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April 2, 2025

Adventures in Literacy and Music in Early Childhood

 

Jennifer Horner, Director of Education Development

Doodle Bugs! children and teachers immersed themselves in our “Adventures in Literacy and Music” curriculum unit in March. While promoting literacy and music is always important, we loved dedicating extra time and attention to it during this special theme, celebrating the creativity and artistry of beloved authors, poets, and musicians.

We kicked off the unit with read-alouds and activities featuring timeless works from Dr. Seuss, Mem Fox, and Leo Lionni. Next, we explored developmentally appropriate fairy tales adapted by Mara Alperin. Our focus then shifted to the world of poetry, where we celebrated poets and highlighted a new book from one of our very own Doodle Bugs! alum, Marissa Terech, a seasonal teacher from our East Amherst location. Finally, we wrapped up the unit by spotlighting musicians and their music, inviting families and community members to share their musical talents with us.

Check out the benefits of engaging with stories, poems, and music with your child—and learn about some of our very own Doodle authors!

The Benefits of Storytelling, Poetry, and Music:

Interacting with stories, poems, and songs offers numerous developmental benefits for young children:

• Language Rhythms: Rhyming stories, poems, and songs help children develop an awareness of the rhythms of language, which is a crucial foundation for reading and writing.

• Sound Recognition: The ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of words is a strong predictor of reading success, often leading to enhanced vocabulary and comprehension.
• Expressive Language: Reciting and retelling stories, poems, and songs helps children develop their expressive language skills. When they experiment with different voices and tones, they are practicing their own unique voice, building confidence and creativity in communication.

Doodle Bugs! Authors

Marissa Terech

Marissa’s connection to Doodle Bugs! goes way back to her preschool days, and it was those fond memories that motivated her to apply as a teacher. She is currently completing her bachelor’s degree at St. John Fisher University, double-majoring in childhood education (with a specialization in special education and a middle school extension) and Spanish. Marissa is currently studying abroad in Spain but plans to return to Doodle Bugs! this summer.

In February 2024, while observing a fourth-grade bilingual class in Rochester, Marissa began writing poems to support students who were struggling to read at a first-grade level. Motivated by an eagerness to help, she started writing short stories and poems in Spanish to empower these students and address their academic, social, and emotional challenges. She had no idea the poems would go beyond that classroom experience until her college friend, Emma Muchow, and her mother expressed their excitement.

Emma suggested illustrating the poems which led to the character of Mia La Cerdita, an adorable pig who became the story’s mascot and propelled the partnership into a full-blown self-publishing adventure. Cleverly, the duo turned the journey into a Keystone project for the honors program as well. Since the book’s release, Marissa and Emma have been able to donate copies to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo and to schools in Rochester, with a special focus on the bilingual community.  The Rochester Education Foundation also ensured that the book is available in every Rochester City School elementary library. They’ve enjoyed making connections with lots of schools, visiting and sharing their story and mission.

They credit many wonderful personal and professional people in their lives who helped guide them in acquiring the industry knowledge and expertise to arrive at a published book.

You can find Marissa and Emma’s book, Pig Tales and Poemas with Mia la Cerdita: Bilingual English/Spanish Children’s Poetry on their website mialacerdita.com along with lots of other fun resources and on Amazon.

Jennifer Horner

It has been a tremendous privilege to be a part of Doodle Bugs! community since 2012, starting as an Education Specialist at the Home Office and now the Director of Education Development. My own two children, now in 3rd and 6th grade, benefited enormously from the early childhood education they experienced as youngsters at the Cheektowaga Doodle Bugs! location and they still cherish the relationships they built there with teachers and peers. I am also greatly indebted to the children, families, teachers, directors and home office colleagues in strengthening my early childhood understanding which prepared me to be a part of this authorship endeavor.

My experience in becoming a published author began in an effort to spend more time with my sister, Jessica, during the pandemic who lived multiple states away. We narrowed down some types of books that we wished we had as parents but weren’t available in the children’s book world yet. While waiting on publishers to show interest in our first submission, Jessica stumbled upon another opportunity to self-publish in partnership with some friends who also happened to be former colleagues in a dog walking business that had similar ambitions.

We combined forces and added a story to the world aiming to empower young children and their parents to have more dog safety awareness and understand the incredible responsibility of pet ownership. Written from a child’s perspective, Cosette learns that being respectful, patient, and prepared is the best way to earn a new furry friend’s trust.

Though this is a passion side-project for the entire team and not their full-time job, they hope to add more pet safety stories in the future, specifically about how to properly approach a dog and how to handle biting. We’ve partnered with some of our local Humane Societies and Rescue Groups to help spread our message. You can learn more about us at www.margotflamingo.com and purchase our story, Welcome Home, Margot Flamingo on Amazon. Discounted rates are available for humane education and education programs at info@margotflamingo.com.

As we breeze into April, National Poetry Month, I encourage you to keep the love for literacy momentum going by visiting your local library, bookstore, or favorite poet or author’s website to discover poetry that you can enjoy with your young learners. My First Day at Doodle Bugs! book is also a wonderful rhyming choice to continue sharing with your child, reinforcing the Doodle routine, and promoting our “Be Safe” and “Be Kind” classroom rules.