Reading Roxy's Dream with Childminders
Hello,
My name is Janet Collins, and I am the author of Roxy’s Dream, a picture book designed for children ages 3–7.
Roxy’s Dream is about a 4-year-old Jack Russell dog, her friends and parents, and a superhero cat named Chelsea. All the characters in the story are animals, as children tend to develop a greater affection for animals than for people, which helps them better understand the story's message. The book teaches children emotional vocabulary, helping them express their feelings and emotions when something is bothering them.
There are four key lessons in the book that teach children how to feel happy again. I’ve also included tips for fun activities that parents, carers, and educators can do with children to encourage interaction and engagement.
Below are a few videos of Roxy’s Dream being read to children, along with questions asked to see how much they remember and understand.
Introducing Roxy's Dream
The childminder above starts to read the book to the young children at the children center and talks about the meaning of a dream, introduces healthy eating and social skills as in the book Roxy sits down with her friends to have a picnic and talks about the health food her mum made for them.
Roxy Brushing Her Teeth
This video highlights Roxy brushing her teeth and encourages young children to brush their teeth as well, teaching them how to do it correctly.
Roxy Feeling Happy Again
In this video, Roxy’s Dream emphasises the importance of exercise. The childminder demonstrates exercise actions for the children, helping them connect physical movement with vocabulary. The children stretch and reach up as if picking fruit, then bend down to place the "fruit" in a basket. The children continue to learn about healthy eating and friendship. They also discuss who their good friends are within the group. The story highlights the importance of talking about feelings with primary carers, such as parents. SG shows a lovely picture in the book of Roxy talking to her parents about how she feels. The children are encouraged to talk about who they would go to if they were feeling sad.
Roxy's Four Areas of Teaching
In this video, childminder MH reads Roxy’s Dream to a group of Year 6 children. The discussion aims to assess how much the children have learned and remembered from the story. They recall that Roxy was feeling sad because she was moving house and would have to leave her friends. The children used vocabulary from the book, such as "worried" and "sad," to express emotions and describe how Roxy was feeling. They remembered the four things in the story that will help them feel better when they are sad, such as: exercise, healthy eating; making new friendships; and talking about how they are feeling with their parents, grandparents, teachers, etc.
Well done to the children for doing so well!