Children Teaching Children

I have the pleasure of volunteering at Barnard School (even though we are at Jefferson) with this years RIF program.
I have mentioned it many times before in past blogs, how much I loved the program and how I enjoy sharing my time with the Barnard Pre-K children and staff.

Since my best friend's daughter (aka my Goddaughter Josie) goes to Barnard school now, I was compelled to put in my free 2 cents for the cause.

Cathy told me of this years theme for RIF which is "Reach for the Stars", so we choose books like Good Night Mr. Night, By Dan Yaccarino, Good Night Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, and Happy Birthday Moon, by Frank Asch as well as the children studing the solar system, the sun, moon and stars in the classroom.

This sparked a brilliant idea.

Lets get the Jefferson School Italian CILA (Children's International Language Academy) students to perform Su Nel Cielo (Up in the sky) an Italian song they learned in November for the Barnard Pre-K RIF children as the distribution's activity!

The suggestion was accepted and in a matter of weeks we got it all together. The RIF moms got templates of Clouds, Suns, Moons, stars and rainbows to decorate, color and then wear around their necks to teach the children the names of them in Italian. We sang the song to the children in classrooms and got all the Kindergarteners prepped for the big event!

The Kindergarten class then came in and sang "Su Nel Cielo" for the pre-k and then they all joined in and sang together!
It is such an infectious song that it was easy for the parents and children alike to get it together!
Here is a how it went...



All in all it was fantastic!

I was asked to write an article about it and take pictures, here is a rough draft of the article, please let me know what you think (it is my first time writing for publication outside of my blog and I am a bit nervous). I have a few things that are incomplete, but will be added in when I get all the information.

Here it is: (remember, it is just a rough draft).

Children teaching Children
By Cristina Cerone

On February 25th, 2009 Barnard school’s Pre-K RIF program hosted six of Jefferson school’s Italian CILA Kindergarten class for the second distribution. This year’s theme being “Reach for the Stars” gave me a great idea to get the two programs together with one big payoff, awareness.

Back in November, the Jefferson Italian CILA students were introduced to Dr. Simona* and performed “Su Nel Cielo, Up in the sky” an Italian song that she created and taught to the children. Within a matter of minutes the infectious song was in all of our heads and that sparked the idea for the second RIF distribution activity.
I spoke with Vicki Rashbaum, NYS RIF Ambassador 2008-09/Barnard Pre-K Social Worker about the idea and she thought it sounded great. The RIF Volunteers got busy and within weeks organized the event. Three of Barnard Pre-K classes got to see and participate in the performance. Mrs. Block/Carew, Mrs. Coronious and Mrs Seja's classes all got involved with the singing and dancing and it amazes me how quickly it really did come all together.
It was a huge success. I later asked the children if they had fun and the response was unamious, they sure did.

Here is what a few had to say about it:

**Vicki Rashbaum (Running RIF at Barnard for 16 years, NYS RIF Ambassador 2008-09/Barnard Pre-K Social Worker)- "This gives the kids another perspective that there is a big world out there after Pre-K. It is wonderful to see the older kids (only a year older) as role models for the younger ones."

Patricia Lambert (Principal, Barnard School) "What a wonderful way to bring NR city schools together to collaborate programs like RIF and Italian CILA! This could be the start of something big"

Kim Block (Barnard Pre-K teacher) "Children teaching children models good education and good partnerships, collaborations between schools fosters positive learning experiences."

Cathy Merigliano (parent of Barnard Pre-Ker Josie and RIF Volunteer) " I think it is wonderful that we can get two fabulous programs together that can only benefit from each other."

Cindy Allard (parent of Jefferson Italian CILA student Vinny) "This is reinforcing what we as an Italian community are trying to promote, our rich heritage through our children."

The Miceli Family (parents of Jefferson Italian CILA student Marco) "A special day, special always"

Donna Young (parent of Jefferson Italian CILA student Lily) "New Rochelle is such a culturally diverse city it is nice to see how our children are interacting with each other in a possitive way, and to get a RIF book as well is another plus!"

Bob Dawson (parent of Jefferson Italian CILA student Kimberly) " The more our kids are exposed to all language can only benefit them, it is a critical differential."

Aurora Perez (Grandmother of Italian CILA student Zoe Pena) "I love this, what a nice opportunity to expose this wonderful Italian CILA program to Barnard Schools Pre-K parents and students who may be looking for a program like this for their child after Pre-K."

This was an educational way of bringing children and culture together and it couldn't have been more fun.

* For more information on Dr. Simona...








Photo Credits:
1) Vicki Rashbaum with the Jefferson Italian CILA students
2) Jefferson CILA Students and Parents
3) Mrs. Block, Mrs. Carew with Brook Cerone (Alumn of Barnard Head Start Pre-K / Mrs Block's class)

**Vicki Rashbaum is a Bilingual School Social Worker at the Barnard School in New Rochelle, NY. She has coordinated the Pre K RIF program for 16 years. RIF at Pre K has expanded over that time to include three special needs classes and four Pre K Magnet classrooms in additional to the original 12 Pre K Head Start classes.

Every year, the parent volunteer committee seems larger and even more exuberant than the year before. She is especially proud that many of the most creative parents and grandparents are bilingual. Thus many books are read in Spanish and many songs are taught in both English and Spanish as motivational activities prior to the actual book distributions.

Many people have wondered why a social worker is coordinating the RIF program

Vicki strongly feels that promoting early childhood interest in books is only one component of RIF. The driving force that runs the RIF program is FAMILY INVOLVEMENT. Pre K families at Barnard develop a strength-based network from their work together creating activities, choosing the books to be ordered and read in class, researching information on the theme, songs to be sung in the classrooms and unique ways of decorating the library to engage the students in the theme. Her 30 plus years as a social worker in diverse jobs throughout New York City and being a parent herself of two sons who love to read provide her with the skills necessary to build an exciting, vibrant FAMILY-driven program. She and the students, families and teachers have hours and hours of fun with RIF and isn’t that what it’s all about anyway?

Constructive criticism is requested!

Just another day at the Bronx Zoo

This was the first time (in a long time) that I have gone to the Bronx Zoo in the wintertime. It always feels wonderful to me to visit with my furry and not so furry friends as often as I can and with my own, not so furry friends.




We had the pleasure of sharing company with Aunt Cee Cee and company, aka Frank Jr. and my beautiful Goddaughter Josie beans.



I think Josie is spying a cantaloupe that another child was screaming about seeing to his mother! We were as surprised as she was when we saw half a dozen cantaloupes resting outdoors under the trees.


We saw no lions, but we did see tigers






And bears, oh my.



Since it was chilly (to say the least, it was down right frigid) we tried to visit with "indoor animal friends" like in the World of Birds, The Monkey House and Madagascar. Our monkeys loved it.















The seals were ultra friendly and there was even a baby playing fetch with a branch.





We were disappointed when we saw the children's zoo closed but took a ride on the Bug Carousel instead and ended our day with that.








I cannot wait to visit my friends again in March, with my biggest monkey Donna and her friend Aleina who will be staying with us a few days over college break.

Photo Phriday-Only in NYC

Only in NYC would you find a chained Iron Elephant with garbage around it, poor thing.
What did you see?

Photo Phriday...The Birthday Edition

This is what 6 look's like. What did you see?

And another one gone

Another tooth that is.

We cleaned it, boxed it and put it under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy, who has been quite busy this week.

Just wanted to share!

"Cristina Likes to..."

Another fun meme from my brother's blog (vinniecosta.com).
Here is what you need to do:

Just go to Google
Type in "your name likes to" in quotes (ie: "Cristina likes to")
Click search.
Then add to your blog the first 10 things that come up!



Here are mine:

1. Cristina likes to...shoot people.

2. Cristina likes to...dedicate herself and all her time to work.

3. Cristina likes to...sing.

4. Cristina likes to...shorten her time for Salabhasana just so she can lift higher.

5. Cristina likes to...watch Netflix movies and read.

6. Cristina likes to...be called Cris, likes fighting and getting high and drunk, loves her father ...

7. Cristina likes to...dress well.

8. Cristina likes to...risk more for love.

9. Cristina likes to...be devoted to work and give it the whole time.

10. Cristina likes to...enjoy and learn every day through her work.

Who knew I liked work so much considering I only work 2 days a week!
The shooting people? Well, truthfully, I would love to some days but I do not own a gun.

Photo Phriday-The Birthday Party Edition

Having too much fun with the cake at Julia's birthday party.

What did you see?

Just when I thought it was almost over...

I saw a commercial for the switch to digital cable that was no longer taking place on Feburay 17th as promised. The new date is in June now!
June!
I think they just want to distract us from the recession we are in.
What?!
June?
More digital converter boxes are being made as we speak and the cable companies are just loving this!
If you have cable TV you are OK and will not notice the change at all, but if you still have an antenna on your roof, your TV will not work.
Tell me, who doesn't have cable?



My MOTHER and FATHER have IO Digi cable with DVR!
For goodness sakes.

x-tina's x-ploits: your letter is R!

While reading a favorite blog of mine, the latest post was right up my alley. I figure, why not? I am game.

It is another one of those meme's that is going around and this one seemed interesting.

It is an ABC game and the letter assigned to me is "R". I'm supposed to make a list of 10 things I love that start with that letter.

So here is my list:

1. Ravioli: Italian food has always been a favorite of mine, maybe because I am Italian and can cook, or maybe it is just comforting. Either way, Ravioli anyway they are made is a yummy fav.

2. Rabbits: Well, bunny rabbits. I love the feel of them, their twitchy noses and when I was younger had several pet rabbits that usually disappeared and mom would be making "chicken" the next day...hmmmm, poor poor Peter.

3. Radio: Way back when, I could go no where without music, the beach, the park, my room, the car. Radio has been a huge part of my life! I do prefer my iPod, but I remember the days of taping all my fav songs off the radio and put them in my walkman...

4. Rambo: John Rambo aka Sylvester Stallone is and forever will be the ultimate in men for me (of course next to Johnny Depp). I even had the Rambo action figure (still do) that my brother gave me growing up. I will always and forever love him!

5. Rocky: See Rambo description above.

6. Raggedy Ann: What little girl growing up didn't have Raggedy Ann? I had Andy too and they loved me! I loved them right back and passed them down to my 2 girls (I got them their own, mind you, mine was too raggedy).

7. Rag tops: aka convertibles. My dad had one when I was 15, 1959 Chevy Impala, mint. Reminded me of the Batmobile. I miss that car.

8. Rain Drops on Roses: and whiskers on kittens...

9. Relish: on my hot dogs and burgers once in a while.

And finally...

10. Rest and Relaxation: Call me lazy, call me lax, you can never get enough rest and relaxation in this day and age of constant work, children, running, doing, going, moving. I look forward to the "do absolutly nothing" days because they are few and far between for my taste!

I am sure there is so much more, but that was my challenge, 10 things I love that begin with the letter R!

If you would like to try this in your blog, I will assign you a letter and you can have just as much fun as I did! *



*Thanks to Tia for the letter and the fun!

Presenting...

This is the newest project for RIF.

Since the theme is Reach for the stars, I suggested a song that my kids at Brook's school did back in November, Su Nel Cielo. If you read my blog then you know all about it.

This presentation board was made to help the children follow along with the song and not only see it in Italian, but Spanish as well.

I will make sure to keep you all posted after the distribution and with my first time reporting!

Thank you to the two most very important people in my life for commenting on the last post with tips and encouragement for the upcoming event!

Love ya!

It has been a while

It has been a while since I actually had time to write and not just post Photo Phriday Pics (on Saturday no less) that I felt the need to.



I have been busy with Brook's schooling, in particular the Italian CILA program. It is brandy new this year and we are all trying to be good parents and get as much out of it as the children are. I joined the Parents Advisory Board and we seem to be making some progress with getting the resources out to interested parents wanting to further their child's dual language education.



I also am involved with RIF (Reading is Fundamental) back at Brook's old school. We just finished up the first distribution and are on to the second which I incorporated the Italian CILA. A while back, Brook's class performed a song called Su Nel Cielo translated: Up in the sky. The RIF theme is Reach for the stars.

I saw a connection and an opportunity to incorporate the two programs and what a great way to promote the Italian CILA by having the children perform for the Pre-K classes in Italian and as a bonus...in SPANISH as well!

I now needed a way to promote this and asked the head of the CILA program who the PR person for the Board of Ed was. I got a name and called the next day (which was Wednesday this week).
To my surprise, she was very receptive and thought that this came at the most perfect time and asked if I could be the reporter and photographer for the event!
Well, I was elated!
I couldn't be happier for RIF and CILA! What a great opportunity for me to get my photos out there as well.
It is a win win in my book.

I would like to ask my faithful 3 or 4 readers for some journalism advise. I normally don't report per se, I say it like it is.
Is there an outline for reporting?
Are there specific questions that I should have prepared for all involved?
Should I quote the children as well as the adults?
I have a pretty good idea of what I want to ask, but when do I ask?
Before, durring, after the event?
All of the above?
Comment me some of your feedback if you will, it is always a pleasure hearing from you all.

Photo Phriday: Gym edition

I was fortunate enough to have a friend give me a week's free membership and have been here 2 times so far.



I am really enjoying it so far and hope to keep it up if there is a good deal and no yearly commitments!

What did you see?

Twilight...Love or Hate

I just finished reading the first installment Twilight, a series of books by Stephanie Meyer and I absolutely loved it, not all of it but the majority of it!



Twilight is a love story, make no mistake about it. It’s less a vampire story than it is a romantic morality tale.
Our heroine, Bella, takes us along on her whirlwind romance with the beautiful boyfriend, the oh so perfect vampire, Edward, compared to a statue of a Greek Pagan God, numerous times throughout the book.

I found it to be a bit wordy (wordy meaning how many times darling Edward is compared to a statue of a Greek Pagan God, a little Harlequin Romance novelette), but I loved the story of the vampire wanna be Bella and her love/lust toward Edward.

This is the type of book you might read in just a few sittings, becoming engrossed in its fantastical world and oblivious to your physical surroundings. While not the next great thing in modern literature, it's a fun book to get lost in and comes to an end much too quickly.

By the way, the only thing that really bothered me about Twilight was the "sparkling" I mean really, taking creative liberties now and then are ok, but true vampire lovers (like myself) wholly believe a stake to the heart and sunlight are two ways to kill a vampire certainly, centuries of written vampire stories couldn't be that far off base, could they? What about all those Buffy and Angel episodes?
The first time Bella saw Edward in the sunlight was a bit unreal to me...I really didn't like it.
Then, when Bella asks Edward about killing a vampire he said there was no real way to kill a vampire except to cut them up and burn the remains...well, uh, a stake to the heart maybe (sunlight was out and replaced with sparkling so what is left?)

That doesn't mean that I didn't like the story, its just another way of looking at new and improved, modern vampires!

Twilight is an easy and enjoyable read. This isn't a masterpiece of literary achievement, however. You have to take it for what it is –- a unique and entertaining story.
It sure made me eager to delve into the next novel New Moon.