Hello! Thank you for taking a moment to read through this month's Early Childhood Community Liaison Newsletter, with a big emphasis on COMMUNITY! Each month, you'll find great information from several entities in Cody that work directly with young children. (Please note that this newsletter works best using the Chrome web browser. If you have difficulties downloading any of the documents found below, please reach out to me directly and I'll send them to you. My contact information can be found at the bottom of this newsletter.)

All programs are FREE and open to children of ALL ages!! Attending any of these programs is a great way to support and extend the learning your child is already doing at his/her preschool or at home. Please note that parents must remain in the classroom for the duration of each program and are expected to be active participants with their child(ren). Be sure to download the May schedule below!

Children and Digital Media: Rethinking Parent Roles

from ReadingRockets.org

Smartphones and tablets are on nearly every dinner table and nightstand, and even our youngest children interact with technology on a daily basis. Because technology is so much a part of our everyday lives, parents have to work pretty hard to keep up with what's out there. But more than knowing the latest must-have app or game, parents may need to reconsider how they connect with their child during technology use.

Some experts suggest that adults — parents, teachers, librarians — need to consider their role as one of a "media mentor," a trusted adult who engage with children to use technology in creative and interesting ways, beyond games and flashing lights. This sharing can lead to interesting conversations between parent and child, can boost language development, and can lead to a healthy attitude about media and technology.

There are two areas in which technology may provide a good literacy boost: an exposure to new words and ideas, and helping children learn more about topics they're interested in exploring. Here's how:

Exposure to new words: Research suggests that carefully designed programming, for example PBS's SuperWhy! on PBS, can improve children's language development, letter knowledge, and understanding of sounds. Beyond educational television, other media experiences such as watching an author read and talk about a book, interacting with e-books that contain interesting and exciting words, and engaging with quality apps that promote word growth can all help exposure young children to new words and ideas.

Learning more about interesting topics: Does your child love butterflies? Construction equipment? Soccer? Regardless of topic, one can find interesting pictures, video and text about that topic. As your child's first teacher, spend some time familiarizing yourself with some of the reputable sources online and the types of media available. By doing the background work before sitting down with your child, you will be able to use your media time together for exploration and learning.

Regardless of the technology you and your child are using together, be an active participant. Make sure your child is following along and understanding what's going on. Keep the conversation flowing with lots of back-and-forth talk. Model healthy technology use by keeping an eye on the time. Most importantly, recognize your changing role in helping your young learner navigate the digital world.

Number Sense

from ProudToBePrimary.com

Why is Building Number Sense Important?

Children need opportunities to learn and experience numbers. Learning to count, identify numbers, and understand quantity are a few of the essential concepts. Repeated experiences build understanding and fluency with numbers. These experiences help expand knowledge and learn new ideas. A strong number sense is vital for future understanding of more complex math topics.

The activities below are ones that have been used successfully. Use them as they are described or adapt them to your own needs. Be flexible. Have conversations about numbers and encourage questions. When there is an opportunity to order, count, match, or describe with a child, go for it! They benefit from seeing numbers in natural, fluid ways.

Make time for fun and engaging number activities daily and watch fluency develop.

Build Number Sense Through Counting

It is crucial to count with children every day. Repeated oral counting helps them hear what numbers sound like and to learn their order. Using math manipulatives, like counting chips, can help build a connection to verbal counting and counting objects. This one-to-one counting is an important skill that needs to be practiced often.

Activities

• Count out loud as a class starting at one and building to higher and higher numbers.
• Sit with a partner or in a circle and take turns counting by 1’s.
• As counting develops, teach number patterns and counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.
• Use a number chart to see what numbers look like visually. Point to each number as it is said.
• Encourage kids to practice one-to-one counting with small objects. Have small groups of objects set up in a center for them to count.

Tactile Perception:

Children may be over- or under-reactive to the feel of objects. Kids learn through touching.

Activities for the Tactile System

Sensory Bins with Various Textures--Universe Sensory Bin, Dinosaur Sensory Bin, Spring & Summer Sensory Bin, Insect Sensory Bins. Play with Playdough or Finger Painting--You can make your own calming no-cook play dough recipe or finger paint! If your child struggles with touching the finger paint, put it inside a plastic bag and tape it shut. Deep Pressure--Proprioception is another one of the 8 senses that is closely connected to the tactile system. Deep pressure either by rolling an exercise ball across the back or squeezing the hands can help get this input and help to desensitize the tactile system. Shaving Cream Finger Paint--Play in the Mud--Make Slime--Play with Water Beads--Play with Kinetic Sand--Make Cloud/Moon Dough--Jump into a Pile of Leaves--Gardening (planting flowers, vegetables, digging in the dirt)--Cooking or Baking

Finger Dexterity:

Precision movements of thumb and fingers to pick up, hold, manipulate, and release objects.

Activities to promote Finger Dexterity:

Beading on string, pipe cleaners, or a stick. Buttoning buttons, picking up small items and put them in the palm of your hand and move them out to the fingertips within the same hand. Peeling stickers, putting coins in a piggy bank, opening locks, and crumpling tissue paper in your fingers.

We couldn’t be more excited about Summer Reading 2023! This year’s theme of “All Together Now” fits perfectly with our goals of unity, friendship, and kindness! Once again, the program will be for ALL AGES, from newborns to great-grandparents! Come in to get started any time beginning Tuesday, May 30th, and join the fun plus the opportunity to help with the two Kindness Projects. Another summer of READING + KINDNESS!!!

Did you know...

There’s a giant supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park? It’s 3,000 feet deep and 45 miles wide! Don’t worry, scientists have gotten really good at predicting when it will erupt, and it won’t happen any time soon. The last time it went off was 640,000 years ago! The heat from the huge pool of magma under Yellowstone powers features like geysers, hot springs, mud volcanoes, fumaroles, and more.

Child & Juvenile Services

The vision for the Social Services Division within the Department is to increase the number of children safely cared for at home, to build permanent and stable families, and to assist families in transitioning to long term success.

The Department and our community partners are active in on-going discussions that focus on the opportunity for Wyoming to engage with families and community partners through relevant and meaningful services and interventions that focus on strengthening families and preventing unnecessary out-of-home placements for children. The Department realizes that it is not the totality of the child welfare system in Wyoming. The child welfare system also includes community stakeholders, community providers, other governmental entities, institutional providers, and all state citizens.

The aim of keeping families together is to provide prevention services that will provide the necessary supports to prevent unnecessary out of home placements for children. Prevention services in each community will be evidenced based and well supported.

If out of home placement of a child or children is necessary due to unmitigated safety concerns, the Department will build permanent and stable families. Ensuring that the Department has foster homes that are able to support the needs of all children, particularly older youth, is paramount. Children deserve to live in families and the Department’s focus will be towards placing children first and foremost with relatives or in family like foster settings. If family like foster settings are not appropriate, the Department will utilize crisis shelters, GHs, RTCs, PRTFs, and BOCES placements. The Department also will work towards ensuring that permanency is achieved for children and families in an appropriate and timely manner.

Through the permanency process the Department’s goal is to ensure that children and families have successful long term transitions. The Department wants each child and family to have the opportunity to achieve independence.

The Department is the state agency authorized to administer and supervise the administration of all programs authorized under Title IV-B, IV-E, and Title XX of the Social Security Act. The Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) includes a series of targeted plans, as outlined throughout the document, that address specific focus areas in addition to the Social Security Act.

The Department envisions children living safely in their homes. The Department can best achieve this end by giving families opportunities for success. This vision is the foundation the Department will build their efforts upon and is articulated in the CFSP.

Keeping your community safe: A guide to being a vigilant citizen

The truth is, crime can make its way to any neighborhood, no matter how “safe” it is. In times of economic distress, people are even more concerned about rising crime in their communities. On the bright side, people can take plenty of preventative measures to protect their homes and neighborhoods. The steps could be as simple as keeping the doors locked or as complex as starting a neighborhood watch program. Even though no place is immune to crime, teamwork with neighbors and family members can make a difference to minimize it. This guide defines burglary, explains in detail the importance of neighborhood safety, provides tips on keeping your kids safe, and outlines how you can be a proactive member in your community to promote safety.

As the weather gets warmer and children are able to play outside a bit more each day, it can sometimes be challenging to think of ideas to keep them engaged during outdoor play. Each month, I will feature a different website to help provide ideas and boredom busters!

This month's website features 20 backyard activities for kids. (Created for families during COVID shut down when everyone was stuck at home!) These are fun, easy to make games for kids of all ages!

Brooke Sieg, PCSD 6 Early Childhood Community Liaison

Email: brookesieg@park6.org
Website: www.park6.org
Location: 919 Cody Avenue, Cody, WY, USA
Phone: (307) 272-0153
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057666729007