Having Fun While Learning

By Shontia and Jayvon Johnson

Nurturing the learning environment of our son has been ideal for us! We wanted to make sure that each learning space he enters allows for him to explore his unique learning style, while also being based in best practices.

We have fallen in love with Appleville Academy! Mrs. Stephanie Douglas has been instrumental in developing a center that has well-trained staff, organized administrative process and modern technology and communication for parents.

As many of the lessons provided throughout the month, the last two weeks Parker and his friends have been focused on a new color. While discovering the color green, his class has also used the activity of locating two green bears in a pile of other colors. Through this activity, color recognition, sorting, counting, and fine motor skills are practiced.

It’s a curriculum like this that has allowed for us to continue the lessons in our home. PJ has enjoyed adding to his vocabulary and recognizing his ability to have fun while learning!

 

Living and Learning

By Jasmine Faison and Jonathan Linton

We’re almost to 1 years old! As Jade gets closer and closer to turning 1, her interactions, activity and talking have increased so much. We’re amazed at how she figures things out so quickly. Smart girl! 

Count, Group and Compare is helping us to teach Jade her numbers, letters, colors, simple household tasks and scenarios like turning water and lights on and off, as well as other things that she is exploring. Our dance parties and singing sessions also aid us in keeping count of rhythm and pacing while we have fun! Jade’s favorite current activity is us counting to 10 while she claps thru it. And of course, counting our fingers and toes! 

Acting Out Emotions

By Jennifer Scotton

My almost three-year-old son has been experiencing a lot of big feelings as he transitions to his new threenager status. To help him better verbalize what he’s feeling, we’ve been working with him on identifying emotions.

We often play a game where I will dramatically act out an emotion — happy, sad, mad, or excited — and let him guess what emotion I’m portraying. He loves taking his turn to be the actor in the game, too! Using this game has helped him learn to better understand and express his needs when emotions run high.

Dancing to the Beat

By Lizzy and Colin Tahsuda

Eleanor has loved music since day one. We listen to all different genres throughout the house – a mixture of kid’s music and the music we like. We even have playlists to mark certain activities: playtime, bath time, dinner time, and bedtime!

We love watching Eleanor light up when one of her favorite songs comes on (she currently loves Gnarls Barkley). She dances, claps, and giggles! If she’s upset for any reason, singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” brings a big smile to her face. We love how interactive she is with music, and how listening and dancing to music is something we can all do as a family.

Setting a Pace

By Shontia and Jayvon Johnson

Parents, it’s not about perfection, yet setting a pace you can keep up with.

As a parent, you never know if you are doing “enough.” You are always curious to know how what you say or do is positively or negatively impacting your child. You want to simply do your best to assist them in becoming all that they can be, and you must face the reality that you are often doing your best! As an attempt to continue to be hands-on parents that aren’t overbearing, yet intentional, we picked up this great learning resource from Amazon.

Grateful to our sister who teaches this age group daily, she introduced us to this great resource that enables us to interact with PJ in a fun and educational way. This book allows for children PJ’s age to actively engage with the educational content in a fun and creative way! While we all love the opportunity we have to enroll our kids into childcare, some families may continue to struggle with the decision in the height of COVID-19, or simply can’t afford it. This book is a great partner for your child to easily breakdown and recognize foundational learning principles; coupled with Gracie’s Corner of course!

Watch Your Step!

By Glasher Robinson and Lionel Ray Robinson

“Watch your step,” Lauren yelled to Logan! The Floor is Lava is a game often played in our home by throwing pillows on the ground, and then hopping from pillow to pillow without touching the ground (because the floor is lava).

A visit to Greensboro’s Children’s Museum allowed Lauren and Logan to put their design and building skills to the test at the Growing Place Exhibit. They were able to use their hands and feet to manipulate the water flowing in the digital forest. Lauren realized the faux logs served as a barrier to the water after she slid one by accident. Once they saw the water flow more freely, an idea was sparked. Logan began assisting Lauren in designing a forest with a flowing river that originated from the waterfall. Logan shouted, “Lauren, you’re standing in the water”! It was awesome to see them work together and discuss which logs to move to get the water to flow in the directions they wanted.

Snuggle Up and Read

By Jennifer Scotton

Reading a book to my six-month-old daughter before she goes to sleep has been a great addition to her bedtime routine. As she has grown more aware of the world around her, it’s become my favorite time of day. After I get her ready for bed, we snuggle up in the rocker in her room and read a short book before I sing her a lullaby and tuck her in to sleep.

One of our favorite books to read together is Baby! Talk! by Penny Gentieu. We love this book because it shows children illustrations of actions alongside the words as they’re read. We look at the pictures as I read the book aloud, acting out what the baby in the picture is doing. She loves looking at the photos of other babies and I can’t wait for the day when she follows along, clapping her hands when I read aloud “clap hands, baby!”

 

New Year, New Movement

By Jasmine Faison & Jonathan Linton

Physicality has been a major theme for Jade as she continues to grow. It will be super important for her to understand what it means to relate to her body and she is already becoming more in tune. She truly enjoys clapping, rolling over, playing with her feet, stretching her arms and legs, leaning her head from side to side, touching our faces, pulling up to stand, and taking assisted steps. We are so excited to see where her curiosity takes her.

Cheers to a wonderful new year full of precious memories and milestones!

Talk to Me

By Lizzy and Colin Tahsuda

At 7 months old, Eleanor is very vocal these days! She is babbling consistently and, to her father’s delight, “Dada” was her first word!

We make a point to talk to her as if we expect her to respond. Even during mundane activities, such as diaper changes, we explain to her what we are doing and point out objects. “This is your diaper, Eleanor!” It can feel silly to talk to a baby, but she understands more than you might think. She now babbles back to us and she can mimic our tone and inflection. We carry on all sorts of conversations.

Can’t wait to hear what she says next – we hope it’s “Mama”!

Discovering Dinosaurs

By Shontia and Jayvon Johnson

It’s an adventure in itself discovering ALL of the dinosaurs! Yup, we said it, we have been learning about dinosaurs (well PJ more than us lol).

Over the last 3 months, Parker has had this strong interest in dinosaurs. Can you believe it, this 2-year-old is naming dinosaurs we can’t even pronounce! To match this level of amazement, one of his phenomenal aunties gifted him our latest read “Noisy Dinosaurs.”  In the pages of the book are embedded sound boxes that make the dinosaur on the page even more real! As we read and explore the dinosaurs, we engage PJ in making connections to the colors, letters, or numbers that he may be focused on in daycare. We turn our living room into Jurassic Park “Johnson Edition,” while allowing him to let his imagination run wild!

Often, reading on this level creates an environment that makes it fun and engaging. While we may lose him to taking the acting out of the book into a full-blown production, we hope that the aftermath of reading sessions like this produce a more intrigued and attentive reader.

Everyone Has a Story to Tell

By Glasher Robinson and Lionel Ray Robinson

We model reading aloud to Lauren and Logan and then discuss the story by asking them to provide their understanding of what was read by summarizing it or telling us their own version of a similar story. Depending on the responses the girls give, we will follow up with asking them questions or asking them to act out their interpretation.

Storytelling is a part of our cultural roots as African Americans. Both Lauren and Logan share this talent. Lauren at 7 years old, seems to shine in this arena thanks to her flair for dramatic expression and use of non-verbal gestures.

We have started turning our family outings into opportunities for the girls to share with us their understanding of their experiences. We are seeking to expose the girls to a variety of reading materials besides the traditional form of books and extend their reading comprehension practice beyond answering questions after reading.

Countdown to Transition

By Jennifer Scotton

Transitioning from playtime to naptime can be a bit of an issue for most toddlers and certainly for mine. To ensure our son knows what to expect and when to expect it, I’ve enlisted the assistance of my smartphone. When naptime is approaching, I tell him “okay, buddy — Mommy is going to set the timer on her phone. In five minutes, when this timer goes off, we have to go upstairs and take a nap, okay? After you wake up from your nap, we can come back down here and play with the racetrack again.” He somewhat reluctantly responds with “okay.”

When the timer goes off, he stops what he’s doing and looks to me for direction. I ask him “Guess what time it is?!” with excitement in my voice and he generally remembers what is supposed to come next– in this instance, naptime. Providing the predictability of what to expect and an approximate timeline helps to keep him from melting down when we ask him to move from having fun playing to settling down for a nap.

It’s OK it be Upset

By Jasmine Faison & Jonathan Linton 

Because Jade is such an active little one, of course she has moments when she becomes upset. It may be when she separates from us, is having teething pains, wants something that she is not old enough to safely play with yet, or just plain ole not feeling it.

Maximizing Love and Managing Stress has helped us in those moments. Jon and I always show Jade how much she is loved thru our daily cuddles and kisses, comforting her when she needs us, and playing with her in ways that bring joy and a bit of learning. Now that we are 7.5 months in and our routine is rock solid, we get the chance to go easier on ourselves and be more grateful for the journey, while putting words to Jades possible feelings, so that she can become more familiar with how certain things make her feel. It is our responsibility to set the tone on how she can and will manage stress. Some days are harder than others, but we’re heading into the holiday season feeling good and ready to hit our next milestones.

Developing a Reading Routine

By Lizzy and Colin Tahsuda

Eleanor loves books. From about 3 weeks old, we started including books as part of her bedtime routine. At that age, she could barely see 10 inches in front of her, but we wanted reading together to become a habit for all of us. Now, at 6 months old, she is very aware that after her last bottle of the evening, it is time for jammies and books. We go to her bookshelf and pick out three to read.

Just recently, she’s been gravitating toward specific books which is so fun to watch! Chicka Chicka Boom Boom appears to be her favorite. She loves the rhyming and the exaggerated voices we use when all the letters tumble down the coconut tree. She’s even started turning the board book pages herself. We love reading to her and look forward to the day when she can read to us!

Creating a Safe Place

By Shontia and Jayvon Johnson

“Come on guys!” These are the infamous words of Parker “PJ” when his desire is to draw the attention of a group in the room. We’ve watched PJ navigate rooms of people naturally through his hope to connect by sharing a toy or forcing someone to enjoy his favorite dinosaur show (lol). Filled with so much energy, it becomes overwhelming for him with emotions, and can cause the traditional, toddler tantrum.

If you are a toddler parent, then you know the difficulty of reeling in a little ball of emotions. We’ve learned to aid PJ in reconciling himself back to the space he is in, by simply being there. It may not sound like much, but our toddlers enjoy when we recognize and acknowledge that their feelings are valid, and simply care to console them back to a place of safety. PJ loves family time, we build our bases of love and care, creating a safe space not only in our home, but with us both as parents. This has resulted in him being able to reach a resolve of what love looks like and feels like, but also that he is significant and a key component!

The Grass is Green

By Glasher Robinson and Lionel Ray Robinson

Logan is our 2-year-old daughter and the youngest of our two children. Logan’s favorite place to be is outside! Today, while outside, Logan described the different colors, patterns and shapes present in our front yard.

“Daddy, the grass is green, and the sky is blue.” Of course, we were excited that she was able to differentiate between the sky and the grass, so we took it up a notch and asked her to count the objects in the yard, like leaves, after she identified them and described them by color. “Mommy, 1, 2, 3, 4 rocks. The rocks are brown”. This went on for a while before Logan decided to pull out her clack and draw. Quickly we were able to start a discussion on the difference between the brown, red and yellow triangles. Logan examined their sizes and number of corners, while Mommy focused on the difference between circles and squares. “A circle has no corners,” Logan explained to all of us during this memorable family interaction.

Name the Shape

By Jennifer Scotton

We’ve recently embarked upon my 2-year-old son’s potty training journey and have reached the point in the process where he sporadically protests when we ask him to try to use the potty. In order to save our eardrums and redirect what could surely devolve into a temper tantrum, we’ve been having a lot of fun pointing out shapes in ordinary objects as we await the blessed event while he’s on the potty. Our square-shaped air return vent (conveniently located on the wall opposite his potty) has become a favorite to identify the shape and then count the sides. I’ll point to the object and ask, “What shape is that?” He answers with “SQUARE!” and then I’ll ask him if he can count the sides.

He loves this game so much that he now points out shapes unprompted. He even incorporates it into his two-year-old babble while playing quietly. I’ll frequently hear him saying “Thas a big ‘tangle [rectangle]! How many sides? Let’s count! 1, 2, 3, 4 – 4 sides!” It’s especially cute to hear him doing this on his own and gratifying to watch his love of learning and counting.

 

Everything, Everywhere

By Jasmine and Jon Faison

At 6 months old, Jade is curious about everything, everywhere. From the moment she was born, she was super alert and always aware of what was happening around her. She sees and hears everything!

Every moment is a learning opportunity. Talk, sing and point has helped us to explain what’s happening and why. In addition to not only teaching her what actions are happening, she’s constantly in tune with words and tries to mimic what she hears. She’s in the full swing of “baby talk.” Jade doesn’t hesitate to let us know what she enjoys and doesn’t enjoy. Let’s just say she loves to watch us clean up, but is still trying to figure out why in the world washing dishes makes so much noise. Of all things, counting, singing, watching Mommy vacuum, watching football, and independent play are her favorites!

 

 

On the move (almost)

By Lizzy and Colin Tahsuda

At 5-months-old, Eleanor is antsy to be on the move! She is no longer content lying on her back on her mat but doesn’t quite have the core strength to sit up unassisted. We are working on her head, neck, and core muscles through tummy time.

Her favorite tummy time activity is playing with her water mat. We fill it up with water and the sea animals move around when she pushes the mat with her hands. She loves making the fish “swim”! Not only is this activity a great way for her to build her strength, it also prompts us to count and point out the colors of the animals. This entertains her for at least 10 minutes (a feat at this age) and makes tummy time so much more fun! She’ll be sitting up on her own in no time!

Watch Eleanor’s tummy time here!

Classroom in a Kitchen

By Shontia and Jayvon Johnson

“Open the door please.” This seems to be the anthem of our home in this season with our son Parker (PJ). As a growing 2-year-old toddler boy, it’s as if he never grows full, and the door he is mentioning is our pantry. We have spent many moments in the kitchen these last several weeks, so we have learned to embrace this time for the better.

While standing in the doorway of the pantry asking for the next item to eat, we have learned to encourage PJ to pronounce the items he would like and even the color or names of characters on the box. Think of it as a “Classroom in a Kitchen,” the exploration of new shapes and the understanding of kitchen safety all in one. The kitchen has become a great training ground for us to learn new facets of our son and share in his curiosity. He observes and shares in food preparation, availing to us family time and teaching.