Dental Health Month - Art Fun!

What better way to celebrate Dental Health Month than with a meaningful art activity! Begin by asking children to examine their mouths while looking in a mirror. Have them describe what they see. Children can practice math concepts by counting teeth.

Give children a small paper plate as shown above. You will see that we like to keep things tidy by doing art projects within the confines of a cookie sheet. This keeps the mess contained and allows children to organize materials.

Children can color or paint the paper plate pink.

Then have them use red to make a tongue.

Let them glue miniature marshmallows in their paper plate mouth to represent the number of teeth they have on that day!

Finally, ask children to fold their plate to make their creation look like a mouth!

Of course, you will want to finish by talking about the kinds of foods that are not healthy for teeth - like marshmallows!

Think about all of the skills you are encouraging: observation, fine motor (coloring, painting, and use of a glue bottle), one-to-one correspondence in math, along with verbal skills as children discuss their teeth.

Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.C.03, 2.F.02, 2.J.05, 2.K.01&02.
Head Start - I.A, B, & D; III.C; VIII.B; X.A.

Welcoming Newcomers!

Many of our youngest children may not follow the different stages of assimilation. They are young children for whom life is an adventure. But, a child may be impacted by his or her family’s reactions to living in a new country. Many of our children are from families who have recently made the United States their home. By understanding the stages of assimilation, we can provide support and understanding to families and better deal with children’s emotions in our classrooms and daycares.

Like many stage theories, people do not always move from one stage to another in a fluid sequence. We present these four stages below merely as a guide to help you understand your families. We use names for these stages that begin with an H, as they seem easier to remember.

When people first arrive in a new country, they go through what we might consider the Honeymoon Period. Everything is new and exciting. Families might explore, delight in the easy access to goods and services. They may enjoy thinking about all that is different and inviting.

After the initial excitement wear down, people move into a period that can be termed the Hostility Period. Newcomers to a country are realizing they can’t enjoy the foods they once did. They may be experiencing frustration with the language. At this point, people may want to surround themselves with people from their former country. They miss their homes along with family and friends they left behind. If families are in this phase, those that work with them can be extra understanding.

As people move into the Humor Period, they begin to negotiate their new culture with their former culture. They see the good in both. Families may make friends with other parents in the classroom. They may be more willing to try out their new language and even laugh at themselves when mistakes are made. This stage can last a long time. Some people never leave this period.

Finally, people move into the Home Period. They have accepted their new country and culture as their own. Families may speak of the new country as home. The new language is spoken fluently and both old and new cultures are valued.


Standards Alignment:
NAEYC – 2.A.04. & 2.D.01.
Head Start – IX. A., B., & C.

Math Is All Around!

This week our activity packet expands on the post from last week (below) about intrinsic motivation. Are you signed up to receive these FREE activities, available in English and Spanish? If not, please take a few seconds to get on our email list. All you have to do is type your email address in the box to the right. It's that easy! 

This week we want to share some math ideas with you. And that's what the weekly activity is about, too! Continuing on the theme of using children's interests to develop intrinsic motivation, we encourage you to take a close look at what your children play during outdoor time. This is a valuable time to better understand their interests and even to observe their language skills. It's the time and place to develop academic vocabulary in a meaningful way.

Let's look at an example. A few children might be kicking a ball around. Everyday these same children race to get a favorite playground ball out of the equipment box. Use this in a math lesson. You can talk compare its size to tennis balls, golf balls, ping pong balls, or even a bowling ball. Then continue by having children order the sizes. You can even order them by weight. Develop verbal math skills by having children discuss how this order is different than ordering them by size. 

Find other activities you see children engaging in on the playground. If you have a climbing structure, have the class measure the distance between rungs. This helps children see measurement in its real world context. Of course, lots of discussion about terms is helpful, too. Use academic vocabulary like inches, feet, or meters. This will help children develop a frame of reference. 

Some children like to gather natural materials outside. Help them use acorns, seedpods, etc. as real-life manipulatives to represent addition and subtraction problems. Or just have them line up fallen leaves and count them. 

Math is all around - we just have to look! What a great lesson to instill in children. 

Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.F.02 - 2.F.13.
Head Start -  X. A., B., D., & E.

Helping Children Develop Intrinsic Motivation

We know that our English Language Learners make more progress with their language skills when they are intrinsically motivated. This is also true for most children. So...the key is to develop children who want to learn for the joy of learning. Just how can we do this without constantly handing out stickers and other little prizes?

Research tells us that three traits need to be encouraged. These are competence, relatedness, and self-determination. Competence is developed when we help children to believe they can accomplish something. We can encourage and support children to develop good relationships with one another. Finally, we should help children initiate and continue activities on their own (self-determination). These are important goals to keep in mind for both preschool and kindergarten teachers along with children's families. 

How often do we ask children to work or play quietly? This may be counterproductive to developing intrinsic motivation. When children use private speech it shows they are engaged in something interesting. We want this! When children talk, this helps develop the three qualities described above. 

We can and should set realistic goals and objectives for children. When what we are asking is within a child's developmental abilities, he or she is more likely to succeed. This encourages the development of competence. A child will have the self-determination to complete an activity that has reasonable and age-appropriate expectations. The child will continue the activity and hopefully talk about it because the success gives the child a good feeling. This increases the traits discussed above.

We should avoid giving children rewards for anything and everything. These rewards take the place of the internal pleasure the child feels when he or she is working toward accomplishing a task. The reward becomes the source of pleasure. While rewards can still be given in a preschool or kindergarten classroom, we should avoid giving them for activities that children already like and do well. We want the child to focus on the joy he or she gets from the activity rather than on receiving a sticker!  

So, consider your use of rewards. How will you decide on handing out stickers? What can you change in your classroom to encourage more talk? Do some objectives need to be changed so that they are more realistic for the age? These are key questions as we assist children in developing intrinsic motivation. 

Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.B.03. & 2.B.04.
Head Start - II.B. & C.

Stages of Learning a New Language: Intermediate Fluency and Advanced Fluency

This week we complete our description of the five stages of second language acquisition by looking at the fourth stage, intermediate fluency, and the fifth stage, advanced fluency. Please look back to our December 20, 2016 post for the beginning of our language acquisition description.  

Students are considered to be in the intermediate fluency stage when they have a vocabulary of about 6000 English words. This doesn't mean they have a full grasp of the meaning of all of these words. Just like many preschoolers, young second language learners may not grasp the different homophones and homographs, like bark (the sound of a dog) and bark (of a tree).  But, these children are more willing to ask questions. When you listen, you can hear them speaking in more complex sentences but often these sentences contain grammar errors. They may not always understand how to use English syntax (the way English is organized into phrases and sentences). In a preschool classroom, you may not see much difference between your native English speakers and second language young learners as young children do not always know how to use verb tenses correctly. 

As preschool or kindergarten teachers, we may not see any of our children (first or second language learners) at the final stage of language acquisition, advanced fluency. In this stage, speakers use complex sentences and have a large vocabulary that is used correctly. You can see that any young child likely needs time to be in this stage of language acquisition. For older second language learners, the only apparent difference may be a hint of an accent and difficulty with idioms (raining cats and dogs). Often native English speakers have difficulty with idioms, too, at a young age. You can help with this by making a game of teaching these commonly used expressions. Use them a part of your calendar/opening instruction.

One important idea to remember is that as children acquire a second language, motivation is important. Those who are intrinsically motivated (they have their own desire to succeed) are more likely to make language attempts than those who are rewarded with stickers and little prizes (extrinsic motivation). To help children develop intrinsic motivation, we can design activities that take into account children's special interests. For example, if child is interested in dogs, make these animals part of a lesson. This way, a second language learner will be more motivated to participate. 

Please stay tuned for more ideas on teaching English Language Learners! 

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.A.04. & 2.D.01.

Head Start – IX. A., B., & C.

Stages of Learning a New Language: The Early Production and Speech Emergence Stages

Last week we described the first and very important stage of language acquisition, the silent period. This week we move forward to tell you about the next two stages of the five-step process. We also offer ideas teachers can use in their classrooms to help children as they acquire a second or even third language.

The second phase is called the early production stage. During this time, children are likely to understand and use about 1000 words. These are usually single words (nouns and verbs) along with simple phrases.

Children in the early production stage benefit from singing, playing musical games, participating in rhyming activities along with engaging in word plays. They can often respond to simple questions but do not always engage in conversations with native speakers. .

The third stage of language acquisition is the speech emergence stage. While not always grammatically correct, children try to chunk phrases into sentences. They often have a vocabulary of about 3000 words and are more likely to talk with native speakers.

In the classroom, it is more beneficial to give children in the speech emergence stage a good model of correct usage rather than correcting their attempts at speaking the new language. Children are able to understand basic texts when they have illustrations to support the content. As with the first two stages, pictures and comprehensible input are valuable teaching tools.

Stay tuned – next week we discuss the final stages of language acquisition. You will have knowledge to assist your ELLs in the New Year! 

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.A.04. & 2.D.01.

Head Start – IX. A., B., & C.

Stages of Learning a New Language: The Silent Period

Many of us work with English Language Learners (ELLs) and their families. To help us better understand how to help these children, Maggie’s Big Home will discuss the stages of second language acquisition over the next 3 weeks. We will describe the stages and offer suggestions as to how you can support ELLs in your classroom.

Most people (children and adults) who are immersed in a new language go through a Silent Period. This first stage of language acquisition is very important. Although it appears nothing is happening, key connections are being made. A silent period will vary in length. It can last from a few weeks to over a year.

There are several factors that can influence how long a silent period lasts. A child’s personality can play a big role, as some children are more outgoing than others. They feel comfortable in different situations and are not easily intimidated. Other children are naturally shy. We need to take into consideration individual personalities. Culture also plays a role. In some cultures, females may be expected to be quieter. This may influence how long a silent period lasts, too.

An important role for teachers is to realize that the silent period is a natural part of second language acquisition. Children are listening and processing. They are likely striving to understand what is being said to them. As teachers, we need to be sure children have the time they need. We should not force anyone to speak until they are ready. When we give children opportunities to take part in small group activities with peers, they are likely to feel more comfortable in trying out their new language.

Next week we will discuss the Early Production Stage and the Speech Emergence Stage.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.A.04. & 2.D.01.

Head Start – IX. A., B., & C.