Going To The Doctor: Our Community Helpers

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Going to the doctor can be scary for kids. When we talk about community helpers, I always include discussions and books about people in the medical profession. We talk about why it is important to have regular check-ups, going for sick visits and even immunizations. No one likes getting a shot, and preschoolers are often even more apprehensive since they are precisely at an age where many of the booster immunizations are administered. I think helping children know what to anticipate during a visit can be reassuring and helps to alleviate some of the fear. Whenever possible, I try to have parents (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.) come in and share what they do. 

One of our parents (a doctor) came to visit and shared a sweet book called "What's In A Doctor's Bag?" by Neil Shulman and Sibley Fleming. She then pulled out items from her doctor's bag and demonstrated each item. Later, she let the kids explore and experiment with the items. The children listened to their heartbeats and had their reflexes tested. 

In our small groups later in the week, children made a little doctor kit, placing some of the first aid supplies inside while discussing what each item was used for.

 

We had a pharmacist (another parent) come to speak to our class. She talked about medicines, first aid and spreading germs. We did a great little experiment on spreading germs. She added some fine glitter to a bottle of hand sanitizer to simulate germs and gave two children a little squirt to rub on their hands. Each child shook hands with another student and that student continued to pass on the handshake. After everyone had finished, we looked at our hands. Even though only two people had the hand sanitizer germs, almost everyone had a little glitter on their hands! This really helped illustrate the concept of spreading germs in a concrete way. 

After talking about simple wound care (such as bug bites, cuts and scrapes), she gave use a little first aid kit for our class. We already have a pretty extensive first aid kit both in our classroom and in our school office, but this one is perfect to use on the fly for field trips. 

One of our neighboring classes did a cute craft about x rays. The students traced around their arms with chalk on black paper and glued cotton swabs to represent bones on the x ray. Too cute!!!!

I am so fortunate to have such great parents that are willing to come in to share their occupations with the class! I think many of the children's fears were eased by getting to know our community helpers and asking questions. Thank you, Dr. Syed, and Mrs. Williams for sharing your time and expertise with us!

If you'd like more information about the book Dr. Syed read to our class, click the link below.  My Amazon Affiliate link:

And a few links for "medical" supplies for doctor/medical play:

           

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Musical Bridges: Building a Bridge Between Generations

Every month, we take a field trip to the VA hospital to visit with our Grandfriends. The VA hospital is about 20 minutes away from our school by car, so we get to ride the bus. This is always great fun!

Each session is planned and facilitated by a certified music therapist as part of the Musical Bridges program. Ms. Sheri, our Musical Bridges facilitator plans each session. One of the caregivers, Mr. Harold, usually greets us at the bus and walks us safely into the building. As we arrive, we march around the circle, greeting the Grandfriends. 

We sing, dance and play a game or two, then have a little snack of juice and cookies.  Mr. Harold draws a big face on the trash bag and calls it "Mr. Trashy" and comes around to collect the trash from our snack. "Mr. Trashy" has become one of the treasured parts of our visits---the kids can't wait for Mr. Harold to bring him out!

The children really enjoy the trip. Because most of the Grandfriends are wheelchair bound, they are seated throughout the sessions. The children may interact as much or as little as they like. Usually, we shake hands at the beginning and ending. We are working on practicing "random acts of kindness" this year, so we often make a picture or a card for the Grandfriends.  Some of the children are a little shy on the first visit of the year, but by the end of each year, we are all old friends. 

Ms. Sheri usually has a game of some sort planned. The parachute is one of the things we frequently use since when the Grandfriends are seated, they can manipulate the parachute as easily and at the same level as most of the kids. 

We've played indoor baseball, had stick pony races and played balloon volleyball during our visits.

Ms. Sheri is quite talented and often plays the guitar while teaching us all new songs. It really brings a smile to my face when the children are on the playground or while playing, and I hear the kids singing some of the songs we've learned at the VA. 

This intergenerational experience is priceless for the children and the Grandfriends. The children are learning about the differences in people and abilities and the Grandfriends are so happy to have visitors to interact with.

There is not much information on the internet available about this great program, but there is a book by Joan Shaw and Carna Manthey titled "Musical Bridges: Intergenerational  Music Programs".

If you'd like some more info on intergenerational music programs, be sure to stop by "Music Sparks". Joann Jordan is a certified music therapist and offers some great ways to get older folks and children engaged with music! 



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Election Day in Pre-K

Tomorrow is ELECTION DAY here in the U.S.! Politicians will be campaigning, citizens will be voting. The children will have the day off, as most of the schools in our area are voting precincts. By Wednesday, we will know who will lead our country for the next four years. I've already voted, as I planned to be at NAEYC and away from my voting precinct. I wanted my vote to be counted. I won't tell you who I voted for---that's personal, and quirky as it may be, I don't even share that with my husband or children. It's serious business, much too serious for kids. Or is it? While many of the political issues may be WAY over their heads, many will stand at their parents' side as ballots are cast. Children are curious about what is going on. 

Today, we had a discussion about politics. We talked about the reason we vote, and how that is our chance as a citizen to let our voice be heard. I related it to the children's jobs at school, and how different people might do a job differently, using simple terms in a way they might understand. We vote on a variety of things in preschool, so they got the basic idea. Eventually, one of the kids said, "My dad's voting for so-and-so." Then, "well, my mom is voting for them, too!" During the informal conversation, it seemed that most of the kids thought Romney would be the winner.

Just for fun, we set up a voting booth so the children could vote on who they thought would win the election. 

We converted our puppet theater, using shoe boxes, pictures of the candidates, and index cards with a big sticker for the ballot. (No hanging chads here! ;) 

The children went into the booth, away from where the other waiting children could see, and "cast their ballot". 

After voting, they even received a sticker to show they had voted!

When all the ballots were cast, we counted and re-counted the votes together, which made for a fantastic little math lesson. 

Interesting~ when we discussed the candidates early on, the definitely leaned toward Romney, but the finally tally showed Obama a clear winner! Now, we'll see how accurate their predictions are when the final count is in tomorrow!

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