Helping Your Child Start School

A new school year can make young children nervous, especially if they are entering a new environment. Whether they are starting preschool, kindergarten or first grade, some children may be worried about the new setting and the new experience, and there are things that parents and families can do to help their children make a successful transition.

• First, discuss the changes that will be taking place. Before the new school year begins, talk with your child about the changes in his daily routine. Together, you could make a chart illustrated with simple drawings of the new morning schedule. Talk about the exciting and nervous feelings that come along with trying something new. Reading and discussing books is a great way to make him comfortable with a new experience. It helps him see how other children beginning school have similar feelings of uncertainty and how they overcome them.
  
• In these days and weeks before school starts, help your child ease into the new environment and adjust to the new routine. Come visit. This will help her become comfortable in her new environment while you are with her. Have her start her school-year bed time and morning routine a few days early. This may prevent her from being confused, groggy, or cranky on the first day of school. Arrange a playdate with another child from her class, preferably one-on-one, so that she knows someone in her class and will be more comfortable.
  
• As school gets closer, your child can help get ready for the first day. Let him lay out his clothes or pack a back pack for the first day. If possible, arrive at the new school early on the first few days to give him time to settle in. Use this time walking or riding to school together to talk about what he can expect that day. Always say good-bye, and let him know you will see him at the end of the day. Your child will have an easier time with separation if he's confident you will return to pick him up.
  

Problems may arise during the first few days of school, even with appropriate preparation, so be ready to handle them in a matter-of-fact way. Approach the new year with confidence, and your child will, too. Take time to make sure your child adapts to his new environment, clearly explain the changes around him, and listen if he has doubts or fears.

From Early Years Are Learning Years, a regular series from NAEYC providing families with tips for giving their young children a great start on learning. Parts of this information excerpted from So Many Goodbyes, by J. B. McCracken.

Books to read with your child:

Timothy Goes to School: Rosemary Wells (Dial Books for Young Children)

Will I have a Friend?: Miriam Cohen, illustrated by Lillian Hoban (Macmillan)

What other back to school books do you recommend?

Jammin' With Josh

Welcome to Josh Shriber, who will be joining the TBS team as music teacher and Tot Shabbat song leader. Many of you know Josh as the Director of Jammin' With You. He also travels to schools and synagogues around the area teaching music and leading Shabbat services for adults and children.

When Josh was three years old, he couldn't keep his hands off his grandmother's piano — so she moved that piano to his house. His mom searched all of Worcester, high and low, to find him a piano teacher at such a young age. After some time, she finally found the only teacher in area who would accept a student so young, for which Josh is eternally grateful!

Josh received his first guitar for his 13th birthday and began teaching himself from songbooks of his favorite musicians. In college, Josh started his first band — Suspect — which toured the east coast alongside bands such as The Samples, and State Radio. After graduating from Wheaton College in 2000, Josh began giving piano and guitar lessons to support himself while playing in the band. His popularity as a teacher grew throughout his local towns of Newton and Wellesley, and thus, Jammin’ With You! was born.

So get ready to jam!

Creating Memories

How do we as a community develop rituals that create memories? "The human family thrives on rituals and celebrations...Rituals may be simple or elaborate and consciously or not, they are created with a longing to honor or create a memory, often employing symbolic gestures or objects. Children quickly come to understand the notion of a party, but the symbolic importance of a ritual may not be uncovered until they explore this memory later in their lives." This explanation of the role of rituals comes from Learning Together With Young Children, the text the TBSCC faculty has been studying this summer. Specifically, we've been concentrating on a chapter focused on creating a nurturing classroom culture. As we think through using school rituals to create memories, we'd also like to consider children's home rituals. What do you do at home that creates memories for your child? Please share an idea with us.

The Summer of Table Lowering

Jose and the rest of the TBS maintenance staff are busily lowering the classroom tables this summer. Wondering why? When our occupational therapist consultant visited last spring, she recommended we lower the tables to provide the correct support as children are learning to use their fine motor muscles for writing, drawing, and other focused tasks.

If you have an adjustable desk or table at home you can check it, too. Have your child sit at the table or desk, place his elbow on the tabletop and rest his chin in his palm. If his chin points upward, the table is too high. If his chin points downward, the table is the right height.

Rosh Hashanah Card Making: A Family Activity

Rosh Hashanah is coming! It is a Jewish custom to send greeting cards to family and friends at the New Year. For a homemade card:

Assemble a supply of plain white computer paper and pencils. Distribute paper to children and ask them to draw anything that makes them think of Rosh Hashanah (things like a shofar, a Torah, the world, a family eating a holiday meal). For younger children use stickers, stamps, or an apple cut in half and dipped into paint.

Assign a greeting to go with each picture, such as an original message, a line from a Rosh Hashanah prayer or a quotation that is meaningful to you. At a local copy store, make copies of the drawings created by your children— enough for your list of New Year card recipients.

Now arm your children with crayons and markers and have them color in the drawings. Fold the completed cards in thirds to fit into a business-size envelope. Instead of using plain white envelopes, consider using a bright color.

Happy New Year—L’Shanah Tovah!

From The Jewish Parent Page of the Union for Reform Judaism

What would you do with hundreds of sticks?

In this morning's closet clean out, we found an enormous bin of wooden craft sticks. So it's time to get creative! Ask your children, remember back to your own childhood, or think of something new. What ideas do you have for interesting things to do with sticks? Comment below with some ideas to get us started.

Games for Waiting

Waiting can be hard for children and adults. What can you and your child do to have fun and learn while waiting for your food to arrive in a restaurant, for the bus to come, or in a long line at the store? Try playing one of these word games. It can make the time pass more pleasantly and help your preschooler build valuable skills. Your child can learn how to focus on and describe objects, make decisions, solve word problems, persist at a task, and recognize colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. They will also learn that different people can see things in different ways.

I Spy.
The first player looks around and chooses an object that all players can see and then provides one clue: “I spy with my little eye something that is green [or round or striped . . . ].” The other players take turns guessing the object. The player who guesses correctly starts the next round.

The Rainbow Game.
One person chooses a color, and the others look for something of that color. When everyone spots something of the first color, another player chooses a new one. Keep playing until you run out of colors. Try playing with shapes, numbers, or letters as well.

Would You Rather?
One player starts by asking a simple “Would you rather . . .” question, such as “Would you rather play Uno or Go Fish?” “. . . eat an apple or a pear?” “. . . take a bath or a shower?” or “. . . have a picnic with an anteater or a raccoon?” Add explanations for the choices, if you wish.

I’m Thinking of an Animal.
One person thinks of an animal and gives clues so others can guess what it is. The best clues narrow the search but still allow for multiple possibilities. “I’m thinking of an animal that is black and white” works better than “an animal with legs” (although the second option is typical of young children’s first clues). If no one guesses correctly, give additional clues until someone does.

From Teaching Young Children

Thank you Maria!

A few of the many things we appreciate and love about Maria:

• Encourages independence
• Great listener
• Asks the children questions in a way that just get it
• Always there with a listening ear (for the staff and children)
• Shares everything (materials,curriculum, ideas, time etc...)
• Empowers the children with choices
• A master with curriculum (planning and implementing)
• Team player
• Role model for us all

On behalf of the entire Summer Fun staff we want to thank you for all your time and energy that went into making the summer program such a big success!

Go Vertical

Want an easy way to develop your child's pre-writing skills?  Go vertical!  When the occupational therapist visited TBSCC last spring, she recommended we provide more opportunities for children to work on vertical surfaces.  Vertical surfaces can make an average activity into one that develops writing skills. They require your child to sit or stand upright, strengthening core body muscles.  As your child’s arm moves against the pull of gravity she lifts her arms to reach for the activity and the arm and shoulder muscles get a workout, too.

Vertical surfaces also place the hand in the best position for developing wrist strength and stability. The vertical surface requires your child to extend the wrist back. An extended wrist is the position used for most mature grasps during handwriting. Unlike with a horizontal surface, when the wrist is extended while using a vertical surface, your child’s thumb moves out of the palm of the hand. Once the thumb is out, it can move in an opposing manner with the other fingers for precise handling of small objects, like a pencil or paint brush. This position supports the hand in a balanced use of the hand’s intrinsic muscles, which are the small muscles responsible for the fine, skillful movements used in writing and cutting tasks. When playing on a horizontal surface like a table, children will often place their wrists in a bent position, which does not allow for skillful use of these small hand muscles.

So join us.  Go vertical!