Retelling the Story - The Importance of Reading Comprehension

Before I go to sleep most nights, I lay in bed and read. Read is italicized because what I really do is take in about five to seven pages of a book and then I fall asleep. I've read the same five pages of The Read Aloud Handbook for the last three nights and have a vague idea of what the book is about; mainly based on the title. It's a good thing that there isn't anything riding on my ability to complete this book in the next five years.

However, as a former educator who loved working with early childhood and early elementary students on reading programs, I have already started steadily down the path of phonics and sight words with my own child. While I would be happy to delve into some of our reading lessons in another post, I do want to highlight the importance of reading comprehension. I can spend all my waking hours discussing long and short vowel sounds, buy Hooked on Phonics or every Bob Book ever made, but my son's lightening speed reading of Go Dog Go will mean nothing if he doesn't remember and understand the story he just read.

This goes for most early academic skills. If a child can't visualize, explain and show us what it means when Mary has two apples and Jill gives her two more, then how do we move on to more complex skills? This is why learning with manipulatives, story pieces and art projects are a vital part of early childhood education.

This is even more important to me as a parent of a son with receptive language struggles (impacting comprehension) and sensory issues. This month we have been exploring math, art and literacy with Mother Goose Time's camping themed curriculum box. We have gone fishing for number fish, read stories about what images animals might see at night in the forest, discussed road signs we might encounter on a trip, learned about following patterns using fanciful toadstool cutouts and finger painted pine cones on a postcard to send to a family member.

All of these tactile activities lead more productive learning time for my son. The paint meets his sensory seeking needs and the using a tool like a homemade fishing hook to catch fish and place them in the correct order, makes following multi-step directions more fun.

I think one of the most important elements of every Mother Goose Time box are the story cards. We read through the story that is provided and sometimes I encourage my son to sound out words. The second time we read the story, I ask my son to place the story cards on the board and find spots for all of the essential characters and items. I then encourage my son to retell the story and ask him questions like, "did it rain in the story?" "Was the character happy or scared?" I am hoping to encourage a dialogue that promotes comprehension. I am currently receiving this all encompassing curriculum in exchange for my experiences and opinion.

I highly encourage any educator of a preschool age student to utilize story image cards. Mother Goose Time does an exceptionally good job of incorporating them into the monthly box. I am also incredibly excited that some September these will be in magnetic form and so easy to use over and over again!

Stuck Inside in the Summer - What we Did with our Rainy, Sniffly Week

We are getting over the dreaded summer time cold going on in our home. I don't know if you have ever been stuck in a small home for multiple days, with a three year old that truly believes he can climb the walls if he tries hard enough. It's not fun.

This child just can't sit through Finding Nemo, he doesn't have the focus or energy to do reading or writing practice but he has to do something. Not just something, but he expects at least three things, all well planned and back to back. This is a big part of the reason that I have two tricks up my sleeve.

First, I have a rotating stash of books and toys. I highly recommend not showing your kids all your cards at once. No matter how massive or minuscule your toy collection is, don't have them all out at once. A three year old sees too many choices and they will often expect you to guide the play and entertainment. I already have a child that doesn't want to play on his own. Therefore, I am constantly trying to find the secret amount and type of toys that encourage independent play.

Having a child with this personality, I have found that is great to have a couple of toys that only come out on sick or rainy days. Because these days need a bit of motivation to get through, I often try to make these games, puzzles and moderately messy art projects. Art projects that involve paint (but not glitter, glitter is evil) make my son feel like he's gotten some sensory input and gives him a sense that we've done a special activity that works his brain in a new way.

In the summer, I stockpile Mother Goose Time projects, games and activities. We were excited to have received a complementary box this month in exchange for our experience with the program. Whether on purpose or because or our busy, outdoor schedule, I sometimes find myself a few days behind our curriculum box during the summer. This really comes in handy when a monsoon decides to hit Chicago and my child is sick in the same week. For a half hour on Monday evening, I reviewed the skill chart I get ever month, and opened 5-6 daily activity bags from my Mother Goose Time box. I did the small amount of prep required, and stacked the projects on my old cookie sheet and set out the games on his work table. Over the two days that we were shut-ins we completed six days of school work. Both days we did a painting project and at the end, my son did what he enjoys best; he covered himself with blue paint. Why blue paint? I don't know. Blue paint has toddler mind control powers and I've accepted it.

 Mother Goose Time camping themed dominoes and pulled out a great puzzle game called Creative Color Cubes. I picked this up on Amazon for around $16. I love this game because much like the Mother Goose Time projects, you can scale it down to the level of a two and a half year old, and make it trickier as they get older. You create patterns and three dimensional shapes. If my son gets overwhelmed by the big picture, I can cover ever line but the one we are working on, so that he can focus on the puzzle more easily.

After the Smurf transformation, we spend a half hour in a warm tub, trying to get blue out of his nails and helping him to decongest with essential oils at the same time. After bath, we read books and played some

By the time we read, got messy, pulled out a fresh game and bathed, we made it through the majority of our stay at home sick days without a fight. I hope your family avoid the dreaded summer cold, but in case you find yourselves stuck inside hopefully these tips help see you through to sunny beach days.

Three Elements to an Educational Day - Reading, Music and Visual Arts

We all have a stack of books that we read to our child on a daily basis, but do we take the time and see the value in other art forms? From the time me son was born, I knew that wanted to incorporate a reading time, a time to look at some artistic images and a and music time into our daily lives. I think because there is so much literature surrounding the link between book time and essential skills like vocabulary, early communication and early literacy; bedtime books have become a ubiquitous part of our culture. 

As a former early childhood educator, I definitely agree. I've written blogs on the topic in the past. However, I also think that parents should consider incorporating music and visual art into their child's daily routine. Personally, I use a couple of resources. I use our boxed curriculum by Mother Goose Time. It includes daily art projects, a circle time and a monthly themed CD. Also, I utilizes actual photos of different concepts, from police officers to parrots that include questions to prompt comprehensive discussions. We are thankful to have had Mother Goose Time to Provide our family with an educational box for this month.

 

In our daily routine, we use the circle time CD in the morning and alternate with the Wiggleworms soundtrack from Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. We have also added on a Mother Goose Time DVD called Dance n' Beats. This DVD actually takes the topics you are discussing in the month and teachers your child songs and dances to go along with that theme. Following multi-step directions has been a skill that we need some extra work on. 

In the car, we alternate between the Mother Goose Time themed CD and what is on the radio. Finally, at or after dinner, have a rock star dance party by listening to songs like Another One Bites the Dust, Splish Splash and Johnny B. Good. Sometimes we transition from the jumping, spinning dance party to a classical musical cool down. 

I am also lucky that my husband is a guitar player himself and can dabble in other instruments as well. I am all about using your resources. Since my son was one year old, we have practiced playing around and repeating the beat on our favorite drum. This drum was a great purchase!

 

We also use a second hand Usborne Children's Book of Art on a weekly basis. We pick an artist or painting in the book to discuss. I often employ a method that was popularized by homeschooling pioneer, Charlotte Mason. I show my son a painting, sculpture or drawing and ask time to think about the colors, images, shapes etc. for 30 seconds. Then I take the photo away and ask him to tell me what he can about the image. It is interesting to see what stands out to him and it helps us touch on new vocabulary, practice old concepts and develop an interest in different forms of art.

Overall, I encourage parents to include a pit of art everyday. 

 

Whether it be a pre-prepped project from Mother Goose Time, a sing along in the car or a discussion about a poster you see at the pediatrician's office, these are valuable investments in your child's expanding knowledge of the world. 

 

The Dollar Store Supplies and Crafts - I Want All The Things!

I am obsessed with Dollar Tree. No joke. There are three locations that are each a 15 minute drive from my house. I cycle through them just in case one has something in stock that the others don't carry. I'm nuts, I tell you. I love the $1 cleaning supplies, the $1 seasonal items (i.e. goggles, Christmas decorations) and I am head over heals for the $1 school supplies.

I have been grabbing office and school supplies as well as small educational games and toys for years now. I think because Target's dollar spot has grown in popularity, Dollar Tree has upped their game to keep customers willing to make the trip for these items. It may only be the middle of July, but both Dollar Tree and Target have stocked their shelves with school supplies and educational items.

I love the workbooks. For our homeschool program, we have a set curriculum that doesn't rely at all on worksheets. Because of this, I like to supplement with workbooks that review simple counting, phonics and logical concepts. Most of the books we use are the School Zone brand and include stickers and coloring. You get the most bang for your buck with these. The Benden brand, which is what Target carries for $1 is fun as well. My son isn't quite as interested in their workbooks, but loves their flashcards, mini puzzles and travel games. I like them, because for a dollar, you are getting items with great photos of real animals and people. I love utilizing simple images of the actual animal, person or place in learning. I've found that exposing a child to non-fiction books and images helps to expand their vocabulary and ability to notice new things in the world around them. Educational philosophies popularized by people like Charlotte Mason and Maria Montessori, highlight learning from real photos and living books.

Lately, my son has been into his play dough sets. He wants to mix the colors together. It kills me inside. So, I pick up these great six packs of mini dough containers. I'll bring them out for projects or keep a few in my bag for travel. They even have packs of little cookie cutter type tools and play dough scissors. Throw in some mini jewels or sequins and you have our latest project that is actually not a Pinterest fail.

We read one of our favorites, Rainbow Fish, and I asked my son to check out how some of the fish had different colors. We talked about the book while blending the play dough and cutting out a school of fish. We counted 15 jewels to put on rainbow fish, then shared them with the other fish, one by one or two by two. It was sensory play, reading comprehension and math in one simple project. The project cost $3 and we can do it multiple times.

Please let me know what your dollar store must haves are or if you've thrown together any fun projects with $1 items.

Acquiring Skills and a Love of Learning

Sometimes I feel like my life could be a meme. I'm the Mom with unwashed hair and triple microwaved coffee at 10:30 am. I am the Mom who has rewashed clothes she forgot to move to the dryer. I am the Mom that has gone grocery shopping and picked up a pizza in the same day, because the grocery shopping was a lot of work and I forgot to buy the chicken that was supposed to be for dinner.

I have a confession. I was kind of like this before becoming a Mom. I tried to be a master multitasker and missed the details and opportunities to learn from the world around me. Because of this, I want to encourage my son to learn at his own pace, ask questions and delve deeper into his interests from a young age.

This month, in my son's summer homeschool studies, camping is the theme. We are learning camping songs, building mini stick camp fires and lacing together crafty sleeping bags. I am very happy that my son is working on his fine motors skills and dancing his heart out with his July Mother Goose Time box. I am also happy that we are taking the time to ask questions like, "what else can we build from wood?" Or, "Where would we find food when we go camping and what kind of fish might we catch?"

Because we are homeschooling, we are able to take the planned out curriculum and travel down different paths of interest. We built an actual campfire and talked about the importance of staying warm and having shelter. That experience led to a discussion about different kind of houses that people might live in around the world. We went fishing, cooked together and even had a mini living room camp out with sleeping bags. We took our set curriculum at our own summer pace and because we slowed down, we learned ever more than I imagined we could.

The Mother Goose Time box has helped me balance the skills and the open ended exploration. The company, which provided our family with a complimentary box this month in exchange for our experience, not only came up with the crafts, songs and games, they spelled out what skills we were working on with each activity. There is even a really simple chart that shows what my child has worked on skill-wise that I get to review each month. The peace of mind this gives my coffee-fueled brain is fantastic. I would encourage any preschool parent to check out Mother Goose Time. You will be amazed how the tools, topics and projects will encourage deeper learning. The more I talk about the program with fellow parents, the more I can see using the program not only for homeschooling, but also as a supplement or educational subscription box. I hope that these opportunities to combine school and life experiences help to make my son an inquisitive, life long learner. 

From the Classroom to the Living room - Thoughts and Tips from a Teaching Journey

 I have been working with children for half of my life. I have been a camp counselor making homemade play dough and monkey bread with toddlers. I have been a student teacher in Montessori school, fighting my need to control the days' activities. I have been a volunteer in Chicago Public Schools, striving to act as a pillar of support in a after school program that left something to be desired. Finally, I worked in early childhood special education with children that were mostly non-verbal. Over the last 16 years, curriculum and standards of learning have changed and evolved. As teachers and parents, we are now in a time where educational resources are seemingly everywhere. From Pinterest to the craft store, we could fill swimming pools with projects and workbooks that are supposed to teach and develop the minds of our children.

To be honest, this overwhelms me. Sometimes I feel filled to the brim with ideas and theories and even materials that I find beneficial from each experience. In some ways this is a good thing to be overwhelmed with experience. I think because of this I know what won't work for my toddler who is in constant motion and hates certain sounds or sensations. But in a lot of ways, it has made me feel lost. 

So last October, I began researching preschool at home. I came to this decision after seeing that my son was already receiving occupational therapy, going to gymnastics and having weekly park and library play dates. My gut said that for this child, this was enough of a regular schedules out of the home. 

I was blown away to find that even though sites like TeachersPayTeachers exist, finding a program with some sense of organization that was not work sheet based, was incredibly difficult. I then came across some Youtube videos geared toward moms (my middle of the night addiction) about a program called Mother Goose Time. Working moms of two, stay at home moms of one, women with small, in home preschools were all raving about these school bus adorned boxes. So, after literally a month of watching the videos and checking out the themes for the upcoming year, I clicked the purchase button. I am very happy I did. I truly believe that the theme based boxes have provided the majority of what my preschooler needs for fun school at home. It was Mother Goose Time name tags and art projects that encouraged my son to write his name on his art for the first time. It was Mother Goose Time that introduced the idea of science experiments and it's Mother Goose Time that reminded me as a at home teacher to encourage imagination in stories, asking questions and the importance of comprehension in the books that we read and the work that we do. 

This month I am excited to be a Blog Ambassador, and Mother Goose Time is providing our family with a free box to share our experience. I am happy to report that after nine months, my son still loves the program. From calendar time to exploring the daily theme and even the special party days that we have every month, Mother Goose Time is a hit. 

I also thought it might be beneficial some of the books we read and supplement with that have been a hit in our home:

• What your Preschooler Needs to Know (A collection of poems, songs, stories and information about science and history as well.)
• What your Kindergartener Needs to Know (next step)
• Animalia
• Montessori Letter Work, Number Work and Map Work (They have rough surfaces that the child can trace, great  for pre-writing.)
• BOB books (pre and early readers. Definitely look at your local library or even Costco.)
• Lift the flap and Look Inside books by Usborne. (my son loves Look inside the Body and How Things Work.) We buy used on Amazon or at Half Priced Books.