Joe:
Welcome to our cyber-interview with June Oberlander on Pitter Patter. She is a retired Kindergarten teacher who taught kindergarten for 19 years in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Prior to that, she taught a church's kindergarten class for three years. In addition, before starting a family, she taught general science and biology for six years.

June and her husband, Clyde, have two grown children and six grandchildren. She was inspored to write Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready to ensure that her grandchildren would benefit from stimulating developmental learning experiences.

Joe:
Welcome June to our discussion here on the Pitter Patter. Your book is a very thoughtful progression of activities for children which is written in a very straightforward manner that is really useful to a parent. The excerpts featured here from your book deal with eye hand coordination development progressing over 4 years of life. What sort of research did you do to come up with these progressions?

June:
Thank you Joe, for welcoming me to your forum here.
Since these ideas were for my daughter, I initially used a pediatric book to ensure that the activities I was developing were age-appropriate and developmental. During early development visual, auditory and sensory perception gradually lead into responses to these senses as a child's eye-hand coordination develops. I drew from my teaching experience and workshops a wealth of knowledge and the awareness of developmental patterns necessary to build a strong foundation for learning.

Joe:
You have over 20 years experience in private and public kindergartens. What do you think of the apparent "epidemic" of children with the diagnosis of ADD? Do have any comments on the widespread use of Ritalin and/or Adderal?

June:
Many children are labeled learning disabled (LD) or have attention
deficit disorder (ADD) because it is difficult to fine tune a child's learning style whether it is visual, auditory, kinesthetic or low or high IQ. Early awareness of a child's specific learning styles would help to alleviate many mislabeled/medicated children.

I believe fast, loud, jumpy music over stimulates children making it difficult for a child to concentrate and think clearly. Over use of television and computer misuse deprives or denies a child time to explore and be creative.

Joe:
As an author, which other authors and which books do think have had the most impact on you in your journey professionally as a teacher and an author?

June:
Excerpts from a wide variety of books and articles on child development behaviors, learning styles and evaluation have broadened my knowledge to create the activities in my book. I do not adhere to any strong philosophical ideas such as Piaget. I gleaned my own philosophy from reading and experience. A few references are: The Teaching of Reading by Lillian Gray, Teaching in the Kindergarten (author unknown), Children With Learning Disabilities (Theory, Diagnosis and Teaching Strategies) by Janet W. Lerner and Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics by Vaughn, McKay and Behrman.

Joe:
Thank you for your thoughtful insights and I also want to thank you for your offer to share some excerpts of your book with us here on Pitter Patter. In this case, each of your offerings have a logical connection. Could you elaborate on that connection and what you have in store for us?

June:
These activities were written with a developmental approach for each year and cover the learning styles, visual, kinesthetic and auditory and yet are somewhat different to appeal and vary a child's interest.

The five excerpts are:

1. Age 0 Wk 29 Stacking & Falling (p. 32)
2. Age 1 Wk 33 This Side, That Side (p. 92)
3. Age 2 Wk 15 Put it in a Line (p. 130)
4. Age 3 Wk 47 What is Missing? (p. 234)
5. Age 4 Wk 46 Patterns (p. 316)

Meet the Author Twice!
Linda Dobson
"Homeschooling: Book of Answers"
"Homeschooling: The Early Years"
hosted by Joe Spataro
Interview & TWO FREE excerpts
"Am I Cut Out for Homeschooling" &
"The Early Years Emergency Resource Starter Kit"


We have two great interviews with author Linda Dobson. In her first interview, she discusses how to get started in homeschooling and we have an excerpt from her book which gives you some tips to see if you have the "right stuff." In her second interview, Linda covers the little people along with a "Resource Starter Kit" to help you get started. The formative years are the most critical to a child's education. They lay the foundation for developing learning skills that last a lifetime. We have a preview for what is going on with Linda's third book about homeschooler's success stories which will be appearing here on the Zone.

more interviews

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready:
A Parents' Handbook for Children from Birth to Age 5
by June R. Oberlander, Barbara Oberlander Jansen (Illustrator), Clyde G. Oberlander

Some parents lack an understanding of phonics which is necessary for success in the integrated (whole language) approach to reading. Many kindergarten children are unable to write their thoughts on paper if they don't have a foundation in phonics. The alphabetical activities were included in the fourth year because experience has shown that the Phonetic approach is necessary for a successful reader and speller and is a vital supplement to the Integrated (Whole) Language method.

Meet the Author
Jill Dunford
author of: "Teach Me Mommy"
hosted by Sue Spataro
interview & FREE excerpt

Teach Me Mommy is a step by step themed book that gives parents lessons that will teach their preschoolers in a fun and relaxed way.  The book is simple to use and includes crafts, book recommends and topics to cover that are perfect for the preschooler. In the interview with author Jill Dunford, she describes how to set up your own nursery school complete with activities along with a FREE excerpt to help you see how this is done.

Popsicle Fish:
Tales of Fathering
by Michael J. Murphy, Susanna Hepburn Kravitz

Fathers parent very differently from mothers, and vive la difference! This book of short personal essays focuses on the father-son relationships between Michael Murphy and his three boys. Whether inadvertently peeing on the cat or going through the agonies of LIKING a girl for the first time, Murphy's kids come to life for us You'll be glad to meet this big-hearted father who has a lot to teach all of us.