Playing in Puddles

Today we played in puddles. When it snows, we play with snow, when it rains, we play in puddles. I remember doing this as a child and I think children do not get enough opportunities to do these things in today's fast paced world. We took out orange cones and blocked off part of the parking lot that had puddles from the mornings rain showers. The children took off their shoes and rolled up their pant legs. We talked about being safe (Paws Laws) and staying inside the area marked by the cones. We worked on skills such as jumping with two feet, following the leader, balancing on one foot, running, galloping and skipping. We also worked on expanding our vocabulary by describing how the sidewalk and parking lot felt on our bare feet (smooth, rough, bumpy, warm, cold). We talked about how the water felt (wet, cold, warm) on our feet. We talked about making splashes, ripples and footprints. This is an example of learning through play. Many cognitive, social, physical and language skills were explored and practiced during this play activity. Children learn best through play. They stay engaged longer, remember the skills better and expand on the activity independently far better than when they are just drilling skills or working on worksheets or flashcards. We hope these pictures help to give you a glimpse into the fun and learning we experienced today.

Getting ready to go play in the puddles.

Feet, prepare to get wet.

Footprints and Shadows

Ask open-ended questions like, "where does the rain come from?" and "where does it go?".  This encourages your child to use new vocabulary words, use more complex sentences and think and reason when answering your questions.  Open-ended questions are questions that cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no" response.



Ready, Set, Go!




Following the Leader



Friendships are often formed during the quiet times of discovery and exploration.

Puddles aren't just for your feet, sometimes you need to use your hands to really explore the world around you.

Poetry in Motion

Blast Off!

One of my favorite pictures of the day.  The purposeful stride of the child walks as he walks through the puddle exploring the world around him, the shimmer and shine of the sun on the water and the tree reflected in the puddle.  A child's world is truly a remarkable place isn't it?



Ripples in the water.  Ripples was one of the new words we learned today.  When you jump into the water circles will form around you.  It was neat to watch.



SPLISH, SPLASH.  These were fun words to use today.

Jumping Jelly Beans!

Today we painted with jumping wind up Jelly Beans and Easter Eggs.  The children focused on fine motor skills, taking turns, mixing colors, color identification and vocabulary expansion.  They had so much fun watching the Jelly Beans jump across the paper!  They were able to explore the what happened when the Jelly Beans jumped through thin paint and thick paint.  They also made circle prints with plastic eggs and used fine paint brushes to paint with the remaining paint.  Enjoy watching the video!

A very important video. Please share with others.

Take a moment to watch this short video and share it with other people who need to understand the importance of high quality early childhood education.  Thank you all for supporting your children, the teachers and United Services during Week of the Young Child and every other day your child walks through the doors!  We love you and appreciate all you do, here and at home.

Week of the Young Child - Family Night Part One

Who Are These Masked Marvels?

Tonight the Super Families of Room 411 AM class came to celebrate Week of the Young Child.

 Everyone worked together to create each child's Super Kid Super Hero cape, mask and other accessories.

The parents worked with their children using their imaginations to use the materials to create costumes that reflected each child's unique personality.  Each family really enjoyed the Process and they were not focused on the Product, truly showing their understanding of the importance of play.

The grown-ups had to use the hot glue gun, and the Dad's showed great talent in this area!

This cape is getting it's emblem added.

This mom has to handle the grown up scissors.  She is cutting a bed sheet to make the cape.  Making dress up and pretend play clothes does not have to be expensive, you just have to use a little imagination and use items around the house.

This dad is making sure his Super Kid can see through the mask.

This child wanted to be a princess Super Kid and he mom and dad helped her create super jewelry to go with her costume.  It is important to follow the child's lead so the learning can become important and relevant.  These parents did a great job supporting their child's understanding of what made her a Super Kid!

This dad is helping his Super Kid adjust his mask and get his cuff adjusted "just right" before his little hero takes off for flight.

This mom is helping her daughter use feathers to create super jewelry to go with her new cape.

This dad is helping his daughter make her design for her cape become a reality by gluing her ribbon on for her so it doesn't fall off during flight.

We will post more pictures and updates on Week of the Young Child during the week and next week.  We want to thank all of the AM parents who came tonight and supported their Super Kid this week.  We had a great time with you!  We look forward to seeing our PM Super Families on Wednesday night.

Eagle Hatching

Here is a wonderful video of the first 24 hours of the eagles hatching.  This has become a phenomenon and many people are watching the wonder of these new lives.  This is a great introduction to birds and hatching.  We will be getting our eggs for our chick hatching project on April 26th, 2011.  This would be a great video to watch with your child at home before the eggs arrive.  We will be checking in on the live feed during the day at school.  I provided that link in this weeks newsletter.  I will attach the link to the title of this post so you and your child can check in on the eagles at home.

Decorah Eagles

Total views: 25,617,946 The Raptor Resource Project brings you the Decorah Eagles from atop their tree at the fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa.

The live video feed is streamed online 24/7. At night an infrared light provides night vision to viewers through the cam. Infrared light is not visible to eagles, they do not see it or know it is there.

First hatch 4/2/11.
24-hour collage of first egg pip and hatch
Second hatch 4/3/11.
First glimpse of second hatchling
Third hatch 4/6/11.
Close-ups of the third hatch

Why you must read, and read often to your children

• Download and Print
• Go to Kids & Family Reading Report |

• STUDENT READING ACHIEVEMENT FACTS
• WHAT HAPPENS IF KIDS DON'T LEARN TO READ AND READ WELL
• WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KIDS WHO CANNOT READ BECOME ADULTS WHO CANNOT READ
• WHAT A DIFFERENCE READING MAKES
• WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE GLOBE

To download the PDF version, click here

STUDENT READING ACHIEVEMENT FACTS:

• Only one-third of all students entering high school are proficient in reading -- only about 15 percent of African American students, and 17 percent of Hispanic students. (NAEP Reading_2009)
• Two thirds of eighth graders do not read at the "proficient" level. (NAEP Reading_2009)
• There is a significant economic reading gap for students: only 16 percent of students eligible for "free or reduced lunch" programs are proficient in reading, compared to 42 percent who are not eligible. (NAEP Reading_2009)
• Boys lag behind girls in reading proficiency in all 50 states -- in some states by as many as 10 percentage points. (Center for Education Policy)
• Between 1971 and 2004, the NAEP scores of 12th-graders showed no improvement. Further, the 2005 scores of 12th-graders were generally lower than their counterparts in 1992. (Alliance for Excellent Education)
• Only 31 percent of college graduates have high level literacy skills. (2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, cited by The New York Times)
• 47% of students who took the ACTs in 2009 did not meet the ACT College Readiness for the Reading section of the ACT Benchmark. (the ACT)
• A study conducted in 2005 revealed that 33% of non-college students and 29% of college students who participated in the study felt inadequately prepared for reading and understanding complicated materials. (Achieve, Inc.)
• In a 2005 study, 70% of 300 surveyed college instructors felt that students were unprepared to understand college level reading and comprehending complex materials. (Achieve, Inc.)
• The 2009 SAT results revealed that students who had four or more years of English and Language Arts study scored over 100 points more in Critical Reading, Writing and Mathematics sections than students who had one year or less training. (The CollegeBoard)
• In 2008, California reported that only one-third of students who graduated from California public schools were prepared to go to a 4-year college. (The Center for Future of Teaching and Learning)
• Reading frequency declines after age eight – and boys are more likely to be low frequency readers than girls. (2008 Kids & Family Reading Report)
• Parents are key reading role models. High frequency reading parents are six times more likely to have high frequency reading kids. (2008 Kids & Family Reading Report)

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WHAT HAPPENS IF KIDS DON'T LEARN TO READ AND READ WELL:

• The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (2001) reports that 82 percent of prison inmates are high school dropouts, and a very high proportion of them cannot read. (Adolescent Literacy: A National Reading Crisis)
• More than one third of all juvenile offenders read below the fourth-grade level. (Adolescent Literacy: A National Reading Crisis)
• Every school day in America, 3,000 students drop out -- the majority of them are poor readers. Students with below grade level reading skills are twice as likely to drop out of school as those who can read on or above grade level. (Adolescent Literacy: A National Reading Crisis)
• About one-third of all first-year college students took a remedial course in reading or math in 2007-2008. Students taking remedial reading classes in college had only a 17 percent chance of graduating, according to 2004 DOE data. (Alliance for Excellent Education)
• Forecasts that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. Employers will need 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees -- and the report shows that we will fall short by three million workers without a dramatic change in course. This translates into a deficit of 300,000 college graduates every year between now and 2018. (Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce)
• Forecasters have predicted that if static literacy levels continue, then by 2030 the entire Literacy Level distribution of the U.S. population will have decreased, creating an American workforce that is unequipped and unskilled to work in the demanding global market. (Educational Testing Service)
• In 2008, the California State University System, the largest university system in the country, recorded that more than 60% of its incoming freshmen student's required remedial coursework in English. (The Center for Future of Teaching and Learning.)
• It was estimated that a single state's employers will have to pay almost $40 million a year to provide remedial training in reading, writing, and mathematics to its employees if the current trends in secondary school preparation continue. (Achieve, Inc. 2004)
• The United States placed 16th out of 21 OECD (Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development) countries surveyed for high school graduation rates. (Educational Testing Service 2007)

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KIDS WHO CANNOT READ BECOME ADULTS WHO CANNOT READ

• Among adults at the lowest level of literacy proficiency, 43% live in poverty. Among adults with strong literacy skills, only 4% live in poverty. (First Book)
• Low literacy costs $73 billion per year in terms of direct health care costs. This is equal to the amount Medicare pays for physician services, dental services, home health care, drugs, and nursing home care combined. (The National Center for Family Literacy)
• One in every 100 U.S. adults 16 and older is in prison or jail in America (about 2.3 million in 2006). About 43 percent do not have a high school diploma or equivalent and 56 percent have very low literacy skills. (The National Center for Family Literacy)
• If the male graduation rate were increased by only 5 percent, the nation would see an annual savings of $4.9 billion in crime-related costs. (Alliance for Excellent Education)
• The average annual income for a high school dropout in 2005 was $17,299, compared to $26,933 for a high school graduate, a difference of $9,634. (Alliance for Excellent Education)
• If the students who dropped out of the Class of 2009 had graduated, the nation's economy would have benefited from nearly $335 billion in additional income over the course of their lifetimes. (Alliance for Excellent Education)
• Unless major efforts are made to improve education attainment of US citizens, personal income will decline over the next 15 years -- by 2022. (Educational Testing Service)
• There is a distinct correlation between the Literacy Levels (1-5, 5 being the highest literacy level) and participation in the workforce. While only 49% of Level 1 adults report being active in the workforce, in comparison 77% of adults in Level 3 and 91% of adults in Level 5 are participating in the workforce. (2005) (Educational Testing Service)
• It is suggested that adults that place amongst the lower literacy levels are not only less-skilled for the changing employment environment, but are given less opportunities to engage in programs to acquire requisite skills and job training. (Educational Testing Service)

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WHAT A DIFFERENCE READING MAKES

• Children who grow up in homes where books are plentiful go further in school than those who don't. Children with low-education families can do as well as children with high-education families if they have access to books at home. (Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations 2010)
• When children are provided with 10 to 20 self-selected children's books at the end of the regular school year, as many as 50 percent not only maintain their skills, but actually make reading gains. (Bridging the Summer Reading Gap, by Anne McGill-Franzen and Richard Allington)
• Children living in poverty, on the whole, have a greater summer learning loss than do children from affluent families, and those students living in poverty who did have gains over the summer, had smaller gains than their peers whose families had higher incomes. (McGill-Franzen and Allington)
• Ensuring that books are available to any child at any time of the year will be a good first step in enhancing the reading achievement of low-income students and an absolutely necessary step in closing the reading achievement gap. (Ameliorating summer reading setback among economically disadvantaged elementary students, Richard Allington, April 2007)
• Students who read widely and frequently are higher achievers than students who read rarely and narrowly. (Scholastic: Classroom Libraries Work!)
• Children learn an average of 4,000 to 12,000 new words each year as a result of book reading. (Scholastic: Classroom Libraries Work!)
• Research has found a relation between the amount of time that children read for fun on their own and reading achievement. (Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts)
• Children in classrooms without literature collections read 50% less than children in classrooms with such collections. (International Reading Association)
• Studies have proven that increased family engagement in educational programs is linked with increases in child reading achievement and other academic successes (such as high school graduation rates.) (Pre-K Now)

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WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE GLOBE

• In 2006, UNESCO reported that there are still 132 million young people worldwide that are unable to communicate in a written language. (UNESCO)
• According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, there is an estimated 774 million illiterate adults in the world, in which 64% are women. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
• From 2001 to 2006, 8 countries have recorded an increase in their average reading literacy scores, 6 reported decreases. And the U.S. and other remaining countries reported no change. (National Center for Education Statistics)
• Around the world, 775 million adults are illiterate. (UNESCO)

Wonderopolis

Wonderopolis This is a great site for parents to help support literacy for children. I highly recommend you visit and watch the video (the link is in blue below). I am going to set up the Summer page on this site soon and the Kindergarten Readiness page as well. I think this would be a great web link for both. Enjoy! http://vimeo.com/15991227