Free Stop and Go Game Printable

There are so many ways of playing this great kids game but of course the classic is to have the children start far away from you and "Stop and Go" according to which side you show them.  I have used it for dancing, taking turns on the slide, a game for cleaning their room, etc.  Here is the link.

It's As Easy As 1 2 3, Teaching Math to Our Tots

Does math make you nervous?  Do you feel completely inept to teach your children math in any form?  Well if you do you are not alone, most of us feel inadequate when it comes to math and esp. when it comes to teaching math but it doesn't need to be hard at all.  Did you know that all math boils down to counting, sorting and patterns?  Really!  Even Geometry, Calculus and Physics are nothing but formulas that are shortcuts to a whole bunch of those two things.  Adding and subtracting are counting more or less of something, multiplication and division are just adding and subtracting several times in a row, the rest just builds from there, and patterns and sorting help you memorize certain figures so you can calculate faster.


So, teaching math to our kids is as easy as picking up their toys, counting fingers and toes, stringing beads, and countless other everyday things you can do with your kids.

I have a tendency to turn everything into a game so we do a lot of these things on the fly like writing my kids names and counting the letters or letting my kids help put away the groceries and asking how they think we should sort them.  My kids love to think of patterns so we clap, color, stack, and string whenever the moods hits.

These same skills are basic for science as well, mammals, reptiles, birds, are sorting, you can chart how many times they brush their teeth or who likes ice cream and who prefers cake, science and math are very interconnected so it's easy to kill two birds with one stone.

So what do you like to do with your kids?

An Apple a Day or Teaching Nutrition to Tots

Today's post was inspired by Simply Modern Mom's post about the "Choose My Plate" gov. site.

Teaching good eating habits to my kids is easier said then done, my 5 year old son is particularly difficult, he won't eat any fresh fruit and only takes a taste or two of smoothies but he could live off of milk, mac & cheese, and sweets or junk food of any kind.  He's not too bad with his veggies, esp. broccoli but he struggles with trying new things and I'm frustrated with how little fiber he gets.  This is the same boy who used to eat broccoli like it was candy and ate curry anything with gusto when he was two.

My daughter is easy as long as I keep the food coming in small quantities, she'll eat half a doughnut and hand me back the rest but I have to remind her not to eat the seeds in her apple if I didn't cut out the core, it's pretty great.

So out of frustration came inspiration, I would make a "food rocket" that my kids could put together piece by piece with every meal until it is finished at the end of the day when they add the flame on the end so it looks like it's flying.  If they have too many sweets, junk food or don't finish the rocket then they can't add the flame.

Here's my "prototype" for it, I'm working on getting a much cuter version of it.

Here's also a "Food Robot" I threw together at my sons request.

(Speaking of feeding tots, my 6 month old gags on sweet potatoes but adores broccoli. Go figure.)

Hickory Dickory Dock... Or Why Nursery Rhymes are So Good for Your Toddler

I always loved nursery rhymes growing up, I still do actually, the rhyme and meter and short silly stories were something I was always clamoring for my mom to sing with me and were a source of plays my siblings and I would put on for my parents.  Today my kids favorite nursery rhyme is The Itsy Bitsy Spider because I do the finger play on them with my spider fingers crawling up their water spout bodies and my hands raining down or drying them up, they love it and I love that I can turn it into a tickle game for extra giggles.  Who'd have thought that these simple rhymes would be so good for their development as well?  I certainly didn't but they help our little ones in many wonderful ways.

When they hear nursery rhymes they hear the sounds the vowels and consonants make in a way that's easy for them to process, they hear different words like fiddle, contrary, fetch, pail, etc. that they don't usually hear, and since they are so short, rhythmic and repetitive they are also easy to memorize so they are often a child's first sentence.

Nursery Rhymes use patterns and many even use counting, size and weight which helps with math skills and they tell a story with a beginning, middle and end which teaches sequence and how to follow along.

Children benefit both physically, and emotionally as well since they develop coordination, self confidence and learn to express themselves as they act them out.

With all the great benefits that nursery rhymes have for our kids I enjoy them even more when I share them with my three.  If you want to apply this to the learning triangle you can watch Barney, or a video that uses rhyming, talk about and recite your favorite rhymes, and then act them out or make a book of the rhyme together.

Creating a Learning Triangle

I took a wonderful class that taught a lot about how you can create a full and rich learning environment for your children by using what she called "A Triangle for Learning".  Here is the basic idea:

An example: You see an episode of "Curious George" (Season 1 Eps. 11 "Animal Magnetism") about magnets and talk to your child a little bit about what they thought of the show.  Later you read a book about magnets like "The Wiener Dog Magnet by Hayes Roberts" which is a very funny story about a wiener dog magnet that attracts actual wiener dogs and discuss it a little bit.  You can make a trip to the library for this or already have a book on hand, it's a lot of fun either way but making a special trip to the library every so often for a book about something your child has seen can really make your child feel extra special too.  Now that you've done the first two you can do a fun activity about magnets, it can be as simple as letting your child play with refrigerator magnets and see what they will stick to or you can get other ideas from books like "Mudpies to Magnets" or from websites, You can also get a Magnetic Discovery Board or make one yourself.

You don't have to follow in that exact order, or even all in the same day, as long as you do all three, there are benefits for each so do what works for you.

How We Teach Our Children Without Ever "Teaching" Them

The real push for starting our children's "education" younger and younger, even in the womb, has become so common that our children are now expected to know the alphabet, numbers and counting to 10, colors, shapes and how to write their name BEFORE they start kindergarten, and it's become a competition among moms to see whose child is the most academically advanced at the youngest age.

With all this pushing I think we've forgotten all the wonderful things that we teach our children in the early years that truly prepare them for the rest of their lives.  I want to focus the next series of posts on "Non-teaching", teaching our children the foundational things they will need to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally for the rest of their lives.

Sorry

I've been much more than just a little remiss in posting anything here.  I have to admit that I got more than a little burned out with creating all of the lesson plans and most of the materials for the preschool so I dropped it for a while and I'm not exactly sure when I'll get back to doing the preschool again but I am ready to start posting more great things you can do for your preschool with your little ones.

I have a bit of research to do before I can post what I'm working on now but it should be up in the next day or two.

A Picture

I wish I could credit myself with having taken this picture but when I'm teaching taking pictures is the last thing on my mind. This is a few of the kids decorating their school bags that I got for really cheap at Discount School Supply, my ds LOVES his bag.
I'll get someone else to take pics next time or I'll take some during one of the other moms weeks.

Sample Lesson Plan

Week 2:
“I Have a Wonderful Family, I Can Show My Family I Love Them By...”

Welcome Time:
What’s the weather today? fill in weather chart. Letter of the week: A Shape of the week: Square

Story Time:
Read a book about Family

Imagination Time:
Dress up and play house (opt. switch this time with “game time”)

Snack Time:


Rest Activity:
Finger painting with pudding.

Science/ Game Time:
Role play things we can do to show our family that we love them; i.e. hugs, putting our toys away, saying please and thank you, helping clean, like dusting, etc.

Music Time:
Start off with songs about family like "I Love You, You Love Me", "Happy Family" and then just have fun.

Creative Time:
Family Tree Art (take pictures of their family and glue them to a picture of a tree)

Outside Time:
Idea: Make an obstacle course with hula hoops, a 2x4, "Traffic Cone" type cones, etc.

A Lesson Schedule About Family and Community

Week 1
Field Trip

Week 2
I Have a Wonderful Family, I Can Show My Family I Love Them By...

Week 3
I Can Help Take Care of My Home

Week 4
The people in my neighborhood: Postal Worker

Week 5
The people in my neighborhood: Librarian

Week 6
The people in my neighborhood: Store Clerk

Week 7
The people in my neighborhood: Doctors and Nurses

Week 8
The people in my neighborhood: Police Officer (911)

Week 9
The people in my neighborhood: Firefighter (911)

Week 10
I can help take care of the earth by: Not Littering and keeping things clean

Week 11
I can help take care of the earth by: Not Wasting Water and Electricity and other things (Reducing)

Week 12
I can help take care of the earth by: Recycling and Reusing

Week 13
I can help take care of the earth by: Planting a garden (and composting)

A Lesson Schedule for Spring

Week 1
Welcome to Preschool or Field Trip

Week 2
I have a terrific body: Body Parts

Week 3
I have a terrific body: Bones and Muscles

Week 4
Nutrition

Week 5
Nutrition

Week 6
Senses: Eyes

Week 7
Senses: Nose and Mouth

Week 8
Senses: Ears

Week 9
Senses: Touch

Week 10
Life Cycles: Animals, Butterfly or Frog Habitats

Week 11
Life Cycles: Plants, plant “Eggbert”

Week 12
Life Cycles: Plants, cut “Eggbert’s” hair

Week 13
Life Cycles: Animals, Butterfly or Frog Habitats

Sample Schedule

Mommy Preschool Sample Schedule

Welcome Time 10 minutes
Imagination Time 20 minutes
Story Time 10 minutes
Free Play 30 minutes
Snack Time 10 minutes
Rest Activity 5 minutes
Science Time 15 minutes
Music Time 10 minutes
Creative Time 15 minutes
Outside Time 15 minutes

Total time 2 hrs, of course all of the times are really approximate and if the kids are really enjoying something you can always give them a little longer with that activity and cut shorter ones that they are not as engaged in. Every time ends up a little different.

What to expect in the future

I know that the last several posts have been extremely dry, and I should have warned you before I did it, but I wanted to have a foundation so that when I talk about them in up coming posts you know what I'm talking about.

From now on most of the posts will be about lessons that my mommy preschool group is teaching how we taught using the seven intelligences and how the lessons went, with pictures of the activities and such. My hope is that this will give you lots of ideas on how you can incorporate these things into teaching your own children and see that it doesn't have to be hard, time consuming or expensive.

Thanks for staying with me through the boring part, I hope you enjoy everything a lot more from here on out.

Intrapersonal Intelligence—"The Poet/Efficiency Expert"

Intrapersonal Intelligence—"The Poet/Efficiency Expert"
People with high intrapersonal intelligence have a strong sense of themselves, their wants, and needs. They are self reflective and in touch with themselves. They may be the nonconformist individuals who march to their own drummer. Additional characteristics include the following:

• Well developed sense of self
• Awareness and expression of different feelings
• Self reflection and mindfulness
• Ability to think about thinking (i.e., metacognition)
• Transpersonal sense of self. Asks big questions—"Why are we here?" and "What happens when we die?"
• Often is a daydreamer
• Often writes introspectively including prose, poetry, or journal writing
• Excellent self planners and good at goal setting
• Enjoys solitude and likes to think alone
• Good understanding of strengths and weaknesses
• Enjoys self discovery

Activities for Intrapersonal

• Alone Time
• One-person activities
  
• Computer center (e.g., self-paced software)

These kids need plenty of time to themselves to process information, be sure to talk with them one on one about what they are learning and what they think about them. It will help them to process everything and give them a sense of support.

Interpersonal Intelligence—"The Counselor/Minister/Teacher"

Interpersonal Intelligence—"The Counselor/Minister/Teacher"
People with high interpersonal intelligence process information through relatedness to others. They are "people" people. It is in relationship to and with other people that they best understand themselves and the world. Additional characteristics include the following:

• Ability to notice and discern subtleties among others, such as moods, temperaments, and feelings
• Discerns underlying intentions, behavior, and perspectives
• Easily makes friends and enjoys the company of others
• Ability to get into the perspective of another
• Responds to verbal and nonverbal communications-facial cues and body movements
• Recognizes and empathizes with others' feelings
• Ability to negotiate and handle conflict resolution
• Works cooperatively in a group
• Works well with a diverse group of people
• Good communication skills
• Loves to talk and influence

Activities for Interpersonal:

• Puppets
• Dramatic play, ie. playing house, knights, cowboys, tea time
  
• Have them "teach" it to you, another child or even their toys
  
• Cooking

The more these kids can "act out" what you are teaching them the better they can understand it.

Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence—"The Athlete/ Dancer/Actor/Surgeon"

Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence—"The Athlete/ Dancer/Actor/Surgeon"
People with high kinesthetic intelligence process information through their bodies-through muscle, sensation, and movement. Their bodies are their avenue to learning and understanding any content or subject and is also their preferred form of self-expression. Additional characteristics include the following:

• A fine-tuned ability to use the body and handle objects (fine and gross motor)
• Ability to express emotions through bodily movement
• Enjoys physical movement and dance
• Constant movement-likes to get up and move around
• Commitment to comfort
• Uses body to accomplish a task
• Experiences a strong mind/body connection
• Expands awareness through the body
• Experiences a total physical response
• Often good at creative drama

Activities for Kinesthetic:

• Climbing structure, mini-trampoline, Dance circle
• Woodworking
• Manipulatives
• Take-apart
• Imaginative-play center
• Playground/outdoor play
• Tactile-learning (e.g., sandpaper letters, sample textures and cloth)

You need to give these kids as many chances to do things themselves as you can, they won't really get it until they do it and sometimes over and over.

Visual/Spatial Intelligence—"The Architect/Engineer/ Sculptor"

Visual/Spatial Intelligence—"The Architect/Engineer/ Sculptor"
People with high visual intelligence process information best using pictures, visuals, and imagery. They have a sense of direction and an ability to think and plan in three dimensions. Additional characteristics include the following:

• Ability to create complex mental images
• Active imagination
• Ability to find their way mentally and physically around environment
• Ability to see the physical world accurately and translate it into new forms
• Ability to see things in relationship to others
• Ability to use "mind maps"
• Uses imagery and guided visualizations
• Likes visual support-video, pictures, photos, charts, posters
• Organizes space, objects, and areas
• Enjoys designing and decorating

Activities for Visual/Spatial:

• Sculpting dough, collage, painting, drawing
• Manipulatives (e.g., 3-D manipulatives, visual puzzles)
• Blocks, legos
• Computer (e.g., visual design and layout software)
• Videos, slides, photos, charts
• Trains with tracks they can put together themselves

It's great to teach these children using "the bag" where you put something in a bag or box that can't be seen through and they have to figure out what it is by touching it only, it really strengthens their ability to visualize things in their head and solidifies the object in their memory. Letters, numbers, shapes, objects, anything they can touch.

Musical Intelligence—"The Entertainer/Musician"

Musical Intelligence—"The Entertainer/Musician"
People with high musical intelligence learn best through sound, rhythm, and music. These people learn better when music is playing and through musical metaphors. Additional characteristics include the following:

• Ability to perceive pitch, tone, and rhythmic pattern
• Well developed auditory sense and discrimination
• Ability to create, organize rhythmically, and compose music
• Picks up and creates melodies/rhythm easily
• Remembers songs easily
• Ability to sing or play instruments
• Sensitive and drawn to sounds
• Possesses "schemas" for hearing music
• Constantly humming, tapping, and singing

These children learn well when you put things to song and with background music as well.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence—
"The Scientist/Philosopher"
People with high logical/mathematical intelligence create order out of chaos by analyzing, grouping, and categorizing. They recognize relationships, connections, and patterns more easily than people with less logical intelligence. Additional characteristics include the following:

• Ability to handle long chains of reasoning
• Likes reasons for doing things
• Possesses good inductive and deductive reasoning
• Quick to learn equivalencies
• Asks "why" and "how" questions
• Solves problems rapidly
• Likes to predict, analyze, and theorize
• Enjoys dealing with abstraction
• Strong at math and problem solving skills
• Sequential thinker
• Enjoys board games and games with rules

Activities for Logical/Mathematical:

• Playing store
• Science activities
• Anything they can take-apart and put back together
• Puzzles
• Recycling
• Weather Chart
• Computer (e.g., logical thinking, sequential software)
• Cooking
  
• Creating patterns by stringing beads

Even if this is not your childs "intelligence" these are important and simple ways of teaching math and science skills. Neither of them need to be hard, they only tend to seem so, go to A Place of Our Own to see more ways you can incorporate math and science lessons into everyday activities.

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence—"The Writer/Orator/Attorney"
People with high verbal/linguistic intelligence love words. They prefer to process information through words and language versus pictures. They may prefer oral or written methods, or excel in both. Additional characteristics include the following:

• Sensitive to the meaning, order, and sound of words
• Uses varied language
• Avid talkers; good speakers
• Likes to explain, convince, and persuade through words
• Enjoys and excels at word games
• Enjoys listening to, telling, and reading stories
• Enjoys rhymes and poetry
• Has good memory recall for names and dates

Activities for Verbal/Linguistic

• Story time
• Writing
• Listening to books on tape
• Flannel board stories
• Making their own books