of the “20 People Skills You Need to Succeed at Work,” placed it fifth.

Empathy drives thoughtful problem solving. Empathic problem solvers put themselves in others’ shoes in a way that allows them to design life-saving baby warmers, easily collapsible baby strollers, and energy-saving car sharing services. In addition, they’re often willing to work with others to solve persistent and, at times, larger problems. Rather than hoarding their knowledge and expertise, they open themselves up to what Greg Satell calls cognitive collaboration, in order to serve patients, clients, students, and even their respective fields, more effectively.

It’s clear we need to cultivate empathy in all children, but gender stereotypes — often reinforced in playrooms — risk leaving boys, in particular, with a social deficit.

What Parents Can Do

Play with dolls. Parents will find that boys can be  just as interested as girls in playing with dolls. Just watch little boys when they interact with an infant: they want to pat the baby’s head and see the little toes, and their faces show distress when that baby starts to cry. Recognizing the importance of young children’s interactions with babies for building social skills, organizations like Roots of Empathy do just that. They bring babies into elementary school classrooms as part of their empathy building, evidence-based programs. Don’t have a baby at hand? Dolls allow young children to simulate dressing, feeding, calming and caring for babies – particularly if adults participate and model this care. For parents of boys, it’s worth a trip to the pink aisles to find one.

Pretend play helps children self-regulate, develop a strong “theory of mind,” and integrate positive and negative emotions. When kids adopt different personas, they face dilemmas and solve problems “in character” – in essence, they’re taking empathy for a test drive. Play researcher Dorothy Singer, Senior Researcher at Yale University’s School of Medicine, contends that make believe helps children “be anyone they wish.” Through it, they “learn how to cope with feelings, how to bring the large, confusing world into a small, manageable size; and how to become socially adept as they share, take turns and cooperate with each other.” Parents can expand boy’s empathic skills through pretend play by blurring the traditional pink-blue boundary lines. Toy kitchens should co-exist with trucks, doll houses with action figures.

Read together. Researchers have shown that reading fiction promotes empathy. Children’s book author and illustrator, Anne Dewdney, echoes that finding when she argues that, “When we open a book, and share our voice and imagination with a child, that child learns to see the world through someone else’s eyes.” Sadly, studies reveal that parents in the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain spend less time reading and telling stories to their sons than to their daughters. In fact, in as early as nine months, researchers found a gender gap in literary activities. To address this, turn to picture books as empathy primers. Together parents and boys can look at a character’s body language and facial expressions and then identify corresponding emotions. Parents can pause while reading to ask: How do you think that make her feel? How would that make you feel? What would help him feel better?

Empathy, “an understanding that other people have feelings, and that those feelings count,” is a learned behavior. For boys, as for girls, that learning begins in infancy. As University of Wisconsin’s Carolyn Zahn-Waxler aptly notes, “There is no gene for empathy.” Parents play a key role in nurturing empathy, from explaining others’ feelings to encouraging prosocial behaviors with friends and siblings. Playroom toys and forms of play are equally important. Given all the benefits associated with empathy for success in life and work, it seems like now, more than ever, we need to mind the gap.

Gayle Allen spent nearly two decades as a teacher, school leader, and founder of two professional development institutes. She holds an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she focused her research on teacher learning. Gayle currently serves on the advisory board for BioBuilder Educational Foundation. She blogs at Connecting the Thoughts and tweets @GAllenTC.

Deborah Farmer Kris has taught elementary, middle, and high school and served as a charter school administrator. She spent a decade as an associate at Boston University’s Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character researching, writing, and consulting with schools. She is the mother of two young children.

Our Friend, Letter C

Butterfly Symmetry Paintings

To go along with learning about the letter B, bugs, and butterflies, we created butterfly art! We talked about how symmetry means the same on both sides, a mirror image. When the children decided that they were finished painting, we folded our papers and pressed them to attempt to get a symmetrical design. After drying, we cut a butterfly shape from the paper. These made lovely decorations for our entry door.

B is for baby...(and more photos from letter Bb week)

B is for baby:

Finding Bugs in Beans


Our word wall for the letter Bb:


A completed bean collage

B-b-b- Bean Collages!

The children completed this literacy activity at various levels.  

The preschoolers wrote the letter B with glue independently:


The older toddlers had help with writing the letter B, and then they put the beans on by themselves:


...and one of our toddlers preferred to complete the project her own way, putting beans inside of the glue lines, rather than on them.

Happy Mother's Day

"Once someone touches your heart, the fingerprints will last forever." -Unknown

The children were delighted to surprise their wonderful mothers with the presents that we worked on this week!

Field Trip: Kidpalooza

This was our 6th year attending the Kidpalooza community event.  A few of our group's favorite things this year were going inside of a real school bus (to see what the "big kids" do), watching the balloon artist work, and the train ride.

Sensory experiences:

Exploring on a real school bus!

Inside of a fire truck:

 

And the train ride:

 

One of the many treasures we brought back to school was a creation from the balloon artist.  Spiderman, complete with webs:

Meeting Mr. M

This week, we met a new friend, letter M!

We painted "magic" M paintings.

Mr. M told us he makes the "mmm" sound, and we helped him search for things that start with that sound. We found Monster trucks!

We constructed our own letter M's using tangrams.

We made macaroni M's... mmm, mmm, mmm!

We looked around and found other letter M's just like Mr. M.

We practiced writing M's and discovered we can write MOM! (Just in time for Mother's Day!)

By the end of the week, we had made a list of many M words!

Nice to meet you, Mr. M!

Learning About Clouds and Rain

This week, we made rain jars to go along with our "April Showers" theme.



The children used pipettes to drip watercolor paint into shaving cream clouds.



We used language like squeeze, drip, heavy, fill, and saturate.



We learned that when a cloud gets full of water, rain falls!

After we were finished working with our rain jars, we used the leftover (now colorful!) clouds to make lovely prints.

Hunting for Letters (Mini Sensory Bin)

This week, our mini sensory bin contained split peas and a foam alphabet puzzle.  The children took turns feeling their way around the bin, finding letters, matching them up with the frame, and manipulating them to fit in the appropriate places.  It was great for exercising those fine motor skills!

Friday Funny - 40 Ways Kids Ruin Everything Good In This World

A little parenting humor as we head into the weekend.  :)

40 Ways Kids Ruin Everything Good In This World. This Is Painful...But So Funny!

Upcoming Local Event: Kidpalooza!

This will be our 6th year attending.  We always have a great time!

We ♥ the Earth

We celebrated Earth Day all week by reading books about caring for our planet, and getting lots of time outdoors to explore and enjoy nature first hand.  We also traced and finger-painted to make this craft:

Benefits of Mixed-Age Interaction

One of my favorite things about our group is watching some of the "littles" grow to become "bigs" - and seeing them interact with younger peers in the same way that older children once did with them.

Here is a wonderful example of this cycle of friendship: Jacob has been with us since he was six weeks old, and is now a helpful, sociable five-year-old. Today, he spent some time building a train for his little buddy Austyn to play with. After working to get it just right, Jacob proudly presented his creation to his friend. Austyn excitedly crawled over and began grabbing individual pieces. Jacob laughed and said, "Well, that's okay. I think he likes it!"  :)

It Began as a Cloud Race...

A group activity to go with our Wind theme this week: tape on the floor, straws, and cotton ball "clouds." It was great fun blowing through the straws to make our clouds race down the track!

After a while, some of the children wanted to try out other items to race on the track.

Eventually, the monster trucks tired from racing and joined us in sensory play instead.