First Steps WASHTENAW Ann Arbor
Parenting Pathways A bimonthly publication of the Ann Arbor Public Schools • March–April 2013, Vol. 11, No. 8
Fix Your Feet: The problem with W sitting Have you ever noticed your child sitting on the floor with their legs in a W position (instead of kneeling or sitting on their feet, the child sits between their feet with their bottom on the floor)? That is called W sitting and although many children move in and out of this position while playing, if your child spends too much time in this position, it’s time to correct the habit. Children often choose W sitting because it gives them more stability to play. This is not recommended for several reasons: • W sitting does not allow children to work on trunk strengthening and rotation since they can reach toys with either hand and don’t need to “reach across their midline”, which helps with lots of developmental skills.
also contribute to problems with ankle pronation or walking on the insides of their feet. • For children with muscle tightness, W sitting can make matters worse by keeping the tight muscles in a shortened position rather than stretching to maintain flexibility. If your child does a lot of W sitting, try helping her sit these ways: side-sitting (both legs to one side), tailor sitting (criss-cross applesauce), or long sitting (both legs in front). Having children lean against something might also help if they feel they need extra stability. It takes lots of reminders for children to “fix their feet” once they have the habit, so if you can, try to help before it becomes a habit at all.
• W sitting puts stress on knee and hip joints and can cause orthopedic problems down the road. It can
—Kathy Gains, PT
Marj’s Corner This edition of Parenting Pathways is the second in a three-part series on early literacy development in children from birth to 36 months of age. Read more on p.3. Summer is coming soon and some of you have children ready to enter kindergarten this fall. How quickly children grow up. That means you need to know about Safety Town! Registration packets are now available online and in the First Steps office. Safety Town is only for children entering Kindergarten this fall. The curriculum covers using bike helmets and booster seats, stranger danger, fire safety, riding a school bus, pedestrian safety and much more. Songs, games, stories and art projects reinforce the lessons. Log in to http://www.aareced.com/reced. home/catalog__registration_form and choose the summer camp catalog, pages 40–41. Also, this fall Michigan is changing the cut-off for kindergarten. Instead of being 5 by December 1, 2013, all children entering kindergarten this fall must be 5 by November 1, 2013.
Scholarships Do you have a scholarship with Rec&Ed? Please check and make sure it’s up-to-date. If you applied more than a year ago, you will need to apply again now because they are only good for one year. If you think you’ll qualify, please apply now so you’re all set for our next session. It takes about two weeks and is how we determine your income and place you on the sliding-fee scale. Our scale does NOT match Rec&Ed’s. If Rec&Ed says you don’t qualify, you may still get a 25% discount from us. Please talk with us directly when you get your letter to confirm what you’ll pay to participate. You’ll have an idea by looking at our scale yourself too. This scholarship is good for a year and works for your whole family for any class or sport through Rec & Ed. Questions? Call Marj.
News to Use Make-up Policy Possible classes for make-ups are posted on our website and in your classroom by the second week of classes. Make-ups must be arranged 24 hours or more ahead. Look on the website under Classes. Then call or email Sherri and let her know your plans and we’ll let the teacher know you’re coming. Please do not just come to a class. You may do two make-ups during the Spring session for each class you take. Make-ups are also given any time we cancel a class. If there are extenuating circumstances, please call and discuss them with either Sherri or Marj. Thank you!
Family Fun: Kids in Motion at Night! Wed., April 10, 6:00–7:00 p.m., Family Center in the Gym Join us for a special evening of Brain Gym with Susan Bruner. This evening’s family event is for children 2 to 5 years old and their parents. Susan will lead you through fun activities and explain a bit more about Brain Gym, including some handouts for you to take home. This event is very much like our Kids in Motion class. To register please call Sherri (994-2300 x53179) or email her at firststeps@aaps.k12.mi.us Space is limited to 14 children so call early!
Parent Talk: 6-week Series Wednesdays, April 24–May 29, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., Parent Training Room, Family Center Cost: $85 for 12 hours of class, including workbook
Birthday Parties! Interested in renting a wonderful space for your child’s birthday party? Try our classroom at the Family Center as it’s a great place to have a relaxed celebration with your family and friends. We supply a staff person to make sure things go smoothly and to provide a short circletime for some entertainment. The cost is only $115 for a 1½ hour party. Our room is available on Saturday afternoons or late afternoons or evenings during the week when we do not have classes. This is available to First Steps families, not the general community, and all proceeds are used to purchase new equipment for our rooms. Please call Sherri at 994-2300 x53186 to find out more.
Visitors! Want to bring a friend and their child to your class for a one-time visit? First, please call Sherri and see if there is space in the class (just like for a make-up). Then you must pay $10 to the teacher on the day of the visit. Thanks!
This is our second offering of this parenting class. Here’s what one parent said: “[This class] exceeded my expectations. Thank you!” Join Ann Stalhandske, M.Ed and Parent Educator, for our 6-week parenting series. Parent Talk activities work for all ages and it’s great to begin now! Each week has a different focus and 4 key concepts are presented. The training is designed to help you learn, practice and refine the Parent Talk skills needed to communicate more effectively with your child. To register, call either Marj (994-4949) or Sherri (9942300 x53179). Class is limited to 12 participants and there is no childcare provided.
Kindergarten: What It’s Really Like Thurs., May 2, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Family Room at Preschool & Family Center — for parents of 4- and 5-year-olds Come hear a panel of AAPS staff who will help answer these questions: • What is the kindergarten curriculum like? • How do I help my child be ready for the first day?
Upcoming dates:
• What does literacy mean for a kindergartener?
March 30: Winter Session Ends
• What is the daily schedule?
April 1–7: Spring Break — no classes
Handouts are provided with tips and strategies to help prepare you and your child with plenty of time for your questions at the end.
April 8: Spring Session Begins April 10: Family Fun: Kids in Motion April 24: Parent Talk 6-Week Series Begins May 2: Kindergarten: What It’s Really Like May 4: Touch-a-Truck May 14: Lottery for Music Together May 28: Summer Sign-up begins
No childcare for this presentation. Please contact Sherri to register or to ask for more information.
First Steps is on Facebook! Please LIKE us! Marj sends out quick notices about upcoming events that way. To find us, just go to the home page of our website and click on the link at the top.
First Steps Toward Literacy Emerging Talkers 7–18 months Fluent reading and competent writing depends on the blending of many literacy skills. These skills grow from basic language, social, emotional, and motor development. This article is the second in a three-part series focusing on how the developmental steps in a child’s first three years become the building blocks of literacy. In the previous issue we looked at infants (0–6 months) and next time we will focus on emerging pre-readers and pre-writers (19–36 months). This is an exciting time for your baby! At this age he can interact with the people and things in his environment more than ever before. His increasing cognitive and motor skills give many opportunities to focus on the building blocks of literacy and have fun together at the same time. Here are some things you can do to encourage your baby’s early language development: • Talk, talk, talk! Your baby learns to hear and imitate the sounds of language by watching and listening to you. Make eye contact and talk directly to her just as you would an older child or adult. Talk about what you are doing in your daily routines: cooking, cleaning, driving. • Read, read, read! Try to spend at least 20 minutes every day reading to your baby. Yes, he’ll try to put the book in his mouth and crumple the pages so you can’t follow the story precisely, but read anyway. Point out the pictures, name the objects, talk about things in his world that are similar to the story. • Play, play, play! Your baby needs lots of time playing with you to learn how to interact with his world. She’ll love social games like peek-a-boo, over and over and over again. She’ll also like just having you down on the floor with her while she plays with toys. • Sing and rhyme! Simple songs and rhymes repeated again and again are great language builders because they give your baby practice in listening to specific sounds and patterns. By adding a tune and singing the rhyme, you help your baby to use both sides of his brain while learning oral language. • Explore, explore, explore! You enrich your baby’s language when you get out and do fun things together or as a group. Go outside, to the park, beach, zoo, or playgroup and begin building her base of experiences that she’ll use for the rest of her life.
Literacy requires . . . Motor skills, to facilitate the physical process of reading and writing Letter recognition, to discriminate between visual figures Phonological awareness, to discriminate between and create the sounds of language Literacy “attitude,” to engage in the social nature of language and enjoyment of reading and writing Expressive language, to communicate with spoken language Concepts of print, to understand that print is the code for written language and that books have a standard format Receptive language, to hear and understand spoken language Comprehension, to process and understand language This article is based on “Baby Steps to Literacy,” Allegan County Intermediate School District, 2004.
And speaking of literacy . . . Find wonderful, inexpensive books for toddlers and preschoolers through Scholastic Books! Look for flyers in your classroom and check it out online too at Scholastic’s website at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. Use the Class Activation Code GJW4K and follow the directions. Order form(s) may also be turned in to Sherri at the First Steps office with a check. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Club (not First Steps). If you have any questions, contact Vidya Guruprasad, First Steps Scholastic Coordinator, at bookscoordinator@gmail.com.
Grandma’s Tips from “Baby Boot Camp”
First Steps in Ann Arbor 2775 Boardwalk Ann Arbor, MI 48104 website: www.aaps.k12.mi.us/firststeps.home
Mom writes:
First Steps phone extensions: 994-2300 x
Email addresses: @aaps.k12.mi.us
Lily is our first daughter, and we wanted to do everything right. But how? We found ourselves fretting over her lack of eating much solid food, and even took her to a specialist. We weren’t very successful implementing the suggestions to limit milk intake during the day.
Marj Hyde, Director ...........................994-4949 Sherri Polovick, Registration & Billing.... 53186 Ann Stalhandske.................................... 53182 Shanda Trent.......................................... 53187 Yvette Daniels ........................................ 53181
hyde firststeps stalhans trents danielsy
And nighttime waking for bottles was every two or three hours, even after she turned one. We tried using the Ferber method but it was breaking our hearts to hear Lily cry it out. Progress was slow. Then Grandma offered to take Lily for a long weekend at “Grandma’s Baby Boot Camp.” Lily is now eating a bigger variety of foods. Grandma didn’t send any bottles home, and Lily is off them completely; she uses a cup now. And she is sleeping through the night! This break away from us, and from our routine, really helped Lily and our whole family.
Grandma writes: You are great parents, but you need to relax. She is a great kid. Enjoy her! Take charge. You are the boss, not Lily. Keep repeating this statement until you believe it and can demonstrate it. Lily is so smart; she knows. Right now, she thinks she is in charge (and she’s right!). Lily is the kind of kid who needs consistency. Stick to a strict schedule for the next couple of weeks. She will fall into this routine quickly. All your hours of playing with her and teaching her are certainly apparent. Great job!! However, try to ignore slight crying during waking hours. She will start to entertain herself if she has the chance. She should learn to comfort herself and put herself to sleep.
WISD consultants: Su-Fen Lin ....................sufen_lin@yahoo.com Asian populations Mayra Prince............................(734) 528-5066 Spanish speakers Karma Basha ...........................(734) 320-6263 Arabic speakers Newsletter editing & design services donated in part by Pilcrow Text & Design Parenting Pathways is published bimonthly by the Ann Arbor Public Schools
Eating: put Lily in the high chair and offer her food 6 times a day. (This is hard but I know you can do it!) Try to have her do all her eating and drinking in the high chair. No carrying food or drink with her while she plays. In the car, if you still sit in the back seat with her, stop. She is fine by herself, especially on short trips. Thank you for sharing Lily these past few days. Not all grandmas are so lucky! — reprinted from Parenting Pathways Vol. 3, No. 1 (October 2003)