Christmas Gift Guide For The Child In Your Life

What do our kids need? What comes to mind when I ask that question? Some might say toys, while others might say clothes, or the latest gadget. In the end our children need love and family. The rest is just the icing on the cake. Don’t we gift our children daily with a roof over their head, food on the table, back to school clothing and supplies. The list goes on and on. Christmas is whatever you family wants it to be. I love hearing about family’s Christmas traditions. As we start to make new traditions in our new home in a new state, I think about the special memories we are making together. The fun experiences of doing family activities or giving him opportunities to explore skills he’s never explored before.

So what do we want to give our kids for Christmas? We want them to rip open that present and smile with that gleam in their eyes. Whatever it is you choose to give them, consider one of these gifts to add to your bundle of gifts.

1. Who doesn’t love comfy pajamas? Support a BIPOC small business and order pajamas for the entire family. These comfy PJ’s come in beautiful neutral colors. https://goumikids.com/
2. Capture your family moments by using “an old fashioned” instant camera and create a monthly album together. Capturing moments is important for a our little ones. It helps them recall events, it helps them write stories, and most importantly keep traditions alive. https://kidamento.com/en-us/collections/all-products
3. Work on a little velocity and speed activities with your kids and try out the stomp rocket. Our son loves this activity and is entertained for a long time!https://www.amazon.com/Stomp-Rocket-Ultra-Rockets-Packaging/dp/B0006O8Q7Y?th=1
4. This game is for the entire family! Go on a scavenger hunt together using the find and seek game. Find and Seek
5. Kids love bubbles, this a great gift for elementary kids. It comes with a set of wands in different sizes.bubble wands
6. If you have a backyard, consider an outdoor projector as a gift. You can have movie nights with the family and make it a new tradition outdoor projector
7. Kiwi Co is still my favorite gift! You can buy a monthly, tri-monthly, or yearly subscription. This is definitely a family fun activity. The activities are geared towards their age range and it goes all the way up to 12 years old. Kiwico
8. I think kids should have tons of books to read. Children love story books! It’s ok if your child reads the same book over and over. The point is to teach children a love for reading. https://mijabooks.com/ Mija Books is located in Lakewood, Ca. but the owner also has an online store. There are a diverse selection of books for children of all ages. So fill up your child’s home library now.
9. Looking to maintain Spanish in your home? Check out Spanish Word Game. Make learning Spanish fun through this interactive game for kids learning Spanish.
10. Lil Libros carries some wonderful board books for younger childrenLil Libros these are great introduction books and they have books for K-2 children as well.
11. Who doesn’t love Lakeshore!? If you haven’t gone, you need to go! It is THE teacher store for everything learning. I found this awesome marble run for kids of all ages. https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/blocks-manipulatives/building-sets/super-fun-marble-run-master-set/p/PP239/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=nbdsa&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnNacBhDvARIsABnDa6-6aLetPwe26Szhv-Tzah4fSa7BGFq55E9XLGobTgCZgTfAP0ytd1MaAvdzEALw_wcB
12. Some other ideas are kid magazine subscriptions such as, Highlights and https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ National Geographics for Kids

Whatever you get your children this holiday season, I hope it’s something you all can enjoy together. Start making those family memories.

XOXO

Leticia

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Connecting Parents and Teachers: What can I ask my child’s teacher?

Kids are back in school! So, what now? Take advantage of Back To School Night and ask your child’s teacher how you can continue to support your child at home. Here are some questions you can ask your child’s teacher:

1. How can I support my child’s social/emotional well being?
2. Can you recommend some books that help my child talk about their emotions.
3. Do you have a feelings chart you use in school? I’d like to use it at home as well.
4. Can you share your daily schedule with me?
5. How can I support my child in math, reading, and writing?
6. What strategies do you use in reading that I can use at home?
7. In math, what counting strategies can I apply while helping my child with homework?
8. Share a success story about my child.

These questions open up the conversation to learning more about your child as a student. It helps you, as the parent, learn what happens throughout the day. Ask your child’s teacher for resources. If you are not sure how to explain math to your child, ask the teacher to share some sample strategies used in the classroom. If your child struggles in reading, ask the teacher what are some strategies you can use at home to help your child. Covid has affected our little ones in different ways. It’s important that we take time to support them not only academically, but also emotionally. Teachers have so much insight into our children’s world. Asking these questions help parents have a bigger picture about your child as a learner.

Don’t forget to ask your child’s teacher how they are doing as well. Teachers do so much behind the scenes work. A little cafecito or special drawing from your child is always welcome too.

xoxoxo

Leticia

Reading Nook

I wanted to give my son a space where he can enjoy his reading time. I really want to give him a sense of ownership and responsibility when it comes to putting his room together. He is a vivacious reader, so he asked for a special reading nook. I wasn’t sure what that would look like in his room, so I had to think outside the box. We looked around his room and tried to pick a quiet space where he can focus and read without distractions. We chose a corner of his walk in closet!. I know it sounds outrageous, but it’s even more outrageous that a child would need a walk in closet, so it will be part walk in, and part reading nook.

We started with going to Home Depot and picking out a color. He chose green, I had to bite my tongue! I know that means letting go as a mom and allowing him to make choices on his own. I decided I will add some neutral decals to it to balance out the bright green.

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He really enjoyed painting the wall and learned how to paint up and down instead of side to side. I decided to let him paint as long as a he wanted to and then even out the paint when he tired out. That happened very soon. I could see the pride on his face as he painted his wall. Once he gave up, I took over and finished the painting project.

Next, I ordered some hot air ballon decals from Amazon and my friend sent inspirational quotes to put on his wall. It all came together well. He is so happy with his reading nook. This is an easy and simple way to give your child space to enjoy reading without the outside distractions.

Bilingual Babies!

There are many benefits to teaching children more than one language. Some of the benfits are: language coactivation (when you hear a word you don’t recognize, your brain automatically idenitfies it in both languages), the executive function is activated differently (different parts of the brain are activated in comparison to monolingual children and it transefers that information differently), it benefits the child’s self-esteem, and they have a deeper cognitive development. That being said, I’ve spoken to our son in Spanish since he was in the womb. I make it a point to only speak to him in Spanish and my husband speaks to him in English.

My son completed his first year of Pre-K Dual Language. We are really happy with all the work his teacher did with him. He can speak and listen without support. He knows his letters, numbers, colors, days of the week, and months in Spanish. He loves to sing and dance. He is not only proud to speak the language, but also proud of his culture. Now that summer is upon us, he only has me to speak Spanish with him.

It’s been a while since I’ve taught children Spanish, so I had to do some research on how to start Spanish literacy with him. I found some great resources online. I am focusing on the vowels first and then starting him on learning open syllables (for example, he is learning ma, me, mi, mo, mu this week). Here are some activities he is completing. We do about 20-30 minutes of structured literacy activities per day. The rest of the time is conversational and games. The key is to make it fun!

Tips for kids 0-5– read a lot in Spanish, name everything around you in Spanish, sing songs, read poems, and play games. If one parent is choosing to speak Spanish (or any other language besides English) to the child, do not switch to English. Your child has to know you only respond and they get what they in need in Spanish. Check out your local libraries for read alouds and sing alongs. It’s great modeling for your child.

Disclaimer- I do not expect my son to read this young. He’s very curious about reading, but I know he has more than 2 years to master it. It’s important for my husband and I to nurture his home language. So he will learn to read in Spanish first.

 

 

 

Big Changes Mean New Beginnings

In the fall I started my new job, THE dream job. It’s everything I look for in a school and position. After everything else going on in life, this is a little piece God has given me to help me smile a little. Two months into work, I start getting allergies, very severe allergies. I don’t really suffer from allergies, but in the past few years, they’ve increased in severity. No matter what I take, they won’d quite go away. Now we are in later November and I am still suffering from allergies. The pharmacist tells me it’s a combination of severe allergies and a cold. So here I go with more medicine. I’m sleeping under a humidifier with essential oils in it. I notice some difference but not much. It goes away, but then comes back a few days later. Do I have to get back onto medication?

One week before Christmas break. I wake to dizziness and not being able to breathe. I am tired and feel warm. I grab my asthma pump and realize it’s expired. I literally never use it. My husband wants to wake our 4 year old son. My independent self says, “no I can uber there. Don’t wake him” Deep down I was worried, I didn’t know what was happening, but I didn’t want to worry my family. So off I go, messaging my husband through every step of the emergency room experience.  They check my vitals and do x-rays. By this time I am tired and weak. The doctor worries I am losing oxygen to the brain so he does further testing. Test results comes back, this is not the case, and I am put on a machine to clear my lungs. I am diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. I am prescribed a 5-day steriod. For anyone who knows me, I don’t like taking meds unless absolutely necessary. I am relieved that I have found the problem and now I will get better. So I thought!

One week later, we fly to California. I’m still tired and my chest is tight throughout our vacation. It was a rough trip health wise and emotionally. I’m just not feeling myself and it’s the first holiday without my mom. Now, living in New York, I’m used to many holidays where I celebrated with my mom over the phone. But Christmas 2018, She is physically not here. She is gone. That is heart breaking. I push through the holidays and 2 weeks into January. I’m sick again, with fever, cough, asthma, sinus issues, you name it. I started to connect the dots and realize that this is not just a cold. The doctor isn’t even sure at this point. She wants to send me to an allergist. Of course the allergist can’t see me for 2 months.

I decide to take things into my own hands. I follow a few health blogs and learn that certain foods can upset your stomach and are also high histamine inducing foods. Who knew! In return these causes sinus issues, etc. I decide to reach out to my accupuncturist Stephanie.  She is amazing! Stephanie starts asking me questions, “what’s changed, any big event happen?” Me…”hmmm no not really, I have a new job?” She keeps asking, then it clicks, in between tears I tell her my mom passed away. She starts explaining how the lungs and grief are connected and diet affects the amount of histamine in your body. She recommends regular accupuncture and cutting out all processed foods. At this point, I will stand on my head just to feel better.

And 4 months later, I am feeling much better! I no longer eat processed foods and only stick to fresh veggies, fruit, and protein. I have a pretty healthy diet in general, but I love my sweets and crispy snacks. It’s really made me think about what I eat and what I feed my family.

It also made me think about how emotional stress affects the body and shows itself in different ways. I hope my story will inspire others to focus on how grief impacts our daily life. Grief is a process and there is no time line for it. We all grieve in different ways.

I found a few blogs that really helped me focus on what can be triggering my allergies. If you are experiencing similar symptoms, check them out.

Amy Myers MD

https://www.amymyersmd.com/2017/10/histamine-intolerance/

With Love From Kat

Common Causes of Bloating and Digestion Problems

 

Self-Love

Happy Valentines Day! What is everyone doing for this “Hallmark Holiday?” Florists hike up the prices and restaurants offer pre-fix menus. We all fall for it…ha! In all seriousness, I think it’s a great time of the year to touch base with our loved ones and do something extra special with them. Most importantly, having a little one has changed my view on how I show love. I show love to myself by taking care of myself, eating healthy, and doing things that make me happy. This allows me to give my best to my family and teach them that we have to love ourselves first before loving anyone else.

I created a self-love project with my son. I found this fun activity on a teacher website. It’s a sheet with a mason jar and it has line paper next to it. I asked my son what does he love about himself. My heart skipped a beat as I heard him say all these loving characteristics about himself. Next, I printed out mini hearts and he told me what character traits to write on the hearts. It’s a great way to work on self-esteem and check in with our children. I want to make sure my son is happy and that he knows how valuable he is in this world. “I am kindness. I want to give to people who don’t have food.” – 4 year old words- Happy Valentines Day!

Am I getting it?

The last component of reading is comprehension. It’s about that time of the year where children are being pushed to read for meaning vs. reading for decoding. We want to have authentic conversations about the stories we read with our children. I made this fiction comprehension checklist and taped it on every child’s desk. This is great to have at home in a reading notebook, folder or on their desk. Click link . . . Fiction Comprehension Checklist 2

Blowing you kisses Valentine!!

If you want to think of a way to create Valentine cards at home with your kids this is one idea where I incorporate what my son likes to do. So we try to provide opportunities for him to paint often. He starts his cards by painting white paper in different colors and we cut out small hearts out of the paper. Next, we write a message on the back and we attach candy to the hearts.

Reading Plays is FUN!

Another component of reading comprehension is fluency, prosody, and expression. It’s so important when teaching comprehension. What a better way then to read short plays or fun silly poetry. I made fluency folders for my students. I laminated them so I can use them over and over. The kids love reading them with their group and in partners.

Laminated short plays for struggling readers

One actor is highlighted

longer plays for higher reading levels

Children can be better readers by . . .

Do you ever read with your children and they skip words, mispronounce words, or add words that are not there? In order for children to have strong comprehension, we have to tackle the 5 components to reading. One component is phonemic awareness. Children need to know how sounds segment and blend together. As our young readers are learning how to decode words, it can get a bit tricky for them. I made this strategy book mark. They keep it in their book baggy and refer to it as needed. I provide 5 strategies over a course of a week. I model each strategy during a lesson. I teach my kids that as readers we need to have a “toolbox” of strategies so that we become better readers. Students begin to monitor their reading, their fluency improves, and their comprehension becomes stronger.