The Mother Goose on the Loose Blog

| Positive Reinforcement
Share

Earlier this week, I received an email from someone named Sue Berlove advertising a fair trade product which could be a resource for early literacy programming.  It is called “3 Bags Full Finger Puppet Pouches”  and consists of a unique story bag developed by Bolivian artists.  I have not actually seen these, but I checked out the Website and they look cool. Sue says that she imports the puppet sets and sells them in North America. If you want to check them out, visit her Website: www.craftsfromBoliva.com.

Using MGOL with Children with Autism via Karma Dogs

| Positive Reinforcement, , , , , ,
Share

My friend and colleague, Janet Shepherd, has been adapting MGOL for use with children with autism. She is part of the Karma Dogs program, and often attends my MGOL sessions with her dog, Tami.  She says that she has made some adaptations which have worked really well and has given me permission to share them on this blog.

On the “Listen, Like, Learn with MGOL” CD, there is a rhyme called “Kitty cat, kitty cat.” Since Janet has a dog, she says “Puppy dog, puppy dog” instead. This rhyme is used with sticks or with a drum. The first line is followed by a description such as: “Puppy dog, puppy dog. Soft, warm puppy dog.”  When other volunteers are in the session, they use words to describe their dog, such as “Puppy dog, puppy dog, big, black puppy dog.” The children get the opportunity to learn something unique about each dog.

The chanting is fun and the children will also have the opportunity to pet the dogs or touch the part that is being talked about. The entire program will be presented musically, since the chldren learn from hands-on and respond very well to music.  Some of the children who don’t talk will sing and show comprehension.

She also adapted the song: “This is my house” to “This is my dog.” The words Janet uses are: “This is my dog, this is my dog, and we just love to go walking. This is my dog, this is my dog, and we just love to go walking.  I’ll walk her in the sunshine; I’ll walk her in the rain. I’ll walk her in the sunshine; I’ll walk her in the rain.”

I hope to go and visit this program very soon, but in the meantime just wanted to share some of Jane’ts cool ideas!

Indestructibles

| Positive Reinforcement
Share

A few years ago, I was introduced to an incredible resource called “Indestructibles.” These books for babies are water-proof, tear-resistant, and baby-durable. Extravagant, bold illustrations capture babies’ attention and there is now a nursery rhyme series also. The creator of Indestructibles just sent me a link to a nursery rhyme article in Atlanta Parent where Indestructibles were featured and I am now sharing that with you! It is a little hard to read- if you zoom it to readable size the text gets a bit fuzzy– but it’s a great article.

http://jonasillustration.com/blog_jonas_sickler_illustration/2010/10/atlanta_parent_featured_jonas_sickler_indestructibles_books/30/

Short holiday rhymes

| Positive Reinforcement
Share

At one of my more recent workshops, I learned this cool rhyme about Thanksgiving from Megan Berben. Here it is:

The turkey is a silly bird.
His head goes wobble, wobble.
And he knows but just one word –
Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Here’s a song I used to sing as a round, that is great for Halloween:

Have you seen the ghost of Tom?
Long white bites with skin all gone!
Ooo, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on?

Optimal number of children at a program

| Positive Reinforcement
Share

A librarian at the Weston Library in Weston, Florida writes:

“We are going to be offering MGOL at our Library in the next few months. What is the the ideal number of children in a group? Also, is it best to have different groups for ages birth – nine or twelve months, and then another group for older children?”

The ideal number of children and adults is 12 children and 12 adults per session. This is the ideal number, but it is not often the realistic number. Because adults with new babies often suffer from”Baby Brain,” sleeping minimal hours and being exhausted all the time, they are forgetful. They may forget to come one week and then come twice another week. Requiring advance sign-up or registration will deter these parents from attending library programs.

By having programs without registration on a weekly basis, you can make it the best possible situation for new parents. However, it also means that you will never be able to predict how many people will come to a session. Will you need 6 colored scarves or 56?

So, while you keep the ideal number in mind, you may want to just roll with the punches and always have more supplies than you need in case a larger number of attendees shows up.

If possible, it is wonderful to have one group for non-walking babies and another group for walkers. The activities are the same but in the first case it is more passive with the adult doing the activities TO the child whereas when a child is already walking, he can usually do the activities on his or her own.

Betsy