Follow-Me-Fridays: Where’s Miss Vivian?

Posted on March 4, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image by psiaki via Flickr

I’ve noticed that a lot of bloggers set aside a day to encourage others to “follow” their blog…sign up to receive notifications of their posts, “like” them on facebook, “follow” them on Twitter.

I’m thrilled that there are people reading my posts…actually over 3000 page views since I started this blog at the end of this past summer!

It’s not so much a vanity issue…but more that the posts that I write may be helping others…or at least putting a smile on their faces. 🙂

I had lunch yesterday with a dear friend, who is also an author. She is also a former journalist and reporter and is always giving me wonderful ideas for promoting my book.

Since the first of this year, I’ve been visiting our local District 11 schools here in Colorado Springs, implementing the SHOW ME HOW Story-time Program in the Pre-K’s and kindergartens. Every Thursday morning, I read a picture book story and then do rhythms and a craft project (from my book) with a classroom full of eager smiling children. What a blast!

I’m happy to say that the program has been really well-received…in fact, the head of the volunteer program for District 11 warned me that teachers are already putting in their reservations to have me do presentations for the new school year in August and September!

So, I thought that perhaps on Fridays, I could share my experiences in the schools. And also let everyone know where I will be the next week. My author friend suggested, “Where’s Miss Vivian?”

I had to cancel yesterday’s scheduled presentation because of a dentist appointment…but it turns out that it was a good thing I did because I wouldn’t have wanted to expose the children to my cold.

Last week, on February 24^th, I was at Columbia school. The children loved hearing about KATY AND THE BIG SNOW by Virginia Lee Burton. After giving the children a chance to discuss the story, we formed a circle and went through the motions of Katy, the crawler-tractor, as she plowed the streets of the town of Geoppolis. The craft project of creating a snow-cleared road way picture captured the enthusiasm of the children to such an extent that they wanted to stay and work on their project after the allotted time and were sad to put down their art materials because it was time for recess! Having to encourage young children to stop drawing and pasting in order to go outside to play…wow…that’s a new one!

As the children lined up, one of the little boys looked up at me and said, “Miss Vivian, I really like you!” Another child piped up, “This was the BEST time EVER!”

What was it that the children were so enthusiastic about?

When we spend time with our children, joyfully interacting with them, we build their self-esteem. They understand that we value them if we give them some of our time.

How can parents shape their children’s future?

Just 15 minutes a day…read a picture book story with your child.

Just 15 minutes a day…do a simple craft project with your child.

Just 15 minutes a day…prepare an easy recipe with your child.

Where can you find all of these activities, laid out in a simple, easy-to-use format?

Hop over to my website and grab a copy of SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING…now on sale for half-price with FREE shipping until March 9th. I guarantee it will be the best $22.50 you have ever spent…and I’m offering a 365-day money-back refund if you don’t agree!

Next week, I’ll be at Taylor school, doing two back-to-back story/craft presentations.

Image of Katy, the crawler-tractor by psiaki via flicker.

Avoiding holiday shopping temper tantrums

Posted on November 24, 2010 by viviankirkfield

We’ll all be shopping more in the next few weeks. If we take our preschoolers, there is always a possibility of a temper tantrum. WHAT! NOT MY CHILD! NO, NO, NOT EVER!…STAMPING MY FEET WITH STEAM COMING OUT OF MY EARS 🙂

Realistically speaking though, here are three easy discipline tricks that really work.

Make a game out of what must be done: Sing a silly song, make funny faces, say the ABC’s in a high/low voice. This works for things like buckling up the seat belt of the car seat (don’t all children hate that), leaving the toy store, putting on a jacket or hat.
Be matter-of-fact: Don’t ask, “Do you want to put on your jacket?” or “Shall we put that toy down because we are ready to leave?” Just say, “We are ready to leave and we are putting on our jackets.” (and maybe start singing a song about now we are putting our jackets on, jackets on, jackets on, etc.) Or, “It’s time to leave the store and put the toy back…which shelf are we putting it back on, the top shelf or the bottom shelf?” (always make sure that when you give your child a choice, BOTH choices will lead to the goal YOU have in mind)
Warn, distract, and then proceed with what needs to be done: Children like to know what the plan is…and they need to realize that what you say goes and that there is no discussion or negotiation. It helps, if possible, to give a warning. For example, when you need to leave the store, give your child a warning in a friendly upbeat tone of voice, “One more hug for mister bear and then we will put him back on his shelf and go and get a drink at the water fountain on our way to the car.” After the hug, help your child put the bear back, scoop him up, head towards the water fountain, singing a song about bears or water or whatever. Or, if you are at the library, you might say, “You can turn two more pages and then we will take our books to the librarian to check out so we can go home and read one of them. Again, scoop up your child (if there is any question he disagrees about your plan to leave), and head towards the library checkout. Let your child know you understand how he is feeling, “I bet you wish you could stay in the library all day, but it’s time to check out. You can hold the library card and give it to the librarian.”

One of the hardest things about dealing with preschoolers is that they are easily distracted and often cannot stick with one thing for very long. This distractibility is a blessing in disguise, however. No matter what they are involved in: looking at a book, playing with a toy, having a temper tantrum…they can almost always be distracted from it if your are able to turn their attention to something else. I am not really a very good singer, but when my children where little, I sang ALL the time…when I buttoned up their jackets, put them in the stroller, washed their hair. Silly songs, happy songs, high songs, low songs…it really worked! I can remember only one temper tantrum…one of my children (I won’t say which one) wanted a candy bar as we were checking out at the grocery store (don’t you LOVE how they put all those tempting sweets right at child-level?) and, being busy putting up the food on the counter and trying to watch the register read-out as the items were being scanned, I “ignored” my child’s rising whine of “I want a candy” and soon I had a 2 year old laying flat on the floor, kicking his feet. Had I been paying attention and intervened at the start of this candy demand, I think I could have distracted him and avoided the temper tantrum altogether.

For more parenting help during the holidays, you can check out Katherine Lewis’ blog carnival:

http://workingmoms.about.com/b/2010/12/03/blog-carnival-on-surviving-the-holidays.htm

Do’s and Dont’s: Holiday Shopping with Preschoolers

Posted on November 16, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Although we’d all probably like to leave our young children at home when we go shopping, this is not always possible. So what can we do to make sure our holiday shopping trips with preschoolers go as smoothly and safely as possible. Many of the following tips are from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and they are valuable to remember all year-long, not just during the holiday season.

DO’S FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPING WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Do keep children with you at all times.
Do accompany and supervise children in public restrooms.
Do have a plan in case you become separated…just like a fire safety plan which should be discussed at home and practiced routinely.
Do teach your child to look for people who can help…a uniformed security officer, salesperson with a name badge or another mother with children.
Do remind children to remain in the area where they became separated…there is a wonderful picture book story that addresses this issue…DON’T WORRY, I’LL FIND YOU by Anna Grossnickle Hines. When Sarah and her mother go the mall to buy Sarah some clothes, Sarah insists on taking her doll. When Sarah realizes she has left her doll at one of the stores, she runs to find it. Now, however, she doesn’t know where her mother is. Sarah remembers her mother’s instructions to “stay put” and so she remains at the toy store and soon mother and child are reunited. Read this story with your preschooler before your shopping trip and discuss the plan of action in case you become separated.

DON’TS FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPING WITH PRESCHOOLERS

Don’t dress children in clothing that displays their first or last name…this may give strangers an opportunity to start a conversation with your child.
Don’t leave children in the toy area of a store expecting store personnel to supervise your child while you shop in another area of the store.
Don’t allow young children to shop on their own to purchase gifts for friends or family members.
Don’t shop with your child if you feel you will be distracted. Try to make other childcare arrangements…perhaps you and a friend who also has young children can take turns watching the children while the other goes shopping for a morning or afternoon.
Don’t allow children to push the shopping cart if there is a younger sibling in it…and don’t allow children to hang on the cart, even if it is empty…too many accidents occur when shopping carts tip over.

For busy parents, online shopping can be wonderful option this holiday season. You can do it in the evening when the children are sleeping and avoid the crowds and parking hassles. If you do go out shopping with your children, keep these tips in mind. You’ll be glad you did! If you need a gift for a parent, grandparent, teacher or babysitter of a preschooler, I’d like to suggest my newly published book, SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SLEF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING. This great resource pinpoints 100 picture books every young child should hear and provides a story summary, parenting tip, eco-friendly craft project and child-friendly healthful cooking activity for each recommended title. If you are looking for fun-filled, educational, self-esteem building activities, check it out. http://amzn.to/9taz9u