Justin Early Learners Academy

We can't wait! This is our first Family Book Festival since COVID. We are really looking forward to it. :) (Saturday, 5/18/24, 10:00am - 1:00pm).

Please join us at this wonderful event!

Sounds like great day. Love our library.

Do not want to cook tomorrow? No problem! Let's go to Red's for JELA. 😄

Tomorrow is the first day of school for Simi Valley Schools! We cannot wait to see all of our students and families this year. Please remember as you are driving in and around our campuses that there will be students walking to school as well. We want to make sure that everyone is as safe as possible, especially during these first days when we are getting used to traffic patterns. If we are all patient and kind with each other, and follow the traffic rules, we will help ensure that all of our students are safe on their way to and from school. Have an amazing first day, and don't forget to post those pictures with !

What's Going On In Your Child's Brain When You Read Them A Story? There are many ways young children encounter stories. A new study finds a "Goldilocks effect," where a cartoon may be "too hot" and audiobooks "too cold" for learning readers.

How fun!

NATURE CRAFT - great excuse to go for a walk!

https://onelittleproject.com/autumn-leaf-butterflies-and-dragonflies/

We are looking forward to teaming up with SVPL and Tiny Treasures on Saturday, 5/13, promoting the library's summer reading program and literacy. Hope to see you there.

You can never have too many books!

Save the date. We're helping the library kick off their summer reading program (Find Your Voice) with a mini-blowout. It will be in the conference room. (6/3/23, 12-2pm).

Check out the Read Across America event at Simi Valley Public Library. Many fun activities and community readers including two actors from the original Little House on the Prairie television series.

Please consider helping us raise additional funds to support our programs – enhancement grants and scholarships.

Pizza Night for a good cause! See you at Toppers!

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If they mix play-doh colors, or if they mix paint colors and accidentally make brown for the 234th time, or if they squeeze too much glue out on the paper, or if they peel the paper off the crayons, or if they sharpen the pencil too much, or if they color with the marker too hard, or if they color outside the lines, or if they explore using any other craft or art supply in the “wrong” way…

I have a secret for you: they’re still learning from that. 😊

(Also, with the paint or the playdoh, if you’re tired of brown, you can always put out limited colors that don’t mix to make brown—i.e., only making harmonious/analogous colors available, such as red, orange, and yellow.)

***

I'm adding an edit here because of good, important discussion in the comments!

It's true that not all parents can afford limitless amounts of craft supplies.

It's also true that you can get playdoh or glue or crayons pretty cheaply, and it helps to know if your child is in a "explore everything, even quantities" phase more so than a "use materials carefully and sparingly to create a craft" phase.

It's ALSO true that regardless of what parents can afford, the point I was making -- that kids are still learning when they "waste" materials; that "waste" isn't an appropriate word at all because it's literally learning and growth -- is still true.

Children are inherently "wasteful" -- it's how they learn. If adults don't have the means for them to have limitless amounts of x material, then I would *extremely strongly* recommend only making available to the child as much of the material as they are able to use all of at any given time. Because it makes sense that using too much -- more than the adult is able to be comfortable with them using -- causes an adult to stress. And adults hovering around stressing out is like, the opposite of freely playing and learning.

An adult can squeeze out a tiny amount of glue into a bottle cap and give it to a child with a Q-tip or a paintbrush, for example. Or the adult can manage the glue application for a school project if necessary. Or the adult can obtain an empty glue bottle and fill it with something cheaper (flour+water? 99-cent shampoo? water mixed with some chalk powder? just straight up water in the bathtub or outside?) for the child to explore squeezing as much as they want to as part of process art and hand strengthening. Lots and lots of creative solutions!

[Image description: A screenshot of a tweet from Abbey Williams, MSW, LSW, whose handle is . The tweet reads, “Once you stop being stressed if they mix the play-doh colors, the second part of your life begins.” End description.

Please join us in supporting our school this Wednesday (9/7.)

Good news: you don't need to prepare lunch and/or cook dinner tomorrow (8/30)! Just go to Red's BBQ and support JELA.

Thank you for your support 😁

PLEASE NOTE: On Monday, August 8, all SVUSD schools and offices will be closed until 10 a.m. All District staff will be available to answer calls and emails, and to serve visitors after 10 a.m. on Monday morning. Thank you.

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"It's great if a kid finds manipulating numbers comes naturally, or starts reading at age three. But it's just as wonderful if a child has a real sense of when things are out-of-place and likes organizing, or loves working with wood, or has a knack for growing things, or a seemingly innate sense of the right thing to say when someone is sad."

—Idzie Desmarais

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