Dilly Days with Beth and Joellyn: Authors of The InvestiGator Club™ for Robert-Leslie Publishing

Signs for flu shots have been popping up on the marquees of our local pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and schools this week. I checked with the Center for Disease Control to find out who should get the flu vaccine and when. The answer was that anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu should get vaccinated, especially if you are in one of the following categories:
• Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday
• Pregnant women
• People 50 years of age and older
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
• People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from the flu

The flu season is already underway, peaking in February. The best time to get the vaccine is early Fall. If you want more information about which flu strands the 2008-2009 vaccine protects against or where to get flu vaccines in your area, go to www.cdc.gov/flu/flu_vaccines_updates.htm.

Join us at the NAEYC Convention on the trade show floor in booth #2226 for informative, engaging mini-sessions. You can attend Thursday or Friday. These are open events. Topics are as follows:

10:30 a.m. – Social and Emotional Development
11:30 a.m. – The InvestiGator Club Prekindergarten Learning System Core Curriculum
1:30 p.m. – Adaptive Learning to Include All Children
2:30 p.m. – Teaching the Spanish Preschooler
3:30 p.m. – Just for Threes
4:30 p.m. – Fine Arts in the Preschool Classroom

See you there!

My good friend and colleague, Maria Gonzalez, and I are delivering a workshop at the NAEYC Convention in Dallas this coming November. Please join us on Friday, November 7 from 10 to 11:30 AM at the Hyatt Regency in Cumberland C. During this session, we will explore a variety of approaches for the Spanish-speaking preschool setting. You will learn to tap into young learners’ curiosity through rich, meaningful Spanish literature, song, and storytelling experiences that develop children’s Spanish literacy skills, including oral language, vocabulary development, and comprehension skills. In addition, you’ll learn about a variety of Spanish literature, song, and storytelling opportunities that invite children to be active participants in content-area learning with a mindful approach. More NAEYC workshop and booth news to come! Stay tuned!

I am sitting at my desk in Florida. Florida, whose nickname is “The Sunshine State,” has been anything but sunny for the last few weeks. Tropical storms and hurricanes have been in our weather forecast constantly. I’ve watched intently as Gustav made his way up the Gulf Coast, leaving flood waters, downed trees, power outages, and destruction in his path. Now as Hanna and Ike bear down on the United States, we’ve secured our home and gathered emergency equipment, food and water in the event that any of these storms hit us. We cautiously wait and watch as the storms churn around us, our nerves a little frazzled and our anxiety levels heightened. We are alert and ready to take action if necessary.

Young children are very susceptible to fear and anxiety about storms, too. This is particularly true if they:
• have had direct experience with a bad storm in the past.
• are sensitive to your heightened anxiety.
• have a vivid imagination.
• see and hear about the storm on TV.

So, I’m wondering what preschool teachers and parents do to reassure children and help them overcome their fears. This is such an important topic, I’d love to hear what you’ve done that works.

Here are 2 comments from parents in Orlando:

Alaina: As much as possible, I try to keep to our regular schedule. It makes my daughter feel more secure and heads off those “I’m over-tired tears.” Bedtime is the hardest time, so I make sure that we eat at our regular time, bathe, and get ready for bed as we always do. Then, we snuggle up together and I read Emily’s favorite story – Good Night Moon.

Carissa: We prepared for the storms by securing patio furniture, garbage cans, and other objects that might become airborne projectiles. Since Spencer loves to build things, I alleviated the tension by bringing the patio furniture into the playroom and letting him build forts with it. It kept him busy and his mind off the wind and the rain outside.

Please take a minute to share your experiences and suggestions.

Pre-K Now, a public education and advocacy organization that advances high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds, provides a state-by-state report on the quality of preschool education today. To see how your state ranks according to Pre-K Now, go to Mapping Pre-K. Then come back to Dilly Days and let us know if you agree with their assessment. We’d love to hear from you!

Here is a fun back-to-school activity to help young children understand the concept of personal space.

Have children blow an imaginary bubble over their space on the floor. Have them climb into the bubble and sit down. Tell them: The space on the floor inside your imaginary bubble is your space, and no one else can share it. Stay inside your space as I give you some directions. Listen carefully. Then give directions such as the following: put your hands on your head; clap three times; put your hands on your hips and twist, etc.

Our Program Introduction, Let’s Investigate!, is full of fun back-to-school lessons. To learn more about our curriculum, go to www.investigatorclub.com.

What is your best preschool back-to-school activity? Let us know and we’ll post it to share!

It is natural and appropriate to integrate curriculum in the preschool classroom. During a workshop at the One Goal Summer Conference in Tampa, Florida this month, teachers and directors from across the state became active participants in Investigation Stations where literature, music, and math activities were used to introduce science-based explorations. Why? Because building background, tapping prior knowledge, developing vocabulary, and sparking curiosity and imagination are all precursors to successful exploration in science!

My thanks to the participants who made this workshop so much fun and who contributed their classroom experiences and knowledge. It was a great learning experience!

Included below are the data collecting posters and handouts so that every teacher who wants to keep children curious with some great integrated science activities will have the materials they need.

Data Collecting Posters
Boats Afloat
Color-Mixing
Go! Go! Go!
Ice Melting Contest
Sensory Station
What Do Plants Need?

Event Photos

This past weekend, I did something I haven’t done in far too long: I took a trip to the local library. As I browsed the selection, it made me realize that the local library is a resource that is underused by many parents. Even though your preschooler is not able to read on his or her own yet, a love of the library is a wonderful thing to develop at this young age. Familiarity with libraries is a great school skill to have. Regular visits will also promote appreciation for books and reading as well as encourage responsibility. Here are some suggestions and strategies to employ:

1. If your library allows, get a library card in your child’s name. Help your child understand that the card is his/hers and that he/she will be able to decide what gets checked out.
2. Establish an area in your home dedicated to library materials. Unless an item is in use, it needs to live here. On every trip to the library and back, carry out the same routine of picking up return items from this space and placing newly checked out ones here.
3. Determine for your child a set number of items that he/she is able to have out at one time. Work with your child to understand that however many items he/she returns is how many he/she can then take out.
4. Children’s library rooms usually have special sections for their youngest patrons. Point out the age-specific shelves to your child. You may decide that other materials are also appropriate choices, but set the physical boundaries so your child will know from which areas he/she may choose.

Remember that libraries contain more than just books. There will also be videos, music CDs, games, puppets, and computer software that your family will be able to take home and use. In my experience, children’s librarians really love what they do. If you ask, they’ll be happy to point out all the different services of the library and how best to use them. For example, if your child is especially interested in a particular topic at the moment, such as dinosaurs, they may be able to pull books in advance of your visit. Then you and your child will be able to go right to a stack of materials on a table upon your arrival.

Not to mention - you might find some good summertime reading for yourself!

With all this talk about nutrition and healthy choices, you may be getting the feeling that this is serious, serious business. While it is all very important, there is no need to bypass the fun. How about:

• using colorful cupcake wrappers to hold nuts and pieces of cut-up fruits and vegetables.
• using cookie cutters or ice cream molds to shape rice, scrambled eggs, beans, etc.
• having the children decorate their own placemats on construction paper. Once you cover them with contact paper, you’ll have placemats that will last through many uses.

Instead of teaching children to always clean their plates, a healthier alternative is to encourage them to eat to their appetites. Growth spurts and a child’s mood will make for inconsistent interest at meal times. By creating smaller portions, children can gauge how much they want to eat at each sitting. Establish an environment where it is perfectly alright to ask for seconds and thirds.