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Kindergarten Books > Oh Dear Geoffrey!

Oh Dear Geoffrey!

Text and illustrations: Gemma O'Neill

The young giraffe Geoffrey (Saffour in Arabic) is frustrated. All his efforts to have new friends end in mishaps, until he finds friends that help him discover his own strengths. A story that speaks to the challenges children in kindergarten face in building new friendships.

Family Activities

Your child has just started his journey in kindergarten. He may often feel like Saffour – confused, hesitant and frustrated – and it is likely that we as parents are concerned and worried. But this experience is part of his emotional and social growing process;  our role is to help him learn ...

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https://youtu.be/N7P75dbE_BU

Dear Parents,

Your child has just started his journey in kindergarten. He is still trying to explore the environment surrounding him, trying to find his way, testing his abilities in the new atmosphere and adjusting to the kindergarten’s rules and its schedule. Your child is trying to get used to being separated from you every morning and to making new friends.

He may often feel like Saffour – confused, hesitant and frustrated – and it is likely that we as parents are concerned and worried. But this experience is part of his emotional and social growing process;  our role is to help him learn his abilities and skills and to teach him that these abilities keep growing so he can flourish.

We share with you some ideas for activities regarding this book…

Family Activities

  • We can have a conversation with our child regarding the “incidents” that happened to Saffour. What caused each incident? In your child’s opinion, what was Saffour’s feeling? Do similar incidents take place at home or at the kindergarten? How do they make us feel? We might like to with share our child incidents we faced during the day and tell him how we dealt with them.
  • Saffour found out that his long neck and leg, rather than being a problem, allow him to help his little new friends. We can talk with our child about things he can do and other things he still cannot do. What might help him to develop specific abilities?
  • We might look at a photo album with our child and see his growing process, as a way to tell him “the more you grow, the more you will be able to do.”
  • Look around the house together. Are their ways to make it easier for him to do tasks alone? Such as: are the toy shelves low enough for him? Is there a small chair he can stand on to reach the sink? We can find safe ways to make it easier for our child to use things at home.
  • Saffour was looking for friends who would make him feel comfortable and spontaneous. This is an opportunity to talk with our child about his friends in the kindergarten, and why he likes being e friends with each one of them.
  • The illustrator uses random colorful spots on the background. It would be fun to do something similar with our children.

المربّية العزيزة،

 

"صفّور" الصّغير متلبّك، فهو لا يعرف كيف يتحرّك، وكيف يستخدم عنقه الطّويل، وأرجله المتشابكة والمحنيّة. وفي كلّ مرّة يحاول أن يتصادق مع حيوان، يقع في ورطة!

قد يكون من بين أطفال روضتك من هو "صفّور" بهيئاتٍ متعدّدة: هناك الطّفل الّذي لم يتأقلم بعد للمكان الجديد، ولطرق التّعامل مع الموادّ في الرّوضة، فترينه يتنقّل حائرًا بين المراكز لا ينشغل بنشاطٍ متواصل. وهناك الطّفل الّذي لم يجد مكانه بعد بين مجموعة الأطفال، ويبحث عن رفيق للّعب؛ وهناك الطّفل ذو القدرات الجسديّة والحركيّة المختلفة عن الأطفال الآخرين، ويحاول أن يلائم حركته لفضاء الرّوضة.

إنّ الحوار مع أطفال روضتك حول نوايا صفّور، وسلوكه، ومشاعره، قد يساعدهم في التّعاطف مع الطفّل الّذي يواجه صعوباتٍ في الرّوضة، وفي تشجيعهم على مساندته.

 

רעיונות לשילוב הספר בגן

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