Farm Life

Hello, teachers!

I don’t know about yours, but our students lately have been fascinated by growing things. They love digging in the garden on the playground and watching plants come up. We’re starting a container garden soon, so I’ll edit this post with pictures once they start coming up!

And where do we grow lots of plants? On farms, of course! It doesn’t help that I have been playing a LOT of Stardew Valley lately, so my mind is right there on the farm along with the kids. Come join our class as we journey onto a farm and get a glimpse of what life is like there.  

Art

One thing you can tell about our classroom is that we love art. For farm week, we let the kids do some marble painting on some cow shapes. 

The next day, we started a project to work on cutting skills, something our kids really need practice with. They tore and cut green paper, then glued it all over a giant piece of white paper. The next day, we provided cutouts of farm animals and encouraged the students to choose some and glue them on. Those who were able cut out their own animals. As you can see from the picture below, our farm animals don’t like to follow the rules of gravity!

We also sang Old MacDonald had a farm and encouraged them to draw their own animals. We put them into a class book called “Old MacDonald had a Farm!” They loved looking at their pictures in the book and singing the song.

Then, since some of them were interested in flowers, we printed out some paintings of flowers. The kids loved looking at them and were inspired to make their own paintings. I didn't get any pictures of these, but one girl took the time to put her green right below a spot of red, just like the painting.

Motor Skills

This was a fun one. Have you ever pretended to milk a cow using a rubber glove? No? You should try it. I know it’s one that keeps popping up on blogs and that’s because it’s so much fun for the kids and great for fine motor strength! We mixed up a little bit of white paint with water, then filled a rubber glove with it, tied it off, and poked tiny holes in the fingers. The students loved squeezing the fingers and figuring out the best way to get out the “milk.” Some of them got literal and thought it really was milk! We let them smell it to find out the truth.

Music

Something that worked well with music this week was printing out the lyrics to “5 Little Pigs.” We went through the song a few times as the kids kept requesting it. Then we posted the lyrics on the wall. Throughout the week, children continued to request it and we saw some of them pointing to the lyrics on the wall as they sang it to themselves.

Math

Do you know how easy it is to create grid and number games? It’s so easy, I ended up making 2: one is a grid game in which children roll a die and put that number of horses in the barn squares using one-to-one correspondence. The kids loved counting the pips on the die, counting the horses, and seeing how many horses still needed to go in their barns. Click on the picture below to download it for free!

The other one is a numeral matching game. Students matched the number of eggs in a basket with the numeral on a chicken. To help them out, I also wrote the numerals on the backs of the eggs so that children could match them directly. Self-help skills! Click on the picture below to download it. This one's free, too!

Science

I saved the best for last. We told the story of the Little Red Hen and had lots of fun deciding whether or not the animals should get any bread at the end of the story. Then, we made our own bread. But first, we made our own butter.

We put heavy cream into a recycled container and shook. “Shake it off, shake it off!” Ok, we shook more than the kids did, but they had fun trying. We looked at it several times throughout the process. “Is it butter yet?” Then we stuck it in the fridge.

The next day, we made bread!*

Using this recipe, the students watched and counted as a teacher measured the ingredients. The children were able to stir a few times and watch them turn into dough. I had brought in my mixer with the pastry attachment to mix it up properly. When we were finally done, well. A picture is worth a thousand words.

*Now, I do have a warning for you. This took ALL DAY. As in, we started in the morning and weren’t able to bake it until the afternoon. Part of that is my fault for not reading the directions and finding out that it needed to rise twice (once for the dough, once again when you pinch the dough into rolls). So if you use the linked recipe, read it all the way through and make sure you let it rise twice. It might even be better to let it rise on the first day, then stick it in the fridge and bake it the next day.

For lots more activities about farm life, I have a lesson plan available for the price of a cup of coffee on TeachersPayTeachers.

What kinds of activities do you do with your class while studying about farms? Comment below!

Happy Teaching!

Love, Amy

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A Few Random Thoughts

Hello, everyone!

I know it's been a while since my last post. It's been a busy year so far! I did a training about play for adults, which I'll post soon. I'm also working on a Farm Life activity pack. And, of course, if I have a lesson plan, I'll need a blog post to with it!
So here's a mini post of random thoughts I've had that don't merit a full post on their own.

Every behavior has a reason. But if you can't figure out the root cause, a calm voice and loving hand go a long way.

Everyone just wants to be loved and feel like they matter, from children to directors.

Some days, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Then I look around and notice everyone else seems to be, too, so it's ok! We're all mad here.

Free art is necessary for creativity. Crafts have their place. What matters is the skill you want the children to learn.  Start with the skill, then find the activity.

You can write the best lesson plan in the world but when the children find something they're interested in, get ready for it to be derailed.

Twitter's really just a grand conversation with the entire world. Hello world!

I met Ernest Cline last week, the author of one of my current favorite books: Ready Player One. He's written a screenplay and published another bestseller. He said that his career as a writer started out as
telling stories with Star Wars toys.  At the time, he probably thought he was just playing. It makes me wonder how many authors, actors, CEOs, and artists are in my classroom right now.

Warren Robinett was at the signing, too, having been mentioned in Ready Player One. He programmed one of the first adventure games and hid his name as an Easter egg inside it. He was instrumental in changing the shape of storytelling in video games as well as making sure designers got credit. Just by doing what he loved.

By the way, don't get me started on the benefits of video games; we'll be here all month.

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" has the perfect metaphor for teaching. "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,/but I have promises to keep/and miles to go before I sleep/and miles to go before I sleep."

Our students don't have standardized tests, thank goodness! Instead they get tested every day: observed by teachers, tested by peers to see how they'll react. Some of them learn lessons the hard way as they learn to navigate life in a trial by fire.  This is why only the best teachers can teach early childhood. (I'm sure every other teacher says the same about their grade!)

You know you're a teacher when: you spend your free time on LinkedIn, Twitter, and reddit's "ECE Professionals" subreddit talking about education. Oh, and that geeky site with all of the new gadgets and games? They also have parenting articles, which of course need comments by a professional.

You know you're a teacher when you go shopping and spend more on the classroom than yourself. Even if that's not what you went shopping for.

You know you're a teacher when your spouse knows all of the education acronyms. And they're not even in the field.

You know you're a teacher when you can take kids not listening, getting hurt on the job, and working long hours without batting an eye, but that one child's situation makes you break down.

You know you're a teacher when naptime is the most restful part of the day and it's not even you taking the nap.

You know you're a teacher when you get hugs and "I love you"s every day at work!

Look for a post next week about farm animals.

Happy teaching!

Love, Amy

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"I Can't!"

Hello, all! Welcome to a new year! I'd like to start out by addressing an issue we've all dealt with. 

"I Can't!"

We all have that one child that just doesn't want to try. "I can't do it." "It's too hard." "You do it for me." "I don't want to try." I have one in my classroom who says phrases like, "I can't listen." It can be frustrating at times. We get caught in an endless loop of encouragement, cajoling, and incentivizing. Sometimes we can feel we aren't getting anywhere with this child.  We wonder where this attitude comes from and why they don't have any self-esteem.

But all hope is not lost. There are several strategies we can use with these children.

Anxiety

     The first is to realize that anxiety is a very real and normal part of the human condition. We can't control it, we can't rationalize it, we can't reason with it. All of a sudden, it's there. With its giant head looming, telling us "You can't. This is a very real problem and you can't deal with it." Children are definitely not immune to anxiety. You've seen it when children throw a tantrum over seemingly nothing. I taught one four-year-old girl who got very upset if she accidentally used too much glue and it made a blob on her paper.
    What's important to know is that while we know it's nothing, we're on the outside looking in. In the anxious mind, it's a very big problem with no solution.  Once we recognize it for what it is, we can begin to address it, using very calm and objective words. The key here is to acknowledge the feeling while offering reassurances. "I see you're upset about that. The glue spilled and it's ok. I still love you."

Calming Techniques

   If you feel that what you're saying is feeding into the problem, try changing the subject. I've worked with children before where acknowledging the feeling only made him focus on the problem. Once I started talking about a toy he was interested in, he was able to switch gears and calm down enough so we could find a solution together.

Singing can help, too.  Music engages the whole brain and speaks to us in a universal language. It physically changes our heart rates. Anecdotes collected by Dr. Sacks actually suggest that our brains need music; some people deprived of hearing suddenly started hearing all kinds of music in their heads. Try singing the child's favorite song or even just humming in a soft, rhythmic pattern. The brain loves predictability and a repetitive song or rhythm can give the child something else to focus on. If you need help finding something, try one of the songs or "I Love You" rituals  on the Conscious Discipline site.

Touch 

  Use touch; or don't. Touch is very powerful. The very first sensation we have when we're born is being held. As infants, a mother's touch communicates safety, warmth, and love. Touch lets us know that another person is there with us to help us. If the child will let you, rub his back or give her a hug. Hold a hand or cuddle him on your lap. Depending on your situation and training, some children may be able to be physically restrained by a teacher if they are so upset that they're hurting others. A teacher I worked with had been trained so that she knew how to hold children without hurting them or letting them hurt others, so I would defer to her in those situations.
    You also need to respect the child's space. Some children are uncomfortable with touch for a variety of reasons (sensory issues, abuse, personal boundaries, culture, etc). If a child reacts negatively or tells you to go away, it's perfectly fine to sit a safe distance away so that you can still keep an eye on him. This way, you don't add to the child's anxiety, but are still nearby just in case. There's a child in my classroom now that is very resistant to pottying and frequently screams at me to "Go away!" once he does get into the bathroom. When he's calm, I've started talking with him about other things he can say, like "I don't need help right now."  I close the door to the bathroom and keep an eye on him through the window. When he's ready, he calls for help because he knows I'm not far.

The most important way to help children with anxiety is to help them avoid it altogether and be proactive. 

This includes:

• Talk about feelings throughout the day, not just when they happen. Explain that we all have positive and negative feelings and validate them. (I worked with a researcher who used a gumball and a pompom to illustrate "prickly" and "fuzzy" feelings.) Remind them that it's not the feeling that's wrong, but some of the actions we might take because of them.
• Give children a safe space and teach them how to use it. Invite them to put their own items and books in it. Make it soft, comfy, and protected. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest and Google images. Your director can also be a good resource, especially to stay within state guidelines. A couple of years ago, I worked with an OT to make a safe space using a cardboard box. The children helped us paint the interior a dark blue, then stick glow-in-the-dark stars inside. The dark helped calm some children and they felt enclosed inside the box.
• Teach children breathing techniques and Yoga. The Conscious Discipline site has some great visuals, but there are lots of other resources online, too. Make sure to help children focus on exhaling longer than inhaling.
•  A simple visual like bringing your hands together and apart can help. 
• I've also seen a straw with a pinwheel on one end and a flower on the other. Smell the flower, blow the pinwheel. Smell a skunk, blow the odor away. Smell a flower, blow out a candle. Use your children's interests to help you think of your own and hang pictures in the safe space.
• Focus on the good feelings associated with breathing. Encourage them to watch their belly go in and out as they breathe (This is called "belly breathing" and helps the core, which in turn strengthens writing abilities). Use words like "calm" and "relaxed."
• Teach the "tense and release" relaxation technique: tighten up the toes, then wiggle them and relax. Move up the body to finish with gently shaking the head. Visuals help here, too. You can use this resource from SkinNurse or use the children's interests and input to come up with your own.
• Encourage creativity by asking open-ended questions and providing open-ended materials. Creativity gives us the ability to solve problems and have resiliency.
• Read books like "The Way I Feel" by Janan Cain or "It's Ok to Make Mistakes" by Todd Parr. Help children connect to it by modeling it. "Have you ever felt angry? I felt angry this morning when Johnny didn't want to make a good choice. How did I handle it?
• Involve children in the process. Ask them for input, to model, what they like to do, etc. 

The Power of "I Did It!"

Setting and reaching goals is important, too. The world might end, but at least you can say you reached that one goal. Behavioral goals, reading goals, any type of goal will work. Just make sure it's reasonable.

Task cards are useful for this, too.  Maybe a child gets frustrated because he wants to draw or build and just doesn't know how. Or maybe she's disengaged. Giving children a task card with listed steps gives them an attainable goal that's broken down into smaller ones. You're empowering them and saying, "You can put two blocks on top of each other. Now you can add a third one."

The phrase "You did it!" is incredibly empowering to children. It gives them a sense of self-worth and accountability. It shows them that tasks can be done and enables them to take on more challenging tasks. In my current class, I have a student who can barely speak, but he can proudly exclaim, "I did it!" when he accomplishes something. 

If students are really having trouble with a task, you can say, "You were close. I bet you'll get it next time." This reassures them that it's ok to make mistakes and they are allowed to try again.

With all of these strategies, remember that there is no instant cure-all. It takes time, repetition, and staying calm through the storm. But all storms pass.

Wrap-Up

   You may notice the tone of this post has been a little more serious than others. You also might notice that this is the first post in a few months that I've made. This is because I've been struggling with my own anxiety. There were some circumstances at work that caused a lot of stress for both me and my co-teacher, who is now somewhere else. This past week in particular has been hard for me and I opened up a little more to my administrator than I usually do. When I was cleaning the classroom, I was reminded of the student I mentioned in the first paragraph and was suddenly struck by the realization that that's been me the past month. I've been caught in the trap of saying, "I can't do this without..." "I need more.." Instead of focusing on what I could do, I let anxiety get the best of me and I listened to it.  So I was inspired to write this post.

If you ever feel yourself saying, "I can't" or "It's impossible," I want you to know:

1. It's ok.
2. I love you. (Me, a random stranger on the internet, wants you specifically to be happy and healthy! How about that?)

The above techniques have another name in the adult world: "Cognitive Behavior Therapy." That's right; the same strategies we teach our students can be used by us, too! Go back and read through it, replacing "student" and "children" with "me."

Know you're not alone. 

Talk to a co-worker, a family member, or me! You can always email me at cerrida82@gmail.com and I'll be here for you. 
Another great resource for free, anonymous chats and resources is 7cupsoftea.com.  I've been on both sides of that site (chatter and listener) and there's a fantastic, caring community there.

Finally, you're normal. You're human. You make mistakes and it will be ok. It's a brand new year and together, we'll get through it.

Happy New Year.

Love,
Amy

*The previous strategies come from a mixture of Incredible Years, Conscious Discipline, and personal experience. Images from ConsciousDiscipline.com, Wikipedia.com, and Pixabay.com.

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Gender roles in Fairy Tales

Hello! Welcome to the fourth and finals installment of my fairy tales series: gender roles. I promise not to bash Disney too much.

If you want to catch up, you can read parts one, two, and three by following the links.

This post is about gender in fairy tales, specifically females. We don't want to leave out the boys, because we know there are lots of strong male heroes in fairy tales already that they can relate to. You are reading fairy tales to your boys, right? Involving them in storytelling? Ignoring the marketing that says superheroes are for boys and princesses are for girls? Good. I'd like to focus on princesses.

Disney

When you think of fairy tales and, be honest: what pops into your mind? Disney princesses, right? Now, I promised not to bash Disney too much. I grew up with them; my favorites were the Little Mermaid and Belle (mainly because she was a bookworm). I enjoyed Tangled and I love Alan Menken's music. Disney has classic, timeless stories, but the fact is that most of their female protagonists are princesses that need to be rescued because they have very little power of their own. You may have heard the theory that Belle has Stockholm Syndrome. Ariel literally doesn't have a voice. Cinderella cries until her fairy godmother shows up. Occasionally, Disney will give us a character like Mulan, who saves the empire.  Frozen comes close, since the main conflict is Elsa learning to open up and stop letting fear rule her. And she does save her sister at the end, which gives this movie bonus points.
And it's not just Disney. All you have to do is Google for "videogames and girls" and "superheroes and girls" and you'll find enough material to keep you reading for days about the lack of good representations of strong women in children's media. Why is this important? The fact is that little girls look to the women in their lives so they can emulate them.

Role Models

One idea Bettelheim mentions is that it does not matter if the protagonist of the story is male or female; children can identify with them no matter who they are. I have a problem with this because, while children have loose concepts of gender, they still identify with those most like them. Children's stories star children, not adults. And while children can certainly identify problems in the story as their own, their play reflects the gender roles they see in the world. As children grow, they see someone like them act a certain way and emulate them. If boys see primarily heroes and girls see primarily helpless princesses, then those are the behaviors they're going to copy.  Research supports this as well. Here's an article from the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/women-leadership-blog/2014/oct/22/women-role-model-penguin and this one from APA. http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov00/mentoring.aspx

Mighty Girls

Some have started offering solutions to the lack of strong women. There's a fantastic movement called Mighty Girls, a collaboration between Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Together, they show girls real-life heroes that are women as well as modern fairy tales with a focus on heroines. Target, meanwhile, recently decided to stop sorting their toys by gender so that boys and girls can choose toys without bias.

So if our early experiences provide models for us and shape our perceptions, what does that mean for fairy tales?

Wait, wait, put down those pitchforks! Don't light your torches just yet. Because, as it turns out, we only get out of stories what we put into them. Even Belle's Stockholm Syndrome (some language in the previous link).

The Grimm Truth

The classic fairy tales by Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson show a different side of princesses from Disney. These princesses have agency, making choices in their own lives. Remember Bowdler? Changing fairy tales lessen's women's roles as well.
Grimm's Cinderella, for example, is very much the maker of her own destiny. She's the one who buries her mother in the backyard, waters the resulting tree with her tears, and completes the tasks her stepmother sets her (with a little help). She repeatedly asks to go to the ball, even when told "no," and actively hides from the prince using cleverness. This is a far cry from simplified versions, in which a fairy godmother simply appears at the right time.

The Little Mermaid, meanwhile, is a beautiful story of true love and sacrifice. In order to gain her legs, she must feel as if she's being split apart; when she walks, it will be as if she were walking on sharp knives.  When she finally meets the prince for which she suffers so much, he's already engaged to be married. At the end, she chooses his happiness rather than her own by refusing to kill him on his wedding night, fully accepting the consequence that she would turn into sea foam. Her sacrifice is rewarded when she is allowed to remain as a spirit watching over the happy couple.
It turns out that Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan,http://ancientstandard.com/2011/06/17/the-real-story-of-mulan and Frozen are true to the spirit of the source material, at least, while there are several others that Disney hasn't made yet, including Hansel and Gretel, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and The Seven Ravens.

Happily Ever After

You can see that there are some great heroines in fairy tales. Now, you might argue that the main goal of these women is still to find their prince. But something I found interesting is Bettelheim's theory that a main theme in fairy tales is maturity. I've already talked about what heroes can teach children, and the ability to make good decisions is a sign of maturity.

Sleeping Beauty, for example. She pricks her finger at 16 (or 15). What usually happens at 15 or 16? In medieval times, it meant that children started getting older, prepared to be married or to take on an apprenticeship. Girls turned into women, ready to start bearing children. So, according to Bettelheim, Beauty turns 16, she pricks her finger, bleeds, and enters a resting state. This state represents the reflection that we all go through when we mature. We may write in journals, listen to music, talk to others about who we are. We're introspective. Now the prince, after a certain period of time, must struggle to save the princess. He represents the battles and trials that we go through in adolescence on our way to adulthood.

Snow White shows this as well. Her happily ever after cannot come after she escapes the queen; she is still a child. Instead, she is warned against danger and falls to temptation several times. Just like Sleeping Beauty, the heroine falls into a deep sleep for a long time. When the poisoned apple falls from her mouth, she is able to wake up having finally learned from her mistakes and ready to enter adult life. The prince, meanwhile, must win her from the dwarves and gives them whatever they ask. He must fight for her. And what do we want? To be worth fighting for!

Then there's the fact that many fairy tales that don't end with a wedding at all. The 3 Wishes and the Fisherman's Tale are both about couples who are already married. Rumpelstiltskin doesn't end until the queen's child is already born, long after she marries the king. Her trial comes when she must use her resources to find Rumplestiltskin's name.

The Moral

Children learn from the world around them. The messages they take from various sources will be entirely their own, based on the struggles they are going through. It's up to us to make sure the children have the freedom to make those choices while being there to talk them through it.

"This is exactly the message that fairy tales get across to the child in manifold form: that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable, is an intrinsic part of human existence--but that if one does not shy away, but steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious." --Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales

All images from clker.com

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Gender-specific praise

Hello teachers!

September's a great time of year, isn't it? If a new year is starting for you, there's the excitement gettimg your room just the way you want it, meeting new staff, and welcoming more little ones into school. I'll borrow a phrase from a training I went to once and say that it's like opening a brand-new box of crayons. Even if you work in  year-round setting, it's nice to take a moment to reflect on your classrooms and possibly change it a little.

I really am working on gender roles in fairy tales, but there's a lot of information out there and a lot I would like to say, so I want to make sure that I get it right.

Clker.com

Perhaps it's because I've been thinking of gender roles lately that I noticed something happening in the classroom this morning. A teacher was in our room with us so everyone would be in ratio. We were all making sure to use specific praise and say something positive to the children as they came in. As they were playing, we asked them questions about what they were doing and giving them words (since they're one).  Then I heard, "What a pretty dress!" "All of the girls are wearing pretty dresses today!" Then, to a girl, "You have a bag! Are you going shopping?" Meanwhile, the boys who carried a bag were simply asked where they were going. If there were any details, they involved grocery stores.

Now, what's wrong with this picture? There's nothing wrong with the statements in themselves. Of course people go shopping and the girls were wearing pretty dresses.

The problem begins to show up when this type of language becomes a pattern. We know that children get their self-worth and abilities from us. If we don't recognize their art, their brain patterns change. Slowly, the child won't be interested in art because their environment is telling them that it's not important. The brain is very adaptable, especially at this age, and constantly removes or adds neural pathways based on outside information. It's why we use specific praise and positive commands; we want the child's brain to say, "This is essential information for this environment!"

So what do you think happens if we focus only on appearance for girls? Are we training them to become thinkers and leaders, or are we reinforcing the stereotype that we claim to disdain when we reject Barbies? What if, instead, we started saying, "What's in the bag? Are you off to collect some samples?"

Let me know your thoughts below! How do you encourage critical thinking and positive behaviors in your students?

Happy teaching!

Amy Latta, KidatHeart

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Science and Math with Infants and Toddlers

Hello!

It's that time again! Hot dogs cooking, fireworks popping, baseballs cracking. All these add up to one thing:

Source unknown

Now, I don't know what feelings you might have about science. Maybe you were never any good at it, maybe you think it's too complicated, maybe you love digging into research and scientific concepts. Maybe you just love going online to watch things explode or learn cool things. 

Put all of those away right now. 

In case you haven't noticed from previous posts, I love Science. I love exploring, learning new things, and asking questions. It's only natural that I share this with my students as well.

"But wait," you're saying. "Don't you work with toddlers?" Why yes, I do!

When I first started teaching my toddler class, I was skeptical about how it would work. Here I am, coming from 4 years in a preschool classroom, suddenly teaching children who can barely walk. And forget talking. How was I going to introduce them to the wonderful world out there if I can't ask them questions?

As it turns out, fairly easily. We know that babies are already hardwired to learn everything they can around them. Neurons fire and create connections in the brain that tell children what kind of world they can expect. This is most noticeable in studies on stress, such as this one about the lifelong effects of stress.  It's why we know that what we do is so important and why standards exist for early childhood (in NC, anyway).

How does this tie into Science? At its core, science is about exploring, questioning, and creating. Remember the Scientific Method from elementary school? Ask a question, form a
hypothesis, test your hypothesis, then start all over again.

This is what children do every day. When they rebuild a block tower after it falls down, they're testing a hypothesis, even if they can't articulate it yet. "Why did it fall? What happens if I put this block here?"
One of the ways we can support children's scientific learning is to provide running commentary on what they're doing and ask questions for them.

But you know all this already. What I want to focus on is how we can expand this knowledge into meaningful and engaging scientific activities for toddlers. And maybe stop them from biting each other for a few more minutes.

In that light, here are some things I've done with my toddlers. Feel free to steal these.

Space

When we talked about weather, I found some pictures taken from weather satellites. We looked at photos of the sun, photos of stars, photos of hurricanes and clouds, and photos of storms. Several of the students regularly went to the wall and pointed to them, giving my co-teacher and I an opportunity to talk about them and expand learning. They also stayed on the wall, which I'm learning is an indicator of interest. Of course, we connected lots of art to it, too.

Goop

Quick, what's the one thing you hate about playdough? Other than the fact that toddlers eat it. Ok, and it gets all over the carpet. And it stains clothes. There's lots to hate about playdough, but mainly, it dries out. You spend all this money only to have it crumble after a few uses.

That's why we always make our own playdough with flour and water. It doesn't last longer than a day, but then it doesn't have to. Plus, it's so much fun for the kids to mix up flour and water. Of course, it creates a huge mess, but if we're not getting messy, we're not learning. Plus, with liquid watercolors, it's completely washable. And if the children eat it, it's ok. It's flour and water. And possibly some spices.

Here's my recipe:
Flour
Water
Liquid watercolor or washable tempera mixed with water
Scent: cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, orange extract, etc.

Add in various quantities until it looks like playdough. (For best results, add water a little at a time, then add the dye and scent)

Some other toys we like are sensory bottles.  I love them so much, I presented a poster about them.  Sensory bottles are easy and engaging. The most recent one I made was an "accidental" glitter bottle. I wanted to make a red, white, and blue glitter bottle, but I ended up not having enough glitter glue. And then the bottle itself had soap in it. What we got was this:

A bottle that looks perfectly innocent until you shake it up, and then:

Glitter! Bubbles! Magic! Children explore scientific concepts by shaking it up and seeing what happens. Here's a handout that tells you some skills and gives you some more ideas.

Physics and Senses

We've also dissected flowers, looked at pictures of animals in their habitats, and created a sensory wall with velcro and felt.

Here's a picture of a marble run we built from a trifold board, plastic bottles, and cardboard tubes: (we used a cotton ball and magnet for the marbles)

Here we are exploring textures with dyed salt and glue:

Yes, it went everywhere. Yes, the salt fell off after it dried. Yes, we had tons of fun.

And exploring different textures from our scrap paper bucket one day:

Fun fact: this is how I found out that one of our students absolutely loves collage! That's his on the far left.

All of these activities were engaging and held their attention spans for 10-20 minutes. For a one-year-old, that's forever.

And through it all, you integrate concrete math words. How much more flour do we need to add to our playdough: one scoop or two? Did this block fall because it's bigger? Let's count how many tubes we have. Let's see how high we can count before the glitter settles. Remember: with young children, always move from concrete to abstract.

I had a director once tell me that we're not just teaching, we're creating experiences for our students. When you're selecting a science experiment or activity, don't be afraid to try something new. But most importantly, find an experiment and topic that you personally like. Because when you're excited about it, your students will be, too. And hopefully, you'll all learn a little more about science.

Happy Teaching!

Amy Latta

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An Evil Arises

Hello!

Welcome to part 2 of my Fairy Tale series, where we discuss the importance of evil in fairy tales. Grab the popcorn; this is going to be a fun one. (And a long one; sorry.) Please feel free to argue discuss in the comments.

If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here and here.

Fairy tales have been around a long time. Cinderella originated in the East long before Grimm and Perrault gave their views. The reason they've survived in our technological and informational age is
that every listener and reader has had something to gain from it, so they tell their own version to someone else. Think of your favorite fairy tale from when you were little. Can you remember what you were going through? Maybe you can even remember something specific that's stuck with you. All literature is like this, really; it's just that printed words are more permanent. When children read or hear a fairy tale over and over, they internalize it. They fit the words to their own world and problems and take away their own meanings. Bettelheim has some great stories about children who clung to fairy tales as a reminder that they could make it through anything. How does this get accomplished? What drives the hero to success?

Enter the antagonist.

It might be an evil stepmother, it might be jealous sisters. It might be an impossible task the hero needs to do, like climb a glass mountain. In every fairy tale, Something blocks the hero's way and keeps him/her from getting what he/she wants. And really, this is the key to the hero's success. Where would Luke Skywalker be if the stormtroopers hadn't burned down his house? Just as in real life, conflict forces the hero to grow and change and accomplish the seemingly impossible. And children need reminders that it's possible. We know from research that when children play superheroes or turn something into a weapon, it helps children work through whatever problem they're facing at the time. Fairy tales are no different. A younger child who feels teased by siblings may identify with Cinderella. A foster child might identify with Rapunzel or the Little Mermaid, finding somewhere they belong. Maybe Allerleirauh offers hope for escape from a difficult situation. Perhaps they're just angry because they weren't able to do what they wanted or they feel that their homework is impossible.

And what do we know about fairy tales? "And they lived happily ever after." The evil is always vanquished, the girl gets the prince or the prince gets the girl, the seemingly impossible obstacle is overcome. It never varies. Fairy tales offer children hope that no matter what, they can work through their situations and emerge victorious. I'm going to talk more about this in the next installment about gender roles, but in the meantime, keep this in mind as you read the next section.

Now, this is where it gets fun. I'd love to hear your thoughts below.

There's a term called "bowdlerization." Long ago, there was someone named Thomas Bowdler who looked at Shakespeare's works and thought they were unsuitable for his family, so he took out the worst parts and republished them. This gave rise to the term "bowdlerization," which has come to mean the sanitizing of stories for more general use. Some books leave out the wolf's desire to eat the pigs, for example. Now, this isn't a bad thing in itself. I think we can all agree that Shakespeare's works are too mature and violent for children. But what about fairy tales? In general, they were written specifically for children, yet we see plenty of violence. Stepsisters cut off parts of their own feet. Rapunzel's prince is blinded. The Little Mermaid feels pain with every step she takes. And worse.
I'd like to present two theories. You decide which one you ascribe to, but I ask you to consider each.  In the end, it's up to you to examine your own theories of education and how you feel you should best protect and teach children.

1.  Fairy tales are too gruesome.
A book I own, "Grimm's Grimmest," suggests that some of the more gory tales were, in fact, not originally for children at all. In fact, it was closer to modern adults enjoying Game of Thrones or horror movies. Grimm and Perrault both changed aspects of the fairy tales they had heard to make them more suitable for children. Grimm removed any references to pregnancy, for example, while Perrault focused more on telling the stories to court, resulting in Disney's Cinderella. (Think about Perrault's Puss in Boots, one of my personal fairy tales.) When Grimm, Anderson, and Perrault were developing their fairy tales, we had stories that violently punished children doing wrong in order to teach moral values. Even Mark Twain satirized these stories. Research supports families in saying that children exposed to lots of violence on tv and in media can cause them to act aggressively later on. Today, in our already violent culture, fairy tales need to be sanitized for today's audience so we can show children how to be compassionate. In the tale of the Ant and the Grasshopper, the grasshopper doesn't die; the ant lets him stay, even though the grasshopper never did any work.*

2. Fairy Tales are gruesome, but it's ok because the villains get what they deserve.
 Children are violent. We could go on about nature v. nurture and tabula rasa, but the fact is that children's stories today are still loaded with violence. We have all of the superhero movies. Kids' Choice Award nominees include "Teen Titans," "Adventure Time," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (all violent). Children's play outside turns sticks into guns and swords.
We do, however, know some interesting research. Superhero play promotes prosocial play. Research shows that when children grow up and play violent video games, they are less likely to be violent in real life.  And the reason is simple: these stories take place "Once upon a time, in a land far away." Ask your five-year-olds if what you just read is real and they'll tell you truthfully. Children know that
they're not really supposed to hurt people, so violence in stories gives them an outlet, a safe place to carry out their violent fantasies, according to Bettelheim. This may not apply to heroes, whom children empathize with, but it certainly applies to villains.

And here's the difference for the purposes of this theory: in fairy tales, villains are the aggressors and get what they deserve, while heroes are more innocent.

And the worse the villain is, the worse their punishment is, the more the child can feel a sense of justice and hope. The more the child can learn what's right and how to triumph over obstacles. Bettelheim points out that often, villains bring their own destruction on themselves. Let's look at an example: the Three Little Pigs. In sanitized versions, the wolf blows down the houses, the pigs hide in their brothers' house, and finally the wolf gets frustrated and runs away, never to be seen again. In the original story, the wolf blows down the house, eats the pig, and moves on to the next. Finally, he
gets tricked by the final pig multiple times until he decides to break in and gets boiled alive. Sounds pretty gruesome, right? But let's take a look at the lessons children are learning. What's the moral of the first story? "Even if you're stupid and build a house of straw, you can always count on your older brother for shelter." "Don't worry about that bully; if you have a strong defense, eventually he'll give up and you might not see him again. Probably."  "If you're mean to people, nothing's going to happen to you except you might get a little sad." Now, let's look at the second one. "If you build a flimsy house, it's going to fall down." "If someone's bothering you, you can outsmart them." "If you're mean to people, you're going to get what you deserve." Fairy tales are designed to teach lessons about how we should act and the more gruesome the punishment, the more children will be scared away, especially if there is an adult to help them through their thought processes.

I'll give you a personal example. When I was 7, my favorite book was Roald Dahl's "Matilda." I shared her love of books and I loved all the tricks she pulled on the adults. Because in Dahl's world, many adults are evil. Matilda's own parents verbally abuse her while bragging about cheating customers. They won't let her explore her own interests. School isn't safe, either. Her teacher is nice and loving, but the headmistress is quite the opposite. She locks our hero in a cupboard filled with spikes as punishment. She throws another child over the fence by her hair because the child wore braids. That's why it was so rewarding to see Matilda find a safe haven with her teacher and eventually drive out the evil. As horrific as I found the punishments, I never got scared because good
triumphed in the end. Dahl didn't talk down to children. His message, throughout his books, is that evil exists and we can beat it. Isn't this a fantastic lesson?

So, which theory do you believe?

All images from clker.com

Continue to part three.

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