theinfamousmissbeth

Dear Baby Ben, While I am currently calling you Baby Ben, I know that the day will come when you say, "I'm not a baby" and I will have to call you just Ben or Benjamin, but that's okay. Even though you are only one month old, I know some things about you already and one of them is that you will grow and develop as intended so I'm not worried about that. You will learn to roll over, sit up by yourself, crawl, walk, run, feed yourself with a spoon (after a fashion), talk, and probably scream a little as well. Sorry, I almost forgot about climbing, throwing, and riding a bike! You'll have plenty of help learning the names and sounds of letters, how to count, how to read, and how to write because your parents and others will help you do that. You will also have plenty of time for all of that "stuff" so please feel free to remind grown ups not to rush you! I also know that you are and will be loved by lots and lots of people. You have parents, a...

The following conversation recently took place between two four year old little boys:  Boy #1-  You are suppose to share. Boy #2-  I know. Boy #1-  Well, you're not! Ahh. Sharing. Now that's an interesting concept in the world of young children.  What exactly is sharing? According to one definition, sharing  is agreeably giving one's possessions to others.  Sharing is also defined and viewed as a pro-social behavior. It is intended to benefit other people and society as a whole. For grown-ups this is not such a hard thing to do. We share our time, energy, and finances, among other things, with our family members and friends. For young children, "sharing" is not viewed in the same enlightened manner. This is sometimes hard for teachers and parents of young children to understand and come to terms with.  I n an article written for Early Childhood News , Sue Grossman, an assistant professor of early childhood education at Eastern Michigan ...

I'm sure everybody can remember a grown-up or grown-ups that played a role in helping them, teaching them, or guiding them through childhood. Teachers, doctors, Sunday school teachers, ministers, librarians, nurses, babysitters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and of course, parents just to name a few.  It seems to me that little kids had a lot of grown-ups involved in their lives back in the day. I know that I did and I feel very fortunate to have had them. So what exactly do little kids need from the grown-ups in their lives? In a nutshell, warm, nurturing, supportive relationships with significant adults is essential for optimal brain growth and development. Learning, both cognitive and emotional, can not take place until children feel physically and psychologically safe. By their very nature, little kids are not too knowledgeable about the world around them and they appear to have no visible means of support.  For those reasons, they need adults to provide nutritious f...

It's time to create a list of resolutions for the new year of 2017. Wooo-hooo! If you are like me, you have made the same old resolutions every year for probably your whole adult life. They include: exercise more, eat less junk food, lose weight, and be happier. Am I right? About five years ago, I started reading books written by Gretchen Rubin. She has emerged as one of the most thought provoking and influential writers on habits and happiness. She has written, among other things, The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, and Better Than Before.   I recommend them all, as they are good reads and not overly "preachy" like some "self-help" books. Last year as I was reading her blog, she was talking about making resolutions. Now hold onto your hat because she didn't have a list of resolutions, she had one word !  I was like whaaat? Now that was something I could buy into. How easy is that to only have a one-word resolution for the whole year? As it turns...

Bumpy and I recently returned from a trip to New Jersey to visit with our daughters, son-in-law, and granddaughter. We had an early Christmas visit, complete with baking cookies, watching Christmas movies, playing games, exchanging gifts and even snow! Bumpy, Anna, and Nana While we had a wonderful time, it was also nice to return home and resume the normal routines associated with everyday life! As I thought about how getting back into my routine was comforting, I also thought about how during this very busy time of the year, it is sometimes difficult for grown ups to keep the family routines going and it can be an especially confusing and tiring time for little ones. An article by Oliver Burkeman written for the guardian, contained information about daily routines of some of history's most creative minds.  For example, Benjamin Franklin spent his mornings naked, Georgia O'Keeffe and Ernest Hemingway were both extremely early risers, and Tchaikovsky believed he h...

Tis' the season to be jolly! Here are a few things that are making me jolly this week. Baking cookies: Making them for family and friends! The newest member of our "pack":  Ringo Starr came to live with us on Thanksgiving week-end! This simple holiday centerpiece: These simple decorations: "Mousemas Tree" A tiny collection of Santas This photo from a Christmas past: And this Nativity set to remind me just exactly what Christmas is all about! What's making you jolly this holiday season? That's it for now.. Check back later!

Ah, the smell of Christmas trees, the warmth of hot chocolate, and commercial after commercial for more and more battery operated toys is upon us!  It's the season for "I want, I want, I want" to echo throughout homes and classrooms. It's also time to make those ubiquitous paper Christmas stockings using glitter and cotton balls, but that's already been discussed in another blog post, as you may recall. I wonder how many parents of young children and teachers of young children are hearing, "You know, I think I would just like to use my imagination more and get a big stack of open-ended materials to play with this Christmas. Forget the Zoomer Chimp, the Nerf N Strike Drone Blaster, the Dance and Move Bow Wow, and the PlayStation  to name a few and just get me some good old wooden blocks and a set of markers." In this post, I want to "enlighten" parents and teachers about open-ended materials and play, so let's begin with a definition of ...