Spanish Immersion Preschool - Philadelphia & Fort Worth
Familia Dedo Concierto with Mr. Joe from the Lara and Joe Show! Gracias Maestras Nuria, Ginna, y Barbie!
La Familia Dedo – Letras de Las Canciones
Papá dedo, papá dedo ¿Dónde estás?
Aquí estoy, aquí estoy ¿Cómo estás?
Mamá dedo, mamá dedo ¿Dónde estás?
Aquí estoy, aquí estoy ¿Cómo estás?
Hermano dedo, hermano dedo ¿Dónde estás?
Aquí estoy, aquí estoy ¿Cómo estás?
Hermana dedo, hermana dedo ¿Dónde estás?
Aquí estoy, aquí estoy ¿Cómo estás?
Dedo bebé, dedo bebé, ¿Dónde estás?
Aquí estoy, aquí estoy ¿Cómo estás?
La familia dedo, familia dedo ¿Dónde estás?
Aquí estamos, aquí estamos ¿Cómo estás?
Vocabulario:
Papá : father
Mamá: mother
Hermano: brother
Hermana: sister
¿Dónde estás? Where are you/ Aquí estoy. Here I am.
Dedo: finger
¿Cómo estás? – How are you?
This month at Mi Casita, our project-based learning question was “¿Cómo podemos representar el cambio de las estaciones?” or How can we represent the changes in the seasons?
It is August, and it is HOT! This was a perfect time to discuss the weather changing. We had rich vocabulary ranging from winter coats to swimsuits to snow to rain to sun! As many of our students were traveling to different climates this month, we were able to use their real-life experiences to deepen the learning. Mi Casita classrooms always have a final presentation as a culminating moment. During this time, classes present an answer to the month’s question. Many classrooms decided to show the change of seasons through visuals and through song. Our students heading off to kindergarten provided a summer picnic to show their amigos how to enjoy the summer months.
Mi Casita Clase Verde teachers wanted to incorporate an authentic “Estaciones” song. They took it one step further by collaborating with students to create lyrics to a new Seasons Song, tailor-made for our August Seasons unit.
A special gracias to Maestra Johanna and Maestra Yoana!
Have a listen- “escucha”!
Do you like it? ¿Te gusta?
Follow along with the lyrics!
Cuando es verano hace sol / Y necesito usar bloqueador
When it’s summer it’s sunny/ And I use sunscreen
En otoño hace fresco y las hojas de colores están cayendo/ooooo oooooo
When it’s fall it’s cool outside and the leaves are falling/ oooo ooooo
En invierno hace frío, mucho frío/Me pongo los guantes y un abrigo
In the winter it’s cold, very cold/ I put on gloves and a hat
Cuando está nevando/chocolate caliente estoy tomando/ oooo ooo
When it’s snowing/ I’m drinking hot chocolate/ ooooo ooooo
Cuando está bonito bonito afuera/ Es la primavera que con flores llegan
When it’s pretty, pretty outside, it’s the spring and flowers are arriving
Cuanod está lloviendo quiero estar en mi cama durmiendo/ ooooo oooo
When it’s raining I want to be in my bed sleeping/ oooooo ooooo
A special gracias to Maestra Johanna and Maestra Yoana!
Keeping our children healthy is one of the hardest and most important responsibilities as parents. Nutrition is the baseline for their emotional and physical health so staying on top of that is key for their success. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming to tackle nutrition. Paying attention to AZUCAR (sugar) intake can make a huge difference in children’s physical health and behavioral issues. Consuming refined sugars on a regular basis is linked to tooth decay, childhood obesity, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and behavioral issues.
All sugar in our diet is refined, even the “natural brown” sugar. Refined sugar is prevalent in processed foods, including simple carbohydrates such as white bread, flours, candy and desserts.
Say adios to breakfast cereals and replace with:
oats/oatmeal, protein and high fiber oat bars, full fat yogurt (not fat free because that has added sugars), and fresh fruit (avoid canned fruit, which has added sugars).
Providing protein and fat in their lunch will help give them a natural energy boost and keep them full until dinnertime. Think apple slices with cheese, veggie sticks and pitta bread with hummus or a homemade oat bar or energy bites.
Say adios to fizzy drinks and juices. Switch to 100% fruit juice, with no artificial corn syrup. Juices should be a treat not an “all the time drink”. Agua should be their main hydration tool. Milk is also fine.
You can still make fun healthy treats.
Popsicle molds make it easy to create your own healthy natural fruit juice frozen treats! Organic nuts, dried fruit, raisins, and dark chocolate bits make a wonderful trail mix that kids love. Mix dry oatmeal, natural no sugar added peanut butter, and bits of your favorite granola; roll into balls and put in the fridge for an afterschool snack…packed with protein, healthy fats, and plenty of nutrition. Sticking to healthy ingredients while snacking, you are only limited by your own imagination!
Written by:
Tripp Miller (Master of Science in Physiology) and Tatiana Miller (Clinical Holistic Specialist)
For questions or more info please visit:
www.Holisticmedicinefortworth.com or text 817-9948-482
Photo Courtesy of Richard Johnson
For the month of May, Mi Casita focused on the importance of sportsmanship, teamwork, and hardwork. Over the course of the month, the niños learned about how to create a “juego sano,” or in other words, a fun and fair game. As part of the curriculum, the niños spent the course of the month developing their very own game to be shared with the other classes. Each class spent countless hours dedicated to game design, establishing the rules, and outlining the “dos” and “don’ts” of game play–all of which were done completely by the niños.
By the end of the month, each class had created games to play at our Mi Casita Field Day in the Spring Gardens. The hard work and dedication of the classes was on full display at “Los Juegos,” the game-day challenge that represented a culmination of a month’s worth of planning and game-building.
The games created reflected the unique personalities and interests of each classroom. La clase amarilla devised a simple game of ring toss, or lanzamiento de anillos, made of paper plates and paper towel rolls. They also took their own spin on the game “Red Light! Green Light!” to orchestrate “¡Siga! ¡Pare!,” a racing game. La clase naranja decided on a basketball dribbling game as well an an egg race. As for la clase morada, they facilitated a bag toss—a great way to practice aim and differentiate the colored bags. La clase turquesa decided on a more complex game requiring some serious coordination: a three-legged race! Last, but not least, la clase verde, created a “circle game” in which one player ran around in a circle of players with a beanbag in their hand until they passed the beanbag to the next player and took their seat. As you can see, the ninos creations varied in type and skill level, but none failed to play close attention to details. Most importantly, they had a ton of fun in the process!
The ninos celebrated their creation on a nice, sunny day at garden. Lots of positive energy, cooperation, and laughs were on display throughout “El Juego.” This day exemplified everything that the ninos had learned during the unit: sportsmanship, patience, hard work, sharing, and how to ultimately be a team player—both while playing and during the game-making process. We topped off the fun-filled games with pizza and water ice! Special shout out to Elyana’s parents for supplying the water ice from Jimmy’s Water Ice- truly the best in the city!
Mi Casita Field Day was a success and we are very thankful for all of the parents that came to show their support for the work the niños have accomplished!
Art exploration is both fun and educational. Unrestricted experimentation with art both stimulates the mind in early learners and helps young children forge connections in their growing brains. The art of creating provides our kids with the freedom to manipulate different materials, dabble with colors, and familiarize themselves with various textures.
In March, art exploration and authentic art creation was our primary educational focus. Our project based learning question? Create your own museo! The Mi Casita niños focused on creating and developing their own personal pieces of art while simultaneously learning about some of the most prominent and historical artists, such as Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.
Over the course of 4 weeks the children worked on both group and individual art projects that they then presented at the end of the unit at their very own Mi Casita-made art museum. The kids replicated famous artworks, such as Starry Night, and also used different existing art pieces as inspiration to create their own masterpieces.
To successfully create our own museum at Mi Casita, we wanted to have the kids get hands-on experience with art at a museum. As part of this unit we were fortunate enough to be invited to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art as well as the Academy of Natural Science. Here we were able to explore art outside of the classroom and see the natural structure of a museum. We were able to identify how pieces are curated, organized, and displayed.
These museum visits served as real life examples that help the students curate and display their own work. Whether they know it or not, the natural processes of art creation involve tuning fine motors skills—grasping pencils, crayons, paintbrushes and all other art material helps children develop their motor muscles. The kids also work on practicing critical thinking skills my making a mental plan and then projecting their ideas on paper. By identifying shapes, sizes, and making comparisons between different aspects of their arts the children hone in early math skills.
An important aspect of our trip and of the museum-creating process was presentation. The kids were able to show off their artwork to their peers, and at the end, to their parents and the entire Mi Casita community. This process of describing the artwork they are so proud of builds language skills—in both Spanish and English.
Gracias to the PAFA and Academy of Natural Science for having us. Mi Casita loved the adventure!
If you want to expand upon what we did at the museum and throughout our art unit, talk to your kids about art and everything that they have created! Here are some other local resources for exploring art in Philadelphia which have programs specifically geared towards families and children:
Mi Casita was recently honored as the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance launched a new initiative highlighting the impact of arts and culture in our community. They focused on the benefits of art in early childhood education, and highlighted the outstanding impact Mi Casita has on the creative lives of its students.
When we aren’t working, we like to…
Get Royce outside! Dad and Royce are really into baseball at the moment. So I tag along and run the bases. We also love a great al fresco lunch at Parc. Royce can easily down a whole bread basket. However, he runs it off in Rittenhouse Square afterwards.
An activity Royce really enjoys…
The Melissa and Doug easel is a great purchase. You can use paint, crayons, and dry erase marker. It’s hours of entertainment. I love to frame the pics he paints and give them to friends.
The question on every parent’s mind: How do you get Royce to eat his vegetables?
Hide them! Add some kale and spinach into meatballs or use riced cauliflower instead of rice or potatoes.
What advice or tips do you have for parents that are new to Philadelphia?
Take advantage of all of the amazing festivals and activities that are always going on in the city — just start walking on a weekend and you are bound to find something fun to do or a great restaurant to catch a sidewalk meal!
A great way to meet other parents is through some of the networking parent groups that you can find on social media — like Stroller Strides, Moms of Center City, Philadelphia Parents, etc. They always have a ton of meet-ups happening in the city.
Favorite park in the city to take Royce.
Rittenhouse is great for a larger space and people watching. Sister Cities park is fun in the warmer months when you want a park that is a bit more intimate and the sail boats there are so fun to play with in the summer.
What fun games/activities do you do with Royce on a snowy day or the weekend
The Philadelphia Museum of Art always has cool programs happening for kids and it is great to take advantage of its free weekend admission once a month so that you can expose them to cool art without worrying about admission if they only last for a short time.
Good websites that direct parents about news/activities/interesting games to play with children.
Wee Wander is a great local resource and MommyNearest is a great national app. It even tells you where the local changing tables are for parents with little ones.
Favorite place to volunteer or favorite charity of yours
The Center for Childhood Resilience. The Center for Childhood Resilience operates programs that facilitate healing for abuse victims and their families. The Board conducts a variety of regular volunteer-based activities. So, check out their website and get involved!
Hot spots for a child’s birthday or play.
Primp and Play does really fun art-themed or spa-themed parties for kids. PlayArts is also an up-and-coming spot that has fun classes and activities for kids to play.
How do you take what Royce is learning at Mi Casita and apply it at home?
We are not fluent Spanish speakers, but we try. We love using the Mi Casita word list to improve our Spanish, practice with Royce and reinforce the themes at Mi Casita.
La clase verde and la clase torquesa made a special trip to the Barnes Foundation art museum to explore the various forms of art, enhance the children’s knowledge of color and the color wheel, as well famous historical artists.
Our trip began with a warm welcome from the Barnes staff and was followed by an interactive introduction about colors. The kids identified the three primary colors and were expected to play close attention to specific pieces of art and the colors used in those pieces.
After breaking up into two groups, we then continued to one of the art galleries that showcased a large portrait of a woman wearing a red headdress. The kids were successful in identifying the first primary color of the day, red, and learned about the history of the artist. While looking at the many portraits in the room, we also discussed why most people in the portraits did not smile. (Ask your kids why there are minimal portraits with a smile!)
We continued into the next gallery and analyzed the work of Picasso. An all-blue portrait of a withered old man served as the example for our next primary color, blue. The tour guide sparked a discussion about texture, the use of color, the mood behind the use of color, as well as the potential feeling(s) the artist was trying to evoke.
For the final gallery, the kids were on the hunt to find art with the color yellow as the centerpiece. After identifying a large family portrait with the color yellow as the central color of the piece, the kids then began to pick out the finer, yellow details in other artworks. We then experimented with still life by putting flowers in a vase to compare the differences between a portrait and reality.
To summarize our learnings, the Barnes instructor’s read “Mix it Up” by Herve Tullet, an interactive book of color all within the printed page. By following the author’s instructions throughout the book, the kids were able to suddenly see colors appear, mix, splatter, and vanish—all propelled by the reader’s imagination.
It is clear that all aspects of art can stimulate the mind and can be integrated into early childhood learning and development. For example, the red scarf observed in the first gallery can provoke imagination and the still life flowers observed in the final gallery can be used to teach math, for the flowers can be analyzed both spatially and geometrically. In addition, art is an essential part of the creative curriculum utilized here at Mi Casita. Through art, we as teachers are able to reenforce social-emotional, cognitive, mathematic,and language abilities.
Our experience ended with a new and exciting color song that we all learned for the first time today. While it may have rained on our travels back, nothing could have ruined the day!
A special thank you to the staff at the Barnes for the excellent tour and for being extremely kind and accommodating.
Post contributed by Matt Falsetta en la Clase Verde
Yup, you read that right, teaching the art of pottying.
Potty training conjures up images of parents in fatigues, barking orders at their tiny one below, sweating, panting, ug. Of course that’s NOT how they are doing it, but TRAINING? YUCK.
Let’s start to learn about the art of pottying. Just imagine it. You are grasping on with all of your might, as you are suspended over a vat of water that swirls and then is sucked down into an infinite abyss. This is what a toilet looks like to your kids. Sure you may have a potty but some day, someday, they will have to move on to the giant vortex of doom. Kids are also creators of habit, not big fans of change. Great right? Just keep in mind, none of us went to high school in diapers. It WILL happen. BUT HOW????
Your first task is to be sure that your child is even ready. Are they dry for a few hours? Do they know when they have gone in their diaper? Does it bother them? Are they interested in the potty? Can they pull up and down most pants? This is pretty important if you think about it. Can they follow multi-step directions? There are A LOT of steps to going potty. No, really, check it out:
1. Go to the potty
2. Pull pants down
3. Pull underwear down
4. Get on the potty
5. Wait until done
6. Wipe
7. Flush
8. Pull up underwear & pants
9. Wash hands
Mind blowing, huh?
OK, your kid is ready, NOW WHAT??? First you want to get your child interested in using the potty. Buy some books, watch some shows, let them pick out a potty (they come in a variety of colors and designs). Kids like information and the more that you can give them the better and the more involved that they can be in the process, well, also the better. Time for some TMI, but when you are a parent you have to throw inhibitions to the wind. Here ya go, let your kids see you potty. Yup. There ARE moments when potty time DOES need to be private but take ‘em along when you go pee. When they see you go they will want to go and they will discover that it is a part of everyday life. It is just what we all do.
Once you have the potty, make sitting on it part of the diaper changing routine. When you change your child, have them sit on the potty. If they are resistant, they can sit on it with a diaper or even fully clothed. Be careful not to ask. When we ask kids to do things, we are opening the door to, “NO”. If we tell them there is more of a chance that they will follow the direction, “OK, hop on that potty for a moment. Let’s see if anything comes out. What song should we sing?” You want your child to get comfortable with the experience not to master it in record time. So sitting fully clothed in fine and a step in the right direction.
Remember, we are teaching the art of pottying and mastering the art of something takes time. As you move forward, have your child sit on the potty and “try” after each diaper change. If they sit for a moment, that is fine. Again, this is a process.
When your child seems really ready to take the next step have NAKED DAY!!! Ok, not EVERYONE needs to be naked but have your kid be, at least on the bottom and take that potty with you everywhere so making it to the potty is easy. This is best to do over a weekend so you have a lot of time together and you can all just be home. You are trying to connect the feeling of needing to pee to the actual potty so when they feel the need they think POTTY.
Time to get real here for a sec, I like to be honest. You will “START” a few times before it takes. Kids are into it then not so into it. You may go on vacation and long car or plane ride may seem like something that your child is no where near ready for, and you are not willing to risk the mess that may appear, so back in the diapers they go. Your child may get sick and can’t focus on the potty. Lot’s of things that can throw a wrench in the potty plan. Keep in mind we ALL ended up learning the art of pottying and your kids will too.
I do not often tell families to use charts and bribes (which I call thank you’s or congrats for a job well done) but learning the art of pottying is a different situation. There is an end. Once a child has mastered going to the potty they are not really going to stop just because you stop charting and gifting. A congrats can be a new pair of undies, choosing the movie for family movie night, a new (inexpensive) toy. You want have an end date and when you will begin weaning off of the charts and gifts. For example:
• Use stickers for every time your child goes on the potty
• Then for every pee
• Then for every dry day
• Then for a poo
• Lastly have a big END prize
Big is NOT expensive. For example, your kid loves dress up? The dollar store has wings for $1 or masks. It is just something big to your child. It can also be an experience. They can pick dinner or weekend activity. Having a big end prize makes a real statement. They have done it. They have reached the finish-line.
They have mastered the art!!!! Teaching the art of pottying is a right of passage for parents as well as kids. It is a little stressful, emotional, and if you have a good sense of humor, a hilarious time in your life. Take deep breaths and stay strong and you will find in a few weeks that your child will be going on the potty like a pro. Sure, your child might not be pottying in 24 hours, BUT by taking the path described above the experience will be done without tears, yelling, tantrums, and TOO much stress (on the part of BOTH parties). Alright parents, you are now ready! Go forth and mentor the art of pottying!!!!
Want to talk more about pottying or any other parenting adventure? Stop by my site, www.childanfamilycoaching.com to sign up for your FREE 30 minute strategy session and when you mention this blog you will receive 35% off of one month of parent coaching.
Brandi Davis, ACC, is a professional Parenting Coach, Parent Educator, Speaker, Blogger, and Author of “O.K. I’m A Parent Now What?” She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and be sure to catch her parenting podcasts on iTunes. The goal of Brandi’s practice is to bring respect, calm communication, teamwork, and FUN into the home or classroom. To discover all that Child and Family Coaching can bring to your family stop by www.childandfamilycoaching.com.