I couldn’t help noticing Mattie and Sophie, adorable 4-year-old twin girls at our preschool. Obviously fraternal, Mattie had stick-straight hair bejeweled with sparkly clips (and the occasional tiara). She wore her tutu to school daily in hopes of an afternoon ballet lesson. Mattie leapt into action with her friends in the classroom without so much […]

In parenting, many decisions are easy: Don’t run into the street. Take turns with your friends. But many of the most important decisions AREN’T easy, including when to start Kindergarten. Will she be ready? Or is it best to wait? When it comes to tricky parenting dilemmas, there usually isn’t a “perfect” decision. Starting Kindergarten […]

Any parent of a preschooler knows the subject of sharing warrants an entire how-to manual. So although our four-part series on sharing is all wrapped up today, just in time for the holidays, we hope you’ll refer back to it – and print and upload our adorable sharing activities – throughout 2012.  But first, check […]

The word “sharing” doesn’t usually conjure up images of fun, happy play in the mind of preschoolers’ parents. More often, sharing means protests of “mine!” and guaranteed hurt feelings. But sharing doesn’t have to be dreaded. The best way to teach sharing is by simply having fun with it. Preschoolers are deeply involved in their […]

You’ve been there: Several parents get their preschoolers together for a playdate. As the grown-ups get down to coffee and chatting, the kids get down to play. All too soon, you’re pulled away from some much-needed adult conversation by Sharing Gone Bad – the sound of your child screeching, “Mine! It’s mine!” So much for […]

Shawna’s daughter Riley was one of those perfect, easy babies – she slept through the night, only cried when she needed something, and loved for grandma to read her The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Shawna thought she had this parenting thing figured out. Then Riley turned 10 months old – and everything changed. Riley screamed at […]

When my first child started daycare, I made the same rookie mistake many new parents make – I didn’t ask any questions. I felt embarrassed – that somehow, asking questions made me look dumb. Four kids and several daycares later, I now know what I wish I’d known then – there’s no such thing as […]

“A NINK in da SINK? Too silly, mommy!” Sasha is our youngest. She’s nearly 2, and we’re discovering that she loves Dr. Seuss.  Her current fave is There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! For some reason, that kooky Nink makes her shriek with laughter.  She has the tiny, toddler-sized version of the book, so she […]

Literacy is an amazing thing. It helps us read the instructions on a shampoo bottle (wet, lather, rinse, repeat) and make sense of the latest e-mail “good luck” chain (send this to 10 people, or else). As I have discussed in previous posts, oral language, reading and writing all come together in this idea of […]

Learning Care Group When my niece was six years old, she spent a week with me. Her favorite game was to write random letters in a line, push them in front of me, and ask, “What does this say, Aunt Shelle?” I would string the sounds together into a nonsense word that would send her […]

Learning Care Group I remember the day that I considered my son an official “reader.” He was in second grade and we were visiting Santa Claus at a local mall. There were banners detailing the history of Santa strung along the path on which we waited. I watched in utter amazement (and with a flash […]

“Grammy, the geese came back!” my four-year-old granddaughter exclaimed in a recent phone conversation. And while I am always delighted to talk with her, I was especially pleased to hear her story about seeing the geese this autumn. The story she told made it clear that her oral language abilities have reached a level that […]