shopping lists for three tiny shoppers

It's been a busy week to say the least. With the normal end-of-the-year tutoring rush, the consulting work I'm doing for a charter school in DC, and the preparations for our Relay for Life this weekend, I'm pretty close to nuts.

So instead of hitting the grocery store last night at 9 o'clock, I decided I'd use my three little helpers today to help me do our weekly shopping. I was going to put them to work and give them a little fun-focus during our shopping:

• Shopping List Reading: I made a Shopping List for Maddy, Owen, and Cora, complete with large, easy-to-read words and pictures next to each word. I printed them on cardstock so they'd withstand the love of the trip, and I put a short line before each word so they could check off items as they were found. It was so easy, and I plan to keep them and modify them as necessary for the next few years.
  

Maddy's list had more items than the rest, and Cora's only had four things. All the items were things they were familiar with, so that made finding them a bit easier.

Cora's list

I prepped everyone for their challenge today when we sat down for breakfast, and they were totally psyched to see their lists. I said,

Okay, my friends. You know it's been a busy week for Mommy and Daddy, and we've got our Relay tomorrow and Nanny and Pap are coming to town. I really need your help today at the grocery store, so I'm going to put you each in charge of your own shopping lists. You're going to need to read the words on your list, find the item in the store, then check it off of your list after you put it in the basket. Who's up for it?!

They hooted and hollered and reached for their lists. We read them together--using the words and the pictures because that's what early literacy is all about--and they asked me about 100 times between breakfast clean-up and actually getting in the car when we could start shopping.

Happy finished lists in the cart.

The list-reading really worked out well today, especially in the beginning of our trip--before we hit the black hole that is our deli counter--but it got Maddy and Owen focused on accomplishing a small task and kept them occupied during a longer-than-I'd-liked grocery trip. Even Cora was excited to hold her list, count her apples, and look for her items. But above all, it got my little ones reading--and learning--in a fun, sneaky way.

We'll be Relaying this weekend, so hopefully Maddy, Owen, and Cora will be able to help with our Team's facepainting, tatoos, and glow stick sales. And maybe they'll make the connection between our Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser a few weeks ago and this larger event. Or maybe not. Maybe they'll just be kids, walk a few laps with us, and have a ball.

Either way, we're looking forward to it.

new for us friday--the pear-off

Change is good.

One of the things most parents strive for with their children is consistency--with daily routines, with enforcement of rules, and with just about everything. We're all, by nature, creatures of habit, which isn't always a bad thing. Except when our kids get sooo stuck in the norm that it's hard to get them to try new things.

That's where New For Us Fridays comes in--it's my teeny-tiny attempt at getting this crew of mine to step out of the box and to try new things. It's healthy, it's fun, and it makes each week a little bit of an adventure, so that's why I'm starting it now--summer's around the corner, and there's a ton of fun to be had.

Each week, I'm going to try to introduce something new to my family--new foods, new activities, new challenges--and I'll share them here. I'm always on the lookout for ideas, so feel free to send them my way--and to share them with us!

The contenders: Red D'Anjou vs. Asian

• New For Us Friday--The Pear-Off: This one was easy. Instead of picking up our regular apples for the week, I went a bit crazy and grabbed two different pears that we had never tried--the Red D'Anjou and the Asian Pear. We were going to try both and decide our favorite--and old-school Pear-Off.
  

We looked at the colors of both and talked about how they were both alike and different. Then I cut them and we compared how their insides looked: the Red was much more pear-shaped than the Asian, which resembled an apple. We were ready to taste.

I cut pieces and put one slice of each on everyone's plate. Then we decided to taste the Asian first: It's too crispy! It is hard to bite--it feels ouchy in my mouth. I like it--it's crunchy!

We then tried the Red: It's so much softer. It is smooth and creamy. It tastes sweeter than the first one. It feels mushy to me!

Then we did an informal vote for favorites: Asian--3 votes (Cora, Owen, Brent); Red--4 votes (Cora, Owen, Maddy, me). Red gets the ribbon!

Okay, so maybe we'll have to work on proper voting procedures next time, but the consensus was that the Pear-Off was fun. New For Us Friday is a winner!

sewing daisies with maddy

Yesterday, I ran across these cute daisies and some other fun embellishments in my sewing box. I honestly think I picked them up way back when I was in high school; I have no idea how they managed to follow me for so long, but I'm glad they did.

Before Maddy went for her rest time, I taught her how to "spruce up" her old plain-Jane shorts. It was fun, and we're going to make all of our plain clothes fancier as summer approaches.

• Sewing Daisies: Maddy's 5 years old now, and she's awesome with her tiny fingers, so with enough prompting from her end, I figured she'd be able to handle a needle and thread on her own--with me watching her, of course.

She's sewing!

She watched me do the first one, and I really made it simple. I just clipped one daisy, pinned it to a pocket, doubled up the thread and sewed that little guy on. I got her started with the second one, but she was ready to do it on her own after I pushed the needle through the pocket. With a little bit of guidance and encouragement, she did a super job. Now, she wants to sew a little somethin' pretty every day, and I'm totally up for it!

Our finished product--fancy-pants!

I'm not skilled at sewing by any means; I don't own a machine and have never (cough) hemmed a pair of pants. But I do know that you can spruce up even the most boring, everyday pieces of clothing with a tiny touch here and there.

And talk about working those fine motor skills at the same time I'm teaching a life skill--sewing. While Owen and Cora will still love to play with our favorite Melissa & Doug sewing cards, I think we began a new chapter yesterday for my not-so-little Maddy. How fun!?

alphabingo rocks

For the last few days, we've been bingo-nutty, and this awesome site I stumbled across a few weeks ago has been fuel for our fire. It's been a gold mine of cool things to do with both my own kiddos and the students I tutor.

One of Maddy and Owen's favorites from the site so far (of course!) has been Alphabingo:

How cute are these bingo boards?

• Alphabingo: Yep, same deal as most bingo games, but I love this one because it uses lowercase letters and animal pictures for each letter. You'll need the Alphafriends sheet (that has all of the letters) and then Bingo Card 1, Card 2, and Card 3. I printed an extra Alphafriends sheet for both Maddy and Owen and added them to their writing centers in their rooms. They love these sheets, and once you take a look at them, you'll see why.

First, I cut the letter cards from the Alphafriends sheet, then I cut apart the Bingo Boards. Before we began, we took a good look at the sheet--we laughed at the animal pictures and made sure we knew each animal.

Next, we each chose a board, grabbed a handful of the bingo chips, and got rolling. We played cover-all first, then we played four-in-a-row for game #2.

Like our Rockin' Rhyme Bingo last week, you flip the cards and then everyone checks their board to see if they have the letter on the card. These boards are a little bigger--16 boxes each--but the pictures and letters are clear, and it was a riot to say the letter and then the animal that went with it: p-pig/ f-fish/ c-cat/ etc. Seriously well done. I looooove a good find like this one and we'll keep this close at hand for the next few weeks.

This game is a great way to both work on lowercase letters and beginning sounds, and your kiddos won't even realize they're learning something because they'll think it's just a game. Thanks, Santa Maria Bonita Schools, for helping me sneak in a little bit of learning today!

fuzzy little caterpillar pets

My kids are completely desperate for a pet. They've been collecting dozens of those fuzzy caterpillars that are everywhere lately, and then they proceed to treat them like a small animal. They make grass beds for them, they pet them, they squeeze them, they build play areas for them, they bathe and feed them. And then if they're still living, they put them to bed.

I wasn't sure how to handle all the love they've been demonstrating to these little guys until I heard them call one, "Wormy", for the hundredth time. I knew they were not worms, but I wasn't sure what they really were. So began our research on these guys:

• "Wormy Research": I asked Maddy and Owen if they knew anything for sure about their pets--What they ate? Where they slept? What they'd become? Where do they live?

No one was sure, so after we took some pictures and put them on the computer, we had a little lesson on internet research. We talked about what words we should put in our search, and they came up with "black", "fuzzy", "caterpillar", and I added, "Maryland". We glanced at the sites that came up, and we decided that the first two wouldn't work and that this one and this one were definitely not our caterpillar. Then we checked the "what's this caterpillar" site and still didn't find our guy.

Owen's letting his buddies play.

We finally stumbled upon our man: the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. We compared pictures, and Maddy and Owen literally jumped out of their pants, they were so excited. From here, I searched "Eastern Tent Caterpillar", and we learned that they were once Bug of the Week and are starring in some crazy videos on YouTube.

Everyone stared open-mouthed at the screen through a few videos, but then we went back to our searching. We learned that they live in nests that look like tents, that they eat leaves (but not real food) like our familiar friend, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and that they turn into brown moths--not the beautiful butterflies that we'd hoped.

I think a cool follow-up to this research would be to re-read The Very Hungry Caterpillar or another book about caterpillars; we head to the library next week and will pick something up. I may even pick up The Very Hungry. . . in Spanish to mix it up a bit. There are a gazillion caterpillar crafts out there, but Owen came home with a cute finger-print caterpillar on a leaf last week, so I didn't want to overdo it.

So it was just a little bit of real-life science research and learning today; hopefully it's something that will really stick with my kiddos because it was meaningful and helpful for them. I'm hoping it will at least hold them over until we get a dog. . .

trying to keep smiling: quick trick, positive

Lately, my sweet 3-year-old boy has been experimenting with his voice (yelling and screaming anywhere, anytime, at anyone), his body (superhero kicking and punching the air, a pillow, or the unlucky guy closest to him), and his attitude (frustrates easily, pushing limits with adults, and challenging his sisters).

Whether it's the imbalance between mind and body that little ones experience every 6 months or so, or if it's some friendship challenges at preschool (which ends tomorrow!), we've been trying our best to be patient, loving, and firm with him. It's wearing us--okay, me--out.

But this Quick Trick is another one from Dr. Bailey's Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline (2000) that I think is totally worth revisiting and one that I've leaned on for the last few days especially, when I've used choices and counting and given him a million GO's, and I need to clear my brain:

• Positive Intent: In short, this is when you attribute positive motives to your child's behavior so that you're positioning yourself to teach and your child to learn.

Sound funny? I agree, but it helps in more ways than one--for me, at least.

Since 'intent' is a real and powerful communicator, you can speak the same words to children with the intent of punishing them or with the goal of teaching them. Your intent is more powerful than the words you use. So, you start out assuming your child's motives are positive, that he is simply trying to achieve some goal but lacks the appropriate skills to do so.

Here's how: Model unconditional love. (Sometimes this is not easy--parenting is hard work!)

1. State the child's positive motive. (You wanted a turn to color. . . )
2. State the skill he used to achieve his goal. (. . . so you grabbed the crayon.)
3. State the limit and why it is needed. (You may not grab. Grabbing hurts.)
4. Teach the child what you want him to do or say instead. Then ask him to do or say those actions. (When you want a turn to color, say, 'I want a turn to color, too. Which color can I use?' Say it now.)
5. Praise and encourage your child for being willing to try a different approach. If possible, point out how the new approach proved successful. (You did it! Now he gave you the yellow crayon so you can color, too.)

Easier said than done sometimes, I know, but it's just one more little trick that has helped me stay focused as a parent during tough times. And like a lot of these tricks, it takes practice, practice, practice with a huge side of patience.

rockin' rhyme bingo

Owen and I revisited Rhyme Bingo today, this time with Maddy, and it was a blast. We only played for a short while--about 15 or 20 minutes before their rest times--but the kids really liked it.

Here's what we did:

• Rhyme Bingo: Thanks to my newly-realized addiction to file-sharing and my already-professed love of Bear's Words Their Way (2004), you can play too! You'll need the instructions, the cards, and boards one and two.
  

Here is Rhyme Bingo as a pdf to print. I printed mine on cardstock months ago, and it's holding up like a trooper.

We used springtime Foamies as our markers, but you can use anything. It's so easy--all you do is flip the cards and figure out if you have a picture on your board that rhymes with picture on the flipped card. The boards are small--9 pictures each--so we played "Full Card Wins".

For the first game, when a picture was flipped, I'd say, Okay, here's a picture of a 'sail'. Let's think of things that rhyme with 'sail'. We'd generate a list together--mail, pail, snail, whale, etc--then we'd check out our boards and cover the rhyming pictures if we had one.

Rhyme Bingo boards

By the second and third game, they were pro's, so we switched boards and skipped the rhyming together. We individually searched then called out the word if we had one.

Rhyming in any shape or form is so important for the development of Phonological Awareness, which is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sound units in words.

Phonological Awareness is only one component of a comprehensive reading program, and it's the precursor (no joke!!) to solid literacy development. If kiddos are not able hear sound units in words (which are called 'phonemes'), then they will not be able to encode, decode, or comprehend texts. So let's get rhyming!

pop beads

Maddy received this awesome set of Pop Beads by Parents as a gift this past year, and we've been using them more lately to (secretly) work on everyone's (okay, Owen's) fine motor skills.

These are not the pop beads of my childhood, mind you; these are much more amazing--different sizes and shapes of beads, unusual textures on the beads, and tiny bracelets, rings, and necklace attachments so that little designers can now create more than I could have ever dreamed of as a kid.

Pop Beads are everywhere. . .

• Pop Beads: While Maddy was busy beautifying herself with bead-y bracelets, necklaces, and rings, Owen and I were talking about what patterns we could make and who could make the longer rope (please note: they're not necklaces when you're "beading" with a 3-year-old boy. . . ).

Here are some other things we did as we were creating:

• sorted the beads into color piles;
• sorted the beads into shape piles (okay, and then crashing cars into them);
• created color patterns;
• created bead-shape patterns;
• challenged each other to make the easiest--then toughest--pattern (as long as we can justify the pattern, it works!);
• made "tracks" and "parking spots" for Matchbox cars;
  
• tried to make the longest single-color then crazy-colored bead ropes; etc.
  

And that's it--easy, fun, simple play--all in the short time before rest, disguised as fun but secretly very worthwhile. Sorting--you know I love it--is so, super important for little brains--consider using beans, bugs, letters, colors, toys, food--anything at all really. And anything to help improve fine motor skills will help with scissor use and that pesky tripod grip which is a skill that must be taught. Not all kiddos naturally pick that one up.

Now all we have to do is get Parents to manufacture a
Pop Bead set with a little bit of boy in 'em. . . Listening, Parents?

a lil blog love

We've had a busy week last week, playing around with PBS and Super WHY!, so I wasn't even able to give out a holla to my friend Jo-Lynne who is helping me re-vamp my little bloggy-blog. For the next few days, we'll be trying new things in an attempt to get better organized, more beautiful, and user-friendly. I'm so excited. It's like I've found a great new pair of shoes, and I can't wait to wear 'em!

One quickie thing today: sharing an award. . .

It's about time I share some blog love given to me--it was actually handed down to me by two people (I'm so grateful and lucky!). One, back in April, was from Tech Savvy Mama, whose goal on her site is to help parents "navigate the overwhelming world of technology and provide the best that exists for their children". She has fantastic advice for parents, awesome giveaways, a resume I could only ever dream of having, and a super blog. To top it all off, she's just an all-around cool teacher chick who is on my "daily read" list. Thanks, Leticia!

The second person to hand over the award to me is Storytime and more, whose blog is gorgeous and who has great posts on stories to read in conjunction with activities for your kiddos. There are links to tons of free printables, math activities, literature activities--you name it. It's great. Thank you!

There are tons of fantastic blogs out there, but here are just a few I read regularly and who are now receiving the Sisterhood Award:

• Explorations. . . Denise does some really cool things with her daughters, and I've used a bunch here already. I love how she reminded me about grid games, materials for writing centers, and super-easy ways of file sharing. Thanks so much, Denise!

• Adventures of a Flake. . . "BranFlakes" always seems to find fun and meaningful activities to do with her two children and the one she babysits daily, and I read her regularly to find out what she's doing over there and what I can use at my house! Thank you, too, BranFlakes!

• Pink and Green Mama. . . This elementary-school art teacher-turned stay-at-home mom's blog is absolutely beautiful. Every comment I leave has "love" in it because I love, love, love everything she posts. This blog--and the activities this mom does with her girls--makes me smile and is definitely one I read regularly. Thank you!

• Supermom Central. . . Lauren over at SC is just that--a Super Mom of 3 kiddos whose site is full of everything a mom needs--advice and posts on being Savvy, Hip, Rockin', Crafty, Brainy, Earthy, Mindful, Healthy, and Trippin'. She's a great writer and I love to see what she's got going on over there! Thanks, Lauren!

• ABC and 123. . . I totally, completely heart the Katies (two friends, both named Katie) who started this blog. I read it daily because it's an amazing resource for parents who want to do cool stuff with their kiddos. It's a learning co-op, where readers submit teaching ideas that fall under certain categories, and then if they fit, they're posted! They've got it all--and it all rocks. Thanks, Katies!

• One Crafty Place. . . is another one of my favorites because Chrissy is one crafty chick who has it all on her site. She has two little ones herself and scours the internet for fun and beautiful crafts that people have done and shares what she does herself. I love this site, love even more trying to figure out what we can use over here, and look forward to seeing what's going on every day. Thank you, Chrissy!!

Please email me, friends, for the html so you can add this button to your sites, and for all my other pals, happy reading! We're back to our normal fun here tomorrow! Cheers--

pbs love, day numero cinco

Well, this is it! It's Friday, Day 5 of our PBS Super WHY! adventure, and it has been a fantastic, exciting ride.

So many of my pals have told me on the phone or in person how this program is working for them, but I have to say that your comments, friends, have to be via the super-duper computer for me to enter your name in the drawing for the Steve Songs CD/DVD. . . today's your last day to share if you want to be in the running!

• Day 5 Activities: It's not so much about the activities today as it's about the Final-Assessment. In fact, we did the assessment before Maddy and Owen's rest today, and they were really bummed when I said that this was the last part of our Super WHY! week.
  

Owen said, Oh, no, Mommy, now that this is over, what else are we ever going to do?

(Hmmmm, what will we do? How about we'll go back to my tricky ways of sneaking in some learning each day, like our sorts, activities, crafts, adventures, and cooking all disguised as fun and games, Owen? How about you take a look at your mama's lil ole blog?). I didn't say it but I thought it. . . and instead I just said I'd search around and come up with something. I always do!

So we took the Final Assessment--the first part, the re-telling of the Three Little Pigs story went the same as it did on Monday; Maddy and Owen are both familiar with the story.

The Alpha Pig part of the Assessment, identifying the letters W-O-L-F on the alphabet sheet, went better today than it did on Monday for Owen (maybe because he's now seen the word several times this week and also because the alphabet is in all uppercase letters?), but it was the same for Maddy who could easily pick out the letters.

Maddy and Owen circling letters W-O-L-F

Next they completed the Wonder Red Literacy component of the Assessment, and rather than have them read the words WALL, FALL, and BALL, which are the only three words on the sheet, I said, Okay, this is the second part, and I'd like for you to draw a circle around the word, WALL. (They both did.) I asked them to circle FALL, then BALL. They both had no problems. Hooray! Does this mean Day 2's word work sunk in?!

I then followed the Princess Presto part of the Assessment, which asked children to spell "big" and "pig". Maddy spelled her words first, while Owen was coloring, then Owen spelled them. Yeah!

Finally, we did the Super WHY! Literacy Skills part, which just asks you to show your child the words "small", "red", and "good". I changed it a bit and asked them to circle the word "small", draw a box around "red", and draw a fancy line under "good". They both did it!

Maddy's assessment.

And they both had no problems this time with identifying the opposite of "big" and "bad" (thanks to the episode!?). So overall, I'd say that both Maddy and Owen did better on the Final Assessment than than they did on the Pre-Assessment. We love improvement! Woo-hoo!!

Overall, here's what I think of the whole deal:

I like:

• that PBS is trying to make it easy for parents, teachers, caregivers--anyone, to use a well-written and heavily researched show like Super WHY! to really help children learn;
• that this show is not two hours long--it's only 30 minutes which is all my kiddos watch in the afternoon;
  
• that PBS has created a week-long curriculum for The Three Pigs episode and supplemental materials for over 20 other Super WHY! episodes! How awesome is that?;
• that most of the activities this past week involved scaffolded work--sometimes two worksheets, sometimes a worksheet then activity but the second builds on concepts from the first;
  
• that the work for the week progressed logically--from alphabetic principles (letter identification) to reading;

I wish:

• that I loved the Pre- and Post- Assessments (. . .but I shared that on Day 1);
• that there was some way of recording/submitting Assessment scores to the PBS site (could the whole thing possibly be online?!);
  
• that there was more consistency with uppercase and lowercase letters (seems to go back and forth on worksheets);
• that each day's work involved some sort of activity and was not as much worksheet-dependent (even though Maddy might disagree!);
• that some episodes' follow-up or related activity might link right to the computer for a technological follow-up.

I am so excited that PBS asked the DC Metro Moms to be a part of this Super WHY! curriculum and to offer feedback on how it worked with our own kiddos. It's been fun, and I'm not considering it an end but rather a beginning--the beginning of us incorporating lessons and learning with our Super WHY! viewing more regularly.

We also love the PBS Kids and PBS Kids Island websites, so we'll continue that during computer time, but we're always looking forward to trying new things. . . thanks, PBS!

pbs love, day numero cuatro

Day 4! It's Super WHY day! We are having a blast with our PBS week, and today was no different.

We did the Activities before rest time today, like we did on Tuesday. Maddy and Owen hooted and hollered to watch the episode we watched yesterday, Super WHY! The Foolish Wishes.

• Day 4 Activities: You'll need the Day 4 Activity Sheet, the Super WHY! mask, and Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2. (These are Worksheets 7 & 8 from the PBS site.)

We first tackled Worksheet 1; here, children finish the sentence, "There once were ____ little pigs" by choosing the correct word. On the right of the sentence are pictures of ten, five, and three little pigs with the number words under each set of pictures.

Owen and Maddy both needed help with this one, since they were a little confused with whether they should write the word "three" or the number--3. They both wrote the number (but backwards--I guess I should work more on number writing?!).

When I suggested we write the word, "three"and asked if they could point to the word on the right side of the paper near the picture of three tiny pigs, Maddy said, No, Mommy, that's not 'three', that says 'tree'. So we did a little mini-lesson on the differences between 'tree' and 'three'.

Maddy's Worksheet 1

Next, we did Worksheet 2 which children finish the sentence, "There once was a big bad ____" by circling the correct word and then writing it in the blank. There are little pictures above a turtle, wolf, and pig below the sentence. Owen had a tough time with this one, too, but Maddy was fine. Owen didn't immediately recognize "wolf" written in lowercase letters, so I wrote it in uppercase letters at the bottom of his paper. (I should have written all words this way for him.) Then he said, Oh yeah! and got writing.

They were both totally excited to color their pictures, so we quickly talked about how Super WHY! has the power to read that it would make sense that today's activities would focus on reading a whole sentence.

Owen is ready to color.

As a foll0w-up to these activities, I asked if anyone wanted to write their own story and draw a picture to go with it, and Owen was really excited to start his own story and picture on a blank sheet. His story is below.

Yes, he wanted me to write, "There once was a big bad flower."

And yes, that's a scary flower.

And I'm not sure, but I think those are long crazy arms on all sides of the flower.

Oh my goodness, what an imagination. Could it be the influence of our new Venus Fly Trap?

Day 4 is down. Here's what I thought. . .
I liked:

• that everything was pulled together today from the previous days and the focus was reading a sentence;
• that children can choose what they want to have finish the sentence (turtle, wolf, or pig);
• the follow-up activity involved some creativity and story-telling! I even love the follow-up, follow-up--discussion about how changing one word affects the whole sentence.
  

I wish:

• that W-1 was formatted differently--I found the spacing of the pig pictures with number words underneath confusing;
• that W-1 incorporated the numbers (10/5/3) somewhere so children could see the number next to the word;
  
• that W-2 was more focused--are children supposed to choose 'wolf'? Is this a question of story fact recall or up to children to decide?
  

Don't forget!! You can also view the episode of The Three Little Pigs and get more information on Learning With Super WHY! at the Learning with Media part of the PBS Parents site. The site is so awesome and is totally worth checking out!

Tomorrow's our last day of PBS love week; I'm so sad about it, to be honest. I think I may go into Super WHY! withdrawal on Saturday. . .

pbs love, day numero tres

It's Day 3 of our PBS adventure, and we rocked it in a Princess Presto, Spelling Day kind of way, even though Maddy is indeed sportin' the Wonder Red mask from yesterday. It was just that today I figured out that if I cut them out and taped them to sunglasses, they sat better on everyone's little faces. Owen and Cora danced around in Alpha Pig and Princess Presto but ripped them off before I could grab my ole camera...

• Day 3 Activities: You'll need Day 3's Activity Sheet and the Princess Presto mask. Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2 (they're numbered 5 & 6 when you download from the site) also go with today's lesson.
  

We watched a different episode today, because there was an uproar when I put in The Three Pigs. So we watched one that we DVR'd, Super WHY!--The Foolish Wishes.

After watching the show, we did Worksheet 1, which has children circle letters that a given picture begins with. Maddy zipped right through it, but I think it was a perfect level for Owen. He started by circling all of the pictures but got on track once we did the first one together. "Wand" gave him some trouble--he circled "v" at first--and Maddy talked him through the differences in the /w/ and /v/ sounds.

Owen's working on Worksheet 1.

Worksheet 2 was next, and they looooved it. This one is more of an activity than a worksheet; it has letters to be cut out, then children put the letters on objects in their home that begin with those letters. I had Maddy and Owen cut out their own letter cards, since I know they can always use more practice cutting. After they were cut out, they ran around taping them on objects in our living room: "W" on a wagon, "G"on something green, and "O" on (who else?) Owen!

Owen cutting out his Worksheet 2 letters.

What starts with "O" in our living room? Owen!

Here's what I thought:

I liked:

• that we watched a different episode today (we'd seen The Three Pigs before this week, so I appreciate their feeling of a need for change!);
• that W-1 was simple--9 very simple objects with only 3 letters to choose from;
  
• that W-2 was more than a worksheet (hooray!)--it was an activity that got the kiddos up and moving, using what they learned and applying it to things they knew--around the house!;
• that W-2 could be taken to different levels--Maddy found more unusual things to label, and Owen stayed pretty level;
  
• that W-2 involved cutting--I'm always up for working those fine motor skills;
• that the Follow-up Activity (bottom of Day 3 Sheet) is a cool, get-up-and-move activity (it might be worth expanding on?).
  

I wish:

• hmmmmm, I'm stumped. I really liked it!
  
• maybe that there were some levels to the worksheets so that I could pull a "tougher" one for Maddy (who is 5 and needs more of a challenge) and have W-1 for Owen (who's 3).

Maddy and Owen are totally loving this themed week (and Cora's been excited, too!)--we chatted on the way home from preschool about how today was Princess Presto day, and we reviewed what we'd done so far and which character was left--they are psyched that tomorrow's Super WHY day!!

**Hooray!! I just checked the fantastic PBS Parents--Learning With Super WHY! site, and all of the documents I'm using are up and rolling! Forgettabout downloading from my site (too late for me to change today's post!). Just click and go!

pbs love, day numero dos

Today was Day 2 of our PBS Super WHY! Week, and the focus was Wonder Red--Words Day!

We're having fun with it, so here goes:

• Day 2 Activities: You can find your Wonder Red--Words Day sheet here. You'll also want the mask and Worksheet 1 and Worksheet 2. (They're Worksheets 3 & 4 when you download them from the PBS site.)
  

We did things differently today, since Maddy and Owen are used to playing games and doing activities before rest time and then watch their show after rest time, I followed that pattern, and it worked well.

We talked about how we are doing a Super WHY! week this week and that today was Wonder Red Words Day. Maddy wore the mask for a bit but Owen refused--no biggie. I think he'll be much more excited about the Super Why mask later in the week, and I can't say I blame him.


Worksheet 1 is what we started with, and they loved it. This is the worksheet where they complete words by adding in the missing letters. I talked a little about the -all family before started to give them some context:

In my hands, I'm holding a 'ball' and I'm leaning against Maddy's bedroom wall. Ball. Wall. What do you notice about how the words 'ball' and 'wall' sound?

They said, They rhyme!

That's right! You are super readers already. They rhyme. What other words can you think of that rhyme with 'ball' and 'wall'?

We brainstormed a bunch of words from the -all family, and we repeated it a few times. Then I gave them the first Worksheet.

Maddy's Worksheet 1. Can I have another one, Mommy?

Next, we did Worksheet 2, which was a great follow-up to the first sheet.

This is where students match words to their corresponding pictures. Maddy ate it up and asked for more (okay, so maybe she is ready for Kindergarten. . . sigh). Owen needed more help, but he was still pretty much diggin' it.

Owen and Maddy working their little Super WHY! hearts out on Worksheet 2.

I stopped there for today, and we rocked out again to the same episode of Super WHY!, The Three Little Pigs. I'm going to see how many consecutive days they take it, then I'll switch the episode. The curriculum suggests watching the same episode each day. I noticed today that when Owen first saw T-ALL on the screen, he yelled, That spells 'tall'! Pretty cool.

Okay, so here's what I thought. . .

I liked:

• that the worksheets were clear, easy for little ones to understand, and that they were somewhat scaffolded--W-1 was a little more difficult than W-2, and they could use W-1 to complete W-2;
• that there were letters to choose from on W-1, on the right-hand column;
  
• that the pictures on W-2 were very obvious and Maddy and Owen both knew what each was;
• that we did the worksheets first today--seemed to work better for us.

I wish:

• that W-2 had slightly bigger words and pictures (they both wanted to color the tiny pictures when we were finished);
• that maybe instead of W-2, or as a follow-up, the words and pictures were provided in a sort (you know I love sorts--and it's a great way for kiddos to learn word concepts without another worksheet).

That's it! Let me know what you think!

And for those friends who leave me feedback at all on what they think of this Super WHY! week, they will be entered in a drawing for a Steve Songs: The Marvelous Musical Adventures CD/ DVD. How fun?!

The deadline will be midnight Friday, and if you'd like additional entries, you can: 1. tweet about the contest; 2. subscribe to teachmama via email or a feed; and/or 3. follow teachmama! Just let me know!

Thanks, PBS!

pbs love, day numero uno

This week, we're tackling the 5-day curriculum given to us by PBS, and we're sharing what worked and what didn't for my little learners. Please feel free to try bits and pieces for yourself and let me know via email or comments what you think of it. I know I have a bunch of teacher-mamas reading this!

Today we did the Pre-Assessment
and Day 1 Activities:

• Pre-assessment: You can find yours here. You will also need the Alpha Pig sheet; the Wonder Red sheet; the Princess Presto sheet; and the Super Why sheet for the pre-assessment. (Or at least I hope they're here--I did this quickly. PBS is adding these to their site on Wednesday.)

• We did the pre-assessment before rest time, then we watched Super WHY! Three Little Pigs Episode, which you can actually get here, on the PBS site. Afterward, we got into Day 1 Activities.

• Day 1 Activities: Download the Day 1, Alpha Pig--Alphabet Day Sheet. You'll also need an Alpha Pig mask, which is right here. You'll also need Worksheet Activity 1 and Worksheet Activity 2.
  

Maddy and Owen zipped through both worksheets quickly, and they really liked hunting for the hidden letters on the one sheet. On the other sheet, they wanted to circle the letters of their names, write their names on the line, and color Alpha Pig.

We did have time for Bingo (you'll need the cards and placemarkers) which my kiddos love in any form. It was fun for them--we used our own Bingo chips--but the game went very quickly since the boards were small. That was okay, though, because after the game, we were all ready to head outside to ride bikes.

Our bingo boards. . . and Maddy above as Alpha Pig

Doing the Pre-Assessment and Day 1 Activities were too much for one day, and I should have planned better. Yesterday was busy, and I was psyched to get started today. Live and learn. . .
But I am ready for tomorrow and look forward to seeing how Maddy, Owen, and Cora like the activities. Here's the link for the online lesson plan if you'd like it.

Overall, here's what I think. . .

I liked:

• that a set lesson supporting a children's tv program is even an option--how cool?!
  
• that there's a pre-assessment!
• that the p/a involves a familiarity check with the story in the episode (love that we're activating prior knowledge!);
• that the p/a involves both reading and spelling, single word and sentence reading, and opposites.
• that the Alphabet Worksheet was clear and easy to understand;
• that there was a letter hunt in the other worksheet--my kiddos love these!
  

I wish:

• that the pre-assessment was on one page;
• that the p/a was easier to record results;
• that the p/a followed the same format throughout;
  
• that the p/a had more dialogue that parents--especially those who aren't teachers and aren't sure where the questions are going) can actually recite (What to do after showing child the sentence?);
• that the p/a set learners up for more success (What if he couldn't do anything at first? For kids who may not know their letters, how would they know how read words, spell words, and know opposites?);
• that the bingo game had letters to draw or letter cards to flip.

Gulp. I'm such a brat when it comes to assessing, learning, and reading. I so want to love this but I do think it can be better. I find my time with my children so valuable, that I want any directed learning to be worthwhile and fun. Let's see where tomorrow takes us! What do you think?

pbs takes us behind the scenes

I mentioned before that we had the amazing opportunity to visit PBS Headquarters in Virginia last week with some other DC Metro Moms, and I finally have a second to share what we learned.

First of all, let me say, it was awesome. It's not every day that you are greeted by Clifford the Big Red Dog when you walk in the door.

We actually sat down (yes, at a nice, big conference table with a catered lunch!) and chatted with the good people at PBS while our kiddos were cared for, fed, and entertained in the other room. Mine didn't want to leave and have been talking about the huuuuge juices they got to drink to anyone who would listen for the last few days.

Okay, here's the skinny from our meeting and just a few reasons why we should all totally heart PBS:

We sat down with Super WHY! Creator and Executive Producer, Angela Santomero and PBS's Senior Vice President of Children's Media, Lesli Rotenberg. We also got to meet a number of other super-cool people from PBS who have been so awesome about answering our many questions and follow-up emails...

We learned some incredibly interesting things about one of our favorite shows, Super WHY!. Here are some reasons we should chat this show up with our pals:

• Super WHY! is the only preschool property created to help children learn the fundamentals of reading through interactive storybook adventures.
  

• Super WHY! incorporates the literacy skills identified by the National Reading Panel Report as most crucial to learning to read in every episode: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

• The show's characters were specifically created with the NRP's recommendation: Alpha Pig has Alphabet Power and he focuses on letter identification; Wonder Red (the sporty gal) has Word Power and focuses on decoding; Princess Presto (Woo-hoo! Not another blue-eyed, blonde-haired princess!) has Spelling Power and deals with letter sounds, spelling, and handwriting; and Super WHY! has the power to bring all the skills together and read! (He makes reading look cool--because it is!)
  

• Two recent studies have proven that Super WHY! and its educational support materials has helped children, especially those from low-income families, learn core early literacy skills. No joke. Check the press release for yourself.
  

• The time, effort, and energy the team of writers and researchers puts into each episode of Super WHY! amazed me; they've got these rich characters (every kid can connect with one of them) who look to actual fairy tales or familiar stories to help solve their problem. And along the way, important early literacy skills are introduced, played with, and practiced by the characters and your kids.

• PBS has actually created 5-day camps that use Super WHY! episodes and supplemental resources to help kids tackle all of those principles that the NRP deems necessary for reading acquisition. Giant strides are made in those five days by these little learners. It's awesome. (See press release above for more info. . . )
  

• Many of the components of a strong classroom lesson are present in each show. Clear Objective? Check. Scaffolding? Check. Wait time? They've got it. Guided Practice? Yes. Repetition? Yep. I could go on and on. . .
  

But instead of going on and on, what I'll do this week is try the week-long curriculum that PBS provided to us so that we can try it out on our own kids. Here's a bit about the program. I'll share what I have here, and I'll let you know how it goes--what I like and what I think could be "tweaked". Pick and choose what you want to use, and share your ideas here--they'll go straight to PBS!

Maybe by the end of the week, maybe we'll all be Super Readers!!!

it's mother's day. . .

. . . so we spent the morning at Brookeside Gardens'
Butterfly Exhibit, Wings of Fancy.

(Thanks to a recommendation from my pal, Jessica,
who always knows the best things to do around our area!)

Cora's checking out the butterflies.

• Wings of Fancy: This was our first time but will certainly not be our last. It was a super-awesome, incredible, wonderful, amazing way of spending my Mother's Day morning.
  

Maddy has one on her finger! A butterfly tamer!

The kids got such a kick out of watching the butterflies eat.

We all couldn't help but smile when we walked into the Butterfly Exhibit--there were butterflies everywhere--on shoulders, in puddles, on plants, eating fruit, waiting on benches.

Lots of giggles, tons of sunshine, little rainbows everywhere.
What a gift!

we're reading. . .

Holy moly, we're on the road to reading--and it's nuts. I've been working with all levels of readers for so many years now, and finally I've got some emerging readers under my own roof. I love it. I've died and gone to heaven.

A few weeks ago--yikes, months ago now--I brought out some of the reading a-z books for Maddy and Owen to look through and read. I use these books for tutoring with my beginning readers, and I know that many schools belong to this site since it's literally an online book room.

Some of the reading a-z books we're using. . .

I was more bringing the books out because I was planning a session with a student, when--like the cobbler's son who runs shoeless--I realized that I should probably introduce some of these texts to Maddy at some point. And so I did:

• Leveled Readers: I introduced the books to her not in the way you'd want to if you were teaching a Guided Reading lesson; that's a whole other post, and my goal with my kids is not to overwhelm them, bore them, or cram learning down their throats.
  

I try to be sneaky about their everyday learning because I know they're kids and they'll have the next 13 years of their lives to be in school. . . but I do know that they're sponges right now, so I do try to capitalize on those few minutes each day when I can (okay. . . ) secretly cram them full of important stuff.

So, when I brought them up to her room one afternoon, I brought them up to read with her--not to use to teach her. She was, however, excited and giddy because she knew I used them for tutoring.

I took out a few aa - B levels (early emergent reading levels are readinga-z levels aa-C/ Fountas & Pinnell A-C/ Reading Recovery 1-4), and I did the same thing I do with any book I read with my kiddos: I looked at the picture on the cover, read the title, and talked about what I thought the book may be about.

Then I read the book. I pointed to the words as I read them, and by the time I was finished, Maddy grabbed the book from me and wanted to do it herself. (Hooray!)
Just like with the picture-word cards, I encouraged her to use the pictures on the page to help her figure out the words when she got stuck. She went crazy. I should have done this earlier, I realize now; she had a hold on so many books, I think that she surprised herself. (I know she surprised me!).

She read them over and over all day long to Owen and Cora, and that's what I hoped she'd do. In order to increase fluency and improve reading, teachers encourage students to read the same early reader books over and over and over. It's not a bad thing, really!

Early emergent books all have the same characteristics. At this level, look for books that have:

• strong picture support (big, easy, clear pictures)
  
• carefully controlled text (see below)
  
• repetitive patterns (I pick up my room. / I pick up my book. / I pick up my teddy bear. )
  
• controlled, repeated vocabulary (see above)
  
• natural language (sounds familiar to students)
  
• large print (helps keep focus on words)
  
• wide letter spacing (again, easier to decode)
  
• familiar concepts (high interest helps, too, like 'the zoo'/ 'school' / 'family' etc)
  
• limited text on a page (one line maximum at this point)
  

If you need them, check out these sites for some free, downloadable, leveled early readers:
- readinga-z : Free 30-day trial. Do it. You'll LOVE it.
- Mrs. Jones : Free printable books.
- Ebooks : Great one! Free printable books, levels 1-10. Recognized by the IRA, International Reading Association
- Hubbards Cupboard: Awesome site. Free word family books and so many other great resources.

And that's our bit of learning for the day.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!! Happy Mother's Day, Jenny! Love you, too!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmas reading this!

trying to keep smiling: quick trick, peas

More frozen what?

Peas.

That's right. Peas.

The 30-45 minutes before dinnertime can be a total nightmare for me, especially now that Cora is rarely napping and has always tried to "help" me during dinner prep.

I've tried many things to keep the animals at bay (watercolors, numerous games, having helpers, etc.), but I always lean on two things to bring on the calm after an afternoon of playing: a half an hour of Sesame Street (totally non-negotiable) and frozen peas.

Those teeny-tiny green droplets from Greenland are this week's Quick Trick:

• Frozen Peas: I can't remember where I read this, but I read it somewhere during the foggy time that surrounds Owen's birth and, then, okay. . . the next 3+ years.
  

The article suggested giving tiny, hungry, antsy, cranky before-dinner people a small amount of the petite frozen peas to curb their hunger, sneak in some veggies, and buy you some meal-prep time. It works like a charm for me and has for the last three years. Woo-hoo!

Granted, I've done some expansion and exploring in the pre-dinner foods I provide; if we don't have peas, the options are usually a few cut red, green, or yellow peppers or some carrots. Or whatever raw veggie I have on hand.

And that's it--no crackers, candy, milk, or cheese before dinner. Only veggies, and if they're hungry, they'll eat 'em.

picture and word sort

Yesterday was a super-busy and a totally out-of-the-ordinary day for us. We spent the day at PBS Headquarters in Virginia (seriously!) with some other cool DC Metro Moms, and I promise, promise, promise I'll share what we learned about the amazing things they've got going on over there after this weekend. I honestly cannot wait. . .

Today, though, we bridged between our usual rhyming sort and the word family sorts that we'll do once Maddy (and Owen, by default) begin to "own" a few more words.

Thanks to Bear's Words Their Way (2004), we did a picture-word sort with -an/-at families. It's so easy, and these sorts are a fantastic way of helping children begin to learn words and word family patterns.

• Picture-Word Sort: Just like our rhyming sorts, I named all of the pictures on the cards before we began. Then I chose one "anchor word" from each family and put them next to each other. We then sorted the pictures into two columns, one -at family and the other -an family. The anchor word is super-important because as you go through the other words, you should compare: Hmmmm, 'sat'. Does 'sat' rhyme with 'bat' or 'fan'? 'Sat', 'bat' or 'sat', 'fan'?
  

Next, I pulled out the word cards. The first time, I read a card then placed it next to its picture. By the third word I read, Maddy was itching to grab the pile from me and do it on her own. I let her, and with some work together, we matched up each word to its picture. Ideally, you should read each word and model how to match them up, then let the child try to do it on his own.

After we finished, we read each word and pointed to it as we went, and then we mixed them all up and Maddy and Owen tried it on their own (well, together). Very fun. They've already asked to do it again tonight before bed. . .

Since reading is the construction of meaning between the reader, the text, and the context, it is only appropriate that one part of learning to read would be to see a picture of the word next to the word itself. It is absolutely not, not, NOT "cheating" in any way for an emerging reader to use a picture to help figure out a word. That's why there are huge, clear pictures in every leveled book on the market.

Here are some places you can find free, downloadable picture/ word sorts: here is the best free site I've found, but there's also literacy connections and readwritethink that have some great, user-friendly sorts, or just email me and I'll send you what I have.

Three cheers to a little bit of learning--and reading--today!

color mixing, color carving

So funny how some days work out. With a dragging mom after a DC Metro Moms night out, and with three runny-nosed kids and another rainy day, we brightened our afternoon with rainbow paints, mixed-up colors, and color carving.

Here's the interesting progression:

• Rainbow Paints: Maddy wanted to do some watercolors, but since we were out of them, we tried an amazing bunch of new Crayola paints. These are the 6-Count Washable Kids' Paint, and, like all of the Crayola products we know and love, they really are safe for kids and really are washable. Woo-hoo!
  

I covered the table with newspaper, smocked the kids, and put a blob of each color on a paper plate for Maddy, Owen, and Cora. Then they got to work. They just painted. And experimented. And added water, then changed brushes. Then added more water and tried a new brush. They made globs and blobs. And lines and spots. Happy faces and triangles. And then we mixed colors.

• Color Mixing: We tried our hand at mixing colors once Maddy finished all of her orange and I asked her to use the colors on her 'palate' to make more orange on her own. We talked about which two colors together might make orange, and her guess was correct--yellow and red.

I showed her how to take a bit of each to make orange, then she did it on her own. And so our mixing extravaganza began. We mixed blue and yellow to make green, then red and blue to make purple. These paints totally rock for mixing and blending, the colors are so true. Owen got in the mix. And then Cora tried her hand at it, and we were a mixing bunch of fools. Everyone's paper plate palate was a big, thick, mass of color. So we started carving.

• Color Carving: I grabbed some Popsicle sticks, and I showed the kids how to use them to carve out pictures on their plates. I wrote "Owen" on his plate, then he tried. He made circles and wrote his name. Maddy wrote her name and then made hearts and zig-zags, and Cora made tiny dots on hers. We took turns drawing pictures and guessing what they were, writing letters and numbers and funny faces.
  

And then Cora dumped her water on her plate, Owen thought it was funny and dumped his on his plate, and I called "clean-up!" before our kitchen was afloat in paint and wet newspaper.

Thank goodness everything was washable. . . and thank goodness for a little bit of learning and some runny rainbow paint on another rainy Tuesday.