Dear CCS Summer Club,


This is Teacher Rachel. I’ve been a teacher in the Magnolia room for the past two years and today I’m excited to share a book that I put together from conversations we had with the Magnolia kids this spring. The book is made up of ideas kids had about things you can do when you are missing someone. Kids are missing their friends, teachers, and family members in this especially socially-distant summer, so I hope this book can help you and your kiddo navigate those feelings.

 

Watch the video of Teacher Rachel reading “When I Miss Someone I Can…”

Writing letters: You can follow up on one of the ideas presented in the video- writing letters to the person you are missing! This is something that kids can do at all ages. Your child could draw a picture or write words, through pretend writing (for younger kids), practicing writing letters that they know or are working on (for older kids), and/or through dictating their words and you writing them down. Seeing writing used for authentic purposes is a great way to develop literacy skills, and can help kids feel connected to their loved ones even when they are far away.

Some notes on writing with your child, if they are starting to write letters and hear sounds in words (typically age 3-6):

  • Often, we have children sound out the letters of the word, but we encourage them to write phonetically, rather than worrying about “book spelling”. Kids will learn conventional spelling later in school, right now they’re learning how to hear sounds and connect sounds to letters.
  • They might hear the “M” and “S” in “miss”. That’s great! That means they’re hearing those letters! You can walk them through the words, exaggerating the sounds and working to identify letters together.
  • You can demonstrate a letter on another piece of paper or even have your child practice the letter before they write it in their letter.
  • When trying to write long sentences or stories, you can write for them and have them dictate to you. Transforming their ideas into spoken sentences into written sentences is foundational for their emerging writing skills!


Trying out more activities from the book:

  • Playing with snakes! (Playdough snakes.) If you have playdough around, you can try making snakes like the child did in the book.
  • Making a video for friends. Perhaps someone is missing YOU. You can film your child saying a greeting to their friends, teachers, or loved ones and send it out. You can ask for a video reply, so that they can watch it when they’re missing their loved one.

I am sending an email to follow that will include a PDF copy of the book as well as a one-page visual aid that you can print out and hang up or pull up on your phone/computer to refer to for ideas about what to do when missing someone.

 

Sending you happy summer wishes,

Teacher Rachel

rachel@childrenscommunityschool.org