Nap Time!

Did you know naps and a consistent sleep wake schedule are just as important to the health & wellness of a young child as proper nutrition. Does your toddler or Pre-K child seem to get noticeably more cranky or even throw temper tantrums late in the day? Did you know many tantrums take place because the child is simply too tired to do whatever is being asked of then, even if it is something that they typically would enjoy?

Children, especially young children are still learning about their bodies, and because they are also still learning the words they need to describe how they feel and other abstract concepts, they often aren't capable expressing the way they feel accurately. This leads to even more frustration combine this sort of frustration with an already tired child and the result can be anything from simple disobedience (because they are just too tired to think about what you are asking them to do) to a full blown tantrum!

Think about how you feel right around 2:00 pm after working all day. Now imagine feeling that way without having the coping skills of an adult NOR the ability to express to anyone how you feel. Wouldn't you react the same way?

I have had numerous parents and relatives tell me that they "try" to put their child down for a nap but all they want to do is play or that their child just doesn't seem tired. I completely understand that. Most children when asked if they want to take a nap, especially if they haven't had a regular nap time will tell you they aren't tired, but this is where you as a parent or caregiver have to play the card that days, "Well I'm you're Mommy/Daddy/ Grandma/Grandpa/Stepmom/Babysitter and I know what's actually best for you." Because when it comes to nap time, you do! (especially after reading this article)

I have carried my very insistent toddler up stairs kicking and screaming that she didn't want to take a nap only to lay her down and have her fall asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Other times, when we've had a less active day or when we slept in an extra half hour it may take 5-10 minutes to get her to settle down and nap at her regularly scheduled nap time, but she always naps for about 2 hours. I know its hard to do and for parents in shared custody situations its even harder because the tendency is to want to spend as much quality time and have as much fun with your child as possible, but think of it this way, how good is that "quality" time if she's too exhausted to enjoy it or to even to remember it?

When you plan your day and schedule your events to include that much needed nap for you little one he or she will actually enjoy all the time spend with you. There will be less tantrums and frustration and more smiles and giggles. In general, during the early childhood years children need 10 hours of sleep at night and a nap during the day. The length of the nap varies per child. I'm a big proponent of allowing the child to nap or sleep as long as she needs to. Other just as qualified parents will wake their children up from a nap after a certain period of time. This is a decision you need to make based on your life and your child, as long as your are consistent about it you will have a much more pleasant child.

And just think, while your child is napping you can get in an at home workout, do some a laundry, wash some dishes, take a bath or even just enjoy some quiet time watching your favorite television program. This will refresh you as well!

The Importance of Imaginitive Play

Lately I've been noticing more and more bloggers and concern parents discussing certain topics. Most conversations lately seem to center around the idea of stereotyping their child's gender and trying to promote the idea of gender equality through gender neutral choices for their children. From the more feminist side of the tracks there seems to be war on all things "girly" and their arch nemesis are the Disney Princesses, Barbie, and of course the color pink. Having been a tomboy my whole life. One would be inclined to think that I would jump right on this bandwagon, but I don't. As a matter of fact I make sure I clear a path and stay out of its way. However, the writers and thinkers of these blogs make some very good points and are actually founded in best practices of child development, so before you try to figure out which points are valid and which ones are just over the top ramblings of an extreme point of view let me clear away some of the rubble.

Limiting any child's view of themselves in dangerous, boy or girl. Limiting any child's imagination is crippling to their development, boy or girl. When you try to pigeon whole any individual into a certain role or set of expectations it becomes a point of frustration. The best thing you can do for your child, boy or girl, is expose them to a variety of experiences, toys, and dramatic play scenarios without ridicule or making them feel shame for their choices.

Many parents, cringe at the idea of seeing their sons dressing up in heels, carrying a purse, and feeding a bottle to a baby doll. Just as others struggle with the idea that their daughter would rather play with monster trucks than comb a Bardie's hair. These are good healthy things for your children to explore. For example, during the first week of school last year a three year old boy would dress up in a pink dresw with a purse and would carry around a baby doll while feeding her a bottle. He was calling the baby by his younger sister's name and saying he was Mommy. What this child was doing was dealing with separation anxiety. He was concerned about mommy being at home taking care of the baby all by herself so he was acting out her role. Children develop a better understanding of family roles and roles in society when they experiment with pretending to be different characters regardless of gender.

So, why is there such an uproar about girls and Disney Princesses lately? The main concern is that pretending to be a specific princess limits a girl's view of herself and her imagination. In an article shared on the 7Wonderlicious Facebook page I found probably the best explanations of it's dangers in the article titled Are Princesses Really So Bad?! However, the concept can be applied to characters boys typically idolize as well. When children take on the role of an already well known character they limit themselves to acting a certain way. The events their character encounters tend to be the same events that happened in the movie or book that they were read. Rarely do they go off script and explore their own solutions to problems or even pause to consider whether the actions of their character were the best idea. In my experience, this is the biggest danger of Princesses and Super Heroes, especially when you consider most solutions for from the Super Hero point of view involves violence, and most solutions from the Princess Point of view involves believing a girls only saving grace is her beauty and only chance at happily ever after is to marry. Below is a picture one of my friend's shared on Facebook that perfectly defines the fears some people have of their daughters only seeing themselves as princesses.

However, children do not read this deeply into their characters. A young child pretending to be a certain princess does so because she sees herself as beautiful and kind. Which is something every girl should be encouraged to see herself as. We can help our children develop the kind of princess or super hero they become by talking to them about their choices and actions as their character. The next time your daughter pretends to be Ariel ask her how she would try to communicate with the prince if she had no voice. Could she write a note? Play a music? Draw a picture for him? The next time your little Batman has an enemy in his grasp ask him what else he could do to save the day. Would you call the police? Talk to the bad guy about making a better choice? They might be reluctant to go off script at first, but once they get the idea that they can use their imagination while they are pretending to be someone else's imaginary character they'll enjoy it, especially if you encourage better choices.

So, no, I'm not one of those mothers that tries to gender neutralize my daughter out of existence. I like I having a daughter. I like that she gets as much joy out of wearing frilly dresses as she does out of wearing her light up navy blue Cars sneakers while she catches bugs. I like that one moment she can be pouring me a cup of tea at a tea party and the next playing football with her Pappap in the backyard.

I think it is significantly misguided to teach our children to completely reject their identity as a boy or girl. While I do not want my daughter to think the only thing of value she has to offer is her beauty, I also don't want her to reject the idea that she could be feminine. I feel there is a power that ever girl has in understanding that she is beautiful and how to enhance that beauty for their own enjoyment. I used to be the kind of tomboy that would never wear pink because it was too girly. My every day attire was wind pants and a baggy t-shirt so I was ready to play sports at any moment. I erred too far the other way. I saw myself only as an athlete. Which is just as limiting as only seeing yourself as any one thing. It seems to be human error on every aspect of life that we think that to be one thing means we must exclude being the other. This is not true.

So, encourage your children to be themselves. Build on their interests and promote a positive self image, whatever that may be.

We're Bored! - 4 Fun and Educational Activities to beat the Summer Blahs

So, the kids have been home from school for a little over two weeks now and they spend the first week running themselves ragged trying to do everything all at once. Now, all you hear from them is "We're bored!" or like one of the mother's of one of my Pre-K children told me, "I want to go back to school!" This is perfect time to start adding some educational activities to their summer fun!


1) Sidewalk Chalk - Quality Time, Fun, Creativity, and Learning
Sometimes to break the monotany all you need is to spice it up a little bit. One of  my favorite summer staples is sidewalk chalk. Side walk chalk give you a reason to get your kids outside (and away from the T.V or Video Game) and have some creative fun. It become even more beneficial if you can take the time to go out with them. Enjoy drawing creative pictures with the chalk. Encourage them to use as many colors as they can. Always respond to their drawing with enthusiasm. If you can't tell what it is they drew ask them to tell you about their drawing. This will give them practice using their verbal skills which will prepare them for the upcoming school year.

I like to use Side Walk Chalk for a game called "Copy Cat." My daughter an I take turns drawing something, it could be a shape, a numeral, a letter of the alphabet, writing her name, or drawing something specific like a flower. First she'll draw something, "Mommy draw a pink oval like this!" then I have to draw a pink oval too. Then I'll challenge her,"Ok, peanut, can you draw a blue 'L' like this?" I draw an L then she draws it. We go back and forth like this until she gets bored. You can even use this game to draw undefined shapes. Having you child copy your drawing or even trace it helps develop their fine motor skills, and if you are having them copy letters, numbers, or their name you are also helping them with letter identification which is a stepping stone to reading.


2) The Library - An adventure with Books!
Many children love having books read to them. They might even have a favorite book that they love to hear you read over and over and over and over and over again, but you might be getting sick of reading the same books. No problem. Head to the closest public library. It doesn't cost anything to read the books at the library (except the gas money to get there if it's not reasonably close enough to walk). Most libraries have a children's section complete with seats or cushions to sit on and read to your child. Your little one will think you're going on an adventure and he or she will be able to find several new books to have read to them!  You can decide if you want to leave the books there or get a library card to check them out - just make sure to return them by the due date so your free trip to the library doesn't cost you $1.50 or more in late charges!

3) Bubble Paintings - Colorful fun you can make at home
I've picked up several different versions of bubbles this summer - I even found some that glow in the dark. You can add your own spin on this long time favorite by simply adding some food coloring to the bubble solution. Don't have any bubbles on hand? Make your own with things you already have around the house!
                                  1/2 Cup Dish Liquid
                                     2 Cups Water
                                     2 teaspoons Sugar
                                        food coloring

 Mix the ingredients together. Make sure you make separate solutions for each color you want to make. Then use a straw to dip in the bubble solution to use as the bubble blower. You can blow the colorful bubbles on white paper then hang the paper to dry. The result is a colorful abstract painting!

You can find more recipes for homemade bubble soutions at: http://bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html

4) Be an Entomologist - a Bug Scientist
Take your little one on a bug hunt in the back yard, playground, or open field (make sure you have persmission to explore there) Take an empty clear jar with you and make sure you poke wholes in the lid or make your own lid with a piece of paper and a rubber band so it's easier to make the wholes in it. Look for all kinds of creepy crawlies. You might be able to fund butterflies, catepillars, grasshoppers, praying mantisis, spiders, peel bugs, lady bugs, beetles, centepedes, millipedes, and other interesting creatures. Be careful when picking up bugs. I suggest having a pair of gloves on too and never pick up a bug you don't recognize. Remember even some bugs bite or sting so you want to be very careful about this, I know from personal experience a praying mantis's bit hurst A LOT and I wouldn't want my little one to experience that pain, it would take all the fun out of bug hunt. So stick to the friendly critters. If you encounter an interesting bug and want to identify it by taking it home and using a search engine to look it up trap it using the jar and lid. Make sure the lid is secured tightly before heading home with it. Once you've identified the critter make sure you take it back to where you found it and release it. Bug Hunting should always be catch and release.

Many other educational activities can spon from this adventure. You can encourage your child to draw a picture of their favorite bug of the day or make up a story about the bugs you've encountered.

Early Childhood Certification!

Those of you who have been following me over the past two years know that I've been working diligently to obtain a third teaching certification. I was already certified to teach at the Elementary level (grades K-6) and English as a Second Language (ESL). In December of 2011 I finished the coursework to obtain certification in Early Childhood Education! This is a more specialized certification that focuses on the developmental needs of children during the earlier stages of development. It is also the certification required by the state of Pennsylvania for any teacher who wishes to teach at the Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, or Third grade levels. Thank you all for your support throughout this process. It was a lot of hard work, but it is well worth it!

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What Do They Need to Know BEFORE Starting School?

Many concerned parents ask me what their child really needs to know before starting school. When deciding what to teach, your child's teacher looks to three main sources to guide their lessons. First and foremost are the state standards. Every state has learning standards for grades 3 through 12. Many states have expanded those learning standards to the realm of early childhood, which includes learning standards for Birth through Grade 3. Yes, you read that right, from Birth. The second source your teacher and school district looks at is the curriculum they will be using. Many curricula include books and activities along with the scope and sequence in which they will teach themes throughout the year. The third source is the individual child. Lessons can be altered, supplemented, or adapted to fit individual children's needs. However, the state standards guide all of the above. State standards vary slightly from state to state, but for the most part they are very similar. I will be beginning a series covering The Pennsylvania State Early Learning Standards in which I will highlight a specific state standard and give you examples of what you can do at home to help your little develop the skills needed to meet each standard successfully and be prepared for that first day of Pre-K or Kindergarten!

Language and Learning Experiences: Part II - Read to Your Child

This is Part II in my monthly series of developing your child's language and learning.

Read to Your Child

Regardless of the age of your child reading him or her is a valuable activity. I even read to my daughter while she was in the womb. Everyone's listening vocabulary is well above their speaking, reading, or writing vocabulary. Reading to your child introduces them to new words, a variety of sentence structures, and concepts that they may not be exposed to in their daily lives.

Reading books also teaches them early literacy concepts such as book handling skills: holding the book right side up, turning the pages from left to right (front to back). If you use your fingers to follow the words as you read they begin to understand that print is read from left to right across the page and that you read from the top to the bottom of the page.

You can pause as you read to talk about the pictures on each page, let them identify the things they know  by asking them "What this?" and tell them how smart they are, how proud you are of them. Identify the things they don't know by pointing to them and telling them the names, colors, or shapes of the objects. If you are reading a book about a farm and they can identify the chicken. Respond with, "Very good! That IS a chicken! What color is that chicken?" (yellow) "Yes, that is a yellow chicken."

By having simple conversations like this about what they see when you are reading to them you are helping build their vocabulary and revealing the identity new objects to them. You can also help them predict what is going to happen on each page if you talk about the picture before you read. This is fun to do even with very young infants. They'll enjoy the one-on-one time, the sound of your voice and the brightly colored pictures as much as they will enjoy learning.