It’s pretty common when you are starting to prepare your preschool child for that first day of kindergarten for her to ask you, probably with tears in her eyes, “But Daddy, why do I have to go?” And while you have your parent answers to give her and you will obviously refocus her attention on how fun it will be and how it will be her next step toward “being a big girl”, you might ask yourself that question as well. It’s important that dad and mom have a firm idea of what kindergarten is all about as well so you can do a good job of preparing your little one for this big step in life.
It is a mistake to see kindergarten as a huge academic leap into the future. When parents pour so much energy into preparing their children to excel academically before heading off to kindergarten, they miss the point of this important year of school. Moreover, by “prepping” the child for school as though this first year was going to be their freshman year at MIT, you create even more stress and anxiety because the child begins to think they are going to walk into a situation of high stress. The result is the child goes off to kindergarten already stressed and far more anxious than is justified for this first step out of the home.
Now this does not mean that preschool is not a good idea. Not only does preschool give the child an early love of learning, it is also an excellent way to help your child begin to acclimate to the idea of going to school out of the home. And learning to go somewhere else and become part of an organized curriculum is a big purpose of kindergarten. So preschool gently starts that transition both academically and emotionally.
To a very large extent, the purpose of kindergarten is to help young children begin that transition to a structured environment of school. If by the end of this important first year, kindergarten children come to school happily, know how to work with a schedule, sit at desks, listen to speakers, write things down and take them home and then bring them back again the next day and walk through the structured schedule of a normal school day, that is a huge step forward in preparing your child for school life that will begin in first grade.
Yes there is a curriculum in kindergarten and simple lessons are taught. Very often grades are not even kept or a child is given a good or passing grade just for being in class, participating in the group activity and trying to work with the program. The learning objectives that any kindergarten teacher will have for this year of life with these first year students is heavily slanted toward behavioral and social goals and not as heavy on academics.
The kindergarten teacher is a much different kind of teacher than any others your child will meet in his or her academic career. You will find your child’s kindergarten teacher to be very interested in each child as an individual and in helping your child make that transition away from living at home every hour of the day and toward using a significant part of their day at school. Commonly kindergarten teachers have special training in child psychology and are as much counselors and guides as they are teachers of lessons from books.
Get to know the teacher of your child’s kindergarten class. You will find she is eager to know all she can about your child to achieve her goal of preparing each kindergartner for the more academic years ahead. And if you are in sync with those goals, you can reinforce the experience your child is having with encouragement and interest at home. And working as a team, you and the teacher will help your child have a wonderful and successful first year in school.
Find tips to help your child with learning the alphabet letters at http://www.squidoo.com/learningthealphabetletters
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Activity Preschool Education - But Why Can't I Say That? And More Parenting Advice
I often wonder if little kids are so fascinated with the discovery of themselves that they have to share all their incredible information with the world. Perhaps because subjects are so openly discussed at home, children feel that it's alright to discuss private affairs in public. Whatever the reason, kids often say the funniest things, and what they say usually involves body functions.
Because they're darling innocents, that's why. The world hasn't taught them yet that such conversation with total strangers isn't socially appropriate. If Mommy is concerned about a rash on a toddler's pee-pee, why can't that concern be related to the postman, the grocery store clerk, or the neighbors? Little kids just don't comprehend the censorship that our society will eventually inflict upon them. If it can be said at home, why can't it be said in public? Again, toddlers have no concept of personal privacy; just ask any frazzled mother whose child just has to go "number two" right this minute! Or so the child agonizingly informs everyone in the checkout lane at Wal-Mart.
If you have ever been in one of these situations, then you will be able to sympathize with the following real life stories. And if you are a parent with children too young to speak yet, just you wait, your time will come!
"I was breast feeding my little girl when the doorbell rang. I covered up quickly and answered the door with my child still in my arms. To my dismay, there were two young, very polite young men; Mormon missionaries they were! My daughter, who's a very friendly child, pulled aside my shirt and gleefully announced 'See Mommy's boobies!' I'll never forget the look on those nice young fellas' faces. I was so embarrassed; I excused myself and shut the door. Glaring at my daughter, who looked at me with wide, innocent eyes, I started to laugh. And every time I tell this story, I still laugh!"
"I took my four-year-old son to the hardware store with me," one red-faced father recounted. "I thought it was time to introduce him to the world of tools, like big kids. Together, we picked out a new hammer and screwdriver, and some brackets I needed to hang our new drapes. At the counter, the elderly owner of the store rang up my purchases. About this time, my son announces at the top of his lungs, 'Daddy's tool is a lot bigger than mine, but he says mine's gonna grow a lot.' The old gentleman never batted an eye. He just said 'I sure hope so, sonny.'
"It was Christmas," said the mother of an adorable three-year-old daughter. "Of course all we were hearing were Christmas carols. My daughter was just learning about God and Jesus and what Christmas is really all about. When "Silent Night" came on the radio, my daughter turned to me and asked 'Mommy, what's a virgin?' I thought about it for a moment - how to explain virginity to a little girl? Finally, I said 'A virgin is a young unmarried woman.' 'Oh,' said my daughter with wisdom beyond her years, 'then my cousin CeCe is a virgin cause she's only sixteen.' From behind the newspaper, my husband snickered and said, 'I wouldn't count on it.' From then on, every time I saw CeCe I couldn't help laughing."
"Out of the mouth of babes…" Nothing could be truer. Children will speak their minds, regardless of the social circumstances around them. You spend several months coaxing those first words from your baby and then spend the next couple of years telling them to be quiet or not to say that. You can't win, so the next best thing you can do is laugh and enjoy your children's' faux pas. Don't try to tell your toddler to hush; that tactic won't work and may even make the situation worse. You'll get a never-ending string of "Why"? One day, when your toddler is grown and bringing home that one true love to meet the family, you can be sure that their significant other will want to hear stories and anecdotes about the sparkle in their life. Then you can regale them and entertain with tales of a certain chatty toddler in the line at Wal-Mart.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://www.squidoo.com/preschooleducation
Because they're darling innocents, that's why. The world hasn't taught them yet that such conversation with total strangers isn't socially appropriate. If Mommy is concerned about a rash on a toddler's pee-pee, why can't that concern be related to the postman, the grocery store clerk, or the neighbors? Little kids just don't comprehend the censorship that our society will eventually inflict upon them. If it can be said at home, why can't it be said in public? Again, toddlers have no concept of personal privacy; just ask any frazzled mother whose child just has to go "number two" right this minute! Or so the child agonizingly informs everyone in the checkout lane at Wal-Mart.
If you have ever been in one of these situations, then you will be able to sympathize with the following real life stories. And if you are a parent with children too young to speak yet, just you wait, your time will come!
"I was breast feeding my little girl when the doorbell rang. I covered up quickly and answered the door with my child still in my arms. To my dismay, there were two young, very polite young men; Mormon missionaries they were! My daughter, who's a very friendly child, pulled aside my shirt and gleefully announced 'See Mommy's boobies!' I'll never forget the look on those nice young fellas' faces. I was so embarrassed; I excused myself and shut the door. Glaring at my daughter, who looked at me with wide, innocent eyes, I started to laugh. And every time I tell this story, I still laugh!"
"I took my four-year-old son to the hardware store with me," one red-faced father recounted. "I thought it was time to introduce him to the world of tools, like big kids. Together, we picked out a new hammer and screwdriver, and some brackets I needed to hang our new drapes. At the counter, the elderly owner of the store rang up my purchases. About this time, my son announces at the top of his lungs, 'Daddy's tool is a lot bigger than mine, but he says mine's gonna grow a lot.' The old gentleman never batted an eye. He just said 'I sure hope so, sonny.'
"It was Christmas," said the mother of an adorable three-year-old daughter. "Of course all we were hearing were Christmas carols. My daughter was just learning about God and Jesus and what Christmas is really all about. When "Silent Night" came on the radio, my daughter turned to me and asked 'Mommy, what's a virgin?' I thought about it for a moment - how to explain virginity to a little girl? Finally, I said 'A virgin is a young unmarried woman.' 'Oh,' said my daughter with wisdom beyond her years, 'then my cousin CeCe is a virgin cause she's only sixteen.' From behind the newspaper, my husband snickered and said, 'I wouldn't count on it.' From then on, every time I saw CeCe I couldn't help laughing."
"Out of the mouth of babes…" Nothing could be truer. Children will speak their minds, regardless of the social circumstances around them. You spend several months coaxing those first words from your baby and then spend the next couple of years telling them to be quiet or not to say that. You can't win, so the next best thing you can do is laugh and enjoy your children's' faux pas. Don't try to tell your toddler to hush; that tactic won't work and may even make the situation worse. You'll get a never-ending string of "Why"? One day, when your toddler is grown and bringing home that one true love to meet the family, you can be sure that their significant other will want to hear stories and anecdotes about the sparkle in their life. Then you can regale them and entertain with tales of a certain chatty toddler in the line at Wal-Mart.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://www.squidoo.com/preschooleducation
Monday, April 14, 2008
Preschool Education - Getting Used to People
A child between the age of zero and five lives in a protective bubble. And that is a good thing because that little one needs to be surrounded by people that she trusts and that love her and will protect her at all costs. But even if that child has some siblings, those years are often relatively quiet and ones in which the majority of the people that child knows are primarily dedicated to one thing and that is satisfying all of her wants and needs.
Obviously this is not the kind of world that child will eventually live in. To say that very young children are spoiled is stating the obvious but that is natural and the way it should be. It is the task of older childhood and adolescence to begin to reprogram your children to live in a world the rules of social behavior are far more complex.
The first time your child will be exposed to that kind of environment other than an occasional hour in the nursery at church or at day care will happen when your little one begins kindergarten. There are a lot of surprises waiting for her there. But one that kindergarten teachers know is going to be a huge challenge is reprogramming those kids to the idea that everyone in that room is not all about them but that they are there to be part of a larger society.
This will be quite confusing for your child and many days when she comes home unhappy or upset about what happened at school, the heart of the problem will be this orientation issue. So anything you can do before your child goes to kindergarten to help your little one to learn to socialize in a larger circle of people and in a setting that is more normalized than the one at home will serve your kiddo well when those school days get underway.
Preschool is a great way to start that process early in life so much of that socialization is well underway before kindergarten days arrive. But if that is not an option or there are good reasons not to go the preschool route, you can find situations of socialization in which you can have your child in a group of many other children her age where there are some rules and the children have to learn to get along.
Even if you do not work, day care has some value in this area. You may wish to begin leaving your child at day care for an hour every other day starting around the age of 3-4 just to give her some time with others her age to learn how to behave in groups. This is a good approach because even if there are problems, you are right back and able to take her home and talk through what happened to help her make adjustments. And if she doesn’t go back until a few days later, she has time to process how to handle conflict and deal with authority differently so she has more success on the next outing.
This little exercise is also a good chance for mom to get used to dropping off her baby and leaving that child in the care of others to come back and pick her up later. Not all of the adjustments about the start of kindergarten are on the kindergartner because the parents also have some processing to do. And as you get used to seeing your child go into a social situation and come out better for it, you will be more confident. And your confidence will be picked up by your child who will grow more socially adept and able to deal with the rules of society long before kindergarten days get underway.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://preschoolerslearnmore.info/
Obviously this is not the kind of world that child will eventually live in. To say that very young children are spoiled is stating the obvious but that is natural and the way it should be. It is the task of older childhood and adolescence to begin to reprogram your children to live in a world the rules of social behavior are far more complex.
The first time your child will be exposed to that kind of environment other than an occasional hour in the nursery at church or at day care will happen when your little one begins kindergarten. There are a lot of surprises waiting for her there. But one that kindergarten teachers know is going to be a huge challenge is reprogramming those kids to the idea that everyone in that room is not all about them but that they are there to be part of a larger society.
This will be quite confusing for your child and many days when she comes home unhappy or upset about what happened at school, the heart of the problem will be this orientation issue. So anything you can do before your child goes to kindergarten to help your little one to learn to socialize in a larger circle of people and in a setting that is more normalized than the one at home will serve your kiddo well when those school days get underway.
Preschool is a great way to start that process early in life so much of that socialization is well underway before kindergarten days arrive. But if that is not an option or there are good reasons not to go the preschool route, you can find situations of socialization in which you can have your child in a group of many other children her age where there are some rules and the children have to learn to get along.
Even if you do not work, day care has some value in this area. You may wish to begin leaving your child at day care for an hour every other day starting around the age of 3-4 just to give her some time with others her age to learn how to behave in groups. This is a good approach because even if there are problems, you are right back and able to take her home and talk through what happened to help her make adjustments. And if she doesn’t go back until a few days later, she has time to process how to handle conflict and deal with authority differently so she has more success on the next outing.
This little exercise is also a good chance for mom to get used to dropping off her baby and leaving that child in the care of others to come back and pick her up later. Not all of the adjustments about the start of kindergarten are on the kindergartner because the parents also have some processing to do. And as you get used to seeing your child go into a social situation and come out better for it, you will be more confident. And your confidence will be picked up by your child who will grow more socially adept and able to deal with the rules of society long before kindergarten days get underway.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://preschoolerslearnmore.info/
Preschool Education - Making a Game of Getting Ready for Kindergarten
If you have a child under five, you have already watched many amateur productions of plays that were composed entirely in that sweet little mind. Role play and acting scenes out just seems to come naturally to children. Perhaps it’s because they see it on television and videos. But it’s more likely because children just naturally have strong imaginations and creating alternate worlds and then making them come to life is just a natural part of being a child.
We see this kind of play happen nature when we witness bear cubs or even kittens in our own homes as they seem to be all about play every day. But there is a reason for their play. Often the games they “play act” are their way of trying out hunting, stalking, fighting and even running away. In the same way our own children use their creative imaginations to “play act” scenes in life that they will one day encounter for real In that way, nature seems to have put it into babies of every species to use play to get ready for life.
As parents, one of our great joys is to join our children in play. We get to sort of “become children” ourselves all over again for a while which is great fun. And if we think its fun for us, just watch as grandma or grandpa get down on the floor and suddenly become five year olds for a while. The only shame is one day our young ones will grow up and then we can’t play with their toys any more.
This impulse to act out scenes of life that they will eventually grow into is a wonderful resource you can use to begin to prepare your child for kindergarten. Very often, even though they may not know they are doing it, children use this skill to cope with fears about life and changes that may be on the way. So you can use kindergarten skits and games to help your child feel less frightened of that big change and even come to see the coming of kindergarten days as a time of fun and excitement so when it gets here, she welcomes it with glee rather than with dread.
You can set up a mini kindergarten room in your living room using play chairs from your child’s toy table and using stuffed animals to be the other students. The lessons can be silly things at first like the plot of the Wizard of Oz or the names of all of her My Little Pony dolls so your child gets to jump up and yell, “I know teacher, pick, me!” and begin to experience the thrill of being recognized publicly for being smart, even if the public are stuffed bears and Shrek characters.
Once your little one sees how fun it is playing school, you can begin to do more to make the game more realistic by implementing a schedule with a time to lay down her head, a time to draw, and a daily schedule including “single file to the lunch room” and back. These will be fun games that will get a giggle from your child but also introduce these concepts in a fun way so when they happen for real when she starts kindergarten, they wont be frightening but have an association of playtime with mom.
By taking the time to play out what will be happening in kindergarten, you can prepare your child for all of the aspects of school she can expect. Its an outstanding exercise and you can take her through it without ever letting her know that this is a big part of the “work” of getting ready for school, even though to her its just a game.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://teachyourpreschooler.info/
We see this kind of play happen nature when we witness bear cubs or even kittens in our own homes as they seem to be all about play every day. But there is a reason for their play. Often the games they “play act” are their way of trying out hunting, stalking, fighting and even running away. In the same way our own children use their creative imaginations to “play act” scenes in life that they will one day encounter for real In that way, nature seems to have put it into babies of every species to use play to get ready for life.
As parents, one of our great joys is to join our children in play. We get to sort of “become children” ourselves all over again for a while which is great fun. And if we think its fun for us, just watch as grandma or grandpa get down on the floor and suddenly become five year olds for a while. The only shame is one day our young ones will grow up and then we can’t play with their toys any more.
This impulse to act out scenes of life that they will eventually grow into is a wonderful resource you can use to begin to prepare your child for kindergarten. Very often, even though they may not know they are doing it, children use this skill to cope with fears about life and changes that may be on the way. So you can use kindergarten skits and games to help your child feel less frightened of that big change and even come to see the coming of kindergarten days as a time of fun and excitement so when it gets here, she welcomes it with glee rather than with dread.
You can set up a mini kindergarten room in your living room using play chairs from your child’s toy table and using stuffed animals to be the other students. The lessons can be silly things at first like the plot of the Wizard of Oz or the names of all of her My Little Pony dolls so your child gets to jump up and yell, “I know teacher, pick, me!” and begin to experience the thrill of being recognized publicly for being smart, even if the public are stuffed bears and Shrek characters.
Once your little one sees how fun it is playing school, you can begin to do more to make the game more realistic by implementing a schedule with a time to lay down her head, a time to draw, and a daily schedule including “single file to the lunch room” and back. These will be fun games that will get a giggle from your child but also introduce these concepts in a fun way so when they happen for real when she starts kindergarten, they wont be frightening but have an association of playtime with mom.
By taking the time to play out what will be happening in kindergarten, you can prepare your child for all of the aspects of school she can expect. Its an outstanding exercise and you can take her through it without ever letting her know that this is a big part of the “work” of getting ready for school, even though to her its just a game.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://teachyourpreschooler.info/
Preschool Education - The Basic Skills of Kindergarten
Children love to learn. In the first years of life, there really is no distinction between learning and play to a child and they get as much fun and joy from learning new things as they do from any game they play. So the years before kindergarten are a perfect time to use play time with you to begin their path toward conquering some basic principles that will be very helpful to them when they reach kindergarten.
Many children’s games and books focus on helping your little one learn colors, shapes and other basics that will be good to have a firm grasp of before they reach kindergarten. You can make a game of knowing the color names and you will be surprised how quick witted your child is and able to pick up not just the basic 5-10 colors but many nuances of color as well. The same is true of shapes. While a child may have trouble saying “octagon”, don’t underestimate their ability to learn the names of the various shapes of their toys and blocks.
You can use play and reading time to also help your preschool child get a good grasp of the alphabet, how the letters look and numbers and counting. These will all be excellent basic skills of kindergarten that will make the step into formal school easy and smooth for your child. In fact, it isn’t out line to expect that your preschooler could learn to sign her name and do some basic letter shaping exercises before she starts kindergarten. How great would it be for her not only to have these core skills and areas of knowledge well in hand before school starts but to be able to start with that much confidence that she is smart and ready for school? That kind of confidence translates into big time success for any student starting on a big new adventure.
Along with using play time in such a productive way, there are many studies that have shown without a doubt that reading to your child every day is one of the finest ways to get them ready for school. If you read stories to your little one and allow them to look over your shoulder, you will be surprised how many words they will learn to recognize just from that casual time of loving relaxation with mommy or daddy.
But reading is also one of the best ways to improve your child’s vocabulary and ability to speak clearly and expressively. Don’t be surprised if you find your child with books open early and often because you took the time to read to her even before she starts at kindergarten. And that love of learning is something that will stay with that child for the rest of her life. What a wonderful gift.
If your child loves to run and play as is very common in young children, you can use that to help them develop strong motor skills which will help in dozens of ways in school. Hand eye coordination not only will help your child do well in gym and playing sports, it will help in learning to write and many other related physical dexterity challenges that she will face in school.
By looking at many of life’s simple pleasures that you enjoy in raising a preschooler as also opportunities to develop your child intellectually, physically and even socially in preparation for kindergarten, you are giving your baby wonderful skills, knowledge and abilities that will pay off big when kindergarten starts officially when she is five. And you will be thrilled to see her naturally step into the formal school world so well and begin to succeed because you took the time to get her ready well ahead of time.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://teachyourpreschooler.com/
Many children’s games and books focus on helping your little one learn colors, shapes and other basics that will be good to have a firm grasp of before they reach kindergarten. You can make a game of knowing the color names and you will be surprised how quick witted your child is and able to pick up not just the basic 5-10 colors but many nuances of color as well. The same is true of shapes. While a child may have trouble saying “octagon”, don’t underestimate their ability to learn the names of the various shapes of their toys and blocks.
You can use play and reading time to also help your preschool child get a good grasp of the alphabet, how the letters look and numbers and counting. These will all be excellent basic skills of kindergarten that will make the step into formal school easy and smooth for your child. In fact, it isn’t out line to expect that your preschooler could learn to sign her name and do some basic letter shaping exercises before she starts kindergarten. How great would it be for her not only to have these core skills and areas of knowledge well in hand before school starts but to be able to start with that much confidence that she is smart and ready for school? That kind of confidence translates into big time success for any student starting on a big new adventure.
Along with using play time in such a productive way, there are many studies that have shown without a doubt that reading to your child every day is one of the finest ways to get them ready for school. If you read stories to your little one and allow them to look over your shoulder, you will be surprised how many words they will learn to recognize just from that casual time of loving relaxation with mommy or daddy.
But reading is also one of the best ways to improve your child’s vocabulary and ability to speak clearly and expressively. Don’t be surprised if you find your child with books open early and often because you took the time to read to her even before she starts at kindergarten. And that love of learning is something that will stay with that child for the rest of her life. What a wonderful gift.
If your child loves to run and play as is very common in young children, you can use that to help them develop strong motor skills which will help in dozens of ways in school. Hand eye coordination not only will help your child do well in gym and playing sports, it will help in learning to write and many other related physical dexterity challenges that she will face in school.
By looking at many of life’s simple pleasures that you enjoy in raising a preschooler as also opportunities to develop your child intellectually, physically and even socially in preparation for kindergarten, you are giving your baby wonderful skills, knowledge and abilities that will pay off big when kindergarten starts officially when she is five. And you will be thrilled to see her naturally step into the formal school world so well and begin to succeed because you took the time to get her ready well ahead of time.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://teachyourpreschooler.com/
Preschool Education - Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?
When we think of going into the “preparation mode” as that first day of kindergarten approaches, the two areas we most focus on are the academic and the emotional. If your little one has conquered shapes, colors, counting and basic vocabulary, these are some of the academic skills that she should have as she heads off for that first day of formal school. You may have given her some home school or even preschool exposure to get those skills in place and all of that was good preparation for this big day.
From an emotional and social point of view, the big change from staying home with mom every day to being in an institutionalized setting is one that your child will cope with better with some preparation. So letting her meet the teacher, the other students, sit in on one day with you there and then have time to role play or talk through what it will be like all will be very helpful at reducing that feeling of disorientation that your kiddo may experience the first day at school.
But there are other areas of competency that you would do well to gauge in your child as she prepares for a day without you there to do everything for her. And if you start developing those check lists in the last full year before kindergarten, you have time to help your baby develop those skills well in advance. For example, when your child goes to lunch at school, she will probably go through a line to get her food, find a table on her own to sit with relative strangers to eat and have to get through meal time without guidance or encouragement. You can give her some of those experiences by eating at buffets where you let her handle her own tray and even pick the table and “be a big girl” by making all of the decisions.
The more independent your child becomes in that last few months before kindergarten, the more that feeling of self reliance will pay off when school starts. Being able to dress and undress herself is a basic skill that we work on with our children. And while this will not be necessary at school, there may be times when your child needs to go to the bathroom to adjust his or her wardrobe. And not having to have a teacher there with him will make this a much smoother operation.
The basics of being able to perform simple student tasks such as how to hold a writing implement, how to draw the basic shapes, how to color a picture and how to answer questions from the teacher without mumbling are things that can be worked on well before the first day at kindergarten that will make that transition much smoother for your child and for the teacher as well.
There are also mental or intellectual talents that your child can pick up just from being part of your family but they will be of great advantage in school. This includes being able to listen and understand a story and then ask intelligent questions about it, being able to understand humor and even make simple and appropriate jokes when the time is right in class and knowing the fundamentals of alphabet, numbers and vocabulary that will equip the child to start the curriculum at kindergarten without need for remedial help.
Observe and help your child develop the simple social skills of being able to enter a room and meet new people, understanding authority and rules and learning to live with them and making friends and identifying and avoiding problem personalities in class. These are skills that will go a long way toward facilitating a happy social life at school and learning to stay out of trouble which is a lifetime skill your kiddo will need throughout a long school career.
By thinking through not only the academic but the physical, hygiene, social, language and logical skills that are sometimes taken for granted, you cut down on the surprises that wait for your child on that first day at school. And the smoother that first day goes, the better her entire year at kindergarten will go which will lead to a happy and creative attitude toward school and education for life.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://preschoolerslearnmore.com/
From an emotional and social point of view, the big change from staying home with mom every day to being in an institutionalized setting is one that your child will cope with better with some preparation. So letting her meet the teacher, the other students, sit in on one day with you there and then have time to role play or talk through what it will be like all will be very helpful at reducing that feeling of disorientation that your kiddo may experience the first day at school.
But there are other areas of competency that you would do well to gauge in your child as she prepares for a day without you there to do everything for her. And if you start developing those check lists in the last full year before kindergarten, you have time to help your baby develop those skills well in advance. For example, when your child goes to lunch at school, she will probably go through a line to get her food, find a table on her own to sit with relative strangers to eat and have to get through meal time without guidance or encouragement. You can give her some of those experiences by eating at buffets where you let her handle her own tray and even pick the table and “be a big girl” by making all of the decisions.
The more independent your child becomes in that last few months before kindergarten, the more that feeling of self reliance will pay off when school starts. Being able to dress and undress herself is a basic skill that we work on with our children. And while this will not be necessary at school, there may be times when your child needs to go to the bathroom to adjust his or her wardrobe. And not having to have a teacher there with him will make this a much smoother operation.
The basics of being able to perform simple student tasks such as how to hold a writing implement, how to draw the basic shapes, how to color a picture and how to answer questions from the teacher without mumbling are things that can be worked on well before the first day at kindergarten that will make that transition much smoother for your child and for the teacher as well.
There are also mental or intellectual talents that your child can pick up just from being part of your family but they will be of great advantage in school. This includes being able to listen and understand a story and then ask intelligent questions about it, being able to understand humor and even make simple and appropriate jokes when the time is right in class and knowing the fundamentals of alphabet, numbers and vocabulary that will equip the child to start the curriculum at kindergarten without need for remedial help.
Observe and help your child develop the simple social skills of being able to enter a room and meet new people, understanding authority and rules and learning to live with them and making friends and identifying and avoiding problem personalities in class. These are skills that will go a long way toward facilitating a happy social life at school and learning to stay out of trouble which is a lifetime skill your kiddo will need throughout a long school career.
By thinking through not only the academic but the physical, hygiene, social, language and logical skills that are sometimes taken for granted, you cut down on the surprises that wait for your child on that first day at school. And the smoother that first day goes, the better her entire year at kindergarten will go which will lead to a happy and creative attitude toward school and education for life.
Learn more about activity preschool education at http://preschoolerslearnmore.com/
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Learning To Read: Why Is Rhyme Important?
Learning to read is one of the toughest and most important tasks a young child faces. A child's successful accomplishment of this feat is one of the strongest indicators of future success--and a child's struggle with reading is one of the strongest indicators of future failure. There are many things that parents can do to help ensure that their child is successful when learning to read and one of the keys is making sure that rhyme is a part of your child's early life. There are three important reasons why rhyme is important to learning to read.
One key reason why rhyme is important is that it is fun. Playing with rhyme is learning but because it is just that -- playing -- children are willing to spend a lot of time rhyming and learning more about rhyme. This makes rhyme a great teaching tool and a great motivator for learning. Rhymes are easier to learn and remember than non-rhymes and that is why many learning tools for older children and adults still include rhyme.
Rhyme is important to emergent literacy and learning to read because it teaches children about the language. Rhyming helps children learn about word families such as let, met, pet, wet, and get. Rhyming also teaches children the sound of the language. Other important skills include phonological awareness, the ability to notice and work with the sounds in language. Rhymes help children with phonemic awareness, which is the knowledge that phonemes are the smallest units of sounds that make up words. This awareness leads to reading and writing success.
Rhyme also teaches children who are learning to read about the patterns and structures of both spoken and written language. Songs and rhymes expose your child to the rhythm of the language. This will help them read with some animation in their voice instead of just a monotone. Rhyme also prepares children to make predictions while learning words and gives them crucial decoding skills.
While learning to read is difficult and challenging for most children, rhyme can help make the task both easier and more fun, teach important language skills, and teach language patterns and structure. These three benefits are important reasons to make rhyme a part of your child's early childhood.
Deanna Mascle shares more ways to use rhyme when learning to read with the free ebook "Rhyming To Reading" at http://rhymingtoreading.info
One key reason why rhyme is important is that it is fun. Playing with rhyme is learning but because it is just that -- playing -- children are willing to spend a lot of time rhyming and learning more about rhyme. This makes rhyme a great teaching tool and a great motivator for learning. Rhymes are easier to learn and remember than non-rhymes and that is why many learning tools for older children and adults still include rhyme.
Rhyme is important to emergent literacy and learning to read because it teaches children about the language. Rhyming helps children learn about word families such as let, met, pet, wet, and get. Rhyming also teaches children the sound of the language. Other important skills include phonological awareness, the ability to notice and work with the sounds in language. Rhymes help children with phonemic awareness, which is the knowledge that phonemes are the smallest units of sounds that make up words. This awareness leads to reading and writing success.
Rhyme also teaches children who are learning to read about the patterns and structures of both spoken and written language. Songs and rhymes expose your child to the rhythm of the language. This will help them read with some animation in their voice instead of just a monotone. Rhyme also prepares children to make predictions while learning words and gives them crucial decoding skills.
While learning to read is difficult and challenging for most children, rhyme can help make the task both easier and more fun, teach important language skills, and teach language patterns and structure. These three benefits are important reasons to make rhyme a part of your child's early childhood.
Deanna Mascle shares more ways to use rhyme when learning to read with the free ebook "Rhyming To Reading" at http://rhymingtoreading.info
Activity Preschool Songs: Why teach your preschooler using rhyme and song?
You may have noticed the prevalence of rhyme in children's books and songs, but have you ever wondered why? There are several reasons why educators, authors, and song writers who target young children use rhyme so much.
The first and simplest reason that rhyme and song are such an important part of early childhood education is that they are fun and encourage children to be active participants in the preschool learning activity at hand. Children love rhyme and song and early childhood educators have long recognized the benefits of using these techniques based on simple anecdotal evidence but now studies show that indeed rhythm and rhyme can help children learn more effectively.
Rhyme also helps children learn important foundational skills for reading. Reading is much more involved than simply learning to recognize that the shapes and squiggles on a page actually resolve into words and meaning. Learning to read also means learning about language and understanding the elements of that language. Once children understand how language works and the basic building blocks of words and sentences then learning to read is much easier for them. Rhyme is an essential part of this process.
Preschool songs are also a great way to increase children's vocabulary and knowledge of the world. Many preschool songs are actually informative and instructive about various aspects of culture and the world, but in addition many movement songs also teach children important aspects of relationships and direction that will aid in life as well as reading.
Rhyme is also a great memory aid and learning tool and learning new preschool songs, preschool rhymes, and preschool poems will help children improve their memory skills which can only help them when they begin their formal education.
Playing with and learning rhyme and songs also helps children improve their listening and sound discrimination skills. These will aid not only in learning to read but also becoming better students and better people in the future.
So if the simple fact that your child enjoys rhyme and song is not enough to encourage you making rhyme and song a part of your preschooler's life then you should also consider the other benefits such as setting the foundation for important reading skills, increasing vocabulary, improving memory, and teaching sound discrimination.
Find out more about Activity Preschool Songs and Lesson Plan Preschool Songs plus Learning To Read Book
The first and simplest reason that rhyme and song are such an important part of early childhood education is that they are fun and encourage children to be active participants in the preschool learning activity at hand. Children love rhyme and song and early childhood educators have long recognized the benefits of using these techniques based on simple anecdotal evidence but now studies show that indeed rhythm and rhyme can help children learn more effectively.
Rhyme also helps children learn important foundational skills for reading. Reading is much more involved than simply learning to recognize that the shapes and squiggles on a page actually resolve into words and meaning. Learning to read also means learning about language and understanding the elements of that language. Once children understand how language works and the basic building blocks of words and sentences then learning to read is much easier for them. Rhyme is an essential part of this process.
Preschool songs are also a great way to increase children's vocabulary and knowledge of the world. Many preschool songs are actually informative and instructive about various aspects of culture and the world, but in addition many movement songs also teach children important aspects of relationships and direction that will aid in life as well as reading.
Rhyme is also a great memory aid and learning tool and learning new preschool songs, preschool rhymes, and preschool poems will help children improve their memory skills which can only help them when they begin their formal education.
Playing with and learning rhyme and songs also helps children improve their listening and sound discrimination skills. These will aid not only in learning to read but also becoming better students and better people in the future.
So if the simple fact that your child enjoys rhyme and song is not enough to encourage you making rhyme and song a part of your preschooler's life then you should also consider the other benefits such as setting the foundation for important reading skills, increasing vocabulary, improving memory, and teaching sound discrimination.
Find out more about Activity Preschool Songs and Lesson Plan Preschool Songs plus Learning To Read Book
15 Tips For Helping Children With Learning The Alphabet Letters
I volunteer four hours a week in my son's first grade classroom. I help out in a variety of ways but primarily I am involved in literacy activities. It is an exciting time in a child's literacy life as this is the year that emergent readers become full-fledged readers.
While they will continue to spend elementary school increasing their site words and vocabulary, there is a point during this year when most children can pick up a book at their reading level and read it from start to finish with their own knowledge and decoding skills. For some children, that point arrives early in the school year and others reach it at various points in the year.
However there are a handful of children in every first grade classroom who will not reach that point this year. These children still do not possess the basic literacy skills and techniques they need to become readers. They do not know their alphabet letters let alone the sounds that each letter represents in words. This lack of knowledge holds them back both in reading and in writing.
While the other children can write fluent sentences using their growing vocabularies as well as phonetic spelling based on their knowledge of the alphabetic principle, the children who do not yet know the alphabet fall further and further behind their peers every day.
As the parent of a preschooler, you have to ask yourself. Which group do you want your child to fall within? Unless you want your child to be behind in literacy by first grade then you must make sure your child has mastered the alphabet before starting kindergarten. Here are 15 tips to help you get started teaching your child their alphabet letters.
Tip 1 - Introduce the letter by finding a word or a name that is meaningful to your child. Example: B: ball
Tip 2 - Point to the letter on an Alphabet Chart (you can make one easily using the "Chunky Letters" coloring sheets) so your child can see where the letter is in the alphabet. The chart can be a learning tool to help your child visualize what the alphabet looks like.
Tip 3 - Sing the Alphabet Song and stop at that letter for the child to sing alone.
Tip 4 - Model the correct formation of the letter and have your child trace the letter in salt, sand, gel, fingerpaint, pudding, or shaving cream .
Tip 5 - Model the correct formation of the letter and have your child print the letter with a paintbrush, marker, crayon, chalk, q-tip, pencil, magic slate, or pen.
Tip 6 - Purchase magnetic letters to place on the refrigerator or cookie sheets to display the letter of the week.
Tip 7 - Point out the letter on signs and in books.
Tip 8 - Use playdough to roll out and make the letter or a toothpick to write the letter on the playdough.
Tip 9 - Talk about the shapes of the letters and if the upper and lower case are the same or different. Play matching games, same or different, or alphabet bingo.
Tip 10 - Take your finger and trace the letters on the palm of the hand or on your child's back.
Tip 11 - Practice using sticky notes and label objects in the house that begin with the letter.
Tip 12 - Alphabet Stamps are a practical investment for having fun with the alphabet for alphabet recognition, making words, and spelling.
Tip 13 - Eating the alphabet can be a delicious way to reinforce letters using vegetables, pretzels, potato sticks, and candy to form the letters.
Tip 14 - Decorate cupcakes, cakes or cookies using frosting tubes to print letters. Squeeze mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, or jelly letters out of containers to enhance your food. If your not hungry place inside a ziploc bag and practice printing letters on the outside of the bag.
Tip 15 - Try Alphabits Cereal for breakfast and name the letters.
Learn more about other preschool lessons and learning the alphabet letters at http://teachyourpreschooler.com/
While they will continue to spend elementary school increasing their site words and vocabulary, there is a point during this year when most children can pick up a book at their reading level and read it from start to finish with their own knowledge and decoding skills. For some children, that point arrives early in the school year and others reach it at various points in the year.
However there are a handful of children in every first grade classroom who will not reach that point this year. These children still do not possess the basic literacy skills and techniques they need to become readers. They do not know their alphabet letters let alone the sounds that each letter represents in words. This lack of knowledge holds them back both in reading and in writing.
While the other children can write fluent sentences using their growing vocabularies as well as phonetic spelling based on their knowledge of the alphabetic principle, the children who do not yet know the alphabet fall further and further behind their peers every day.
As the parent of a preschooler, you have to ask yourself. Which group do you want your child to fall within? Unless you want your child to be behind in literacy by first grade then you must make sure your child has mastered the alphabet before starting kindergarten. Here are 15 tips to help you get started teaching your child their alphabet letters.
Tip 1 - Introduce the letter by finding a word or a name that is meaningful to your child. Example: B: ball
Tip 2 - Point to the letter on an Alphabet Chart (you can make one easily using the "Chunky Letters" coloring sheets) so your child can see where the letter is in the alphabet. The chart can be a learning tool to help your child visualize what the alphabet looks like.
Tip 3 - Sing the Alphabet Song and stop at that letter for the child to sing alone.
Tip 4 - Model the correct formation of the letter and have your child trace the letter in salt, sand, gel, fingerpaint, pudding, or shaving cream .
Tip 5 - Model the correct formation of the letter and have your child print the letter with a paintbrush, marker, crayon, chalk, q-tip, pencil, magic slate, or pen.
Tip 6 - Purchase magnetic letters to place on the refrigerator or cookie sheets to display the letter of the week.
Tip 7 - Point out the letter on signs and in books.
Tip 8 - Use playdough to roll out and make the letter or a toothpick to write the letter on the playdough.
Tip 9 - Talk about the shapes of the letters and if the upper and lower case are the same or different. Play matching games, same or different, or alphabet bingo.
Tip 10 - Take your finger and trace the letters on the palm of the hand or on your child's back.
Tip 11 - Practice using sticky notes and label objects in the house that begin with the letter.
Tip 12 - Alphabet Stamps are a practical investment for having fun with the alphabet for alphabet recognition, making words, and spelling.
Tip 13 - Eating the alphabet can be a delicious way to reinforce letters using vegetables, pretzels, potato sticks, and candy to form the letters.
Tip 14 - Decorate cupcakes, cakes or cookies using frosting tubes to print letters. Squeeze mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, or jelly letters out of containers to enhance your food. If your not hungry place inside a ziploc bag and practice printing letters on the outside of the bag.
Tip 15 - Try Alphabits Cereal for breakfast and name the letters.
Learn more about other preschool lessons and learning the alphabet letters at http://teachyourpreschooler.com/
Teaching Reading - 3 Simple Ways To Teach Your Child To Read
We all know that learning to read is an important part of growing up for a child. Learning to read is also essential to future success both in school and in life. Older children and adults who struggle with reading will struggle in the future in terms of both professional prospects as well as personal life. Reading is quite simply a part of every day modern life. While we all know that helping our children learn to read is important, many parents struggle with what they can do as non-educators to teach children to read. There are three simple ways you can teach your child to read - expose them to the world of literacy, read to them, and give them the tools they need to become literate.
It is important to expose children to the world of literacy from a very young age. This means demonstrating on a daily basis how important reading is by sharing the various ways the written word is a part of daily modern life from street signs to food labels to printed literature. It is also important to teach young children how print works, such as the fact we read from left to right and top to bottom. Readers know this is the way literature works but non-readers need to be taught. You should also make sure your child has reading material available that is suitable and age appropriate. You can either provide your child with a library of their own or if money is tight then make sure they have a library card and visit regularly. Exposing your child to the world of literacy from a young age is an important part of teaching reading.
Reading to your child is the most important part of helping your child become a reader. Teaching reading involves teaching children to love reading. The more fun your child has with books from an early age then the more interested they will be when they reach school age in becoming a reader. Reading to your child also improves your child's emergent literacy skills including vocabulary, knowledge, and print awareness such as how a book works. Reading to your child on a regular basis gives your pre-reader a jumpstart in learning to read and continuing to read to your child even after they learn to read helps improve their vocabulary and reading skills.
Giving your child the tools they need to become literate is also important. Some parents handicap their children's efforts to learn to read by not helping them master the alphabet and beginning letter sounds before school begins. Other parents discourage learning to read by not providing age-appropriate reading material. If there are no books or magazines in the house to read then how can a child learn to read? Still other parents do not speak properly to their children, perhaps using baby talk, to encourage the development of vocabulary and grammar skills. You can be involved in helping your child learn to read by giving your child the tools they need to become literate.
If you follow these three simple steps you can teach your child to read. Teaching reading is as simple as exposing them to the world of literacy, reading to them, and giving them the tools they need to become literate.
You can find more information about learning to read books and how to teach reading programs at http://learningtoreadthroughrhyme.com/ and http://learningtoreadthroughrhyme.info/
It is important to expose children to the world of literacy from a very young age. This means demonstrating on a daily basis how important reading is by sharing the various ways the written word is a part of daily modern life from street signs to food labels to printed literature. It is also important to teach young children how print works, such as the fact we read from left to right and top to bottom. Readers know this is the way literature works but non-readers need to be taught. You should also make sure your child has reading material available that is suitable and age appropriate. You can either provide your child with a library of their own or if money is tight then make sure they have a library card and visit regularly. Exposing your child to the world of literacy from a young age is an important part of teaching reading.
Reading to your child is the most important part of helping your child become a reader. Teaching reading involves teaching children to love reading. The more fun your child has with books from an early age then the more interested they will be when they reach school age in becoming a reader. Reading to your child also improves your child's emergent literacy skills including vocabulary, knowledge, and print awareness such as how a book works. Reading to your child on a regular basis gives your pre-reader a jumpstart in learning to read and continuing to read to your child even after they learn to read helps improve their vocabulary and reading skills.
Giving your child the tools they need to become literate is also important. Some parents handicap their children's efforts to learn to read by not helping them master the alphabet and beginning letter sounds before school begins. Other parents discourage learning to read by not providing age-appropriate reading material. If there are no books or magazines in the house to read then how can a child learn to read? Still other parents do not speak properly to their children, perhaps using baby talk, to encourage the development of vocabulary and grammar skills. You can be involved in helping your child learn to read by giving your child the tools they need to become literate.
If you follow these three simple steps you can teach your child to read. Teaching reading is as simple as exposing them to the world of literacy, reading to them, and giving them the tools they need to become literate.
You can find more information about learning to read books and how to teach reading programs at http://learningtoreadthroughrhyme.com/ and http://learningtoreadthroughrhyme.info/
Monday, March 03, 2008
Learning The Alphabet Letters - Use Food To Teach Your Child The Alphabet
As the parent of a preschooler, you should make alphabet lessons an important part of your daily routine. Waiting until your child starts preschool or kindergarten to begin work on the alphabet will put your child behind in the literacy race while teaching your preschooler the alphabet can make them a sure winner. Teaching the alphabet letters does not need to be arduous or complicated and certainly does not require special tools. One of the simplest way to teach your child the alphabet is by using food. After all, your child needs to eat.
Here are some fun A-B-C food snacks to get you and your child started:
A Snacks: Almonds, Alphabet cereal, Alphabet soup, American cheese, Angel Food Cake, Animal Crackers, Apple Butter/Juice, Apples, applesauce, Apricot, Asparagus, Avocados
B Snacks: Banana splits, Bacon, Bagels, Baked Beans, Banana Bread, Barbecue Beans Bean Sprouts, Beets, Berries, Black Eyed Peas, Bran Muffins, Bread Sticks, Broth, Brownies, Brown Sugar, Brussel Sprouts, Butterscotch, Buttermilk, Beef, Bell Peppers, Biscuits, Bologna, Brazil Nuts
C Snacks: Carrot sticks, Cucumber slices, Celery sticks, Cheese, Crackers, Cinnamon rolls, Cornbread, Cereal, Carrot juice, Cranberry juice, Cantaloupe, Cottage cheese, Cashews, Cupcakes, Cauliflower
D Snacks: Doughnuts, "Dirt" cakes (chocolate cupcakes), Deviled eggs, "Devil" sandwiches (put a devil face on bologna or cheese with condiment), Hot dogs
E Snacks: Eggs, English muffins, Egg drop soup, Hard-boiled eggs, Eggplant, Eskimo pies
F Snacks: French Fries, Corn Fritters, French Bread, Finger foods, Fig Newtons
G Snacks: green jello, graham crackers, garlic bread, garbanzo beans, goulash, green beans, greens grapes, grape juice, grapefruit, grapefruit juice, Gatorade, granola, guava, green split peas (or pea soup), grits, gingerbread, gummy candy (bears, worms, fish, etc.)
H Snacks: Ham, hamburger, hash, hazelnuts, hoagies, honey, honeydew melon, hot chocolate, hot dog, hot sauce
I Snacks: Ice, ice cream, ice tea, Italian bread, Ice cubes
J Snacks: Jam, Jambalaya, Jello, Jelly, jerky, johnnycakes, juice, jellybeans, Jello jigglers
K Snacks: Kiwi, Kite-shaped sugar cookies
L Snacks: Lemonade, Lemon cookies, Lemon sherbet, Lemon Lollipops, Lime koolaid
M Snacks: Muffins, Milk, Milkshakes, Macaroni and cheese, Marshmallows, M and Ms
N Snacks: Nachos, navy beans, nectarines, Neapolitan ice cream, noodles
nut bread, nuts (not for small children).
O Snacks: Oatmeal cookies, Oranges, Orange sweet rolls, Edible O's (using cookie dough), Olives
P Snacks: Peanut butter, pretzels, peanuts, popcorn, pasta, prunes, pineapple
pizza, potato pancakes, regular pancakes, cheese pretzels
Q Snacks: Quiche, Quaker Oats, "Q" Cookies
R Snacks: Raisins, Rice and raisin pudding, Raisin-Apple Muffins, Rice cakes with peanut butter, Rice cakes (flavored), Red jello
S Snacks: Sandwiches, Sugar cookies, Salad, Soup, Strawberries, Salsa, Sour cream
Toast, Tea, Tangerines, Tuna, Teddy Grahams, Trix cereal, Taffy, Tapioca pudding, Tofu, Triscuit crackers, Tomato, Trident gum, Twix candy bar
Ugli Fruit{Also called Unique Fruit, it's a cross between an orange and a grapefruit}, upside-down Cake
Vegetables, Velveeta cheese, Vienna Sausages, Vegetable Soup, Velvet Cake, Vanilla Cookies, Vanilla pudding, vanilla ice cream, Vermicelli noodles
Walnuts, Waffles, Whipped cream, Wheat, Wieners, Watermelon
X-shaped cookies
Yams, Yogurt, Yellow cake, Yeast rolls
Zucchini, Zucchini Bread, Fried Zucchini (cut into strips like french fries, bread, and fry. Serve with ketchup!), Zesta saltine crackers, Zwieback Toast
To fill in with the letters without many snacks or to reinforce and review letters you can use condiments to create letters or build straight letters using pretzel sticks and the like. You can also trace letters in many foods such as peanut butter, whipped cream, frosting, mashed potatoes and so on. When the children are ready you can let them create letters out of foods too.
Learning the alphabet letters can be as easy as A-B-C when you use food to make learning fun and easy for your child.
Learn more about learning the alphabet letters at http://www.squidoo.com/learningthealphabetletters/
Here are some fun A-B-C food snacks to get you and your child started:
A Snacks: Almonds, Alphabet cereal, Alphabet soup, American cheese, Angel Food Cake, Animal Crackers, Apple Butter/Juice, Apples, applesauce, Apricot, Asparagus, Avocados
B Snacks: Banana splits, Bacon, Bagels, Baked Beans, Banana Bread, Barbecue Beans Bean Sprouts, Beets, Berries, Black Eyed Peas, Bran Muffins, Bread Sticks, Broth, Brownies, Brown Sugar, Brussel Sprouts, Butterscotch, Buttermilk, Beef, Bell Peppers, Biscuits, Bologna, Brazil Nuts
C Snacks: Carrot sticks, Cucumber slices, Celery sticks, Cheese, Crackers, Cinnamon rolls, Cornbread, Cereal, Carrot juice, Cranberry juice, Cantaloupe, Cottage cheese, Cashews, Cupcakes, Cauliflower
D Snacks: Doughnuts, "Dirt" cakes (chocolate cupcakes), Deviled eggs, "Devil" sandwiches (put a devil face on bologna or cheese with condiment), Hot dogs
E Snacks: Eggs, English muffins, Egg drop soup, Hard-boiled eggs, Eggplant, Eskimo pies
F Snacks: French Fries, Corn Fritters, French Bread, Finger foods, Fig Newtons
G Snacks: green jello, graham crackers, garlic bread, garbanzo beans, goulash, green beans, greens grapes, grape juice, grapefruit, grapefruit juice, Gatorade, granola, guava, green split peas (or pea soup), grits, gingerbread, gummy candy (bears, worms, fish, etc.)
H Snacks: Ham, hamburger, hash, hazelnuts, hoagies, honey, honeydew melon, hot chocolate, hot dog, hot sauce
I Snacks: Ice, ice cream, ice tea, Italian bread, Ice cubes
J Snacks: Jam, Jambalaya, Jello, Jelly, jerky, johnnycakes, juice, jellybeans, Jello jigglers
K Snacks: Kiwi, Kite-shaped sugar cookies
L Snacks: Lemonade, Lemon cookies, Lemon sherbet, Lemon Lollipops, Lime koolaid
M Snacks: Muffins, Milk, Milkshakes, Macaroni and cheese, Marshmallows, M and Ms
N Snacks: Nachos, navy beans, nectarines, Neapolitan ice cream, noodles
nut bread, nuts (not for small children).
O Snacks: Oatmeal cookies, Oranges, Orange sweet rolls, Edible O's (using cookie dough), Olives
P Snacks: Peanut butter, pretzels, peanuts, popcorn, pasta, prunes, pineapple
pizza, potato pancakes, regular pancakes, cheese pretzels
Q Snacks: Quiche, Quaker Oats, "Q" Cookies
R Snacks: Raisins, Rice and raisin pudding, Raisin-Apple Muffins, Rice cakes with peanut butter, Rice cakes (flavored), Red jello
S Snacks: Sandwiches, Sugar cookies, Salad, Soup, Strawberries, Salsa, Sour cream
Toast, Tea, Tangerines, Tuna, Teddy Grahams, Trix cereal, Taffy, Tapioca pudding, Tofu, Triscuit crackers, Tomato, Trident gum, Twix candy bar
Ugli Fruit{Also called Unique Fruit, it's a cross between an orange and a grapefruit}, upside-down Cake
Vegetables, Velveeta cheese, Vienna Sausages, Vegetable Soup, Velvet Cake, Vanilla Cookies, Vanilla pudding, vanilla ice cream, Vermicelli noodles
Walnuts, Waffles, Whipped cream, Wheat, Wieners, Watermelon
X-shaped cookies
Yams, Yogurt, Yellow cake, Yeast rolls
Zucchini, Zucchini Bread, Fried Zucchini (cut into strips like french fries, bread, and fry. Serve with ketchup!), Zesta saltine crackers, Zwieback Toast
To fill in with the letters without many snacks or to reinforce and review letters you can use condiments to create letters or build straight letters using pretzel sticks and the like. You can also trace letters in many foods such as peanut butter, whipped cream, frosting, mashed potatoes and so on. When the children are ready you can let them create letters out of foods too.
Learning the alphabet letters can be as easy as A-B-C when you use food to make learning fun and easy for your child.
Learn more about learning the alphabet letters at http://www.squidoo.com/learningthealphabetletters/
Learning The Alphabet Letters By Making Learning Fun
Learning the alphabet letters is an important part of early childhood education but it can be fun, too. Here are some fun suggestions to make alphabet fun for your child.
A Fun: Make paper airplanes and fly them around, or line up chairs in 2 rows and pretend it's the inside of an airplane. Make up your own tickets, provide flags to wave when the runway is clear. Pretend to be alligators in a swamp.
B Fun: Make bead or button necklaces. Play with balloons or beach balls. Paint butterflies: Fold white construction. paper in half - cut out a butterfly shape. drop small amounts of tempera on one wing - fold and press together.
C Fun: Make cotton ball art projects. Paint clown faces on you and child. Play with clay. Play with cars.
D Fun: Color or paint pictures of dinosaurs. Play with stuffed dogs or real dogs (if you have them).
E Fun: Decorate envelopes to mail to a friend or grandparent. Pretend you are elephants. Pull out an art easel and make art. Make up your own episode of "Elmo's World".
F fun: Go fishing (for real or pretend). Pretend to be a frog. Decorate fish. Make foot prints.
G Fun: Cut a green sponge in the shape of a G. Wet the sponge and place in a shallow pan. Add water as needed to keep the sponge wet, but not soggy. Let the child sprinkle on the grass seed and watch the grass sprout and grow. Make art with glue and glitter. Make gingerbread people out of paper or cookies.
H Fun: Make hats from construction paper and decorate them with stickers or cutouts of things beginning with the letter H. Play a hopping game (frogs, rabbits, whatever you like)
I Fun: Go on an insect hunt and record your finds by drawing pictures. Have them make an "I" collage that is all about them and their favorite things. Ice cookies or freeze juice to make special ice cubes. Make or play with musical instruments.
J Fun: Make jewelry by stringing beads. Paint or finger paint with Jello. Play jumping games such as jumping races, jumping rope, jumping over things, jumping jacks. Pretend to be jet planes and zoom around.
K Fun: Make paper kites and decorate. Crown a "King" for the day. Make "kisses" on paper. Color or pain kangaroos.
L Fun: Make a lollipop tree with styrofoam. Paste cotton on a lamb picture. Make a "love" collage of things they love.
M Fun: Make masks. Make a "Me" book. Make or play with magic wands. Make macaroni necklaces.
N Fun: Have some fun with names. Make necklaces. Make a "night" collage. Make up a bedtime story for the night.
O Fun: Trace a big O and a little O on a piece of paper then glue Fruit Loops inside the O's. Make an opposite book. Have an orange day (wear orange clothes) and find orange colored items around you. Make owl puppets or color owls.
P Fun: Make puzzles out of cards, postcards, photos or artwork. Make popcorn. Paint. Have a pajama party.
Q Fun: Make a Queen for the day. Paint with q-tips. Quack like a duck. Play quiet and loud.
R Fun: Let the child draw/color rabbits and add a cotton ball tail. Make rabbit ear head bands and give your child a cotton ball tail and pretend to be rabbits for a day. Paint with radishes. Make rainbows. Have a "Red" day.
S Fun: Sprinkle a painting with salt so it dries all sparkly. Make cloud pictures with white chalk or cotton on blue paper. Play Simon Says.
T Fun: Decorate T-shirts with fabric paints or do Tie-dye. Have a tea party. Build a tower with blocks. Play with trains, pretend to be trains, color pictures of trains, tell stories about trains.
U Fun: Make "U" shapes with pipe cleaners or play dough. Throw balls underhand. Go up stairs. Draw pictures or tell stories about uncles. Listen to the story of The Ugly Duckling. Draw, color or glue a unicorn picture
V Fun: Make Valentines. Find various velcro objects in your home. Make vests from the large size paper shopping bag or an old piece of cloth and decorate with glitter, ribbon, fabric scraps, vegetable stamping, etc. Talk about, color and/or eat different vegetables.
W Fun: Make a mural using wallpaper samples. Make a "W" using watermelon seeds. Using pipe cleaners and googly eyes, and lots of other imaginative doodads, make a pet/monster/whatever that has Whiskers using the "W" anyway they want.
X Fun: Max X-traordinary puppets using paper bags. Have a treasure hunt with a map where "x" marks the spot. Make or play xylophone music.
Y Fun: Have a "yellow" day. Make a "yellow" scrapbook using old magazines. Paint yellow flowers.
Z Fun: Use rick rack to make a "Z" mural. Play zany zoo animals. Walk in a zig zag.
Learn more about your child development and child education at http://www.squidoo.com/childsdevelopment
A Fun: Make paper airplanes and fly them around, or line up chairs in 2 rows and pretend it's the inside of an airplane. Make up your own tickets, provide flags to wave when the runway is clear. Pretend to be alligators in a swamp.
B Fun: Make bead or button necklaces. Play with balloons or beach balls. Paint butterflies: Fold white construction. paper in half - cut out a butterfly shape. drop small amounts of tempera on one wing - fold and press together.
C Fun: Make cotton ball art projects. Paint clown faces on you and child. Play with clay. Play with cars.
D Fun: Color or paint pictures of dinosaurs. Play with stuffed dogs or real dogs (if you have them).
E Fun: Decorate envelopes to mail to a friend or grandparent. Pretend you are elephants. Pull out an art easel and make art. Make up your own episode of "Elmo's World".
F fun: Go fishing (for real or pretend). Pretend to be a frog. Decorate fish. Make foot prints.
G Fun: Cut a green sponge in the shape of a G. Wet the sponge and place in a shallow pan. Add water as needed to keep the sponge wet, but not soggy. Let the child sprinkle on the grass seed and watch the grass sprout and grow. Make art with glue and glitter. Make gingerbread people out of paper or cookies.
H Fun: Make hats from construction paper and decorate them with stickers or cutouts of things beginning with the letter H. Play a hopping game (frogs, rabbits, whatever you like)
I Fun: Go on an insect hunt and record your finds by drawing pictures. Have them make an "I" collage that is all about them and their favorite things. Ice cookies or freeze juice to make special ice cubes. Make or play with musical instruments.
J Fun: Make jewelry by stringing beads. Paint or finger paint with Jello. Play jumping games such as jumping races, jumping rope, jumping over things, jumping jacks. Pretend to be jet planes and zoom around.
K Fun: Make paper kites and decorate. Crown a "King" for the day. Make "kisses" on paper. Color or pain kangaroos.
L Fun: Make a lollipop tree with styrofoam. Paste cotton on a lamb picture. Make a "love" collage of things they love.
M Fun: Make masks. Make a "Me" book. Make or play with magic wands. Make macaroni necklaces.
N Fun: Have some fun with names. Make necklaces. Make a "night" collage. Make up a bedtime story for the night.
O Fun: Trace a big O and a little O on a piece of paper then glue Fruit Loops inside the O's. Make an opposite book. Have an orange day (wear orange clothes) and find orange colored items around you. Make owl puppets or color owls.
P Fun: Make puzzles out of cards, postcards, photos or artwork. Make popcorn. Paint. Have a pajama party.
Q Fun: Make a Queen for the day. Paint with q-tips. Quack like a duck. Play quiet and loud.
R Fun: Let the child draw/color rabbits and add a cotton ball tail. Make rabbit ear head bands and give your child a cotton ball tail and pretend to be rabbits for a day. Paint with radishes. Make rainbows. Have a "Red" day.
S Fun: Sprinkle a painting with salt so it dries all sparkly. Make cloud pictures with white chalk or cotton on blue paper. Play Simon Says.
T Fun: Decorate T-shirts with fabric paints or do Tie-dye. Have a tea party. Build a tower with blocks. Play with trains, pretend to be trains, color pictures of trains, tell stories about trains.
U Fun: Make "U" shapes with pipe cleaners or play dough. Throw balls underhand. Go up stairs. Draw pictures or tell stories about uncles. Listen to the story of The Ugly Duckling. Draw, color or glue a unicorn picture
V Fun: Make Valentines. Find various velcro objects in your home. Make vests from the large size paper shopping bag or an old piece of cloth and decorate with glitter, ribbon, fabric scraps, vegetable stamping, etc. Talk about, color and/or eat different vegetables.
W Fun: Make a mural using wallpaper samples. Make a "W" using watermelon seeds. Using pipe cleaners and googly eyes, and lots of other imaginative doodads, make a pet/monster/whatever that has Whiskers using the "W" anyway they want.
X Fun: Max X-traordinary puppets using paper bags. Have a treasure hunt with a map where "x" marks the spot. Make or play xylophone music.
Y Fun: Have a "yellow" day. Make a "yellow" scrapbook using old magazines. Paint yellow flowers.
Z Fun: Use rick rack to make a "Z" mural. Play zany zoo animals. Walk in a zig zag.
Learn more about your child development and child education at http://www.squidoo.com/childsdevelopment
Preschool Education - What You Must Teach Your Preschooler
Many members of my mother's generation did not even attend kindergarten. Many members of my generation did not even attend preschool. With my son's generation preschool has become a necessary part of preparation for formal education. In fact for most children, formal education actually begins with preschool. That does not mean that preschool education begins the first day of preschool. In fact, if you want your child to successful in preschool and beyond then you must prepare your child for preschool. What are some of the things you will need to teach your preschooler?
First and foremost you must help your child become as independent as possible. This means toilet training and basic hygiene as well as the ability to dress themselves. Prepare your child mentally and emotionally for the idea of independence from you and other primary caregivers. Preschool teachers are obviously caring and helpful but they will not be able to give the same level of attention many children are accustomed to from their primary caregiver.
There are also some basic concepts that children must learn. These lessons will be solidified during preschool but if a child grasps them before preschool that is even better. This includes knowledge of colors and shapes. Do not spend a lot of time drilling this knowledge into your child, but instead casually introduce it to your child through daily life. Name the colors of the clothes your child will wear that day. Point out various shapes during the day or even cut food into a shape of the day.
Begin working with your toddler early to introduce the letters of the alphabet and then as those are mastered begin introducing the beginning letter sounds. Again, make these lessons fun and casual as you go about your daily routine. Similarly, begin working on counting as you cook, clean and dress.
Why must you prepare your preschooler for preschool? As I pointed out in the opening paragraph, the educational bar is continually being raised. Kindergarten is no longer about preparation. Real education goals are set and children learn reading and math. They begin learning several reading concepts and are expected to count to 100 in kindergarten. First grade students are reading and performing complex math and money problems. Children can enter preschool without any knowledge of independence, colors, shapes, letters, and numbers, but a head start can help them be more successful in preschool and then later in formal education.
A child who starts kindergarten not knowing these concepts will be behind and may never get caught up. Even worse, this late start will destroy the child's self esteem and confidence as well as cause the child to hate school and learning. Some children can overcome these challenges and go on to become successful but all too many children continue to fail throughout school and life. Which would you rather for your child's future? If you want your child to succeed in preschool, formal education, and life then you should work on the key concepts long before schooling starts.
Renaissance Woman Deanna Mascle shares more articles for your family at http://ezinesbydawggone.com
First and foremost you must help your child become as independent as possible. This means toilet training and basic hygiene as well as the ability to dress themselves. Prepare your child mentally and emotionally for the idea of independence from you and other primary caregivers. Preschool teachers are obviously caring and helpful but they will not be able to give the same level of attention many children are accustomed to from their primary caregiver.
There are also some basic concepts that children must learn. These lessons will be solidified during preschool but if a child grasps them before preschool that is even better. This includes knowledge of colors and shapes. Do not spend a lot of time drilling this knowledge into your child, but instead casually introduce it to your child through daily life. Name the colors of the clothes your child will wear that day. Point out various shapes during the day or even cut food into a shape of the day.
Begin working with your toddler early to introduce the letters of the alphabet and then as those are mastered begin introducing the beginning letter sounds. Again, make these lessons fun and casual as you go about your daily routine. Similarly, begin working on counting as you cook, clean and dress.
Why must you prepare your preschooler for preschool? As I pointed out in the opening paragraph, the educational bar is continually being raised. Kindergarten is no longer about preparation. Real education goals are set and children learn reading and math. They begin learning several reading concepts and are expected to count to 100 in kindergarten. First grade students are reading and performing complex math and money problems. Children can enter preschool without any knowledge of independence, colors, shapes, letters, and numbers, but a head start can help them be more successful in preschool and then later in formal education.
A child who starts kindergarten not knowing these concepts will be behind and may never get caught up. Even worse, this late start will destroy the child's self esteem and confidence as well as cause the child to hate school and learning. Some children can overcome these challenges and go on to become successful but all too many children continue to fail throughout school and life. Which would you rather for your child's future? If you want your child to succeed in preschool, formal education, and life then you should work on the key concepts long before schooling starts.
Renaissance Woman Deanna Mascle shares more articles for your family at http://ezinesbydawggone.com
Good Parenting Advice - Encourage Imaginative Play
Imaginative play is an important part of childhood. Not only is it fun for children but it is also an essential part of learning and developing. Children learn about themselves, about their world, and lay the groundwork for their future through imaginative play. Yet too many children are not encouraged to use their imagination through play. There are three essential ways you can encourage imaginative play in your child -- by providing the place, the time, and the supplies.
Does your child have a place for imaginative play? Is there somewhere, even the corner of a room, where they can build a block city or shape play dough monsters? Can they assemble all their stuffed animals into a school or all their cars into a parade? While children should be encouraged to pick up after themselves sometimes it takes a while to build the city of their dreams and they want time to play with it again. Try to strike a balance between your need for order and their need for imaginative play. Give them a day or so to create a complex setting for their imaginative play before forcing them to put away their toys.
Does your child have the time for imaginative play? It is amazing how many young children have a very full schedule. While many of these activities are likely required, such as school or day care, and many are also desirable, such as sports or clubs, it is also important that children be given the opportunity for free, unstructured play that allows the opportunity for imaginative play. It is not desirable that every moment of every day be structured and planned. Children who are not given the opportunity to exercise their imagination run the risk of losing the ability to use it at all.
Does your child have the supplies for imaginative play? As we know from our own childhood that imaginative play does not require extensive and elaborate supplies, but children do need access to objects they can use. A complex wardrobe is not necessary but a few items can be helpful. A bath towel might be a king's robe or a super hero's cape or swaddling for a baby. A cardboard tube from wrapping paper might be a sword, the container for a secret map, or a spyglass. A cardboard box might be everything from a treasure chest to a race car. Provide a few basic supplies and try not to be too suggestive in their use. Children will do better if allowed to give their imagination free rein without your interference and control.
Imaginative play can be a wonderful opportunity for your child to not only enjoy their childhood but also to learn and grow as people by trying on different roles such as parents, cooks, police officers, and firefighters but also to experience safe adventures as pirates, explorers and paleontologists. Imaginative play should be encouraged in children by allowing them the place, the time, and the supplies for imaginative play.
Renaissance Woman Deanna Mascle shares more good parenting advice in her blogs at http://deannamascle.com
Does your child have a place for imaginative play? Is there somewhere, even the corner of a room, where they can build a block city or shape play dough monsters? Can they assemble all their stuffed animals into a school or all their cars into a parade? While children should be encouraged to pick up after themselves sometimes it takes a while to build the city of their dreams and they want time to play with it again. Try to strike a balance between your need for order and their need for imaginative play. Give them a day or so to create a complex setting for their imaginative play before forcing them to put away their toys.
Does your child have the time for imaginative play? It is amazing how many young children have a very full schedule. While many of these activities are likely required, such as school or day care, and many are also desirable, such as sports or clubs, it is also important that children be given the opportunity for free, unstructured play that allows the opportunity for imaginative play. It is not desirable that every moment of every day be structured and planned. Children who are not given the opportunity to exercise their imagination run the risk of losing the ability to use it at all.
Does your child have the supplies for imaginative play? As we know from our own childhood that imaginative play does not require extensive and elaborate supplies, but children do need access to objects they can use. A complex wardrobe is not necessary but a few items can be helpful. A bath towel might be a king's robe or a super hero's cape or swaddling for a baby. A cardboard tube from wrapping paper might be a sword, the container for a secret map, or a spyglass. A cardboard box might be everything from a treasure chest to a race car. Provide a few basic supplies and try not to be too suggestive in their use. Children will do better if allowed to give their imagination free rein without your interference and control.
Imaginative play can be a wonderful opportunity for your child to not only enjoy their childhood but also to learn and grow as people by trying on different roles such as parents, cooks, police officers, and firefighters but also to experience safe adventures as pirates, explorers and paleontologists. Imaginative play should be encouraged in children by allowing them the place, the time, and the supplies for imaginative play.
Renaissance Woman Deanna Mascle shares more good parenting advice in her blogs at http://deannamascle.com
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