Talk Like a Pirate Day - Pirate Picture Book Favorites!
YARRRR ME LAND LUBBERS!!!!
TODAY BE “TALK LIKE A PIRATE” DAY, AND WE ARRRRRR CELEBRATING BY SHOWING OFF OUR FAVORITE PIRATE BOOKS! AHOY!!!!
We love to play make-believe with our kids. We love putting on costumes and turning our old playground bus into a massive pirate ship.
Most importantly, we love teaching them things they need to know hidden under things they WANT to know.
THE BEST LESSONS ARE THE STICKY ONES, THE BELLY LAUGH ONES, THE PLAYFUL MEMORY ONES
Here are nine of our absolute favorite picture books for preschoolers (and school agers!) that you can read with your best pirate voice.
Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map (Who doesn’t love Pete the Cat?)
How I Became a Pirate (In Ms. Janette’s Classroom!)
Pirate & Penguin (Recommended for Pirates with younger siblings!)
Pirates Next Door (In Ms. Janette’s Classroom!)
Pirates Don’t Go To Kindergarten (Busy Bees Wish List!)
There was an Old Pirate who swallowed a Map! (Perfect for sequencing, cause and effect, and laughing!)
Even Pirates Need to Listen (Perfect for walking friends through following the rules)
The Gingerbread Pirates (Ms. LJ’s absolute favorite!)
A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade (Ms. LJ’s OTHER Favorite!)
September 13 - Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day
SEPTEMBER 13TH IS “KIDS TAKE OVER THE KITCHEN DAY”
In our Screenless Activities: Quick Recipes blog post, we discussed how beneficial it is to cook with your kids, and how uncomplicated it has to be. There are A TON of lovely children’s books that even have recipes! A good example is on the READ ALOUD section of our Common Ground Youtube Channel. Blue’s Clues Read Aloud: Blue Makes Breakfast. (We will have a list of Teacher Recommended books about food with recipes at the bottom of this blog! Don’t forget to scroll down!)
There is nothing more bolstering to a child, more comforting, more healthy, than quality time with you.
In our busy lives, this can feel hard to come by. We spend A LOT of time with our children! With school, extracurriculars, work, and finding time to breathe on our own, this can feel daunting. But Conscious Discipline says that even FIVE MINUTES of undivided attention a day can make all the difference in the world.
NAEYC has an incredible list of Quality Time Tips for Meaningful Days that basically boils down to: Noticing the positive, expressing affection, special rituals for daily quality time, letting them choose your activities, and putting technology away so your attention is only on each other. Utilize this CELLPHONE PARKING in your home for meals, games, books, walks with your family.
One of the tips is to take the time to EAT with your child! Does this sound stressful because of a picky-eater? You can give them some of the power they crave in that interaction by allowing them to COOK/PREPARE DINNER with you.
Provide them choices that give them power, but are within parameters you set. If they are not fans of vegetables, give them an option of vegetables to choose from and cook. “Would you like to cook broccoli, carrots, or snow peas tonight with dinner?” “Do you want to make the bbq chicken or the meatloaf?” “Which fruit from these options could go with what you have chosen?”
It is going to take them longer, and there will be more mess. We are constantly in the current of busy-ness. Cooking may feel like it takes forever already without a kid taking forever to break an egg (INTO the bowl… with the shells… and now it’s all over their fingers…) and spilling flour all over the place. This is how they learn. Think of every shaky letter and number they’ve ever drawn that you cheered over, and cheer over their stirring, their sifting, their pouring in the same way. Maybe they never develop a true passion for cooking… but they will learn to love learning. They will know that you are their champion, and that you support their process every step of the way. *Bonus* You can teach them how to clean up their messes, and give them more responsibility!!
They may not be interested, They may not want to try the food, et cetera. This is okay! Invite them to join you, allow them to “parallel play” if they want to be in the kitchen, but not engaging. Explain what you are doing step by step. These kinds of activities almost never go as planned, and sometimes do not go as well as you hope. The point is that quality time, that expression of patience. Still give them choices over what you make, still offer them the chance in the future. Teaching them that they have autonomy and how to express their choices with strength and kindness is also an incredible lesson.
Mistakes are Science. Does your kid want to use baking powder instead of baking soda or vice versa? cut the batter in half and let them try both. Do they want to double the amount of sugar? Do they want to try to add something odd to the sauce? Our instincts are to immediately say no. Treat moments like this like improv: “Yes, and-” is your friend here. OBVIOUSLY keep them safe, don’t let them play with boiling water or eat raw chicken. But letting them have a little leeway for experimentation, especially if it’s just this one day, or once in awhile, is a positive experience.
Cooking is a chance to tell Family Stories. Family Recipes are often inextricably tied to Family Traditions and happy holiday memories. There are recipes with cultural and religious significances that tie important lessons to a tangible experience. Cooking can be a history lesson! Connect your digital-native child to their great-great-great grandfather who kept their master-chef recipes written in a water-logged journal. Humans have changed between generations… but everybody has to eat.
There are a ton of poignant children’s stories with recipes in them.
We use a lot of them in the Creative Curriculum too! See below:
Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison. There is no one like Nana in the whole wide world. She is the best. Nana knows how to take an ordinary afternoon and make it extra special! Nap time, story time, and playtime are transformed by fairies, dragons, dancing, and pretending -- and then mixing and fixing yummy, yummy fudge just like Nana and Mommy did not so many years ago....
Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley. All you need is a pot, a spoon, an adult helper, and vegetables of many colors to make a very special soup—Every Color Soup! Learn colors and vegetable names in this bright and colorful picture book with minimal text perfect for the beginning reader. Jorey Hurley’s bright, graphic art and simple text make this vibrant book a perfect read-aloud for budding cooks and their families. This lively picture book also comes with a recipe!
Apple Sauce Day by Lisa Amstutz. Applesauce Day is here! Maria and her family visit an apple orchard and pick apples. Then it's time to turn the apples into applesauce. Every year they use a special pot that has been in the family for generations. Follow along as everyone helps to make delicious applesauce.
Kalamata’s Kitchen by Sarah Thomas. This book does not have recipes, but encourages trying new things and experiencing foods from around the world! Tomorrow is Kalamata's first day at a new school, and she's nervous! What if the kids aren't friendly? Or worse, what if they don't like alligators!? If only Kalamata and Al Dente could go to back to the Indian spice market they visited this summer, then maybe she'd remember how to feel brave when new experiences seem scary.
The Empanadas that Abuela Made by Diane Gonzalez Bertrand. A whimsical look at the making of empanadas serves up the festive fun of a family’s effort to concoct the delicious pastries, with an easy empanada recipe included.
Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina Gilmore. Cora loves being in the kitchen, but she always gets stuck doing the kid jobs like licking the spoon. One day, however, when her older sisters and brother head out, Cora finally gets the chance to be Mama's assistant chef. And of all the delicious Filipino dishes that dance through Cora's head, she and Mama decide to make pancit, her favorite noodle dish.
Bee Bim Bop! by Linda Park. A Korean American girl celebrates food and family in this cheerful book about cooking a special meal by Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park.
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story By Kevin Maillard. Fry Bread is elegantly written with lovingly rendered pictures that evoke family and love on every page. It’s all about cooking to be connected to the past while moving forward together.
Star Wars: Galactic Baking. These are NOT PICTURE BOOKS. They do not have a story! But any Star Wars Cookbooks that you can get your hands on are so fun, silly, weird, and worthwhile. Star Wars is loved by so many people young and old, and it is such a fun way to connect responsibility and learning to ADVENTURE and IMAGINATION STATION.
Sesame Street Let’s Cook! These are also not picture books, but they are an EXCELLENT introduction to cooking for young chefs.
PLEASE share your experiences, your stories, and, most importantly, YOUR RECIPES with us! We will share more recipes on our social media leading up to September 13th. We would love to someday build a Common Ground Cookbook from our BIG, SHARED COMMON GROUND FAMILY.
Love Love Love,
Your CG Chefs
Martin Luther King Jr. -- Kids Edition
A lot of parents ask how to teach about Martin Luther King Jr. to their kids.
Super Ally Videos I History of MLK Jr. I PBS Kids on Race I MLK Jr. by Kid President I Time for Kids MLK Jr. I MLK Jr. Facts for Kids
Teaching the story of one man may seem simple, but it opens up so many complicated and uncomfortable questions parents may not feel qualified to answer correctly. Is your child old enough to understand? Will it upset or confuse them?
Children start recognizing differences between people at three months old. Giving them the tools and words they need to develop awareness and empathy is essential to a bright future. Part of that is understanding the trials of the past and the pitfalls of the present.
So how do we do that?
Read. Read. Read. Read. Read. Reading is a super power. Children’s books are a teacher’s key to unlocking lasting lessons for kids. Did you know that children relate/love/bond to book characters they see as much as they relate to real people? Brilliant children’s book authors have written about Martin Luther King Jr. in ways that children understand. Here are a few recommendations:
I am Martin Luther King Jr. by Brad Meltzer (this is a personal Common Ground favorite of many teachers)
A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Picture Book Biography) by David Adler and Robert Casilla
The Story of Martin Luther King Jr.: A Biography Book for New Readers by Christine Platt
Martin Luther King Jr. by Carrie Hollister
National Geographic Readers: Martin Luther King, Jr. (An Early Readers Book!) by Kitson Jazynka
I have a Dream by Martin Luther King JR. (with a CD)
Something Happened in our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano (Author), Marietta Collins (Author), Ann Hazzard (Author), Jennifer Zivoin (Illustrator)
I’m Mixed! by Maggie Williams
Last Stop on Market St. by Matt de la Peña (this is a personal Common Ground favorite of many teachers)
We’re Different, We’re the Same (Sesame Street) by Bobbi Kates
All are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
Do your research to find the right words. It can be hard when a question your child (or student!) asks stumps you. Where do you begin? How much do you say? When will they tune out? PBS Kids has an amazing series of articles on how to talk about diversity, injustice, and how to be a good friend.
Why and How to Talk to Your Children about Race
The Race Conversation for Young Children
A Discussion Guide on Talking to Young Children about Race and Racism
How to talk Honestly with Children about Racism
Don’t discourage questions. Be honest. Encourage curiosity in your children by exploring all topics, including ones that make you uncomfortable. Admit when you don’t know something or if you made a mistake, and keep reminding kids that you are still learning too. Kids will be afraid to be wrong, ask the “wrong” questions, or to make mistakes if you show that you are. Learning is a journey you should be on your whole life. Let them know it’s a journey they are on WITH you, that you are a team.
Proceed with sincerity, kindness, an open heart. Growth is hard. Since Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement, there has been progress, but we are nowhere NEAR finished. While we are teaching this next generation, we must remember we are not finished growing and should never be. Be aware of the past and what it can teach us. Be mindful of the present and how you can be better each day. Be hopeful for the future, and remember that Dreams take work.
With Love,
Your CG Family