Hello families! You might notice on our posts from now on that we are including things called the “Vermont Early Learning Standards” or VELS. These are included for families who want to track their child’s development while doing these activities at home. These standards are based on a typically developing child at each age group and include the developmental milestones your child should be working on while participating in these activities.
THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF BY PAUL GALDONE
READ BY NATALIE
Year after year, children are drawn to this story. My co-teachers and I have speculated many times about why that might be. It might be the fun voices. It might be the simple narrative. It’s the perfect length. And it’s super fun to act out!
While the reading is playing (or afterwards), your child might want to act out the parts with their toys or their bodies. Children enjoy building a rushing river and a bridge over it. The bridge building is an engineering challenge that is developmentally appropriate for preschool-aged children.
You can also pause the story and ask your child what they think will happen next. Predicting what happens next in a story is great practice of literacy learning and higher level thinking. Even prompting your child to fill in certain words is great practice. For example, “Who’s that trapping over my….” pause the story and let your child fill in the word “bridge.”
You could also extend the activity by creating costumes for the troll or the goats. Building horns might be a really fun activity.
Really try to take this story and run with it, ask your child what their ideas for next steps are. They might have some great ideas that you and I didn’t even think about!
What your child should be learning during this activity based on their age groups:
Vermont Early Learning Standards for Infants:
FOUNDATION READING SKILLS
Goal 1: Children develop the foundational skills needed for engaging with print, reading and writing.
Print Concepts
Show interest in looking at books and in adult initiated literacy activities
READING – ENGAGING WITH LITERATURE AND INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Goal 1: Children develop “book language” and demonstrate comprehension.
Show interest in shared reading activities and looking at books
VELS for Young Toddlers:
READING – ENGAGING WITH LITERATURE AND INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Goal 1: Children develop “book language” and demonstrate comprehension.
Focus attention for short periods of time when read to
VELS for Older Toddlers:
FOUNDATION READING SKILLS
Goal 1: Children develop the foundational skills needed for engaging with print, reading and writing.
Phonological Awareness
Fill-in words of familiar songs, stories, of finger plays
READING – ENGAGING WITH LITERATURE AND INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Goal 1: Children develop “book language” and demonstrate comprehension.
Provide particular language from a book at appropriate times during shared reading experiences
Request adults to read a book
Answer simple questions about the story with modeling and assistance
Actively participate in shared reading experiences by asking questions and making comments
VELS for Preschoolers:
READING – ENGAGING WITH LITERATURE AND INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Goal 1: Children develop “book language” and demonstrate comprehension
With modeling, assistance, and props, retell or re-enact a familiar story.
Retell or re-enact a familiar story in the correct sequence of a familiar story’s major events with prompting and support
Ask and answer questions about the characters and major events of a story with prompting and support
THEATRE
Goal 1: Children engage in dramatic play and theatre as a way to represent real-life experiences, communicate their ideas and feelings, learn, and use their imaginations.
Use creativity and imagination to manipulate materials and assume roles in dramatic play situations
WINDOW TRACING WITH BECCA MACK
Becca Mack is a close friend of the Burlington Children’s Space community. She used to be a teacher in the Blue Preschool and now is our atelierista. This means that she is a traveling teacher who comes in to work on creative projects with teachers, families and all ages of children. She has worked with every classroom at BCS so it might be nice for your children to follow a familiar face in a creative endeavor!
ERINN’S NOODLE SOUP RECIPE
FOCACCIA BREAD RECIPE
A YOUNG TODDLER FAVORITE
Here’s a delicious bread recipe that the Young Toddlers love making. It would be a yummy addition to Erinn’s Noodle Soup! Firstly, bread baking is a favorite, “tried and true” sensory experience for all children. Your child can help scoop and measure ingredients. This is great practice for counting. “One scoop, two scoops.” And they can help stir the mixture with tools and knead the dough for some motor development. It’s great to comment on the changing properties of all the ingredients, especially when you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Plus, it’s great practice to try eating new foods!
VELS:
Infants:
HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES
Goal 1: Children develop healthy eating habits and knowledge of good nutrition.
3. Eat different kinds of foods (e.g., liquids, pureed or soft foods, finely chopped food)
Young Toddlers:
NUMBER SENSE, QUANTITY AND COUNTING
Goal 1: Children count in sequence, recognize numerals, connect numerals with quantities, and compare quantities.
2. Imitate rote counting
Older Toddlers:
HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES
Goal 1: Children develop healthy eating habits and knowledge of good nutrition.
2. Show interest in and communicate about food, textures, tastes (e.g., crunchy, warm, sweet)
Preschoolers:
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT AND COORDINATION
Goal 2: Children develop strength, eye-hand coordination, and control of their small or fine motor muscles
Feed themselves using utensils independently
Refine grasp to manipulate tools that require strength, control and dexterity (whisking, pouring, stirring, kneading, etc.)
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