Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeana Kinne

Hi Jeana, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

My passion, from an early age, has been working with young children, specifically those between birth through five year olds. I worked as a camp counselor and child care program director every summer during my high school years. After working in my college preschool program, I decided to continue with my education, receiving my Masters Degree in Education: Curriculum, Teaching and Learning. For the past 20 years, I have been working in Early Childhood with neurotypical children and children with special needs. While working with preschool teachers and parents, they alway reported that their number one concern was children’s tantrums and behaviors.

As I looked for resources to help parents, teachers and children, I wasn’t able to find anything that that taught young children how to calm down when they were feeling overstimulated. I decided to write the “Soothing Sammy Emotions Program” to support families and educators in this area while putting a positive spin on “time ins” or “calm down corners.”

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

I have learned that even though I have big ideas that might make sense to me, they don’t always make sense to my customers, parents or teachers that I support.
Over a five year period, I have learned to listen to my audience and give them the ability to respond with both negative and positive feedback, so that I could make my products better to meet their needs.

“The Soothing Sammy Emotions Program” and the “Sammy the Golden Dog Series” looks a lot different now than it did in 2018 when I started. I am so thankful to my community of parents and teachers, to business coaches I have worked with, and to friends who have helped me fully reach my goal in supporting children in all areas of the world with their feelings. It took a while for me to understand how to listen to my audience (on social media and through email) to create programs that best meet the needs of my customers, trusting their feedback to amend my current products.

We’ve been impressed with JDEducational. Sammy the Golden Dog, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Writing children’s books has always been a dream of mine. I absolutely adore the toddler and preschooler age group, and know deep down that kids learn the best through imagination and play. This Sammy the Golden Dog series started with “Soothing Sammy Emotions Program” – my first book (as a brand new author.)

“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!

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

During our daily fetch game with Kona, 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. That Kona girl sure does have great ideas ;) So 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 (she is so talented.) 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. Half of all the profits from this book goes to our local Search and Rescue Volunteer Team to help pay for trainings and much needed equipment.

Soon after, I released “Sammy Goes to Preschool,” a lesson on inclusion. 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. I have spent the last 16 years working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers with developmental delays. These adorable children have a very special place in my heart. I was currently work in an inclusion preschool class, and I was always so amazed at how young children help each other out, no questions asked.

Next, I released the book “Sammy Learns to Share: A Lesson in Turn Taking.” When I was talking to parents and teachers of preschoolers, I asked them what skill they wish their children knew how to do. They said “taking turns” or “sharing.” Understanding how to share space and toys with others is one of the hardest skills that young children learn. That’s when I knew this Sammy book would teach child 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 yes… it teaches how to use “my turn” cards.

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. I live in an area where there are many immersion schools (English/Spanish, Spanish/French) so I decided to write a story that taught children how to count from 1-20 in English, Spanish and French! And what better way to do this than joining Sammy on one of his daily walks, encouraging children to stop and observe their surroundings when they are out and about, living in the moment! A few months later, “Sammy’s Counting Adventure” was published.

Currently there are seven Sammy the Golden Dog books. After moving to a new state, I met a real estate agent who asked me to write a Sammy book about moving. She mentioned that she had a lot of clients with young children and wanted to support them in the emotional process of moving, leaving familiar friends and family, and becoming comfortable in a new home. I released the book “Sammy Moves to a New Home” this year in order to support children in their emotional process of saying goodbye to familiar people and places, and helping them meet new friends near their new home.

This Sammy series is filled with life lessons. When someone asks me to write a book about a topic, I think long and hard if a book fits within the moral of Sammy, teaching positivity and life skills. My goal is for every Sammy the Golden Dog book to have a purpose, something that will help children now and as they grow into adulthood.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?

The most important quality that I feel has contributed to my success is being confident enough to network with other professionals in my space. Over the last several years, I have reached out to bloggers all over the words who share my same audience (preschool teachers and parents.) Some of these bloggers have over a million followers on social media and run large businesses. Some people in the early childhood world would call them celebrities. I support them with their blogs, like writing guest blog posts, sharing their products and building rapport. Through my networking relationship, I have gained amazing friendships with people that have shared Sammy the Golden Dog books with their audience, written review articles and gave me amazing feedback, all for free. Don’t be afraid to reach out to others, networking within your space. Being able to create partnerships with other early childhood professionals around the world has made me a better business woman and has helped me bring Sammy to audiences I never would have dreamed would see my books.

Pricing:

• Soothing Sammy Emotions Program at JDEducational.com : $59.99
• Sammy the Golden Dog Series at JDEducational.com: $134.99
• Sammy the Golden Dog Books on Amazon: $12.99
• 5 Step Behavior Plan Video Series: JDEducational.com: FREE

Contact Info:

• Website: Website: JDEducational.com
• Facebook: Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PreschoolActivitiesforkids
• Youtube: YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@preschoolclassroomtips
• Other: Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FJBXL37?binding=paperback&