From the Co-Directors: Books and Stories in Preschool Claire Bainer & Liisa Hale As the days cool down nothing is sweeter than a cozy snuggle with a good story to read. As adults we take such pleasure reading the classics to our children —The Little Engine that Could, Good Night Moon, Make Way for Ducklings – remembering the feeling of being held and read to almost more than the story. 50 years ago there was a much more limited selection of children’s books, which is one reason so many of us recall the same ones. Good children’s books align with the child’s stage of development; the best ones also reflect the child’s language development and the child’s interests. The number of books available for young children in this generation is overwhelming, allowing us to be very selective in what we use at BlueSkies. Books for the youngest children are best when they are about things they know and have experience with. Short and clear language, nouns and verbs naming common places, objects, and activities, and straightforward representational illustrations make fun and interesting board books for the youngest ones. These days many stories published in board book format were actually written for three and four year olds which creates confusion for buyers – though the format makes them seem like they are for toddlers, the toddlers may sit through the story enjoying your cozy company with little interest in the book. Teachers begin teaching children to love books by helping them know that along with being interesting, books bring you pleasant cozy experiences. Babies interact with the world, so cloth books and board books are interactive with squeakers, flaps, crinkly pages, and poems with hand motions and things to touch like Pat the Bunny. The book’s format meets the baby where he is with an active sensory experience, a cozy lap, and a shared focus on something interesting. When the language acquisition drive moves ahead of the physical development drive, books build vocabulary— individual words like CUP or BALL next to a good picture of the object. By 18 -30 months children’s books can introduce a simple plot covering a common experience like going to bed, a birthday party, or a car ride to visit grandma. Look for stories with about 6 to 10 words on a page, illustrations that tell the story and words that describe sounds like whoosh and clang. The teacher’s goal for story time is that the children learn to love being in a small group and listening, so she keeps it short and chooses books that will really engage the children. Familiar topics allow the language to be more interesting to build vocabulary with descriptive language. Wheels whirl, leaves crackle, trains whistle and go clickity-clack down the track. Stories with a tune, like The Wheels on the Bus or Old MacDonald are also compelling introductions to books for children this age. As children move into their threes and young fours, books about more complex real things are very popular: trains, garbage trucks , grandparents January 2014 Upcoming Events Thur. Jan 2 BlueSkies re-opens Thur. Jan 9 Parent Fund Development Committee Meeting 6:15 - 7:30 p.m Tue. Jan 14 Parent Services Committee Meeting 6:15 - 7:30 p.m. Fri. Jan 17 Ma’s last day Mon. Jan 20 Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday In This Issue P2 From the P3 Co-Directors Snapshots Birthday Books Annoucements Co-Directors P4 Continued Board of P5 Directors P6 Ma’s Retirement A Tale of Two P7 Friends Page 1 Co-Directors Report Cont... and extended family, weddings, new babies, going to preschool. Classics for this age are Harry the Dirty Dog or Umbrella or The Big Red Barn. These stories are clear with short sentences; rhymes, rhythm a beat, a chorus or repeated phrases all make the stories come alive and align with the child’s stage in language development. Many children’s books are written to appeal to adults (they are the ones who buy and read the books). Books that are cute or clever, or convey a moral, may appeal to adults but may not align with the child’s stage of brain development. Generally preschool teachers avoid books with illustrations of animals acting like people. We want children to know that books are one of the places people go to get information. When children are four-and-a-half or five years old, and are curious about what is real and pretend, these fanciful stories align better with the child’s interest and understanding. Beloved stories like Peter Rabbit so thoughtfully designed to fit in child sized hands is really a story about deciding to do something you’ve been told not to with innuendos that this little bunny has been living on the edge and being naughty for some time, an idea beyond most younger children who end up in scrapes more by mistake rather than by intention, so even though it is often the first story new parents get for their baby it is really a book for four or five year olds. In books we say and use words differently from the way we use them in everyday conversation. Language is richer, perhaps more playful, and the child is required to listen more carefully to catch the subtle sounds and distinctions between words. Four-anda-half and five year olds really love language; they invent and repeat silly words, they rhyme, they chant, they make up songs. They are curious about abstract concepts and ideas, what is real and what is not. This is an age for stories that are more fanciful and have longer sentences, and contain more abstract and linked ideas for children to remember and hold in their minds as they listen. In these stories animals dressed as people might do very unusual things like take their spots off to dry after a swim – a joke that makes sense only to children who understand that it couldn’t really happen. Folk and fairy tales are appropriate at this age. At four-and- a-half many children do continue to want to know the facts, sentences can get longer and more complex as they Page 2 introduce even more vocabulary; the book in the classroom are about pollywogs, train cars, poetry, and waiting for a new baby.. The teacher recites lines from the stories and the poems as appropriate while the children play. Nonsense stories and creative use of language Once there was an elephant that tried to use the telephant and stories like Rikki Tikki Tembo (a little boy with a very long name) are popular and delight children in this age group. As a rule of thumb a good preschool book has only about 20 pages with about three or four sentences on a page. Illustrations should be clear and should help the child follow the narrative (so abstract or highly stylized art is not the best preschool illustrations as the pictures augment the story e ); the pictures enrich and deepen the story, extending the text visually. Around four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half years illustrations can get smaller and less clear, and the amount of text can increase; soon chapter books with only a small picture here and there help children learn to create their own pictures in their minds as they listen. While it is nice to converse about the story as you read it is also nice for children to learn to focus and listen, to learn to wait and wonder, and watch and see; story time should include all of this at different times. Story time is an opportunity to connect, to slow down to kid time, and enjoy time with a child. Teachers might tell the children “Today I’m going to read this all the way through before we talk about it.” That is particularly important with a book like Up and Down on the Merry-go-Round where the rhythm of the words is a big part of its value; stopping and starting interferes with that. But there are also books where the children will get a lot more out of them if the teacher stops to discuss a confusing word or new concept in the middle – “What do you think it means when it says ‘the girl flew down the hill?’ Does she have wings?” Children can “get lost in a story” so it is important to remember that what strikes some children as funny can scare others; if a story makes you feel sad it is likely your child is sad also. If you suspect your child is jumping to conclusions or confused about the story, that book is probably too advanced for him, so stop and choose another one. continued on page 4 Calille in the Baby House with parents Michael & Jessica Goodbye & Good Luck m Ma Leong, Director of Support Services. Christina C., Teacher, Baby House Birthday s & g oin g gs in Welcome Books Grandfather Twilight from Marco for his 4th birthday. Birthday books and CD’s are displayed in the front office and can be purchased for BlueSkies in honor of a child’s birthday or any other special occasion. co Teacher Feature: Benjamin Haywood IV by: Teresha Freckleton-Petite, parent Benjamin Haywood IV, affectionately called Ben by everyone under 4 feet, began working at BlueSkies in 1998. What started as an after school job for a 16 year old has turned into a rewarding career for this early childhood educator. Ben is originally from Oakland and currently resides in Emeryville. When he isn’t hanging out with his girlfriend and helping his 11 year-old adjust to her first year of middle school, he watches the Warriors play and tries to attend as many games as possible. You can find Ben on the play yard at the beginning of each school day greeting the children in his charge. It’s the favorite part of his day at BlueSkies. Ben’s mother, Janice, and sister, Sarah, also work at BlueSkies. His daughter is a BlueSkies alumna and his niece and nephew are in the Homeroom and Baby House. You could say BlueSkies runs in their family! Let’s learn more about Ben’s special connection to BlueSkies: Q: What is your teaching background and experience? A: I've worked in every age group except the Baby House. I've spent the most time in the Todds (for about 7 years) and the School Room. Q: What do you like most about your job? A: I like that every day is a challenge and it never gets boring. Q: What do you think is special about BlueSkies? A: BlueSkies is special because we value that each child is unique and we do our best to adapt our teaching to each individual Q: What is your favorite part of the day at BlueSkies? A: My favorite part of the day is the early morning. I like to prepare, greet children, find out a little about their morning/day to set them up for success. Q: What is your favorite children’s book to read out loud? A: My favorite children's book is probably The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein. Q: What achievement are you most proud of? A: It is rewarding to see the fruits of your labor pay off when you have helped a child reach a milestone, however minor it may be. Q: What is the single best piece of advice you can give parents of preschoolers? A: Take your time and take advice but also trust your instincts because you are the expert of your own child! Page 3 Co-Directors Report Cont... Reading in silly voices and calling attention to yourself as the reader may be entertaining, but can also distract from the story. Again, it is good to know your goal for this experience. In the nursery school our goal is for the child to create his own relationship with the story; the story experience is designed to build imagination and love of language so the teachers are careful not to behave in ways that draw attention away from those things as they read to them. But if you’re trying to keep a wiggly kid entertained on an airplane, silly voices might be just the ticket! Liisa and I carefully select books for the children’s library. We look for books that are going to work for the age groups and the group setting of BlueSkies, have good illustrations and text. We do read fairy tales and nursery rhymes but avoid Disney versions because the movies are so imprinted in the children’s thinking that the children can become fixated on copying the movie word for word, which interferes with creative, reciprocal play. At the end of the children’s last year here in the Schoolroom we bring out early reading books like Hop On Pop with their simple stories and repetitive three letter words, written for children who have just started to read. We save these books so they can be used for the purpose for which they were written; their simple plots and vocabulary really don’t help expand the thinking of the curious preschooler but they are wonderful “I can do it!” books when the time comes. For the oldest children at the end of the school year we begin reading story books with no pictures or with a small picture in the corner of a page. These books require the child to have enough words to be able to imagine a forest with a road in it and hold this picture in their mind as the story unfolds. This takes a pretty mature thought process and makes us realize that a story like Winnie the- Pooh is really a book for a pretty big child who can imagine what all those characters and adventures might look like in their mind and remember how fun and silly younger children can be- a story experience very different from what it has become in the current cartoons. Learning to love books is one of the ways children learn to love learning – it starts in the cozy loving cuddle that is more about having you all to themselves for special undivided time and then extends to the story. There is nothing cuter than seeing a group of one-year-olds all sitting on the rug reading to themselves, or an infant teacher reading to a rosy-cheeked baby just up from nap. The children in the Todds sit so seriously reading, now and then needing to taste the pictures with a three fingered pinch punctuated with a “yum!” Playroom children sing the words back and correct you if you miss a beat in their favorite story. Homeroom children offer to read to you, repeating stories word for word and tricking us all into wondering if they really can read. And the Schoolroom kids often can read. They laugh and contribute to the rhymes, “Nosy rosy toesy!” they sing out. They ask hard, thoughtful questions and wonder “what if,” or they curl up in the book area in the middle of the busy classroom and take a moment to center and balance themselves before they rejoin their buddies off on another adventure, up the slide and down the jungle gym. Books are interwoven into their lives as we hope they always will be – even if they’re on a screen rather than paper. Page 4 $30,737.32 & Counting Raised for Scholarships! Thank you, BlueSkies parents and friends, for raising money for scholarships through the annual Fall Mailer! The campaign officially ends in February, but we have already surpassed our $30,000 fundraising goal. Stay tuned for an update on the final numbers in the February Banner. Extra kudos go out to Parent Fundraising co-chairs Ellie and Brooke for their help reaching out to our Alumni and to all of the volunteers who helped with addressing and stuffing envelopes. We could not have done it without you! We need help from a few good parents for one great cause! Every year, parent volunteers host a Silent Auction and Raffle fundraiser, to benefit the BlueSkies scholarship fund. It is the most important fundraising event of the year and significantly increases the amount of tuition assistance awarded to families. A few of our volunteers help solicit donations, but most auction planning jobs are behind-the-scenes tasks that help produce a successful event. The committee needs people to do the following jobs: • Design print • Donor • • • • • Database materials Photobook production Raffle Coordination Class Projects CatalogProduction Acknowledgement • Management Decorations & Displays The 2014 auction date is May 17 (it will be a Saturday afternoon or evening adult only event). Please help make the 2014 Auction a huge success! The Auction Committee will meet: Thursday, January 9, 6:15-7:30 PM Copenhagen Classroom. Click here to sign-up online For more information or to rsvp, please feel free to contact Leisel Whitlock, Development Manager, at leiselp@blueskies4children.org. Dinner and childcare are both free, but we need to know if you plan to attend. Board of Directors: Tanya Veverka, President Avis Kowalewski, Vice President John Kinnaman, Treasurer Khadija Fredericks, Secretary Liisa Hale, BlueSkies Co-Director Claire Bainer, BlueSkies Co-Director Isavane Samanna Dawn Riordan Kristi Schutjer-Mance Molly Rosen Linda Copenhagen Peter Landreth Gerry Fabella Darren Whitfield Zoe Woods Parent Committee Chairs Michael & Kristina Paluck, Buildings & Grounds Garrett Schwartz & Julie Fallon, Parent Services Ellie Gladstone & Brooke Abola, Fundraising BlueSkies Program Directors Ameena Muhammed, Hedco Infant Toddler Center Janice Haywood, Ellen Sherwood Nursery School Ma Leong, Support Services Leisel Whitlock-Petersen, Fund Development Manager BlueSkies-isms Parents often hear their children using phrases that they suspect they learned at BlueSkies. Each month’s “BlueSkies-ism” will include a phrase the teachers use all the time at BlueSkies, and some context to help you use the phrase at home too. “Here’s a place for that to go!” If children are throwing something you don’t want them to throw, suggest a place to put the object – your pocket is an interesting place in the mind of the child and leaves you in control of the object! Other interesting suggestions might be in daddy’s shoe or in a bucket, or under the chair. As children get older (around 4) you can build a connection between throwing and developing skill and control;, then suggesting a “small throw” or“big throw” or to throw into or over something are all good Page 5 Happy Retirement to Ma January 17 – 7:30 – 10, Copenhagen Room, Goobye Coffee for Ma Ma Kyin Ei Leong was the first person that Anne Copenhagen hired to work at BlueSkies (AOCS in those days). Ma recalls “There were just 3 babies, and I thought this job wouldn’t last long – they couldn’t pay me to work full time just to feed 3 babies.” Of course Anne’s vision that we would grow big enough to need a full-time cook came to fruition, and Ma has stayed very busy for all of her 30 years here. While the housekeeping functions have moved out of her job now, for many years she was cooking for 90 children in a 10’x10’ kitchen and also managing a crew of 4 housekeepers and assistants. In those days she also made a weekly trip to the supermarket with the bookkeeper to pile 3 shopping carts high with the week’s supplies, and every few weeks an additional trip to fill a minivan at Costco. rice” which finally became too retro for the Bay Area’s foodie sensibilities. We will miss Ma’s love and care so generously extended to all of us big and small, but there is nobody who better deserves a happy retirement. Please stop into the Copenhagen Room on Ma’s last morning, Friday, January 17, to wish her well (and have a cup of coffee). We are very pleased to introduce our new cook, Brenda Smith. Brenda has a varied and extensive resume – she has catered, owned a restaurant, and managed food service for a high school cafeteria serving over 1000 students! She is excited about this opportunity to cook for the little ones and be instrumental in forming their view of how the world should be. She wants their world of food to continue to be healthy and wholesome, but we also know that as time goes by our menu will continue to evolve. We look forward to many years of collaboration. Brenda will overlap with Ma for two weeks to learn the unique systems of BlueSkies, and the children will keep on getting the food they know and love. Though we truly value all her years of hard work, the most important legacy that Ma leaves is her commitment to feeding the children well. She really cares that the Wobblies get carrots that are perfectly steamed to be chewed with 6 teeth, and that are just the right size and shape for chubby little fingers to hold. She gives the preschoolers a gentle introduction to her Burmese cuisine through the popular Chicken Curry Stew – but on other days she turns out favorites like quesadillas or spaghetti. She has changed menus with the times – for many years all our alumni children reminisced about Ma’s lunch of “hot dogs and Thanks From the Staff The teachers, housekeepers, cooks and office workers were thrilled to receive the biggest holiday gift ever from parents this year! The staff members recognize that families are already paying significant fees each month, and the fact that people reached deep into their pockets to ensure a special holiday gift to them means a lot. A most sincere thank you goes to each of you who contributed. Page 6 Dear AOCS & BlueSkies Families: The following article was kindly sent by Kathy Schueler and Linda Pichhi in honor of the school’s 30 year anniversary. They are the parents of two girls who were friends in that first group of children who went through BlueSkies. (As many of you know, BlueSkies for Children began its life called the Association of Children’s Services, or AOCS.) Just as you all are forming friendships with the parents of your child’s friends, these families became friends through the school and have kept in touch over the years, as have their girls. I remember these families with such fondness; their children were among the first students that were “mine” as a young teacher, and I learned and grew from knowing them. These families also were kind, thoughtful families who helped in the years that BlueSkies was a struggling start-up school. Kathy was on our Board for many years; her husband Milt and I painted the Nursery School classrooms together with a team of volunteer parents. The Pichhi-Pojmans helped also, consulting and guiding our practice and quality. In my mind’s eye I can still see these girls playing in their hide-out in the big blocks, and deep in conversation while painting at the easel. I asked Kathy to write something for the Banner about Beth and she offered to take Linda out for coffee to see if they could write something together about their girls. This view into a future no one could have imagined back 30 years ago reminds us how little we know what twists and turns our children’s lives will take! We know you will keep in touch with each other and with us as your children grow, just as these families have. It is a great pleasure for us to hear from our alumni and to know what everyone is up to. From Preschool to Politics: A Tale of Two AOCS/BlueSkies Friends By Kathy Schueler and Linda Picchi Natalie Pojman and Beth Schueler entered AOCS as toddlers in 1984. at ying ing at Like so many AOCS/BlueSkies kids, they loved swinging in the yard, d u t S ork rd? W use? finger painting, eating Ma’s chicken, trying Bob’s science experiments, “Wh arva hite Ho H a t do yo think and building forts with the big brown blocks. Their friendship blossomed u the W w when e’ll be do ing we ar during those early years and, even though their educational paths e 30? ” diverged in the ensuing years, they remain close friends today. In fact, Beth headed from Cambridge to Washington DC in early November last year where she connected with Natalie. After working at the Center for American Progress and the 2008 Democratic Convention, Natalie landed a position at the White House. Natalie’s last day working for the Domestic Policy Council was the end of October. Beth will be taking some time from her studies at Harvard to help Natalie celebrate her new position in the White House at the Department of Health and Human Services where Natalie will become a Deputy Liaison. After completing a Master’s in the Politics of Education at Columbia a couple years ago, Beth and her family enjoyed touring the West Wing with Natalie. Beth spent several years as Operations Manager at Education Unlimited in Berkeley, pre-college program offered for high school students in a rare public-private partnership. While living in Manhattan, Beth worked for the New York City Council, while going to school at Columbia. Beth is currently pursuing a doctorate in Education Policy at Harvard, participating in an interdisciplinary fellowship on social and educational inequality. The two friends will get together in D.C. to celebrate Natalie’s new job when Beth is in DC presenting a paper at a conference on Education Policy. While Beth and Natalie undoubtedly didn’t daydream about Harvard or the White House while they were at AOCS/BlueSkies, they flourished in the nurturing environment of imaginative play. Their families are certain that the well-designed program and extraordinary staff at AOCS contributed to the confidence and personal awareness for the paths they took as young women. Both Natalie and Beth speak of AOCS with great fondness and gratitude - as do their parents! Our dear friend and former AOCS parent Kathy Schueler passed away suddenly in November. Kathy was 62. She is survived by her husband Milton and her two children Beth and Jacob. Kathy and I had been working on the article, and its final version was in my inbox on the day I received word of her death. She was a wonderful friend to BlueSkies and to all who knew her. We will miss her and send our love to her family as they move through this challenging time. ~ Claire Page 7