Focus on Fostering: Welcoming New Children--pt 2

Two weeks ago [February 21] I explained the basics of making a Welcome Book for new children in your home.  They won't work for toddlers, but can work well for children from pre-school up, adjusted for age. 
Today a few more possibilities for welcoming:  

For young kids:  
Make an emergency card with their name, your name, address, contact phone number etc. for them to keep in their pocket in case they get lost or confused. [Once they have learned it, they will no longer need it.]

Make a simple, coded map of the neighborhood.  
--Star houses that have children the same/near age.  
--Mark any house that is a safe place to go if they get home and you are held up someplace and not home yet. 
--If you have really great neighbors get a photo of the family that is the "safe house" and put it in their album or on the map!

Make and keep a "friends" photo album:

--Take an inexpensive small photo album [often available at dollar stores] and label it New Friends or People I've Met or just a bunch of smiley face stickers on the front. 

--When you have a neighborhood playmate over to meet them, take a quick picture and add it to the album.

--Give them a disposable camera to take to school and take pictures of new friends, teachers, etc. to add to their album. 

Take, frame and mount and a family "Welcome" photo:

--Take a picture of the family holding a big "Welcome to the Smiths" sign/s.

   Be sure everybody has big smiles, maybe waving, looking natural and informal.

   [If you have pets, include them.]

--Get a large print of it, frame it and put it in the wall, maybe over their bed.

--If you know ahead, include their name.

Image credits and thanks: leaguewriters.blogspot.com,firstcongmadison.org , jhcabo.blogspot.com

School Bell: Put it behind you!

Are your kids overwhelmed by the amount of homework each night? Do they start fighting as soon as they see the stack of work to be done? Do they shut down after the first 15 minutes? This tip won't change the amount, but it may help manage the burden.  This time of year the homework load is often at its highest. Lower the stress your kids may feel. Help them take it one step at a time. Help them learn how to put it behind them.... literally!

Quick Homework Strategy...

Have your child stack their assignments and books behind them or under the table while they work. Take out a timer and the top-of-the-pile assignment and work for 15 minutes.  Then stop, put that assignment at the bottom of the pile and take out the new top assignment and work for 15 minutes. Continue until all assignments are done or homework time is used up. 

Advantages: 

1-Your child learns to stop getting frozen by the perceived enormity of what is to be done and learns to focus on one thing at a time, giving it his/her best.

2- Each teacher's or subject's assignment gets some work time.

3-The teacher will see what your child can accomplish in 15 minutes.
4-Your child learns the habit of breaking tough projects into smaller, more manageable chunks.

Hint- Talk to your child's teacher in advance and explain what you are doing and why.  Most teachers will support this approach whole heartedly. Just be sure that your child doesn't always leave their least favorite topic until last "conveniently" running out of time before getting to it.   


Image credit and thanks: visualphotos.com, chinatraderonline.com

Caring Heart: He Got a Job!

This is a day almost all parents look forward to eagerly.  Parents of children with special needs or concerns often wonder if it will ever come. When it happens, it is truly celebrated.

He Got A Job!

He got a job! A real job.  Not something the school set up, or one that I found.  He got a job on his own. He saw the sign, went in, and asked about it.  I don't know how, but he did the paper work on his own.  He even met with the manager after school for an interview without us having a clue.  He had even figured out how he could get to and from work on his own, and had been sure that it would fit in his schedule.  I hope I always remember the look in his eyes when he told us.  He tried to act casual at dinner.  But he could barely sit still and was clearly eager to tell us something.. he was practially jumping out of his skin.  With eyes shining and back tall he told us.  The whole table practically exploded with congratulations.  Thank you, God for sticking with him. Thank you for helping us stick with him.  TYhank you for teaching him to stick with himself.  He got a job!

Excerpted from "The Caring Heart Speaks: Meditations for foster, kinship, and adoptive parents" by Gail Underwood Parker,   Artwork by Anna Parker David from the book cover.

Read Across America... Day 6-- Authors

This is the last day of my celebration of March 2nd Read Across America. Each day I recommended a few favorites for different ages, stages, and situations.  If any of them fit your needs, I hope you will try them... check your library, interlibrary loan programs, online used books, and local bookstores.  Enjoy!!

[As an author myself, did you really think I could finish this week without a nod to authors???]

What Do Authors Do?
by Eileen Christelow
Pub: Clarion Books
ISBN0-395-71124-X

Having spent this week sharing books for children I decided to finish the week with a book about authors written for children.  While this is too long for really young children, it is an excellent look [with cartoon style illustrations] about how authors come up with books, write them, find publishers and illustrators, have them printed and distributed to readers. I especially like the fact that she includes [as a real part of the process] readers reading the books and reacting to them!

PS She also wrote and published a companion book What Do Illustrators Do?  also by Clarion. 

Remember, you can always search previous blog entries for some of my all time favorites that I have already bogged about. Check them out too! Search using "Recommended" and "Suggested Reading." And... watch for more books now and then to pop up!

Next week: Back to the regular blog schedule.

Read Across America... Day 5-- Dr. Seuss Quiz

Continuing my preparation and celebration of March 2nd Read Across America. Today is actually the anniversary of Dr. Seuss's birth, the date chosen for Read Across America, celebrated in elementary schools around the country.  So, to celebrate here is a quiz about Dr. Seuss.... see how well you know him.

1. What is the real name of Dr. Seuss?
a. Theodor Geuss Seisel
b. Theodor Geisel Seuss
c. Theodor Seuss Geisel
d. Theo LeSeig

2. How many published children's books did Dr. Seuss write and illustrate?
a. 37
b. 44
c. 46
d. 63

3.  What was the first children's book Dr. Seuss published?
a. "One Fish, Two Fish"
b. "The Cat in the Hat"
c. "And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street"
d. "Horton Hears a Who"

4. Before Vanguard Press accepted Dr. Seuss's first book, how many other publishers had turned it down??
a. 20
b. 27
c. 28
d. 29

5. What was Dr. Seuss's job before he became a published children's author?
a. pediatrician
b. advertising illustrator for Standard Oil
c. Saturday Evening Post cartoonist
d. Dartmouth College magazine editor


6. What was the last book Dr. Seuss published?
a. "The Lorax"
b. "The Butter Battle Book"
c. "Oh The Places You'll Go"
d. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

7. Which book did Dr. Seuss write to win a bet with his editor, Bennett Cerf?  [Bonus points if you know what the bet was!]
a. "Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!"
b. "Green Eggs and Ham"
c. "The Cat in the Hat"
d. "If I Ran the Zoo"

Tomorrow-- How about the authors and illustrators?

P.S.  You can also search previous blog entries for favorites I have already written about.  Some of my all time favorites I have already bogged about. Check them out too! Search using "Recommended" and "Suggested Reading."

Answers:
1. c although he use d as a pen name for books he wrote that other people illustrated [Note: It is Geisel spelled backwards!] Seuss was his middle name, and his mother's maiden name.  2. b [although Geisel also wrote more books under other pen names]  3. c [a real street less than a mile from Seuss's boyhood home in Springfield, MA]  4. all of them [different numbers can be found in different sources, because Dr. Seuss often changed the number when he told the story!] 5. b, c, and d at different times [but never a doctor] 6. c [ published in 1990, before his death in 1991] 7. b [The bet was that he couldn't write a book using 50 words or less. Seuss won.. it uses exactly 50 different words.] Trivia...book "d" was the first recorded instance of the word "nerd."

Read Across America... Day 4- Special Issue Books

Continuing my preparation and celebration of March 2nd Read Across America. Remember each day I will recommend a few favorites for different ages, stages, and situations.  If any of them fit your needs, try them... check your library, interlibrary loan programs, online used books, and local bookstores.  Enjoy!!

Today:  Special Issue Books

Kids Wanting To Run Away:

I Was So Mad
by Mercer Mayer
pub: Golden Book Co
ISBN 0- 307-61939-7

With Mayer's familiar creatures. we follow as the "child" is angry with his mother, then father, then little by little everyone and everything and he decides to run away.  This book is a delightful look at that familiar childhood experience and feelings.

Constant Interrupting:

My Mouth is a Volcano

by Julia Cook  Ill Carrie Hartman

pub: National Center for Youth Issues


ISBN 978-1-931636-85-8

One in a series of books that address Children's Life Skills the Center has  created a humorous story that teaches children how to manage their thoughts and words without interrupting. This book has won awards and you can find lesson plans and activities to go with it online.


Little Kids Misbehaving in School: 

David Goes to School
by David Shannon
pub: Scholastic
ISBN 0-439-32171-9

This sequel to No! David follows David as he goes to school and gets in trouble for his antics in the classroom. The teacher eventually calls him to task, but he ends his day with encouragement and understanding.



Tomorrow-- Happy Birthday Dr Seuss

P.S.  You can also search previous blog entries for favorites I have already written about.  Some of my all time favorites I have already bogged about. Check them out too! Search using "Recommended" and "Suggested Reading."

Read Across America... Day 3- Acceptance

Continuing my preparation and celebration of March 2nd Read Across America. Remember each day I will recommend a few favorites for different ages, stages, and situations.  If any of them fit your needs, try them... check your library, interlibrary loan programs, online used books, and local bookstores.  Enjoy!!

Today:  Books about Acceptance

Accepting Others--

Splish, Splash!
by Sarah Weeks, Ill  Ashley Wolff
pub: HarperTrophy  [A My First I Can Read Book]
ISBN 0- 06-444282-9

This great little kids book about a bathtub that gets much too full, is a delightful way to start letting kids learn about accepting all kinds of people without judgment.








Accepting Life: 

Some Things are Scary
by Florence Parry Heide, Ill Jules Feiffer
pub: Candlewick Press
ISBN 0-7636-1222-7

This book takes the sting out of scary by showing all the ordinary reasons to be scared... like brushing your teeth with something you thought was toothpaste, but isn't  and the more serious fears.. like having your best friend move away. By the end readers realize that everyone feels scared, that it is an occasional but real part of life, and accepting that it is normal.



Tomorrow-- Special Issue Books  [running away, interrupting, misbehaving in school]

P.S.  You can also search previous blog entries for favorites I have already written about.  Some of my all time favorites I have already bogged about. Check them out too! Search using "Recommended" and "Suggested Reading."