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Let Reading Take You On an Adventure

August 27, 2014/in Guide, Learn, Read/by Shine

I’m obsessed with children’s books. I can’t get enough. I have a personal collection of over 1000. I am a Scholastic Book Club teacher. I have two good friends in children’s publishing who keep me stocked up on new releases. And I’m embarrassed to say that my Amazon bill at the end of every month includes more children’s titles than anything for adults. I don’t know when this obsession started but I’m pretty sure my mother had something to do with it. It usually comes back to her. I remember making weekly trips to the public library to take out a dozen books or so. I remember her reading to me voraciously. I remember books being made just as important as toys in our home. As an early-childhood educator I’m so thankful I had this foundation laid for me at a young age. My love of books helped me to excel in school and provided me the opportunity to expand my imagination, vocabulary, and ideas about the world. But most of all, books have been and still are some of the best companions and where I love to escape when I need some alone time.

Early literacy is so important. There are countless ways to incorporate books into the lives of children. Bari Snyder, a literacy coach and reading specialist, shares some ways that you can letting reading take your child (and you!) on an adventure.

Continue to shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

In a world where an answer to a question is just a click away, how do we engage our children long enough to sit and actually listen to or read a book? How do we instill that excitement of opening a book for the first time? How do we guide our children to want to be life-long readers?

Selecting terrific books for your child will put them on the road to learning, build their vocabulary and object recognition skills, spark their curiosity about the world, and create wonderful memories. But what’s just as important as the book you choose, it how you read it with your child. Read more

Little Scientists

August 21, 2014/in Learn, Play/by Shine

Scientists may use complex lab techniques to make discoveries, but their first observations are much the same as a child’s. The questions children ask naturally are based on the observations they have of the world around them. Allowing them to flesh out their curiosity with hands-on explorations and experiments will provide a fabulous foundation for learning and a love of the different sciences.

Gathering and organizing information are core science skills, and information-hungry kids practice them naturally and enthusiastically. With a little organization from you, you could turn a child’s question into an afternoon of fun learning using the very grown up scientific method.

Look and ask: Pick up on an observation your child makes that inspires a question.
Guess: Ask your child to guess why it’s so.
Test: Create an experiment to put that guess to a test.
Find Out: Can your child make a conclusion based on the test?
Look and ask again: Finding answers leads to more questions and by generating new questions and tests, the whole process can start again.

Tips for Choosing a Summer Day Camp

June 2, 2014/in Guide, Learn, Play/by Shine

I have always loved summer camp. From my days at large outdoor day camps in the rolling hills of Western New York to my summers at overnight camp in the Finger Lakes, my childhood was filled with memories of boondoggle, popsicle stick boats, field days, color wars, and hours of outdoor exploration. I believe camp should be an experience available to all children and with so many options choosing the right one for your family can be daunting.

Here are Shine’s top tips for choosing a summer day camp:

1. Target practice.
There is a big difference between a summer camp with a general, “classic experience” with lots of activities and one with a particular focus. Older children can target in on their interests easier than younger ones. Try to find out what he/she really loves and really wants to be doing over the summer and then look for a camp that specializes in that. Just because your sporty girl is on the field all year doesn’t mean she wants to go to sports camp. Ask. And for younger campers, look for camps that offer the classic, wide range of activities including arts and crafts, music, outdoor nature and science, and sports. Exposing younger campers to a variety of activities will keep them interested and engaged and help you and them figure out what it is they love most about summer camp.

2. Location, location, location.
If you have a younger child going to day camp, you may not be ready to put them on a bus. That means someone has to drop-off and pick-up. But since summer is already about juggling schedules, you may want to chose a camp that’s close to home or work to make it all a little easier. And having a friend or two with whom to carpool makes it even more so. Read more

Literacy in the First Five Years

February 26, 2014/in Guide, Learn, Read/by Shine

We at Shine love books and believe it is never too early to encourage literacy development. As educators, we make sure to create classes rich with books, games, puzzles, and projects all of which promote a strong foundation in literacy skills. It is important, especially during the early years, that these ideas are encouraged in the home as well. This week Kristin Michaelson, M.Ed., president of Advantage Development, provides some very helpful ideas on how to make your home environment more supportive for literacy during your child’s first five years. After all, the greatest gift to give a child is the foundation for the love of reading and learning.

Continue to shine your light and read –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

Literacy is a process that begins with the simple experiences of hearing language from caregivers and the shared reading and handling of books. To encourage literacy development at home: talk to (and with) your child, create a print-rich environment, sing songs, and read books together. Read on for more specific activities, important milestones, and ideas on how to make your home environment supportive for literacy. Note: although activities are listed in a certain age group, they can be used indefinitely as long as they seem helpful to your child.

Early Infancy (0-8 months):

What can my baby do? Babble, hold books, put books in her mouth, focus on books, sit up on her own.

Activities: Make your home a print-rich environment. The first step is having a lot of books for your baby. Especially at this age, plush, wooden, or board books are almost indestructible and can withstand going in the mouth. Make labels, with both writing and a small picture of the contents, for boxes of toys and post their name in multiple places. Children should see their parents reading and using writing in their daily lives. Read more

Shine’s Holiday Book Picks

December 9, 2013/in Celebrate, Learn, Read/by Shine

At Shine, we think the best gifts are always books. As you’re doing last minute holiday shopping, consider some of these picks from our friends in early childhood publishing. Happy Holidays!

May your holidays shine bright –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

Francesco Sedita
President & Publisher at Penguin Young Readers Group

The Scrawny Little Tree by Ed Mehler, illustrated by Susie Pollard

This is the sweetest story, originally written and published in 1973 and re-released in 2011. It’s Charlie Brown meets The Giving Tree and it’s just beautiful and precious.

Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

The Lllama books are all wonderful and here our pal Llama has a very special Christmas, even if he is quite impatient.

Anything Jan Brett

To me, Jan Brett is Christmas in a book. She just evokes such a wonderful, magical environment with her words and illustrations. I would really recommend “The Night Before Christmas” edition with a DVD in the back, read by Jim Dale, and with a musical score from the Boston Pops – so special. Read more

Preventing Preschool Bullying

October 2, 2013/in Guide, Learn, Read/by Shine

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. While most of us assume bullying occurs with older children, the unfortunate truth is that it can happen as early as preschool or kindergarten. As someone who was on the receiving end of bullying as child, I know firsthand how terrifying and lonely it can feel. One of the most important things we can do to make sure our children are not being bullied is to stay involved. Ask your child questions about school, communicate with the teachers and stay attuned to changes in your child’s behavior. Bullying can create a shift in attitude and if you are aware of changes you might be able to help solve the problem before bullying has long-term effects. This month, Roxanne Taylor, M.Ed. School Counseling, shares some more information on early childhood bullying and suggests some books to help younger children identify their feelings about being bullied.

Continue to stand up to bullying and shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

In the second week of the new school year, a teacher friend of mine called to tell me about a problem she was having with two of her students. She said that a boy went up to another boy who recently had his hair shaved very short and said, “Your haircut is f&$%ing ugly.” As a school counselor, I’ve heard kids use a lot of insults on one another, but what surprised me the most about this incident is that my friend teaches kindergarten.

Globalizing Your Toddler

April 3, 2013/in Guide, Learn/by Shine

I just got back from spending spring break in Colombia. I love traveling Latin America for so many reasons and return at least once a year. I also like to think of myself as someone who speaks Spanish. The truth is, I am not fooling anybody. My Spanish continues to embarrass me, especially after the years I took it in school and in refresher classes afterwards. I truly wish I had started at a much younger age. As Sara Farzam, founder and director of Bilingual Birdies, explains in this week’s piece, children 5 and under are at the most critical ages for language acquisition. We now know that success with foreign languages comes from starting early and in age-appropriate ways. Music, art, food, books… these are some of the best things in life and also some of the best ways to incorporate foreign language at home. In doing so, we are ensuring that we help to develop truly global citizens.

Continue to shine your light –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

Pablo el pato only speaks Spanish, so we need to all greet him by saying, “Hola Pablo!”

This is how the kids in a downtown Brooklyn preschool greet their favorite cuddly puppet every Tuesday morning. They are learning Spanish with Bilingual Birdies and Pablo el pato, or Pablo the duck, is representative of far more than just a bread-eating feathered friend. He is a symbol of the changing face of America. The parents of these children have signed them up for a program which promises to teach the under five population about cross-cultural awareness, compassion, and curiosity through a foreign language and live music curriculum. Bilingual Birdies offers classes in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and Hebrew. CDs of educational music are provided for parents to play at home, which reinforces their ability to learn a language when they aren’t in class. Read more