About Diane

Diane’s interest in teaching children and watching them grow has spanned more than 30 years.    She has led children of various ages in many capacities.  Diane is currently the Children’s Program Coordinator at a public library.  She facilitates classes each week that accommodate approximately 150 children.  For the youngest child she encourages language development.  For preschool children, early literacy skills are promoted.  She helps school age children experience the vast collection of children’s literature  through book discussions and reader’s theater. Diane enjoys her role as reader’s advisor,  helping children  find just the right book according to their interests and reading level.

Diane is a facilitator of the Every Child Ready to Read at your Library workshops.  These teach parents ways to encourage pre-reading skills in the young child. The program is a joint project of The Public Library Association in cooperation with the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.

Diane has a teaching certification in Elementary Education and Special Education.   She has taught  second and third grades in both private and public schools.  Diane developed and ran a literature- based enrichment program for the kindergarten aged child.  She also  was a girl scout leader for 12 years. 

 

        

 

When I became the Head of Children’s Programs for the Ridgefield Library, I inherited a program called Mother Goose.  This program targets the youngest children, ages two and under.  Parents, caretakers and little ones participate in finger plays, nursery rhymes, music and stories.  As I became familiar with Mother Goose, I recognized the many skills that are nurtured in these young children while having fun.

The program is structured into several segments.  There are “lap time” movement activities and story time.  First children sit on the grownup’s laps to learn nursery rhymes.   We use repetition to teach favorite rhymes such as “Open, Shut Them” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”  These songs also include following directions by incorporating specific hand movements.

Then we follow these songs with gross motor and coordination activities.  The toddlers stand with their Moms, singing and dancing with directed movements to songs like  “Shake Your Sillies Out” and other contemporary and traditional selections.

Many of today’s young parents and children are less familiar with traditional nursery rhymes. This may in part be due to the fact that families are scattered geographically and spend less time with their extended families.  Children were often taught these songs by grandparents.  Some children are cared for by childcare workers with different cultural experiences.  There are such a variety of activities for children that such simple games may be over-looked.  As a result, fewer of these rhymes get passed along.

Why are nursery rhymes so important?   They are great language enrichment activities. 

-Repeating songs with rhymes helps encourage phonological awareness, an important pre-reading skill.  

-The accompanying hand motions also help the child break down language into separate words. 

-Singing songs also helps the young child hear syllables in words.  In most children’s songs, each syllable in a word gets a different note. 

- Vocabulary development is also enhanced through these rhymes. 

A great thing about these rhymes is that you can do them anywhere, with no props.  Singing nursery rhymes while waiting at the airport or in the doctor’s office is a great way to pass the time.

During Mother Goose, we also incorporate movement. On laps we do bouncing activities like “This is the Way the Ladies Ride.”  This stimulates neural development in the brain during the critical early years.  We also march, use rhythm instruments and dance with scarves.

Skills enhanced by using movement:

-Increasing body awareness

-Improving hand-eye coordination

-Enhance rhythm recognition with linked movements

-Developing directional awareness

-Learning movement patterns that build a foundation for motor planning.

-Movement also stimulates language areas of the brain thereby facilitating language development.

While these activities can be done anytime at home, by attending early music and movement programs, the child also has an enjoyable social experience.  Watching others play the same game, reinforces how to play.   Your child gains these important skills in a fun atmosphere and you will have fun too! 

For information on rhymes and hand play activities:

http://www.giamusic.com/bios/feierabend_john.cfm

 

I like this website because you can hear the song and the hand movements are described or shown. 

http://www.songsforteaching.com/fingerplays/index.htm