Summer Reading

The Power of Reading

Reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life. It stimulates your mind, expands your imagination, becomes an outlet for creative thinking and so much more. The early years of a child's life are critical to developing a lifelong love of reading. It's never too early to begin reading to your child! The tips below offer some fun ways you can help your child becomes a happy and confident reader. Try a new tip each week. See what works best for your child.

Read Together Daily

Setting a normal schedule where you include reading together is a great way to show they the importance of routines and how reading is enjoyable to do.

Give Everything a Name

When your child points out objects name them, "That is a tree" "That's a motorcycle" It's a great way to not only engage with your child but to grow their vocabulary. 

Express Your Love of Reading

When it is time for your daily reading ritual express how much you love and joy the activity. This will create the similar reaction in them.

Read With Fun in Your Voice

Never read in monotone, allow yourself to step into their shoes. Be silly, be creative, and have fun! Your child will see that and be excited in return. 

Be Interactive

Act out your stories, don't be afraid to be the captain on the pirate ship looking for treasure or the  archaeologist digging up dinosaur bones. Reading is meant to be FUN!

Read it Over and Over Again

Repetition, books were made to be read more than once. If your child enjoys a particular book you need to them a 101 times, because it brings them joy.

Take Books Everywhere

Show your child that books aren't just for at school or at home before bed. They can read in the car, on an airplane or even at the store!

AYE AYE MATIES!

This week at The Academy of Powell Place we have had the wonderful experience to explore our senses and have the Blue Buccaneer come to visit us. We got to engage with a, friendly, pirate who has soared the high seas to bring us music along with his trusty first mate! While they were here they played us beautiful folk music and showed us how to do special dances! It was a joy  we will never forget and our friends wont stop talking about. 

For booking:

gasstationmason@hotmail.com 

(615) 414-8815

www.tommason.net

https://youtu.be/mFO5ZUXakcc

Sensory for Infants

One of the greatest gifts to give an infant is the gift of sensory play. Not only is this teaching them about the world around them. It's teaching them touch, sight, taste, smell, and sounds. This causes them to form cogitative connections in their brains. These connections, in turn, will develop and grow over the course of their young lives and help to shape them into who they become. Who would have thought that it all starts as an infant! So don't forget that even when we're playing, we're LEARNING!  

PreK Boot Camp - Lunch Line Skills

Today we had so many excited friends to experience what a kindergarten cafeteria line will look like. They had a fun lesson with their teachers in the morning and got to put their new tips and tricks to the test by getting to try it for themselves during lunch. Not only were they polite to their lunch lady, Ms. Lynne, they also opened their carton of milk on their own, choose if they wanted condiments or not, and most importantly got to enjoy some yummy chicken nuggets! To find out more information about our Kindergarten Boot Camp go to : http://www.academychilddevelopment.com/

Water Play

Water Play is one of the amazing things that we are able to offer our students during the Summer. Not only is it a fun and engaging activity to partake in it is also a learning tool for them! Below are some of the ways that water play helps each child to grow!

Balance and Strength

Though it might look like your child is just splashing around, water play can help improve children’s balance and strength. Playing in water is like playing in a brand new playground where even the simplest activities, like clapping your hands or jumping, are a whole new sensory experience. 

Coordination

Swimming develops muscles and motor skills and helps improve coordination. Kicking movements engage the core, and can help children learn how to coordinate both sides of their body to move through the water. When children swim, dance, throw objects or practice any movement in water they’re developing coordination.

Communication and Social Skills

Water play allows children to explore and interact with each other. New experiences and discovering new things within shared spaces offer a great opportunity for social development. As children play, they will be excited to communicate their discoveries to everyone around them. This is a confidence booster for kids! Because water play typically occurs in a limited space with few supplies, children practice sharing with each other and working together while engaging in play. There are many opportunities for communication development and social growth during water play!

Exploration and Learning

Bodies of water offer endless opportunity for physical experiments and discoveries. Children may have already investigated wood, dirt, sand, rocks, and other dry substances. But what happens when these substances are mixed, sifted or dropped with water? Children also get the opportunity to think about concepts like water displacement and volume as they explore in a body of water. Water supports a variety of life forms like fish and frogs, so water play can lead to new biological adventures as well!

Water play can be a fun summer activity and also allow children the opportunity to practice many valuable skills. But it is important to remember to never let children play in or nearby water unsupervised. Don’t allow children to play with non-CPSC approved toys, and do not trust flotation devices solely to support a child who cannot swim on his or her own.

  Safety Tips  

• Don’t leave your child unattended, even for a second, near water — including bathtubs!
• Have all caregivers become trained in CPR in case of an emergency.
• If you have a pool cover, ensure it is completely removed before swimming and do not allow your child to walk or crawl on it.
• Enforce rules around the pool. Children should not run near the pool or push others underwater.
• Make it clear that some activities, like bike riding, should not be done near the water.
• Flotation devices are not a substitute for supervision. Always stay within an arm’s length from baby.
• Life jackets should always be worn when riding on a boat.
• The AAP says children are not typically ready for formal swim lessons before their first birthday. But remember: swimming lessons are meant to increase a child’s comfort level in the water but do not replace caregiver supervision!

https://pathways.org/blog/splish-splash-the-benefits-of-water-play-for-children/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_r3nBRDxARIsAJljleEluxxPoTxKNEbKdwAzsavmEgtITBlY6WyGcF0B3yaClDYUKFgDAVcaAl2XEALw_wcB

The Importance of Pretend Play

The Importance of Pretend Play:

Imagination-driven play builds your young child's developmental skills.

Young children learn by imagining and doing. Have you ever watched your child pick up a stone and pretend it is a zooming car, or hop a Lego across the table as if it were a person or a bunny? Your child is using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. But this pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas.

• Social and Emotional Skills
  When your child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, he learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others. He also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending!
• Language Skills
  Have you ever listened in as your child engages in imaginary play with his toys or friends? You will probably hear some words and phrases you never thought he knew! In fact, we often hear our own words reflected in the play of children. Kids can do a perfect imitation of mom, dad, and the teacher! Pretend play helps your child understand the power of language. In addition, by pretend playing with others, he learns that words give him the means to reenact a story or organize play. This process helps your child to make the connection between spoken and written language — a skill that will later help him learn to read.
• Thinking Skills
  Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it's two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.
   
  Does your child enjoy a bit of roughhousing? Great! Some researchers in early brain development believe that this sort of play helps develop the part of the brain (the frontal lobe) that regulates behavior. So instead of worrying that this type of activity will encourage him to act out or become too aggressive, be assured that within a monitored situation, roughhouse play can actually help your child learn the self-regulation skills needed to know how and when this type of play is appropriate.
• Nurturing the Imagination
  Not enough pretend play at your house? Consider creating a prop box or corner filled with objects to spark your preschooler's fantasy world. You might include:
• Large plastic crates, cardboard blocks, or a large, empty box for creating a "home"
• Old clothes, shoes, backpacks, hats
• Old telephones, phone books, magazines
• Cooking utensils, dishes, plastic food containers, table napkins, silk flowers
• Stuffed animals and dolls of all sizes
• Fabric pieces, blankets, or old sheets for making costumes or a fort
• Theme-appropriate materials such as postcards, used plane tickets, foreign coins, and photos for a pretend vacation trip
• Writing materials for taking phone messages, leaving notes, and making shopping lists

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/kids-activities-and-printables/activities-for-kids/arts-and-craft-ideas/importance-pretend-play.html 

Prek 2 Muffins With Mom

Today our Pre K 2 class celebrated Mother's Day with a surprise breakfast bar set up in the classroom! The mothers were so thrilled and excited for the surprise and special thought that went into the gesture!