Meet Jeana Kinne

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeana Kinne. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jeana, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
After working in the early childhood field for over 14 years, I struggled with supporting preschool aged children in managing their BIG emotions. When children in my care would become frustrated, or upset, they would instantly throw items or hit peers that were bothering them.

I had gone to several trainings about behaviors in young children and how every child responds to their feelings differently. Countless hours were spent learning about different behavior intervention tactics, but nothing seemed to be working on a consistent basis.

I realized that there were tons of trainings around behavior supports and tips for parents/teachers, but there wasn’t anything that taught children about calming down, identifying their feelings and problem solving in a way that young children understand.

After working in Early Intervention, with infants and toddlers with special needs, I realized that visual and tactile cues are essential in supporting children with emotional management. It wasn’t until I started using age appropriate words, visual cues and a calm demeanor, when interacting with children with BIG emotions, that I saw a change.

I realized that my purpose was to teach other parents and early childhood educators how to stay calm, develop a plan and teach children about their emotions in a child friendly way that would frame emotional development in a positive way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I create and sell programs for preschoolers that teach essential life skills. Writing children’s books has always been a dream of mine. I have spent the last 21 years working with toddlers and preschoolers as a teacher, an early intervention specialist with children with special needs, and as a preschool director. I absolutely adore this age group and know deep down that kids learn the best through imagination and play. I am the author of the Sammy the Golden Dog book and program series. As of now, this is a six program series that teach children essential life skills such as emotional management, safety, academics, turn taking and inclusion.

The first book, “Soothing Sammy” came to me one day while I was watching a parent struggle during their child’s tantrum in the grocery store. This mom was cringing, trying to get through her shopping trip as fast as she could with a two year old screaming in the front of the basket. My heart just broke for her. I wanted to create something for kids, to teach them how to manage their feelings in a way that they would understand. I didn’t want “just another parent course.” I wanted kids to take ownership of their feelings and learn to express them in appropriate ways. As a result, “Soothing Sammy” was born!

Description of Soothing Sammy: The colorful photos and simple story is perfect for toddlers, preschoolers and elementary aged children. Sammy, a golden retriever, shows his friends, how to calm down with sensory items he has in his home (such as using a washcloth to dampen their face, eating a crunchy snack and listening to a calming song, etc.) Using an empty box or container, follow the directions in the back of the book to construct a “Sammy house” for the plush to live in. Fill it with household items discussed in the back of the children’s book. When a child feels upset, redirect them to the Sammy house to calm down (just like the kids did in the book!) Introduce the Sammy series play-based, large and small group lessons introduce Sammy so the children remember what he’s used for. Children learn how Sammy works, why it helps them calm down, and how to communicate their feelings. This week-long curriculum can be used on it’s own or within your ongoing themes.

After writing “Soothing Sammy,” I realized I loved writing children’s books and I wanted to write more! But what should I write about?

During our daily fetch game with my golden retriever, I thought, “what if Sammy played fetch with balls that had the letters on it?” After all, learning the alphabet is a core skill for young children. The following year, I released “Sammy Chases the Alphabet!” I included some playful games to make teaching letters simple and fun (“The Playful Alphabet”).

It was so fun watching my illustrator bring my story to life with the amazing illustrations. I knew I wasn’t finished writing stories, but I didn’t know what to write about next. Unfortunately, that same year, an unnerving event took place. Two girls, ages 5 and 7, wandered away from their home in a dense wooded area. They were lost for 44 hours! It was devastating to watch the Search and Rescue volunteers search the woods for two days.

Magically, they were found alive! They were tired but okay. Come to find out, their parents had taught them wilderness survival skills through a local program, and it paid off. They wanted to be prepared since they lived in a wooded area. After I witnessed the adventure of these two young girls, I wanted to teach all preschoolers how to stay safe if they were ever lost. I partnered with our local Search and Rescue Volunteer team to create “The Search for Sammy: A Lost and Found Adventure.” This story talks about Sammy getting lost while he played his favorite fetch game, and explains exactly what he did to stay safe. There are some playful games in the back of the book that helps kids remember what to do to stay safe. 50% of all the profits from this book goes to our local Search and Rescue Volunteer Team.

Soon after, I released “Sammy Goes to Preschool” a lesson on inclusion. I have spent the last 14 years working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers with developmental delays. These adorable children have a very special place in my heart. I was lucky enough to work in an inclusion preschool class for a period of time, and I was always so amazed at how young children help each other out, no questions asked. This story talks about how although everyone is different, we all have unique strengths and we can still all be friends! Not only is this story a peek into a typical preschool day, but it dives deeper into building friendships with everyone.

A year later, I released the book “Sammy Learns to Share: A Lesson in Turn Taking.” Understanding how to share space and toys with others is one of the hardest skills that young children learn. This book teaches children how to take turns in an age appropriate way! Not only is this story loads of fun as we are introduced to Sammy’s friend Duke, it encourages imagination, patience and how to use “my turn” cards.

At this point I thought I was done creating books, but there was one more skill that I wanted to include. Most of the books that I have read teach children how to count to 10, but for Kindergarten readiness, a lot of schools like students to be able to count to 20. “Sammy’s Counting Adventure” teaches children how to count from 1-20 in English, Spanish and French! Children join Sammy on one of his daily walks, encouraging children to stop and take observe their surroundings when they are out and about, living in the moment.

Currently this six program series is available on my website: JDEducational.com.
All individual books are also sold on Amazon

I have recently started doing virtual author visits, reading books to children in the classroom and leading an activity. I created a behavior plan training for teachers to support behaviors in the classroom. These can be found on my website and on teachable.com.

Teachers Pay Teachers storefront hosts Sammy activity packs that can be downloaded and utilized with children.
My Facebook Page: Easy Preschool Activities has 30,000 followers, growing daily, who want ideas and tips for printer-free learning activities.
I also run a facebook page: Preschool Teacher Tips and Activities – that support and train teachers on how to create a positive classroom environment.

On the side, I speak at teacher training events in the early childhood community, both in person and virtually.

I am very excited to see where Sammy the Golden Dog is in the future, supporting children, teachers and families in learning through play.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Organization has been a huge thing for me. I learned early on that keeping everything organized, especially when working on a variety of books and projects at once is extremely important and helps prevents a lot of headaches and frustration. Keeping a calendar, organized files and organized income/expense statements have been huge stress relievers in my business.

Risk Taking – don’t be afraid to take the risk. With proper research to confirm that that your ideas are wanted by your audience, and financial backing that will make sure you stay out of debt, taking a risk on yourself and your mission is great!

Social Media Marketing – Without my social media following, it would be hard to spread the word without spending a lot of money. I enjoy asking my preschool professionals what items they are looking for, how I can best serve them through new product creation and get feedback on my ideas. Soothing Sammy has grown from a 3 part product into a full emotional program due to feedback and suggestions on additions from preschool teachers around the world.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am always interested in collaborating with others who have similiar audiences to mine. I host annual mastermind conferences with early childhood bloggers from all around the United States. I am interested in connecting with Early Childhood Organizations, School Districts, Social Media Influencers of parents or preschool teachers, Children’s Book Authors, News Media and Podcasts.

I am also interested in being a guest speaker at early childhood or parenting conferences, either virtually or in person. I hope that through collaboration, parenting experts and early childhood educators and support teachers and parents all over the world.

I am able to be reached via email jeana@jdeducational.com

Contact Info:

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