Let’s Play!

As an educator, I am always reading, researching and learning. I try to read books that bring value to my teaching craft and to my parenting style. This brings me to my latest reflection. How many of you are sitting on a couch trying to relax and just when you think you have a moments of silent. BOOM! something happens. If I had a dollar for everytime my son is slamming into me when I am trying to have a moment of relaxation, I could retire already…ha! 

Kids love to play! They love to explore and get dirty. They love to pretend and rumble and tumble. My son loves to wrestle and ram into things. He pretends to have horns and bumps me with his head. He laughs so hard and as much as I want him to stop, I start laughing with him and he bumps me even more. Parents, our kids need to play! Whether they are 2 years old or 12 years old, kids need play! It looks differently for each child. 

Did you know play is not only helps create a fantasy world, but also helps with emotional regulation?

Here are a few different types of play:

Fantasy Play- exactly what it sounds like, kids are creating their own world, it might include talking animals or house play such as mommy and daddy. Did you know this type of play helps with higher thinking order in children? My son loves creating scenes in his head that are related to legos or Harry Potter. He loves putting on his Slytherin robe and running around the house casting spells on everyone.

Constructive Play- Children use materials to create something and it’s organized, systems are in place. During this type of play helps kids learn to problem solve, connecting with other kids, and having a deeper understanding of things. My son loves getting boxes and creating cars and televisions. He enjoys using the glue gun and making armor for his battles.

Games with rules play- Playing games with rules helps children learn about order, structure, turn taking, and learning to lose. That is definitely a hard one, but an important one. We play daily board and card games. My son loves chess because he beats me every time. He is learning patience, turn taking, and negotiating when he plays with me.

Rough and Tumble Play- This is the hardest play to understand. Even I have a hard time with it. Every time I see my son playing super heroes or cops and robbers, I cringe! I have gone as far as stopping him knowing that he is enjoying using his body in different ways. When kids play “roughly” they develop their social and physical skills. They also learn social cues such as when someone gets hurt, they will have empathy and adjust their play. My son wrestles daily and I am learning to enjoy it.

So the next time you see your child in play, don’t stop them, don’t ask them what they are doing, just watch them. You will learn so much!

XOXOX

Leticia

This book is a great resource in reminding me about the importance of play. https://www.amazon.com/Purposeful-Play-Teachers-Igniting-Learning/dp/0325077886/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QW3BZZGFZL4B&keywords=purposeful+play&qid=1675221382&sprefix=purposeful+play%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1

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Staycations

A few weeks ago we decided to take a mini trip locally. For years I have lived bicoastal between New York and California. As I spend more time on the west coast, I am rediscovering some fun areas. We decided to have a mini vacation by the beach. That is what California is known for, it’s beautiful blue beaches and a lot of sun. Maybe too much lately….ha!

We stayed at Kimpton Shorebreak at Huntington Beach. I learned about it while searching online for kid friendly hotels. Let me tell you this exceeded our expectations. This hotel is not only family friendly, it is also dog friendly! It is a resort style hotel just an hour away from L.A. Upon our arrival, we are greeted with valet parking (although I chose to park myself) and smiling guest service employees. We were given a free bottle of white wine and shown around the premises. We were allowed to checked in a few hours earlier at no extra charge!

Our room was clean, well air conditioned, and we had a partial view of the ocean on the balcony. It was truly incredible! Their bed is comfortable and spacious for a couple or a family of three. Our favorite part is that each room has a record player! How awesome is that! We had a Beetles record that we loved! If wanted more choices we can go down to the lobby and browse the plethora of record choices in their collection.

They have a lot to offer visitors. If you want to spend the day at the beach, they offer scooters, bikes, surf boards, and beach toys for the kids. When lounging at the hotel, they offer refreshments, ping-pong and a life sized chess game. At night, get ready for fire pits and s’mores activities. It’s really a place for all young and old. There is enough quiet areas, if you want to curl up and read a book by the fire or join in the activities. They also offer a gym and a rock climbing wall. Their restaurant has a wonderful open breeze feeling and you can order some delicious choices such as their signature burgers.

Upon waking up in the morning, grab your yoga mat and enjoy some yoga at 9am in the outside garden area! They offer coffee and tea as well.

We had an amazing time and did not want our trip to end. If you are interested in staying close to the beach, you should check them out.

https://www.guestreservations.com/kimpton-shorebreak/booking?gclid=CjwKCAjwgaeYBhBAEiwAvMgp2msTfZhXBDZZ8pJnTeUSDGWa7bhSUlPRW1nYWCzNbqHwYK9DGCHHBRoC7J4QAvD_BwE

XOXOXO

Leticia

Summer Learning Activities

As summer comes to a close I want to share some of the fun activities I did with my son. I provided some days where he was able to sit around, play, and watch a little TV. Sometimes we take fun day trips that include visiting friends or going to the beach. I created a short schedule for my son that includes some academics and afternoon playdates. This seemed to be the best mix for him.

I really love the Learning Bridges books! They are a great review of what he learned and he is introduced to new concepts for the upcoming school year. He completes about 2-3 pages daily and reads two chapters of Magic Tree House (he also has to write a reading response). This takes him about 1-1.5 hours to complete.

I decided to invest in two programs this summer. The first one is Kallpachay. Please read my prior post about my son’s experience. The next one I chose to invest in is KiwiCo. I’ve heard so much about them. You can have a monthly subscription, or every 3 months, or a yearly one. KiwiCo provides all the materials for your child. The directions are easy to follow and it has a lot of visuals. My son is a lego lover so following these directions is very simple for him. He needed minimal help from me. I chose a Science based subscription with some art activities. It is very much STEAM driven.

In his first subscription he made a claw for a game. He was so excited and it was wonderful to see his face light up as the claw came together. He even went as far as making a box to hold toys in it. Then, he asked me to take him to the 99 cent store so he can buy small toys to put inside the box and he made some fuzzy dolls with the KiwiCo materials. Now when his friends visit, they can grab a small toy using his claw. This is hands hands-on learning, literacy, science, and art all in a fun box!

Happy Learning!

XOXOXO, Leticia

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Summer Camps in Spanish

Following directions in Spanish.

Finding a Spanish camp for my son is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I am sure many of you can relate! The list of quality Spanish classes for kids is very limited. There are a lot of great song, dance and story-telling classes for babies and toddlers, but very few conversational classes for school-aged children. After many conversations with my best friend about Spanish camps, she tells me about a class her children attend virtually during the school year.

I sat at the edge of my seat as she shared her experience with https://www.kallpachay.com. She said her children are engaged and eagerly participate. My friend said the teachers are creative and animated. Her children always participate whether in person or online. I decided my son will participate in a virtual or in person camp. I enrolled him in a one week in person camp with two other children!

From the very first day his teacher Margarita was warm, welcoming, nurturing, and animated. She led children through a series of hands-on learning experiences which included movement games, planting flowers, and talking about stories in Spanish. Margarita did a great job with providing a balance of interactive lessons that include listening, oral responses, reading, and writing. She encouraged my son to speak in Spanish and helped him when he was stuck. My son also worked on grammar such as, identifying nouns and verbs in Spanish. The 1:3 teacher-student ratio really helped my son feel comfortable and stretch his oral language skills. I was impressed with the level of fun and rigor Margarita provided for the children. Margarita always met my son with a smile and enthusiasm like everyday was the first day. My son ended each day telling me all the fun things he did with Margarita and he couldn’t wait for class the next day. At the end of the one week camp, his teacher gave him a special gift that included Spanish books (not translated in English…YES!), an activity book, along with other things. It truly meant a lot to my son. He completes pages in his activity book everyday and often talks about Margarita. Thank You Margarita and https://www.kallpachay.com for emphasizing the importance of maintaining his Spanish language skills and helping him feel proud of his culture! My son looks forward to attending Kallpachay classes virtually during the school year.

Parents I highly encourage you to consider taking classes with Kallpachay. If you are looking for a virtual or in person Spanish class for your children, register with https://www.kallpachay.com you will not regret it. Use discount code- 21bgprm for 10% off your in-person/virtual registration. This code is valid through August 31.

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XOXOXO- Leticia

Always keep learning!

Covid Chronicles. . .Yes Day!

I’m always trying to change it up and do fun things as family. We were watching TV and learned about the movie “Yes Day.” If you haven’t watched it, it’s a must see! It’s silly and over the top. The most important message is let your kids have a voice, don’t forget to be silly and have fun with them.

As we are watching the movie, my son and I look at one another and start laughing. He excitedly asks me if he can do it. I wonder oh gosh what crazy things are my husband and I going to have to do? He creates a list of activities: card games, running around the backyard, visiting the playground, and having play dough fun. We laughed so much together. It turned out to be a wonderful day that included running around and laughing. We ended our day with pizza at the beach.

This year of COVID has taken a toll on my son. He’s had frequent nightmares, cries a lot and asks for a lot of hugs. My husband and I give him as much of a normal life as we can, filled with outdoor fun and special family time. Having Yes Day isn’t just about letting a child have his/her way, it’s about providing new experiences and making memories. I hope that he will one day look back and remember all the fun things we did as a family.

Keeping Kids Motivated While Remote Learning

It’s summer and camps are closed! What next . . . ? Read my blog post on Multilingualkidblogs! I give great tips on how to survive the summer with your little ones. Click the link below

https://multiculturalkidblogs.com

Talking Race With Our Children

In light of recent events, I keep thinking about what can I do as an educator and activist? What can I do to support and change the systemic racism that exist in our society. Racism is all around us, just open a magazine, shop online, and look at billboards. Too often, I look for story books that depict lives of children that look like my son, I come up empty handed. Thank goodness for the movie Coco. Not only is my son excited to see a little boy that looks like him, but also speaks Spanish! You better believe I bought every book about Miguel!

Racism is real, it does exist. What happened to George Floyd is one of many stories that unfortunately happens in the black community on a regular basis. There are so many things that anger me in all of this, the most important is that this still happens. What also angers me is that I think the media takes advantage of these situations and causes a lot of anxiety with their round the clock reporting. I also cringe when I hear that certain people are taking advantage of this situation and organizing looting and hate crimes.

We are all angry, we have to find ways to come together to make a change and not participate in a broken system and cycle of hate and tension.

In addition to our children having to deal with COVID, they now have to witness, experience, and process what racism means. That is a lot to take in! How do we explain to our little ones that they might be looked at differently, singled out because of the color of their skin, or told a stereotype about their culture. I read a quote from a friend on Instagram that basically states that children of color do not get the privilege of not talking about racism at a young age. I couldn’t agree more.

I’ve collected a list of resources that I plan on using to teach my son. I am listing them below in hopes of helping parents of color naviagte their way through these conversations.

1. Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum talks about teaching her toddler son about race and identify. She is the author of Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In the Cafeteria?

https://tedx.stanford.edu/lineup/beverly-daniel-tatum

2. Life Kit For Parents: NPR has a great 20 minute conversation about how to talk to children as young as 4 years old about race. They provide concrete examples on what to say to children.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716700866/talking-race-with-young-children?fbclid=IwAR262i36JkNreR2lYg0pPPHDPL9u6iyHSVkMV2vrR3Ehdl-1oG-0ZlXKMrY

3. Sesame Street and CNN partner up to explain to children about racism and how it currently affects the black community. Wonderful job Sesame Street! They really provide kids with clear and child friendly language.

4. The Conscious Kid blog provides so many resources for children of all ages. They post articles about social justice and how media influences children. I really love the layout. I recently found a list titled 41 Children’s Books To Support Conversations About Race, Racism, And Resistance. I highly recommend it! You pay $1 and you can access their articles and resources.

https://www.patreon.com/theconsciouskid

5. If you are like me and constantly looking for books that represent diversity, I highly recommend The Tutu Teacher and Vashti Harrison websites. They have fantastic recommendations.

http://www.thetututeacher.com/

https://www.vashtiharrison.com/books

With Love & Solidarity,

Letty

xoxoxo

Summer schedules

Summer is here! The sunsets at 8:30 pm- 9:00 pm and why have an early bedtime, right? It is definitely hard to get our little one to settle down and get ready for bed. What I’ve learned is that routine is important and makes everyone’s life easier. During the summer sticking to that schedule can make it even more challenging. A lot kids are at camp or with grandparents, so schedules are non-existant for some. I am fortunate enough to stay home with my son all summer. He has a mix of  fun mom and dad time, along with camps, and spending time with family. He just completed his first year or pre-k, so I know he is used to a schedule. I’ve given him some time to hang out and not really be on a schedule. He goes to bed late 1-2 nights a week and the rest of the time he sticks to a schedule.

I decided to create a schedule like he has at school. I don’t write the times, I just number each activity. It’s all written in Spanish and my husband drew a small picture next to it. He seems to like it so far. He knows exactly what is going on and he doesn’t ask me, “que hacemos ahora momma?” Here is an example of a schedule.  It doesn’t have to be fancy. This family posted it on the fridge which is a great idea. Schedules provide predicablity, stability, sense of routine, a sense of secutiry and I promise you! Minimal meltdowns.!!

The City Is Your Child’s Playground

Summer in the city is yes! very hot, but it’s also a great playground for children. There are countless places to take them. I like to combine my son’s summer with a scheduled camps with a bit of fun. Here are some fun places I like to take my son in the summer:

Central Park– choose a playground to go to, they are all great, then take your child over to Alice’s Teacup. They will have a blast.

Union Square Playground– It has a very modern layout and it’s gated, so the layout is very convenient.

Museum of Natural History– You can spend the entire day there. Take your own lunch or go to Shake Shack across the street.

Brooklyn Bridge Park– They have a playground, a pool, and a picnic area, not to mention the best ice cream shop and pizza! Check out Lombardi’s and Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens-  They are free every Tuesday

Brooklyn Children’s Museum– It’s a wonderful space and they layout is very easy to watch the kids while they play and discover.

Prospect Park– Zucker Natural Exploration Area- This is a hidden gem in the park. Children climb through hollow trees and pump water.