2-5 Year olds watch 32 hours of TV

So this article is basically crying out for a post. The horrifying part is pretty self-explanatory--kids 2-5 are watching way more tv then they should. Compared to their older siblings (who watch less tv), it's clearly being used as a clear babysitter. The really hard thing for me to think about is if you were to take a sample of my room-- some students only watch, say, 5 hours of tv (say, Dora every afternoon, movie on tv on weekend). What about the kids who I know watch a LOT of tv? How much are they watching to move that average to 32 hours?

Classroom Glimpse

So far on this blog experiment, I've blogged a lot about the news and policy I read, but haven't really talked about my classroom. I'm lucky to have a ton of materials, albeit in a small space! Here are a few glimpses of my classroom space: my hermit crab tank (with an Eric Carle book nearby to support learning). While having a hermit crab and fish are a lot of daily and weekly upkeep, I think it's important to have living creatures in a classroom for my students to get hands-on science experiment. The next picture is of our weekly poem or song to support our theme and literacy objects. We read them (or sing this one!) with a pointer, then students can interact on their own in centers. This is one of our favorite songs. I'll try to post more glimpses into my classroom soon!

www.urbanpreschool.com

Urban Preschool is one of my favorite websites to inspire me as an early educator. I've mentioned here before, but worth checking out again often!

Consequences of not vaccinating kids

This is a really important perspective on the consequences of parents opting out of vaccinating children. It's frustrating to hear about parents refusing to follow scientific evidence and the interest of the greater public health. Here's the story of a mom whose son with cancer is at risk from these children.

Einstein Baby Scam

Finally, admitting what a scam Baby Einstein is! I have often had to grit my teeth when families I know socially or through my students tell me how they use Baby Einstein. It makes me crazy, crazy, crazy.

The best way to make your baby's brain grow? Talk to them all the time. Limit tv and other electronics to a bare minimum. At the same time, Baby Einstein is better than other tv or videos for very young children. However, promoting absolutely anything on the tv for such young children is negligent.

Becoming a teacher

I love this article, because I love hearing about people becoming teachers, and I think people who've been successful elsewhere would be great. Half of my learning curve my first two years teaching was learning to work as an adult, something no amount of internships or part-time jobs taught me.

We teachers are lucky in that no matter what else about our job--the hours, the stress, the random shin splints from running like crazy around the pumpkin patch--we have meaning in what we do. The essence of what these people are searching for is meaning in their work. Why work without it? At the end of the day, I know my work matters.

Shouting the new spanking?

How to be a good parent? And where are the lines? I think that's what this article is ultimately addressing. For the teachers out there: how to be a good teacher? And where is the line? What if you lose your temper? How to prevent in the future?

The Very Wonderful Caterpillar

I LOVE SLATE. I love, love, love Slate. That said, this is the most ridiculous article EVER.

1. I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It is one of the few books I will read over, and over, and over again in my classroom without becoming crazy.

2. His wife (an elementary literacy specialist) is right and I would add to it. The simplicity of a story for especially preschoolers both draws them in and engages them at a level they can master. What a powerful book! My returning four year olds will engage in complicated play-counting up the total number of fruit the caterpillar eats and use sentence starter/structures of "On ____, he at through ____ ______" to use clues to identify words. My three year olds will be able to conceptualize beginning, middle, end and numeral concepts (see, three strawberries! 1, 2, 3). My DLL (dual language learner) students after multiple repeats in two languages have read a book that maintains its charm in re-telling. A few of the things we talk about in my class about this book: the passage of time, the lifecycle of a butterfly, types of fruit, how the last number we count represents the whole (1, 2, there are 2), junk food vs healthy food and sequence.

3. It's really interesting that the author of the article things children focus on the pictures. Hence the harm in assuming one's own experience reading to one toddler represent all experiences with all children.

Must-read articles

The best and most interesting PreK-relevant material I've been reading:

* Early Ed Watch Blog on Head Start and school readiness (part of a series)

* Advice for parents on finding a play-based preschool

* From Slate, advice on working on changing kids behaviors

* Great list for any parents or early educators: anti-bias curriculum books for PreK and Kindergarten students. Teaching for Change is an amazing organization that works to support educators and be explicit about race, gender, sexuality, etc, so as to break down stereotypes.

* Haven't checked out this movie clip yet, but interesting premise: "Two Angry Moms" take on school lunches

* Really important but disturbing article. I as an educator often don't think of my students as being capable of depression, but read this to be more aware.

* I do like the message (but not the tone) of the article: talk to your kids, all the time, all the time, all the time. They learn vocabulary, context and nuance.