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Parent/Child Shared Activities By Richard Kieninger Some ways to make learning
a part of life in your home... Think out loud (unless the
child is engaged in another activity.) For example, model how you organize
scheduling all of the day’s activities so the child can hear you and even
help plan. Even when you are driving in the car, think through plans of
action so your child will acquire these organizational strategies. Label the world; describe
how things work. “Wow, look at that cattle truck. The holes in the truck keep
the cows cool and give them fresh air.” “Look at the ‘cherry-picker’ truck.
The man is fixing the wires. He has special tools for working around those
electrical wires.” “Look at the men washing the windows on that high-rise
building. Gee, imagine how dirty the windows would get if no one washed
them!” “Look at that pretty duck, Let’s look it up in our book at home.” Pose
questions: “I wonder why...” Talk math. Your child can
think math if you talk math. Count how many steps to the car measure the
distance from the bathtub to the bed and count how many seconds it takes to
get there. Cook meals and measure ingredients with your child, count how many
people will be eating dinner and how many plates you will need on the table.
Puzzles are also a great way to enhance mathematical and spatial thinking. Pay attention to “sensitive
periods.” A concept described by Maria Montessori, a sensitive period is a
time when the child is ready to learn a specific skill such as self-dressing,
drinking from a glass or potty training. There are also sensitive periods for
interest in numbers, writing and other skills. Pay attention to the subtle
clues displayed as your child’s feelings of self-reliance emerge. A sense of
personal achievement is gained by your child from learning important skills. Use auditory story tapes.
They encourage your child to gain valuable listening skills and stimulate
visualization and imagination. Give your child the raw materials”
to create play scenarios rather than ready-made toys. Large and small boxes,
old sheets, strips of fabric, and old clothes make great toys. They can
become the backdrop for hours of imaginative play. The single most important
activity that you can provide for your child to enhance intellectual ability
is lots of opportunity to move, move, move. From day one this is the case.
Children love it, they need it, parents need them to have it and it benefits
many developmental areas. If you have time for only one shared activity each
day—make it movement. From birth to walking:
Ensure lots of opportunity every day for your infant to be on a smooth, firm,
clean surface, belly down (prone), wearing clothing on the torso only. No
shoes, no socks, no walkers, no johnny jump-ups, no playpens. Keep the
environment safe and free of encumbrances. From walking to running:
Provide lots of opportunity to walk, walk, walk. Wear shoes only outside and they
should be very flexible. Start on smooth, flat surfaces and progress to
uneven surfaces (yard), up and down hills. Everyday: Go to the
playground, go for a walk, climb a hill. On rainy days, go to an indoor
playground or make an obstacle course inside your house. Climb over, crawl
through, hop, jump, balance, creep, step, tippy-toe, make a silly little song
to accompany to make it extra fun. (Small children are very non-critical of
spontaneous lyrics and simple tunes!) When your child is 3 & 4, they love
to go on imaginary adventures in your obstacle course, and they will want to
do it over and over. Love of movement comes in early childhood by helping the
child develop basic skills and confidence. The best toys are balls,
books, blocks and “bits.” What you can do with balls is endless
and they interest every age level. Invest in balls of all shapes, sizes and
weights even from babyhood. Need a good physical activity? Kick a ball around
the back yard (soccer). It is great for endurance, kicking, developing deeper
respiration, and establishing “footed-ness.” Children love those short fat
bats and soft balls, which you can even play indoors, even as young as 18
months. Teach your child how to throw and catch. Blocks teach many spatial
skills and foster imagination and visualization. If you are investing in
toys, varieties of blocks can offer valuable play for years! This is a good
activity for children to do independently or with friends. Books open the world to
your child, If you only have time for one sedentary activity, this is it. I
am sure many of you already do this as part of your daily routine. Sometimes
parents want to know if they should read the same books over and over or if
books should be new. My answer is to do both - have some old favorites and
some new. Research indicates that children benefit from the repetition of
hearing the same old story told over and over. It is also valuable to have
books that have rhythm and rhyming words. Be sure to include fiction as well
as non-fiction. With so many beautiful nature books and magazines for young
children like Big Backyard, Ranger Rick and National Geographic
World, children’s interest in natural science can be stimulated. It is
something fun to do with a parent or alone. “Bits” is a term coined by
The Better Baby Institute given to picture cards with a single picture or bit
of information. It is probably how The Better Baby Program is popularly known
and recognized. Some people think of them as flash cards and assume they mean
you are pressuring the child to learn by using them. (The Better Baby Program
never promoted pressuring the children in any way.) “Bits” are a great way to
present children with a world of information in a quick, easy and enjoyable
format. I have always found it to be an excellent learning tool for children
of all ages as well as adults. It is amazing how many topics can be
introduced to your child. Of course, the best “bit” is the real thing.
Anything they can experience with all of their senses is by far the most effective
way to learn. But, in the absence of the real thing or in conjunction with
the real thing, “bits” can’t be beat. “Bits” take literally
seconds to show. A great time to use bits is at mealtime when the child is
sitting. Teachers at the school often do bits during snack time. The children
love them. Only show 1, 2 maybe 3 sets at one sitting and only show ten cards
from each set. The benefit I have seen in
children who have had “bits” is a broad range of interests. They seem to
think everything is interesting. It also seems to have the effect of building
learning pathways. Learning is easy and they seem to need fewer and fewer
exposures to information to “get it.” It also creates familiarity with a
subject and thus, a comfort level. With children under 2
years, just label what the picture is; when they are over 2 they generally
also want to know something interesting about what they are seeing. With a
regular program of “bits,” by age 3 or so, they generally like to relate
previously shown sets - like matching the flags of the states with the state
flower and the shape of the state. This becomes a fun game. Adults learn a
lot, too. Our parent resource library has literally thousands of bits that
can be borrowed. They should only be shown a few times. Key points to remember when
showing “bits”... go quickly ·
mix the order
(otherwise they will know what is coming next) always add something new ·
don’t beg your
child to look; let them beg you (they will) ·
don’t test ·
stop before
they are ready for you to stop ·
if they are not
interested, do a different topic or put it away Children Learn Through
Sensory Input and Motor Opportunity The process of learning is essentially
two-fold. Sensory input goes into the back of the brain. The senses are
seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. That is the only way we take
in information. However, sensory input needs to be organized; not chaotic.
Children might get stimulated in mayhem, but they will not be enriched. If
anything, it confuses the brain. The only way to develop competency or
proficiency is through motor opportunities. It connects the input with the
output in the brain. It is easy to get information in but more difficult to
get responses out. The response mechanisms
take years and years of many little opportunities here and opportunities
there. Things do not happen by sitting down and saying, “We are now going to
learn how to write.” Writing happens by having many, many opportunities as a
baby to reach out and grasp an object; many opportunities to gain control of
the arms and hands and fingers by building with blocks, pouring sand,
stringing beads, manipulating play-dough, dressing dolls, taking a magnetic
skunk through a plastic maze, and experience holding and using different
kinds of writing tools. This is play to young children, and it is learning. We make our home and our
child’s life a learning environment by the little things we do and say and
respond. Value and interest is sparked in the child by making the environment
rich in many things to learn. And, some of the best, most enduring enrichment
comes just by being together. |
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