Chan'tele Rountree

The D.R.E.A.M. Center Presents
Our 4th Annual Spring Dance Recital:
I KNOW I CAN

Date: Sunday, May 15th
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Berkmar High School
405 Pleasant Hill Rd. Lilburn, GA 30047
Cost: $20/per ticket

Click here to purchase your tickets:
https://29043.danceticketing.com/r/events/

✨Blessed. Bold. Beautiful✨

Getting ready to make some videos!

Finally taking the time to celebrate the wins from this week...

I am honored to be one of the Top 3 finalists for Teacher of the Year at my school for the second year in a row. Although I came in as first runner up this year, I am still grateful for the opportunity to put dance on the map in GCPS as the FIRST and still ONLY ES dance teacher in our school system.

I am so proud of for being named TOTY this year and of for being in the running with me again this year! Both of you ladies are amazing and I am glad to know and work with you guys everyday.

Chantele or Shawntell? 😂🤷🏾‍♀️ ⁣
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In Kindergarten, I remember learning about the /ch/ and the /sh/ sound. As you know, my name is Chantele (pronounced shan-tell), so learning about these 2 sounds was very confusing to me.😕⁣
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So much so that I decided that my name was wrong.👎🏾 I thought to myself, “How could my name start with ch and make the /sh/ sound when you say it?” 🤯⁣
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So from that day forward, I started writing my name as Shantele on all of my papers.🤣 I am not sure how long I did this but learning about that sound really made a huge impact on me through its connection to my name.🤔 ⁣
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𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭.📚✍🏾⁣
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It’s ironic how much I love phonics and early literacy now as I reflect on this important memory from my Kindergarten years.😍😍 ⁣
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Drop a “👍🏾" below if you agree that the learning and interaction of your preschoolers name holds an important role in their early literacy skill development.⁣

Set your preschooler 🆙 for S-U-C-C-E-S-S!!🔠⁣⁣
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Did you know that you are activating your preschoolers early literacy foundation when you teach them about their name? ⁣⁣
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Those few letters in their name teach them about letter recognition, spelling, writing, and gives them a personal connection to the alphabet. This offers a great background when interacting with the alphabet in print, preschool, and beyond. ⁣⁣
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When we are talking about EXPOSING preschoolers to early literacy, this is where modeling and showing comes into play. A little bit of intentionality in this area can go a long way.⁣⁣
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Here are a few activities you can do at home to build early literacy foundations using their name: ⁣⁣
✨label their belongings (clothes, toys, bins)⁣⁣
✨identifying letters in their name in places around the house “I see letters __ __ __ ___, that spells (child’s name)!”⁣⁣
✨when doing anything with letters, start with letters in their name first “Look this is letter ____, your name starts with that letter!”⁣⁣
✨make a short song about their name that says each letter.⁣
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As you make exposure to their name a daily habit, this paves the way for exciting explore and engage activities to build off of what they already know. Their name allows them to have immediate success when they start learning and interacting with the alphabet.🏆 ⁣⁣
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Several students in my ABC Dance With Me class would always pick up the first letter of their name when we played alphabet freeze dance. This is because they brought their prior knowledge of the letters in their own name to jump start their interactions with the letters in class. ⁣⁣
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🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️So tell me… How do you lead your child with interacting with their name at home? I would love to share ideas with you. ⁣⁣Comment below 👇🏾👇🏾

The power of a ✨NAME✨…⁣
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Has your preschooler ever seen the first letter of their name and shouted, “Look it’s my name!”⁉⁣
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There is a reason why they get so excited and why even just seeing the first letter instantly connects them with their name. ⁣
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Preschoolers take great interest and pride in their name. The first letter of their name is usually the first letter they start to recognize by sight. Their name ends up being one of the first words they recognize and attempt to write. ⁣
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This makes your child’s name a great way to 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 your preschooler to early literacy concepts. Their name is a great and easy place to start in learning alphabet and print concepts. ⁣
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Do you have any funny moments of your toddler or preschooler learning or recognizing their name⁉ 😁⁣
Share them below.⬇⬇ ⁣

How to take Freeze Dance to the next level! ☝🏻☝☝🏾
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Imagine if one activity or one song could launch your preschoolers learning opportunities at home. What if you could Expose, Explore, and Engage with the alphabet with just one game of freeze dance?⁣
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Freeze Dance is an easy game. Most preschoolers already know how to play it without me teaching them how. When the music is on the children dance however they want and when the music stops they freeze. This activity lets your little one get the wiggles out while also teaching them a little patience as they freeze and wait for the music to come back on. To take this game a step further, you can spread out foam/magnet letters on the floor or refer to an alphabet puzzle or mat.⁣
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𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟑 𝐄’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞:⁣
1️⃣𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 - use an alphabet song to play freeze dance⁣
2️⃣𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 - let your child pick up any letter they want when the music stops⁣
3️⃣𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 - have them pick a specific letter or say what letter they picked up⁣
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What else can be done during that freeze time to activate your children’s learning?🤷🏾‍♀️ ⁣
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Here are a few ideas to try whenever the music stops to further Engage your preschooler:⁣
✴Choose any letter and discuss what it is, sound it makes, & something that starts with it⁣
✴Find a letter that is in their name⁣
✴Match a letter with a mat or puzzle⁣
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So are you ready to try this out at home with your little one? 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫‼ ⁣🔽🙋🏾‍♀️👍🏾😃 ⁣🔽

How I secretly 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 my Hip-Hop Minis class to the alphabet…🤫😲⁣
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Imagine if a simple replacement or addition to what you are already doing could help improve your preschooler’s early literacy skills.📚📝 ⁣
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That is all I did. I chose a song called ABC Rap for our hip-hop choreography and the rest was history. Since these little people learn so fast, they were pros at our Old Town Road dance and were ready for a new dance. I loved the beat of the ABC Rap song and it was perfect for their age group. In making this one choice to pick a song that would remind us of each letter, I was able to 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄 the children to letter names, sounds, and words beginning with each letter. ⁣
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This ended up taking us on a journey together that went far beyond just exposing. We used our bodies to make each letter of the alphabet and to create the words that were being represented in the song. Since we worked on this dance every week:⁣
👉🏾they knew all the words⁣
👉🏾the order of the letters⁣
👉🏾and which word represented each letter. ⁣
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I chose to be intentional in something I was already doing and you can do the same thing at home. 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫⁉ 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️⁣
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Maybe you always:⁣
✨have a dance party⁣
✨read a book before bedtime⁣
✨or listen to music in the car. ⁣
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧:⁣
💡pick a really fun ABC song to play in the ⁣
car or at home for your dance party? ⁣
💡get an ABC book to read before bedtime? ⁣
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This little intentional choice can be the beginning of an amazing early literacy journey for you and your little one. ⁣
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What is one small change can you make this week to 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄 your preschooler to the alphabet in a more meaningful way? 🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋‍♀️⁣
Comment below and let us know.🔻🔻🔻

Can you hear me now?👂🏾👂🏼👂🏻⁣
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Learning begins the day that children are born. The first communication comes from listening and responding to sounds. ⁣
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The vocabulary that your preschooler knows right now came from:⁣
👉🏾processing sounds (listening) around them⁣
👉🏾transferring them into their own words and speech⁣
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Preschoolers are at such a fun age. They really pay attention to what they hear and start adopting new words into their vocabulary daily. Children need to hear language being used to talk about things they can see and feel, what they have just experienced or are about to experience, what they are curious about and care about.⁣
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Communication and oral language skills, lay the foundation for future success in reading and writing.📚📝 ⁣
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𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞:⁣
✳Simon Says⁣
✳Freeze Dance (with Alphabet Song)⁣
✳Read familiar stories⁣
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Which activity are you going to try with your little one today?
Comment below👇🏾👇🏾⁣

It’s My Birthday!!! Grateful for another year of life.

💜✨Here’s to 32!✨💜