Sierra Nevada Children's Services - Programs and Events for Kids and Families

Grass Valley School Readiness just finished their second annual series of Family Fun Nights for preschoolers and their families. These evenings gave parents an opportunity to learn more about early literacy and books, including phonemic awareness, alphabet, concepts of print, and rhyming and their importance in helping children develop language skills. Along with the activities and information the parents were given nine children’s books to take home and share with their children.

During these evenings a question was asked about age appropriate books, and Cynthia Wiberg, one of the Hennessy Kindergarten teachers, compiled a list to help the parents as they choose books to read to their children. Since reading is one of the most important things you can do to help your child prepare for Kindergarten, I wanted to share some of those titles to give you ideas on books to read over the spring and summer before Kindergarten begins.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
I Like Me! by Nancy Carlson
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Six Sleepy Sheep by Jeffie Ross Gordon
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Debora Guarino
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Brown Bear, Brown Bear... by Bill Martin Jr.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Ten Cats Have Hats by J. Marzollo
Moose on the Loose by Carol Ochs
The Little Engine That Could by H.A. Ray
Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak
Timothy Goes to School by Rosemary Wells
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

This is just a brief list, but it’s a good starting point for books to look for when you visit the libraries, bookstores and thrift stores. The most important thing is just to read.

If your child will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, you may be wondering what you can do to help him or her be prepared for this new adventure. First of all, remember that giving your child your love and support is the most important thing you can do, and you are already doing that! Beyond that, here are some ideas to make your child feel more comfortable and ready to start school.

Read to your child every day! Your child is not expected to be able to read when he/she starts Kindergarten, but reading is a basis for education and research shows it is one of the best things you can do to help your child be successful in school. You can help your child develop a love for reading by making reading a regular part of your daily routine.

Encourage your child’s independence. Your child will need to be able to use the bathroom by him/herself and button and zip his/her clothes. Knowing these things will help him/her feel more confident.

Take a tour of your child’s school. (Some schools offer tours in the spring, but if not you can call the principal to see if you can make an appointment.) Giving your child a chance to see where he/she will be going, play on the playground and visit classrooms will help him/her start to feel comfortable about this new environment.

Start establishing routines that you will follow when school starts, including a regular bedtime, eating a healthy breakfast, and establishing a spot for backpack and books.

Set a limit to the amount of television your child watches if you have not already done this. Give your child the opportunity to explore the world around you. Take walks and count the animals you see; look for flowers, bugs and clouds. Visit the library and museums in our area. Get outside to the park or your own backyard and encourage him/her through play to stretch both his/her physical muscles and imagination!

Talk to your child about how much fun school will be.

Remind your child daily of how much you love him/her.

These are just a few ideas to help ease the transition and make your child’s Kindergarten year a success.

Seed of Life Garden

The ‘Seed of Life’ Garden Project is something that can be really fun, educational, and lasting. It can be done at home with children as an ongoing project that the family can work on together. You can see more information about it from the website seedoflifegarden.org. This article will briefly cover a description of the garden, a tiny history of the project, and then end with some simple instructions to help you get started using the design at home.

The ‘Seed of Life’ Garden is a round garden pattern. Within the circle lies a six-petaled flower shape that is delineated into rings by four concentric circles. Walking and planting areas checkerboard the circle and the rings organize plants into flowers, culinary plants, medicinal plants, and food. It is an efficient use of space and resources and provides a natural outdoor classroom hospitable to multiple gardeners. The pattern is able to accommodate diverse plant choices and it can be installed in any size yard. The scale of the entire garden varies by changing the length of the radius used to “sketch” the pattern on the ground. It is a model garden pattern for self-sufficiency start-up purposes for once the gardener(s) can handle the ‘seed’, the pattern is then extended and it grows into the ‘Flower of Life’ which has an additional ring of petal-shaped beds for larger crops. It was designed by Kathy Irving with lots of inspiration from Nature.

In order to get started at home you need to first select the site of the garden and figure out how large a circle you want. The pattern can be cast on the ground with the aid of a piece of string that is the length of the radius of your garden. Remember that the radius is half the diameter of your area. Use landscapers marking chalk or lime to mark the circle and the arcs. First, have one person (person A) stand in the middle of the site holding one end (end A) of the string. It may be easier to stake the middle and simply spot it to make sure it is secure. Another person (person B) holds the other end (end B) of the string firmly and walks slowly clockwise marking the circle that forms. Secondly, once a full circle has been marked, person B stands still with end B rooted any place on the circle they just drew. Person A marks an arc while walking through the circle firmly holding end A. Thirdly, Person A stands still while person B draws an arc, B stands still while A draws an arc, and in this way the two arch around one another until a perfect flower is drawn in the center of your original circle.

The ‘Seed of Life’ Garden Project was started in January of 2004. Sierra College supported the project by providing Kathy Irving with two Independent Study Courses in Horticulture that documented the process. The Jacobson Family provided a location for the year-long series of classes that taught our community how to create the ‘seed of life’ garden. They also graciously allowed us to install our classroom garden at their residence on Cement Hill Road, Nevada City. These classes were the springboard of the project.

In the same year the ‘seed of life’ garden gained inclusion in the Nevada County Recycling Department’s “Full Circle Demonstration Garden” that is located between the Rood Government Center and the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility off of highway 49. This part of the project filled 2005 and by this summer we hope that the public is utilizing it to learn how to compost the green waste that can no longer enter the landfills.

In January of 2006, the ‘Seed of Life’ Garden was endorsed as an official tool that will be used to meet the goals of the “Wellness Policy Committee”. The “Wellness Policy” is required of schools receiving federal funding for lunch programs and is designed to decrease obesity, increase fitness, and educate students about nutrition, food, and health. These guidelines include creating connections between local farms, school gardens, and nutrition.

Now, draw four concentric rings using four lengths of string so that it looks like a pebble was dropped into the very heart of the garden and ripples are emanating from the center. The very tip of each petal will be a walking area, in the next ring the spaces between the petals are for walking. The checkerboard pattern reveals itself in an obvious way. Choose materials for the walking areas and begin double digging the manageably sized beds. You may have to redraw parts of the design as the installation process can be one of upheaval and it is messy at times.

Thanks for your interest and happy gardening.

Kathy Irving
www.SeedofLifeGarden.org
Seed of Life Garden Project
578 Sutton Way PMB 130
Grass Valley, CA 95945

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