Pick up this week's Activity Sheets.

May 22 - May 30, 2001

Creativity basket tips for the week:  

Baby pictures of you, your favorite children, other family members.  Baby animal pictures.

Colorful paper to make flowers.

Pictures of healthy foods for a collage.

We love to welcome new babies!  Several of our Butterfly School friends have recently added (or are about to add) new children to their families.  Some are adopting, others are pregnant.  In honor of all these new additions, this week's Activity Sheets feature a story that you can tailor to reflect an adoption or biological birth.  We present Jenny Butterfly as she introduces her two children to a new egg.  

Tips from my kitchen table to yours!

Things for you to consider:  Did Jenny Butterfly lay the new egg or is she adopting it?  Are Jenny's older children adopted or not -- you decide!  We like stories that are open & would enjoy learning how you present the storyline to your children.

We recently adopted a new cat (the cat who arrived on our doorstep last month was never claimed and is now a fully integrated character in our family).  Our children have daily observed the way everyone needs to share more and create extra space for our new family member.  

Though I didn't plan it, adopting a new cat has become an excellent learning experience for my kids.   They now have just a taste for the way that loving someone new and having them plunk right down in the middle of your life (literally, in the middle of the day's blocks project) stretches your love and expands your spirit.  

Join us next week for more Butterfly School fun! Until then, enjoy the resources posted here and at www.shininghours.com!

You are ready for the Activity Sheets now; you can print them from here (go to Activity Sheets), or go back to the Butterfly School home page.

From Butterfly Central,

-- Jessica Steigerwald

Teacher Tips
from Corinne Steigerwald

Spending time with a baby is a great way for your child to learn about learning.  Help your child appreciate how much they have grown and learned since they were babies.

1. Share baby photographs and measurements.  Show your child how small he once was.  If you saved a baby outfit, take it out, try it on a teddy bear!

2. Describe some of the first things your child learned to do.

3. Discuss your child's first words.

4. Visit a baby and talk to the baby's caretaker about things the baby is now learning.

5. Invite your child to try to teach a friend or sibling something interesting.  Practice first.  Help your child find gentle language to use.  Show your child how it helps to demonstrate something as you teach it!

6. Encourage your child's early attempts to teach.  Teaching is a great way to share your best self with others!

Coordinated resources:

Lifecycle mini-poster.