Kari BurchDr. Kari is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Transformational Parenting Coach. She loves following her heart and helping others do the same, especially when it comes to changing the way we parent the next generation of leaders and learners.  When you get down to brass tacks, small children do not yet have enough language and verbalization skills to let us know exactly what they want or need. So, when they are having a hard time, sometimes what we see are “behaviors” like tantrums and acting out.
What if instead of seeing “behaviors” that need to be corrected, we try to get to the bottom of what’s going on for the child? How to Look Under the Surface Consider an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is the behavior you see (maybe a behavior like crying, biting, hitting, or saying ‘no’). But underneath the tip of that iceberg are the causal factors. Beneath the waterline, we find all the reasons WHY the behavior may be occurring. It could be many things such as:
Underlying any behavior could be one, or a combination, of the above factors! So, instead of only correcting behaviors or explaining WHY they can’t do something - explore underlying needs that may be present that you can address. In other words, don’t just look at the tip of the iceberg, look beneath the surface too! Simple Ways to Connect and Communicate We will address more communication strategies in a future blog, but here’s a simple starter for when a behavior is occurring: the AVR. (Acknowledge - Validate - Reassure).
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Kari BurchDr. Kari is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Transformational Parenting Coach. She loves following her heart and helping others do the same, especially when it comes to changing the way we parent the next generation of leaders and learners.  Earth day is a wonderful day to teach kids about a variety of topics relating to respecting and loving planet earth. Here are a few fun and simple activities to try for all ages and interests to help your child grow their love of our world.
Recycled Art Find trash or recyclable materials around your home you can use for a painting project. You can use items such as toilet or paper towel rolls, boxes, ribbon wheels, paper bags, and more. Use paper bags from the grocery store or a posterboard as the background. Dip the ends of the toilet or paper towel rolls in some paint and make circle shapes on the paper! You can talk about how you can repurpose trash or single use items, and give them a second life and use before throwing them away.
See examples and learn more about this idea from No Time for Flash Cards: Recycled Art For Earth Day - No Time For Flash Cards Outside Observations This one is simple but beautiful. Go outside and make observations about the earth and nature (even if it’s just in your yard!) Collect sticks and twigs, pine needles, or leaves. Collect small rocks. Notice different kids of weeds or flowers. Look for wildlife or signs of wildlife such as birds, squirrels, insects, or bugs. You can talk about how all of these work together to make a beautiful planet. We are so lucky to have so much to look at outside! Earth Day Play Dough Did you know it's super simple to make your own homemade play dough? Try this recipe from Pre-K Pages! Along with green and blue play dough, find stones and twigs from outside. You can form the dough into land with trees (made with green dough for the leaves and twigs for the trunk). You can make the ocean with blue play dough or sculpting clay, and fill with fish made from play dough, seaweed made from green play dough, and stones for the bottom of the ocean. Here’s more inspiration: Earth Day Theme Play Dough for Preschool - Pre-K Pages. You can talk about how some animals live on land and some live in the water, even incorporating some of your kiddo's favorite books or tv show characters and identifying their habitats. Enjoy talking about the earth and all its diversity! Visit Your Local Library for Earth Day Activities There are countless free community resources available locally for Earth Day, including at the library! Check out your local library or community center for Earth Day story times, art projects, and more. Litter Bug Jaunt Take a little walk around your neighborhood and pick up trash. This is a great time to instill messages about littering and how to keep our earth clean and healthy. For older kids, you can teach about the principles of "Leave No Trace" to keep the planet free of the impact of our trash. Will you give one of these ideas a try? Report back and tell us how it went! P.S. We're raising money for sustainable initiatives including new outdoor play spaces and low waste materials. You can donate here. Kari BurchDr. Kari is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Transformational Parenting Coach. She loves following her heart and helping others do the same, especially when it comes to changing the way we parent the next generation of leaders and learners.  We all may notice how a bit of fresh air and outdoor time can make us feel better. We also know that play is beneficial for kids - it’s the main way they learn! In childhood, “play” is actually children’s “work.” Let’s talk about 5 benefits of outdoor play!
1: Outdoor Play Increases Sensory Processing Skills Playing outside involves not only moving one’s body - which increases proprioceptive (knowing where your body is in space) and vestibular (balance and movement) sensory inputs, but it also involves lots of auditory (hearing) and visual (sight) processing! Using all of our different senses in tandem is like brain gymnastics for a young child. It’s a way to help the brain organize itself and understand how their own bodies work and how the world around them impacts how they move, hear, and see. Not to mention all the temperatures and textures for touch - there is so much to feel. From dirt, to hard playground equipment, to grainy sand and rough leaves or twigs - there is a never-ending supply of tactile (touch) sensory input too! 2: Outdoor Play Promotes Imagination + Creativity Children playing outside often enjoy an abundance of ‘pretend’ play which strengthens their imagination. From being chased, to exploring new lands, to solving mysteries… you never know what you may get into outside! 3: Outdoor Play Grows Problem Solving Abilities Problem solving, one of the components of executive functioning, is strengthened through outdoor play. Children may have to solve problems about how to arrange items in a tower, or how far they need to step to get across an obstacle. They may also learn about the physics of objects and how they move when they roll something down a slope or over bumps! 4: Outdoor Play Enhances Social Play Coordinating with, compromising with, and enjoying time with friends is a huge benefit of outside time. Children are engaging in all of the above (sensory skill building, imaginative play, and problem solving) TOGETHER! Plus, this means that sensory input, imagination, creativity, and problem solving opportunities multiply when multiple children are together! 5: Outdoor Play Increases Health Unstructured physical activity means lots of movement, and lots of movement means strong bodies as well as increased mental health for kids. When it comes to playtime, it’s hard to beat the benefits of Outdoor Play! We’d love to hear about your favorite outdoor activity - let us know your favorite way to play outside! Have you met our pets? We have two guinea pigs, Sushi and Kiwi, and a Russian Tortoise named by popular vote: Glitter. Our students love our pets and besides being a fun addition to the school day, class pets can also help with learning and more!
Pets in school can be great for a variety of reasons. They provide students with a sense of belonging, reduce stress, and help to build relationships and practice boundaries. They can also provide an outlet for creative expression. For example, see the Winter Wonderland and the Pet City our Pre-K class created for below! These students got creative and created a whole map of magical lands for our class tortoise to travel, and a city for all of our pets to explore.   How Can Pets Help Reduce Stress?
Pets help to reduce stress by providing a source of comfort and companionship. It can be very soothing to observe animals go about their day, and since we allow our students to self-lead in the classroom, choosing to observe or play with our class pets is an option for them during the school day. As long as the pets are okay with it, of course. How Are Pets Used to Build Relationships? Pets can be used to build relationships with teachers and students, as well as with other animals like pets at home or the pets of friends. They can also be used as a way to teach responsibility, empathy, and compassion. Our students know that they have to ask before touching any of our class pets, and they pick up on the animals' signals that they are ready to go back into their homes and have some kid-free time. We always make sure that there is a teacher watching when any student is interacting with the pets - for the safety of our kids and animals! And of course we teach the importance of hand washing after handling the animals. These rules around the pets are like the boundaries we must respect when it comes to playing with our classmates too. Just like the students have to ask before playing with the animals, they also have to ask before they take a toy or book from their classmates or hug, tickle, or touch their friends. What Are the Benefits of Having Pets in Class? Pets can help to promote learning by providing an outlet for creativity, as well as by encouraging students to explore their own interests and passions. Classroom pets improve student behavior and performance too, including better school attendance and student engagement, as well as decreased disciplinary measures. Pets also provide companionship and emotional support for students, and they also provide lots of entertainment and learning experiences! Interacting with animals is a great way to reduce stress and also boosts class morale and mood. Our students love seeing what the pets get up to all day long (honestly, so does our staff!) Having class pets in school has a multitude of benefits including:
How to Support our Class Pets Encourage your child to share stories about our class pets, and remind your students to always respect pets’ boundaries. You can practice at home with your own pets too. Mx. Taryn cares for our class pets but if you’d like to help them get their favorite snacks, Sushi and Kiwi love bananas, kale, and carrots, and Glitter loves to munch on grapes and sweet potatoes! |
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