Babbyone Blog

  Well, it looks like we’ve got all the email subscriptions moved over!  Phew!  For those of you who are getting posts emailed, you might have missed an email or two in the move.  You may want to check out Weekend Reads for 3.26.11, or More to Build On… with more construction activities to add onto the “Let’s… continue reading

I’m reading a fascinating book called Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Petterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler.  It’s been sitting on my proverbial nightstand for at least a year now, and after hearing it recommended again from about a fourth source – from education administrators to business execs to parents – I decided I’d better start reading…. continue reading

Can you believe it’s First Friday already?  No Foolin’!  I selected just three questions this time to keep things more streamlined.  If you have a question for the next installment of First Friday Q&A, email those to my NEW address: questions@notjustcute.com .  Go ahead and do it today.  Trust me, the next First Friday will be… continue reading

It’s rather well-known that reading aloud to children is one of the best things you can do to promote literacy.  While simply hearing the story has its benefits, really building literacy, comprehension, and vocabulary requires conversation off the page.  Here is an example of some of the conversation that took place as I recently shared… continue reading

I was just sitting down to write a post about making your family your first priority when ironically – or perhaps serendipitously – my oldest son woke soon after going to bed, crying in pain with an earache.  So the laptop quickly closed, and I spent the next few hours curled up with a warm… continue reading

In my most recent list of Weekend Reads, I linked to a wonderful post from Janet Lansbury, 10 Secrets to Raising Good Listeners.  A friend of mine posed what I thought was a very good question.  “What about the ways adults can do a better job of listening to kids?”  It got me thinking.  So here’s my list.  I’d love… continue reading

I’m really excited to share this guest post with you from Rachelle Doorley of Tinker Lab:  When it comes to outdoor play, kicking a ball around, cooling off in the pool, or spending hours at the park probably come to mind. But how often do we consider making art outside? Outdoor art making is one… continue reading

Water is a fascinating topic for exploration!  At this time of year, it’s particularly exciting to explore water in the form of rain.  If you’re enjoying some April showers, you might want to build some connections with the children you love and teach by jumping into some of these great books and activities. Rainby Manya Stojic… continue reading

  “Arts and crafts” is a common label in the early childhood world.  And while the label implies that they are two different but similar categories, it is unfortunately used too often as one overarching label.  But the two have subtle differences: the difference between process and product, creativity and the created, following inspiration and… continue reading

Last Friday, I spent about 8 hours in a technology classroom earning credit toward the renewal of my teaching license.  The topic was podcasting, and of course, if I’m doing work I prefer to make it count for as much as possible, so I thought I’d focus my project on something you could enjoy.  I… continue reading