Mrs. Wishy-Washy

Mrs. Wishy-Washy

Written by Joy Cowley and Illustrated by Elizabeth Ann Fuller.

McGraw-Hill, 1980

"Oh, lovely mud, said the duck", 
"Oh look at you!.. In the tub"
"In went the Duck, wishy-washy, wishy-washy"

A great book for repetitive vocabulary, especially with our younger ones. Fill the sink with warm soapy water (or the bathtub) and re-enact the book with washable toys from around the house. If they're in the bathtub, you can read the book to them from a safe distance as they follow along with the toys. When it's time to do dishes, you can do an extender: "In goes the bowl, wishy-washy, wishy-washy", "In goes the spoon, wishy-washy, wishy-washy".

Crankenstein and Dealing with Emotions

Crankenstein

Written by Samantha Berger and Illustrated by Dan Santat

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2014

Crankenstein just feels cranky! Especially when nothing seems to be going his way. This is one loved by the students in our class. Humorous and relate-able, it catches their attention and brings up a great conversation about dealing with our feelings.

Other books for teaching emotional awareness (and maybe even better at it) include: 
The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
The Way I Feel Books by Albert Whitman
Today I Feel Silly: and other Moods that make my Day by Jaime Lee Curtis
When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Really Angry by Molly Bang
Here's a link to a few more http://www.babble.com/
I went to a conference in Seattle at the Talaris Learning institute on helping on children develop high EQs (Emotional Quotient), which effects them in every other area of development including language and cognitive (academics).  The higher you child's EQ, the higher quality of life they will have.

Although the habits of creating a healthier emotional environment may take some time to create, the steps are simple.

1.  Be Aware of Emotions
Recognize that they are natural, important and learn to read your child's.

2. Connect with Your Child
Try not to dismiss or ignore emotions but use them as a teaching time and a time to talk through them, catching them before the esculate

3. Listen to Your Child
Take your child's emotions seriously, not criticizing them for feeling them, empathize but showing you understand them.

4. Name Emotions
Name them when you feel them, when you recognize how they're feeling and naming all types, whether it's happy, sad, angry etc. Naming emotions soothes a child who is upset.

5. Find Good Solutions
It's okay for a child to be sad or angry but that doesn't mean they should 'get their way or that you can always make the problem go away. Find a solution.

For example, for a younger child:
You're sad. You want the slide but it's time to go. I'll hold you instead (if they like to be held).

For example, for an older child:
I see that you are sad. You want to keep playing but we need to go. It's okay to be upset but we still have to leave. What is something fun we can do when we get home?

Really, you're teaching them, it's okay to feel this way but you still can't get want you want/need. Sometimes it's because they can be sad about something but if you told them 'no', stick with it. Somethings can't be changed. 'Your sad that you left your toy on the plane but we can't get it back'.

For more information, visit: www.parentingcounts.org

You Are a Lion

You Are a Lion

And Other Fun Yoga Poses

Written by Taeeun Yoo

Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012

A great place to be on a hot summers afternoon just might be in the shade under a great big oak tree or in your darkened, air-conditioned living room listening to classical music as you strive to calm down the kids. This might be a good book for actually making that happen. Full of animal yoga poses, this book is both healthy for the body and fun. Did you know that Yoga is beneficial for kids? First, it teaches them healthy breathing patterns and secondly, it teaches them body awareness (if you're familiar with sensory processing in children, you'll know this calms them down as well. Hooray!) For a easy-to-read handout on this, try this link (click here). 

Activity: Read through the book together (yes darken those drapes and turn on that music). Have fun posing like the different animals in the book and practice breathing, counting 1-10. Have them do the counting with you. Then let them decide different animals you can pose like. Have fun either relaxing in the few minutes of peace you might have or giggling as you try and mimic each other and the animals in the book. 

I Ain't Gonna Paint

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More

Written by Karen Beaumont and Illustrated by David Catrow

HMH Books for Young Readers, 2005

A fun about rhyming (great for phonemic awareness that contributes to early reading), colors, creativity and body parts!. The grammar may not be the best model for our kiddos but the rest of the book makes up for it, making a fun, engaging and delightful book.

You can read the book while your child follows along painting in the bathtub. Here are some bathtub friendly paint recipes. They call for food coloring, but to insure 'washability' if you have washable paints, I would encourage you to substitute them in for the food coloring.

Bathtub Paint Recipe 1:

1/2 Cup of Cornstarch

1/2 Cup of Water

1 Cup of Dish or Hand Soap

Dye/food coloring

Bathtub Paint Recipe 2:

Can of shaving cream

Food coloring

Muffin Tin to mix them in

Bathtub Paint Recipe 3:

1 tbl cornstarch

4-6 pumps of baby shampoo

2-3 drops food coloring

1-2 tsp water

Round is a Mooncake

Round is a Mooncake

Written by Roseanne Thong and Illustrated by Grace Lin

Chronicle Books, 2000

A book about finding shapes in the world around you. This little girl with a Chinese Heritage finds them in her round mooncake, square name chop, rectangle abacus and the round lanterns around her. 

Take a shape hunting walk around the house, the backyard, at grandma's house or somewhere else fun like the playground. How many can you find? How are they the same or different including colors, sizes, dimensions? You could even cut out paper shapes and write the names on each one, using them to 'match' shapes for kids that might not yet distinguish between each of the shapes. Want to make it challenging? Don't forget the more difficult shapes from rectangles and ovals to maybe even trapezoids. 

As you read the story, talk about what might be culturally significant to this girl and her family. What are some traditions and items you have in your home that might be different or unique to someone else?

It Looked Like Spilt Milk

It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Written and Illustrated by Charles Shaw.

Scholastic, 1988

A great book for vocabulary and discussion. The simple pictures show an object on each page making the reader think about whether or not it's just 'spilt milk'.

Activity: Spill some milk. Give your child(ren) a straw and see if he or she can blow it into different shapes and guess what they make. This can also be done to make a permanent picture with thinned (water-downed) white paint on dark paper. Blowing with the straw is also great for oral-motor development.

Do some sky-gazing. Lay outside under the clouds and guess what each of the shapes could be. If your child has an active imagination, encourage stories to evolve with these new characters.

One Duck Stuck

One Duck Stuck

Written by Phyllis Root, Illustrated by Jane Chapman

Candlewick Press, 1998

"Five Frogs plop to the Duck. No luck, still stuck".

It's time to get dirty. Start with a tub of mud. If you don't want to get too dirty or for a little more fun, a tub of chocolate pudding works great.
Start by reading the book together and then 'making' your own mud, measuring out the ingredients (whether it be dirt and water or pudding mix and milk). Mix together. Use toys from the house to re-enact the story. "Two fish, tails going swish, swim to the duck. No luck, duck stays stuck, deep in the muck, down by the fishy, squishy marsh."

Encourage using the phrases "Help, help, who can help?"

Through out the week, when you need help (like cleaning up toys) you can encourage them to help but saying, "Help, help, who can help?"