Scissor skills and handwriting by young children depend on their fine motor development. Having a “Cutting Box” in your home is the perfect way for children to practice ripping, snipping and cutting. A “Cutting Box” can be a large cardboard box filled with a variety of media that children stand or sit around to practice their skills. If you have space, a baby pool is fabulous too.

Sequence of Development: Rip, Snip, Cut

Ripping a variety of thick papers (construction, index cards, magazine inserts) is a pre-cutting activity for young children. Ripping facilitates the tripod grasp with hands ripping the paper in opposite directions. Add tongs to practice the “open-close” movement before you try scissors.

Snipping with scissors means that one cut does the job. Children love to snip many different items other than paper. Try play dough, grass, straws or sandpaper. Fiskars are a good brand of scissors for use with both right and left-handed children.

Cutting using multiple cut strokes is best practiced first on thick paper without lines. Next, add bolded, straight lines to encourage cutting accuracy. Cutting on curves can start on round paper plates. Cutting on angles and complex patterns is most challenging. Knowing where to stop when cutting takes practice. Your “cutting box” is the perfect place to practice cutting every day and build important skills!

Positioned for Success: Strategies to Try

Position means that the thumb is facing up on the hand holding the scissors and that the arm is moving away from the body when cutting instead of toward it. If your child needs help, try these ideas.

1. Color code the thumbhole by wrapping it with a little colored tape. Electrical tape works well.

2. Tape paper to the edge of the table so she can cut upwardly to make “fringe.” This is a great technique to position the arm for cutting.

3. Put a small roll of paper towel or newspaper under your child’s cutting arm so that the arm stays in the correct position. This is a gem of a tip!

Final Note: Safety! Young children must be carefully su-pervised when learning how to use scissors. And perhaps even more so after they learn!

— Excerpted from an article by Marianne Gibbs, EdD, OTR/L

Marj’s CornerThis edition of Parenting Pathways is the third in our three-part series on early literacy development in children from birth to 36 months. Read more on page 3. There are early literacy suggestions on p. 4 as well.

Summer is coming and, now that warmer temperatures are here, I even believe it! Our summer class schedule is posted on the website here: http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/firststeps.home/current_schedule

We offer several classes that only appear for summer: Let’s Get Ready, Cooking with Yvette, In & Out Family Fun and In & Out. Most classes are held at the Preschool & Family Center and we have 3 classes offered at Abbot Elementary School. If you have young elementary-age children who enjoy playing with babies and toddlers, talk to us about bringing along an extra helper. As always, the fee covers your whole family, not just one child.

First StepsWASHTENAW

Ann Arbor

Parenting PathwaysA bimonthly publication of the Ann Arbor Public Schools • May–June 2013, Vol. 11, No. 9

Summer Class Sign-UpSummer Session is June 17 through August 10, 2013.

Registration begins May 28, online and in person.

Detailed directions are found on our website.

Scissor Skill Proficiency . . . Write Out of the Box

News to UseMake-up PolicyPossible classes for make-ups are posted on our website and in your classroom by the second week of classes. Make-ups must be arranged 24 hours or more ahead. Look on the website under Classes. Then call or email Sherri and let her know your plans and we’ll let the teacher know you’re coming. Please do not just come to a class. You may do two make-ups during the Spring session for each class you take. Make-ups are also given any time we cancel a class. If there are extenuating circumstances, please call and discuss them with either Sherri or Marj. Thank you!

Birthday Parties!Interested in renting a wonderful space for your child’s birthday party? Try our classroom at the Family Center as it’s a great place to have a relaxed celebration with your family and friends. We supply a staff person to make sure things go smoothly and to provide a short circletime for some entertainment. The cost is only $115 for a 1½ hour party. Our room is available on Saturday afternoons or late after-noons or evenings during the week when we do not have classes. This is available to First Steps families, not the general community, and all proceeds are used to purchase new equipment for our rooms. Please call Sherri at 994-2300 x53186 to find out more.

Scholastic BooksHELP! Vidya is no longer able to be our scholastic co-ordinator. She’s been doing it for 3 years and it’s time to ask others to help us out. She’s happy to teach you how to do it! Contact Marj if you could help us next year and email Vidya at bookscoordinator@gmail.com if you have questions for her about the job. Scholastic Books takes a break during the summer so check back here in the fall to order more wonder-ful, inexpensive books for toddlers and preschoolers.

Upcoming dates:May 14: Lottery for Music Together

May 27: No Classes Memorial Day

May 28: Summer Sign-up begins

June 15: Spring session ends.

June 17: Summer session begins

July 17: Family Fun Night!

July 23: Music Together Lottery

July 29: Fall Sign-up begins

August 10: Summer session ends

Family Fun Night Picnic!Wednesday, July 17, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Family Center in the Family Room and Playground

Join us for our annual Family Fun Night. We provide a little food (pizza, veggies, fruit and lemonade) and you bring the family. After you eat, you may go outside to play and socialize together. You’re welcome to bring friends with young children and share First Steps with them too. We ask for a $5 donation per family to cover the cost of the food.

To register, please contact Sherri. Hope to see you there!

Safety Town!Some of you have children ready to enter kindergarten this fall. If so, that means you need to know about Safety Town! Registration packets are now available online and in the First Steps office. Safety Town is only for children entering Kindergarten this fall. The curriculum covers us-ing bike helmets and booster seats, stranger danger, fire safety, riding a school bus, pedestrian safety and much more. Songs, games, stories and art projects reinforce the lessons. Log in to http://www.aareced.com/reced.home/catalog__registration_form and choose the sum-mer camp catalog, pages 40-41.

Remember, this fall the cut-off for kindergarten is chang-ing. Instead of being 5 by December 1, 2013, all children entering kindergarten must be 5 by November 1, 2013.

ScholarshipsDo you have a scholarship with Rec&Ed? Please check and make sure it’s up-to-date. If you applied more than a year ago, you will need to apply again now because they are only good for 1 year. If you think you’ll qualify, please apply now so you’re all set for our next session. It takes about 2 weeks and is how we determine your income and place you on the sliding-fee scale. Our scale does NOT match Rec&Ed’s. If Rec&Ed says you don’t qualify, you may still get a 25% discount from us. Please talk with us directly when you get your letter to confirm what you’ll pay to participate. You’ll have an idea by looking at our scale yourself too. This scholarship is good for a year and works for your whole family for any class or sport through Rec & Ed. Questions? Call Marj.

Please LIKE us on Facebook! Marj often sends out quick notices about upcoming events. There is a link at the top of our home page..

Visitors!Want to bring a friend and their child to your class for a one-time visit? First, call Sherri and see if there is space (just like for a make-up). Then you must pay $10 to the teacher on the day of the visit. Thanks!

First Steps Toward LiteracyEmerging Pre-Readers & Writers, 19–36 monthsFluent reading and competent writing depends on the blending of many literacy skills. These skills grow from basic language, social, emotional, and motor development. This article is the last in a three-part series focusing on how the developmental steps in a child’s first three years become the building blocks of literacy. In previous articles we looked at infants (0–6 mos) and emerging talkers (7–18 mos).

By now your little one will have a strong foundation for literacy after all the time spent cuddling, talking, playing, reading, and exploring the world. However, it’s important to keep doing all those things through the toddler years. Even though this little person is struggling to assert her independence, she still needs your nurturing guidance to learn the skills that lead to the next stage of development.

• Talk, talk, talk! By now, talking to your baby should feel pretty natural, even if you’re a quiet person. During this phase your talking will be answered by gibberish that will gradually form into words, phrases and sentences. You’ll be amazed at the number of new words you will hear every week!

• Read, read, read! Make reading a regular part of your daily routine. Since toddlers are typically very active, try choosing times of day when they are more calm, such as right after the evening bath. Choose books with just a few words per page, and don’t give up if your toddler wanders off in the middle. Keep right on reading, and show him the pictures when he wanders back. Make sure to have plenty of sturdy board books available for him to look at indepen-dently, and don’t forget to take him to the library!

• Sing and rhyme! Toddlers enjoy repeating songs, nursery rhymes, and fingerplays over and over. They delight in their sense of mastery when they can anticipate the next verse. When you use fingerplays and hand motions you add another sensory tool to help your child gain a deeper understanding of language.

• Play, play, play! Play time becomes literacy time when you provide props to use in pretend reading and writing and when you join with them and talk with them. When they play with you, they learn important social skills along with their expanding language skills.

• Write, write, write! Writing is a very important piece of the literacy picture. Your toddler is starting to get the idea that those funny squiggles on the page communicate the story. Give him plenty of opportunities to draw and “write,” and make a point of spelling out loud while you are writing.

• Explore, explore, explore! As your toddler explores the world she will have experiences that help her relate to the ideas she encounters in books. A young child can relate to the story about picking apples much better if he has actually been to an orchard. A child learns with all of his senses. Look for things to do that involve them all.

— This article is based on “Baby Steps to Literacy,”Allegan County Intermediate School District, 2004

Using questions to support your child’s learningCuriosity is the key to learning, and ques-tions are one of the most powerful tools for getting your toddler’s wheels turning. When your child asks a question, she is tak-ing an active role in her own learning. She is trying to figure out how her world works, and she is developing critical thinking skills that build brain power.

Asking questions is also an important form of communication. Your child is seeking out a knowledgeable person and request-ing information that he needs or wants.

Finally, when your child asks questions, it shows how important strong relationships are in helping children learn and grow. Children turn to the people they love and trust to help them learn.

What kind of questions do children ask?The types of questions that children ask will change as they develop. Here is a timeline showing typical ages and types of questions. Note that young children’s verbal skills develop at different rates.

Infant: Looks closely at an interesting object or person, reaches, points, touches, looks at you with a questioning facial expression

21–24 months: Asks, “What’s that?” (Or simply, “Dat?”)

25–28 months: Asks questions with rising intonation

26–32 months: Asks where questions

36–40 months: Asks who questions

37–42 months: Asks “Is . . . ?” and “Do . . . ?” questions

42–49 months: Asks when, why, and how questions

What Young Children Like in BooksInfants 0–6 months:Books with simple, large pictures or designs with bright colors

Stiff cardboard, “chunky” books, or fold out books that can be propped up in the crib.

Cloth and soft vinyl books with simple pictures of people or familiar objects that can go in the bath or get washed

Infants 6–12 months:Board books with photos of other babies

Brightly colored “chunky” board books to touch and taste

Books with photos of familiar objects like balls and bottles

Books with sturdy pages that can be propped up or spread out in the crib or on a blanket.

Plastic/vinyl books for bath time

Washable cloth books to cuddle and mouth.

Small plastic photo albums of family and friends

Young toddlers, 12–24 months:Sturdy board books that they can carry

Books with photos of children doing familiar things like sleeping or playing

Goodnight books for bed time.

Books about saying hello and goodbye

Books with only a few words on each page

Books with simple rhymes or predicable text

Animal books of all sizes and shapes

Toddlers, 2–3 years:Books that tell simple stories

Simple rhyming books that they can memorize

Bedtime books

Books about counting, the alphabet, shapes, or sizes

Animal books, vehicle books, books about playtime

Books about their favorite TV characters

Books about saying hello and goodbye

Ways to Share Books with Babies & ToddlersMake sharing books part of every day. Read or share stories at bedtime or on the bus.

Have fun! Children can learn from you that books are fun, which is an important ingredient in learning to read.

A few minutes is ok—don’t worry if you don’t finish the story. Young children can only sit for a few inutes for a story, but as they grow, they will be able to sit longer.

Talk or sing about the pictures. You do not have to read the words to tell a story.

Let children turn the pages. Babies need board books and help turning pages, but a three-year-old can do it alone. Remember, it’s ok to skip pages!

Show children the cover. Explain what the story is about.

Show children the words. Run your finger along the words as you read them, from left to right.

Make the story come alive. Create voices for the story characters and use your body to tell the story.

Make it personal. Talk about your own family, pets, or community when you are reading about others in a story.

Ask questions about the story, and let children ask questions too. Use the story to engage in conversation and to talk about familiar activities and objects.

Let children tell the story. Children as young as three years old can memorize a story, and many children love to be creative through storytelling.

— from “Early Literacy,” Zero to Three handout

First Steps in Ann Arbor2775 BoardwalkAnn Arbor, MI 48104

website: www.aaps.k12.mi.us/firststeps.home

First Steps phone extensions: Email addresses:994-2300 x @aaps.k12.mi.us

Marj Hyde, Director ...........................994-4949 hydeSherri Polovick, Registration & Billing .... 53186 firststepsAnn Stalhandske .................................... 53182 stalhansShanda Trent .......................................... 53187 trentsYvette Daniels ........................................ 53181 danielsy

WISD consultants:

Su-Fen Lin ....................sufen_lin@yahoo.com Asian populationsMayra Prince ............................(734) 883-9452 Spanish speakersKarma Basha ...........................(734) 320-6263 Arabic speakers

Newsletter editing & design services donated in part by Pilcrow Text & DesignParenting Pathways is published bimonthly by the Ann Arbor Public Schools