Book Review: Leaves

Title: Leaves

Author: David Ezra Stein

Illustrator: David Ezra Stein

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, July 29, 2010 (board book edition)

Age: 2 - 4

Topic: Changing Seasons, Fall, Autumn, Leaves, Bear

Opening: It was his first year.

Book Summary: The story follows a very young bear who experiences his first autumn. All is going well until the first leaf falls. Then soon, all the leaves begin to fall on his quiet island. At first he is confused and tries to put them back but soon he gives up and sadly watches all the leaves drop. He gathers up all the leaves and uses them to make a soft bed for a very long winter nap. When he awakes, he finds a wonderful surprise waiting for him.

Resources:
Autumn is a great time to be out and about in nature. Go for walks and allow your child/ren to explore and observe the changes happening all around them. Why do leaves turn colors? Find our here as well as find science projects for children to do. What makes them fall? A very simple answer can be found here: )

Some other activities can include: at the beginning of autumn when there are still a few ‘green’ leaves, have children create leaf collages. Collect the leaves of various trees. In some regions, there are trees that do not fall, learn about these trees. Got lots of energy, jump into a leaf pile.

Find lots of leafy activities and crafts here.

Why I Like This Book:
I love the author’s simple text, warm illustrations as he allows young bear, and young readers, to explore the beauty and changes of autumn. He shows the mix feelings that the young bear feels as he experiences autumn for the first time. But by the end of the book, children learn the nature of the seasons; that the leaves do come back in the spring. This is a great book to use to enhance a lesson plan on Fall/Autumn. Granted only three of the four seasons are shown in this book, it still opens up for a lot of discussions for the teacher to have with students.

Book Review: Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin

Title: Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin

Author: Tad Hills

Illustrator: Tad Hills

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books, July 28, 2009 (Oversized Board Book Edition)

Age: 1 - 4

Topic: Pumpkins, Animals, Nature, Seasons, Friendship, Directional Prepositions

Opening: Nice pumpkin, Thistle.

Book Summary: Duck and Goose see that Thistle has a really nice plump pumpkin. They want a pumpkin too. So they search together looking through fallen leaves, a downed log, a pond and a tree stump. But they can’t seem to find a pumpkin until Thistle suggests a great spot to find one.

Resources:
Nature walks. For learning about preposition, send your child/ren on a hunt using the prepositions in the book: on, in, up, under. Learn about other fall foliage including those shown in the illustrations, apples, acorns, leaves and more. And then there is always Pinterest for great ideas.

Why I Like This Book:
Short and Sweet. Amazing illustrations rendered in oil paint. Aside from the fact that I just love Duck & Goose as much as my toddler class does, the author beautifully captures autumn in this book as the adorable friends search for their pumpkin. Children will see colorful fallen leaves, apples, and an acorn as well as pumpkins. This book is great to add to a fall themed lesson plan. It can also be used for introducing prepositions to young children. I also love the potential of interactivity with the book. As I read the book to my group of 15 – 20 month old toddlers, I didn’t really have to prompt them to answer along with duck & goose. When the time came, they would all say, “No,” shaking their heads as I read it. J It is an often requested book to read a circle time (yes, my one year old classroom has circle time that we actually can get through an entire book! J )

Book Review: A Book of Sleep

Title: A Book of Sleep

Author: Il Sung Na

Illustrator: Il Sung Na

Publisher: Knopf  Books for Young Readers, January 11, 2011

Age: 1 - 3

Topic: Animals, Sleep

Opening:

When the sky grows dark
and the moon glows bright,
everyone goes to sleep . . .
except for the watchful owl!

Summary: Join owl on a moonlit journey as he watches all the other animals settle in for the night.

Resources:
Animal recognition: point at all the animals and name them. Talk about the sleeping style of each animal.
My Thoughts: A sweet bedtime story that children will love to read over and over again. I love that owl appears on each page as he watches over all the sleeping animals. With wonderful illustrations and spare text, children learn how various animals sleep, including owl.

Book Review: The Mitten

Title: The Mitten

Author: Jan Brett (adapted)

Illustrator: Jan Brett

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, October 4, 1996

Age: 1-3

Topic: Seasons: Winter, Woodland Animals, Sharing

Opening: Once there was a boy named Nikki. He wanted mittens as white as snow.

Summary:
When Nicki drops his new white mitten in the snow, some curious woodland animals find it and crawl in for warmth. First comes a mole, then a rabbit, a badger and others, each one larger than the last.

Resources:
These animal masks would be great for a play reenacting The Mitten story. For this art activity, cut out the mittens and the animals and let them crawl in just like the animals in the story. Teach story sequencing using sequence cards from Creating & Teaching's blog. Homeschool Creations has lots of printables to use with the story. With my one-year olds, they glued yarn on an oversized poster board cutout of the white mitten

Why I like this book:
In this lovely illustrated story, a lonely white mitten becomes a cozy winter resting place for a variety of woodland creatures. It starts off with a small rabbit, and as more creatures appear, the larger they get until a bear squeezes in with the other critters. But when a tiny mouse tries to make his way in, the creatures get a big surprise! I love this edition because of it's brevity yet beautiful illustrations. The toddlers in my classroom love to look at it and listen to the story.

Book Review: Global Babies

Title: Global Babies

Author: The Global Fund for Children

Illustrator: Photography

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing; February 10, 2006

Theme: Multiculturalism, People & Places, Geography, Baby Faces

Age: 0 - 2

Summary: Appealing photos of babies from seventeen cultures around the globe are woven together by simple narration. Global Babies presents children in cultural context. Diverse settings highlight specific differences in clothing, daily life, and traditions, as well as demonstrate that babies around the world are nurtured by the love, caring, and joy that surround them.

Resources:
Ideas: Dress up clothes from a variety of countries. Music from variety of cultures. Ethnic food tasting. Multicultural coloring pages. Find the different featured countries on a map or globe.

Why I like this book:
Short and sweet, straight to the point, just the way toddlers like it. No matter who you are or where you are from, babies everywhere are loved! :D The photos are absolutely beautiful. I read this book to my toddler classroom all the time and they love it. It is great for observing and describing what they are looking at. I also keep a copy in their classroom library so that they can get it any time they want to look through the book. The photos are colorful and grabs their attention. A great book to have at home and school to introduce and promote diversity.

To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Books.  Or click on the Perfect Picture Book Fridays  badge in the right sidebar.

Art: Hand Print Wreaths

Sorry about the angle but this here is a fun art project we did in the class with the children to send home for the holidays. The parents loved it. This one is actually missing the fun stickers the children got to pick out and place on their wreaths. It was fun to watch them stare at the sticker cards as they decided on the sticker they wanted. I let the older toddlers try their hand/fingers at removing the stickers as well. It is a great way to develop those fine motor skills though they were just happy to have the stickers. :)

Book Review: Quiet in the Garden

Title: Quiet in the Garden

Author: Aliki

Illustrator: Aliki

Publisher: Green Willow Books: Feb 3, 2009

Suitable for: 4 – 8 years

Topics: Gardens, Animals, Food

Opening: I love to go into the garden.
I sit quietly.
I see flowers and plants.
It makes me feel peaceful.
If I am very still,
I see birds, insects,
and creatures I had
not noticed before.
I can even hear them!

Book Summary: Sitting quietly in his garden, a little boy observes the eating habits of birds, butterflies, bugs, and other small animals.

Links to resources:

The book includes instructions on how to make your own garden and detailed illustrations of plants typically found in a garden

Classroom Activities from the publisher.

Garden Activities for Children 

Garden coloring pages 

Garden Critters coloring page 

Why I like this book:

Quiet in the Garden takes children on a journey through a garden. They learn about the animals that live in our gardens. It starts off with a little boy sitting quietly in his garden enjoying the peace until he realizes the garden is alive and busy. Turns out, the garden is not so quiet after all with all the munching and conversations of the different animals. In the end, the little boy has a picnic with all his garden friends. Quiet in the Garden encourages children to safely explore nature, respecting the animals that live in nature. Children will notice that the little boy does not disturb or interfere with the animals as he watches them, quietly.

To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Books. Or click on the Perfect Picture Book Fridays badge in the right sidebar.

Book Review: Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres

Title: Up, Down, and Around


Author: Katherine Ayres


Illustrator: Nadine Bernard Westcott


Publisher: Candlewick; March 13, 2007


Age: 2 and up (But my one year olds love it!)


Topic: Vegetables, Opoposites, Healthy Foods, Gardening


Opening:
In the dirt we'll dig a row, drop some seeds and watch them grow.


Summary:
From seeds dropped into soil to corn bursting from its stalks, everything in this garden is on the move! Join in this rollicking good-time celebration of gardening.


Resources:
Teacher guide for the book. One Book has a very extensive activity guide for a variety of age levels.
Kid's Wings has some fun activities and web extensions to go with the book.

Why I like this book:
A cute book that shows a garden come to life as children learn about a variety of vegetables, some of which grow above the ground, some underground and others still that grow around and around! Children are taken from the very beginning of planting seeds then watching as the plants grown to the finale, a fun picnic in the garden featuring the vegetables in the book. My toddler classroom really enjoys the book. It helps that I have the BIG book edition where they can see the wonderful details of the plants and bugs :)

Book Review: I Love My Mommy Because......... Laurel Porter-Gaylord

Title: I Love My Mommy Because...
Author: Laurel Porter - Gaylord
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile, March 30, 2004
Ages: 1 +
Opening:

I love my mommy because she reads me stories.

Book Description:
In this book young children learn to appreciate how phrases and actions from their own experiences also apply to animal babies. This book begins with an affectionate scene between a human mother and child, but moves on to care giving in animal families. "She listens when I talk" shows a mother cat and her mewing kitten.

My Review:
This is such an adorable book. My toddler classroom love this book as well. As we go through the pages, we name the different animals and what they are doing in the pages. The illustrations are just wonderful and captivating. My toddler students often like to gaze at the different creatures in the book. The sturdy pages has allowed the book to survive at least three transitions of new toddlers in my room :) 

*****
Five Stars!!!!!!

Book Review: The Big Red Barn Margaret Wise Brown

Title: The Big Red Barn
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Publisher: HarperFestival, January 6, 1995
Ages: 1 +
Opening:
By the big red barn
In the great green field,
There was a pink pig
Who was learning to squeal.
Book Description: Follow a family of farm animals as they spend a typical day on their farm.

My Review:  
This is another classroom favorite. It is usually one of the first books the children reach for when we sit down for circle or one on one bonding time with the children. I often find the children off on their own flipping through the pages looking at the pictures of the animals. The Big Red Barn is fun to read because of the rhyming. It has quite a few words for a board book in a young toddler classroom but it flows so smoothly and the illustrations keep them captivated as listen to the story. This book is great for learning about farm animals and animals sounds.

*****
Five Stars!!!

Book Review: In My Flower Sara Gillingham

Title: In My Flower

Publisher: Chronicle Books; Board book edition (December 30, 2009)

Book Description: Turn the colorful die-cut pages of this irresistible board book to discover just what makes little butterfly's flower so cozy. Bright pictures, sweet reassuring messages, unique layered pages, and an adorable finger puppet combine to create interactive reading and playtime fun!

My Review:Show More

Show Less

 My toddlers love this book especially when I stick my fingers in the butterfly puppet and make it fly. This book was added to our spring curriculum as we talked about flowers and things associated with flowers. The last page reinforces family as the butterfly is seen with her family. The thick pages are great for young hands just learning how to turn pages (and teething). It is colorful and simple to read, which is great because it will quickly become a favorite and you will have to read it over and over and over again! :D

*****

Five Stars!!!!

Science: Watching Daffodils Bloom

A part of the spring curriculum, I brought in some daffodil stalks for the children to explore and observe bloom. Over the course of a few days the stalks blossomed. Every day, I would point out the different stages of the daffodils and the children learned how to touch them gently as they bloomed.

Daffodil stalks on our observation table

I kept the flowers down low but still out of reach of the children for observation purposes and safety. Through out the day they were given plenty opportunities to help with changing the water and handling the daffodils.

Daffodils in full bloom along with some daisies that were added to the observation table



Spring is Here

Yes, it is finally here! This week we are learning about spring through gardening. We watched daffodils bloom, planted Zinnias and watched them sprout. I filled the classroom with silk flowers for the children to play with. We went on a nature walk/ stroller ride and looked at the blossoms and buds on the trees. And we have lots of art to show for all the fun we had. Still to come is creating our own bottle green house :D I love spring!

Science: Observing Craisins in Water

Results after half an hour

Young toddlers are natural little scientist. They love to observe and watch how different things act and react. Today we watched how craisins behaved in water. We filled three bottles with water. In one bottle we added salt. In another we added sugar and the last one we added baking soda. The children observed what the craisins did in each bottle.

After about an hour or more, the baking soda caused the craisins to darken and rise to the top of the bottles.

The sugar did not do much after an hour, but at the end of the day, the water had turned reddish in color and the craisins looked redder also.

At the end of the day, many of the craisins had floated to the top of the bottle with salt. Not much color change.

The next day, all the craisins had expanded and floated to the top of the bottles except for the bottle with baking soda, they all sank back down to the bottom of the bottle.

Are you a child of the library?

Are you a child of the library? I was practically raised in the library. It was literally my second home. I was there so much, the head librarian use to let me check in/out books for other patrons. I was officially an unofficial assistant librarian (since I was too young to be one officially :D) Please enjoy this song and the message it gives shares. It certainly brought up some wonderful memories of my own childhood library days!

Keep libraries open!! Support your local library.

Half Teacher, Half Superhero

Today I came to a stark conclusion, a conclusion of realization and understanding. That I can not love and properly care for children if I do not love and properly care for myself. What can I possibly do for the growing and learning minds and bodies of these aspiring young toddlers; what use am I as a teacher if I am hacking, coughing and physically too tired and weak to do much more than cover my coughs to protect them from my germs? When my throat is too sore to speak, sing or laugh with them?

I now realize that my first and foremost duty to them is to provide a safe and clean environment for them that is conducive for their learning and growing experience. Their health and safety comes first. As any parent or childcare giver knows, runny noses and colds are a pretty normal occurrence in a childcare setting. Teachers and children get sick all the time. And for the most part, we teachers continue to come in and provide care and educational growth and development for the children in our care despite how bad we feel or the tickle in our throats. We smile, hug and push on. I am strong-willed, dedicated and passionate about my job and role as an early childhood teacher and caregiver, but I have my limits as well. It finally hit me, to give 110% of my all to a profession and career that I think is the most rewarding of all, I have to have 110% to give.

I guess even super heros need a break to recharge and regain their strength. With this realization, I lie in my bed on this early Monday morning with my box of tissues, cough medicines, lozenges and hot teas trying my best to get better, get healthier and get wiser.

Make your own water colors!!

This was a really fun science/art project we did in my class. (Sorry I don't have any class photos to go with it :( ) But here is what we did. My kids love to paint but like all things, it somehow always ends up in their mouths. So I decided we'd make our own water colors and they would get to help!

Here is what you need:

A variety of berries: Blackberries, raspberries, etc
wide bowl
large metal strainer
small cup (for smashing the berries)
paint smock


Note* room temperature berries are a lot easier to mash and produce more juice.

1. place the large metal strainer over a cup

2. put a berry in the strainer and smash it.

3. Continue until you have enough juice to paint with.

4. Have fun painting!! (and tasting)

My little ones really enjoyed the making of the berry water colors. I had a about seven children doing the activity. As you know, at one, patience is hardly one of their stronger characteristics! But they managed. One activity I added to the process was letting them play with some of the berries as they waited their turn. ;) which worked out really well. When it came to the painting part, we used construction paper and paint brushes like normal and the kids went to town on their paintings. A few preferred sucking on the paint brushes! Even though we used a totally edible material, I still reminded them to "paint on the paper" as I want them to get used to not putting art materials in their mouths.

A gift from the heart of a child......

This picture was drawn and gifted to me by one of my previous toddler students who is now four. That's me in the long black dress and scarf :D It is so cute just how observant kids are. I usually wear black as it is easy to clean (and hide messy toddler love and stains :D) and that is him in the corner :D It is such a cute picture!

5 Things....

Five Things I Learned This Week......

It is funny how some work weeks are great. Nothing goes wrong and I seem like everything I set out to do is accomplished with great results. But then there are those weeks that are horrible, everything that possibly can go wrong does. The week seems to drag on and on. Then when it finally arrives, the weekend, it is spent in seclusion, away from noise, colds and viruses, stress, demands, expectations, and yes, even rules and policies. Well, usually if I have a really tough work week, I spend Saturday in complete rest! I am usually too tired to even write!

This was one of those weeks, long and exhausting. But, it was also been fun, filled with sweet moments and loads of learning. While a few of our children were out on vacation this week, it seemed like the rest of the class felt it necessary to kick it up a notch to keep the crazy teacher/energetic toddler equilibrium in the classroom. It felt like everyone was sick, kids and teachers alike. Everyday more than five teachers were out stretching the staff really then, some days we lost planning time or had to combine our classrooms so that one of us could be sent to another classroom. Thursday was staff meeting, which means a very long day! The end of the week brought on transitions for two of my little ones who will be moving up. It is going to be a rough transition for at least one of them who happens to be really attached. She had a complete meltdown when I had to leave her in her new classroom. :( Talk about heart-wrenching, I had to leave quickly before showing my own sadness. But I was very grateful when her teacher came back to my room to tell me she was doing okay and had settled down after a while. She was so nice to put my heart at ease. When they came back to my class after spending a couple of hours, my poor little one was so confused. She looked like she was on the verge of tears again as she looked at me, so betrayed for leaving her there. I smiled and welcomed her back with a big hug and soon her she was smiling and happy again as well. It is so fun to take walks around the shopping center with 8 toddlers in tow. This week due to low numbers and GREAT weather, we got two days of fun nature walks. We got so many pleasant smiles and hellos from people passing by. They got a kick out of seeing our four child strollers. One little boy mention how our stroller was bigger than his (two-seater stroller :D) While it is always nice to see a new face at work, it is not so nice to see a bunch of seasoned teachers leave after years of working together. A total of four teachers (that I know of) are leaving the center. Now comes the long process of trying to find replacements and the constant influx of strangers in the classroom, at a time when I will also have to deal with new children in my classroom.

So this post is dedicated to five things that I took away from this week' life lessons.

I learned how to let go: change is one of life's many lessons and almost always good. Without change, there can be no growth and development. Life will go on, even if I am not directly involved.

I learned to not let stress take over me: I like to be self-reliant, I like for everyone to know I can do my job @ 115% even when I am not feeling my best. It is okay to say, "I need help." It is okay not to be perfect in a demanding profession.

I learned that my body needs a break every now and then: I can not be an efficient teacher/caregiver if I do not take care of your body. Leave all work at work, use my breaks and lunch breaks to rest, relax, and recuperate!

I learned a smile can go a long way: the best smile is one that is given to brighten someone else's day. A generous smile almost always returns to brighten my day.

I also learned to appreciate everything, especially those around me, from friends to family, co-workers to the stranger on the street: Fresh air is so important to the body and mind. I need to spend more time outside exercising my body and mind. This weekend I relaxed in the company of family and good friends. It is also amazing how healthy (albeit yummy) food, movies and lots of laughs while resting comfy on a couch does a body good. :)

In The News:Bright Horizons 2011 Award Ceremony!

This week has been totally awesome. It's teacher appreciation week at my center and the parents have been WONDERFUL to all of us teachers!!! They showered us with food, love, gifts, flowers, and kind, encouraging words. But most of all, I love this week because they nominated my co-teacher and I for awards for the Bright Horizons annual award ceremony. I received the Family Partnership Award.

The Family Partnership Award honors individuals who best demonstrate our philosophy regarding the importance of anticipating and responding to the needs of working families and ensuring their satisfaction. These individuals consistently meet the needs of children and families whom they serve, are open-minded, and build trusting relationships with families by respecting their needs, values, and differences.

I was so shocked when I heard my name called and touched that the families of my classroom saw me deserving of it. :) My co-teacher got the Rising Star award, and she is definitely a star in my eyes! It was an unexpected surprise that floored us both! :) This has been a great week!