Showing posts with label Let's Talk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Let's Talk. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Conversations in Kitah Bet

Conversational skills build a foundation for developing friendships, cooperating with others, and communicating effectively with people in every aspect of life. In Kitah Bet we are learning the art of conversation.

As their language, vocabulary and comfort level is growing daily, the children are eager and excited to share, and sometimes its hard to wait our turn. We have started using a block or an instrument that gets passed around the circle to help us. While you are holding the block you can talk; but when someone else is holding it and they are speaking everyone else is quiet.

Some conversations we have had recently:

Jules came back from a vacation with his family, and he had a lot to share.
Jules: "I went on an airplane, on one and two and three and four and five and six airplanes with Mommy & Daddy."

This reminded some  friends of their experiences on airplanes.
Elijah: "I went on an airplane with Mommy & Daddy. I went to Bock and Granny's house. I did some playing."
Rikki: "I went on an airplane to see Zeide and to the pool."
Freeda: "I go on an airplane and a train."
Jayme: "I went to a book store."

One of the songs we sing at circle time starts with the words, "Oh every morning, when I'm through sleeping..." We start the song by pretending to be sleeping. This led to a conversation about stuffed animals some of us might sleep with.
Jayme: "A bear."
Elijah: " A dinosaur."
Reyn: "A giraffe."
Freeda: "A pillow."
Rikki: "A pillow and my baby."
Tirza: "A pillow."
Jules: "A penguin."



By Morah Leah Sollish

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Books We're Talking About: NurtureShock


Faculty at IJP meet regularly throughout the year to discuss our teaching experiences and share our plans.  As part of our commitment to teacher reflection and professional development, each month we discuss a book at our faculty meetings. This month, the book happens to be a very parenting centered one, that also deals with hot topics in education and child care in general. NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman is different from other books in its category in that every idea is backed by conclusive scientific research and studies.

In the spirit of sharing, we wanted to post this video of Katie Couric conducting an interview with one of the book's writers: Ashley Merryman and Liz Gumbinner, writer for CoolMomPicks.com.

Whether you agree or disagree with their ideas about praise, IQ tests, and competition, discussion of these important topics is a pathway to improving ourselves and our teaching practices. Enjoy!