An Ounce of Prevention: Getting off to a good start in Somerville

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

This old saying is a guiding principle behind early childhood initiatives world wide: get children off to a good start - right from the start- and avoid more costly and complex efforts later on.  The Ounce of Prevention Fund recently held a summit in Chicago to engage district leaders across the U.S. in conversations about developing innovative, comprehensive systems of early education and care. Somerville was there to share strategies for strong community partnerships that support Birth-Grade 3 alignment. David Jacobson invited Somerville to participate in the summit and highlights the importance of community-district partnerships in his most recent blog. 

Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Adam Sweeting, Regina Bertholdo, and Mayor Joe Curtatone

Part of this ounce of prevention is advocacy - gathering voices who can speak for children when they cannot do so themselves.  Speakers at the April 14 Week of the Young Child event at city hall advocated for our youngest citizens. Mayor Joe Curtatone emphasized the importance of community in building a liveable city where all children are ready for school.  School committee chair Adam Sweeting talked about building a system of early education that includes all the programs in our city - both public schools and community-based centers and childcare. 

Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Somerville resident, Professor Emerita at Lesley University, and a founder of Defending the Early Years, talked about how schools are places where children learn to become citizens in a democracy and that even our youngest students can do this. She told us what it looks like:

• Learning how to be a member of a group (Hey, these blocks aren’t “mine,” everyone can use them.)
• Making decisions that benefit the whole group (How do we figure out how to feed the goldfish so everyone has a turn and it’s fair?)
• Learning about our diverse world and to respect everyone equally (How we look different, speak different languages; we are all valuable)
• Learning how to resolve our conflicts (We both want this yellow ball right now—how can we figure this out?)

Voting for favorite playground elements.

Today our children voted, toured city hall, created artwork, saw police and rescue vehicles up close, and even listened (mostly) attentively to grownups talk about policy.  High school students gave us a fanfare on their trumpets and stood to remind us of children's rights. 

Reading children's rights.

Our superintendent, Tony Pierantozzi, has led the way in Somerville by forging strong connections between our public schools and those who provide a range of services to children and families. This was evident today. We hope that the messages from the Week of the Young Child will stay with us all year as we work together to make Somerville a great place to be a child.

Fanfare for the Week of the Young Child proclamation

Week of the Young Child: Children Engage with City Hall

The Week of the Young Child - April 13-17, 2015

In the 1970s the National Association for the Education of Young Children designated a week in April as The Week of the Young Child to bring awareness to issues related to early childhood education and care.  While schools and centers focus on school/classroom activities, it is also a week for community activism and advocacy - and that is what we will be doing here in Somerville on Tuesday, April 14 from 10-11.  Children, teachers, families, and local dignitaries will meet at 10:00 a.m. in the aldermanic chamber at City Hall.

Here is what will happen:

• Mayor Joseph Curtatone will read a proclamation advocating for children, families, and teachers.
• Nancy Carlsson-Paige (Somerville resident, Lesley professor, and activist) will say a few words of inspiration related to children's civic engagement.
• Students from Somerville High School's child development program will share their work on children's rights from their study of the UNICEF Rights of the Child movement.
• Everyone will sing with Maura Mendoza, a family liaison whose Music Mondays were featured in this blog in the fall.

Then children can:

• Tour city hall.
• Visit offices featured in a social story written especially for this event.
• Vote on their favorite thing to do outdoors.
• Create a tiny art project that will become part of a larger installation at city hall - courtesy of Marina Seevak and The Beautiful Stuff Project.

"Ballots" for voting

Learning about City Hall

A book, Somerville: Working Together for a Wonderful City, will be available to all early childhood classrooms in the city. This book, a social story, was created by members of the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative and introduces children to Somerville's City Hall, what work goes on there, and to real people who work there.  It also presents the idea of voting as a way to participate in city-wide decisions.  A lesson plan and bibliography (scroll to the bottom of this link for pdfs and google translate) accompanies the story so teachers can preview and extend the learning at their sites.

The event at City Hall on April 14th is both simple and complex - bring children and families to city hall to visit and see how things work.  Easy enough. But as is often the case, the idea of having very young children visit a place of city business can raise more complex questions.

Why would children visit city hall? Aren't they too little to come to a place of government? How can we make the experience relevant to children?  What can we learn from the children who visit?

In the aftermath of WWII, Loris Malaguzzi, a citizen from Reggio Emilia, Italy, rode his bicycle to the outskirts of town where people were rebuilding their schools, brick by brick.  He was so struck by these efforts that he became a leader of this movement, bringing children regularly to city hall to make sure that people did not forget that the children were the hope for the rejuvination of the town, and that as citizens, they needed municipal support to grow, thrive, and contribute.  His efforts evolved into what is now known as the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. The article, Engaging City Hall: Children as Citizens, is inspirational and a resource for action you might take.

Sadly, support for early childhood programs is not necessarily a given in the current fiscal climate where there are many competing needs.  We must continue to remind leaders that parents of young children are a large voting block, and that serving children well is the hallmark of a healthy city. Engaging state and local leaders in conversations about children and families is crucial to sustaining initiatives that benefit families and all who live in our community.

Things you can do even if you can't join us on the 14th:

• Write a letter to the mayor, board of alderman (city council), or your school committee. Tell them what makes our city work and what would make it even better.
• Read books about civic engagement with young children.
• Make sure your children know their city, take walks and share the history of your area - study the buildings, the parks, the neighborhoods.
• Have children write stories about their town and what is important to them.
• Make art and display it in your classroom or in the community (local businesses) with accompanying text or photographs about the work.
• Modify the lesson plan for your own field trip somewhere in the city. 
• Engage with various advocacy groups to learn more about current efforts:
• Strategies for Children - Early Education for All Campaign
• Defending the Early Years
• The Alliance for Childhood

We hope you can join us on the 14th or celebrate the Week of the Young Child in your own way.
Contact Somerville Family Learning Collaborative 617-625-6600 x 6966 or the Director of Early Education, 617-625-6600 x 3656 for more information.

What are Teachers Talking About?



Teachers "speed date", sharing reflections
on play and teaching practices.

During a school year there are many opportunities for teachers to meet - but just because people meet doesn't mean they are talking about something that has the potential to impact teaching. In Somerville, the Early Learning Challenge Grant provides opportunities for teachers to share expertise and get feedback on teaching using critical friendship routines to guide conversations.

Talking about the connections
between literacy and play.

What is unique in Somerville is that these groups are made up of teachers from a variety of early childhood classrooms:  Head Start, Somerville Public Schools, and local center-based childcare programs.

Teachers reflect on video and
talk about new practices.

Teachers in teams such as the Literacy Coaching Group and the Kindergarten Readiness Group are looking at examples of children's learning and this takes many forms - video and photos from classrooms, children's writing and drawing, and anecdotes related to play, behavior, and academic content. These kinds of in-depth conversations about teaching and learning remind us of what children need to be successful in school and how teachers can support children in these areas of development.



After the meetings teachers are not expected to go it alone.  The Literacy Group is supported by the early childhood coach who visits classrooms weekly to support literacy practices. The Kindergarten Readiness Group stays in touch via email.  Teachers want to talk about their work in meaningful ways - having time to meet in collaborative groups with a focus on how to be proactive in classrooms can inspire teachers to innovate. A local group, the Early Childhood Consortium provides opportunities for early childhood educators from the greater Boston area to convene monthly around issues of practice in classrooms and provides support to those who need it.

The meeting of teachers from diverse sites - public, center-based child care, & Head Start creates curriculum and visionary alignment across Somerville. As teachers experience new ways of meeting and talking together about their work, it can become infectious - there is much expertise to share and we look forward to more professional learning communities for early childhood educators.

Mindfulness and Social Emotional Learning - Teachers, Parents, Children

Drifts at East Somerville Community School

As many of us return to school this week we have much to keep in mind.  From watching our steps as we traverse the icy sidewalks, to preparing our classrooms for children who have been out of school for weeks, to helping our own children get back into routines at home. 

This means slowing down, regaining that "first day of school" mindset, and approaching things anew. Some might call this "mindfulness" - a way to regroup and prepare for what lies ahead, both the expected and the unexpected. 

Early childhood educators in Somerville have been practicing Mindfulness in seminars sponsored by the Evelyn G. Pitcher Curriculum Resource Lab at Tufts University. The group met at the Capuano Early Childhood Center once a week this fall to explore ways reduce the range of stresses, deepen resilience, and refine relationships with others and themselves. The seminar continues at the Capuano this winter with Tools for Recapturing the Joy: Resilience Training for Early Childhood Educators. 

Tufts alum Jeff Goding leads the group. An executive educator and researcher with years of experience teaching secular mindfulness meditation techniques, Jeff has recently begun working with Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development to bring the benefits of mindfulness to early childhood educators. 

Through a combination of meditation, yoga, breath work, self awareness techniques, participants are learning ways to strengthen their inner capacities for self-awareness, self-care, and improving the ability to bring their best selves to all that they do, both inside and outside of the classroom.  

Fall participants had powerful experiences:

• "I learned how to be more present in my daily life. How to be more we are and how things impact and affect my time."

• "This course taught me how to handle situations or events to help myself approach the event in a calm her more mindful way. I am hoping to be a better listener."

• "I learned just how negative my daily thoughts really were. Now I notice that I am having many more positive thoughts and I'm aware of my negative thoughts it feels different now."

• "This class gave me useful tips to mentally prepare myself for my classroom, be mindful, aware, be the listener I want to be." 

• "I would love to see this workshop continue...when teachers are mindful and able to work through stressful situations in the classroom they can help children use these techniques."  

Some schools are building mindfulness into daily practices with children (How Mindfulness Could Benefit Your Teaching Practice) and using literature is one way to introduce children to this work (Children's Books on Kindness and Compassion).

Mindfulness work has a strong social emotional component.  Schools in Somerville utilize a variety of social emotional curricula such as Al's Pals and Second Step which focus on recognizing and understanding emotions, developing self-regulation, and developing empathy. Responsive Classroom is also used in many schools as a way to build community, also with a focus on self-awareness and acceptance of others. 

So take a breath - spring is right around the corner.

 

More Snow! Executive Function Part 3 - Transferring Responsibility to Children

Here we are again. Deciding if the timing is right to shovel the car out yet again. So here are More Snow Day Ideas. Also tune into our own Mayor Joe Curtatone's message about shoveling and community spirit. Snowfall is a good time to teach our children lessons about helping others and keeping our community safe. A good time to practice caring. Give young children small scoops or shovels from your beach stuff, bundle them up, and let them try it out.  

Don't forget to enter  your email in the box on the right to subscribe.

And if you do get a moment, here is bit more thinking about executive function and helping children internalize good work habits.

I once was fortunate to hear Elena Bedrova and Deborah Leong speak about their work when they were developing their Tools of the Mind curriculum. Their work is based on the theories of Lev Vygostky, a Russian scholar who lived in the early 20th century.  His theories are largely based on the idea that learning occurs through our relationships with others, and that socialization and play are key areas for young children's learning and the development of self-regulation (See Boss of the Paints, Executive Function Part 1, and Executive Function Part 2). Bedrova and Leong pointed out that often we mistake compliance for self-regulation.  We all want good behavior from children, but sometimes what we see is really teacher or parental regulation, not self-regulation.

Cover of necklace workplan, decorated by child. See centers in
background with materials ready to go.

I  worked with a student teacher last year who wanted to avoid children waiting for adult signals to move from one math center to the next. Some children finished sooner than others leading to behavior issues for those who waited with nothing to do. Some children needed more time to complete work, leading to frustration.  She developed a math menu where children wore necklaces with the activities on them and checked off what they had done as they moved.  There were also always activities that children could go to if they had finished everything and these activities reinforced concepts teachers wanted to solidify. 

      All children have the same list but complete at own pace. Teachers

      can add activities to individualize. Children color in shape when an 

      activity is complete.  Teachers check daily to see how children are 

      progressing. 

"Workjobs or Workplans" is not a new concept as this 1972 publication Workjobs illustrates.  Check out the photos in this classroom.  Looks fun! Such approaches individualize & differentiate instruction and allow children freedom of movement and self-pacing. Small notebooks, clipboards with checklists, etc. help children keep track. Everyone is working at their own pace, on content that is right for them, and teachers are freed up to move in and out of groups to help where needed.  

• Activities need to be well demonstrated at meeting time to ensure children know what to do.
• Repeating activities over a few weeks builds expertise. 
• Having activities that need no demonstration give children something engaging to do without adult direction. 

This is what self-regulation looks like and this is different from the compliance behaviors we see when all children are working in a workbook at the same time for the same amount of time.  This strategy is also good for chores and homework in your home.  Think about where and how you do your best learning.  Your children need the same thing.

Building and Supporting Resilience in Our Community

Enter your email in the space on the right to automatically receive the blog each week. While this blog often goes out to various listservs, entering your email ensures that you will get it and can pass it on. In addition, today is another snow day so check out last week's blog for things you can do at home with children.

As we gear up for another round of shoveling and dealing with the headaches of the increasing snowfall this seems like a good time to talk about resilience.  

The Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) is a group of stakeholders who meet monthly to discuss how best to support children and families in Somerville.  They spent September-January closely examining key issues and reporting on what is going on in their agencies.  Amid discussions about transportation, food insecurity, housing, sleep, play, mental health and physical well-being, quality early education, immigration, and out of school opportunities, a topic rose to the surface - building resilience and supporting families dealing with stress.

The ECAC will spend the rest of this year engaged in advocacy and action related to resilience. This is an opportunity to re-visit the “The Campaign to Nurture Resilience in Somerville: Helping Kids Thrive” - an effort by Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC) ten years ago.  The concept of resilience has always been key to supporting Somerville families in raising their children to be successful in school and life. Now we want to extend the concept of resilience to the entire community - agencies, schools, and the city as a whole.

Amy Bamforth, Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist at SFLC, spoke to the group in early January and helped define and dispel some myths about resilience. We watched a short video called Supporting Resilience packed with information. Consider sharing it with your colleagues, friends, or local municipal representatives (city council, school committees) and talking about it with them. 

RESILIENCE IS - A universal capacity which allows a person, group or community to prevent, minimize or overcome the damaging effects of adversity. It includes:

• Our inborn capacity for self-righting and for transformation and change.
• A process of connectedness, of linking to people, to interests, and ultimately to life itself.
• The ability to defy negative predictions as a function of meaningful protective factors or interventions
• The capacity to bounce back overcome adversarial factors from challenges typically predictive of failure.
• An ecological phenomenon. It cannot be developed by sheer will power within the at-risk person; it is developed through interactions within the environment, families, school, neighborhoods and the larger community.

This last bullet is really important.  Resilience isn't all "nature".  Rather it is cultivated through the connections and relationships we build in our communities, in our work together.  And resilience can be "status quo" - sort of a stabilized state, out of crisis.  But there is also "transformational resilience" that involves bigger changes in people's lives. This means looking for and building on personal strengths in individuals, families, schools, and communities. 

Turns out there are some specific things we can do together.  The Center for the Study of Social Policy's Strengthening Families Initiative has a nice summary of Protective Factors we can foster and tap into to help children and families move towards resilience. They are:

• Parental Resilience
• Social Connections
• Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
• Concrete Support in Times of Need
• Social Emotional Competence of Children.

Whether our work is in schools, social service agencies, municipal offices, health care, etc. we must ask ourselves:

How do I foster protective factors in my daily work with children, families, and citizens? 

What does building resilience look like in schools?  In government agencies?  In hospitals and doctor's offices? 

Finally, Amy Bamforth also shared a checklist from “A Guide to Promoting Resilience in Children: Strengthening the Human Spirit: by Edith Grotberg, 1995. Here are a few of the items that parents, teachers, and others who work with and serve families should think about.

The child has someone who loves him/her totally (unconditionally).
The child has someone outside the home she/he can tell about problems and feelings.
The child is praised for doing things on his/her own.
The child can count on her/his family being there when needed.
The child knows someone he/she wants to be like.
The child believes things will turn out all right.
The child is willing to try new things.
The child likes to achieve in what he/she does.
The child feels that what she/he does makes a difference in how things come out.
The child can focus on a task and stay with it.
The child has a sense of humor.
The child makes plans to do things.

The Early Childhood Advisory Council meets the first Tuesday of each month from 10:00-11:30 at the SFLC at the Cummings School at 42 Prescott Street in Somerville.  For more information email lkuh@k12.somerville.ma.us. Hope to see you there!

Snow Day! Snow Day?: Things To Do When We Can't Go Outside.

The possibility of a snow day can be exciting. People stay inside, spend time with family, and everything moves at a slower pace.  We get a reprieve from the rush of daily life.
However, this lovely image can be very different when there are young children to take care of - especially when weather (or even illness or school breaks) forces us inside for several days.  

A blanket on the floor creates a place for
art.Note the tiny amounts of fingerpaint
placed on small papers for each child.
Just the right amount for little hands and
less mess.

In-Home and Family Childcare Providers know first hand how to help children be engaged throughout the day and we can borrow ideas from them to get us through the days inside. Thanks to the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative, the Parent Home Visiting Program, and the Beautiful Stuff Project for the great ideas!

You don't need a lot of special equipment or furniture to make a space for children to play and do projects. A shower curtain, sheet, plastic table cloth, a blanket (see left), or a paper grocery bag cut open work fine. This turns any space into a play space that is contained and protects areas where you don't want an activity happening. 
Blankets and cushions are  perfect for making forts and hiding spaces. Places to Play at Home has great ideas.

Check the recycle bin.  Egg cartons, boxes,

and masking tape make great sculptures.

Drawing in coffee grounds.

Box tops (shoe box or other) and 

masa harina, cornmeal, salt.

Also think kitchen:  Fill the sink with water or better yet, bring in some snow from outside.  Tongs, basters, add cups, containers, toys and things that can float or be buried in snow.  Eye droppers with colored water for colorful water or snow.  Pull up a stool next to the sink and roll up their sleeves.

The links below contain ideas of things you can do, often with materials you already have, to keep little bodies and minds busy.  

No mess collage - contact paper and bits of

fabric, paper, etc. From SPS Smile Program.

Somerville Early Education Pinterest Site

Recipes to Make at Home

Things to Do on a Snow Day





December flashback: Here are the links from the December blog on non-toy gifts for the holidays and there are great ideas for things you can do at home:

Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment (TRUCE) has some great ideas for family fun at home or at school using easy to find materials.  Ideas for forts, cardboard boxes, socks, playdough, etc. with materials readily available at home.