A coloring book for the chefs

http://www.potatogoodness.com/Content/pdf/Potato-coloring-book-10-14.pdf

Enjoy the free download and celebrate potatoes!

Summer Activities

Well, we have waited for it all year long and it is finally here!

Summer

I have such happy memories of summer.  Long days of sun and fun, camp, swimming, playing softball in the street, ice cream,beach adventures, theme parks, running in and out of the house all day long, and just enjoying the feeling of freedom.

Do you remember that feeling?  How do we allow our children to have that freedom?  It's a different world.  Children always do well when they are in a consistent routine, how do we promote a feeling of freedom and independence while providing the framework of a routine?


In the summer it is a good idea to change the routine.  Many of us still have to go to work so we need to get the children to camp or another supervised activity.  You can still relax the "school" routine a bit.


One thing that makes summer memorable is the sun, it stays up later than any other time in the year.  Find an outdoor activity to do after dinner.  Swimming, walks through the neighborhood, kickball in the street (if you live in a neighborhood where this is possible), bike riding are all active and fun.  This is the perfect family memory to create.


The summer is also the perfect time to take a trip to the local library.  Allowing your child to choose books to read and have read to him is a powerful step to independence.  Borrowing books from the library teaches us to be responsible.  Gettting the books returned on time, taking care of them, and keeping track of them are all valuable lessons.  The library has something for everyone.  It is a great "rainy day" activity.  It promotes reading and listening skills.  I love the idea of introducing the public library to your children.


Give your child a budget.  If your child earns an allowance for chores or responsibilities (pet care, room cleaning, laundry, kitchen chores etc.) summer is a great time to teach how to plan a budget and how to save for "big ticket" items.  Giving your child a notebook to record income and add it up will help your child with math skills and with seeing their finances grow.  Teach them how to subtract their expenses.  I like the idea of having 3 jars so children can actually see the money.  One jar is marked SAVING, one is marked SPENDING and one is marked DONATIONS.  The money is then divided into the jars, but some must go into each jar.  Children can choose a charity in which they have an interest, such as animal rescue, homeless children or feeding the hungry, and make a donation when they have accumulated money in the donation jar.




Children will always enjoy summer, it is a time for growing, exploring, and yes, learning.  Most of all it is a time for fun.  So make great memories this summer.

Focus and Attention

We hear these words, focus and attention, when evaluating the students in our class.  Can she focus?  What is his attention span?  

As parents you have probably heard these words as well.  Your child does well when he/she is focused.


How can we help children develop focus and attention.

It starts when they are very young.  Very early in life babies possess an "absorbent mind".  They absorb their environment through the senses.  It is important to prepare the child's environment so there is beauty and natural materials wherever the child looks and experiences.  Beautiful toys made of wood and other natural products, delightful and colorful mobiles, soft voices, lovely music, fragrant flowers all will attract a very young child's attention and hold their focus.

As the child becomes more independent around age 2, it is important to be consistent.  Attractive books and toys can be arranged on open shelving so that the child can reach for them without help.  Natural materials are best, try to avoid plastic.  An open space in which a child can work (play).  Chairs and a table that is the right size for the child.  Letting the child take the lead on what he or she wants to use and then letting the child focus on it until he or she decides to change the activity.  Outdoor activities, water play, music, story time are all important activities.  Children do not necessarily interact with other children at a young age, they can play side by side, each absorbed in his or her own activity.

I have observed many parents who want to hurry their children from one activity to another, this disrupts the natural development of focus and concentration.

As the child grows so should his or her attention span.  Be judicious about the activities you schedule for your child.  Running from one activity to the next does not help the development of focus and concentration.

I have observed children who come to school and have clear issues with maintaining their focus and concentration.  I will often find a time to observe the parent interacting with the child.  When I see the parent frequently redirecting the child as they work together, I can tell that the child has underdeveloped concentration skills.  When parents say to me, he can concentrate for hours at home, there must be too many distractions in the classroom.  I find it necessary to point out that as I was observing the child lost focus X number of times, or every so many seconds.  He changed the subject, distracting himself until you (the parent) redirected him.

So how do we develop focus in a child who has missed developing it while very young?  That is the question.
It sounds counter productive but we give time limits.  For example, a child who takes an inordinate amount of time to eat meals.  Set a time limit, say 15 minutes.  Let the child know that he can have his plate for 15 minutes and then take it away.  No matter how much he has actually eaten.  After a few times he will focus more on eating and less on distracting himself.

Give a time limit for bedtime routines.  Lights out in 20 minutes, put on your pjs, brush your teeth, get in bed and the rest of the time you can read or I will read a story to you.  Stick to the 20 minutes so the reading time is lengthened if the other steps are done.

Find activities in which your child loses track of time.  This does not include computer or TV time.  Your child should be actively engaged in the activity.  Art work, building, Legos, Play Doh, putting on a show or concert, biking, skating, reading...all good choices.  These activities engage your child and allow them to "entertain" themselves and allow them to maintain their focus for long periods of time.

A word of advice, try to avoid "bullying" your child into maintaining focus.  By this I mean sitting with them so that they stay on task.  This does nothing to help the child.  Give them a time limit and then walk away.  If the task is not completed, let the child know that you are surprised that it could not be finished.  Talk to the child about how proud they would feel if they were able to accomplish a task on their own.  Help the child develop a feeling of responsibility for maintaining focus.

The Great Kapok Tree

This year we have been studying the importance that trees play in our world.  We have studied "The Lorax" by Dr. Suess, and to end the year we took an in depth look at "The Great Kapok Tree" by Lynn Cherry.

We studied the importance of the rainforest to the earth's ecosystem.  We discussed why we need to maintain the balance in the rainforest.  We looked at videos of the animals who call the rainforest their home.

We presented a reader's theater production of the story to the parents.  Then we planted two trees.  This combined our study of both books.  From The Lorax - "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."

From The Great Kapok Tree - "If you cut down this tree, you will destroy that which gives us all life."

The students promised to care for these trees.  I know they will.  I know they will remember this year and their teachers and classmates whenever they look at the new trees in the garden.  These children are already caretakers of the earth, help them grow into ecologically aware adults. 

You can help your child do this by making wise choices and pointing this out to your children. 

• Limit use of plastic. (water bottles, grocery bags can be eliminated entirely)
• Choose ecofriendly materials for shoes, clothing, furniture and household items.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle.
• Use your car less, buy a hybrid.
• Buy in bulk. (Large containers of yogurt, then portion them into reusable containers, etc.)
• Buy items that have the least amount of packaging. (Lunchables have excessive packaging)
• Turn off items or unplug them when not in use.

All of these small changes will help us care for the earth.  From The Great Kapok Tree - "You cut cown one tree and come back for another and another.  You don't think what it would be like for your children to live in a world without trees."

Unless you and your children think about it, nature may disappear.

Let's Hear It For Moms!

There is nothing stronger than a child's bond with his or her mom.  Your mom was your first home.  She sheltered you right under her heart.  Her voice and scent are embedded in your memory.  Moms are our first love.  They probably were the first person we smiled at, the first one to make us laugh.  The first one to soothe our cries.  Our connections to our moms are long and deep.

Moms rock our world.  We want to please them.  We want them to be proud of us.

Moms help with homework, teach us to dress and care for ourselves, model how to behave and treat others.

Moms encourage us, believe in us and share our dreams.  Moms play with us and teach us how to be graceful losers and kind winners.

Moms let us know what is right and wrong.  Moms make us use our words and apologize when we should.  Moms know when we are telling the truth. 

Moms do the best they can with what they know.  As Oprah says, "When you know better, you do better."  All moms deserve respect because there is no tougher job on earth.

Be grateful to your mom everyday, not just on Mother's Day!  If you are a mom be aware of how important a job you are doing.  You love with all your heart, you make tough decisions, you teach your child to be responsible, resourceful and resilient.  You do this 24/7 for your child's entire life.  Don't give up!  Being a mom is a gift to the world.  Your children are, and always will be, your masterpiece.

Help From Debbie: Emotional Muscles

Help From Debbie: Emotional Muscles: Teachers are aware that as school comes to a close for the year, emotions run high.  The summer looms causing excitement, saying goodbye to...

Emotional Muscles

Teachers are aware that as school comes to a close for the year, emotions run high.  The summer looms causing excitement, saying goodbye to classmates and teachers cause sadness, the adventures the next school year brings can cause trepidation and fear.  Change always stirs up emotions.

When your own children are going through this you know how exhausting it can be.  When you have a classroom full of students who are going through this it can be overwhelming.  So teachers pull every trick they have out of their arsenal to help students through this unsettling time. 

In our class we have a large chart that is divided into three sections.

The top section is in green for "go".  Listed in this section are positive emotions, the feelings that make us feel good and strong.  These are the emotional muscles we want to strengthen.  These are the words that represent our power to handle whatever comes our way.

The middle section is the yellow section (our chart is yellow so the words are written in blue).  The words in this section represent emotions that we all feel from time to time.  They are emotions to be aware of in ourselves and others.  When we feel them we should express them in an appropriate outlet, quiet time, talking, writing or drawing our feelings, taking a break, getting exercise and fresh air, listening to music, are all outlets for these feelings.

The third section is in red for STOP!  If you feel these negative emotions, find one from the green section to remind yourself that your power is in the positive section.  We do not want to give our power away to the negative side.  I tell the children that everytime we fight, whine, argue, complain, or hurt someone we are giving our power away.

Positive  - Power - Practice these to have strong emotional muscles

Happy     Strong    Smart    Helpful    Caring    Thoughtful    Friendly    Kind    Respectful    Honest

Careful    Confident     In Control    Calm    Quiet      Focused      Forgiveness 

Slow Down and Express these feelings appropriately 

Sad    Fearful    Angry    Lonely    Hurting     Silly    Loud     

Negative - Needs immediate attention

Out of control    Crazy    Distracted    Careless     Hurtful     Unkind     Disrespectful     Fighting     

Our class brainstormed many words to use and you can do the same.

The next step comes in conjunction with the restroom symbols at the top of the post.  Everyday we ask the students to pick a positive emotion to work on and write it inside their "mini me" (diagram).  We ask the students to record other positive emotions inside the diagram throughout the day.  If there are emotions from the Slow Down and Negative list, we ask them to record these outside of the diagram.

Throughout the day we try to catch student practicing their positive emotions.  If a child is helpful we'll notice that and comment on it.  If the word he chose to work on is "helpful" he feels proud that we noticed.  If that was not his word, he can add it inside his mini me.

If there is whining, arguing, tattling, we encourage the students to talk about it with the person who is involved in the issue or they can choose to forget about it because whatever the problem is, it is much smaller than their friendship and they should work on the positive strength of forgiveness.

This is working very well.  Next year I plan to begin the year using this strategy!