January 2023
Early Childhood Community Liaison Newsletter
Message from the Liaison (Brooke Sieg, PCSD 6)
Liaison Program Schedule and Information
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 January schedule below!
Literacy Corner (Leanna Morton, PCSD 6 Literacy Coach)
Getting your child ready for kindergarten can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task! Download the "Getting Ready for Kdg" document, found below, to help you know what to look for.
Is your home literacy friendly? You are your child's first teacher. Your home is where your child will get his or her first experiences with books and reading. Download the literacy checklist, found below, to help guide your quest in providing a literacy friendly home!Mindful Math (From the experts at DMTI)
Developing Mathematical Thinking Institute (DMTI) is a professional development and math curricular resource company that partners with PCSD 6 teachers and families to help children significantly increase their math scores while learning to love mathematics.
What's involved in this month's activity:
- Seeing quantities and operations
- Understanding what the child knows or doesn't know in the problem
- Problem Solving
- Seeing Patterns
Why it matters:
- Builds critical thinking and problem solving skills
- Gives insight to what a child understands and how the child thinks
- Highlights misconceptions that may be hidden with symbolic calculations
Fine Motor Movement (Ashli Westbrook, MS OTR/L, Children's Resource Center)
Show your child the correct way to hold scissors when learning to cut, with the thumb up. Start by giving your child paper to tear and have them hold the paper with their fingers and thumb to tear rather than a full fist to rip. When starting scissors, initially give them small (1/2 inch) strips of paper to cut so that they can use one snip to cut it off the strip. The success is very motivating. Then gradually increase the width of the strips so they must use 2, then 3 snips etc. to cut across the strip. After they can use 2-3 snips to cut across a strip, draw a thick (1/4 inch) line straight across a piece of paper and have them cut on the line. Once they master a straight line, you can make it more complex by drawing a curved line, a wavy line and then a zig-zag line. You can introduce basic shapes once they start cutting wavy and zig- zag lines. If they are motivated, have them make a collage out of the scraps and tell you all about their masterpiece.
Cutting tip:
If your child is having a hard time keeping their thumb up while cutting, tape the piece of paper to a wall and have your child cut following a straight line up the wall. Make sure they hold the paper with their helper hand. Placing the paper on a vertical surface puts their hand in the correct cutting position naturally.
Items to Cut:
Paper
Playdough
Goop
Newspaper
Magazines
Coupons
Tissue Paper
Ribbon
Wrapping Paper
Scrapbook Paper
Leaves
Grass
Foam Paper Sheets
Tin Foil
Drinking Straws (these shoot across the room for extra fun). You can play games with the straws and try and shoot them, so they land in a big bucket. After you cut the straws, you can string them on a string and make a necklace.
When cutting playdough and goop, have the child roll out into a snake shape and cut it into pieces. Roll the playdough into balls and have your child pinch off pieces to make a masterpiece. Hide small items in the playdough or goop and have your child find them and pick them out using their thumb and fingers. You can use your imagination and make food and have a pretend picnic with the playdough. Also you can stamp the playdough and see the different patterns it make with items such as buttons, small animals, sea shells, etc. This will strengthen their scissors skills.
Another great way to start to strengthen scissor skills is water play which incorporates the muscles used to cut Items to use during water play include but are not limited to:
Eye droppers
Turkey basters
Bath squirters
Spray bottles
Sponges to squeeze
Tongs and tweezers
Containers with lids.
Book Nook (Holly Baker, Cody Public Library)
BBCW Fun Facts (Emily Buckles, Interpretive Specialist and Natural Science Educator)
Did you know?
From September 1, 2022 through September 1, 2023, ALL kids that live in Park County, along with one adult chaperone, get into the Center of the West for free?! (See flyer below this section for more details.)
Owls
It may feel cold and snowy outside, but believe it or not, Owls are already preparing for spring! Most owls start looking for nest sites in January and “hooting” for mate by the end of the month. If all goes well, they will lay eggs and have nestlings just as spring comes around so there is plenty of food to feed all the new owl babies.
Try going for a walk on a calm night in January. Listen for the “hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo” of a Great Horned Owl, or the “whinny” of an Eastern Screech-Owl.
Listen to the Great Horned Owl
Listen to the Eastern Screech-Owl
"Teasdale"
Meet Teasdale, a male Great Horned Owl who hatched in 2010. He was found near Teasdale, Utah, after breaking his right wing. This healed incorrectly, preventing him from having stable
flight. He was the first bird to join the program. Teasdale loves the wintertime. It is not uncommon for staff to see him sitting in his window with snow blowing over his toes and his feather tufts.
"Monte"
Meet Monte, a female Eastern Screech-owl who hatched in 2017. She was found near Roberts, Montana, with the tip of her right wing missing, most likely due to a vehicle collision. Her poor flight prevents her from surviving well in the wild. Eastern screech-owls’ feathers blend in perfectly to tree bark. This helps keep these small little owls protected from possible predators.
Counselor Corner (PCSD 6 Elementary School Counselors- Linda Baumstarck, WesLeAnn Medina, Kambrie Simmons)
Does the Size of My Problem Match the Size of My Reaction?
When your child is having a difficult time, please encourage them to fill in the blanks for this statement: "I feel _____ when _____. Could you please _____?" This allows them to take ownership of their emotions while also communicating their needs. They can use these statements with their siblings, friends, and even parents! (For example, if they are fighting with their siblings, you may encourage them to say: "I feel upset when you take my toy without asking. Could you please give it back?")
You can also help your child learn to regulate their emotions by helping them to match the size of their problem to the size of their reaction. Much of the time, children can feel as though the size of their problem is BIG ("They are cheating in the game!") and so they have a BIG reaction by throwing a tantrum, pouting, or tattling. This week, I am helping the students to differentiate small problems from big problems.
BIG REACTIONS When helping students to understand big reactions, it is also important that we teach what big reactions are appropriate and not appropriate. Hurting others, ourselves, or property through our words or actions are examples of BIG reactions that are inappropriate. Appropriate big reactions include going to an adult when there is an emergency or someone is hurt.
How do we match up the problems and reactions? I worked with students on helping them to identify the size of the problem and whether the reaction matched. For example, if I see two people punching one another over and over on the playground (BIG problem because someone is hurt) and I decide to calmly go talk to them about it (a small reaction), the size of the problem and the size of the reaction don't match. I should go get help. Another example is that if I don't get to watch the cartoon I want (small problem) and so I yell, pout, and go tell Mom (BIG reaction), the size of the problem and the size of the reaction again don't match. I can use a small reaction like taking turns, ignoring it, or finding something else to do.
DFS Info (Department of Family Services)
Child Care Financial Assistance in Wyoming
The Child Care Subsidy Program helps low-income families pay for the cost of care when the parent(s) are working or in school or training. Based on the family’s income, the parents may be responsible for paying for part of the cost of care. The Department of Family Services’ Child Care Subsidy Program uses a combination of state and federal funds to assist eligible families in paying for the cost of child care while the parent(s) is working or attending an approved educational activity. If the family meets the eligibility criteria, the Department of Family Services pays a portion of the cost of care. Parents are free to choose a child care arrangement that best fits their needs as long as the chosen provider meets certain health and safety requirements. For more information regarding this assistance, please click HERE.
Park County Sheriff's Office
Severe Cold Weather
Frostbite, hypothermia, and possible death are real life consequences of severe cold weather. According to the Mayo Clinic:
Frostbite – an injury caused by freezing of the skin and underlying tissues. First skin becomes very cold and red, then numb, hard and pale. Frostbite is most common on the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin. Exposed skin in cold, windy weather is most vulnerable to frostbite.
Hypothermia is a medical emergency that occurs when your body loses heat faster than it can produce heat, causing a dangerously low body temperature. Normal body temperature is around 98.6 F (37 C). Hypothermia occurs as your body temperature falls below 95 F (35 C). Symptoms can include confusion.
Dressing for the weather is an important step in staying warm and comfortable during the winter. Cold weather dress can include:
- Dressing in layers, as anyone that grew up in Wyoming knows, the base layers are the way to go.
- Gloves and hats, for both comfort and protection.
- Waterproof snow boots, because wet means cold.
For more information, please check out the Park County Sheriff's Office website.
At-Home Bordom Busters
As cold weather begins to move in for our loooong winter, it can be difficult to find engaging indoor activities to do at home with young children. Each month, I will feature a different website to help provide ideas and boredom busters!
This month's website focus' on STEM activities! Introducing young kids to STEM is incredibly fun. If you’re a mom at home or early childhood educators, there are so many benefits to teaching your kids STEM. Use their natural curiosity to develop problem solving skills, and have a great time doing it.
Not sure what STEM stands for? It’s an abbreviation of Science Technology Engineering and Math. Or you may have heard of STEAM, where the A stands for arts. All toddlers and preschoolers can get involved with these amazing ideas.
Contact Info
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