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Parenting a preschooler can be challenging, and we hope that this newsletter will add to your parenting toolbox by delivering inspiration and expert advice to your inbox each month. Do you have burning parenting questions or a topic that you would like us to cover in a future newsletter? We would love your input! Please contact Nicole Casey at ncasey@fayschool.org with any questions, comments, or feedback.

BOOK CLUB - When Spring Comes

Does the spring season have your child confused about the weather? Who can blame them! One day they can play outside without a jacket, and the next day they're bundled up in winter gear. To teach your child that "spring changes its mind a lot," try Kevin Henkes' When Spring Comes. It's the perfect book to teach your child about the change in seasons from winter to spring.

LITERACY AND NUMERACY - Learning Letters

Learning the letters of the alphabet is foundational for early literacy, but many children are understandably not interested in memorizing letters with flashcards. Instead, the best way to help your child learn their letters is through play. This spring, try the activities below with your child to work on letter recognition.

On the next warm day, fill a bucket or bin with water and foam letters. Give your child a large spoon and ask them to go fishing for letters. As they pick letters out of the water, call out the letter they found.
In your driveway, use chalk to write out letters and then ask your child to match the letters by putting letter blocks on top of the chalk letters.
Will your child be participating in an egg hunt this Easter? Get them excited by practicing with a letter hunt. Use letter blocks or other letter objects that you have and hide them around your house or yard for your child to find.

Check out the Parenting Advice section below for more information about the value of play and for ways to incorporate it into language building. You can also read our article about the benefits of play-based learning by clicking here.

ARTS & CRAFTS - Coffee Filter Butterflies

Materials Needed:

Washable markers
Coffee filters
Water
Eye dropper
Cooking pan
Pipe cleaners

Directions:

Gather the materials above.
Take two coffee filters and put them on top of each other, and then flatten them out onto a cooking pan (the pan will contain the water and the mess!).
Color a design on top of the coffee filter stack (the marker should bleed through onto the second filter).
Using an eye dropper, squirt water on top of the stack of filters until they are wet everywhere. Make sure the filters are not soaking wet though because the water will wash away the color.
Separate the two filters and lay them flat to dry.
Once the filters are completely dry, fold them each accordion style into strips that are about a half-inch wide.
Stack the filters on top of each other and twist a pipe cleaner around the center of them. Fan the ends of the pipe cleaner out to make a "V" (this will be the butterfly antenna).
Pull the folds in the coffee filters open and fan them out to shape the butterfly wings.

DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONE - Vocabulary

Did you know that the number of words that a child knows when he or she enters kindergarten is the most important predictor of their success? To build your child's vocabulary, read aloud with them often as it introduces many words and concepts that might not be used in everyday life. Even listening to books together while you’re making dinner or during bath time can be a great way to introduce new vocabulary.

Another way that you can help build your child's vocabulary is related to how you communicate with them. When talking with your child, try exposing them to different words. For example, instead of always describing something as big, try using large, gigantic, huge, or massive. Lastly, try not to water down your own vocabulary too much. If your child repeatedly hears a word within a certain context, they will figure out its meaning and start incorporating into their own vocabulary.

PARENTING ADVICE - Games Aren’t Just for Fun

Play is a critical component of early childhood education, and it’s how children internalize classroom learning and make sense of the world around them. “There is a huge overlap between learning and play,” says Fay School Kindergarten teacher Anne Canada, “and it’s important to understand the value of play as a learning tool.” Many kindergarten classrooms, including the ones at Fay, regularly incorporate games into their literacy work to help students practice skills that require repetition. If you are looking for a fun way to practice and build literacy skills, check out these games that have been recommended by Fay’s speech and language specialists to promote the acquisition and retention of expressive language.

Eight Games that Help Your Child Strengthen their Language Skills

FIELD TRIP - EcoTarium

Visit the EcoTarium, a museum of science and nature in Worcester, to explore three floors of indoor interactive exhibits, live animal habitats, daily Science Discovery programs, hikes through forest and meadow nature trails, and outdoor imaginative play. The EcoTarium is now open later and for an extra day each week. Their current hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM – 5 PM. Click here to learn more.

Your Parenting Toolbox: Fostering Language and Literacy in the Early Years

Thursday, April 14 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM

Did you enjoy the literacy and language ideas in our newsletter this month? Join us on April 14 to learn more from our expert teachers about how to help your child get ready for reading and develop essential literacy skills. In this workshop, you will learn about typical speech and language development and how these skills form the foundation for reading and writing, the building blocks of academic success. You’ll also learn specific strategies for fostering language and literacy skills at home, and you’ll walk away with a “toolbox” of progress checklists, teaching tools, activity ideas, and literacy games to use with your child. This workshop is recommended for parents of children ages 3-6, is free to attend, and it open to the public.

Learn More and RSVP

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