I have just discovered a wonderful new series of books published by Marshall Cavendish (author Dana Meachen Rau) for very young children that comes in both Spanish and English as well as just a Spanish edition. There are three levels of readers; Emergent, Early and Fluent. Animals are the focus of the Emergent Level for those kids just learning to read. “Go, Critter, Go!/¡Vamos criaturita, vamos! books are small and square, easy for young hands to hold. Each photograph has a one sentence description. The English words appear first. The English text is followed by a line and then the Spanish text. The nine pages of photographs are followed with a two page spread highlighting the new words learned in that book. The creatures featured in the stories include bees, ladybugs, fireflies, butterflies, spiders and worms. Despite the small size of the books, the scale of the photographs is large and inviting. The colors are bright and the images provide lots of information. These books would be a very nice addition to your library if you are looking for bilingual books for your young child.

The first snow of the season is always a special day for me. When I lived in northern Idaho we were guaranteed snow during the winter. In our little town in Idaho we made a special trip down to the cafe for hot chocolate. Here in central Virginia it’s much less certain … so very special when it happens. My point? A snowy day is a wonderful opportunity to get out doors and play with your kids. It can be as simple as just standing in the snow and watching it fall or building snowmen but my favorite is a walk in the woods. My walk in the woods this first snow day took me over a suspension bridge and along a stand of bamboo by the creek. I threw snowballs off of the bridge into the water. For me the fun is retaining that sense of wonder little kids have about discovering their universe and keeping it for life.

I have found another fantastic site for parents and young kids learning Spanish and English. Reading is Fundamental (the largest US children’s literacy organization) has developed a segment of their website for children 0 to 5 called Leading to Reading in English and Semillitas de aprendizaje in Spanish. This section of the RIF website is designed for children to use on their own…but parents will want to join in too. As the mouse rolls over any text menu item a narrator speaks the text. So children do not have to be able to read to explore the many options.

The Babies section includes lullabies, nursery rhymes, stories, games and finger play. The Spanish pages have the story/rhyme or lullaby in Spanish with an English translation. The Preschool section includes menu items Read/Leer, Sing/Cantar, Play/Jugar, Doodle/Dibujar, Explore/Explorar and Meet Riffy and Rita/Conoce a Riffy y Rita, the site hosts. Select play and then La araña pequeñita to find a video of a young woman singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider song with the text in both Spanish and English.

An adult portion of the site provides book reviews and parenting advice. Want tips on how to maximize the benefits of reading to your children? This article will help. You can even watch a video of Eric Carle reading “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See”. Take advantage of this great resource.

What better way to get your kids excited about learning Spanish than to do it with them. There are so many resources. These days, all you have to do is go to the store to see the Spanish language on most product packaging. Light bulbs are bombillos (what a great word). Reemplaza bombillos de 100 vatios, bombillo espiral. Or Brita filters. Garantizado para mejorar el sabor del agua. Guaranteed to make your water taste better. The English and frequently French is all together for a great language lesson waiting in line at the hardware store. Let’s just hope our corporate friends are hiring the right translators so the vocabulary and grammar we are learning are correct.

I play with babies and read to 3 year olds once a week at Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center. I love to read to the kids about animals. (surprise) There is a wonderful new series of books put out by Capstone Press in their Pebble Plus collection about sea life. Here is a link to their site. Sponges, Jody Rake, Capstone Press

What a fantastic find - a series of books about sponges, manta rays, jelly fish, lobsters, puffer fish and more (20 titles total) designed for very young kids. The large format, library bound books feature one very large photo per spread and about four lines of large text. Easy to read and easy to digest. Pre-readers will be fascinated by the topic and the photos. A fun related activity is to have the kids mimic the ways these various animals move around…or don’t more around for that matter. We were using our hands to make lobster claws, slithering like eels and flapping our arms like manta rays.

It is so critical that we teach our children about the importance of biodiversity for all life on earth. What better way to do that then to share the fascinating stories of sea creatures with our preschool children.

I made a great discovery the other night. Libraries have been buying our DVD in great numbers and I am always interested in making contact with more libraries to let them know about our products. I went onto the Yuma (AZ) public library site and discovered their link to TumbleBooks. Ciber-libros para ciber-niños includes 12 books with limited animation that can be viewed online in Spanish, French and English. There are two options for “reading”. There is an audio version with each sentence highlighted as it is being read, or a manual version with no audio.

On the Temecula (CA) site I found this link to the ALA Association for Library Service to Children page with Lugares en español para niños. There is a legend indicating the appropriate age range for each site. Colorín Colorado is one of the sites they feature for preschool kids. Miscositas.com has stories in Spanish from Mexico, Argentina and Columbia. Links provide definitions of key vocabulary.

Enjoy these sites with your children. It’s a great way for all of us to learn Spanish. If you know of additional library sites or other online destinations with resources for families with young children learning Spanish, please let me know.

Hasta luego.

As a parent and creator of electronic media for preschool children, I ‘d like to encourage parents to explore the wealth of material available to them these days. It is always a thrill for me to hear parents talk about how much their children enjoy my work. But even better is being with kids while they are watching. I recently had that experience with a preschool class of seven two-year-olds. They started giggling at a humorous sound effect when the letters of the alphabet bounced onto the screen. This didn’t stop…and continued for all 26 letters. Everyone in the room was laughing too, their excitement was so infectious.

1. Be picky. My advise to parents is be selective. There is an amazing assortment of very high quality media available.
2. Preview. Review the material before you children see it to make sure you know what they will be seeing. Unrealistic you say, then look for media that has been reviewed and received awards or certification, ie iParenting Media Award and/or KidsFirst.org.
3. Watch it with them. There will be lots of questions and you want to be there to help answer those questions. I love introducing very young kids to animals or objects they probably don’t know like yaks, armadillos and sturgeon. That can lead to great discussions.
4. Use it for skill building. Interact with the programming and use it to build skill sets like colors, numbers, shapes, comparisons, etc. It’s the best of both worlds for them, they get your attention and stimulating media all at one time.
5. Keep TV time limited. Sometimes it’s hard to do, but worth the effort to help kids learn to entertain themselves, be active outdoors or just coloring or looking at books.

A recent article in the Washington Post lamented we may be raising the first generation of “indoor children”. A study by Sandra Hofferth at the University of Maryland found a 50% decline from 1997 to 2003 in the amount of time kids spent outdoors in unstructured play (team sports not included). A growing number of children’s advocates, environmentalists and others are concerned about long term consequences that may affect emotional well being, physical health, learninging abilities and environmental consciousness.

I had the good fortune to grow up on an 40 acre farm. I loved being outdoors and it was easy and safe for me. As a general rule this is not the case today for most kids. The younger children are, the more protective we become in even a suburban environment. That is why parents can make such a difference.

My current animation project is “Who Lives In My Yard?” I love the idea of connecting kids with the myriad of creatures who share our homes with us. Cats, dogs, ant, crickets and squirrels are usually easy to find. Some rather exotic critters can be seen as well. I still get excited when I see a praying mantis, a brilliant green and so regal. The last one I saw was in my garden this summer. I get a fleeting view of a skink now and again as it scurries off. Some kind of critter is usually easy to find in any yard, parking lot or the park. Taking a moment with your child to really observe and appreciate those creatures goes a long way to expanding their universe in a very personal way.

I just spent a long weekend at a mini-family reunion in Vienna, Va, right outside DC. I had two wonderful visits to the Smithsonian museums that have been dear friends for many years. I grew up in the DC area and have been going to the Smithsonian for most of my life. It was such a treat to see so many families with young children on the Mall. I know it takes a lot of effort and dedication to travel with young children. Despite the heat, so many moms and dads were relaxed and enjoying their kids, sharing this great national treasure with their children.

When I lived in the DC area I got down to the museums regularly and had my kids with me for many of those trips. I was a great fan of the Folklife Festival an annual summer event, around the 4th of July.

My daughter loved the Family Days at the Corcoran Museum of Art, especially the Presidents’ Day Family Day. As a little girl she was very interested in the Revolutionary War period of American history. So she was delighted that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were at the Corcoran that afternoon. Their Family Days feature activities all over the museum that got kids creating art with a wide variety of materials.

If you aren’t in Washington you can still participate. The National Gallery of Art has some online activities that even the youngest children can enjoy. Jungle lets kids create a scene using elements from French artist Henri Rousseau. Collage Machine II lets you do just that. Brushter is like a little kid’s verision of Photoshop. Have fun.

I spent a wonderful hour with seven 2 year olds on Thursday at Elizabeth’s Early Learning Center here in Lynchburg. I have been reading to this group of kids for over 6 months. I love walking into the their classroom and hearing them squeal with delight at the prospect of a new batch of books. When you think about it two is really a very special age. They have learned to control their bodies enough to be very mobile. They have mastered language well enough to communicate. Of course this is why they have been called the terrible twos. They are flaunting these wonderful new “powers”.

I took a series of books about animals for kids 6 to 9 years old. The text was not appropriate for two year olds, but the photographs were fine for a discussion about the animals featured in each book. We had a great dialogue about deer, rabbits, opposums and skunks. This reminded me of when my son was a toddler. He was fascinated by large photo books about space travel. Of course I read him plenty of picture books, but his interest in non fiction and space have been life long. He is currently a professor of astronomy at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

My point is don’t be afraid to expose your toddlers to books that have appropriate photographs or artwork even if they are designed for older children or even adults. It’s a great opportunity for a dialogue about the subject matter at hand. Reading is always a opportunity to make a real connection with your kids and maybe even snuggle if they are in the mood.