#PreK
#prek looks like an interesting alternative to #pre-commit
https://gimbel.dev/@kevin/statuses/01KFJB295DQPG10AW4R7TZPNYG
Parenting Retrospective: Boosting My Child’s Language Skills with Read-Along Videos Instead of Cartoons
Something about the season’s changing naturally causes us to reflect on the year past. What’s the same, what’s different and the decisions we’ve made and how they’ve played out.
I wanted to share a simple swap that had a really positive impact on my kid. As always, this is just me relating that it worked for my child and our unique circumstances. If it doesn’t resonate with you, don’t feel pressured or like you’re doing anything ‘wrong’.
When I noticed my daughter (we’ll call her T) was struggling to build confidence in forming sentences last year, I decided to make a small change to her limited screen time routine. A change that turned out to have long-term impacts.
The decision started intuitively: if I was finding shows like Paw Patrol too fast and chaotic to follow in Spanish with the background music and speed of speech, how could I expect her to pick up language and sentence structure from them?
Both of us were learning languages: she’s bilingual with a – now much improved – speech delay, and I was improving my Spanish.
We needed something slower. She needed something with clear, simple language and repetition.
That’s where read-aloud story time videos came in.
Why Read-Aloud Videos Work
Read-aloud storytime videos, those with printed books, in my opinion, offer several advantages over cartoons:
- Shorter sentences: Clear and concise language that’s easier for young children to absorb.
- Repetition: Phrases like “Little pig, little pig, let me in”, or “Abuelita, te voy a comer” stick in their minds.
- Simple, engaging themes: Many stories focus on one idea or lesson.
- Lack of distractions: cartoons have multiple ‘camera’ angel changes, thumping background music and so much happening it’s hard to focus on the story, let alone sentances. Storytime videos may have some low volume background music and maybe sometimes part of the page are highlighted in or given a very simple jiggle or sublte motion effect, but more often than not, it’s just the storyteller’s own commentary and questions to their viewer.
But here’s the caveat: you can’t just set your child in front of the screen and walk away (as much as there are so many things to do!). These videos are most effective when they’re interactive. While we watched together, I would repeat new words, point out key ideas, and explain concepts in ways T can understand.
For example, when watching The Little Red Hen on Fable Cottage, I’d pause to ask, “What do you think the hen will do next?” or repeat a line like “Who will help me plant the seeds?” in Spanish. I also ask her how she thinks the hen feels when no one helps. “Is the hen sad? Angry? Or maybe she is disappointed?”
These questions encouraged her to think about emotions and state of mind and also build her vocabulary.
Here are a few resources we’ve loved, and how we use interactive play to incorporate them into daily speaking confidence.
1. Fable Cottage – Bilingual Storytime videos
Fable Cottage offers animated stories in five languages. What we love about them is:
1. The stories are very clearly spoken and well paced. You can switch from the English story to the Spanish story and it’s the same animation to really enforce the languages learning.
2. They have just a little animation to maintain visual interest, but not so much as to be distracting.
3. The vocabulary is well chosen to develop your kid’s speaking and comprehension.
4. They adapt older tales for today’s world. For instance, Jack and the Beanstalk avoids glorifying stealing.
Example of one of her favorites – the little red hen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjTJvwgJnGc&ab_channel=TheFableCottage
Make it interactive:
While watching, I often ask her to repeat phrases like “Not I, said the dog” or guess what the hen will bake next.
This interaction keeps her engaged and helps her practice forming sentences. We also talk about how the characters might feel when they don’t help the hen but still want to eat the bread at the end. These discussions give her a chance to practice empathy and talk about fairness.
2. Mo Willems Elephant and Piggy and Pigeon Series.
We found the pigeon books by Mo Willems in the local library first, and then found the read-aloud videos later. Last year, she was resistant to trying new things at times, which makes sense when so much was changing around her. The Read along videos were a simple way of getting her to become curious about new books in a way that she felt in control of.
If you have a sassy kid who sometimes doesn’t like going to bed, or bath or having storytime, the pigeon series will be highly fun for them. It’s an extremely smart mouthed pigeon with an answer for everything.
But it’s the Elephant and piggy books that are amazing for speech development, because of how much sentence repetition there is and how slow the pace is.
And because of how funny the characters are. Here is an example of one she would love to role-play with me all through summer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfdvKSQ8hpg
I’ve since bought two huge compilations of these books and she loves “reading” them out to me, practicing the short and simple sentences, and we have countless elephant and piggy DIY activities in the house.
That’s what’s good about read-aloud videos: you can start on screen to get them into the characters and then move offline. To books and roleplay and book-related activities.
It gives kids confidence in their comprehension, and that translates into T getting so excited every time I have a new library haul and offering to come with me on weekends, so she can pick out books.
If you co-parent, read along videos are a perfect introduction to video call storytime, which helps make the transition easier on them, since small kids struggle to talk much on video call. Their bonding language is play, after all.
To this day, T loves nothing better than to come home from school on library haul day, sit in the same chair where I read her stories and pour over the books for almost an hour.
Which, for a small kid, is a very long time.
Resources:
- Elphant and piggy activities ideas on Pinterest
https://es.pinterest.com/keriel132/elephant-piggie/
2. Elephant and Piggy official downloads from the author, Mo Willems’ own website
3. Elephant and piggy popsicle sticks from Mombright– we used this and toys at home a lot to act out the entire stories in the books. She would take the role of Piggy, and I was always Gerald the elephant.
4. This downloadable for a special event Mo Willems did at the Kennedy center is fun for getting kids to improvise and invent their own story scenes. They love filling in the blanks of “There is a ____ on your head!” and drawing their own characters.
I would have loved this as a kid! 😁
"Oregon’s first licensed outdoor preschool opens in Phoenix"
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/21/phoenix-blackberry-academy-preschool/
“We’ve got a resident beaver. We have river otters, North American pine martens, bald eagles fly overhead,” Verbena said. “It’s right here in the middle of town and yet teeming with wildlife.”
Phoenix, Oregon is near Medford.
#Oregon #PNW #Education #Preschool #PreK #Outdoors #Wildlife
prek 0.2.0 is out:
"Note: If you ran `prek install` in a repo before, you gonna need to run `prek install` again to replace the old git hook scripts for the workspace mode to work."
https://github.com/j178/prek/releases/tag/v0.2.0
Here's a little script to run `prek install` in all subdirectories containing a config file:
uv run https://gist.github.com/hugovk/d601e651e08d229714a86fb5b04bc6c9
🆕 I've been using a new tool called prek as a drop-in replacement for pre-commit.
It uses uv and is rewritten in Rust (because of course) and as you'd expect is much faster.
Try it!
https://hugovk.dev/blog/2025/ready-prek-go/
#Python #prek #lint #precommit #uv
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#PreK #SpanishImmersion #KindergartenReady #LaCasitaDaySchool #Fall2025 #BilingualKids #SonomaCountyMoms
States defying #Trump anti-#DEI deadline risk losing education federal funding
The #NAACP and the Legal Defense Fund have filed "a federal lawsuit blasting the Trump administration for a 'legally flawed' interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
Story by Mabinty Quarshie, Washington Examiner, April 22, 2025
Excerpt: "In total, at least 16 states and Puerto Rico intend to sign the certification, according to Education Weekly, while 16 states have declined to sign.
"Many of the states that have flat out refused to sign the order by citing their commitment to DEI policies are led by Democratic governors.
"Among those states are New York, the first state to publicly thumb its nose at the certification request, Colorado, Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Vermont, and Utah, with the latter two states having Republican governors.
[...]
"In Fiscal Year 2022, federal funding accounted for 14% of K-12 education funding. State and local funding provided 87% of K-12 funding.
"In fiscal 2024, the Department of Education spent $18.8 billion for schools with large numbers of #poor, neglected, delinquent, and other '#EducationallyDisadvantaged' students, as well as $55 billion in COVID-19 grants to #PreK programs, elementary, and secondary schools, according to Pew Research Center.
"Should the Department of Education strip states of federal funding, it could force cuts during the 2025-2026 school year."
Full article:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/states-defying-trump-anti-dei-deadline-risk-losing-education-federal-funding/ar-AA1Dn3PH
#Resistance #ResistFascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #TrumpIsABully #TrumpHatesChildren #ProtectTransKids #USPol
The Texas House is currently debating Senate Bill 2 on the floor. If passed, the contentious proposal would create a $1 billion dollar Education Savings Account plan allowing parents to use public funds towards private school tuition.
#Education #News #Politics #DustinBurrows #GregAbbott #K12Education #KUT #PreK #PresidentDonaldTrump #SchoolFunding #SchoolVouchers #TeacherPay
Latest Friday Reflection: "Exploring Pre-K"
https://www.frbill.org/new-page-2 #PreK #CatholicSchool
#earlyeducation #crafts #toddleractivities #prek #homeschool #stayathomemom #sahm #geography
“My daughter’s #iep has to include #accommodations for tablet use,” said friend, mother of a 3 year old. “What?” says I, “For a #prepreK? That can’t be right. I will ask an expert.” Expert consulted. Expert responds with rage explosion: #NewMexico #PreK now require tablet based #assessments of fucking #toddlers instead of authentic data collected by human professionals for #portfolios. #earlychildhood #developmentallyinapropriate #Overtesting #stopthemadness #education #teaching
I know the PreK Block on CN is'nt everyones cup of tea, but one show that has stood out to me is.. Let's go Bananas! Which features not only 2 Dads, But a single mother, and a biracial couple all living in the same "tree" It's not Bluey Tier but its honestly really cute #PreK #Cartoon #animation
When I think about government efficiency, I think about the past decade & how #VisionZero + #PreK have failed thousands of my neighbors. Then, we get pundits talking about DOGE & how we can work with fascists to fix this... NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. Privatizing government operations ≠ efficiency. #civictech
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:snybjce33eqh2we2gjubg4pz/post/3lckqlax3wv2l
Great to see this resource! Please share.
As one who is asked to do demo SEL lessons in classrooms, I often model #Conflict Rez for two reasons.
1. Folks usually model emotions/feelings. That's important - and everyone does it! Conflict Rez - not so much. Conflict is a fact of life. 2. So many other skills are embedded in CF - decision making, #criticalthinking and learning to approach conflict as a healthy opportunity for growth
https://blog.tcea.org/wheel-of-choices-conflict-resolution/
#preK-12 #education #teaching
1-4 hours of screen time/day at age 1 is linked w/higher risks of developmental delays in communication, fine motor, problem-solving & personal & social skills by age 2, per a study of 7,097 children published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/21/health/screen-time-child-development-delays-risks-wellness/index.html
#FactOfTheDay: Licensed childcare spaces were available to only a quarter of California children with parents in the workforce.
#Childcare #PreK #WorkingFamilies #WorkingParents #WorkingMoms #WorkingDads #Preschool #Daycare
(Photo is of children in a preschool classroom. Photo credit: CDC via UnSplash.)
Why Many Early Childhood Educators Can’t Afford to Retire | EdSurge News https://www.edsurge.com/news/2023-02-13-why-many-early-childhood-educators-can-t-afford-to-retire
#schools #teaching #learning #k12 #prek #earlychildhood
Prekindergarten plan
Child care for all to demand
Biden's unfinished agenda
#biden #stateoftheunion #childcare #prek #haiku #poetry
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/us/politics/biden-economy-state-of-the-union.html