Why Read to Your Kids?

Here are 12 of the key reasons to start (or continue) reading aloud to your kids today.

1. Build a lifelong interest in reading.

2. Children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school.

3. Reading to kids helps them with language and speech development.

4. It expands kids’ vocabulary and teaches children how to pronounce new words.

5. Reading to toddlers prepares them for school, during which they will need to listen to what is being said to them (similar to what they do while being read to).

6. Reading to older kids helps them understand grammar and correct sentence structure.

7. Kids and parents can use reading time as bonding time. It’s an excellent opportunity for one-on-one communication, and it gives kids the attention they crave.

8. Being read to builds children’s attention spans and helps them hone their listening skills.

9. Curiosity, creativity and imagination are all developed while being read to.

10. Being read to helps kids learn how to express themselves clearly and confidently.

11. Kids learn appropriate behavior when they’re read to, and are exposed to new situations, making them more prepared when they encounter these situations in real life.

12. When read to, children are able to experience the rhythm and melody of language even before they can understand the spoken or printed word.

Article source: Sixwise.com

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right,

he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong."

~~ Charles Wadsworth

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” ~~ Dr. Seuss

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 4

.... every gift matters ....
(more tips in next Sunday postings)

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”

~~ Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

“We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.”
~~ B. F. Skinner

kydzilicious!!!!

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

~~ Nelson Mandela

Life is not meant to be easy, my child;
but take courage - it can be delightful.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Toys and Materials for Preschool Play
by J.L. FrostS.C./ WorthamS. Reifel

Young children are strongly influenced by toys that are marketed on television. Many of these toys are related to cartoon shows, current children’s movies, or children’s television programs that feature violence and action figures. Unfortunately, these toys have little play value and can be related to aggressive play (Frost, 1992). They do not stimulate the imagination, dramatic play, or creativity. Over the past 50 years, the transformation of toys has included more technology and they are mass produced with unlimited variety. These toys contribute to a decline in the imaginative activities of young children (Elkind, 2005).

More appropriate choices are toys that are unstructured, diverse in playability, and simple in design. Frost (1992) provides points for toy selection that would meet these criteria for appropriate toys.

Parents, teachers, and caregivers can also consider play in developmental domains in their choices of toys and materials for preschool children. They will want to include a balance of toys for different types of play, as suggested in the following list:

Gross-Motor Play
Large blocks
Transportation toys
Climbing equipment
Tricycles, wagons, Big Wheels, and so forth
Woodworking equipment and materials (child-size hammers, workbench, vise, screwdrivers, scrap lumber, etc.)

Fine-Motor Play
Clay
Puzzles
Art supplies (finger and water paints, brushes, markers, crayons, scissors, etc.)
Beads for stringing
Construction materials (small blocks, Legos, Lincoln Logs, etc.)

Language and Literacy
Books
Writing materials (notepads, individual chalkboard, pens, pencils, old typewriters, sand trays, etc.)
Thematic props (teddy bears for “Goldilocks,” puppets, etc.)

Cognitive Play
Materials for water play (buckets, squirt guns, sieves, etc.)
Simple board games
Simple card games
Materials for science experiments (balance scales, eye droppers, animal cages, aquariums, terrariums, etc.)
Objects from nature (leaves, bird’s nest, feathers, etc.)

Sociodramatic Play
Dolls and stuffed animals
Props for dramatic play (hats, neckties, child stethoscope, eyeglasses with lenses, etc.)
Miniature life figures
Housekeeping equipment and props (child-size broom, dishware, table and chairs, etc.)

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 4

.... every gift matters ....
(more tips in next Sunday postings)

“You cannot teach anybody anything.

You can only help them discover it within themselves.”

~~ Galileo

“Spoon feeding, in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.”

~~ E.M. Forster

“Do not train children to learning by force and harshness,

but direct them to it by what amuses their minds.”

~~ Plato

“When schools flourish, all flourishes.”

~~ Martin Luther

Respect the child.

Wait and see the new product of Nature.

Nature loves analogies, but not repetitions.

Respect the child.

Be not too much his parent.

Trespass not on his solitude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

“As a child lives today, he will live tomorrow.”

~~ John Dewey

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 4

.... every gift matters ....

(more tips in next Sunday postings)

Left Brain, Right Brain in the Classroom
by Hannah Boyd

Left-brained or right-brained? No, it’s not a science fiction movie, and no, your child doesn’t actually have two brains. The human brain consists of two hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum, and we all use both spheres. Most of us have a tendency to lean on one more than the other, though, and which side your child relies on the most may influence how he or she learns and performs in school.

Researchers say that left-brained people tend to be logical and analytical, with strong mathematical and verbal skills. Left-brained students are usually able to work well on their own and focus in class, although they may prefer a quiet classroom. Modern schools, with their emphasis on standardized testing, have been accused of catering to left-brained students, since those are the kids who excel at research and memorization.

In contrast, right-brained kids are imaginative and intuitive. Because they see the whole, they tend to recognize patterns and be good at visual-spatial relations. Take a right-brained child and you’ll find an artist, a musician, or a writer – someone extremely creative who may seem disorganized and dreamy to teachers. Although these kids tend to do well in art classes, they may squirm during lectures, spell poorly, and have a hard time working independently. Put them in a group, though, and they’ll shine at working with others.

Having trouble fitting your child into either of these boxes? That’s because both sides of the brain work in tandem, and while we may have tendencies one way or the other, most of us are able to add 2 + 2 and paint a simple picture. We actually need both; while the right hemisphere absorbs whole nuggets of data, only the left hemisphere can break down and organize the information so it makes sense. Nobody is all “left brain” or “right brain.” In fact, some experts consider the whole debate overblown.

“In my opinion, much of the ‘left brain / right brain’ work is not of much value,” says Eric Chudler, Ph.D, a neuroscientist and Director of Education and Outreach at University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials. “For most complex functions, both sides of the brain are important. Also, it is impossible not to teach both sides of the brain.” So, while your child may be fidgeting and squirming in the “left-brained” classroom, she’s probably still learning.

Still, there’s no harm in rounding out your cerebral son’s education with art projects and collaborative experiments, and your dreamy daughter might benefit from help organizing her notes into outlines that she can study visually with you. Left-brained or right-brained, individual attention helps children thrive.

~ Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk. ~
Susan Scarf Merrell