Lucinda's Library Notes

 I saved one of the best for last! Zones of Regulation is a tool that helps children to identify their emotional state which impacts their availability to be open to the learning opportunities in front of them.   When a child is in the red zone, it is NOT the time to attempt a challenging task with them.  First, they need something that will be soothing so that they can get back into a well-regulated state.  Only then are they ready to be with you/in the moment for the next learning opportunity. We all know we have on days and off days.  Sometimes our productivity and intellectual ability amaze even us whereas other days we are shocked by how many errors we are making and how little is being accomplished in spite of going through our usual motions.  Sometimes our mood is effected by the events and sometimes the events are effected by our mood.  Regardless, we need to pause, take inventory of what is happening and why so we can address it and do be...

I have had this book for a very long time!  I love the narrative.  It is a story that was worth telling and is a good example for older children working on fictional writing skills.  It is a boy's account but is it fact or fiction? Where do the two intersect? The book by Shirley Mozelle opens with the arrival of a package.  It was unexpected and exciting to open.  Inside one box was another.  The gift?  An alligator keychain with instructions.  It took a child's perspective to see more than just the keychain and to faithfully follow the instructions with anticipation that was rewarded! My son Zechariah has an Uncle Jim which made this book fun to read too.  The uncle (Jim) wrote Zack a note in the book.  For children learning to read and write, sending or receiving a note is a good step towards longer written pieces.  Maybe you could encourage your child to send a note or postcard to someone today. The note included an instruction....

 Visit the Toronto Zoo.   There is so much you can do.   You can see a gorilla, a tiger or a polar bear Maybe even participate in their daily care Discover what animals are fed As you learn about animals from A to Z! (or.... Time for a visit! Go Ahead! if you are American and Z doesn't rhyme) Gross Motor : Swing like a monkey. Do the penguin waddle.  Slither like a snake. Flutter like a butterfly,  Do the kangaroo hop.  Choose a variety of animal movements to keep you moving.  You can put them on cardboard dice and roll to see which one to do next. Pull animal cards out of a hat and mimic them. You can go to a pool to swim like a whale or to a trampoline park to jump like a grasshopper or go for a horseback ride to trot along with them. Walking a dog or hiking to find wildlife are also great ideas. Games Use animal actions for a game of Simon Says.  Make a relay race requiring animal actions like crawl under a chair, hop over a log, ju...

When reading the yummy/yucky book, responding if they think an item is yummy or yucky with a yes or a no is an example of using a resource to help your child learn to answer yes/no questions. At some point most children go through a stage where everything is a no.  Be patient, they are learning and need to practice this social skill.   The typical age for this skill is quite young. After all, most people have seen an infant shake their head no to something or a toddler tantrum their NO emphatically.  It is an important skill to be able to express their opinion and declare their needs and wants.  For a parent whose child does not respond to them, a simple yes or no response would be very helpful to gain some understanding of their child's desires.   It is not always as simple as it seems.  When a parent asks, do you want to play ball or colour and the child answers NO, what comes next? Do you keep searching for something they want or remain with th...

This is a simple book, that was DEFINITELY a favourite in the preschool class where I was working. They LOVED this book and had it read to them multiple times a day.  This humorous book by Leslie Patricelli contrasts yummy food items to other things children may try to eat that are yucky.  It is great for young ones to animatedly discuss what we should NOT be eating, like blue crayons, sand and worms.  For some children with sensory issues or pica, the yucky items may not seem yucky to them but the book will reinforce that there are items we really should not be putting into our mouths in a fun, objective manner without the reactive responses that come when we see these things being eaten! It is great for articulation practice such as Do you eat soap or soup? Do we eat burgers or boogers? It is great for gaining early practice with commenting.  Is an apple pie yummy? Is a mud pie yucky? You can work on the "y" sound with yucky or yummy replies, on yes/no responses, o...

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Today's inspiration is Y words.  I decided to make a list of Y words (alphabetical except for the finale) and then I wrote ideas based on each word.   Yacht   If you have a child interested in transportation and specifically different types of boats, you can explore float and sink with boats like a yacht. Yam   This is a root vegetable. What other vegetables are part of this food family?  You can research them, cook them and eat them or make shaped stampers out of them for a painting activity Yard   What games can you play in your yard?  Gymnastics? Chase? Bubbles?  What activities can you do to make your yard cleaner? Can you rake up leaves? Pull weeds? Plant grass? Yarn   You can use a variety of colours of yarn to learn to knit a scarf or to play a game of cat's cradle or to make a variety of yarn-wrapped stars.  There are a variety of yarn crafts that will engage the interest of the child(ren) in your life. Year   What year...

One great way to learn is by following the example of another person.   It can be detrimental if we do not have good examples to follow but typically it is still an effective way of learning a wide variety of things.  Sometimes we learn what to do....like, how to say "Mama".  Sometimes we learn what not to do, such as when we get in trouble for lying 'for a friend'. While we may learn from bad examples, our goal in life should be to seek out the best examples and follow them as we walk our own path.  Take the best from all the sources and forge a beautiful life for oneself. The Bible says to follow the example of Jesus Christ as He did no wrong and was loving and just in all His ways.  He is the perfect example to follow.  I further suggest we seek to set a good example, as Jesus did, for the child(ren) in our lives. Set the example to be your best every day, to l earn something new, to m ake life a little brighter for someone with  an act of kind...

What do I see when I first look at the cover of this book?  I see a paper bag craft to connect to the book, pencil drawings and an award. Antoinette Portis is the author of this book which is  dedicated to 'children everywhere sitting in cardboard boxes'.  She clearly has a vision of the creative imaginations of young people and wrote with this in mind.   What do I predict the book is about?  Something is not just a box....it is more than a box.  Maybe they will make boxes to be racecars and robots or maybe they will find different kinds of treasures in different boxes like a shoe box or a chocolate box??? The cover is very simple except for a shiny silver seal on it stating that the book is a New York Times best illustrated children's book.  Simple drawings yet best illustrated. Interesting.  I predict the book will be simple too. When I open it up, I discover that the structure of the text is very simple.  The vocabulary includes early...

X-Men, X-ray, Xylophone, Xenus, X's and O's, and X-Factor are some of the X words we could explore for themed activities.  However, we could also consider words with an X in the middle (such as extra, expert, axle, oxen, tuxedo and saxophone) or with an X at the end of the word (box, mix, fox, wax, T-Rex).  There are many options! Music :  March in a band.  Will you play the saxophone, the xylophone or will you choose    another instrument? Dramatic Play :  Are you the Tyrannosaurus Rex or did you choose to be another dinosaur? Math :  Can you count to six? sixty? six hundred?  Can you draw a six point star or a              hexagon? Reading books :  Fox in Socks, Not a Box, My mom has X-ray Vision, Xavier's Xylophone, The Day X Ran Away, X-Men, and Hattie and the Fox are some options to choose from. Crafts :  Use boxes of different sizes to make things.  You could make a home for bugs, a...

I think the secret to writing is just to start writing.  As your ideas start to flow they tend to refine themselves.  You can start with a brainstorming session to generate ideas and then select the one that inspires you most.  Then, you can write out as many words, quotes, facts and ideas as you have pertaining to that idea.   Some people are able to write a story from start to finish and only have a light edit at the end.  They write while 'in the zone' as the ideas flow from the mind to the pen and paper (or keyboard).  Others write a sentence, delete it, start again and so forth as they work their way through.  Personally, I am a fan of writing all you can then going back over it to build on it.  I like to get the 'bones' on paper and add the meat later.  The meat would include quotes if they are not already on the page, descriptors like adverbs, adjectives, similes and metaphors and other supporting documentation.    Some ...

Colours, animals names and patterned speech are three things you will gain from the book, I Went Walking by Sue Williams and illustrated by Julie Vivas. The graphics are simple, loving, sweet. I would recreate the animals by doing outlines of the cat, horse, cow, pig, duck and dog and then filling them in with water paints.  I would take these animals individually and line them up according to their appearance in the book as a part of story recall.  Then I would tap on each one, labelling the colour and name of the animals like what happens in the book.  You could include the various animal noises too for fun. Note in the book that the artist depicted the child's interactions with very loving pictures that encourage kind relations between humans and animals.  The love and joy demonstrated show a very natural connection that creates confidence in animal care for children who read this book. Each picture gives a clue as to which animal will come next.  You may se...

 Switching it up a little after my holiday...during which the weather was absolutely wonderful by the way!😎  The letter of the week will start with the theme on Saturday, then Tuesday and Thursday W topics will follow.   W-Water- Is it raining? Is there a flood?  You can look into types of clouds and which ones accompany various types of rainfall and discover what determines an area to be prone to be a flood zone.  You can make a rain stick with a paper towel roll with beans, seeds or beads inside and closed on either side.  You can decorate a can and mark off measurements and leave it out in the rain to measure the amount of rainfall.  Other ideas are to do water painting or to glue cottonball cloud designs onto cardstock. E -Earthquake- What makes the ground shake during an earthquake?  Can you build a structure on a tray and shake the base.  Is it stable enough to remain standing or does it crumble to the ground?  Build with a v...